The Shoulder

How did I injure my shoulder? I don’t remember originally what happened but this has been going on for the past 4 years. I have had x-rays, physical therapy which made it worse and cortisone shots that did not last. I re-injured it this September when I was babysitting my grandsons, Eli and Caleb, at my house. I had the boys in a double stroller for a walk. We had walked up our very steep driveway and I was punching the garage code. I heard “Whoa.” I turned to see my grandsons rolling down the driveway backwards. I ran to grab the stroller and tried to stop it but it was going fast. Still holding on to the stroller I layed down on the driveway dragging my legs to stop it. It finally stopped at the bottom. The boys looked at me with wide eyes. I said, “Boy, that was fast!” Praise God that it was cooler outside so I had jeans and closed toe shoes on otherwise I would have had really bad road rash.

The bottom is down where the black trailer is!
The bottom is down where the black trailer is!

The boys and I had done a variety of fun things that weekend but what was the first thing Eli said to his mom and dad? “The stroller was going fast.” Confession time!

The doctor thought I probably had a tear somewhere in my right shoulder. I opted not to have an MRI because the doctor said it doesn’t usually see everything. It was actually a bone spur and some loose fragments that the doctor took are of. The worst part was getting the IV. Because I had a bi-lateral mastectomy and had 21 lymph nodes removed on the left side my right side is the arm to take blood pressures and place IV’s in. If they use my left arm I have a strong chance of developing lymphodema which develops a swollen arm and other complications. The surgery was on my right shoulder so they couldn’t use that arm either so the IV had to be placed in my feet. The nurse said they hurt in the feet but they would use lidocaine to numb it some! After three attempts by nurses the anesthesiologist finally was successful placing it a couple inches above my ankle. Thank you:) I am managing the pain with drugs and doing well. I start physical therapy tomorrow. The surgery is getting me out of bringing anything to Thanksgiving dinner at my Neal’s brother’s house!

I have been thinking about the government a lot lately because I find myself among the millions of people whose insurance was dropped because Obahma care (that’s for another post!) and of course my shoulder. The verse in Isaiah 9:6 came to me “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Our government is very frustrating to me right now but one day God will reign over all kingdoms and governments. “The government will rest on his shoulders” affirms that God is Lord over all. He carries the weight of this world on his shoulders so we don’t have to. What a weight off my shoulders!

On the journey,
Trish

Back posting and back from a wonderful vacation

I’ve missed you all! Transferring from blogspot was complicated and took quite a bit of time fixing problems. But I’m ready to go! You can sign up on the side bar to receive email notification when I have posted.

Much has happened in the time since I last posted. Don’t worry, I won’t tackle everything all in one post!

My wonderful sister invited me to go with her on a trip she won through her work. When she asked me to go to Patagonia in South America I thought South America = tropics. I didn’t even know what or where Patagonia was! We flew to Santiago, Chile which was a little warm, 60’s. After a city tour and a rodeo show we boarded a plane and flew to Punta Arenas. There we boarded a small cruise ship, Stella Australis, to begin our journey through Patagonia. This is the bottom tip of South America, which is not far from Antarctica. So you guessed it–cold! While on the ship we encountered rain, snow, clouds and sunshine.

Our home for 5 days!
Our home for 5 days!

Every day we loaded zodiacs and took excursions. We saw some interesting wild life, penguin colonies, glaciers, the island of Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn as we cruised through the Straights of Magellan. Ferdinand Magellan discovered this passage at the end of the 15th century to the Orient via America. Cape Horn is the southern most point of America. It was so rough the day at Cape Horn we could not get off and hike to the top.

We sat and watched for the glacier to calf which is part of it crashing down.
We sat and watched for the glacier to calf which is part of it crashing down.

Southern most point of America
Southern most point of America, Cape Horn

At the end of the cruise we boarded another plane and flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Here is was warmer in the 70’s. We enjoyed a city tour and a tango show which was better than “Dancing with the Stars”! Cheri and I stayed an extra day to visit the famous opera house and relax a bit before returning home. The trip was so planned that a little down time was enjoyable.

Going through glacier alley.
Going through glacier alley.

This vacation was not on my list of places to visit but I am so glad to have gone. I would highly recommend it! To see the work of God’s hands in the beauty was spectacular. When we were at Cape Horn, I had a lump in my throat wishing I could have shared it with Neal. I believe that the beauty he is enjoying in heaven far outweighs anything here on earth.:) I am starting new adventures.

On the journey,
Trish
PS Please pray for me tomorrow afternoon. I will be having surgery on my shoulder.