jack and other things

i cannot believe how long it has been since i wrote last.  so, the most important thing, blogwise, is that my favorite pirate has found a home.  jack has a human dad and a feline sibling named "morgan".  i have not seen him since he was adopted, but i had one progress report and i choose to believe that he is riotously happy.  the odds are good that i am not just delusional.

the other important fact is that i had hand surgery last week and am stuck operating with one hand.  more time available, less dexterity.  hand surgery was because i have a lot of arthritis and no cartilege in some joints,especially in my left thumb joints.  so, no massage work for a couple of months and a limited number of upper case letters when i write.  i could get used to that.  sort of e e cummings-ish.

they removed a bone in my hand, drilled holes in a couple of more bones in the back of my hand, threaded a "harvested" tendon thru the bones and attached the other end to the front of my hand.  both creepy and cool, simultaniously.  oh yeah, they harvested the tendon from me; no cadaverous parts involved.  just for the record-- always demand the really good drugs.  mine were sorely lacking the first couple of days and i was willing to gnaw my arm off.  much better now, i can even use my fingers a little.  they did not give me a purple cast, but my doctor did give me the purple marker they used to write on me.  they also injected cortisone into my right hand while i was out.  (its the only way to have your fingers injected-completely painless)

so here i am with a lot more time on my hand(s), and very little ambition.  i do, however, have lots of reading.  i want to suggest a book that my friend sharon gave me: unsaid, by neil abramson.  it is so well written and so very real in the world in which i find myself.  i have been doing a lot of mcreading, and this very serious book raised the bar for me, but also validated the time and care i give to all the furry people in my life.  i am so proud of the work that carolyn does at briar patch, and i am aware that one of the things that i think she does well is how she handles the death of her patients.  the euthanasias are never easy, but she makes the experience one that is gentle and sweet and, while i would never say that it was good, exactly, i would also not say it was bad.  painful, yes, but profound.  healing.  the book looks at this, as well as looking at the quality of life for all of us living and breathing on this earth, and offers a sort of benediction.

and on that note, i'm going to take my wounded self and go to bed.