SurvivingSara

Tag: life

  • On the Other Side

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    Very relieved to be put back together, as Dr. Barrow described the results of my surgery to my husband post-op. Two nerve blocks for my ankle and low leg have me free of pain for the first time since I fell three weeks ago. Going to enjoy every minute until the blocks wear off. A…

  • Going Under

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    A metal plate along with some screws and pins sounds more like a shopping list at the local hardware store than supplies for surgery, but that combo is what I’ve been told is necessary if I ever “want to have a functional ankle.” My fibula has a complete break which changes into a spiral fracture,…

  • A Bit of the Bubbly

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    My husband has long advocated for the use of a bubble suit, for my safety, me wearing a bubble suit. I’ve fallen down stairs, rolled an office chair over my own toes, and I can injure my back by sneezing. On a regular daily basis, my life comes with sound effects every time I bump,…

  • Boot Scootin’ Boogie

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    After hobbling around for two weeks, I finally got a boot! I’ve been trying to get one since the x-rays showed a broken fibula four days ago. Orthopedics took new pictures today, which showed a spiral fracture of the fibula and a probable fracture of the tibia. The physician assistant who saw me today said…

  • No Words

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    When time came to confirm my counseling appointment, scheduled for yesterday, instead of choosing “confirm” or “cancel” I left a rambling message for my provider. One bit about having two sprained ankles, explaining I literally didn’t know what to do. You’re supposed to talk to your support when you’re down, yes? I waited a few…

  • Where It’s At

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    I got two sprained ankles and a microphone. Can’t get that Beck song out of my head. It pops up every time I think or talk about my situation. Relevant pictures will follow the text, but they’re pretty gross, so this is your warning. I have two sprained ankles and two injured knees. The pain…

  • Blackbird Sings

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    A time to mourn in a time of much grief, my stepfather-in-law died this morning. He was a tough old bird, made it to 92 despite of myriad health challenges, and his grip remained strong. He was 60 when I met him in his backyard, fastidiously cared for by my in-laws. He’d worked his way…

  • Parent is Also a Verb 1/21/22

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    When my husband and I brought our second son home, our first son was 19 months old. He seemed to barely notice the addition. As a stay-home mom, the first couple of years were full of parallel activities: feeding them both included breastmilk for one and fingerfood for the other, different size diapers needing changed,…

  • Parent is Also a Verb 1/14/22

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    Are you expecting your offspring to grab the keys and take off when they turn 16 or will you require they practice, take classes, and be tested so as to qualify for a license? We don’t just let our teenagers drive away because they’ve turned 16, although they may attempt to convince us that would…

  • The Nitty Gritty

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    Tiny news items: Twenty years I’ve called this house my home. Today, I was puzzled by the mechanism of the front window vertical blinds. It took several minutes to achieve the desired effect. A longer pause than usual spent catching the word that’s just there, on the tip of my tongue, can be explained away,…

  • I’ll Take a While

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    Just shy of two hours, I felt only content and grateful, which brought a smile to the edges of my mouth. Mindfulness helped me recognize it and then enjoy. Most often, negative talk in my head creeps through the well-established ruts, dangling “You know this won’t last. Where is that other shoe? Around any corner?…

  • Unexpected

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    If I blog about not blogging, am I an oxymoron? Doing this post just so I could use that line, not gonna lie. Chronic pain and illness are partially, if not wholly, responsible for the completely blank and arid condition of my brain. I recognize that this time of year is kind of a lull…

  • Juice

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    I miss blogging but I’ve been completely uninterested. After my post, “Write Out” on December 18, 2021, I closed what has been my primary source of creativity and competence, and didn’t open it again until today, January 4, 2022. I opened my blog not out of an abundance of words ready to spill nor spurred…

  • Surviving Sara’s Ramblings

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    About those updates I’ve promised previously: Bright Line Eating: Ugh. Don’t ask. I ate mostly french fries and milkshakes following my tooth extraction and I never really got back to my concerted effort to minimize flour and avoid most processed sugars, coffee creamer excepted. The holidays are here, which doesn’t really change a thing in…

  • No More

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    ***This post contains coarse language and isn’t meant for very young people or those with a delicate sensibility.*** Had a massage appointment yesterday. I’ve been seeing the same massage guy for five years, so we’re pretty confortable with each other by now. In the morning, I told my husband I really wasn’t looking forward to…

  • On Brokenness

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    Weak, breathing slow and shallow. Certain no one will see me, surprised each time someone reads me here. No longer a good daughter, sister, friend. Letting it all go. It doesn’t matter who I was or what I did. Shedding every bit of that. What’s left? Acceptance. Gotta work on that. When the prettiness turns…

  • Vertigo Vexation

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    My old friend, Vertigo, has stopped in for a visit. If you are blessedly unfamiliar, the best way to describe the sensation I experience is to take you back to when you were a child. Playing outside on front yards and sidewalks, a friend would spin you round and round while you scrunched your eyes…

  • Parent is Also a Verb 12/5/21

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    Let your love shine through, no matter what the circumstances! When you bring a little snuggle bunny home, it’s not hard to love unconditionally. It has to be unconditional because your baby has nothing to offer except spit up and terribly malodorous diapers. Luckily, loving them up does not require a good mood at 3…

  • Speaking My Peace

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    Can you guess which front porch sign I chose and which one my husband installed later? The first time a solicitor presented afterwards, he was surprised and a bit offended. Following a second salesman wanting to give an estimate for some service or other, my husband was really irritated. He’d planned to ask for a…

  • The End of the World As We Know It

    —

    by

    Sara Z
    in

    Don’t shake my hand or give me a hug. A cough or sneeze causes high alert. And just when you might feel as though you’ve got this down and we’re learning to live with the new pathogen, similar to how hospitals and people deal with the flu annually, along comes delta and, later, omicron. They’re…