Shirley Carson had her hip replaced on February 19th at Memorial Hospital. She did very well, having had a spinal rather than general anesthesia for the procedure. The hospital personnel had her up and walking the same day as the surgery, and her formal rehabilitation therapy began the next morning. Her friends and family visited her frequently throughout her stay in the hospital, and her brother Bob called her everyday to talk with her during her confinement.

On the fourth floor, in the rehabilitation area of the hospital, Shirley and the other people who needed such therapy were free to socialize and to eat meals together. Shirley even played the piano some and played dominoes with several friends, as well. The Afternoon Delight quartet got together on Thursday (12-28) to sing for the therapy group and the therapists, but Shirley was experiencing a bad reaction to a pain pill when the other three members of the quartet arrived and she wasn’t up to singing. They did make it through a couple short selections, though, which were very well accepted. It was unfortunate that Shirley wasn’t feeling well enough to sing, as she had been looking forward to this performance for her friends on the fourth floor.

Shirley Carson & Liz West

One more thing that was certainly not expected—a long time friend of Shirley’s had taken a fall and had actually broken her neck! She had been transported to Morgantown so that a specialist could perform the very tricky operation on her neck. Then she was returned to Memorial’s fourth floor. There this woman’s family spotted Shirley, and they enjoyed talking and sharing meals together for duration of Shirley’s stay.

Shirley was scheduled to be discharged today, and as far as this writer knows, she is now at home. No doubt, Shirley will be very challenged as she does therapy at home and goes about taking care of herself when she is still unable to get around too well. Please keep her in your prayers and contact her by phone and/or cards. She’ll be back with the chorus as soon as she can!