Hallelujah

The verdict is in: I'm going to live!!! Hallelujah!!!

I finally got the MRI & MRA report (brain scan) and I do, in fact, have a brain. I guess the problem is that I'm not using it to my best advantage, lol.

No aneurysm, no tumors, nothing out of the ordinary. That was the last hurdle and now we can go home.

The best we can figure on the headaches is a vicious cycle of tension-pain-high blood pressure-more tension etc, etc, etc! Also, the blood pressure machine I bought was way off accuracy. I took it in to the doctors office and the new one was sooooo wrong I returned it to the store and I'm just going to the doctors office each week till we get home. My b/p is nearly normal and will likely come down the rest of the way when I get home.

After much considering and praying about the best plan for returning to Alaska, we are going to fly to Seattle on April 12. It will take us a couple days to have new tires put on the rig and then we'll start the long drive home. We know the roads will still be icy for much of the AL-CAN but we'll take it slow and easy. If needs be, we can spend a couple days to wait out a storm.

Paul and I appreciate all everyone has done for us. Several people have taken care of our home, cat, mail, driveway (snow) and vehicles. Also we have imposed immensely on his sister and her husband for 3 months by living with them. We hope to be able to repay (or pay it forward) for all our blessings and every one's generosity.

Look out Homer, here we come :-)

A Little Forward Motion

I finally got in to see one of the specialists. He does sleep disorders and he's also a neurologist. He doesn't think I have sleep apnea and he thinks that my headaches are tension caused. (Most likely diagnosis considering the circumstances)

I also got the approval today for the MRI (or is that MRA?). I'll find out tomorrow when I make the appointment. I think it's an MRI with contrast to look at the blood vessels in the brain. My blood pressure is still rather high and unchanged with the medications.

Well, that's it in a nutshell, what'd I miss?

Never-ending Medical Visits

Today I finally saw the neurologist/headache specialist. He has some ideas but needs more investigation before he can zero in on a diagnosis.

He's ordering an MRI of the skull/brain and a sleep study to rule out sleep apnea.

He has ordered a couple medications to use in the meantime to lower blood pressure and pain.

So, we're looking at 2 weeks just for the insurance company to give up the approval for another MRI. See what I mean about "Never-ending"?

I'll give you more when we have the test results and plan of action. No sense in boring you with anything else right now since there's not much happening except headache.

Feel free to email or call us if you have other questions or jokes to tell me!!!

karenspils@hotmail.com

Headache Improvement

I have seen the neurologist and his NP and got a referral to a Headache specialist neurologist. Unfortunately, it's Tuesday March 6th before I can get an appointment.

I did have my appointment with my primary care practitioner today as follow up to the emergency room visit. I liked him, he's into preventing instead of fixing a problem and he's anxious to have a cause for the headache instead of covering it with more drugs. I'll contact him as soon as we know more.

Paul's doing very well. He has had some dizziness and low blood pressure but I think we beat it. We eliminated one of his medications that is the culprit, viola, no light headedness!!! He's also still losing weight and the goal is not to lost too quickly. His clothes are hanging on him and he looks like he's wearing his daddy's shirts and pants. Good thing he has some smaller clothes at home.

That's about it for now, thanks for hanging in there with us.

Headache Saga continues

Well, by Monday my headache wasn't any better. So, off to the emergency room I go! We spent 6 hours having CT scan, Chest X-ray, Blood Work, and finally a Spinal Tap. I really liked the doctor in the ER he was friendly, thorough and quick. He said there was nothing in the spinal fluid, it was crystal clear. He pronounced me very healthy and gave me pills for migraine headache and referred me to an neurologist.

I was lucky to get in to the neurologist by Thursday and he thinks it is actually a migraine that is perpetuating itself. He prescribed a vasoconstrictor, muscle relaxer, and prednisone. He said that he wants to stop all the symptoms that are causing each other.

Finally I got some relief. I think I still have some pain in my head that's soreness from the 10 days of swelling. I want to see the neurologist soon to get a little fine tuning. What to do if this happens again, etc.

I was very difficult to diagnose because I keep walking after everyone else has gone to bed. I tolerate much more pain than most people and the doctors can't tell how much pain I'm actually experiencing. I got that reminder from my girlfriend yesterday.

Another note, I cancelled my shoulder surgery. My pain is almost gone and I can lift my arm above my head again. It's a miracle, no doubt about it! I'm VERY hopeful that we can come home soon. We need to tie up a few loose ends and find a flight but I'm encouraged.

You are sure patient to keep checking here for updates...

