Right now Ethel and I are enjoying the nice warm days and cool nights here in Hermosillo. Over the last year I have had the opportunity to think quite a bit about the people in my life, both friends and family as living in Mexico makes you all less accessible.
It has been a very full year for me and Ethel. 2010 started out for me with deteriorating mobility and numerous medical exams with the conclusion that both my hips needed to be replaced. Yikes!! As walking became more painful, and walks got shorter and shorter, I did everything to try to put off the inevitable, perfecting the art of procrastination as a tool to avoid the fear of having these major operations. But there is one thing constant pain provides without exception and that is a reminder, albeit excruciating, that in order for life to find normalcy, the risk of having the operation is small compared to the alternative of living a life in pain.
In April 2010 I had my left hip replaced, by a wonderful surgeon and person here in Mexico, Dr Baidon. While there was resulting pain from the operation, it did not compare to the pain I was experiencing before the operation. From the first day after the operation, I was feeling better! My activities over the summer were fairly limited and once I was declared free to return to normal activities (excluding things like running, baseball, cage fighting, combate), I had several months of pretty normal routine. I even played a bit of golf!
Ethel played such a major role in my rehabilitation. She was there 24/7 during and after the operation, feeding, washing, cleaning wounds and ferrying me to physical therapy sessions 6 days a week. The first few weeks included helping me get dressed, take showers and keeping our vegetable garden alive. During all this time Ethel managed to keep her art profession bouncing along as well. Quite an extraordinary woman!
Here she is with her daughter Kati
By September I knew it was time to start thinking about the other hip and on November 15th I had the right hip replaced. I am just now a little over a month into the recovery, having just finished physical therapy. While this recovery seems to be going faster, there is still probably at least 6 weeks until something like normal seems possible. Again, Ethel has really stepped up to the plate and has been invaluable to my healing. This time around she maintained her art class as well as preparing for an exhibition of her work in the new art Museum here in Hermosillo in 2011.
So that’s the short version of 2010. In between operations, I managed to set up several LLC’s and partnerships to purchase condo’s in the Phoenix area. I am hoping to close on the 3rd unit by the end of 2010!
Here’s hoping your 2010 was fruitful and abundant with creative projects, relationships and activities with 2011 providing more of the same opportunities.
Love and blessing to you and I hope I will be able to see you soon!
Feliz Navidad!
Love Don / Ethel
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