Phannie

Phannie
Photo taken near Monument Valley, Utah

Sunday, December 6, 2020

In a Painful Holding Pattern

 At Pearland RV Park, Pearland, Texas...

I suppose it's about time to publish an update, something I don't do often when we're not traveling. In our case, we're not traveling for two reasons: First of all, we're hoping for a Christmas visit with our "kids," as we call our daughter and her husband and our grandsons. As I mentioned before, this has to be under careful circumstances due to our daughter Mindy's occupation as a nurse in a major Houston hospital with Covid patients.

Besides that, Sandy has suffered a setback in the foot surgery she had five weeks ago. After the surgeon's rebuilding of her foot, the stresses thereof apparently caused a bone to break in the area of the repair. This was allowing the repair to come apart, so it had to be done all over again, this time with some hardware installed in her foot to stabilize the bones in their new paths. As I noted in the last post, the surgery is brutal, and now, we are starting over with the healing process, the five weeks we had behind us being lost, of course. Radical foot surgery is among the most painful, and I feel so sorry for her having to endure the painful recovery all over again.

My arthritic knees have improved via the injections I have every six months, so I really don't have any complaints, compared to poor Sandy. I won't even be considering knee surgery until my condition becomes unmanageable. 

As we have had healthy lives for so long, it is a little difficult adjusting to the maladies that age brings upon us. Fortunately, our problems, so far, are fixable with modern medicine, and we are remaining positive about our prospects after we are past these bumps in the road. What this has done, however, is to force us to face the reality of aging, although we may not have wanted to do that. We have had five fabulous years of fulltime RV travel and pretty well checked off our bucket list, so it seems prudent to think of our exit plan, as we explained in previous posts. However, because of Sandy's lack of mobility, we can't do much in that regard for a while, so that's why I mentioned we're in a holding pattern.

We have had some nice visits with fulltiming friends Dave and Janice--who have left the fulltiming life now--and Steve and Jackie, who have not. Steve and Jackie stopped by to visit us on their way to Florida for the winter, and we're so glad they did. The following photo shows us at Pappas' Seafood House in Webster, where we had a great meal and good times together:



As you can see, Sandy's left foot is in the chair (the white thing is my mask) to lessen the pain. Her repair surgery was only a few days away at this point.

I know you hear these kinds of stories all the time, but our friendship with Steve and Jackie was totally a matter of fate. In an RV park in Austin, I had pulled Phannie into a parking spot next to a couple (Steve and Jackie) who were sitting outside their fifth wheel next door. If I see occupants of an adjacent site outside, I have a habit of going over to greet them in a friendly way since we'll be in such close proximity. When I went over to chat with them, they were extraordinarly friendly and invited me to sit in a nearby chair--a bit unusual, since we had never met. But I sat, and we began to talk a bit. Meanwhile, Sandy wondered what had happened to me, as I hadn't even begun to set up the coach. She eventually came looking for me, was drawn into the conversation, and our friendship has blossomed ever since. Steve and Jackie even switched their planned purchase of a new fifth wheel to buying a Phaeton motorhome, based on what they saw and liked about Phannie. 

There are similar stories about dozens of RV friends we've made, and that's part of the mystique, I suppose, of this type of living. We became friends with Dave and Janice, for example, in Idaho, of all places--merely by their recognizing through RVillage that we were both Texans in the same RV park. We met, the chemistry was right, and now we're friends forever.

I can't mention all the stories here, but there are many similar ones. This phenomenon--of RVers being some of the nicest people we've ever met--has been an unexpected benefit that, in our view, eclipses the grandness of all we have seen and experienced in our travels.

We are staying here until we can get back into Thousand Trails in Conroe. Most of the parks seem to be quite full these days, and reservations are required far ahead in some cases. After our three-week stay there, who knows? We've not been hobbled like this before, so we're sort of making it up as we go along.

Thanks for reading--more later!


Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; 
please forgive me if I fail to appreciate it each day as I should.

We don't stop playing because we get old; we get old because we stop playing. 
 ---George Bernard Shaw

"I get up every morning, and I just don't let the old man in." ---Clint Eastwood






14 comments:

  1. Omigosh! Poor, poor Sandy! That has to be devastatingly discouraging but if anyone can get through this it will be the two of you with your positive attitudes and good senses of humor leading the charge. Friendship is a magical thing and can spark anywhere that a certain chemistry or connection exists - as you mentioned in your examples. Even a virtual connection can lead to a virtual, but real, friendship. You and I are proof of that. A quote attributed to C.S. Lewis is one of my favorites: "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'You, too? I thought I was the only one!'" I believe we connected because of our common writing styles and obsessive methods plus the fact that we share a similar, if slightly warped, sense of humor. For example, I know you will smile when I say, "Your bucket list is NOT finished because we have not yet met!" Hugs to Sandy and best wishes for a speedy recovery - again!

