Early next Sunday, a week from today, we will be headed back to Houston. As mentioned before, this trip is just for testing and assuming all goes well I will go back on October 21st for surgery.
Even though this trip is only for testing, it has become a challenge for me. I guess everyone knows the economy is pretty soft now and it has affected the car business like everything else - maybe even a lot more. Plenty of people want to sell or get rid of cars, but most are holding off on buying. It is still a fun thing for me just because I love cars and I love people, but it has become a very difficult job. I will spend all day - many times twelve hours at a time, and only see two or three customers during that time and probably two thirds of them are just looking or killing time. Sometimes I think people come in just because they have nothing to do and they charge admission to go to the zoo. They can come to our place and kill an hour or two (and an hour or two of my time too) without any cost. A great place to bring the family on a week-end! It's like fifteen or twenty people (sales associates) standing around a pond with fishing poles and there are only two or three small fish in the whole pond. It is hard work, but the thrill of seeing someone come in with a chip on their shoulder and ready to do battle because of their past experience with car dealerships and leave laughing and excited and even hugging you because of the experience they have with us. Yes, there is a paycheck involved, but it is almost insignificant compared to the pleasure you get from making someone happy and catching them completely off guard because the treatment they get is totally different than they expected or have had anywhere else.
As stated, it is a very full time job just trying to catch those few fish in the pond but the upcoming MD Anderson trip has made it even more difficult. They have sent me a letter with their requirements for this initial visit. They want a list of all of my doctors, addresses and phone numbers. I will probably have a list of a dozen doctors or more as it is kind of like a game with these guys. You go to one doctor and he refers you to another. The second doctor does his routine and refers you to yet another and so on and so on. I'm not even sure I can remember all the doctors I have been to. I am thinking of taking the yellow pages and giving them a dart and just letting them throw the dart at the yellow pages. I am sure that where ever the dart lands it will be on a doctor I have visited. In addition to wanting to know who my doctors are, the want ALL cardiac test results for the past five years, including all stress test results, echocardiogram reports, electrocrdiogram. They want all pulmonary function tests, all CAT scan results and reports from any and all other doctors I have visited in the past five years. They want all medicines - in their original bottles, including over-the-counter medicines, herbal supplements, inhalers, etc. If you are a diabetic, which I am, they want all recent blood sugar logs. My blood sugar logs are going to be very recent because I got tired of pricking my finger a long time ago and determined that my diabetes was in pretty good shape and kind of forgot to keep track of it like I'm supposed to. So, this past couple of weeks I have been very diligent about pricking my finger and squeezing the blood out and testing it - just so I will have a log to show them.
While trying to deal with the problems of our current economy and putting in twelve hours a day to do it, I keep getting interrupted by the need to bounce all over town from Doctor to Doctor to sign forms that will give them permission to give me these records to take down to Houston. After I have given them permission to give my personal medical records to me - (does that make sense?) I will have to go back to all of them and pick all of these records up. So. I am actually not putting in twelve hours a day at work. I am putting in sometimes up to sixteen hours a day which is broken into many small segments. I doubt if there is twelve hours left over to work. Go to a doctor's office, bounce off to work, leave and go to another doctor or two, go back to work, etc.
There is good in everything! While I get a little ticked off at having to do all this running around, I realize that possibly I am here today because MD Anderson is so thorough and exacting about every little detail. They don't mess around! They are going to know every molecule in my body on a first name basis before this is all over. I love them for that. In fact, I think I might just throw in the name of my barber as kind of a bonus to show my appreciation.
