[ Manvel ]

As you may or may not be able to discern from the above image, that’s a rod and a couple of pins inserted into the top of a femur.

No, it’s not my femur…but it is my mom’s.

This past Saturday night she fell while putting out food for her cats. Yes, she’s a cat-lady. Fortunately the fall wasn’t too hard, and I was there to lift her up and convince her it made sense to call an ambulance.

The bad news is that she did crack the neck of her femur. The good news is that it wasn’t a bad fracture, and that her surgery–the following Monday afternoon–went perfectly. The even better news is that she is now in an inpatient rehab center and they believe she’ll be back home and independent within two weeks. She’s back to her usual spunky self, tormenting her caregivers by threatening to chase them around the facility on a skateboard, if that’s what it takes to get their seal of approval to send her home.

What this means for the Africa trip is…not too much. I’m looking at a one- to two-week delay for my departure–basically as long as it takes to be sure we have her back home, independent, and that the Home Healthcare assistance is lined up to help her during a brief transition period.

It’s possible, if unlikely, that some unforeseen setbacks to her recovery may appear. If so, I will of course push things back further–but as it stands she’s threatened to “give me a whuppin'” if I don’t get out of her house and “try to outrun the elephants” on my bicycle.

I keep telling her it’s the camels I have to outrun first, but since when do moms listen?

Namaste folks, and stay tuned for more details as I have ’em.

—jim