REPLACEMENT PARTS

I feel like a dish washer, or a refrigerator or any other appliance you might find in your home. My parts are wearing out and in lieu of being able to buy a whole new appliance or in this case, a body, I find myself shopping for replacement parts. Aging isn't pretty or easy and if I had a million dollars I would spend a good deal of it putting a new coat of paint on this rusty old bucket. A face lift would be tops on my list for sure.  That turkey wattle that is hanging under my chin would be the first thing to go. Then some liposuction and tucks of flabby skin would follow along with a tummy tuck and some sand blasting to get rid of the umpteen wrinkles that are creeping across the surface of my face.
But I don't have a million dollars and so I am stuck with the mess I have created over the past 70 years of abuse of what God gave me.  And abuse this body I DID !!  Too much weight and not enough exercise have left me with knees that don't want to bend or hold me up. Poor old knees have had a rough time of carting my body around and so they became a wonderful resting place for that unwanted house guest; ARTHUR ITIS. 

Arthur moved into my joints several years ago and has been making himself more and more at home in my knees.  I am blessed that Arthur has not seen fit to travel to any other parts of my body but I am getting pretty sick of his presence in my knees.  I always thought the idea of people being able to forecast the weather by the ache in their joints was a joke but I can attest to the fact that it really IS true.  When it is going to rain my knees get so sore and cranky that I know we are in store for a rainy day.  Unfortunately there are lots of rainy days lately and the humidity has remained unseasonably high so my body has just been crankier than usual. As a result I have told Arthur it is time for him to move out and I am going to get some new artificial knees that will not accommodate Arthur Itis or any of his achey friends who would take up residence in my body's joints.

This being said I find it totally amazing that it is possible to replace body parts. I am aware that this practice has been going on for years but now that it is my turn to experience the wonder of modern science I am in awe of what can be done in the way of replacement parts. Knees, shoulders, hips, lungs, kidneys, hearts can all be replaced. The fact that knees and other joints can be replaced by artificial parts is even more amazing!  Even a heart can be replaced by a pump that is made by man.  I wonder where this will go for future generations.

I guess if I start with my knees who knows how long I can keep this body going. But then again with the state of the world do I really WANT to keep going? I guess I'll just start with the knees and see where that takes me a year from now and then just go from there. For now I get to go to physical therapy 3 times a week to strengthen my legs before the surgery in March.  Then I will get to  go to physical therapy to rehabilitate after the surgery.  I would prefer just sitting on my butt for the next 3 months but that would probably cause my butt to atrophy and then I'd have to get that replaced!