Puerto Ricans are U.S citizens. It doesn’t require a passport or visa to travel to Puerto Rico from the mainland U.S. As a Territory, they’re not a State, but they are part of the United States. A week after the hurricane, our federal government is telling us Puerto Rico is an island, so it’s difficult to get aid there and distribute it because the infrastructure is ruined. Wouldn’t that be part of any disaster plan; realizing that it would take extra effort to get aid to an island, and maybe even expect that the infrastructure would be ruined if the island takes a direct hit from a hurricane? Meanwhile, we all see on the news what they’re going though. They’re running out of food and water. They have no sanitation; no communications. In the heat and humidity of a tropical environment, they have no prospects for electric power for months. People in Puerto Rico are helping each other as they can, but this is not a situation where they can just pull themselves up and restore a normal life. The entire island was devastated. The island can’t help itself. Help has to come from somewhere else; like maybe their own federal government. Fifty years ago, it didn’t matter where I was in the jungle, the Army got food and water to me every day. It didn’t matter if there were roads and bridges, it didn’t matter if it was hard, they did what they needed to do and got it done. This doesn’t look like disaster recovery in Texas, Florida, or New York, but it looks a lot like Katrina. It doesn’t look good.
We’ve moved on
From the soft cast.
To the hard cast.
The recovery is going well. Getting the old cast cut and pulled off was traumatizing, but after that, Judy got to spend a few minutes with her hand not in a cast at all. They even gave her time to sooth and wash her hand under warm water. The new cast is lighter and less painful. She is free to move her fingers, but not her thumb. Who need opposing thumbs anyway. Four weeks in the hard cast now; still keeping from doing anything that will make her arm sweat under the cast. The calendar has turned to fall, but the weather is still hot in The Valley. That means morning coffee on the deck while it’s only eighty outside, but back inside to the air conditioning by the time it hits ninety for the rest of the day; living her life one-handed, but not to worry, she has me; her left-hand man.
To the hard cast. The recovery is going well. Getting the old cast cut and pulled off was traumatizing, but after that, Judy got to spend a few minutes with her hand not in a cast at all. They even gave her time to sooth and wash her hand under warm water. The new cast is lighter and less painful. She is free to move her fingers, but not her thumb. Who need opposing thumbs anyway. Four weeks in the hard cast now; still keeping from doing anything that will make her arm sweat under the cast. The calendar has turned to fall, but the weather is still hot in The Valley. That means morning coffee on the deck while it’s only eighty outside, but back inside to the air conditioning by the time it hits ninety for the rest of the day; living her life one-handed, but not to worry, she has me; her left-hand man. Sometimes
…we get rain showers
Barely deterring the hummingbirds however.
Barely deterring the hummingbirds however. Hand surgery follow-up
Yes, it is serious surgery, but it is also a very common surgery. Thumb joints tend to wear out after 60 or 70 years of use. This surgery replaces the joint. The hand still hurts, especially if she moves it, and it seems she’s always moving it. There is a lot of healing going on in there. It’s the same surgery she had last year on her right hand. Now that hand works just fine, so we feel like the recovery time on this one is a good investment. We get a follow-up visit to the doctor on Wednesday. Judy will get to trade out the soft cast for a hard one. Morning view the other direction
It’s a little shaggy since we were gone all summer. I’ll get a couple bushes trimmed and we’ll be right back in shape. The hummingbirds continue their swarm.
And Judy’s hand rests (relatively) comfortably.