Presbyterian, my health care coverage plan, has this program which is free and designed to help you do a better job of taking care of your health problems. It is called "Lifemasters" and this program has Registered Nurses who call you and interview you over the phone. It is really a very good and thoughtful program and these people are all very nice and if I wasn't such a grumpy old man, I would really appreciate it. But they set you up on a schedule and call once or twice a month to check up on you. In my case they call fifteen or twenty times because I am never here when they call. I just can't see sitting around the house waiting for someone to call to ask me about my wieght, my diet, my exercise, my blood sugar levels, my pills, etc. The truth of the matter I forget, but even if I didn't forget I might find it difficult to arrange to be home at 10:30 in the morning on Tuesday next month. I have a hard time remembering what I am supposed to do tomorrow. Anyway, they caught me off guard last week and caught me just as I was ready to leave for an appointment I was already late for. She advised me that our conversation was being recorded and then assured me that the call would probably not last more than fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes! You can ask me how I am and I can tell you okay in about 30 seconds. Anyway, she started asking me all these questions and then wanted to know what medications I was taking and what the dosage was. Now I don't carry a list of that stuff around with me and have a short memory on top of that - and sometimes I accidentally forget to take a pill or two. So my response was; "Well, I got this one pill - it's kind of long and skinny and it's a pale pink color, then I got this one that is round and kind of flat and I think it is orange, then there is this one that is also orange but it is fatter and it is really nasty - if you aren't sick when you take this pill you will be after you take it". I counted one day and I think they have me taking something like seventeen pills of some kind every day. How am I supposed to remember all that?
In fact, one morning I laid all my pills out - I don't like to take pills so I just put them all together and toss them all into my mouth and hold my nose and take a big gulp of water and it's all over. But I also have a capsule that I am supposed to put in an inhaler and you puncture this capsule with a needle in the inhaler and suck this stuff in through your mouth. I had this capsule laying out with all my pills and before I realized it, I had tossed that in my mouth with all my pills and swallowed it. Once I realized what I had done I thought that maybe that was not a good thing so I called Walgreens and asked the pharmacist what the warnings were for this capsule. She didn't know and had to look it up. She started reading all the things she had but the first thing was; WARNING - do not ingest this capsule! Well, I'm still here, so whatever terrible thing could have happened didn't so I guess I'm okay. I have segregated that capsule from the rest of my pills though.
Well, you can see that it's a struggle for me to just get through life on a daily basis. It wouldn't be all that bad if all I had to deal with was cancer, but all these care givers, nurses and other practitioners are kind of upsetting my routine. I can see why people think that old people just sit around home now. That's all they have time to do if they are complying with all requirements of the people who are trying to help you maintain your health.
Assuming I will be going back to Houston for surgery the last of next month, I have a new worry. I know a plastic surgeon is going to be involved and I couldn't figure out why. Someone told me they will put a screen like thing inside me to hold the hernia in place. That doesn't make any sense to me. Where I grew up a screen was to keep the flys out. Will I have to go back and have them take the screen out and put storm windows in when it gets cold? The more I think about it, I don't know if I should go through with this. I might just get some duct tape and wrap around my tummy to hold everything in and go on with life. It would be a lot less expensive and I wouldn't have to take all these pills, take all these phone calls and visit all these doctors.
To all the wonderful people who are going to be at the reunion in Colorado - I wish I could be there, but know that I will be thinking of you and love you all!!
ALBUQUERQUE AL
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
UPDATE ON HEALTH ISSUES AT HURT HOUSEHOLD
Mary marlin is doing great in her recovery from surgery for hip replacement. It wasn't too long ago that she was shuffling around with a walker. She graduated to a cane and now gets around the house often without even the cane. She takes it easy and goes where she has some support of a table or counter or wall, but she has become much more active at just walking without any kind of support.
At first I was doing almost everything for her because she just couldn't do it herself. I had to lift her leg up into bed, she couldn't get the utensils out of the cupboard to fix herself something to eat, do the laundry or just about anything. But she is proud and independent and she just keeps trying and as soon as she can do something for herself, she won't allow me to help her with it or do it for her. She has faithfully gone to rehab and worked hard at getting better. I know at times she is in pain, but she doesn't ever complain about the pain and refuses to give in to it. I admire her and respect her a lot for what she has accomplished and for her attitude of independence.
One thing she can't do, and it frustrates her, is bending over to pick something up off the floor. She has a tool - a grabber - she can pick things up with if the grabber can get hold of it. But something like a sheet of paper, or a plastic card - like a credit card or driver's license, she just can't pick up. I think it will be a long, long time - if ever, before she can pick those things up off the floor. She dresses herself, including putting on her shoes and socks with the grabber.
