Date: 2006-03-12
From: NOC Wesser, NC

To: Blairsville, Ga
Miles today: 0.0

Update I thought I would write a short update this morning and thank everyone who sent emails, signed my guestbook or brought food over to my house and for showing why I like the A.T. so much....you are THE BEST people in the world!!!! I am going to answer each and every email or guestbook signing that I received. It may take me a few days or even a week because there are so many, but I want to thank everyone who got in touch with me....and I will. I broke my arm on the 7th, got xrayed on the 8th and had an appointment with an Orthopedic Surgeon on the 9th. The good news is that it was a broken arm and not a torn rotator cuff. There was more good news...the break was a complete break through the bone in my upper left arm, just about 2 inches below the socket where the arm attaches to the shoulder, but it was not displaced. That meant I didn't need surgery. The doctor set me up with a sling, although my old belt worked pretty well. He said that it would take about 6 weeks to heal, then more time to get my strength back. I have been surprised by how quickly I get tired right now. I try to do stuff around the house to keep moving, but I get real tired and have to get back in the recliner to rest.I'm not used to getting tired like that, but it really feels great to be able to sit back in the recliner and not hurt much. I've tried laying in bed, but can't do that yet. Today is a big day for me....Short Cut and I are going for a walk on the A.T. around noon. I'm hoping to walk up Cowrock Mountain and sit on the rocks up top. I think I can do it if I go slow. I've got to start training for the rest of my '06 walk!!! :-))) If my Mother reads this, I'm going to be in BIG trouble. Ha!!! I want to send special thanks to a few people.....Heald and Fred for making it so easy to get back home from NOC. Mother Nature and Smokestack for coming over and bringing food!!! They brought a huge chicken casserole, a whole cake and a whole coffee cake, but best of all, they came over and we got to talk about hiking. :-))) Mrs Moosie, Moosie and Goldilocks who brought chicken noodle soup all the way from Ct. They also brought bean soup, a 12 pack of cokes and a bottle of wine!!I was supposed to walk with Moosie and Goldilocks this week, but I'm afraid I'd slow them down too much now. :-))) Short Cut came all the way up from Miami to help and I really needed the help. I never thought how difficult it would be to use one hand for everything, much less to use one hand and have the other side hurt when you move. She even washed my feet that had about 90 miles of trail dirt on them. I wouldn't have been able to reach the feet for a while yet. Thanks to everyone else that has offered to come and help....you are all amazing friends and I'll never be able to thank you enough. Mother Nature said that she had seen a thread on Whiteblaze about my fall and that hikers were wishing me a speedy recovery. Thanks TJ aka Teej for that thread. I got on the computer yesterday and saw it. Boy, did that ever make me feel good!!! :-))) I don't have immediate plans yet as to how I'll finish my walk this year, but I will get it done somehow. I'm feeling good knowing that my body is working on repairing itself. I'll see how fast that happens and get back to walking when I can. Thank you, thank you, thank you.....you are ALL the best!!!! :-)))