Stop here if you are bored with hearing people of a certain age talking about their health. That’s what I’m going to do.
In April 2014, I tripped coming down the steps outside my house and landed on a flagstone on my left knee. I had a ripping sensation and knew it was bad. The surgeon said I had torn my miniscus and ACL and needed a total knee replacement.
Two weeks later, I went to the University of Louisville to receive the Grawemeyer Award. I used a walker but managed to hobble to the podium without it.
On May 9, I had the surgery. Surgery is especially complex for me because I am on blood thinner and always at risk of bleeding too much or (without the blood thinner) clotting. Before the surgery, they took me off the blood thinner and started it as soon as the surgery was over.
The rehabilitation and physical therapy were intense over the summer, but no matter how hard I worked, I couldn’t straighten my leg. I switched physical therapists, and the new one–Karen Yanelli of M.Y.P.T.–was spectacular. She told me that my knee was encased in scar tissue. It is a condition called arthrofibrosis. She told me I had to go to Dr. Frank Noyes in Cincinnatti, at Mercy Hospital. He literally wrote the book on this condition.
I was fairly desperate. I was afraid I would be permanently disabled, and I was deeply depressed, feeling hopeless. I was willing to go anywhere, try anything. My neighbor on Long Island, Dr. Roxana Mehran, a reenowned cardiac researcher, spent an hour giving me a pep talk. She was my guardian angel. She persuaded me that I had to take any path that would help. She gave me the strength to persevere.
I flew to Cincinnatti with Mary, my partner, and met Dr. Noyes. He opposed further surgery, as I might get more scar tissue. Instead, his staff forced my leg straight with strong (excruciating) physical pressure and built a fiberglass cast while my leg was forced straight. They cut the cast open, lined it with cotton, and told me to wear it for 12 hours a day, wrapped tight with a giant Ace bandage.
After seven weeks, I did not need the cast anymore. My leg was straight and I could walk! I was so happy!
Just a few limitations. Often, it is difficult to get out of a car or rise from a chair or walk up or down stairs. Not painful, just difficult and uncomfortable. I feel like I am walking on stilts. In other words, I am fragile. I am frightened of stumbling, tripping, or having a little kid on a bike run into me on the sidewalk. I would topple over. I fell once. I was walking Mitzi, our dog, about 10 pm in a small city park, and a rodent ran in front of us. Mitzi took off in hot pursuit, and I was determined not to let go of her (she weighs 70 pounds). I went sprawling on the ground, but it was soft, I didn’t let go of Mitzi. I managed to fall flat without injuring the knee.
I am feeling much, much better. I am not depressed anymore. I know that I have a permanent disability, and I can deal with that. I can’t run, I can’t walk fast, I can’t walk long distances. But I can walk. I have recovered from an ordeal, and I am grateful to all those who helped me along the way.
The lessons I learned: Walk slowly, watch where you are going, always hold the handrail. And be very grateful to your caregivers.
This post is beautiful, Diane. I am grateful that you have persevered because I consider you one of my caregivers.
Agree with kindergeek.
VIP for me as well, at 80. with a hip replacement
Walk slowly, watch where you are going, always hold the handrail. And be very grateful to your caregivers.
Laura…wish we lived in closer proximity. We could go for slow walk, and talk about ed issues. Always learn from your posts.
Bless you, dear lady. I wish you the best.
The thought of not being able to walk must have been really difficult to deal with! I’m glad that you can walk again!
Appreciate the update! All good from now on.
Big thumbs up, Diane, re your personal health notice (& perspective). Thanks. gs
We are all grateful that you can continue writing…and that you can walk. Never be afraid to tell us how you are feeling. We care and are grateful to you for the work that you do to help all of us who are connected with education.
Three Cheers for Your Good Fortune! With use, you will continue to improve! Thank you for sharing this experience. Sending all feel good wishes your way.
You are a phoenix! I will send you prayers of protection. Imagine white light surrounding you at all times, especially when you get up to speak for the people.
The care you have given drowns the care you have received. Thank you!
Most grateful for the update.