We still have one area of conflict. It brings me back to the days when we had a teenager in the house. She wants to drive. I think we are going to need to take some time to go around the neighborhood and practice putting on the brake without any warning and pushing down hard on the brake pedal. It is her right leg which is damaged and that is the brake leg. In Albuquerque you need to be prepared to put on the brake quickly and hard. It seems you can get a drivers license in New Mexico by simply buying a box of ceral. The license is in the bottom of the box.
I have kind of learned that some of us guys don't give our ladies nearly enough respect. We take what they do on a daily basis for granted and even expect it. Let me tell you - what they do just runnng the household is a very tough and trying job. For those who work outside the home in addition to running the house - it's amazing! If you aren't happy with the condition of the house and the way things are done, let me suggest you offer to take care of everything for even a week. Fix meals, wash dishes, wash clothes, put things away, dust, keep the house clean and pretty, shop, etc., etc. This will help you appreciate what they accomplish on a daily basis. It is easy to think that we have a "real" job while all they do is sit around the house. The house job is as tough as most of our so called "real" jobs and they get little if any financial reward for it - often not even a "Thanks". And, of course, many of them have a "real" job in addition.
I think she felt sorry for me, and I think she was also concerned about the sorry job I do of keeping the house in order, so she surprised me by hiring a girl to come in and clean the house once a week. I did try really, really hard, and in my eyes I was doing a pretty good job. In fact I was rather proud of my accomplishments. But when she told me she ws going to get a girl to come in and help out - I had to try real hard to contain my joy. That was the best news I had heard in a long time. But it backfired on me. She got real strict with me - almost demanding, about me cleaning everything up real good because she didn't want the cleaning lady to come in and see the house in a mess. I thought we were getting the lady to take care of the mess. She even made me mow the front yard. So my elation was soon destroyed as I learned that I had to do an especially good job of cleaning so the house would be all nice and clean for the cleaning lady. I do have to admit - even after my super thorough cleaning job, the cleaning lady had enough to do to keep her busy all day.
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Our oldest son, John Leslie in Dallas, continues to have his ups and downs. I understand what he is going through to some extent as the chemo therapy just about wiped me out before it was all over. I guess the chemicals accumulate in our system and towards the end you have all of these strange chemicals that have been absorbed into your whole body. It is difficult to describe how it affects you and how you feel unless you have gone through it. But - it aint no fun!!
He has days, usually after his chemo therapy, where he can't even get out of bed. Then within a few days he will be out with the kids at a ball game, going to work and doing a pretty normal routine. I think he has suffered some from depression too, and I am familiar with that as well. However, I have been able to have fun with the whole routine I went through because I do see so much humor in the things that occur each day. I have also been able to see some good that comes from this whole processs. I hope he can adjust his thinking a little to accept this whole thing a little better. It isn't fun and I will be the first to admit it is a lousy experience, but there are so many who have it so much worse - I can't complain too much. We have both been very blessed and very lucky compared to so many others.
He did have another PET scan and it appears the results were very favorable. It appears the tumor has shrunk and it indicates there are no cancer cells in the tumor at this time. He has developed a pretty constant cough and they did find a spot on his lungs. He has never smoked in his life, so it has to be something else. They think it is caused by the chemicals he is getting so they are changing some of them.
To add to his stress, someone stole his pickup truck from in front of his house the other night. Going through treatment for cancer - or any disease is bad enough but it is the issues outside your health problem that can really get you down. Life goes on and the outside worled doesn't know and really doesn't care how lousy you feel. You still have to pay your bills, deal with the government, all the people out on the street and at work. You are not exempt from real life.
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I am scheduled to go back to MD Anderson in Houston next month. I am hoping I will get a letter in the mail today from Presbyterian allowing me to go. Otherwise we will be engaging in another conflict which just adds to the difficulty of this trip. The worst part of the conflict is not knowing whether or not they are going to allow the trip. It just adds to the stress of something that is already stressful enough.
