2550 miles in 12 days

I only have a minute. Paul and I left Las Vegas after church on Sunday (Dec 12th) and headed to Paradise to spend a few days with 4 of my daughters and surprise my dad for his 82nd birthday (and boy, was he ever surprised).
We left there Saturday to spend the afternoon and evening with Candy. Sunday morning we went to church and left for Las Vegas (on our way to Hurricane Utah). 2 short stops in LV to pick up Paul's prescriptions and see my chiropractor before heading to Hurricane.

Paul's brother has an appointment in Thousand Oaks for minor back surgery and I need to take care of his wife, Deb. She's the one with the major back surgery a few weeks ago and is still in bed. So, Paul and Jerry will leave today and come back Thursday (if all goes well).

Friday we'll drive back to Las Vegas just in time for Christmas with Paul's daughters, Jennifer, Rachel, Sara, and Leslie.

Whew, busy-busy 2 weeks but rewarding to see family and help where needed. We have been well blessed.

Merry Christmas to all and remember the reason for this holiday.

Love to all,
Karen and Paul

MRI: News You've all Been Waiting To Hear!!!

Is that a little presumptuous?

I finally saw the doctor on Monday and got good news. He is a surgeon and I was afraid he'd opt for surgery. He said he wouldn't do anything to me he wouldn't do to himself and I don't need surgery, yet. He said my low back is stable but he wants more diagnosis on my neck.

Doctor said he wants a nerve conduction on my hands/arms and he wants me to see another doctor for pain relief (injections in low back). He said it looks like the arthritis in the low back is causing the pain in my feet.

Now, back to the waiting game. If I don't hear in 2 weeks, I should call these two doctors. He set my return appointment with him for report on the nerve conduction study in 6 weeks. Sometimes it seems like it will never end.

I'll let you know how I do with those shots. I've been told they can be pretty painful. I've also been instructed to ask for whatever it takes to make the procedure pain free. I hear that the 3 shots can be given 10 days to 30 days apart. I guess it's up to the doctor to decide. It probably depends on the particular patient and problems.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has an enjoyable and family filled day/weekend.

I'll be staying in the motor home, alone because I got sick Monday. I was running a fever Tuesday of 100' and today it's down to 99.2'. I was invited to Jennifer's (Paul's oldest daughter) house with her sisters but I'd hate to share my misery. I have been sneezing, coughing, nose running, and sinus headache. I have food to eat, vitamins to take, herb tea to drink and privacy for my sneezing etc. I will knit as I feel well enough and watch TV and nap. I'll be fine, REALLY.

Even though I'll be alone, I'm really thankful for all I've been given. I have 7 wonderful children, 28 cute/handsome and smart grandchildren, a healthy father still running a tractor and helping others at 82+yrs, and a caring & loving husband. (Who will be back in Las Vegas Monday, Nov. 29th.) And, no matter where I travel, I can always find friends and family at church.

The Second MRI

I know that the last post says I'd have the MRI and get the report from the doctor on Nov.18th. That WAS true but things have changed. The insurance company approved a second MRI to the first doctor. I thought that was strange and turned them down since I already had an MRI scheduled for the following day.

Well, in talking to a few chiropractors and a nurse, we realized that it would be nearly impossible to have the pain in both feet from problems in the low back. The nerves are individual 'hairs' there, but the nerves are bundles in the neck. So the quest was to have the second approved MRI changed from lumbar spine to cervical spine.

I made an appointment with the neurologist's office and saw the physician's assistant. She agreed with my research and contacted the insurance company for the change to the MRI.

Well, I had the MRI of my neck yesterday. That is very stressful for me because I'm claustrophobic. After a Xanax and some TLC from the technician, I got through the procedure. I got a ride there from a sweet friend at the yarn shop and when she got me home I slept for over 2 hours.

It's going to be a secret till Dec. 6th unless I can get a cancellation. I'm calling the doctors office everyday, so far, no openings. I still don't have a diagnosis but hopefully I have the tests necessary for one.

MRI Today

That's kind of misleading. Yes, I did have the MRI today BUT the return appointment with the doctor for the report isn't until Nov. 18th. I've tried to get a cancellation and they're going to call if they get one. That sounds like "the check's in the mail".

Paul flew back to Homer yesterday (Thursday Nov 4th) to pick up his big dump truck and start winterizing all the heavy equipment. I really miss him and wish he could have handled being stuck here with me. I really could use his moral support. I'm hoping he'll finish before something serious happens for me (like back surgery).

The weather in Las Vegas has been unseasonably HOT and next week it's supposed to cool into the 60"s, Hooray for me!!! Life is good and the Lord has been generous in my life, I'm sorry to complain so much.

