Month: July 2015

Sleep seems to be the ticket for recovery. I felt great this morning, took a short drive, and extended my walk to the clubhouse. More sleep tonight....

I've seen a lot of notes and got a lot of emails wishing me the best, which I appreciate. Folk are being nice, so thank you all for the nice comments. Today I doubled my walking distance, and went for a ride with Grace from the park to pick up a prescription. I'm supposed to stay active, practice walking, etc. Fine, but then I get a nap to recover. A few years ago a friend of mine, Howie, encountered a serious disease that required long and...

I was up at 2AM making breakfast, and having dinner at 5AM, but got some sleep, a shower, and took a (very tiny) walk. The hallucinations have receded, and tonight Kathy brought me a posole dinner. Dave took out my garbage. Grace is standing by for rides or something. So I'm getting lots of help. Not much to worry about as my mobility range is measured in feet, not miles. That will change fast, I'm not having much pain at all. Thanks, everyone.

What I need the most right now is sleep. Schedules at the hospital were for 24, 12, 6, 4, 2, and every hour, meaning it's impossible to stay asleep for any length of time. It will take a few nights of quiet to get back on schedule. Most folks' bodies need extra sleep after surgery anyway. Since I'm missing a vein and artery in my legs, I've got to do some walking to reform those. Meanwhile my prescriptions haven't come in yet, but when they do...

I had three bypasses. Now home and exhausted. Very tired.

While the surgeon allowed me to leave this morning, my two trusted nurses wanted me to wait another day while I became more mobile. I respect their opinion (thanks Sarah and Hannah). Besides, I see Donald Trump is running around loose out there; dangerous situation....

I don't know whether I had 3 or 4 bypasses, maybe more. Coming out of surgery was sure rough, though. Oh, everything worked well, but then came a litany of pills that I couldn't swallow, nor keep down. A fix for the problem was a nurse change, who was making the situation worse. After four days I was able to take food, as well as keep down some of the pills. But today I needed more so we're experimenting with taking some of the meds via IV. I am...

My surgeon had to change his appointment with me again today, and then added some tests he hadn't thought of before, all of which added up to gobbling my entire day for something that should have taken a half hour. I have rides arranged to get me in in plenty of time, and I figure the doc will be delayed as he usually is. No matter, I won't be caring about anything until Wednesday morning sometime. My intent is post something online once I can....

Next week some people I don't know are going to turn off my brain, stop my heart, paralyze my body, and halt breathing. Seems a lot like death to me. They promise it will only last 6 hours. Now, who are these people again? Where will I be? Which is a good incentive to do all that which everyone puts off until it's an emergency like living wills, wills, organ donation sign-ups, and the like. Of everyone that puts such things off, I'm the best as...

I finally got the new schedule for my heart surgery. I meet the doctor on Monday, and go in for the operation on Tuesday. It's scheduled so that I can get there by ferry without having to stay overnight in Seattle. They guess I'll be in the hospital for 5 nights, but this is subject to change.

A small fire has broken out in the Olympic National Park, deep within the wilderness portion, often referred to as the rain forest, the wettest spot in the lower 48. It's been burning for about a month, and there is no access to it. It will burn until autumn rains come to put it out. Experts have been foolishly quoted as saying "there hasn't been a fire here in 600 years". Well, if you want to be factual about it, there hasn't been a fire here...

When I left for Seattle this morning it was raining here, the first real rain the Olympic Peninsula has seen in 5 weeks. Not enough to matter at all, but the smoke from Vancouver Island is now cleared out. It was fun to go to the party for Maizie (age 7) and Amos (age 3), as it's a good chance to see a bunch of people and kids I've come to know. There were even some rain drops in Seattle today; I think we counted three. I hope that tomorrow...