And, if you can pardon the impertinence, don’t be reluctant to accept a helping hand once in a while from loved ones.
I am sure it means as much to them to offer as it does for you to ask.
😎
Cincinnati was graced by your and Mary’s presence. Glad about the health outcome but, wish the trip had been under different circumstances.
Thank you both for all you are doing for education.
Thank you so much for sharing your incredible story. I had total knee replacement and went to a knee specialist to help me straighten and bend, since my provider Kaiser Permanente did little to help the knee. I applaud your bravery!!! And warning to the rest of us to be careful!! Falling is always the most dangerous for those of us advanced in age. So glad you are feeling positive again!
Joan…I think we live in the same community. I found physical therapy at Seven Oaks to be extremely worthwhile after both hip replacements. If you call, do ask for David Shumway and tell him we are colleagues.
So glad to hear you can walk okay…running is for crony politicians! Keep going, you’re a phenom, one of a kind, we need you.
Piano piano is the advice they give me in Italy!! I add bravo for you and those who are your dear ones.
Sent from my iPhone
>
Thank you for sharing. It helps those who have to lean on their caregivers as well. Take care of yourself.
Diane,
Thank you for your update re: your health and well-being. Good for you. HOORAY! 🙂
Btw, I still have an OLD and I mean OLD iPhone, too.
Always with Hope, Breath, and Light!
You’re stronger than you know, Diane. Sometimes someone needs to tell us that.
Clearly from the neck up your are not handicapped …
And use the big stick you carry called a blog!!!
It warms my heart that you have had such good friends and such excellent medical advice and care. That love and support is always invaluable, and sometimes creates new pathways for finding more independence. I am so glad you have regained some mobility that will allow you to function more fully. Nothing worse than being confined and totally dependent; especially someone like you, who has always led an active, productive life. Here’s to many more years of happiness and good health. You richly deserve it, after all you are doing for so many people.
I am so glad that you did not go for farther surgery. Have issues with my spine, as did my family. In the long run, the physical therapy, while not restoring us to total flexibility, offers a way back to nearly normal… but in our seventies THAT means accepting and elating with many losses and the infirmities that come with the seven decade.
I know the depression that comes when our physical self runs into a wall.
it hurts and stops us for a while, but spirited, brilliant people like you, who have a genuine purpose and direction in their life, pick themselves up, shut themselves off, and pick up where they were… but the do not walk 70 pound dogs. Mine was a 90 pound Weimaraner.
We need you, Diane. Have worked for a month to get Bernie Sanders to know that it is YOU who can explain the reality of what is happening now, so that he can shape his policy. That Murphy thing really upset me, because I know this man, and if he knew the reality, the truth, that might not have happened.
Yesterday, I found out he has seen my letter, and I have contact info, at last, and I am closer to having a personal chat with him…. the purpose of which is to outline the reality — and get him to talk to YOU… if you agree to speak to him.
So, get a dog walker, or come to my house in the country and let your dog run free while we talk about what we can do together to change things.
Suzie…I too am trying to reach Bernie through a close friend of his from Vermont to press for an education discussion with Diane. We have not yet heard back from him for the last three weeks.
Suggest anyone on this site who might have access, contact him for a Sanders/Ravitch meeting.
If educators bombard him with this request, he may finally get it…..
and now that Diane is once again tip top, she could make it a weekend in Vermont, but with CNN et al media, there to memorialize their conversation.
I am close to getting to him, but this week is his GRASSROOTS TELE CONFERENCE ACROSS THE NATION.
https://go.berniesanders.com/page/event/search_results?orderby=zip_radius&zip_radius%5b0%5d=10901&zip_radius%5b1%5d=50&country=US&radius_unit=mi
I am co-hosting one meeting in Pomona NY, with Jane Gordon, who is the president of the James Madison HS alumni. I actually graduated with him in ’59.
“We have been told tattoo Bernie will speak live at 7:30pm Eastern / 4:30 Pacific — and then again at 10:30pm Eastern / 7:30pm Pacific. But you can begin watching either of those streams from the beginning after they start.
