Saturday, October 28, 2017

Round 4593932 of Bitching About Something

Good evening,
As you can see there are no fotos tonight. I know I am being lazy, hold on, let me think. I know which one I will use! OK I really need to learn how to add fotos after the fact. Anyway, I will be on my soapbox again tonight so if you are easily offended, too bad!
Above you see a foto of the parents and the grandson. Friday, the parents were out shopping and both of them fell in the parking lot of a major store. Mom went down first and Dad went down, tripping over Mom. She hit her head really hard and he was able to get his arm out and his thumb took the brunt of the fall. So, being the stubborn people they are, after the paramedics were done the said they would drive themselves to the hospital. So they end up at Ogden Regional in the ER. Dad gets 6 stitches in his thumb and Mom gets a CT Scan. During the scan the doctors notice an aneurysm in my mothers brain. They decided they were done playing and shipped Mom off to University of Utah Hospital. I head down and we finally find her in the NCCU unit where only 2 people can go in at a time. I go last because I am spending the night with her. Shes got like 4 different IV bags feeding into her arm, but despite the hows and whys of being there, she is rather cheerful. By the time its my turn its like 10ish. I did think ahead and brought my charger so I can entertain myself through the night. I did finish reading White Fang but lets not get off the subject. NOW, I should have known better because we all know I pretty much live down there, but the lady is 86 years old. She needs to rest after the day she has had. Nope, didn't happen. Not even close. Every hour, someone would come in and wake her up and begin to ask her questions like who she was, why she was there, and what day it was etc etc. I know, you are all saying well that is protocol. OK I can believe it. But come on. It happened 9 times between 10pm and 6am. On top of that, 3 sets of blood tests. Then at 7, the social worker comes in and here comes the questions again. I blew. I am like, "look, she has had this done every hour including 10 minutes ago. Let her rest for hell's sake." Of course I get a lecture on protocol and Mom gets mad blah blah blah. To add icing on the cake, she began to do eating tests. They make you swallow water like you're chuggin' a beer. Mom tells the lady that she can't do that due to a medical condition that she names. The lady freaks out and says basically that some one will have to come in and verify that. I'm like seriously?????? She was. In comes another lady and they go thru eating and swallowing drills, for lack of a better word. Mom has had it for 20 years and........ I was totally blown away. To add insult to injury, she goes thru the same damn questions again. I lose it and get 2 more lectures. So, she brings in different types of food for the tests. Mom chooses and they get her to eat it and then after 2 spoonfuls, she tosses it in the garbage, along with the other Item Mom didn't choose. Again, why are you throwing it away. Because I can. Why don't you leave it and maybe Mom or myself will snack on it later. NOPE! I do not give anything away. To me, this is a major waste of perfectly good food. Mom could always eat the rest at a later time and why in the hell do  you throw away an unopened container of good food??? Needless to say I left the room. Every nurse, CNA or basically everyone else but that bitch would bring me and my niece stuff if we asked. Ice water or soda.... no problem. This hag wouldn't wouldn't even get a cup of ice. I asked the room nurse when I was out in the hall if I could get some ice. He point to a door and says its in there. By the time we left, I was just like "what a bunch of morons!" It was then that I realized that I was just like my Dad. Stupid little things like that drive him nuts too. It made me smile. Anyway, the Doctor decided that the aneurysm isn't big enough to worry about. They told her to come see them in a year but not to take any type of headache lightly. He also moved her out of that unit into a general room for tonight so hopefully they wont be bothering her as much tonight. After any type of injury or trauma, rest is important. But as well all know, you don't get that in a hospital. Jeep on my friends!

ps. My damn leg is still way swollen. My guess of November first is not going to happen..... 



Friday, October 20, 2017

Insomnia, or day 35: Your Choice?