Nothing much happening about my shoulder. I'm approved and have the x-ray and lab work complete but the calendar is not cooperating. Monday, Feb. 27th is the magic date (I hope).

Wednesday night I went to bed with a headache, a pretty bad one. Thursday afternoon I saw the chiropractor for an adjustment because I thought my neck was the cause of the headache. Thursday night I went to bed with a really painful headache. OK, maybe my sinuses are stopped up and causing me this pain. Friday I went to the health food store and bought some homeopathic remedies for sinus problems. I tried everything. I woke every two hours from 7pm to 7am and no improvement. That's when I decided to go to the urgent care. Bad experience.

The 'doctor' (or whatever she is) asked me what I was there for and I said "Headache". She said, "you need to see your primary care doctor". W H A T ? what are they there for if not for me and my problems. She then said she could give me something for the pain for a couple days till I could see my PCP. I raised my voice and started to cry, saying, "I DON'T WANT PAIN PILLS, I WANT A DIAGNOSIS" She asked who my PCP was and I said Dr. Krstic. She asked who is Dr. Xxxxxx, I said I have no idea, never heard of him. She said he had given me 120 pain pills Jan 3rd. Oh, that's my pain doctor's associate. He gave me a large bottle to take back to Alaska because they can't give me refills.

That visit didn't go well and it got worse. I told the nurse that I was allergic to penicillin but she neglected to write it down and the doctor wrote me a prescription for a derivative. Good thing I'm familiar with it or they could have poisoned or killed me. We were almost 'home' when we found out and had to drive all the way back for a new 'written' order. The girl that gave me the papers didn't know what I was to do with a lab request, 'anytime in the next week" she said. Not so, when I went back to get a new script, I insisted on talking to the doctor. She said she'd made a referral for a CT Scan on Monday and needed lab work TODAY. If my headache isn't improved by Monday, I'm to go to the emergency room and have a CT scan and find out what's going on in my head.

I hope this doesn't mess up my shoulder surgery a week from Monday, prayers are appreciated. That's reminds me of the nicest thing that happened to me today. While I sat in the lab for 1 3/4 hours, a group of young men from a group home came in and sat down. A sweet young man asked if he could sit next to me and I said sure. He asked if I was okay and I said no, terrible headache and pain. He offered to pray for me and I accepted. He then told me his name is Jeremy and showed me a picture of his 2 nephews. Paul came and picked me up and I left. Jeremy waved goodbye and gave me a big smile. That cheered me up and gave me a much needed smile.

And The Verdict is...

TORN!!! I finally saw the orthopedic doctor this morning and he said my shoulder is torn and needs to be repaired. Earliest surgery available is Feb. 27th. Surprising development today. The doctor's office told me to make an appointment with my primary care doctor for pre-op tests. I called while I was waiting there and got a cancellation for 3pm today. Wow, that rarely happens. So, I got there and have already had an EKG and hold the paper work in my hand for chest x-ray and blood work. The wheels are finally turning, hooray!

Paul also got his MRI results 2 days ago...FROZEN SHOULDER... probably caused by the diabetes. He has a possibility of cure by having an injection and physical therapy. If that doesn't work, he'll need an arthroscopic surgery also.

Also, I did get my TMJ splint the other day and I have relief from jaw and headaches!

Surprisingly, also Paul got the report on his sleep study and they adjusted his C-Pap down from 15 to 11 because of his weight loss. Another move in the right direction.

More Medical update

Well, I hate to update the medical info since it's so incomplete.
In the last week or 2:
I've had my right thumb injected to ease the arthritis pain.
Paul had an MRI on his right shoulder (but no report till Feb 1st.)
I had an impression for a TMJ splint (probably finished Feb 1st)
I had an MRI of my left shoulder (and my report is Feb 3rd.)
Paul did another sleep study (he's lost enough weight that his C-PAP needs adjusting)
Paul had an x-ray of his lap-band to find a leak (which they didn't find yet)
In between we've seen a few movies: Hugo, War House, The Artist, and We Bought A Zoo (all were good)

That's it in a nutshell, discouraging to us both that we aren't home in Homer. The weather here is upper 60's to 70's, NOT pleasant to a hot body like me.

As soon as we can complete the necessary medical care, we'll be home.

Karen's Orthopedic Doctor visit

Just as I figured, there's nothing broken or fractured so the doctor applied to the insurance for an MRI.

Unfortunately, they figure 2 weeks for approval, another week or more to get in to a machine and another week to get in to the doctor for the diagnosis. And that's only the beginning if there is any damage that needs repair.

