The Case of the Extra Foot Bone

My husband began having problems with his left foot during the summer after mowing the center of the long driveway. He attributed the pain to wearing the wrong shoes, and eventually the problem seemed to heal itself.

Last Thursday he was "wrestling" a big, heavy tractor tire. I could see him through the kitchen window and went out to yell at him, "Knock it off! You're going to hurt yourself!" I was right, of course. A few hours later his foot was red and swollen, and he could barely stand on it. On Friday he went to work on crutches, and I called my favorite orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Heninger for an appointment.

Before we went in yesterday (on our federal holiday off work), I told my husband, "I can tell you this has something to do with your posterior tibial tendon--the old PTT." Well, guess what...I was correct. The diagnosis after x-ray is that while he was blessed with an extra bone in his foot where the PTT attaches, his very strong PTT tore a piece right off the extra bone! Now he's scheduled for surgery on the 22nd. While it's not ideal for him to be having surgery while I'm away from home, there were two considerations that weighed in favor of plowing on: 1) we've already met our deductible for this year (due to my own surgery and physical therapy expenses) and 2) we're going to Pennsylvania for Christmas and Paw Paw needs to be healed before wrestling with the grandkids.

We've said it before and we'll say it again: Getting old is not for sissies, even if you do have extra bones.

Sisters Retreat II, or Gatlinburg Gala

My three sisters and only sister-in-law, who ironically is the only one of us bearing the family name, met for our second annual retreat September 9 in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Also in attendance was a good friend who is unofficially adopted into the otherwise exclusive group.

Our accommodations were outstanding! Sometimes when you book lodging based on internet information, what you get is not necessarily even similar to what you saw in the images online. This time the photos were an honest portrayal of the article. We were delighted and very comfortable in our huge cabin ("lodge" seems more appropriate). Because this was post-vacation season (two days after Labor Day), we had virtually no neighbors. A group of "bikers" arrived on Friday, but our observations of them were that they were dentists or CPA's. Sister 3 (by birth order) could tell that by the way they parked their Harleys.

We spent our days roaming through the shops in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville (Dolly Parton country), looking at pottery and other assorted craft items. There was a classic car show going on, so it took nearly as long to drive through these small towns as it did to travel from Indianapolis to Gatlinburg, a 400+ mile trip. One afternoon we hit the outlet mall. In the evenings, we mostly ate and sat around on the deck overlooking the magnificent Smoky Mountains. A good time was had by all, even though Sister 3's strawberry rhubarb preserves were confiscated by the TSA people at BWI Airport when she tried to carry them on in her bag back to Chicago. I managed to arrive home with my pumpkin butter rolled up in a pair of jeans inside my checked luggage.

Now, where will we be in 2010 for Sisters Retreat III? While we discussed the options, no decision has been made. Bar Harbor, Maine?