You might have noticed that I have not posted any news since December. On December 23 Gary had an appointment with an orthopaedist in Wilmington, North Carolina. He had been miserable from pain in his knees for quite some time and it had literally become unbearable. One look at the x-rays of his knees showed why: he had no cartilage in either knee, where the doctor told him he should have at least one centimeter of cushion.
Gary asked if he could have them both done at the same time and when was his next opening in the o.r. The doctor told him he did not do both at the same time on everyone, but he must have seen immediately how determined (I won’t use hardheaded here) Gary can be. The appointment was made for February 9, 2009, at Cape Fear Hospital in Wilmington. The operation was a resounding success and hardheaded turned out to be a asset in this case. I will refrain from further comment at this time.
The surgery was done on Monday, and Tuesday morning, with the aid of a walker and two physical therapists, the new knees were put to the test. They worked! The next day, with a walker, a physical therapist, and with me bringing up the rear pushing a chair, we went for a stroll down the hall. We came home to Tabor City on Friday, where, to my intense displeasure, the first thing Gary did was sit down in the garage and smoke a cigarette.
He has a therapist coming to the house every day except weekends and has been doing great. He has gynormous bruises on both thighs, especially the left, and scars about eight inches long down the fronts of both knees, but those are a small price to pay to be pain-free. When the pain from the surgery is gone, the pain of bone rubbing against bone in both knees will be gone also. We are very thankful for all the prayers and good wishes of our friends and family. Now, if only my aunt’s prayer that cigarettes would begin to taste to Gary like poop smells, would be answered in the affirmative things would really be great.
We had to go to Carrabelle to unload the boat and it is a sad sight to see Gilraker propped up on the hill.  It took me weeks to get all the stuff from the boat stashed back into the house. I don’t know how we ever got it on the boat, or how I ever thought I’d need all those clothes! Gary plans to go back sometime within the next year and touch up some places where we dinged the hull on rocks or whatever. The prop looks pretty pristine. We’re looking forward to getting back to doing the Loop next winter, if possible. If something unforeseen prevents that we’ve still had the trip of a lifetime.
We miss the company of our boating buddies on Li’l David, but they have promised to call when they get to Charleston and we plan to drive down and ride up with them the last leg of their Loop. We’re keeping up in the meantime via telephone and blog entries. We’re excited at the prospect of following in their wake next year.
In the meantime Gary will continue with his therapy and get his legs back ship-shape. I’ll stay busy sewing baby clothes for little James Timothy Walker, son of our youngest son Bill and his wife Melissa, who is due to make his appearance on June 17, 2009. It goes without saying that the arrival of our first grandchild is one of the most exciting events in our lives.
If all goes well with little James, we plan to take our camping trailer and drive across the country to Alaska and back this summer. Great way to avoid hurricane season, I’d say. So check our blog next summer. We may have a nice little parenthesis off the boat, but on the road. Thanks for all the interest and kind comments!