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    1. Funny, I thought I responded to this, but I'm not sure. It would be just like blogger to lose it into cyberspace. Anyway, without question, the writing style of a person is a "tell" about his or her personality and compatibility with another like-minded person, even though they have not met (which--you're right--MUST happen at some point). I love the C. S. Lewis quote--so true. It is has been a long time since we have been sidelined in this way, but stuff wears out when we get older, I guess. I certainly hope you and Alan avoid it. Thank you for your good wishes. Cheers and Merry Christmas to all!

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  2. Missed Approach:Climb to 1000 then climbing left turn to 2000 on IAH VORTAC R-085 to COSBI INT/IAH 21.8 DME and hold. Be well soon.

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    1. Ha ha! That's a unique way to cheer me up. Roger on the clearance! Thanks for the laugh.

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  3. So sorry to hear of Sandy's foot having to have the second surgery. You are so right about the making of RV friends, both in person and virtual. Being Canadian and traveling to the southwest for the past four years, we have met both American and Canadian friends who we will cherish their friendship forever. This winter having to stay home, we will miss them, but hope to keep warm as we follow through their posts.
    Hoping for Sandy a speedy recovery and for you, Sandy and your family a safe and healthy Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year.

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    1. Thank you, Bill, for the kind words. We admit to being a little down, but this, too, shall pass, and you're helping. Merry Christmas!

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  4. We'll be praying for a speedy more efficient second surgery for Sandy.
    RVers are the friendliest and most helpful people in the world.
    Hopefully you will find a safe way of getting together with Mindy's family for the holidays.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. Thank you for your prayers. We will get through this, but it has been a bit of a challenge. Your kind message helps. Merry Christmas!

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  5. Hello,
    I am a long time reader of your blog but I have never commented before. I felt compelled to comment due to my deepest sympathy for Sandy. I had my left foot reconstructed in May of 2016. I had a titanium plate screwed into the middle of my foot to stabilize it and help my bones fuse back together (arthrodesis). I have 2 screws in my heel where it was reattached and fused back on (calcaneal osteotomy). Lastly, my Achilles tendon was severed, lengthened and reattached. It was extremely painful. Particularly the removal of the staples and repositioning of the foot for the hard cast. I was in the hard cast, for 10 weeks (non weight bearing) the soft for 2. It took 6 months of physical therapy and a full 2 years to walk well without a cane. I am a school counselor and when I returned to work it was on a knee scooter. It was quite an ordeal in an old 2 story building. So, I very much can relate and feel for Sandy in what she is going through. I had to let her know she is in my prayers.
    Best Wishes for speedy healing,
    Jan
    P.S. My husband and I are not full-timers but we do travel for pleasure in our 5th wheel camper.

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    1. Please forgive my failure to reply in a timely fashion. For some reason, Blogger has stopped notifying me of comments and, with our preoccupation with Sandy's procedures, I forgot to check for comments. I want you to know that we are grateful for you prayers and the understanding of someone who knows how painful foot surgery can be. Thank you, Jan, for reading my nonsense, and I'm sorry that you've had to endure this kind of painful foot problem--even worse than Sandy's, it appears. We try to concentrate on the positive--that it's fixable--but that doesn't lessen the discomfort, I'm afraid. May you and yours have a Merry Christmas and thank you again for writing.

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  6. Just an add on to what Bill above has already said. Thoughts and prayers to Sandy for a speedy recovery, your bionic woman. :) Sad to think of giving up fulltiming but perhaps you are ready. One thing though, we haven't met you yet so are you sure you're done? :) Take care and be well. I hope Christmas with the 'kids' works out for all of you.

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    1. Thank you, Patsy. You are always a ray of sunshine. We really don't know what 'part-timing' will look like, and we haven't had any opportunity to investigate it with Sandy's foot problems. And no, we're not done until we meet up somewhere! It looks like we will be able to have Christmas with the kids, so that's a happy thought. Merry Christmas, and thanks for your constant inspiration.

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  7. I am so sad for my friend's setback, and restart. . .but thank the Lord for modern medicine. Just think that, back in the day, this could have meant being crippled forever. Praying that this is a permanent and lasting solution.

    IF for any reason, you guys are NOT ALLOWED, due to circumstances, to be with the kids for Christmas Day, you MUST COME HERE. We have quite the feast planned with the Binns and Hurlburts.

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    1. I don't need to tell you what your love and support mean to us, and your kind offer for Christmas. It looks like we will be together with the kids after all, so that will take away some of the suffering--mental and physical--that we have had to endure. Love always to you guys and Merry Christmas!

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