We would like all hosts to email their guests to ask if they have any questions and encourage them to bring friends. You can do that here under “manage events. Don’t hesitate to ask questions to
help@berniesanders.com ”
https://go.berniesanders.com/page/event/search_results?orderby=zip_radius&zip_radius%5b0%5d=10901&zip_radius%5b1%5d=50&country=US&radius_unit=mi
I will be in a similar meeting for Bernie at the home of a Malibu pal and co-activist. Hope all readers here find a meeting on Wed. in your community and get involved in the Bernie Sanders campaign.
That is ‘dust’ themselves off…. Hate the self correction mechanism at wordpress.
My mother, who lived to be 90, always said, “It’s not always about how long you live, but more about the quality of your life.” May you live a long, healthy life! You have excellent gray matter; let’s hope the body cooperates.
When I saw you in April I was so glad to see how healthy and happy you seemed. Take care.
You are a very brave, strong, and wonderful woman, Diane!! Thank you for the report, and thank you for being a strong voice for public education and civil rights.
Phyllis Chambers-Emmons
Diane, you are a hero to a lot of us, who want to see our public education system going in the right direction. I know I speak for more than just myself when I say we’re happy to hear the good news about your health.
Good news indeed.
Dr. Ravitch, I am another teacher, who is so grateful for you and all you are doing for education. I have had health issues since I was 25. You definitely did the right thing by going to Cincinnati. I went to the U. of MN last December to see one of the few Drs. who knows anything about mast cell disease. I was diagnosed with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. The NIH won’t call it a disease until they finish debating certain issues. I am learning to live with this, but the good news is that you and I are still here. I am very grateful that we are.
Good for you Diane. You did the right thing in pushing to regain strength in your leg and knee. Too often people take the easy way out by using a wheel chair and then end up not walking again. You are a major force in the public education movement but please consider your health above all else. Blessings
I am relieved to hear that you have made this progress because I know you needed to be more independent and in a better place. Sorry for the difficulties you encountered to get this far and stay safe. Your advice is so important. We need to be vigilant in so many arenas these days. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all you do in spreading the word on your blog. I took the test on the yaks and the tents this morning. Read the comments. Mind-boggling. I also loved what you shared about Arizona’s teacher shortage. These reformers like Bill Gates do not have a clue about life in schools and the variety of cultures and school sizes, areas, etc. that affect how well a teacher can reach the students. I am waiting, holding my breath to see where our new State Ed. Comm. in NY leads us. I am glad you are stlil leading us and that you have made progress even when you had to go through tremendous pain to triumph as much as you were able and I hope that is enough. God bless you, Diane. I admire the love and devotion you show to your beloved dog and to the children of America. Tenacious. We need you.
Inspirational message, Diane. Thanks so much. God bless all those caregivers and physicians. Take care of yourself. Walk softly and hold the handrail!
Yay! So very glad things are better for you… remember to keep moving!
Blessings and Peace Diane. Be of good courage & please take care.
Thank you for sharing! Don’t forget, we love you and want the best for you!
Good words of wisdom for all. Very happy to hear that your mobility has improved and your spirits are good!
Yeah—old age is not for sissies…I have a batch of little problems, and my wife now has some big ones requiring care, but as we keep telling each other, we’re still here! And in your case and men, still fighting a good fight, though not yet a winning one.
heal well, we need your voice.
DCB
David C. Berliner
Regents’ Professor Emeritus
120 E. Rio Salado Parkway, Unit 205
Tempe, AZ 85281-9116
Ph: 480-861-0484
David…would love to have you comment one soon on your assessment and feelings about the Vergara decision and how this case is proliferating in California and other states.
Yes, getting older, with a young heart and mind, is challenging. Hip replacements, cataracts, spinal stenosis, arthritis.etc. keep us in line with reality. But focusing away, and keeping engaged, seems to be the key. Just a word to the wise for all the young teachers and parents….’cause it will happen to you one day.
