When I broke my ankle in three places 25 years ago, requiring three surgeries, it was a difficult time. Titanium parts were implanted, they remain to this day. For years I carried a 4” x 6” photo of my ankle x-ray in an envelope when I went to an airport, although I never set the security machine off. I remember writing a quote on the envelope about a life without scars being a life not well lived.
Doing a bit of spring cleaning last week, I removed everything from our bathroom closet, organizing hair products, q-tips, over the counter medications and other “toiletries.” Expiration dates were checked, old items thrown away.
The top shelf held a heating pad plus an old at-home blood pressure monitor. There were also two bins. One stored all kinds of wound care bandages. We aren’t talking band-aids or butterfly bandage, we are talking specialty bandages specific to a particular type of laceration. I have had thirteen surgeries in my life, most of them orthopedic. Which brings me to the second container: braces and bandages for thumbs, wrists, elbows, ankles, knees and even toes.
Neither box held anything my husband has ever needed. It’s all me. I am both proud and slightly ashamed of this fact.
I used to think my vision loss was the most impactful part of my story, but all of the other physical challenges have added up. Going back to the quote I wrote down over two decades ago, I would say that I have led a life well lived. I have the plates, screws, scars and bathroom closet top shelf to prove it.
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