 It's 2:40 am here in Mtnmad Land and I can't sleep. So, with nothing better to do, I will catch you up on life the past few weeks. Not a lot has happened to be honest. My daughter got screwed over by some shady ass home repair dude that charged her $450 to finish a new wall in her house. Now, I don't claim to be the best, but the job he left her with was worth about a $1.95. She originally wanted me to finish it but with the worthless leg I had I had to say no. Skip ahead a month and I was called in to finish the mess. The foto doesn't show much but this side is almost done. He put way too much mud on the wall and left if full of air pockets. So I have been sanding and smoothing it getting it ready to prime. No, I wont fix your drywall for you. I came out of retirement just for her. Besides, you couldn't afford me!
 While I was there, I managed to have some fun with the grandkids. Wyatt just loves to play in the Yellow Jeep. He is being raised just right. Get them hooked on Jeeps at a young age and once they get older, they wont have money for drugs. It will all be spent on Jeep parts. It is a nasty addiction, but it could be worse, in my opinion. Its fun to watch him while he is in there. First thing he does is try to put on his seat belt. He can't quite get it hooked but it's close. 
 It has been fun being able to hang out with them while I work. They are full of questions and want to help do everything. Taleigha was my light girl last Wednesday. She is in kindergarten so she was home at 11 and helped me by shining the lights where I needed it. For some unknown reason, the person who did the work before me failed to put tape in a few places so that kept me from finishing the wall this last trip. Speaking of trips, I tripped over the rolled up rug and landed on my bad leg. Needless to say, I was done for the day. I wish this damn thing would heal. And no, it's still swollen quite a bit. I have to wear sweats when I want my leg covered because no Levis I own will fit over it. 
And now, the shitty news. Emily wasn't feeling well so she finally gave in and went to the Dr. He did the usual lab work and it came back with some really bad numbers. I don't know what the test is called but for shits and giggles it is an indicator of kidney function. Normally it should be like .5. Hers came back at 5.5. Not good. The"5" signals that your kidneys are not working well at all. Dr commented saying that those numbers indicate it is time for dialysis. He contacted a specialist we saw 5 days later and he did another blood test. Number was above 6. Not good. He told her to hit the emergency room in Ogden so they could further evaluate her. We went the next morning and she was admitted to the hospital. They put a catheter in her just below her collarbone and hooked her up to the machine above. She stayed overnight and got another session the next day. She was released Sunday night and began the 3x a week visits to a dialysis center in Logan. The stupid thing is that no one has a clue to why it happened. Theory's have been given but the answer isn't known. Reminds me of my lovely infection that has no answer. So, next on the agenda is a biopsy of her kidneys. This is still 11 days away and I think that sux! It should have been done Sunday while she was at the hospital so we would know what the hell is going on. I am anxious to know and she is too. But until 31st, she has to do her dialysis 3 times a week. This is just crazy. I would love to be able to make it a year with out anything going wrong. I must admit it feels weird to sitting in the visitors chair and not the hospital bed. I just wish none of this was happening.  

Saturday, October 7, 2017

A Few Hours of Fun.........

 Finally. Today I was given a reprieve of my "stay off your damn leg" sentence for a few hours. Needless to say I took advantage of it and got the hell out of Dodge. Now, this freedom came in the afternoon so there wasn't a lot of choices on where to escape to but with it being fall, we headed up Logan Canyon to the Temple Flat trail. This used to be a real kick ass trail years ago. Fact of the matter is I had to be winched back up on the trail many moons ago after a driver error. Since those days, the government has come in and totally changed the whole trail system in the valley. If you go back a few years, you can read about me bitching that they had made the trail so nice that cars were now driving where we once played. 
 Not anymore. I think if you had a crossover type vehicle and you paid really close attention, you could get it into Old Ephriam's Grave. Heaven forbid if it  gets wet tho, you will not make it. Needless to say they haven't maintained the road since then it looks like so unless you have some good ground clearance, I'd stay out of there. The hills were packed with all sorts of people. Hunting season has started so they were everywhere. Now I am not sure what big game hunt is going right now, but we ran into a lot of bird hunters searching for the elusive Grouse. And elusive they are. No one we saw had shot anything. 
 I honestly think that the population in the mountains east of Logan is higher than Tremonton. I mean there were trailers everywhere. They ranged from the little pop-up tent trailers to the "they cost more than my house did" type. Every flat piece of ground down on the valley bottoms were full. I don't really know if I would camp in a pop up this late in the season. The bed areas are basically mosquito netting open tents 3 feet off the ground. You would have to have a very nice sleeping bag to stay warm in one of those. And honestly, I don't know if they are waterproof if it would happen to rain. Now, the huge ass mansions on wheels would be nice to stay in. They have forced air heating, tubs, showers, queen size beds, home theaters and more. Its like being at home, away from home. It would be nice to have one. Oh, and a nice truck to pull it. Since we are dreaming, might as well throw in a few good horses and mules to make the hunt even easier. 
I remember years ago when I went with my father. He had a 64 Chev half ton with an old shell on it. It was only 2 wheel drive so we never got too high up  on the mountain. Eventually he got an old trailer that was a wee bit more comfy and warm that made it better. Our last hunt was in the early 90's. He had a nicer trailer but still was stuck in his 2 wheel drive Chev. So I drove up my Ford 4x4 and we stayed down low in the trailer and used the Ford to hunt high on the mountain. Those were good old days. Jeep on my friends!