Meanwhile, Paul has his MRI on Monday afternoon (tomorrow).

Las Vegas, the details

Starting with December 26th 2011: We got a message that Paul's brother-in-law had passed away that morning. (That was his sister, Vyonne's, husband) For the next couple days we contemplated the options. Fly down to the funeral together or Karen stay home to care of the house, cat, keeping the home fires burning, as well as visiting teaching, knitting group and an occasional opportunities to help others.

Then, Wednesday morning December 28th, I was directing Paul to back the truck and log splitter into the driveway when I slipped and fell. I landed on my shoulder then butt, then head. (There probably would have been less damage if I'd landed on my head first instead of last) Since our health insurance is only available in Las Vegas and the fall indicated a torn rotator cuff, it became obvious that I was flying to Las Vegas WITH Paul. Apparently the Lord knew something I didn't and wanted me in Las Vegas.

After the funeral, Paul saw his doctor and found out that his lap band has a leak. Wow, that's something we couldn't have handled in Alaska. Sooooo on Jan 25th they will do a fluoroscope with dye to see where the leak is and replace the offending part.

Also, he has had ongoing pain and loss of range of motion in his right shoulder. Now's the time to research that. Also, with losing 30+ pounds, he needs his c-pap sleep study re-done and the machine adjusted.

Oh, and it's time to have my thumb injected for the arthritis as long as we are here. That could have been done in Homer but it is cheaper here if we are here anyway.

AS of today, I see orthopedic surgeon tomorrow and take next step in diagnosis for shoulder. (I expect he'll apply to the insurance company for an MRI).

Monday Jan. 16th, I have my thumb injected.

Following Monday Jan 23, Paul does pre-registration at hospital for floroscope.

Wednesday, Jan 25 is the floroscope.

We have space in our calendar to fill in with more appointments and hopefully we'll get the calls for both MRI's soon.

Any Questions? Kind of a mess, huh?

I saw on the news the other day that Cordova Alaska was declared a state of emergency because of huge amounts of snow fall. Cordova is in our stake but over the mountains fom us and they got tons more snow than we did in Homer. Our home is fine and our geography is such that we are protected from the initial onslought from Pacific storms by a mountain. Places like Cordova, Seward and Valdez are more like a funnel for the storms.

Can you believe we're BACK in Las Vegas?

Long story but a funeral and my fall has us stuck here yet again.

We are currently on our way to Long Beach for Paul's daughter's banquet for nomination to S. Cal. Teacher of the year. Tomorrow I should be able to expand on the reasons we're down here.

I've talked to friends at home and I've seen the weather in Cordova, Alaska but Homer is not pummeled.

Much more later,
Karen

Home at last

Homer at last!

Paul and I made it home yesterday evening. It took us a week and a half but we made it.

We visited Chris in San Clemente, Sara from Huntington Beach, Candy in Elk Grove, Kimberly, Julie, Kelsey and Dad in Paradise, Bobby from Brookings and Kristi in Portland. I saw all 7 of my children between Nov. 24th and Dec 9th, That's no small accomplishment, they live in Oregon, Colorado and California.

We cleaned out the motorhome and put in storage in Chehalis WA. It's only one flight home from Seattle and one flight back.

Paul is doing very well with his weight loss. He's down about 30 pounds. He has a VERY quick recovery from his surgery too. We're both very happy to be home.

Fantastic News

Paul had his lap band 2 weeks ago today. The doctor said it was a difficult surgery and Paul would be very bruised. Well, he had almost no bruising at all. He has 5 very small incisions on his abdomen and tape over them. He came home the following day and only took 2 doses of pain meds. Wow, he did great.

These last 2 weeks he had to be on a liquid diet. There goes Thanksgiving dinner!!! Instead, we drove to Cedar City Utah to visit my son and his family. We were away from tempting foods and had a wonderful visit with the 3 grand kids too. Courtlyn had a loose tooth for 2 months that she wouldn't let her daddy or mom pull. BUT, she did let grandma pull it, Wow, I'm honored.

Her parents teased her about how much the tooth fairy would leave under her pillow for several minutes. I whispered in her ear that grandma would give her $5 for it and she answered in a heartbeat, "YES, that's more than the tooth fairy would pay". I told her I've pulled many teeth from my own children but that's the first grandchild tooth I ever pulled and it would be a good souvenir. We both won!

We went to the doctor yesterday for Paul's first follow-up appointment. He was very pleased with the nearly painless outcome and 15 pounds weight loss. He said we can go home and have another doctor do the lap band adjustments.

Wow, this is the shortest visit for doctors here in Las Vegas we've had so far.