This trip is supposed to include all kinds of tests, probably including another CAT scan to see if all the cancer cells are still gone, which obviously I hope will be the case. The tests are to not only to determine the presence or absence of cancer, but to measure my overall health and my ability to withstand another surgical procedure. Assuming all tests including lab reports and evaluations from the internal medicine people are okay, I will return to Houston for more surgery on October 21st. (Almost exactly one year since my cancer surgery) This surgery will be to repair a pretty massive hernia at the site of the cancer surgery. The worst part of this will be the recovery period where I will probably not be able to do much physically. In fact, that is probably one of the main reasons I have the hernia to begin with. I think that once in awhile I might have cheated a little on the activities that were allowed following the cancer surgery. There were certain things I was not supposed to do. I think I accidently did a few things or made a few minor exceptions to the rules on the basis of; "It probably won't hurt if I lift this one time, or lift the tailgate on an SUV one time" Guess what - it not only hurt, it has kept on hurting. It is really painful all the time right now. Guess I showed them - didn't I!
I missed my class reunion and a big family reunion last year while I was having cancer treatment and surgery. Some really super people - old classmates of mine, Jackie and Glen Edwards, have been working hard to put together another class reunion which will include five classes. I was so looking forward to this and was just short of guaranteeing I would be there. The reunion is on the 4th of October in my home town of Center, Colorado, and I have to be in Houston first thing Monday morning the 6th. There is, from a practical point of view, no way I can make this reunion.
After all, there aren't that many 747 jetliners landing in Center, Colorado with it's population of less than 2,000 people these days. I guess I could take the Wells Fargo Stage Coach to Espanola and hitch hike to Albuquerque to catch a plane. Actually, Jackie Edwards offered to get me a ride to Alamosa the morning of the 5th to catch a plane home, and I could fly out of Albuquerque. But that would be cutting it way to close and I always have a zillion things to do before I go down to Houston, and I am always pretty stressed out before I go down.
I really feel bad about missing this reunion and visiting with old friends and class mates. I feel real bad because I know that Jackie has done a tremendous amount of work and put a lot of effort into this project and I hate to let her down. I really needed to go to the class reunion as I am a guy with little or no class to begin with. Maybe it would have helped!
I had thought about trying to reschedule the appointments in Houston but it has taken several months just to get this appointment. Everything has to be coordinated with the surgeon's schedule and this is when he can see me - so I guess I better show up.
One of the things that has made it tough the past six or seven weeks is dealing with appointments. I need to get Mary to physical therapy three times a week, then pick her up and bring her back home. She has other appointments with her primary care doctor, her surgeron, lab work, x-rays, prescriptions, etc. In addition, I have another list of doctors I am supporting financially plus my CAT scans, lab work, coumadin clinic and more prescriptions. It is almost a full time job going to the doctor. In addition I am trying to work and put some effort into my own insurance related business. I had appointments with three different doctors just for myself one day recently. Almost all of my doctors are in the same facility and I had three appointments one week and none of these people could see me on the same day. I had to make appointments for three different days and make three seperate trips. Just the gas alone to make all these trips can be a challenge. I guess the only cheap gas you can get any more is that which you get from eating a chili dog. The hot dog and the bun plus a splash of chili is still not that expensive.
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There has been an ulterior motive for Mary to work so hard to regain her mobility after surgery - without complaining. She had already made up her mind that we were going to go to Florida in September to see our youngest son, Andrew, and his family. That was her carrot and I guess it worked. We just got back after spending a week with Andrew and his wonderful wife, Maria and daughter Mary.
We had a great time and were busy every minute. We had plenty to eat and some wonderful food, including alligator tail. Pretty good stuff and if you should go down to Melbourne, Florida and run into an alligator without a tail you will understand the reason.
We took a couple of tours of the waterways and saw a multitude of multi-million dollar homes, most with yachts and/or other big boats at their private docks plus a number of dophins and all kinds of birds. Andrew and Maria have a beautiful home with a swimming pool on Satellite Beach which is two big bridges away from Melbourne on an island near Coco Beach.