Diane..you will love the way you see color, and your computer screen will be so much easier to navigate. Heal well…. thank goodness modern medicine can keep us going so much longer.
typo..meant “comment one day soon”…really had good results with my cataract surgery…just need to oil up my typing fingers to the speed of my thoughts.
It seems that if one part of the body, mind, spirit triangle is hampered then the other two are hard to keep healthy. Glad you persevered!
We never know how important the simple ability to walk is until something happens to our weight bearing bones and joints.
Thank you for sharing this Diane and stay well. Most of us care about your health. Best, Don
Thank you, Don Stewart, and warm wishes to you and your family.
God Bless – I’ll continue to keep you in my prayers! : )
That is lovely….truly. Gratitude itself works wonders.
Please take good care. I know what you mean, use the handrail!
I’m so glad you persevered and are feeling better. We need your wisdom desperately! Please continue to take care of yourself.
You are always such an inspiration! Glad you’re improving.
I say that those aches and pains are there to remind me of all the good times with good friends I had.
I read somewhere that getting old is not for the faint of heart. Wishing you all the best.
Great job! Keep up the good work. You’re not alone.
lucyoflaherty@aol.com
Veteran of a pair of replacements 7 years ago and I can say I know your pain! I had one knee that wouldn’t flex and the other that wouldn’t extend so the therapies were opposite for either knee. Was a summer long project and the most difficult thing I’ve ever done both physically and mentally! Good luck with the continued rehab!
All good wishes for continued healing, body, heart, and mind.
Ellen, Here is the letter I wrote to BernieSanders staff, and sent to his senate office, too, with a photo of him THAT I TOOK) at JAMES Madison HS when Bernie was inducted onto our Wall of Distinction.
I also sent it to everyone I knew who might help me get Bernie to DIANE, so he can begin to LEARN what we teachers know, and only then can he shape a policy… and not alienate teachers as he did by voting for the Murphy Amendment
I have been trying to get to speak to Bernie for a month. So has my publisher at OEN, Rob Kall, who says NO one can get to him, at this moment that he is engaged in the Grassroots conference.
SO, TO ANY OF YOU OUT THERE THAT ACTUALLY CAN CONTACT HIM please, pass this on.
From: SUSAN SCHWARTZ
Subject: URGENT!!!. IMPORTANT!!!
To: bernie sanders , help@berniesanders.com
Cc: Senator Bernie Sanders
To Jeff, Bernie’s managers , handlers and anyone who wants to see Bernie elected.
I have a crucial message for your campaign managers and Bernie, which can bring MILLIONS OF VOTES TO BERNIE… from teachers and parents.
My name is Susan Lee Schwartz. http://www.opednews.com/author/author40790.html I am Bernie’s Madison HS classmate, and I was the the NYS English Council’s (NYSEC) choice for the NYS Educator of Excellence in 1998, and the NYC cohort for the real Pew funded, Harvard research on the National Standards I graduated with Bernie, same year, and I have been trying for months to give him a route to THE MILLIONS of votes OF teachers, but it is impossible to speak with him, which I must, because as demonstrated by the post BELOW, at Bernie is missing the mark on education! He lacks the facts, the truth, which is very hard to grasp. PLEASE BERNIE, give me, your madison classmate 15 minutes to tell you what you need to create a real policy statement.
Bernie works with truth, and he needs to talk with Diane Ravitch! It is Diane Ravitch who Bernie needs to hear!
Politico said Diane Ravitch (who was under secretary of state for 2 administrations, and wrote the book on the tragedy of the NCLB act) is one of the 50 most important Americans; she is chosen by educators as THE top academic on the subject of education in America!
Ravitch brings one million views a month to her wonderful site, where she gathers and posts the voices and writing of the most important education voices in this nation!
Someone in YOUR campaign should read the daily feed http://dianeravitch.net ) and ALSO read the NPE news http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/news/ .
The Network for Public Education was created to counter the spin and the narrative of lies spread through the PACS, media and lobbyists to our people.
YOUR campaign should go there daily http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/grassroots-reports/
Grassroots? WE are grassroots! We are the parents and the teachers of the next generations of American citizens!!!