We made flight arrangements for Dec. 13th. We will visit several children on our way to the airport and store our motor home again. See you soon.

3 Weeks and No Internet

Surprised to hear from me? I'm surprised to be here, lol.

I haven't had internet for the last 3 weeks because the download time on the air card for the computer was used up until this weekend. And the wifi at the RV park is off and on (mostly OFF).

So to get you up to speed, we are back in Las Vegas and ready for Paul's lap band procedure this coming Wednesday. We have been waiting for the approval from the insurance and then waiting for the next opening in the doctor's schedule.

Wednesday morning at 6:30am Paul goes to Desert Springs Hospital and will spend the night. The procedure is only an hour but with heart and diabetes, they probably want to watch him and be sure he's fine. He should come home Thursday.

The doctor told Paul that he only needs to spend 3 weeks or so after the surgery before he can go back to Alaska. WOW, this will be the shortest visit here, EVER!!!

2 Wild and Busy Weeks

Well, we've just spent 2 very busy weeks.

Last week we had several doctors appointments, sometimes 3 in a day. So far, all has been well and the doctors are satisfied.

Then, this week we drove to Hurricane and St. George Utah to visit family. Unfortunately Jerry left town for the day and forgot to tell us. So, we visited with Deb. Then we stopped in St. George to see Nancy Lisonbee and pick up some Real Salt for my daughters. It was nice to see Nancy and her husband and son. We had lunch at Cafe Rio with them and visited a little bit.

Then the big adventure begins. We drove to Paradise to the baptism of a granddaughter, Hailey McKenna Noel Wilson (Kelsey's only girl). While there I had the chance to spend a day with my very good friend, Sandi Talbot on Thursday and that evening, Julie and Kelsey came to visit.

Kelsey had throat surgery on Tuesday and in not allowed to utter ANY sound so, she's signing constantly. The only problem is that I didn't take the class so I have a hard time understanding her. She is very patient and writes almost everything to me. The funniest thing is, that if Julie doesn't like what Kelsey is signing, she puts her index fingers over her eyes and sings "La-La-La-La-La-La-La-La". It caught Kelsey off guard and almost made her laugh (a no-no) and she started coughing.

Then on Friday, my best friend drove down from Anderson to spend the day with me and to see Kelsey and Kimberly. Kelsey had a new remodel of her house (adding 2 bedrooms and Kimberly has a new baby boy just 7 weeks old (that I had not met yet). We also got lucky and attended a church dinner with my dad that evening.

Saturday, I ran to the bank to sign some papers and off to the soccer games of Michael and Hailey. By 10:30am I had free time so I went to Cheryl Peterson's house and helped her and Dad load the dump truck to go to the dump. I got to spend a little time talking with my dad on the way to and from the dump. He's so busy helping others that he had almost no time to visit with me. But that's okay since I had so little time to spend in Paradise.

Sunday we attended church where I renewed acquaintance with many friends and saw Tom and Medi Fowler. Tom rented my little cabin many years ago and moved away shortly after their daughter was born. Now his daughter moved back to Paradise and became best friends with my daughter (neither knowing of the history of their parents). When their two daughters were old enough to be baptised, they wanted to do it together (they are also best friends). What a surprise when the pieces of the puzzle came together and we had a great time visiting.

The baptism was great and I've never seen so many in attendance for 2 little 8 year olds. The chapel was almost full, so many people that we couldn't fit in the Relief Society room, where we usually sit.

Monday, we got up and I went to make a deposit at Wells Fargo and found out that I had about 12 fraudulent charges on my account. That took about an hour to remedy and I still met Kelsey and Kimberly for a donut before driving out of town.

Next, we stopped for a short visit with Candy and dropped off her Real Salt. She looks healthy and happy. She's been working in convalescent hospitals and has just recently been hired by Hospice for 40% more an hour, WOW, what a blessing.

We drove to Tehatchapi too sleep where it was much cooler (oh, did I forget to mention that our air conditioners broke while in Las Vegas at 94 degrees). This trip was very timely. The repair man has ordered the capacitors and should repair them the day after we arrive.

See, I told you it was a wild 2 weeks.

L A S V E G A S , Again

Well, we made the 12 hour day to fly 3 flights from Homer to Las Vegas on Tuesday. Exhausted, but safe and sound, Paul's sister, Arla, picked us up at the airport. She kept us at her house then the next morning drove us (1 hour) up the mountain to pick up the motor home.

