I have not been blogging lately. The reason why is that my wife, Marla, had to have surgery recently. She had a total shoulder replacement done. I have not had time to do any blogging due to helping her with things. Perhaps I will be able to blog once in a while soon; we will see. The surgery went well… and she is recovering better than expected. Marla has a very delicate constitution and is extremely fragile. A lot of this has to do with the Wilson’s Disease that she has. Wilson’s Disease is a rare disorder; it is genetic and involves the inability of the body to metabolize copper. The copper can then act as a poison within individuals who are not properly treated for the disease. Related to the Wilson’s Disease, Marla has very severe neck dystonia… wherein her neck muscles become extremely tense and rigid; she gets botox injections to help treat the dystonia. For a long time, Marla was on penicillamine to treat the Wilson’s. However, that medication had so many side-effects that it was almost as bad as having the disease itself. Marla, likely due to the penicillamine, developed ARDS and almost died. Then she had to have neck surgery for collapsed neck vertebrae, a surgery that took 11 hours and caused her to have very limited swallowing ability. Now she mostly receives nutrition via a gastrostomy tube that goes to her stomach area. I help her with the enteral feedings and various things, and it is time consuming. These days, Wilson’s Disease is easily treated with zinc; the zinc has, fortunately, little or no side effects. Marla bravely contends with her physical problems; she often helps others (who have Wilson’s Disease or dystonia) to better understand things about those ailments; she, as a person, is as sweet as can be and is an extremely wonderful and very understanding person. I am honored to be married to her and want to make sure that she does well throughout the recovery process.
Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 
Beautiful picture Tom, best recuperation wishes for Marla.
The very best to you both and I hope her recovery goes well.
I send best wishes for your wife and hope she gets better soon.
I wish her the very best! ❤
I did wonder where you were and hoped nothing bad had happened. I am very sorry to hear about your wife’s problems. Wilson’s Disease sounds very debilitating, and the shoulder and neck operations must have been exhausting and painful in recovery. Marla must be an exceptional person to put aside her own problems and try to help others.
Of course Marla is your first priority and I wish her all the best for a full recovery from the op. The WP community will still be here for when you do get time to blog again. 🙂
You sound like a wonderful husband and person. Best to you and your wife. She sounds amazing too! Beautiful flower. Thanks for sharing it.
It is nice to hear that you all doing well, I was a little worried about the disappearance. Hope she recovers and stays well. Best wishes.
Wishing your wife comfort and healing – and you too. Your photo is a lovely one…especially associated with your words for your wife.
Wishing Marla a speedy recovery. She’s lucky to have such a supportive husband!
I will be thinking good thoughts for you and your wife Tom. Your words are so beautiful when you speak of her courage. You are both so very lucky to have each other.
What a lovely, caring person you are…. such beautiful words about Marla. Take time to help her heal, my friend. We all patiently wait to hear good news about Marla’s recovery, and be sure to take good care of yourself too!
With your caring, Marla will recover soon. Beautiful words, Tom. Take care of yourself too.
Best wishes to your wife to recover soon. You are a real good husband to help her and support her. Good Luck, Thomas, regards Mitza
Very sorry to hear about Marla’s condition, I hope she recovers and feels some comfort and ease…
May Marla recover quickly!
Good to hear from you again Tom, my thoughts and prayers are with the both of you!
Get well soon Marla 🙂
Greetings to you both 🙂
Beth
Glad to see your beautiful image. Hope all goes well with the recovery.
Thanks so very much, everyone! 🙂 Your kind thoughts and comments put a big smile on Marla’s face! She continues to do pretty well following the surgery. I had a good feeling about the surgery — that it would go well — even though, prior to the surgery, the surgeon told us that Marla was at a higher risk due to her various health issues. She did have some pretty intense swelling of the arm involved with the surgery… and the Physical Therapy specialist who came to our house said that she never saw anyone with such severe post-op swelling. But we took good care of it — with ice packs and elevation — and now the swelling is essentially gone. The PT Specialist, today, said that we did a very good job of eliminating the swelling. Marla has a lot of tough Physical Therapy ahead, regarding getting her shoulder back to normal. Hopefully, it will go well. She had knee replacement surgery done in the past, and, though the healing and PT process was very painful, she did really well with that. So I am confident that she will do well with this also.
Thanks so much again, everyone!
Never take your health for granted. Eat right, exercise, live right, and be mindful of what your body needs to stay well and balanced.
Tom, great to hear the surgery went well! And what a nice salute you bring to your beloved wife 🙂 heartwarming and inspiring!
I wish for the swift recovery and lots of love and fun for the both of you. Take good care of each other!
love
Pieter
Glad to hear the surgery went well. Best wishes to Marla for a speedy recovery. It will be a long road, but the results will be worth all that effort. xxx
May your wife get well soon!
I was wondering what happened to you. I hope Marla does great with her shoulder replacement and you make sure to be a good helper. I did not have shoulder replacement but a year ago I had shoulder surgery and it is a long process for healing and even when you are done with PT you still have to exercise it to keep it from being stiff. Tell her to make sure to do all her PT and then more on her own.
You know what to do. 🙂 You’re already doing it. This blog will be here whenever you have time. Peace. — Ray
stunning photography and everything will go well surely