Still Here

I lost feeling in my feet over time around the year 2000. In 2015, while walking across the carpet, it sounded like I stepped on a plastic cup. No pain, but my leg swelled and my foot fell apart. The doc said he could fix it with many surgeries or amputate it. Living alone, my great attitude got me through the first. I was able to teach myself how to do it with just enough help from in- home nursing. I couldn’t afford any physical therapy that Medicare wouldn’t pay for. Well, two years later, the right foot came to the same, but this time I also had a sore on the left stump so I had an amputation on the right BK and stitches on the left. I also caught C. diff from visiting my dying mother, so gloves and a plastic smock were everyday gear in the hospital. They said I was a very sick man. Right when COVID started, I had another operation on the left BK to smooth out the bone, which was poking through the skin. Yep, back in the chair, all healed up, so I drove to Florida. I stopped at a rest area and started coughing up blood. Cancer had found me. A total laryngectomy was the next story. It’s been 19 months since my last radiation treatment. So far so good, but I have lost all feeling in my right hand but not my mouth as my teeth are falling out from radiation. Switching to a plant-based diet, I don’t need teeth no how (not). I’ve still got to have my meat once in a while. Every day is a challenge. Living in Ohio, the humidity up and down depends on how much time must be spent on cleaning my vent tube in my neck. I am walking more and more. Each day is great to get outside again, and losing 130lbs makes it much easier to do what I want. I don’t know what’s next, but bring it on. I’ll deal with it also.