We thought we were so smart to turn off the batteries to save them but they were DEAD anyway. It probably took us an extra hour to charge them enough to start the engine. We drove back into town and set it up in the Thousand Trails and rushed off to the first doctor's visit of the trip.

Paul's diabetes doctor gave him some good pointers and sent him off to get lab work done. Today we have one doctors appointment and tomorrow we have 2 doctors to see.

I love my (motor)home away from Home(r)!!! It's comfortable and familiar. All the comforts of home except no friends or family (until we go to see them).

On the 18th we are planning to go to Hurricane and visit Deb & Jerry (Paul's brother) and my niece in St. George but it will be a one day round trip. More on that later.

Then, on the 19th, we are going to drive to Paradise, CA. We will visit my dad and 4 daughters. While there, Kelsey's daughter, Hailey is going to be baptised. It will be so good to see some of the kids but unfortunately not all.

Okay, now that you know what we did and where we are, don't be strangers. Come by and visit, ol.

Silly Request

I got a phone call from friends the other day. They were concerned because I had not posted if a few months. I said "The name of the blog is 'Spilsbury Travels', you see since we're not traveling, I don't post".

Well, I guess I could post something once in awhile, if I remember, lol. It seems that 'Life' gets in the way and keeps me much to busy.

Paul and I have been home over 3 months now and keeping busy. We have had 3 wonderful visits from friends this summer. First, Marianne and Albi von Dach came for a visit from Arizona. The first thing they asked is "Do you still have Tucson?" (Really, the cat gets first billing?) It was so nice to visit with them.

Then we had a visit from Maureen and Richard Haralabatos from New York, we met them in Florida. They also remembered Tucson but were kind enough to say "hello" to Paul and I first. (Tucson is always so memorable, she gets right in their face to sniff them.)

Then we had friends from Oregon come in to town. Norm and Jerri Pawson came from Aloha OR. They too remembered Tucson but for a different reason, Norm is allergic to cats. So sorry Norm.

Paul and I felt very honored that friends would take the time to visit with us. We have made some wonderful RV friends over the last 9 years.

Well, besides all the cleaning and organizing of the house, that sums up our summer. We will be flying to Las Vegas again on October 11th. Paul and I have a few follow-up doctor's appointment before returning home. I'm planning of visiting Paradise CA to see my newest grandson and attend a granddaughter's baptism the end of October.

HOME(R) at Last

This is the news you've all been waiting for, lol. Oh yeah, this is the news I've been waiting for. We arrived safely in Homer yesterday at 4pm. Of course, there were no groceries in the house, we made a short stop at the market for staples and a couple frozen dinners.

It was a long day, up at 5 for a 5:25am shuttle to the airport. There were so many people we just made it thru TSA to make boarding. I have no idea what TSA thinks is wrong with me but it seems I always get wanded or x-rayed. Oh, and they almost always go thru my luggage (this time they went through 3 of our 5 bags).

We had a short (2 hour) layover in Seattle before our flight to Anchorage. There we only had 1 1/4 hours before our flight to Homer.

I'm so happy to be home and hold my cat, Tucson. She was happy to see us and had to sniff us over and over again before she was content to sit on my shoulder and purr. She quickly fell back into her old habits with us. She's a fun pet.

Going Home

Well, the latest neurologist did new lab tests to eliminate other possible causes and the results are negative. That's good news, sort of, it means I don't have some terrible diseases. On the other hand, it means the cause is still unknown, maybe inherited?

The final try is Cymbalta, for nerve pain and changes the way the brain deals with pain. It takes up to a month to see if it helps, so far I think it is making a difference in the burning pain. Since we've eliminated the scary possibilities, we're going home.

May 20th we fly out at 7am. I'm excited but it still feels unreal. Since Paul's diabetes doctor must see him every 6 months (the insurance prefers 3 months) we will be back October 11th for doctors appointments the 12th - 14th. It should be routine visits and a short trip, you've heard that before, huh?

Still Hanging Around

Paul and I are trying to be patient but we're so bored.

Paul had a treadmill stress test and the results were good. The doctor said the heart has improved since the bypass surgery. He also had a lung function study and that looks like minor problems with breathing. The doctor hasn't called with results yet so it must be minor.

Me, on the other hand, I'm still looking for a correct diagnosis on my foot burning and numbness. I've been sent to a second neurologist. I was very impressed with the intake exam and blood work ordered, he was very thorough. It will still be another 2 weeks before I get the results. The blood tests had to be frozen and take 2 weeks to complete.

I decided that I'm giving up and going home after I see the neurologist. Either he has a diagnosis and treatment or not, and I go home. This has gone much too long, even if I have to survive on pain pills!