Depression in Las Vegas

I guess you can tell that I haven't blogged for 5 weeks. That's because the news is so discouraging.

Paul continues to do well, except for the depression about being stuck in Las Vegas and not in Homer taking care of his toys (equipment). He needs to winterize everything.

I am doing pretty good with the depression if I continue to knit all the time and keep my mind off my problems. I did get some allergy blood tests and they showed absolutely NOTHING! So my primary care doctor sent me to an allergy specialist. He poked about 120 spots on my back and found that I'm allergic to: Navy Beans, Apples, Peaches, Peas, Spinach, Clams, Nutmeg, and Black Pepper.

"Whoa" I said to the doctor, " the blood test said I wasn't allergic to Clams" (along with whatever else the they tested). I think the blood test was bogus and the doctor was in agreement. He called the lab and retested my blood. I'm waiting another 10 days for the results of that one. That was 5 days ago.

I did get an x-ray of my low back and it looks bad. I was sent to a neurologist who did a nerve conduction on my feet (which are numb and burning all the time). The insurance denied me having an MRI 3 times, even after my doctor talked to the insurance doctor on the phone. So, I was referred to an orthopedic surgeon.

I had my appointment with Doctor Lee on last Thursday, not good. I really liked the doctor but he didn't like my x-ray or the symptoms I manifested. He said I have 5 vertebra in my low back that are damaged (deteriorating) and there is a curve in the lumbar spine. When I told him I have burning in my feet he said "That's bad, we need an MRI" and he went out of the exam room and I didn't see him again. A girl came in with a paper in a few minutes. She said "Here is your return appointment on November 18th. and as soon as we get the approval from the insurance for the MRI, we'll schedule it and give you a call".

Well, after that appointment I was supposed to go to the yarn shop and knit but I was so depressed that I went to the car and cried. I called Paul and he said to come home and he'd give me a hug. I was so depressed I couldn't even knit for 2 days, that's just not like me.

PS: My friend, Joy, called me and said I need to put a note on the blog so people don't think I'm suicidal. I'm not, I'm just discouraged at the delays and still not having a diagnosis.

Progress, slow but sure

Two more doctors appointments done. Yesterday we both saw the primary care doctor and there are still a couple items pending. She was pleased, with my blood pressure (118/82), but I was ECSTATIC!!! FINALLY, I got a good reading in the doctor's office (I have lab coat syndrome, false high blood pressure in the doctors office).

The doctor is agreeing with me that my other symptoms may be caused from allergies. I'm having blood work on Monday (Sept. 20th) for adult allergy and food allergy. It'll take a week or so to get the results, I think. Wouldn't it be nice to get rid of my problems by avoiding something simple like food?

Today I (Karen) had the nerve conduction study and proved there is nerve damage in my low back which is causing the numbness and pain in my toes and feet. We're still waiting for the approval for the MRI from the insurance company. That test will show the cause, either bone or disk and tell us what the options might be for relief. The pain has been bothering me for years but it's finally become intolerable.
I'm feeling pretty guilty about not being home taking care of my responsibilities. Every other time we've been here because of Paul's health, this is new for me and I don't like it.

Vegas Heat and Doctors

More doctors appointments done. Paul's heart doctor is pleased with his condition.

My doctors visits aren't turning out as well unfortunately. I've had swelling and high blood pressure since we arrived and I'm beginning to think it could be more serious than just the heat. I'm trying to stay cool and follow doctor's orders but I'm not improving. I have another appointment on the 16th to get further diagnosis.

Paradise to Las Vegas

Well, maybe that wasn't the best timing. Labor Day is in 5 days, and we're in Las Vegas. I'm hoping it's a quiet weekend. I think we'll just stay home and try to keep cool in the 105+ heat.

The visit with Candy was cut short because she got a new job, darn for me, good for her. I love her and missed my one-on-one time with her.

The drive from Paradise to LV took a little longer than expected. The steering stabilizer slipped and made it pull to the left. We spent the night in Bakersfield and spent the morning in repairs. It's fixed and just fine now.

More good news on the doctors visits. Paul saw the diabetes doctor and he's very pleased with the progress. Paul's A1c has improved and the doctor made NO changes in the medications. That's a big Hooray and one more hurdle done. That makes our return trip home look sooner rather than later!

Well, that's about it for now, pray for my survival in this heat. This is NOTHING like Alaska!!!

Thousand Oaks to Paradise, California

Well, Paul got a clean bill of health from the spine doctor, Hooray!!!

