Falling Apart

Severe rheumatoid arthritis eventually causes one’s skeleton to fall apart. It doesn’t fall apart all at once, thank the goddess, so there’s usually time between joint losses to have replacement parts put in and other repairs done. The longer I live, though, the faster parts are failing, and right now I need to have repairs done to my left ring finger, my left big toe, and my right knee. I’m now falling apart too fast to keep up with the repairs, none of which can be done at the same time.

Well, one step at a time. I’m gearing up for fusion of the middle joint of my finger four days from now. It’s pretty obvious that it needs to be done.

The recovery time is six weeks, just in time to have a new knee joint put in. Like an old car, I’m always in the shop. Sorry to overdo the metaphors, but I envision my skeleton as an anatomy class skeleton, all  wired together.

Sometimes people ask how I have the courage to have one surgical procedure after another. I can only say that I have two choices: have surgery or become totally disabled. The choice is obvious, and I owe my life to Orthokansas, the orthopedic surgery practice that keeps putting me back together.

Copyright 2014 by Shirley Domer