Diane Ravitch, and the people she follows are the best ones to explain to Bernie, why reform is a hoax, and give him a coherent approach to policy, so he can talk about this complex subject with real authority. She knows what an emerging intelligence needs to be present in a school, in a classroom so that kids can learn LEARN, and teachers can ‘teach’. This is the only conversation that needs to take place in this nation.
BERNIE HAS TO BE THE ONE TO TALK THE TRUTH ABOUT WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE FOR KIDS TO LEARN! The national narrative, today, is not about learning, it is about teaching. THIS is the defining issue of our times! Bernie NEEDS TO GET THE FACTS ABOUT EDUCATION STRAIGHT, and if he does, he will win the votes of millions of teachers, and parents.
HAS ANYONE IN YOUR CAMPAIGN ACTUALLY GONE TO HER SITE, where the reality of the war on public education is reported DAILY! Diane Ravitch, can explain to Bernie ,the needs of an emerging intelligence (children) what really NEEDS to be present in all schools, in all classrooms so kids can learn LEARN, and teachers can ‘teach’. This is the only conversation that needs to take place in this nation. She can explain why reform is a hoax, and give him a coherent approach to policy, so he can talk about the complex subject with real authority.
She has followed the debacle. GO TO HER BLOG, and see how the legislatures are taking over the schools in many states as the teachers are silenced and the privateers invent failure through testing mania and false curricula mandates! .
Your campaign MUST DO THIS, Because this is a race…. as legislatures in state after state take over the schools WITH NARY AN EDUCATOR ON BOARD TO MAKE DECISIONS ON what to give to support LEARNING in an genuine way. This is not just abut money. This is about the end of democracy, because as E.D. Hirsch explains shared knowledge is essential for a democracy, and this is what happens http://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/hirsch.pdfhttps://dianeravitch.net/2014/12/05/north-carolina-plans-to-adopt-koch-funded-social-studies-curriculum/ when schools fall into the hands of the very people who are leading the destruction… read it and shiver!
She created the NPE to counter the spin put out by the PACs working for those who are destroying public education.
HAS ANYONE IN YOUR CAMPAIGN ACTUALLY GONE TO THIS SITE, THE ONLY PLACE BESIDES THAT OF DIANE’S SITE, WHERE THE TRUTH IS TO BE FOUND!
I can help Bernie to write policy, but he must speak with her, and to the folks that she recommends!
And finally,
Please, have Bernie call me because I can explain a civil rights violation that is the scandal of our times, how the veteran teachers were removed, and how in systems across American this is ongoing. Take LAUSD the second largest schools system in the nation — at this very moment: What appears nowhere in any other article by any reporter for a corporate owned media , http://www.perdaily.com/2014/03/have-reporters-become-poli-ticks–the-media-parasites-of-the-body-politic.html
is the fact that for every older teacher that LAUSD is able to get rid of LAUSD will save approximately $60,000 in combined salary and benefits savings when they replace a top-of-the-salary-scale teacher like Esquith who is paid over $80,000 a year with one making $35,000 with significantly less expensive benefits. A tidy sum when one realizes that one way or another LAUSD has gotten rid of 14,000 of these high seniority teachers.
Because the public is never given this essential fact that 93% of targeted teachers are at the top of the salary scale, they have difficult believing that those running LAUSD would go after teachers, unless they were bad or morally reprehensible as is echoed again and again in the corporate press with an ultimate agenda of privatizing public education for corporate profit. Nowhere is this incredibly dark motive of corporate America or their LAUSD administration ever mentioned.
With the professional gone from the classroom, their voices silenced, this ‘reform’ hoax was perpetrated. It was all about money
THIS WAS THE RESULT IN NYC the largest system in the 15,880 systems
The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman on Vimeo
BERNIE NEEDS INFORMATION. He cannot be the one who does not know the reality of the PROCESS THAT TOOK US OUT!
http://www.perdaily.com/2011/01/lausd-et-al-a-national-scandal-of-enormous-proportions-by-susan-lee-schwartz-part-1.html
http://citywatchla.com/8box-left/6666-lausd-and-utla-complicity-kills-collective-bargaining-and-civil-rights-for-la-s-teachers
Posts by teachers at the Ravitch blog show how Bernie is missing the boat. Parents and teachers read this site which gets over one MILLION VIEWS A month.