He had a neck x-ray, acupuncture treatment, physical therapy, etc before being released from care. We packed up the motor home and hit the road, seems like old times. He was feeling so good that he wanted to drive, and DRIVE he did. He drove almost 500 miles from Thousand Oaks to Paradise, California.

We arrived about 9pm and found a parking place at the ELKS Lodge. Tired and hot we hooked up, leveled, put out slides and satellite up before hitting the sack. This is a quiet RV park by the ELKS Lodge with pine trees, oak trees and grass. It's right in the center of town but you wouldn't know it.

Saturday we ran a couple errands and had dinner at HULA'S Mongolian Bar-B-Que, the best I've EVER had ANYWHERE!!! (We waited in line for an hour and it was worth it. I don't wait in for much of anything!)

Sunday I spent a couple hours with my brother before attending church where my dad is second counselor in the bishopric. We then had dinner at one of my daughters house to celebrate Katy-Beth's 3rd birthday. I love my family and miss them so. What a blessing to have 3 daughters and their families together today.

Doctors and Surgery

Well, the news we've all been waiting for...Paul's neck surgery was successful. Yesterday the doctor cleaned up two herniated disks and Paul can feel with his fingers again and he has improved range of motion in his neck.

Hooray for Paul and thanks to Dr. Chiu. By the way, Dr. Chiu's planning to visit Anchorage twice a year, what do you know about that?

Also yesterday, we got the call from the doctor that the referrals came for Paul to see the cardiologist and endocrinologist. I called and got appointments for Sept. 1st and 3rd. Also my appointment with the primary care doc is Sept 2nd. It's starting to look like a 'perfect world' to me.

Oh and more good news, the lab report came in Wednesday evening that said everything looked good. My thyroid was NORMAL, after not taking any for 2 weeks!!! I was right, I was being 'poisoned' by taking any at all. Life is good!

I will have 2 doctor's appointments 2 weeks apart but that sounds like it's going to be simple enough to come home to Homer sooner rather than later, time will tell.

Surgery is over

Paul has come through the surgery with flying colors. The surgeon is very pleased with the success of the proceedure. Paul said he has more mobility in his neck and more feeling in his fingertips. He is still in post-op but should be walking out in the next hour or less.

He will take it easy today, walking and resting and seeing the surgeon tomorrow. After that appointment, we'll be free to 'move about the country', lol!!!

Our next stop is Paradise California to see my dad and 4 daughters before returning to Las Vegas for further doctors appointments.

Life is Good!!!

Left Homer and Arrived in Las Vegas

Well, that's a bit simplistic. We actually left Homer at 7:30am and made a few plane changes and lots of treking through the airports before arriving in Las Vegas at 5:00pm!

The down side is that several boxes of frozen fish bumped our luggage and we're WITHOUT!!! It may arrive late tonight but "a bird in the hand" if you know what I mean.

Also our rental car fell through. Hopefully they'll have something mid-morning.

Oh, it's 104' here too, ain't that just peachy, lol?

We're both tired and going to bed and hope tomorrow gets better.

Friday is our first doctors visit but we won't know anything because it's just to start the lab work and referrals.

We'll write more when we know more!

Finally, some News.

We finally have surgery dates for Paul's herniated disks in his neck, August 18-20



That means we will be arriving in Las Vegas the week before to see our primary care doctor for referrals to his cardiac and diabetes doctors. (all that takes 2 to 3 weeks)



From Las Vegas, we'll drive to Thousand Oaks, CA to see Dr. Chiu for Paul's surgery (actually a repair not a vertebra fusion). It's the same surgery I had about 9 years ago with the same doctor, very successful!!!



We will go from there to Paradise, CA about August 21 for a week's visit with my dad and 4 of my daughters. We'll then drive back to Las Vegas to see the other doctors (however long that takes). (But we all know that, when you're dealing with an HMO, it's never a perfect world).



In a perfect world, we'd be ready to fly back to Homer Alaska by the 10 of September, I'm just hoping to be back by the middle of October (I'm trying to be realistic here, lol)

