Month: August 2023

Categories
Medical

Crashing Into My 70th Birthday

70th birthday

A positive COVID test, difficulty breathing, losing consciousness, getting my clothes cut off, and a midnight birthday serenade by ER staff were not how I imagined starting my 70th birthday. Instead of gathering around a dinner table with cake and candles in Sydney Australia, my family gathered in the ER waiting room for news whether I would live or die. They had good reason for concern—hypoxia (low oxygen), bluish skin (cyanosis), a double load of carbon dioxide and lactic acid in my blood, and GCS 3 on the Glasgow Coma Scale (incoherent talk). I classified as a “crashing” patient.

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The first thing I remember hours after my brother-in-law Rob carried me down the stairs on the way to the hospital, was hearing the word “intubation.” Although I was saying “no,” the decision not to intubate had already been made. Thankfully, a specialist had previously rejected this ventilation method. I speculate that my sister Deborah’s disclosure of my dwarfism type contributed to understanding that intubation came with the risk of cutting off my airway.

Fervent prayers were offered on my behalf and God graciously answered when an ER team of eight stabilized me. I was assigned an isolation (negative pressure) unit in the ICU. Among other treatments, a BiPAP machine pushed air into my lungs to improve the blood oxygen level.

70th birthday cake

Fully alert on the morning of my 70th birthday, I was cut off from typical communication lines. The wall clock was hidden behind the nonfunctioning TV screen and I had no phone, computer, or Bible. All I could do was sit quietly like a well-loved fish in a bowl looking out through the glass at the workstation of my one-on-one nurse.

I contemplated my first bout with COVID and the unraveling of birthday plans:

  • Cancelled family dinner.
  • Scrubbed trip to New Zealand.
  • COVID restrictions on interaction with people.

Despite extreme disappointment, I knew God doesn’t make mistakes! He made this clear when He walked beside me every step of the way:

  • Caring ICU visits from Deborah and my brother Greg fully garbed in personal protective equipment.
  • Covering medical expenses with my travel insurance policy.
  • Enjoying slices of an indulgent, chocolate birthday cake.
  • Limiting my hospitalization to two nights and three days.
  • Using credit from my cancelled flight to New Zealand for my matron of honor to visit me in Sydney instead of me visiting her in Christchurch.
  • Celebrating the birthday of my friend from kindergarten days.
  • Saving one week to savor Sydney sights.

Within days of returning home to Florida, a head injury from a fall required another ER visit. Hospital Chaplain Bob prayed with me and played a hymn favorite, “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” on his harmonica. My confidence in God’s faithfulness was twice confirmed. First by the lyrics—

“Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!”—

and second by the source of the lyrics in Lamentations 3:22-23. (Providentially these verses were in my August 27 Sunday School lesson.)

God’s protection and timing are perfect!

For more of my writings, go to https://angelamuirvanetten.com where you can subscribe to my weekly blog and find retail links to my dwarfism memoir trilogy.

Categories
Medical

Adapting to Changes in Climate and Age

Senior Citizens

In July 2003, Robert was shocked when we landed in my homeland of Auckland, New Zealand. He’d been there before, but was not a fan of winter visits. The 50 degree Fahrenheit drop in temperature from Florida’s 90 to Auckland’s 40 revealed Robert’s dependency on indoor temperature control. Telling him that the drop was only 27.5 degrees Celsius was no consolation.

Robert compensated by using dad’s two-month supply of kerosene for the heater in only three days! Despite being irritated by this drastic depletion in his fuel supply, my father threw open all the windows to let some fresh air into the over-heated room. Robert was shocked again. He hadn’t learned how to adapt to New Zealand’s way of staying warm—use a heater to remove the early morning chill and wear winter clothes inside.

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When we flew to Sydney, Australia for more family visits, it was my turn to adapt. Shortly after a surprise 50th birthday celebration—where I was crowned the queen—I was rudely reminded of my advancing years. I fell and severely sprained my wrist the day before we flew home. I had one night to ice it, then fellow passengers across the Pacific suffered with me as I massaged myself with penetrating and aromatic extra-strength heat cream. The healing process was impeded by the need to continue lifting myself on and off chairs, toilets, and in and out of the car.

I was also losing range of motion in my ankles. The pain interrupted my sleep, reduced my limited walking distance, made stairs and curbs impossible to climb without a railing, and required avoidance of uneven surfaces like grass and gravel. After looking at x-ray images, an orthopedist came into the patient room and looked around for my wheelchair. He was amazed I could walk independently. He diagnosed severe arthritis and prescribed a scooter and lift to get it in and out of the car.

I followed up with the opinion of an orthopedist with dwarfism expertise—Dr. Mary Matejcyk, the same orthopedist who replaced Robert’s hips in 1997. She advised that the spontaneous fusion of my ankle joints was causing the pain. This sounds bad, but it was actually good news. Surgical intervention would be to fuse the joints and my ankles were doing this on their own. The only concern was that the ankles fuse in the right position for standing; thankfully, this appeared to be happening. When the fusion was complete the pain would end. And she was right.

Fast forward 20 years and we are both fully retired and have achieved our allotted three-score-and-ten years. Aging issues are more prevalent with daily medications, numerous doctor appointments throughout the month, and reliance on scooters for distance. Although our schedules are more flexible, declining mobility and stamina doesn’t allow for as many activities. Indeed we wonder how we ever had time to go to work!

As we navigate our bonus years (70 and beyond), we remain thankful for the resources God has provided and whatever comes next.

