true grit

Larry is one of the members of the Thunder Over Louisville team that work all year long getting ready for the big event. He oversees all of the river traffic. Where the boats can and cannot go, where the barges go etc. etc. The team start planning immediately after the event for the next year's Thunder. This year after a full year of planning Larry had a big problem. He and Linda go ahead and get a room at the Galt House on Friday night so that he can be in the command center as late as necessary and not have to worry about driving home and then back down town early Sat. morning. At 2:30 or 3;00 AM he called Linda and told her he could not breathe. She took him immediately to Baptist East to the ER. It was determined there that he was in Congestive Heart Failure. They took the necessary steps to relieve him and started a series of tests, after admitting him to the hospital. At 5:00 AM he checked himself out because he said he had a job to do! The hospital made him sign a paper saying that he would not blame them if he didn't make it. He promised that he would be back as soon as Thunder was over.

He went back down to the command center and worked all day but they had taken the precaution of having an Emergency Medical Tech on duty all day. She had the equipment needed to give immediate care in the event that he or any of the others needed it.

He made it through the day and as promised went back to Baptist East where he is still being treated today. You do what you have to do!

Meanwhile Doc is still in Klondike Manor trying to regain the strength and movement of his right arm and leg. He had a stroke on February 16 and spent 7 days in the hospital and then was moved to Baptist rehab facility where he stayed for 12 days. He was doing very well until March 25 when he had another stroke. It paralyzed his right side. After 5 days in the hospital we moved him to Klondike Manor rehabilitation center. It is close to home and easy to get to. He has been under very strenuous therapy ever since. He works five days a week trying to regain the use of his arm and leg. Last Friday he was very pleased with himself because they had "game day" in re-hab and he was the star of the day because he got five out of five in the game of corn hole! One of the therapist asked if he had played basketball at Ohio State. He really got a kick out of that. He is kidded a lot because he wears so many Ohio State athletic shirts and sweat pants. Someone asked, snidely, if that person had seen him standing up. I pointed out that in the days when he would have been playing basketball you didn't have to be seven feet tall. A six foot man was considered a giant. The baskets were 10 feet off the floor in those days too and it took raw skill to make baskets.

He is making steady progress, his arm has regained some of the feeling and he can move it now. His leg is a little slower coming back but each day he can do a little bit more. Today they told me he had worked three straight hours and among other things he had walked with the walker,with the therapist holding his walking belt and someone following behind with a wheel chair to let him sit when he had had enough. He walked 80 feet! By the time I got there at noon he was eating lunch. I took him outside into the patio/garden to sit awhile and then he wanted to go in and take a nap.

Yesterday was his birthday. He is 86 years old. His favorite thing to eat is lobster and his favorite pie is lemon, so Gregg, Linda and I went to have lunch with him. Gregg brought him a full lobster tail dinner and I brought a lemon pie I had baked. He got lots of cards, a Happy Birthday balloon and visits from Gregg, Linda, Karen, Brian,Mike, Jane, Paul and me. Big day. I think he really enjoyed it.

Both these guys know what it takes and know how hard it can be to accomplish things.
An Irish toast to the both of them,"May you live all the days of your life! Slainte!

THE VERSED SYNDROME

I mistakenly called Stilz Avenue Speed Ave. in my last blog. Now, understand, I am not one to make excuses but due to my history of the last seven years, I have had multiple doses of a drug called Ver-sed(syllabication is my idea) It is an amneasia drug. The patient is fully awake and aware of the procedure taking place but within a short time the memory of the procedure is lost for all time. I must wonder if it has long term effects on the patient. Those times when you try to recall facts, names, experiences and so on and draw blanks, could well be "Versed moments," instead of " Senior moments" or "blond moments," or "memory lapses" or downright "dumb moments". You be the judge. Would you be unkind to a person who has intermittent or recurrent amnesia? Lets hope not!Mea culpa.

Another Spring!