PLEASE BERNIE, give me, your Madison classmate 15 minutes to tell you what you need to create a real policy statement, and to whom you need to speak!
Messagge me at OEN
http://www.opednews.com/populum/messagesend.php?to=40790&from=40790&a=n&o=&entry=%2Fauthor%2Fauthor40790.html&submit=Send+Message or contact me here.
Diane, watch Grace and Frankie on Netflix. Laughter is great medicine! Hang in there, girl….You still are important in this world!
I didn’t mind reading that.
Cliff Boldt Comox Valley, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
Dear Dr. Ravitch:
There is lots of wisdom in your expression.
I love and treasure your advice.
It seems odd that I understand and practically apply your advice/ the implication in between the lines.
For example:
1) ”’I was fairly desperate. I was afraid I would be permanently disabled, and I was deeply depressed, feeling hopeless. I was willing to go anywhere, try anything.””
= well prepare, well equip with the best knowledge in order to be WILLING to try out ANYTHING
= NOT with a blind faith, NOT under threat, NOT succumb to any illogical persuasion (we are fully alert to people who are willing to try anything for their own INDIVIDUAL GAIN at the expense of public democracy)
2) “”She told me that my knee was encased in scar tissue. It is a condition called arthrofibrosis.””
a) Encased in scar tissue = poverty, savage, snobbish-ness VERSUS compassion
b) arthrofibrosis. = our own perception/ mind jail VERSUS principle in humanity
You also explain “”the solution”” as in point #3
3) He opposed further surgery, as I might get more scar tissue. Instead, his staff forced my leg straight with strong (EXCRUCIATING) PHYSICAL PRESSURE
and built a fiberglass cast while my leg was forced straight. They cut the cast open, lined it with cotton, and told me to wear it for 12 hours a day, wrapped tight with a giant Ace bandage. After seven weeks, I did not need the cast anymore. My leg was straight and I could walk! I was so happy!
Just a FEW LIMITATIONS. Often, it is difficult to get out of a car or rise from a chair or walk up or down stairs. Not painful, just difficult and uncomfortable.
= NO PAIN, NO GAIN
= Short term pain, long term gain
= Nothing is perfect, BUT we accept difficulty and inconvenience, so that we are happy to freely cultivate others about democracy or the importance of quality in Public Education
4) “”I am feeling much, much better. I am not depressed anymore. I know that I have a permanent disability, and I can deal with that. I can’t run, I can’t walk fast, I can’t walk long distances. But I can walk. I have recovered from an ordeal, and I am grateful to all those who helped me along the way.””
= Physical disability will strengthen our spirit
5) The lessons I learned: Walk slowly, watch where you are going, always hold the handrail. And be very grateful to your caregivers.
= United we stand, divided we fall
= Confidence and happiness are the sum of: slow movement + clear direction + strong base in friendship + appreciation for all supports.
That is me who only read between the lines. Your readership is the majority of veterans in educational field. We do not despise the GREED. We are happy to lend them a hand in cultivating their polluted mind or their encased greed in many SCAR incarnated lives.
It is very simple and easy to practice compassion as it takes less muscle/effort to smile or to love than to frown or to hate.
I hope that you will experience the enlightenment within this life on earth.
Very respectfully yours,
May King
Diane many hugs and thoughts sent to you for continued good health, happiness, and love!!!
I read with interest because I’m just a couple of years behind you and have new knees. I will watch my step. Famous musician Las Paul had his guitar hand and arm messed up to the point where he couldn’t play. So he adapted a devise that kept him playing. Perhaps you will dance again?
God Bless. You found a guardian angel in Karen.
I may be down but I am not out! Nice message of humility and strength. Thank you.
It is incredible to me that you blogged and traveled through it all! We are all better because of the work you do. Take care of yourself.
