Bright Ideas

When our son was in junior high, his English teacher asked the students to write about someone they admired. Any mother would be flattered to think her adolescent son admired her. She might not be so flattered by the title of his essay. In bold print it read, “She Just Sits on Her Butt.”

In a humorous way he was telling people about his mother who used a wheelchair. The reason I have spent over half a year now in a hospital is trying to heal those pressure sores that resulted from a bony bottom in a wheelchair. Instead of sitting, I have now been lying on an air mattress.

Carla Dowdy, one of our Physician Assistant providers, referred me to Billings where I had surgery on my bottom, including plastic surgery to close the wounds. When I was finally able to return to Ekalaka, I was thrilled.

Diabetics don’t heal quickly, and I haven’t.

Controlling my sugar intake and eating lots of protein has helped. When the menu features a slab of meat that I don’t want to eat, my spouse always reminds me, “it is protein.”

Before hospitalization, I composed my articles sitting at the computer. Changing my mind while writing was easy. Now my husband is taking dictation. I try not to require entire sentences to be scratched out and started over.

I won’t have an article every week, but as frequently as the two of us can record my thoughts, I’ll send one in. Until next time . . .