Friday, October 6, 2017

Three and 1/4" difference

There is no reason whatsoever for posting the above foto but, I have decided that fotoless posts are dumb. Besides, it is fall here in paradise so it fits right in. The odd title to today's post is relevant tho. It is the difference in inches between my two legs measured just above the knee. So,lets look at it time wise. The accident occurred on September 4th. Today is October 6th, so it has been a month and 2 days. That is a lot of time and yet it still is not even close to being normal. I think we should all take a guess on when both legs are equal. I am going to say it wont happen till sometime in November. Lets say............. the 14th. Yes that is over a month away but this thing is taking its own sweet time on healing. I still don't have full range of motion yet but it is getting closer every day. Stairs are still a pain in the ass so until I can do them with ease, I wont be better. As for life itself, I am beyond bored. So many things to do and I still can't do them. I may try the lawn tomorrow but I really need to be careful doing that. If I step into a hole or trip on something it wont be good. I might even say some naughty words. Who knows? All I do know is I am bored. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now. Sad part is, tomorrow weather wise is supposed to be 70 and sunny. Next week it will be down in the 50's starting Sunday. Until later.........0lllllll0  

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

One Month and Counting Crows

 Look everyone, it's a foto.  Good evening or morning or what ever it is to you. It's just past 2 am here and I woke up and, well, uh, here we are. It has been one month since the little incident took place. Seems like so long ago. I decided to take a foto to show how freaking swollen it still is. A selfie of the knee is kinda difficult to do by yourself. I suppose I could go get a tape measure of some sort and physically measure it and give you exact numbers but, it's 2 am and not gonna happen. Lets just say it's still quite swollen, tho not as bad as it was.  
 As for mobility.....it is getting easier to walk. I don't limp as much but it still a ways to go before it is healed. It still lets me know when it gets tired of being used, but the time I can use it is getting longer. On September 15th of 2005, I had a similar incident take place at work. I bruised the left leg down in the calf/ankle area when I slipped while climbing on a machine. This bruise to this day can still be seen as a shadow on my leg. I think that this accident was more bruise than any internal damage. I didn't tear anything i just turned my legs black and blue. 
My right leg took the hit changed to this remarkable color too. I only took the 2 fotos of this issue and forgot about it. The calf/ankle doubled in size color wise and the above did the same. I am beginning to think I am a clumsy SOB. 
The boredom factor is still going strong. I can only watch so much tv or read so much of my book. I did go out Sunday and took the Jeep out for a short ride. It wasn't too bad on the knee but I switched to shifting clutch-less to make it easy on the leg. Maybe I'll go out for a longer ride this coming weekend. The Jeep goes in for recall repairs Thursday. The damned clock-spring is being replaced as well as something to do with the airbags. I have been ignoring them just because I wanted to go as long as possible before I had them switch the clock-spring. With all the dust, mud and water that gets driven through, the life span on those are not very long. I had to replace it once already when it went bad and shut me down. Hopefully this is a new and improved style that will last longer. Hmmmmmm still not sleepy. Oh well, enjoy your day, I am not!