[In recognition of National Senior Citizens Day on August 21, 2023, this post updates “Adapting to Changes in Climate and Age.” Angela Muir Van Etten blog (August 23, 2021).]

You may also want to read:

Categories
Little People of America

How My Life Would Be Different Without LPA

Little People of America
  • I would not have married a President.
  • I would not have attended 29 national conferences in 20 states and four countries.
  • I would not have spent so many weeks in meetings and become proficient with Robert’s Rules of Order.
  • I would not have read LPA Bylaws or cared enough to try and change them.
  • I would not have chaperoned a 17-year old at his first LPA conference.
  • I would have earned fewer frequent flyer miles.

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    • I would have stayed in fewer hotels.
    • I would have missed the free advice from medical experts in dwarfism.
    • I would not have received an LPA education scholarship.
    • I would not have posed for so many group photos.
    • The opportunity to encourage parents to raise their child with dwarfism with the same expectations and boundaries as their other children would have been lost.
    • I would not have learned the lessons that come from being in the majority.
    • River rafting in the afternoon and modeling my wedding dress in the evening would never have happened.
    • I would not have met so many celebrities or little people from all over the world.
    • Local little people communities would not have welcomed me when I moved from New Zealand to Virginia to Maryland to Ohio to New York to Florida.
    • I would get fewer emails.
    • I would not have enjoyed so much hospitality from LPA members opening their homes for meetings.
    • I would not have been a guest in so many modified LP kitchens and seen how to make my home more accessible.
    • I would not have needed a Media Resume.
    • I would have missed learning how the media censors the facts in order to promote a point of view.
    • Conservative Rush Limbaugh and Liberal Howard Stern would not have criticized me in a radio broadcast on the same day for suggesting that little people have a “cause.”
    • I would not have had to explain to so many people why the word “midget” is derogatory.
    • I would never have read so many great books written by people with dwarfism.
    • I would never have used a scooter to extend my endurance and long term joint maintenance.
    • I would not have been on the advocacy teams that defeated dwarf tossing in Chicago, Florida, and New York.
    • ATMs and credit card readers on gas pumps at my local gas station would still be out of reach.
    • My T-shirt wardrobe would be deficient.
    • I would have missed meeting other Little People with my diagnosis.
    • I would have got a lot more sleep.
    • I would have fewer friends.
    • I would not have laughed and cried so much.
    • My photo albums would not feature little people.
    • Free time would be a reality not a concept.
    • I would have missed being in the dwarfism melting pot of diagnoses, gender, ethnicity, nationality, economic and faith backgrounds.

    [In recognition of National Nonprofit Day on August 17, 2023, this post updates “How My Life Would Be Different Without LPA,” Angela Muir Van Etten blog post (September 28, 2020).]

    A reading list for digging deeper:

    Categories
    Awareness

    Dwarfism Memoir Trilogy Punctuated with Triple Threads

    Trilogy Complete

    After 33 years my dwarfism memoir trilogy is finally complete. Three books in a little more than three decades about God’s three gifts of grace in my life—faith, hope, and love. As it happens, the word “three” has emerged as a thread in this cradle to retirement memoir series.

    ALWAYS AN ADVOCATE: Champions of Change for People with Dwarfism and Disabilities (#3) is organized into three parts: Part I considers volunteer leadership challenges; Part II covers dwarf tossing; and Part III deals with equal access. The book is available in three formats: e-book, paperback, and audio.

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    Part I discusses the three times Robert or I served as LPA President during the years membership grew from about 3,000 in 1980 to 6,000 in 2006. Part II addresses LPA’s action to halt the dwarf tossing atrocity in three states—Illinois, Florida, and New York. Part III involves equal access to the built environment, education, emergency operations, housing, social security disability benefits, transportation, and voting. It took three years to break the six-inch reach barrier in the built environment standing against three of the most powerful industries in the nation—banking, oil, and retail.

    PASS ME YOUR SHOES: A Couple with Dwarfism Navigates Life’s Detours with Love and Faith (#2) is available in both print and as an e-book. Our marriage was cemented with three marriage ceremonies in 1981. The wedding and anniversary rings on three fingers of my left hand symbolize our commitment.

    Though if one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. ~ Ecclesiastes 4:12, New International Version

    Robert and I met when I came from New Zealand to America for three months on a Winston Churchill Fellowship. I obtained an American law degree after attending law school for three semesters. Despite passing the three day Ohio bar exam, I experienced discrimination in three job interviews.

    After a three-hour hip replacement surgery in 1997, Robert tanked up on three pints of blood. When he forgot to bring his electric razor to the hospital, a hand razor was off limits for three weeks because he was on a blood thinner. We couldn’t decide if the resulting beard gave him the distinguished professor or garden gnome look.

    Dwarfs Don’t Live in Doll Houses (#1) is available as an e-book and used print copies. It took three photo shoots on bitterly cold days to get the right cover photo image.

    I’m the eldest of three children and Robert has three younger brothers. Our adult height is the size of a three year old. When I was a bridesmaid for the third time, someone said, “If you’re a bridesmaid three times, you’ll never be married yourself.” Don’t believe everything you hear.

    So what do all these threes mean? Whatever you want to read into it. Maybe not a triple crown, but certainly three opportunities to learn about dwarfism in childhood, marriage, and advocacy. Read and change your life for the better!

    [In recognition of National Book Lovers Day on August 9, 2023, this post updates “DWARFISM TRILOGY COMPLETE: Recurring Pattern of Three Emerges.” Angela Muir Van Etten blog post (September 27, 2021).]

    Resources for digging deeper: