Sadly, I am serious (no, not Sirius) . . . and if you want to shift this to a different chat line, Bob, please do so.
Regretfully, the diabetic ulcers on my feet finally caught up to me thanks to the first big blast of winter that hit in December. Mid-month, I went to the Welland Hospital to see Dr. Rittenhouse (my orthotic surgeon). He told it to me straight: He'd try IV therapy but if there was no effect, the right foot was coming off.
I told it to him straight: "Doc, take it off."
I've been fighting diabetic ulcers since 2005 and just am tired of all the dressing changes, visits to the nurses and doctors and all the minor surgeries. I want it OVER WITH!
The surgery happened the Friday before Christmas. I convalesced at the Welland Hospital until just after New Year's Day, when I was transferred to the Hotel Dieu Shaver Hospital across the street from Brock University. Got a prosthetic made for my leg and learned how to walk with it, plus have a wheelchair and walker. I can do stairs and manoeuvre around like Doug dancing with Linna in DW2, but it does take a lot more energy than before. That's to be expected, I suppose; I'm 47 and not getting younger.
Was discharged the past Wednesday. I'm now staying with my friend Mike Smith in Niagara-on-the-Lake (east of St. Catharines and north of Niagara Falls), which forces me to wait for certain times to go down to Welland (a twenty minute trip) to see new places to live. Saw one potential place about four blocks from where I work, but am in competition with a lady who lost everything in a fire; the landlady is torn as to which way to go. Atop that, as I'm writing this, I got a call from a potential landlord and am moving to see a room in about an hour.
I'm keeping my spirits up. Yes, there's the depression of the foot loss; I'm a long-distance walker thanks to my time at Robert Land Academy (Canada's only military-theme private boarding school) and the military. But the Saturday after I had the leg taken off, I had an epithany: I'm going back to work!
Much that medical leave does help me sit down and write things (Phoenix From the Ashes and its side stories were all written during my last bout of medical leave), I do want to earn a real salary.
Again, Bob, if you want to move this comment somewhere else, please do so.
Regretfully, the diabetic ulcers on my feet finally caught up to me thanks to the first big blast of winter that hit in December. Mid-month, I went to the Welland Hospital to see Dr. Rittenhouse (my orthotic surgeon). He told it to me straight: He'd try IV therapy but if there was no effect, the right foot was coming off.
I told it to him straight: "Doc, take it off."
I've been fighting diabetic ulcers since 2005 and just am tired of all the dressing changes, visits to the nurses and doctors and all the minor surgeries. I want it OVER WITH!
The surgery happened the Friday before Christmas. I convalesced at the Welland Hospital until just after New Year's Day, when I was transferred to the Hotel Dieu Shaver Hospital across the street from Brock University. Got a prosthetic made for my leg and learned how to walk with it, plus have a wheelchair and walker. I can do stairs and manoeuvre around like Doug dancing with Linna in DW2, but it does take a lot more energy than before. That's to be expected, I suppose; I'm 47 and not getting younger.
Was discharged the past Wednesday. I'm now staying with my friend Mike Smith in Niagara-on-the-Lake (east of St. Catharines and north of Niagara Falls), which forces me to wait for certain times to go down to Welland (a twenty minute trip) to see new places to live. Saw one potential place about four blocks from where I work, but am in competition with a lady who lost everything in a fire; the landlady is torn as to which way to go. Atop that, as I'm writing this, I got a call from a potential landlord and am moving to see a room in about an hour.
I'm keeping my spirits up. Yes, there's the depression of the foot loss; I'm a long-distance walker thanks to my time at Robert Land Academy (Canada's only military-theme private boarding school) and the military. But the Saturday after I had the leg taken off, I had an epithany: I'm going back to work!
Much that medical leave does help me sit down and write things (Phoenix From the Ashes and its side stories were all written during my last bout of medical leave), I do want to earn a real salary.
Again, Bob, if you want to move this comment somewhere else, please do so.
Canadian lighthouse to U.S. Warship approaching it: "This is a lighthouse. Your call!"