Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Engine, Engine #9


Saturday morning I left my house at 4:55am headed to The Manitou Incline.  The sun was poking up over the eastern horizon and a low hanging fog engulfed much of Colorado Springs.  By the time I got to Manitou, the sun was shining on the mountain and the fog had lifted.  The best word to describe the entire drive is “majestic”.

I do this drive a fair amount, and every time my eyes get moist.  This particular Saturday, I wept.  Two weeks ago, my dear friends lost their 15 month old grandchild.  For 10 years I’ve written about navigating the circumstances of life, all the while hoping nobody would ever say to me, “yeah, but you’ve never lost a child.”  I should have known this day would come.  I have no answers.  I have no advice.  If you need another hug, I’m here for you.


………


I see it’s been over 4 years since my last post.  Jo’s health has been essentially perfect.  She really runs around in life just like you or me as if nothing ever happened.  Well, this week it’s time to turn back time.  Jo is at the airport right now picking up Meema, which Anna is very excited about!  Before we get to the details, let’s take a look at the game film…


If you look closely, the cadaver bone that Jo had put in her shoulder EIGHT years ago is coming loose and breaking apart.  You can see the screw has sunk down into the shoulder and isn’t even touching the cadaver bone anymore.  As our little niece said when she was about 5 years old, “I’ve got another broken arm.”

Tomorrow, Jo will have a partial shoulder replacement.  Or as the medical folk like to say…”LEFT shoulder open debridgement, biopsies/cultures with pyrocarbon humeral head hemiarthroplasty.  Possible long head biceps tenodesis, labral repair, total shoulder replacement, biceps tenodesis, cadaver tissue use, bone grafting, and/or distal clavicle excision if required.”

This is Jo’s 9th joint surgery.  Bonus points go out to anybody that can identify the most likely place an adult today could hear the phrase “Engine, Engine #9”.  (The answer has nothing to do with children.)

4 comments:

Rob + Randi said...

Sorry to hear about Jo's shoulder, I hope the repair goes well. Isn't the Engine #9 reference from an old country song?

Gerry Neumann said...

Jo is one of those people who will never quit or give up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiHDdVa25N0

RL Willson said...

Sending prayers for a smooth surgery and recovery - to a wonderful, courageous, generous lady and her family. :-)

Madeleine said...

Sending Jo and her family our love. She is in our thoughts and prayers. She is such a wonderful, graceful, passionate lady. Her manner inspires so many people. We are lucky to have her in our lives. Hope she recovers quickly post op. P.s. Was that not Love Potion No 9. lol! Xx