Thanks to all who wished me a speedy and full recovery on my foot surgery two weeks ago! As I stated in this post, I finally decided to have reconstructive surgery to repair a large bunion and a hammertoe on my left foot. It seems this condition runs in my family as siblings and cousins informed me that they have the same condition(s). For many years I tolerated the progression of these deformities, but they were getting worse, and I was finding it hard to find comfortable shoes for both feet as the left foot was very wide from the rather large and heavy bunion while the right foot was fine. I love to walk and hike, so when my podiatrist told me he could perform the surgery under local anesthesia, and that I would be able to have some mobility immediately afterward if I wore a large compression boot, I decided to have the procedure.
As you can see from all the grandchildren toys in my family room, I am pretty active in helping to watch my grandchildren, so being incapacitated for four to six weeks was not something I looked forward to, but I also wanted to be able to walk again in comfort and I decided winter would be a good season to take a break and do this. Surgery went well. My doctor told me I almost delayed too long, as I had an internal cyst on my bone and very tight tendons. I'll spare you photos of my foot post op ...think lots of stitches and a pin in one toe. Ouchie! Actually, I've had minimal pain during this process so far. What I did not expect was difficulty walking in the boot. It really isn't that comfortable, and it makes my leg elevated in height over any shoe I wear on my right foot so that my hips and knees begin to hurt when I walk too much. So for the last couple of weeks, I have done a lot of sitting without wearing the boot. I admit to binge-watching all the "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo" show on Netflix during this downtime. I was impressed with her way of folding and stacking clothes on the vertical in drawers, and want to do that to my drawers when I have the opportunity.
My husband has been so wonderfully attentive during my recovery. Not only does he help put on and take off the boot for me when I use it, as the velcro straps can be difficult to maneuver, he has also been cooking delicious meals and treated me to a sushi dinner and some delicious Greek Moussaka at local restaurants! It's nice to get out now and then when I get cabin fever.
I've also been reading quite a bit, and coincidently the day I spent time re-reading some of Mary Oliver's poetry was the day she sadly passed away. I've always had some quotes from her poems on my blog sidebar, as her deep love for nature and descriptive prose always inspired me. She said in a poem that after death she would like to come back as a hummingbird. I hope she will be granted her wish! You can learn more about her webpage -- click here.
A bit of local excitement in our community has been recent views of this big beautiful bobcat! Bobcats rarely attack humans but I would worry about a small domestic animal that is alone outside. They usually eat voles, mice, insects, birds, and rabbits. They can become prey for coyotes and mountain lions.
As you can see my community is located at the base of a section of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains...
...which is wild open space full of wild animals, so we have to expect to see some of them from time to time.
It is an incredible place to live!
Not only does our community have 45 miles of private trails that wind up and around the foothills, but we are close to many state and open space parks to enjoy. So you can see why I want to have good feet with which to walk and enjoy all those trails. It is just a matter of being patient now until I heal. My stitches come out this week and the pin in another two weeks after that. Then I'll be able to walk with a shoe again! It is getting easier all the time.
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