Losing the year...

Saturday, January 24th I checked in to Valley Medical. I could barely walk and the pain was excruciating. I thought I had slipped a disk or something like that. But no, it was much more and much worse. It seemed I had a bruise (I've been doing a lot of physical activity) along the nerve in my left leg. The bruise went septic and for the first three weeks I was in the hospital, I was out of my mind and fighting off the infection. For the next two months as I recovered, I found out that I have a bunch of friends. They helped me with the boredom of hospital stays. Flowers are a delight. I want to thank Chuck Serfece for helping fend off panic and fear. He is an amazing person. He helped my daughter cope with the hospital confusion. All the visits were so welcome. Joni and Garth brought me some paper and crayons (eight different colors) and some play dough so I could continue to do art. Friends visits were a joy.

I'm home now, since the middle of March. But it made me realize I had lost the first quarter of the year. Making art is very hard now. I can only sit for about twenty minutes before the pain is too much. Come to find out, I've got fluid (from the infection) build up along my spine. It's making it very difficult to walk and the only way to get better is surgery. So that's my life right now. Little art is getting done, but I'm getting better and will have the use of my legs soon.

We all get obstacles thrown in our way. I'll make the best of this.