Why my life will never be reality TV worthy…

I have had a relapse of the more severe anemia. My concentration at work is lagging and I am tired all the time. Its way worse than the hip issues.  Sometimes though all this makes me laugh. Maybe I laugh so I won’t cry.

Yesterday I came home during my roommate’s bible study. It was 9:30 time for my little anemic self to get ready for bed. Getting dressed and undressed on hip precautions (no bending past 90 degrees) takes twice as long and is mind-numbingly frustrating at times. I went to remove my socks with my good foot and in the process I pulled the scab off a bug bite. I am on Asprin to prevent blood clots post-surgery so I bleed from small cuts like I have stepped on nails. So here I am sitting there with blood running down my ankle. My house is full of strangers who block my way between my room and the bathroom. I am wearing only underwear on the bottom and a loose shirt on the top. I can’t put my PJ pants on because I don’t want blood all over them and all over my legs. I can’t wipe the ankle clean because I can’t reach it on hip precautions.  Finally I grab a blanket pool cover up thing from St Croix, wrap it around my waist, hop over to my flip flops (so not easy on a new hip) so I don’t drag blood all the way to the bathroom. Then I try to run fast  (as if I can run at all ever much less right now) through the hallway in hopes no will notice me running in a tropical pool cover up and night shirt with blood gushing from my ankle.  They did and they sort of stared at me as if I had lost my mind.

I turn the bath water on and stand there with my sponge with the long handle (compliments of Mt Sinai Orthopedics) and wipe away the blood and clean the tiny, tiny, tiny sore on my ankle. All that drama for a mm break in the skin. I walk back to my room, pull on my pants and laugh as I got into bed.  Then before I could read two pages I fell into the deep, desperate sleep of anemia.