friday finds: 2 good arms

This Friday Finds me at home, recovering from shoulder/rotator cuff surgery.

my new shoulder

Try as I might I can't quite seem to wrap my head around the whole picture that is the ingenious design of the human shoulder. No worries: I have an excellent surgeon. Just look at his work: a combination of masterful engineering and fine stitchery. All done arthroscopically, of course. Amazing! (I am reminded of my doll- and teddybear-making days long ago.) 

***

Did I say 'I'?

I meant 'we.'

Bob had the same surgery just five weeks ago. His shoulder injury apparently dates back some 13 years, while lifting weights. He did what any guy would do: tough it out and learn to work around the 'little bit' of pain...until a couple months ago when he tore his bicep tendon. After a week and some wicked bruising he finally asked me for the name of the shoulder doctor I had been seeing...and the rest is history. Oh yeah, and let's not forget the broken toes on his left foot, which happened the night before his surgery when he dropped a steel target on his foot. Or the wasp sting on his throat earlier that same day (which swelled up like a golf ball). We weren't sure they would even proceed with the scheduled surgery. But they did, and he did fine...and the fine folks at Panorama Orthopedics looked after his foot too.

We do get the most curious stares when we go out together in public. Bob has fabricated a parachuting mishap story, which is infinitely more interesting than reality. I believe my injury stems from last winter, when we were helping my mother pack up and move, so she could sell the family home. There were at least a few days of heavy lifting...and it's been sore ever since, and this time swimming didn't help. It actually made it worse.

The doctor prescribed physical therapy early in the summer, but it only got me so far. Even the eventual MRI didn't reveal the big tear that was hiding beneath the surface. So no one was expecting this much repair work, until Dr. Johnson got in there on Tuesday. Otherwise he would have waited a few weeks to give Bob a chance to heal a bit more before incapacitating me too. (My only request of the doctor was that we do this ASAP so that I/we could better focus on Erin's situation.) How fortunate we are to have a surgeon that doesn't just see a shoulder, but rather a human being...a family.

We do work well together, the two of us, each with his/her strong arm in a sling: between us we have two good arms. And many family and friends helping out as needed.

***

the lovely floral arrangement sent by

my friends at the bank

I will be on short-term disability from the bank for several weeks. A lot of time on my hands now, but I won't be in my studio, or able to operate my big camera for a long while, but with my computer and iPhone I will have plenty to amuse me. I was specifically instructed to learn to mouse with my right hand. And of course there's Physical Therapy - twice weekly for several weeks. Bring it!

***

Lillian is good company too

***

All photos taken with my iPhone 5,

then edited on my iPad mini,

with PicTapGo and Snapseed apps.