I drove through Seneca and Cherokee Park this morning and it was evident that Spring had truly arrived. I drive through there frequently on Saturday mornings and there is always some activity but today was especially awesome.First of all the golfers were out in numbers. Golf carts wheezing along the fairways and the new walkway. All the guys eager to get out there and forget all of their bad habits and really play some golf this year. Hope springs eternal in the golfers heart.The trees and shrubs are just beginning to blossom out. The Tulip Trees are the most advanced in the blooming stage, then the Red Buds ,finally the DogWoods beginning to take on their popcorn personna. All of the other trees are beginning to bud out too. A beautiful sight. A new beginning. I love it! The winding roads were alive with runners and power walkers in various stages of dress and (almost) undress. Bare legs and almost bare cheeks on some of the ladies. Muscle shirts and slick running shorts on the macho guys.A few baby stroller/runner carriages with shapely moms pushing up and down hills. Even a balding fiftyish guy cruising through the throng in his convertible with the top down.Would it be Spring for real if you didn't see a convertible with the top down on the first day of 60+ weather? As I left the park and drove down Speed Ave. on my way to Frankfort Ave. I could see a train in the distance on the tracks that run parellel with Frankfort Ave. As I drew nearer I could see the train consisted of Army vihicles of all sorts and types, even brand new Red Cross ambulances, jeeps, half-ton trucks and many conveyences that I could not identify. A sudden jolt back to the reality of war and all that it entails. I fervently hope and pray that all of our men, women and boys will live to enjoy the beauties of springs in the future.

home

We came home from the rehab center last Wednesday, Mar.7. The task of taking care of a diabetic is horrendous! I'm sure it will get easier and easier but for now getting the bloodsugar number, giving the insulin shots and manageing all of the medication is quite a task. My first shock after getting Doc home was getting all of the prescriptions filled at the pharmacy. It was not only a shock for me but the pharmacist, and all of the people standing in line for their turn, were shocked too. The total that I had to pay was $337.00. Not counting the Avandia. The Avandia was over $200.00 dollars so they suggested that I only pay for 5 pills and hope that their call to our Dr.and his call to the drug comapny would result in a lesser amount. I am going to check that out today to see if they were successful. I knew when I heard that he was going to be put on Avandia that it would be expensive! Just how much does Patty LaBelle and or Della Reece charge to urge all of us to rush to our Dr. and ask for Avandia? The supplies for diabetics are paid for by Medicare but not all of the various drugs that are supposedly going to keep him alive. He, who is well known by members of the family as being opposed to taking pills, now takes 12 pills a day plus two shots of insulin. He is also required to drink thickened liquids because of the residual effects of his stroke. He has a swallowing problem and is not permitted to have any thin liquids or foods. He cannot have any food that melts at room temperature,(ice cream, jello, popsicles etc.) and may not eat anything crunchy, which means that cereal three times a day is no longer an option. Life, as we knew it does not exist anymore. Ciao,ciao

Long Days

I have been spending all of my time at the hospital or the re-hab center. Very tiring. As soon as things improve enough that I can be home for an extended time, that is , anytime longer than three or four hours, I have already composed a few blog entries in my head and I will print them.

Doc is doing well. Today he walked without his walker and walked better than I've seen him walk in a year or so. He had to be talked into walking with a rolling walker and I think he may stick to that. He has all kinds of therapy and the one's I've sat in on are very good. I particularly enjoyed the speech therapist. I guess he still has a lot more that they want to teach him so he will probably be there for another week or so. As long as it is doing him some good I am all for it.

MOre in a few weeks. I'm pleased that Carrie joined the bloggies, I really like reading Pat's (better known as Dolberry) and the Sparky etc. Sometime I should identify who the Owl'sPineTree is. I never have time. Ciao

Same theme

Guess what? We are going to have snow tomorrow! Could this be the real thing this time? Predictions call for 1 to 2 inches on the grass!! Double Wow! We shall see.
I'm on my winter break and it would be so lovely to have snow on Saturday and maybe it would linger into Sunday and then warm up to 60. Ohio has had so many snow days that they have used up all of the days allotted to them by the state. So any that come from now till May have to be made up in June. Bummer.