Who needs to sweep the floor, anyway?

Guess what! The ol’ girl’s not quite finished yet. Close, but no cigar.

Life can sure throw you for a lulu when you least expect it.

I was just breezing along through the month of March doing all the things we old gals do: puzzling, playing Rummikub and card games like Bridge and Three 13. I was just waiting for spring and hoping for a better year than last. Weren’t we all??

My folks’ favorite card game was Pitch, and I grew up watching at the corner of the table eating peanuts and popcorn. I thought I was living high on the hog. Back then, people created their own social life; their entertainment was visiting with good, close friends. They were rich in ways money couldn’t buy. Funny, but I still enjoy the same kind of things with all my dear friends.

But I digress. I was going to tell you about the whammy life threw me recently. I was doing some long overdue sweeping in my hallway, when out of the blue, I hit the floor, and the floor hit me, fracturing my right femur — what most people would know as a hip fracture.

As I lay there thinking, “What the heck am I going to do?” I said to myself, “Judy Mae, you’ve done it now!” Of course, I didn’t have my cell phone on me, as I had promised my children I would do. If the truth was known, it probably wasn’t even charged up. I was able to skootch while half-sitting up to the living room phone. I called my son Brad, who lives close by. He called 911 right away. They scooped me up and whisked me off to the hospital. All the commotion sure riled up all the neighbors to come out and see what the heck was going on. The rest was kind of a blur.

The fall occurred on a Monday, and I went to surgery on Wednesday. By Saturday, I was on the road again to head to the Lutheran Home’s Providence Place for therapy and rehab to recover and be able to walk again. At that stage of the game, I didn’t know if that would ever happen.

My first session was with a very competent young therapist, Stephanie Goddard. I was in a lot of pain, and my mood was as low as it could get. She looked me right in the eye and said, “Give me one week, and I promise that you will feel better.” After a tough week, she was right on the money. I began to feel better.

Now, don’t get too excited — my saga was not over yet. As my therapy progressed, I began to get a new pain in my hip. I had an appointment with the surgeon the following day. As soon as I arrived, I was taken for an X-ray, which revealed the hardware had migrated from the desired location, a rare complication.

Well, you guessed it … the ol’ girl was headed back to surgery the next day for a complete hip replacement, right back to square one. Needless to say, I was a bit flabbergasted, but having no other option, I started all over again. This time, I was allowed to return home the day after surgery rather than going to Providence Place for rehab. My son Brad is a retired anesthesiologist who recently moved back to Cape. He stayed with me and gave me the best of care, for which I shall be eternally grateful. I am now recuperating, and I thank God, Brad, all my family, Bruce, Debbie, Bryan and special friends for all the prayers, well wishes, gifts and condolences I received.

If I’ve learned anything from this experience, it is that one should not take anything for granted. Just be thankful for each day and make the best of it.

On a lighter note, I gotta tell you about my special visitor at Providence Place. My therapist is a serious horse lover. I share that interest, as well. When I was young, my idols were Ella Raines of “Tall in the Saddle” fame and Roy and Dale Rogers. Anybody else remember them but me? Stephanie told me all about her horses and showed me lots of pictures. She had just gotten a beautiful miniature horse, and I thought it was gorgeous. Stephanie said her name was Aunt Dolly, and she’d like to bring her to Providence Place sometime.

Much to my surprise, she loaded up Aunt Dolly and did just that. The nurses told me I had a special visitor, and lo and behold, Stephanie led the little horse inside the building, right into my room and right up to my recliner. I even got to feed her out of my hand. Needless to say, she caused quite a commotion! Everybody took pictures, and they even appeared on The Lutheran Home Facebook page. Look them up — they’re delightful.

With that bit, I’m wrapping up this article and saying the ol’ girl is getting better each day, and she’s not done in yet. Whoopee!!

The ol’ girl, Judy Mae