I woke up this morning and started to get out of bed, and looked down at my foot. I was surprised to see that something was wrong.

It turned out to be the beginning of a sort of messy day; several things that could go wrong did go wrong and then got right.

There was no surgical boot on my foot, and even worse, there was no bandage either. I was looking at a long line of very exposed surgical stitches, and I was doing the very thing the surgeon was most worried about: standing unprotected on the floor and putting pressure on the stitches.

“Oh, oh,” I said to Maria, “I’m in trouble; it looks like I’ll be heading back to Saratoga this morning to get a new bandage.”

The surgeon and the nurses were obsessive about the bandage; it was so sensitive and essential that it had to be covered at all times and dry.

I had to keep the surgical boot on all night in bed to avoid any risk of hitting the hard ground. The wound had to stay dry, no showers, off of the floor completely, and protected by heavy bandages and special cream.

Yet there was the raw wound, staring back at me in some wonder and confusion. Briefly, I thought it was laughing at me.  It wasn’t a good thing to happen.

But it was the boot that was the undoing; it caught on the bedsheets as I moved around and pulled the bandage right off. The wound looked good, but the dressing was trouble. I could hardly imagine how it got pulled off; it was so tightly applied.

Maria rushed into the breach, ran downstairs, and put a  gauze patch on. We got the boot back on, and I hobbled downstairs. Once again, no pain or discomfort. The surgery has never been painful, even right after the anesthesia wore off.

I called the surgeon’s office, got a couple of nurses right on the line.

They asked me a million questions and then called me back to suggest coming to Saratoga might be a good idea. I fought back a bit, saying the wound looked great; there was no redness, swelling, blood or staining, no red lines suggesting infection, no pain indicating discomfort.

I was losing the argument when one of the nurses said, “who was the person doing the bandages for you that we’ve seen these past few months?”

Oh, I said, sensing a window of opportunity, “that was my wife, Maria; you met her last week when she came with me to the office. She does great bandages, and she will re-do this one and put some antibiotic cream on it right away as you suggested.” More huddling.

“Well,” said the nurse. “We talked to Dr. Daly, and she said if Maria was the one doing those bandages, it’s okay for her to do this one, and we’ll see you next week, as scheduled?” (Translation, “we wouldn’t let you do it, Bozo, but if she does it, stay home.” I’m getting used to that.

First, we both rushed to Walgreens and stocked up on supplies.

Then Maria got all her gauze and bandage stuff out and built a massive application for my toe that I could hardly get my pants around. And I can leave the boots off when I sleep. Maria saved this day. She is terrific in a clinch, or even without one.

I’m all bandaged up and looking forward to next Wednesday when I can bathe, walk and wear shoes once more.

Speaking of sleep, I had some trouble last night with my apnea mask.

It was fine when I sat up but seemed to struggle when I rolled over on either side, expelling and making curious noises. It made this loudish blowing sound, and the air pressure seemed to get out of whack. Notwithstanding, I slept for five straight hours and felt strong this morning. But something was off.

I also noticed that I was trying to breathe through my mouth and my nose – this seemed a reflex, not a decision – and the mask had trouble with that. The mask is designed to cover the nose only.

When I was done with the podiatrist’s office, I called the very impressive and efficient mask company (Hometown Healthcare). I ended up in the “Patient Success” department, talking to Aaron, a  friendly and intelligent warrior for success.

He recognized the problem right away and said my breathing through my mouth and my nose was the problem. When that happened, the system got confused.

He is sending me a different mask (no charge), and I could keep the existing one. The new one would cover the mouth and the nose. And he promised it wouldn’t interfere with coddling with Maria.

He was sure this would eliminate the problem, and if, for any reason, it didn’t, I should call the Success team right away, any time, night or day. I loved the name, and Aaron was pretty impressive. So was the company.

I’ll have the mask in about two days. In the meantime, I sat for an hour this evening with the current mask, making an effort to breathe through my nose. There was no problem. But I’m not sure I can do that when I sleep, so I’m eager to try the other mask and see.

I consider this mask a profound success; it has already greatly improved my sleep, energy, and focus. I am excited to try the new one.

In between all this, Maria drove me up to the Millers with boxes of pie pans, small plastic containers, and a boot for Joe.  All of these things were delivered at the same time.

These were the things Moise and I  bought together yesterday,  but two of them – the boot and the container – were the wrong ones or the wrong size.

No sweat, I was planning to return them when Sue Silverstein called me from Bishop Maginn High School and said a new refugee student desperately needed a winter boot – size 6. That was the one I was going to return. I asked her if she had any need for 300 plastic cups, and she said yes, her art class could use them for painting.

They were the wrong size for  Barbara, the perfect size for Sue and her art class.

I’ll send the boot and the cups to her or bring them as soon as I can.

I went back to see Moise and Barbara and proposed not charging them for the wrong orders and paying for them out of the Mansion/refugee fund since that is where they are going.

I found the right size containers and the right boot and have ordered them. The  Millers received their donut boxes and pie pans and will use them tomorrow for Donut Day in their Food Shed. New boots are coming Friday; new containers are on Monday.

“This is what you get for asking me to do this work,” I said, and Barbara laughed out loud. Moise offered me some instructions on choosing the right thing, and I stopped him, “Hey, are you blaming me for all of this?” I asked. “I remember somebody else sitting right next to me.”

Everyone in the room was laughing, even Moise. I told Maria he tried to take a shot and putting it all on me, but I didn’t go for it. Moise is not used to being corrected or being wrong.

But he was laughing as hard as anybody, except possibly Barbara. The kids were drinking it up.

I told the Millers the things ordered were going to refugee families that needed them, and they seemed puzzled when I told them about Bishop Maginn.

I explained what I did with the school and what the school did for refugee children. I also explained what I meant by refugees and needy families since they seemed puzzled.

I talked about where these people came from and who they were in such need. They said they were happy they were getting these things. They seemed to be listening carefully.

Sue also told me that a new refugee family has just arrived in Albany this week and is joining the BMHS  community and has absolutely nothing in the way of possessions – no clothes, soap, detergent, deodorant, bed sheets,  kitchen utensils, pots, or pans.

The federal government used to help. They don’t anymore.

They are desperate; I offered to support an Amazon Wish List for this family, going up Friday or Monday. Please look for it and keep it if you can. This family is in dire need. They’re not asking for money, just personal and household needs.

Bishop Maginn and Mansion work mesh together well, and perhaps the Amish connection will also. Often now, the different threads of my life come together, and I think that can work for them and us. I love leveraging one along with the other.

All in all, a good, successful, and productive day.

My foot is quite happy and safe.

Maria saved me from another trip to the doctor’s office, the wound is healing beautifully, and the stitches will soon come out.

My sleep apnea project is taking some work and attention, but I have a whole Customer Success team behind me now, I feel very good about it; my body is having its own Spring.

And the Amish got some of the things they need (and will get the rest). Hopefully, we can help this refugee family settle into their new and very small home with some dignity and comfort.

I love it when everybody wins.