Alice in Wonderland

Lost in the (W)Hole

Good Heavens it’s been TEN months since I’ve been able to post anything here! If this was a baby I’d be a month overdue!!!

To be honest I rather feel like my name got changed to Alice this past near-year. I got sick and had some MAJOR surgery in February that culminated in a three week stay in the “new” rehab wing inside a nursing facility where I used to work. Talk about panic! I had already spent a grueling week in the hospital but to then find myself in the receiving end of an old work place was nearly more than I could bear.

This was at the hospital. (Oh My!!! That is NOT a bedpan! It is what left of a meal tray!)  I looked awful and felt just as worse. And yes, that is a walker. Used that the week I spent in the hospital. They upgraded me to a cane when I got to rehab.

I actually spent my birthday in rehab. That was a bummer. One of my friends sent me flowers and my grand kids brought me lots of balloons. My daughter also had a BIG canvas made of the kids for me to hang on the wall next to my chair. Believe me, I looked at it every day! AND they brought my dog to visit for my birthday!

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She made herself at home in my blankets! I think I missed her the most….

So now I’m home. I still have to use a cane. Nothing fancy (yet). Found some “old man canes” at a second hand store after using one previously left behind by an ex….that thing was too tall for me anyhow. To help me feel better about the ugly canes I started crocheting handle covers and even tried my hand at making slip-on flowers and leaves. The grands love it and my little neighbor girls are fascinated that my cane wears clothes. 😀

I was told I would have to use a cane the rest of my life. I do believe it. Something connected to this surgery further aggravated the cancer-induced neuropathy. I was severely dropping things and stumbling all over myself. Funny but they taught me to use the cane in my primary hand….which is the one I was always dropping things from! Since I’ve been home I’ve learned to use that cane in either hand depending on how weak my hands are. I shift my weight usually off of the affected foot and leg too.

Oh, in case you are wondering, I had surgery to repair what is called a Recticele. I’m not sure if I have that spelled correctly. I had been passing lots of blood rectally as if I had a faucet turned on. Praise God I didn’t have to have a blood transfusion! But all the same the surgery lasted over 5 hours. It was only supposed to last 30 minutes. It was really super bad. So, once again, I am glad to be alive and am continuing to heal.

So many more things have happened since I came home. Many of which were NOT good for me. The day I came home I had a major meltdown. I am so GLAD the kids didn’t send me BACK to the hospital for mental reasons! They were the CAUSE of it all! More about that the next time. To be honest, I am still trying to heal from that incident. Worst thing to ever have happen to me since cancer and having that surgery. Oh! I forgot to tell ya’ll that I actually wanted to and honestly thought I was going to die about three days after surgery. Never had pain that intense in that manner except one other time in my life. I honestly would NOT wish it on any of my enemies! (Childbirth was NOTHING compared to this pain…).

Slowly climbing back up the (W)hole…rabbit or otherwise.

Oh! While in rehab I watched their GINORMOUS pet rabbits!!! These things were nearly twice the size of my dog!!!

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Just call me “Alice”…..I’m in here somewhere!

Until next time I pray peace and an abundance of blessings on ya’ll!

~ Bonnie

 

 

 

 

 

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Dog Sitting in a Chrysalis

As a child in grade school there was a time when the teacher had a butterfly cocoon for us to watch. I seem to recall how hard it was watching that thing for the longest time and wondering if the teacher was just playing a trick on us. I mean really, THAT thing is alive??

Honest! Didn’t the caterpillar in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland spin his cocoon and transform into a butterfly in record time? I saw it with my own two eyes!

Then there were my teen and young adult years when I fervently listened to the musical team of sisters called Heart (or was it Hart?). Anyhow, I remember a popular song about the Dog and Butterfly. Although I can’t recall the words to that song at this moment I assure you if it were to come on the radio I could sing every word and not miss a single note.

Present day. I have previously written about Mosey Cottage and most recently referred to this house as being in the chrysalis stage. Days on end pass and I see more WRONG with the two livable rooms than what I see being done with the rest of the house. BUT I recently had a tidbit of stirring that was made visible to me. The kids had a couple of contractors to come in and evaluate the need for offering their estimates. I met the first man. I liked him. He was excited about his craft and saw the opportunity to work for us and still be able to have a bit of leeway in what he loves to do. My son in law liked him too. I was told that they most likely will go with this man’s estimate. Maybe. The second man I never met. I understand he acted like his work was a drudgery and he could care less. Phooey on the nay-sayer who wants to drag his feet! (I still expect the chrysalis to spin and produce a beautiful butterfly like Alice’s caterpillar).

What does a dog have to do with any of this? >sigh< Cub is a hound dog. A mix breed of hunting dogs. He points and flags. Forget the heeling. He pulls and drags if you fall while trying to manage his leash. Forget the hunting although his nose is always sniffing something to track. And I do believe he’d just as soon EAT a butterfly as to chase it. This is my daughter’s dog. NOT mine! My Daisy is much cuter (wink wink).

My daughter has been roughing it in the front two rooms of my Mosey Cottage for nearly a year now. Family stuff happens and jobs change and now I find myself “dog sitting” so she can keep her job. You see, Cub suffers from severe separation anxiety. He has broken through three windows, two doors, torn up the carpet, shredded a couch…..need I say more? As long as he is WITH somebody he knows he is fine.

He is a bit tamer and a little more behaved since I started keeping him. I usually keep him in Mosey Cottage. In fact I have spent enough time there that I’m beginning to feel a bit more like maybe someday I WILL be living there. Sure keep hoping so!

It is interesting to watch a chrysalis from the inside. It isn’t what I had expected. I mean who would have ever believed me if I told them that this chrysalis is helping to transform a DOG?

I’m still expecting the butterfly….

Merry Christmas Ya’ll!

Cub in his hound dog cuteness….