By SUE SEIBERT
I had a person whom I don’t know well at all tell me what an impatient person I am. My goodness, I didn’t realize it showed so much to those who do not know me very well; but, of course, she is right. I am. They say patience is a virtue. It is, but, sadly, it isn’t one of mine.
Not long ago Raf and I attended the funeral of one of his music friends. He was a young man who had suffered much and who left a lovely family. It was a sad occasion, but it was joyful to us, too, as many friends whom we don’t see often were there to pay respects and to make music, as Raf did, during the wake and at the funeral.
I was speaking to a friend from Austin who had double knee surgery about the time I had mine – way over three years ago. He is suffering, as am I, but his suffering is double as neither of his knees feel as well as they did before. And as most people I have spoken to have told me that knee replacement is a piece of cake, I was glad to find someone who knew a bit about how I was feeling.
You see, we are all different, of course. And while many people do wonderfully well after knee surgery, as I did after hip replacement, many like me don’t do so well at all. And frankly, if it wasn’t for my massage therapist, Debbie Donaldson, I don’t know that I could get through it nearly as well as I do!
I asked my Austin friend if there was any medication that helped him alleviate the pain, and he said no. He said he had heard that certain “smokable” remedies were sometimes helpful, but I told him I really didn’t think I wanted my grandson John, who is now a police officer, to have to tell everyone, “Well, I had to arrest Grandma today.”
So, mostly with Debbie’s help, with prayer and, of course, with Raf’s love I get through the pain.
However, now I am faced with something else. No pain involved, mind you, but with a ton of frustration.
I had cataract surgery the third of January. As I didn’t have any recent glasses that were not frameless, I had to punch out the left lens from an old pair and endeavor to use the other side which was a four-year-old prescription. So, for five weeks, the only thing I could do was watch television. As far as my columns went, I touch typed them, and Raf corrected the typos.
Then the doctor gave me a glasses prescription. I took it right in to be filled, for $600 I might add, and when it was time to pick them up, I was told the lab had scratched a lens! So I had to wait several extra days.
The new glasses came and, low and behold, I still can’t see well. I can read and type and the lowest lens is pretty good, but I have to use the middle lens for distance and the uppers don’t work at all. So it does not feel safe to drive.
I went back to the doctor who gave me some meds and said that he would see me in two weeks. It appears that I am not doing as well as the 95 percent I suppose, who seem to come through this with no bad results.
Now you can see where the patience comes in. I am trying … I really am! Praying a lot and Raf is helping, as is my cousin who has been through this too.
So remember, when you have a surgery, or whatever, it may take a while for a good result. Maybe this is finally going to be the time I learn patience! With God’s help!
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