Aid Lisa Zeiger Walk Again

About ME FOR X READERS: Author of Repose in the Metropolis: The Private Gardens of New York City (Schiffer 2023) View on Amazon. See also a talk I gave at NYSID: https://youtu.be/wuruK_b1TMY?si=xfj387nvOfnzdTEG

Hello to the many cherished new and old friends I stay in touch with through Instagram.

On May 29 2024 I woke up with my left leg severely swollen and oddly twisted

outward. I couldn't straighten my left foot to face forward. The first surgeon I saw diagnosed bone on bone arthritis of the hip (which I do indeed have on my right hip.) But the intensity of pain wrapping around my pelvis and left hip required a second opinion because after two 2 weeks I couldnt even shuffle around my apartment with a walker. My left leg would buckle under and I fell repeatedly and had to call 911. My current surgeon analyzed these events and X-rays determining that the rapidity of bone loss was likely caused by cut-off of blood supply to my left hip eventuating in total necrosis of the joint. My left leg is now over two inches shorter than the right leg and I can put no pressure on either leg

My surgeon has not ruled out infection as another possible cause. A CT probe revealed no infection but as a prophylaxis the doctor is inserting an antibiotic implant . When he replaces my right hip this summer he'll likely use an antibiotic implant again depending on if he finds infection on the left. Both legs will regain normal length.

Anyway, since May I've been unable to stand, walk, sit, use the bathroom,or shower. I am transported to medical appointments by stretcher in an Ambulette.

Between May and late July I paid neighbors to help me at home

Social Security is my only income, so these payments constituted at least half my income, all recorded in CashApp. I now need to recoup these moneys to work on my whole health going forward and to maintain funds for emergencies. I was completely blindsided by this event--by becoming completely disabled overnight.

In August I received a wonderful weekday home health aide from my insurance whose "rod and staff comfort me. " I love my aide beyond all measure. She is a holy young woman balanced by a wild sense of humor. I continued however to pay a neighbor out of pocket for help on weekends. The cost for unreimbursed hygiene products is through the roof.

A few but not most are reimbursed by Medicare/Medicaid.

So there we are. My surgery is April 10th.

A rebirth? With all the loving help I receive from my doctors and my aide, why not.?? I'm ready, this has been a most instructive chrysalis, a foretaste of extreme old age and disability I had always avoided thinking about. Doctors strike acute illnesses with force and thought but abiding good health is up to me.

I'm seeing an endocrinologist and a cardiologist once I'm walking again, God willing. My intuition is that such specialties are entangled and it may be that until the body is officially perceived as a unity, it falls to me to work hard on every element of good health. Prayer by myself and anyone else so inclined is possibly the most important effort if all. Than you all for the gift of your attention.