I’ve gotten a number of requests to arrange the Saving Elmo stories from start to finish, pulling them together like a book.
There’s nothing really new about it; it’s just a different way to read the posts related to (a) my knee replacement, and (b) the longer, arguably a lot more painful fracture and attempted repairs. As new stories post, they’ll automagically be added to the bottom of the page. (Dontcha just LOVE tech?)
Elmo is my two-year-old knee replacement, so I’ll start there. The fight to save Elmo, though, begins on September 16, 2016, when I fell down some stairs. That’s the second, and much longer, group of posts.
Enjoy!
Introducing Elmo the Knee Replacement (2015-2016)
PEACOCK ENERGY!
So yesterday. I'm in line at the market, wrapped up in my own head, mostly thinking about stuff I have [...]
Exit The Knee
I’m about to have a body part whacked to bits. The Knee is making a premature exit from the rest [...]
Drive-by birding
"Do anything exciting tonight?" asked my friend Clarissa. ...except that Clarissa isn't really her name. "You writing about this the way you [...]
Severance package
Dear The Knee (“TK”); It is with great regret that we inform you that your position as Left Knee for Cynthia [...]
How I spent my summer
Meet Elmo, a contraption of titanium and silicone, now serving as my left knee My summer didn't include [...]
Saving Elmo (post-fall, 2016-present)
September 2016
Saving Elmo 1: I fight concrete…and lose
On Friday, Sept. 16, I fractured my left femur just above Elmo, my replacement knee. Four days and two surgeries [...]
Saving Elmo 2: The Plan
On Friday night, Sept. 16, I fractured my left femur just above Elmo, my replacement knee. Four days and two [...]
October 2016
Bedpans and reachsticks
On Friday night, Sept. 16, I fractured my left femur just above Elmo, my replacement knee. Four days and two [...]
Saving Elmo 4: The Meltdown
On Friday night, Sept. 16, I fractured my left femur just above Elmo, my replacement knee. Four days and two [...]
Mr. Desmond
On Friday night, Sept. 16, I fractured my left femur just above Elmo, my replacement knee. Four days and two [...]
Death by chicken
It's like a horror movie: You walk into your chicken coop and roosters attack, spurs and beaks shredding your [...]
November 2016
8 weeks: Patience for the unvirtuous
Happy crashiversary, Elmo! Two months ago, the bottom of my left femur seceded from my leg. If I've learned anything [...]
Cliffhangers, clues, and claying around
Today is E-day, IOW, my monthly trek down to the orthopedics hospital, where they do all kinds of x-rays and [...]
January 2017
Elmo, Beorn, and the Ferengi’s ears
If you're wondering what's up with The Leg: We're hanging in there. LOTS of other stuff has happened that'll show [...]
March 2017
The wheeled view
I saw Marcus* out of the corner of my eye, stopped at the crossroads, obviously waiting for us. Kaitlyn and I [...]
Moonlight at sunrise, with jitters
Awake to my sister practicing the last movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor: Moonlight Sonata at sunrise. I [...]
On the bone again…
Oh....the footbone's connected to the anklebone The anklebone's connected to the shinbone The shinbone's connected to the Elmobone Now hear [...]
The Fortress
"Well, hello there!" she beamed, "What are YOU doing back here?" I'm back at The Fortress, the rehab center where [...]
April 2017
Whippersnapper
"What did you do in life?" he asks cheerfully, interestedly, and I nearly punch his lights out. "The last time [...]
Room 15: Paying it forward
"Does THIS look better to you?!" she raged, pointing to her leg, "It's supposed to be ELEVATED. Does this look [...]
May 2017
Home-ward bound
I'm going home. Until a couple of weeks ago, I hadn't so much as driven onto my street for more than [...]
June 2017
Drivin’ Miz Cynthia
Driving is easy. Driving with wheelchair is not. Wheelchairs are wonderful beasts, enabling you to get from Point A to [...]
Driving Miz Cynthia, Part Two
Eric the Wheelchair Guy wears a permanent grin and stands tall. The standing tall part is important, because his [...]
No place like it…
Nikki welcomed me home with wild abandon and never settled down for a good photo...but wouldn't [...]
Saving Elmo: Sometimes the bear eats you
As far as saving Elmo (my knee replacement) is concerned: We didn't. Barring miracles, he becomes a biohazard on July [...]
July 2017
Filling up on sweetness, with fragility
"Excuse me," I said quietly to the cashier, handing her my receipt, "Would you mind giving this to the next [...]
Wheelchair traveler…
The pic is a storyboard from an upcoming Will Vinton claymation movie, and it seemed particularly apropos considering what I'm [...]
Tripping the light surgical: Saving Elmo II
"I'd propose," said Doc David, "A very different course." Six words. Life-changing words, words that open up a whole new [...]
Femurs, accessibility, and Utah: Saving Elmo II
Cramming four flights, three states, and two surgical consultations into three days would be a challenge for anyone, but moreso [...]
Zeroing in and leveling out
BANG!! The crutch crashed down onto Elmo. Ouch. "I'm so SO sorry!" he gasped, taking my hand, "Oh my god [...]