Fun-filled February

I'm driving up to Dallas tomorrow for two wonderful reasons:

1.) My sister is having her baby shower... that's right, Dee has a new granddaughter on the way!
2.) Grandma-to-be will be celebrating her birthday on February 25th! It's hard to believe just last year we were celebrating her birthday as she was in recovery at the hospital. We're so happy she's home for this one!

Many Thanks,
Karen

My Sister Dee is Getting Ready for Christmas

It seems like a long time ago that our dear sister almost lost her life, yet here it is almost a year ago and life goes on.

She has accomplished a lot, but the most important thing of all is that Dee continues to have a zest for life,having her wonderful sense of humor and a deep love for her friends and family. I remember the day not too long ago when my husband David and I were visiting her and Van had brought her tamales. These tamales happen to be one of her favorite take-out meals. All of sudden she burst out laughing, it was such a contagious laugh that her visitors started laughing with her, we didn’t know why…we just knew that she was having such a good time. Minutes later when she could finally speak she told us that the tamales were so good that she licked her fingers; she said “see you don’t need fingers to enjoy finger-licking food”.

Dee continues to work on walking on her prosthetic legs and giving it her best, but the task is a very difficult one. It is the equivalent of trying to learn to walk on stilts. When I went with her a couple of months ago for the final fitting of her legs Dee pushed her therapist till they “got the fitting right”. We left that day and Dee carried her legs home, they weigh eight pounds each. To Dee it was like she was taking a brand new spanking set of hot wheels home. She was beaming all the way home. We stopped and celebrated, she took me to Subway and ordered her favorite Subway sandwich and ate it with gusto, she was starving after working so hard on standing and walking on those legs. Currently Dee puts on her legs for a few minutes a day and walks with the aid of a walker, my sister tells me jokingly that it is wonderful to get her butt off the seat and let gravity take hold of it.

Over the last few months Dee has attended weddings, hosted a wedding at her house, attended several birthday parties, learned to clean her house from her wheelchair, went on vacation in the mountains of New Mexico, got her home broken into and robbed twice (gotten over that), painted her living room, and this month is out and about preparing for her Christmas.

As I dwell on the past few months I wonder how Dee made it far and the answer pops quickly in my head…by the wonderful grace of God.

I am so happy we have the wonderful opportunity to prepare for our 2009 Christmas celebration.

Merry Christmas! Go Aunt Dee!!

Magic Legs!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in quite some time; up until recently things have been progressing slowly... but this is a good one! I drove up to Dallas on Wednesday for my mom's appointment to give her new prosthetic legs a try. These are temporary so that her specialist can get the right size for her, so she can learn to use them (think of walking on stilts), and also to allow her knees to conform and settle in size and shape. She is able to bend her left knee which will help tremendously. She has very limited range of motion in her right knee, so I'd imagine she'll be more dependent on her left side. For now here are some photos- click on them to enlarge. I'll try to have video clips posted by the weekend.

And here they are! Quite possibly the most beautiful ugly things I've ever seen!

Putting on her prosthetic "socks"

What a sight to see!

One step at a time...

It's a long way back to the wheelchair, but she did it!

I couldn't be more happy or more proud.

Getting Ready for Prosthetics

My mom called me today to tell me about her first appointment she had today with her new doctor, who will be getting her ready for prostheses to walk! They basically have said the same thing we've already been told, they will have to shrink down her legs (to prevent atrophy when she begins wearing prosthetics).

I'll be sure to post information as I hear it on this exciting new chapter!

Final Round of Surgery: Done!

I'm very excited to announce my mom's final round of surgery was completed last week. Her right knee had been giving her problems and was not healing; her doctor had to go down to the bone and patch things up, so to speak. Last week, she had a final skin graft to cover up the exposed tissue on her right knee and it has been healing... this is the last round of surgery that we are anticipating.

Next on the agenda: once the new skin is completely healed, her amputation sites will be "shrunken down" to enable fitting of prosthesis! I'll update as I find out any new information on this process.

Since my mother's release from the hospital, she has been able to attend a couple of big events, such as last month's benefit show (which was a success!) and my cousin's recent wedding (see photo). She's been adjusting to home life and has home health care on a regular basis, including physical therapy.

I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone, from family to friends to those who were touched by her story without having met her- thank you for your support throughout this difficult journey. It's far from over, but my mom has made so much progress! She is truly a brave, strong soul, and an inspiration.

Spread the word!

We got a brief mention in the Dallas Music Blog "The Ghost of Blind Lemon" and one of my songs is featured on their Myspace Playlist.

My mother is planning to attend the benefit show this Mother's Day weekend, so if you'd like to show your support and visit with her, this would be a great opportunity. (Event details are listed in the previous blog entry, below)

Hope to see you there!

Benefit Show Sat. May 9th @ Opening Bell Coffee (South Side Lamar)

(click image to enlarge)

Treat your mother to this special event honoring Mother's Day, featuring live music from Chris Holt, Camille Cortinas, Johnny Lloyd Rollins, Chris Gonzalez (The Brushlanders), Iris Leu, Jacob Metcalf, Sam Arnold (Opposite Day), Mary Hestand (Merry & The Moodswings), Casey Shock, and Karen Naomi. Benefiting Delia King - quadruple amputee and septicemia survivor, hosted by her daughter Karen Naomi. Saturday May 9th at Opening Bell from 4pm - 12am, Suggested $10 Donation.

Opening Bell -South Side on Lamar, 1409 S. Lamar Suite #012, Dallas, TX (Map)
www.openingbellcoffee.com