Like you, I am a woman of a certain age, I can identify with your whole story and I’m glad you wrote it. The way I see it, you are an incredible person. You keep us informed, you represent us, and you give us hope. We need you. So take care of yourself!
So sorry to hear about your health problems. I may want more, but without you I know the profession is doomed. My answer is walk, don’t run.
Ian Kay
Ian,
Thanks. Will do.
You have given us so much and the country would be different without you. Please slow down and take care of yourself- first.
Life has a way of speaking to us and I agree with Ian. Perhaps it is time to slow down, walk slowly and enjoy the beauty that surrounds us.
Have a great evening and enjoy this beautiful summer.
I can sympathize with you Dr. Ravitch. I am soon to turn 60 and have been active all my life. I was a minor league baseball player, college wrestler, martial artist…After 16 years in the Army in Special Forces the abuse my body has taken has finally caught up to me. I will be having a full shoulder replacement and will have to limit some of my activities and admit to getting older. After 6 months I might be able to golf and bowl. I can forget heavy weightlifting and softball. Forget tennis, but, on the plus side, I will be able to sleep without pain and move in a somewhat normal way. The key is to find acceptance and be at peace with what is rather than mourn what is lost. I wish you well.
So glad to hear that you are on a positive healing and recovery trajectory–you are the hero of public education and my hero. Thanks for sharing; being a twice fallen 60 something I have great sympathy and am affirmed. Y lessons learned while walking.
Thank you for sharing this story of healing the body and the soul. You are a inspiration for a just-having-reached 60 year-old!
I am glad because it sounds like you are taking good care of yourself and getting good results. Godspeed. Your intellect and perspicacity are such that you only need to share few minutes with us each day to give us terrific guidance. Don’t overdo.
I’m grateful that you are doing better.
It is terrible to feel badly and think it won’t get better.
God bless you, Diane, as you pursue you goals with the knowledge that you have a disability. I consider you a true role model and am proud that I heard you speak once at the
Tilles Center at CW Post. You remain an inspiration.
Another lesson we must learn when we are aging… Let’s be careful and mindful that health in every sense of the word is very important. Try and take good care of yourself no matter what you do in life.
I’m glad your leg is much better, I didn’t know about your eyes please take care of yourself. best to you and Mary, Jules
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
From:”Diane Ravitch’s blog” Date:Sat, Jul 25, 2015 at 12:00 PM Subject:[New post] An Update on My Health
dianeravitch posted: “Stop here if you are bored with hearing people of a certain age talking about their health. That’s what I’m going to do. In April 2014, I tripped coming down the steps outside my house and landed on a flagstone on my left knee. I had a ripping sensation”
Diane, get well soon and like you always do, keep one foot in front of the other by putting your best foot forward 🙂 You are public educations best cheerleader, time for us to start cheering you on towards good health.
Lisa Elliott
I hope your mobility continues to improve. Thanks for sharing your story.
Bless you sweet Diane! I am glad you have your mobility and energy.
(Something that seems to help me is drinking lots of good quality water and I have been taking chewable Coq10 and organic coconut oil capsules).
This is very important, and thanks for sharing it. Recently, in a similar situation, I had to almost threaten legal action to force my “primary care physician” to make the referral to the cardio doctor. By that time, my left leg was dying (there was no pulse in my foot). On June 1, he did the surgery on my Femoral Artery, inserting two stents. It relieved some of the problems immediately. The learning from all this sharing? Those of us who are getting older must — MUST — not only share these stories, but work politically to stop those who are trying to ration medical care to “old people.” And that’s what many of the regulations promoted both by corporate medicine and the Obama administration have been doing. I’m certain that many of our colleagues have died because their treatments were stalled by corporate medicine. I do not know how long my left leg would have lasted at the state it was in. But I know that it was getting worse and worse, and I finally had to demand the action that was easily available. My wife Sharon was with me on the day of surgery, and we rated all three parts of the day (pre op, operation, post op) with a “10.” The problem, as many of us know, is not the ability of America’s doctors to do the jobs. It is the austerity model that makes Greeks of our health…