HEAD, SHOULDERS, KNEES AND TOES

There is a little song that we sang with the kids when they were little to help them learn the parts of the body. It was called "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes."

Well, our mission is beginning to feel like this song. First, Arnold got a blister on his big toe from all the walking we did when we first got to Bordeaux (we were afraid to drive). This blister turned into a sore that has never healed. It has not gotten better, but it has also not gotten any worse either.

Then JoAnn has had trouble with migraines since we got to France - not the really awful ones, just the ones that make her vision go a little crazy and cause her nausea. That covers the head part.

JoAnn also got tendinitis in her shoulder, which, although it is a lot better, has still not completely healed after 8 months.

Now, Arnold (never liking to leave things partial undone) has completed this little ditty with trouble with his knee. It was hurting him this last week, and Tuesday when he tried to climb the stairs to the apartment the pain became unbearable. We had the Elders come and give him a blessing Tuesday night. The extreme pain subsided almost immediately, but by Friday, it was still giving him trouble, so Toon went with us to the emergency room.

We don't know what we would do without Toon. He is our knight in shining armor - always coming to our rescue. He came to the apartment and helped Arnold down the stairs. At the hospital he was able to navigate the typical hospital maze, find a place to park and help interpret what the doctor had to say.

They took x-rays and this is what they found....This tree was just outside of the emergency room. It was so interesting that we had to take a picture. We thought it was quite appropriate for the entrance to the hospital.

Actually, these are the real x-rays. They look fine to us, what do you think? Anyone want a 3x5 copy to put on their desk?They do interesting things here with the x-rays. Instead of giving you those huge awkward copies, they give them to you on a CD. So convenient. Then if you go again, they put the updates on them so you have a nice history of what has gone on before.

They told Arnold that the knee is worn out. They gave him some crutches to use for now and told him to stay off of his feet for at least 10 days and take Ibuprofen.

Arnold is doing much better now and, even though we will be spending our 44th anniversary at home, things are looking up, and we are so grateful that that little song doesn't have any other body parts in the title.

P.S. Thanks to our niece Karen, we now remember that the song also includes eyes, ears, mouth and nose. Be assured we are working on those too. In January, JoAnn had surgery on her eye for a torn retina, and Arnold has had trouble with his ears. During most of our mission, he has periodically nearly lost his hearing, but each time it has returned. Now we are looking over our shoulder just waiting for the mouth and nose part of the song to hit. Thanks, Karen!

We were talking last night and realized that, even though we have had health challenges while on our mission, nothing has turned out to be really serious, and we have even managed to not miss more than a partial day or two of work during it all. Although Arnold is laid up for 10 days, JoAnn is able to go to the archives and forge ahead on preparing the documents to be filmed. If by chance Arnold's knee should not get better, we can even bring the new computer for doing imaging enhancement home for him to work on.

We know we would probably have had these same health challenges had we stayed home and as Arnold says, "It is much better to wear out than to rust out." It feels so good to be busy and active and accomplishing something worthwhile. This mission has been such a blessing in so many ways that it far outweighs any inconveniences we have had to endure.