I’m happy to report that Dr. Daly finally ok’d my burning the surgical boots I’ve been wearing on and off for a couple of years and wearing my regular shoes with a brace for the left leg.

I enjoy wearing my regular jeans again and putting my left foot into a shoe. The photo above shows me walking without support or surgical boots for the first time in a couple of years.

I’m hanging on to the werewolf cane; you never know.

We were jubilant; no more daily bandaid and anti-biotic treatments for my toe, which is no longer with us. The boots wreaked havoc on my back and legs; the brace doesn’t bother me, which I suppose is the idea.

No more hobbling around on the boot. I’m just walking around with Zinnia, which should not be a big deal (sound familiar), but it is somehow.

I just got off the phone with Saratoga Hospital, and they asked me to be at the surgery center early in the morning.

No food or drink after midnight, only one medication allowed, and no wedding ring, necklace, or metal. I will be in sweatpants and then in a hospital robe and anesthetized while some powerful machine blasts my single kidney stone with sound waves.

The doctor says it’s 75 percent successful. I like the odds.

The nurses say there will be some pain and discomfort following the surgery; There are not nearly as many emotional issues as there were surrounding my toe amputation, but surgeries are surgeries,  and hospitals are hospitals.

Neither of them are meant to be fun.

At least I won’t need a walker to get into my house.

Our visit to Dr. Daly’s office will be the last one for a month, and there was a great sense of celebration of having come to the end of something that went on for a long time and challenged all of us in many ways.

I brought an Amish pie, along with cookies and fudge. The nurses were happy. We made some friends there and had some real fun. I love the cookies. We never stopped laughing together, we all know that life can sometimes be ridiculous.

I even got some hugs on the way out.  I’ll be back, I said, you haven’t seen the last of me. I’m a great admirer of nurses and school teachers. They are both essential to our lives and are overworked and underpaid.

I hope the particular chapter and experience are over. We’ll see. I’ll be seeing Dr. Daly for a long time, if not forever.

In the meantime, surgery is early in the morning. We are prepared for anything but normalcy. I’ll be in touch when it’s possible and wake I wake up from the anesthesia.

We’re still a little dazed from the last surgery but recovering quickly. It’s not a crisis. It’s life.