We spent a day at Kennedy Space Center where they launch the space ships and shuttles. Andrew and I tried our hands at being astronauts in a shuttle simulator. It is supposed to give you the sensations the astronauts experience as they prepare for launch. You are elevated into a position which is supposed to simulate laying on your back for take off and then it shakes and vibrates and roars as you see massive orange flames and clouds of smoke out the window. It reminded me a lot of my 1948 Ford I had in high school. We viewed the actual launch site and numerous exhibits. One interesting fact is the crawler that takes the shuttle to the launch site. I believe it travels at about two miles per hour on cleats like a caterpillar tractor except they are much larger. Each cleat weighs one thousand pounds and the crawler gets 46 yards per one gallon of diesel.
Inside the exhibit room, my wife and I have a little different protocol. I go in and look at the displays and pictures and I am out of there. She reads every word on every plaque and really learns a lot. From my point of view - a picture is worth a thousand words - just show me the picture.
We went to Orlando to Universal Studios and saw a performance of The Blue Man Group and it was fantastic. I had heard a little about this group but wasn't really impressed until I saw it in person. I would highly recommend it to anyone.
This trip was good medicine for both of us and it was great to see Andrew, Maria and Mary. Now the plan is for me to work every day between now and the surgery and then on with the surgery and recovery period. I guess my surgeon for the cancer will start the operation and then a plastic surgeon will take over. The new cars are all made of some form of plastic - so, why not me? At least I can stop worrying about rusting whenever I take a shower!
So long for now -
Albuquerque Al
At first I was doing almost everything for her because she just couldn't do it herself. I had to lift her leg up into bed, she couldn't get the utensils out of the cupboard to fix herself something to eat, do the laundry or just about anything. But she is proud and independent and she just keeps trying and as soon as she can do something for herself, she won't allow me to help her with it or do it for her. She has faithfully gone to rehab and worked hard at getting better. I know at times she is in pain, but she doesn't ever complain about the pain and refuses to give in to it. I admire her and respect her a lot for what she has accomplished and for her attitude of independence.
One thing she can't do, and it frustrates her, is bending over to pick something up off the floor. She has a tool - a grabber - she can pick things up with if the grabber can get hold of it. But something like a sheet of paper, or a plastic card - like a credit card or driver's license, she just can't pick up. I think it will be a long, long time - if ever, before she can pick those things up off the floor. She dresses herself, including putting on her shoes and socks with the grabber.
We still have one area of conflict. It brings me back to the days when we had a teenager in the house. She wants to drive. I think we are going to need to take some time to go around the neighborhood and practice putting on the brake without any warning and pushing down hard on the brake pedal. It is her right leg which is damaged and that is the brake leg. In Albuquerque you need to be prepared to put on the brake quickly and hard. It seems you can get a drivers license in New Mexico by simply buying a box of ceral. The license is in the bottom of the box.
I have kind of learned that some of us guys don't give our ladies nearly enough respect. We take what they do on a daily basis for granted and even expect it. Let me tell you - what they do just runnng the household is a very tough and trying job. For those who work outside the home in addition to running the house - it's amazing! If you aren't happy with the condition of the house and the way things are done, let me suggest you offer to take care of everything for even a week. Fix meals, wash dishes, wash clothes, put things away, dust, keep the house clean and pretty, shop, etc., etc. This will help you appreciate what they accomplish on a daily basis. It is easy to think that we have a "real" job while all they do is sit around the house. The house job is as tough as most of our so called "real" jobs and they get little if any financial reward for it - often not even a "Thanks". And, of course, many of them have a "real" job in addition.
