An insider’s view

For 17 years, all I’ve had was an outsider’s view. Last week, I gained an insider’s view. Let me explain.

Seventeen years ago, my sons and I started Visiting Angels® of Central Georgia. At first, I was an active partner, helping set up the business, calling new clients and everything else a new business needs. But gradually, over the years, I have backed away from everyday operations, such that now all I do is show up once a month for our business meeting. 

I guess that’s what retirement is supposed to look like and that’s just fine with me. Although, I do enjoy writing this weekly column trying to keep a spotlight on all things Senior, especially where they intersect with Visiting Angels®.

That’s exactly what happened to us last week as senior life crossed paths with Visiting Angels ® squarely at our house, as our first ever Caregiver met us in the driveway.

The Rest of the Story was a Monday-through-Saturday radio program hosted by Paul Harvey. The phrase, “And now you know the rest of the story” was a part of his newscasts even before the Second World War and then inspired its own series on the ABC Radio Networks, which premiered on May 10, 1976. 

The Rest of the Story consisted of true stories, by and large forgotten, based on a variety of subjects with some key element of the story held back until the end. Here’s the rest of our story, as Harvey would say.

Last week, my wife finally agreed to slow down long enough to have what the surgeon called a total hip replacement. While they were at it they lengthened her short leg by almost half an inch; amazing what modern medicine can do for us seniors these days! 

For years, ever since birth actually, she’s been challenged by one leg being shorter that the other by about an inch and a quarter. As you can imagine, that has created all kinds of challenges but rarely has it kept her “out of the game.” Rather, she’d just choose to endure the pain and push ahead.

Finally, it caught up with her, probably caused at least in part by the uneven legs. Just walking was getting too painful for her. So we scheduled the hip replacement for last Tuesday at the Perry Georgia Hospital which is now part of the Emory Healthcare system. 

And having it done there brought on its own memories. Forty seven years ago our first born daughter arrived at that hospital. We had been waiting nine long years for that blessing to happen. It just so happened that a good friend of ours had a Sunday morning talk and music program at the time.

He announced Karen’s birth early that morning on his show, which motivated about 50 visitors to come congratulate us after a very long labor that Bess endured, this being her first born. Needless to say, Bess was exhausted, but very happy at the end of that day!

Back to the insider’s view. My sons wisely arranged for us to have a Visiting Angels® caregiver waiting for us at the house when we got home. For those of you who have already had a hip replacement, or helped a spouse or someone else with one, you know how painful it is just to get into and out of the car and into the house. Thankfully, our caregiver was there to help! And so, we finally got an “insider’s view” of what it’s like to have a caregiver, and when you’re just home from the hospital with a new hip, it looks pretty good!

If any of you, or your spouse or parents are facing a total hip replacement, I’d heartily recommend you have a trained caregiver ready for the homecoming and a few days afterward as well.   

Thanks for reading All About Seniors, see you next week!

Bill Milby is a Director of Visiting Angels® of Central Georgia, a non-medical, living assistance service for seniors. If you have questions or comments about this column you can reach him at william.mercylink@gmail.com or search for us at  https://www.facebook.com/VisitingAngelsofCentralGA