Boston Marathon + my grandfather and necrotizing fasciitis
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I considered rescheduling this post today about my grandfather but decided to move forward. Yesterday was day I would like to rewind and play over with a new ending. We live outside of Boston and the tragedy that occurred in our backyard during the Boston Marathon was shocking and honestly, I woke up this morning and said, “did that really happen?”. I am still in disbelief. My heart goes out to the families of loved ones who were killed and injured. My son asked me yesterday why a bomb went off in Boston and he asked if the police caught the bad guys. Trying to shield him from the news and what goes on is this crazy world isn’t always easy and nine times out of ten, he finds out. I found this quote from Mr. Rogers that has surfaced since this tragedy and found it fitting. It’s something I am sure we all tell our children in one way shape or form.
My post today is about my grandfather and how we are on the hunt for a golf cart for him. Well, he thinks I’m kidding but I ‘m serious. I think we need to get him a golf cart to drive around the yard to go back and forth to his workshop. His workshop isn’t that far from the house but one of his legs has been bothering him lately and it makes it difficult for him to get around. My grandfather is a survivor of necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating infection that almost caused him to loose his leg 25+ years ago. He was one of the rare initial cases in the United States infected with this disease and I remember as a kid, him refusing to let them amputate his leg. Long story short, he went into surgery to have his leg removed and came out “with” his leg still in tact! They were able to remove the diseased tissue and save his leg. I remember his recovery was traumatic and the wound was the nastiest thing I had ever seen. I remember it like it was yesterday. I remember he had to give up his job as a truck driver and life as he knew it had changed. I told him the other day I was going to find him a used golf cart and he rolled his eyes at me. ha.
My grandfather is probably the most stubborn person I know. He finally started using the chair lift that my grandmother uses to get upstairs. He struggles with the fact that his legs just don’t work like they use to. This is my dad and son last summer riding around in the golf cart at our workplace. Don’t you think a golf cart for my grandfather is a good idea? My son thinks it’s a great idea! He envisions golf cart rides in the future :).
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I think a golf cart would be a great idea for him. It gives him the mobility he needs without the stigma of a hover-round commercial. Pimp it up by adding a tool box to the back of it. My grandfather used an old lawnmower (the mower part didn’t work anymore so he removed it). He built a rack on the back of it to carry around his tool box. I believe it added years to his life because he needed to be able to get around and tinker with stuff just to be happy.
Perfect idea!
Jessica, I would love for your Grandfather to have a golf cart! It’s a brilliant idea! I am so shocked and saddened by what happened @ Boston Marathon. I am also in disbelief. I love your blog, thank you for sharing your life with us!
I think a golf cart is a wonderful idea and you can find nice used ones. You all have been in my thoughts. As hard as it is for all of us I know it’s even more painful for those of you in the area. It’s so difficult when tragedy hits so close to home.
Unfortunately, I am all too familiar with necrotizing fasciitis. My sister developed this when she was in her early 20’s (25 years ago). It got in her blood system and she had complete organ shut-down. She spent three weeks in critical care (two of those weeks in a drug-induced coma)on life support and then three months in the hospital in recovery and rehab. As a result, she lost all of her fingers on both hands and half of both feet and has massive scaring on both of her thighs. She survived but still has lots of secondary issues associated the with nf. When she was in CCU, it was like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. If we were watching at the right time, we could see the nf as it moved in her body. Nasty stuff.
A golf cart is a great idea for your granddad. I agree that if you paint it and add items to it, he’ll use it without thinking of it in a bad way.
As for bad things in the news, you can’t shield your children forever. I’m sure you remember when the first space shuttle blew up with the teacher on board. My kids were both watching it live at school that day, but after school they went to my mother’s house and she wouldn’t turn the TV on or talk about it (because she had always kept us from stuff like that). So as soon as we picked up the kids after work, the first thing our daughter asked us when we got in the car was, “Did all the astronauts in the space shuttle die today?” I answered yes. That’s all she wanted to know. She was 8 and our son was 6 at the time. I believe children’s questions should be answered honestly and that they need to know what is going on in the world as it’s age appropriate.
What happened in Boston is so senseless, so hard to think someone is capable of this, it is sad…sad to explain it to your children I love what Mr Rodgers says, so perfect for this tradedgy! Love the golf cart idea 🙂
XO
Kristin
I bet you anything that if you get him a golf cart he will bombing around in that thing all the time, happy as could be! I learned about that disease in microbiology and can’t believe your poor grandpa was a victim of it! Good for him for being adamant about keeping his leg.
He has a smaller indoor one as well, but this one has a double seat and has some serious zip to it! I love the idea of a golf cart and we considered one as well, but this thing is street legal in NJ, so we went with this.
Glad your family is safe in the wake of the awfulness that happened in your “hometown”…
gena