I think she felt sorry for me, and I think she was also concerned about the sorry job I do of keeping the house in order, so she surprised me by hiring a girl to come in and clean the house once a week. I did try really, really hard, and in my eyes I was doing a pretty good job. In fact I was rather proud of my accomplishments. But when she told me she ws going to get a girl to come in and help out - I had to try real hard to contain my joy. That was the best news I had heard in a long time. But it backfired on me. She got real strict with me - almost demanding, about me cleaning everything up real good because she didn't want the cleaning lady to come in and see the house in a mess. I thought we were getting the lady to take care of the mess. She even made me mow the front yard. So my elation was soon destroyed as I learned that I had to do an especially good job of cleaning so the house would be all nice and clean for the cleaning lady. I do have to admit - even after my super thorough cleaning job, the cleaning lady had enough to do to keep her busy all day.
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Our oldest son, John Leslie in Dallas, continues to have his ups and downs. I understand what he is going through to some extent as the chemo therapy just about wiped me out before it was all over. I guess the chemicals accumulate in our system and towards the end you have all of these strange chemicals that have been absorbed into your whole body. It is difficult to describe how it affects you and how you feel unless you have gone through it. But - it aint no fun!!
He has days, usually after his chemo therapy, where he can't even get out of bed. Then within a few days he will be out with the kids at a ball game, going to work and doing a pretty normal routine. I think he has suffered some from depression too, and I am familiar with that as well. However, I have been able to have fun with the whole routine I went through because I do see so much humor in the things that occur each day. I have also been able to see some good that comes from this whole processs. I hope he can adjust his thinking a little to accept this whole thing a little better. It isn't fun and I will be the first to admit it is a lousy experience, but there are so many who have it so much worse - I can't complain too much. We have both been very blessed and very lucky compared to so many others.
He did have another PET scan and it appears the results were very favorable. It appears the tumor has shrunk and it indicates there are no cancer cells in the tumor at this time. He has developed a pretty constant cough and they did find a spot on his lungs. He has never smoked in his life, so it has to be something else. They think it is caused by the chemicals he is getting so they are changing some of them.
To add to his stress, someone stole his pickup truck from in front of his house the other night. Going through treatment for cancer - or any disease is bad enough but it is the issues outside your health problem that can really get you down. Life goes on and the outside worled doesn't know and really doesn't care how lousy you feel. You still have to pay your bills, deal with the government, all the people out on the street and at work. You are not exempt from real life.
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I am scheduled to go back to MD Anderson in Houston next month. I am hoping I will get a letter in the mail today from Presbyterian allowing me to go. Otherwise we will be engaging in another conflict which just adds to the difficulty of this trip. The worst part of the conflict is not knowing whether or not they are going to allow the trip. It just adds to the stress of something that is already stressful enough.
This trip is supposed to include all kinds of tests, probably including another CAT scan to see if all the cancer cells are still gone, which obviously I hope will be the case. The tests are to not only to determine the presence or absence of cancer, but to measure my overall health and my ability to withstand another surgical procedure. Assuming all tests including lab reports and evaluations from the internal medicine people are okay, I will return to Houston for more surgery on October 21st. (Almost exactly one year since my cancer surgery) This surgery will be to repair a pretty massive hernia at the site of the cancer surgery. The worst part of this will be the recovery period where I will probably not be able to do much physically. In fact, that is probably one of the main reasons I have the hernia to begin with. I think that once in awhile I might have cheated a little on the activities that were allowed following the cancer surgery. There were certain things I was not supposed to do. I think I accidently did a few things or made a few minor exceptions to the rules on the basis of; "It probably won't hurt if I lift this one time, or lift the tailgate on an SUV one time" Guess what - it not only hurt, it has kept on hurting. It is really painful all the time right now. Guess I showed them - didn't I!
I missed my class reunion and a big family reunion last year while I was having cancer treatment and surgery. Some really super people - old classmates of mine, Jackie and Glen Edwards, have been working hard to put together another class reunion which will include five classes. I was so looking forward to this and was just short of guaranteeing I would be there. The reunion is on the 4th of October in my home town of Center, Colorado, and I have to be in Houston first thing Monday morning the 6th. There is, from a practical point of view, no way I can make this reunion.
