Skies have been a dribbling grey mess this week and the incessant rain has mirrored our mood somewhat! After my writing last week, Cassy's condition didn't really improve, so we bit the bullet and decided to get ourselves over to the dangerously titled Dr. Hang (!) for a proper othopaedic assessment of Cassy's pelvis/hip. Highly regarded and almost impossible to get in to see, said doctor is also a parent of TAS students, so we got a golden ticket on Thursday afternoon, which in turn began the major operation to get Cass over there to see him.
We had a few lessons for that most difficult of crutch techniques, the downhill stair walk, and Cass handled it with aplomb. Water sheeted down as I got the car from school and got it positioned near our door. The subsequent in and out then in and out of the car was negotiated and Dr. Hang was quickly able to identify a crack 2/3 of the way through her inferior pubis bone. An associated pulled muscle is providing much of the discomfort for her, as the fracture is in a non-weight bearing part of the pelvis. We're due back this Thursday to Hang so he can run through a few rehabilitation exercises.
Cass has wisely decided to give herself a couple more days to try to recover before she heads back to school, so she'll be Wednesday at the very earliest.
While I was cognizant of all the domestic work that Cassy does, it was not till she was incapable of it that the full immensity of the task dawned upon me! I've been flat out this week! For years, I've been on at Cass to get some domestic assistance as we are both full time workers and it makes sense (in my opinion). She has been quite resistant, partly because she sets very high standards (!) and partly because she finds the shopping, cooking, cleaning, washing etc etc very therapeutic after the academic demands of work. Suffice to say that I don't! In saying that, however, I've been pretty pleased with my ability to do all these tasks successfully if not, perhaps, to the exacting standards to which Madame has become accustomed (ahem).
Due to the interminable, mindless, stultifying list of domestic drudgery with which I was tasked, I am unable to report anything of note from this weekend, other than work, work, work and dreary, endless cascades of heavy rain. This same rain caused a few sensations up in the mountains near Keelung, an area we have traveled frequently when searching for surf on the north coast. Much like the time we avoided the landslide on the freeway, this time, a landslide and giant boulder came crashing down a mountain onto the very heavily used road. It has to be seen to be believed how lucky these people are!
So, the spoiled petulant brat writing this entry also must report how proud he is of his brave wife putting up with an extremely frustrating and painful injury. It was a terrible shock to one who has never broken a bone or sustained a wound worth stitching! She has however, now ruined an enviable record. Perhaps this break doesn't really count because it can't receive a cast? We're now thinking how we can negotiate the vast interiors and shotgun corridors of the school when she gets back. Probably a combination of car ferrying, wheelchair pushing and crutch wielding should do the trick until such time that she feels able to walk independently again. Baby steps...
Photos: my new team (notice the male representation!), Blackie, some new tomato products, offerings to the gods on the footpath outside a local business. The "moop" returned and I snapped a fuzzy shot in the teeming rain (this thing is like the Yeti!). Also a busy Friday night "tent restaurant", kids on scooters and our fearless lawmen.
Cassy reading Lionel Shriver's Big Brother and Dave reading Andrew Vachss's Terminal
