I've been shot

Last year, I discovered that I have bursitis in my hips, which totally explains the whole Grand Canyon experience. I started having problems again last month, so I an orthopedic doctor this week.

Now I have to tell you about Dr. S - she is a tiny, spunky Indian woman, who has seen and operated on almost half of the personnel in the Pacific Rim.

I was having lunch with some friends and fellow Dr. S patients the day before my appointment, so they, Mom #2 & Mom #3, decided to accompany me to my appointment as "family" support. Mom #2 needed to have some stitches removed for an earlier Dr. S surgery, so it was going to be a very productive morning at the doctor's office.

So while Mom #2 is getting her stitches out, Mom #3 and I go in for the consultation with the doctor. After the initial discussion, of course, Dr. S wants to take a good look at the hip. Mom #3 is now seeing a whole new side of me. Granted I've seen her right after surgery, so I think we are even. It's amazing how "medically" close you become when living overseas - discussing illnesses at the dinner table, sharing the latest remedies for various forms of . . . movements.

Now Dr. S begins pushing on my very sore hip and asks me which spot hurts the worst. You would think doctors would learn by now that once you start that it ALL hurts. But she did find her answer when I nearly jumped off the table. She then suggests a shot of steroids to help with the pain and to calm down the muscles and other things. I'm thinking . . .that sounds nice and that it will be like getting an immunization shot. I should have clued in when she said she would give me a bit of local anesthetic first. It really hurt, but then I found that the anti-inflammatory meds she gave me work really well.

I am now doing exercises to strengthen my leg muscles and trying to "take it easy." So, now taking people on walking tours of my island for awhile. But I think I've also learned that I've got to cut back on one of my favorite hobbies. No, putting together jigsaw puzzles have no affect on my hip - my other hobby - driving and singing really loud and off key. I've found that driving a standard in traffic really aggrevates my hip. All the more motivation to do my exercise.

Here, let me help you with that

I often wonder why it is that I struggle so much with new foods, but this story might help shed some light on that subject.

I went to a friend's house last month to celebrate the end of the fasting month. The main celebration activity, besides karaoke, is, of course, eating. I sit down at the table and my friend begins telling me what the various dishes on the table are. This can be a blessing and curse - knowing which dish is lung and which one is regular beef is nice. But then there are the times when all the dishes are weird and you just don't want to know. She points to the chicken dish for this year and excitedly tells me that this is a special type of chicken. Her sister-in-law leans over to tell me, in a very happy tone, that they call this "retired chicken" because it's really old. She then proceeds to plop a big ole piece on my plate. I poke at the piece with my spoon and declare with relief in my voice that I must have just gotten a piece of bone, so I move onto to some newer pieces of meat.

I'm doing just fine with the safe dish I found on the table when the sister-in-law reaches over to my plate. "Let me help you with that," she says as she begins to pick of miniscule pieces of meat off the retired chicken for me. I thank her with a smile knowing that I know HAVE to eat this chicken. OK, granted, it wasn't absolutely horrible, but my stomach did let me know that it was done taking in anymore new foods.