After all, there aren't that many 747 jetliners landing in Center, Colorado with it's population of less than 2,000 people these days. I guess I could take the Wells Fargo Stage Coach to Espanola and hitch hike to Albuquerque to catch a plane. Actually, Jackie Edwards offered to get me a ride to Alamosa the morning of the 5th to catch a plane home, and I could fly out of Albuquerque. But that would be cutting it way to close and I always have a zillion things to do before I go down to Houston, and I am always pretty stressed out before I go down.
I really feel bad about missing this reunion and visiting with old friends and class mates. I feel real bad because I know that Jackie has done a tremendous amount of work and put a lot of effort into this project and I hate to let her down. I really needed to go to the class reunion as I am a guy with little or no class to begin with. Maybe it would have helped!
I had thought about trying to reschedule the appointments in Houston but it has taken several months just to get this appointment. Everything has to be coordinated with the surgeon's schedule and this is when he can see me - so I guess I better show up.
One of the things that has made it tough the past six or seven weeks is dealing with appointments. I need to get Mary to physical therapy three times a week, then pick her up and bring her back home. She has other appointments with her primary care doctor, her surgeron, lab work, x-rays, prescriptions, etc. In addition, I have another list of doctors I am supporting financially plus my CAT scans, lab work, coumadin clinic and more prescriptions. It is almost a full time job going to the doctor. In addition I am trying to work and put some effort into my own insurance related business. I had appointments with three different doctors just for myself one day recently. Almost all of my doctors are in the same facility and I had three appointments one week and none of these people could see me on the same day. I had to make appointments for three different days and make three seperate trips. Just the gas alone to make all these trips can be a challenge. I guess the only cheap gas you can get any more is that which you get from eating a chili dog. The hot dog and the bun plus a splash of chili is still not that expensive.
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There has been an ulterior motive for Mary to work so hard to regain her mobility after surgery - without complaining. She had already made up her mind that we were going to go to Florida in September to see our youngest son, Andrew, and his family. That was her carrot and I guess it worked. We just got back after spending a week with Andrew and his wonderful wife, Maria and daughter Mary.
We had a great time and were busy every minute. We had plenty to eat and some wonderful food, including alligator tail. Pretty good stuff and if you should go down to Melbourne, Florida and run into an alligator without a tail you will understand the reason.
We took a couple of tours of the waterways and saw a multitude of multi-million dollar homes, most with yachts and/or other big boats at their private docks plus a number of dophins and all kinds of birds. Andrew and Maria have a beautiful home with a swimming pool on Satellite Beach which is two big bridges away from Melbourne on an island near Coco Beach.
We spent a day at Kennedy Space Center where they launch the space ships and shuttles. Andrew and I tried our hands at being astronauts in a shuttle simulator. It is supposed to give you the sensations the astronauts experience as they prepare for launch. You are elevated into a position which is supposed to simulate laying on your back for take off and then it shakes and vibrates and roars as you see massive orange flames and clouds of smoke out the window. It reminded me a lot of my 1948 Ford I had in high school. We viewed the actual launch site and numerous exhibits. One interesting fact is the crawler that takes the shuttle to the launch site. I believe it travels at about two miles per hour on cleats like a caterpillar tractor except they are much larger. Each cleat weighs one thousand pounds and the crawler gets 46 yards per one gallon of diesel.
Inside the exhibit room, my wife and I have a little different protocol. I go in and look at the displays and pictures and I am out of there. She reads every word on every plaque and really learns a lot. From my point of view - a picture is worth a thousand words - just show me the picture.
We went to Orlando to Universal Studios and saw a performance of The Blue Man Group and it was fantastic. I had heard a little about this group but wasn't really impressed until I saw it in person. I would highly recommend it to anyone.
This trip was good medicine for both of us and it was great to see Andrew, Maria and Mary. Now the plan is for me to work every day between now and the surgery and then on with the surgery and recovery period. I guess my surgeon for the cancer will start the operation and then a plastic surgeon will take over. The new cars are all made of some form of plastic - so, why not me? At least I can stop worrying about rusting whenever I take a shower!
So long for now -
Albuquerque Al
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