The Blizzzard and more

I was very disappointed this winter with the lack of WHITE in Homer Alaska. I came home as quickly as I could (from Las Vegas) so I wouldn't miss the snow, only to find there wasn't any, well almost none.
The weather was warm (40ish) for 3 weeks at a time and then freeze and snow (a little) for the next week. Only to melt and warm up to the low 40's again. It was messy and dirty and NOT white, as I had hoped.
Then, the worst thing happened on Feb. 2nd. Puxatony Phil came out of his groundhog's hole and didn't see his shadow. That meant that winter was over and Spring would arrive early (in 2 weeks). BUMMER for me, I hadn't had my winter yet. Well, things got better right away. We had a blizzard that lasted for 5 days! So exciting, snow and wind, dry, blowing snow. It was WHITE and clean and drifting everywhere. We had several feet of the white stuff drifted high against every building, car and plant. It was beautiful.
Poor Ben, he needed a snow plow to clear the driveway when it was over. And there were several people that knew I'd asked for more snow. I got phone calls from them asking me if I was satisfied yet! Oh, YES, I was very happy that it finally felt like winter in Alaska.
We've had a little more snow off and on since but the effects of the blizzard are gone from the streets and driveways. The ground has been exposed in many areas except where the snow was piled or drifted. We did get 4 inches night before last that melted in the daytime warmth. I love Alaska!

It's been a L o n g Winter

It's not been long because of the weather but because Paul totaled his 07 Dodge truck. He had whiplash and abrasions on top of his head. He's had x-rays, CT scan, & MRI but nothing is broken , just bent.

He's been seeing the chiropractor a couple times a week and is finally feeling better most of the time. He had shooting pains down both arms because of pressure on some nerves in the neck.

It took quite a long time to find a replacement truck too! We had several dealerships looking and we were searching the classified ads, Internet, leads, and Craig's List.

He wanted another 2007 Laramie and they're like finding "Hen's Teeth". Apparently when someone buys them they intend to keep them forever. Fortunately, we finally found a man in Fairbanks that had 2 trucks and wanted out from under the payments. We drove up (almost 600 miles) to Fairbanks and looked at the truck. It was a beautiful bright Inferno Red Crystal color. It was in fantastic condition and had a bonus sunroof (which Paul wanted on his first truck but wasn't available to him then) so he bought it.

He talked to the repair shop that did the estimate on his damaged truck and there was $24,000.00 damage. It didn't look that bad but the underside had significant damage.

He did a 180* spin on black ice and took out 5 mail boxes set in concrete and a 12 inch diameter tree. He was VERY fortunate!

I'm sorry I haven't updated this blog since he got home but you can imagine we've been busy with doctors appointments and truck shopping.

All is well and we are still enjoying Alaska and the weather. Tucson likes everything but the snow so she stays in all winter. She is still quite the character and is still the boss of the house.

The man of the house is finally IN the house

There was some problem with blogger saving my post last weekend. It saved the two pictures but not the clever text. Now I have to try to recreate the witty blog post, here goes:

It took 3 weeks for Paul and Ben to arrive in Homer, AK.



It was near dark when they got to the overlook and they wanted a picture. You can see some of the dirt on Ben's truck. Paul's truck is also VERY dirty.

They were both very tired and extreemly happy to have reached the end of the road.

Welcome Home Travelers!!!

Paul misses Christmas and New Year's

I may have arrived home Dec 19th but poor Paul is still on the road. He made a couple extra little stops on the way but the biggest adventure was a blown transmission.

Paul and Ben are driving two trucks, 4000 miles, from Las Vegas to Homer Alaska. Sounds okay but not so simple. Even though Paul had his truck checked out the transmission didn't last. On Christmas day it blew 120 miles south of Fort Nelson, BC Canada. It's pretty cold there, -26 degrees.

There were a few glitches in making the repair. The mechanic couldn't find a transmission in Edmonton but Paul found one in the Anchorage area on Craig's List. They found a man in Homer coming their way to bring it to them. Unfortunately that turned out to be for a 4-wheel drive and wouldn't work in his truck. He found another in Prince George, about 500 miles back down the road. So, on New Year's Eve day, they hit the road and drove to pick up the transmission. THEN, they turned around and drove back on New Year's Day. The roads were empty and they were fortunate that they didn't break down, again, lol.

Now the mechanic can get to work and meanwhile Paul goes to the parts store to buy block heaters for the 2 trucks. The man at the parts store said he didn't need them and sent him on his way. The good news is that the mechanic found a broken starter mount and replaced that before it caused another break down. The bad news is that they really needed the block heaters.

They got on the road in 9 days only to be broken down in the next town. The batteries froze and neither truck would start. Now they were back in the shop to have block heater, pan heater and 2 battery blankets installed on the 2 trucks. They even had to sleep without heat at the one and only motel because they had run out of propane.

The good news is, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, Oh yeah, they were safe, healthy, and saw several critters on the road. Paul called last night and said he made it into Alaska. It looks like they will be home on Friday afternoon, Woo-Hoo!!! The weather report last night said there is freezing rain on snow in Anchorage which is causing many accidents so I'm praying for their safe travel on this last leg of a difficult trip.