Before

Yesterday marked another milestone along Nyel’s road to recovery from his quadriceps repair – a new, form-fitting cast. It’s black and I have already begun to think of it as his “tuxedo leg.” It’s very sharp looking, especially compared to the old cast which, after six weeks, was looking rather scruffy.

This new one is ‘solid,’ as in it doesn’t have that ‘knee hole’ around his incision for monitoring the healing process. The “wound” (as medical folks called it) has healed perfectly and is now encased, out of sight, for another four weeks. Yes! Only four weeks to go until he is cast-free! Or so said his doctor. That’s a two-week reprieve from the heretofore expected leg de-frocking. Yay!

During

Plus, this new cast is quite a bit lighter weight. The first one had an extra “plate” along the back of his leg for extra rigidity. We knew it was there but it wasn’t until the cast expert struggled for some time to remove the old cast (and had to be told what the trouble was by the doctor) that we realized what was entailed. Even then, it wasn’t until we got home and I had occasion to help Nyel change positions in bed that I realized the enormity of his leg’s ‘weight loss.’ My aching back fairly danced with joy!

After

Once again, Nyel’s transfer to and from the car (this time, Bill and Sue Grennan’s van) was made ‘easy’ by our local EMTs and the drive to and from Rebound in Vancouver – through sheets of rain on I-5 – was handled with aplomb by Bill. We owe him bigtime!

So… it occurred to me this morning that Nyel might be able to help with Thanksgiving dinner. For sure he’ll be able to sit at the kitchen table and supervise. And from my perspective that will be something to be thankful for indeed!