June 28, 2009
Little T's Big Adventure
When my grandson Tomas comes over for a visit I always try to get him to go with me for a walk. I need to walk for my health and Cassie and I have been very worried about his weight. So Cassie and I both try to walk with him every chance we get. Friday we watched the little guy for his dad and took him for a walk. Most of the time we let him lead us and Friday was no exception. Tomas likes to lead the way. I had had surgery on Tuesday so I was a little nervous about falling and went a little slower than usual.
I always take my camera when we walk because Tomas is just so cute, and you never know when a Kodak moment is going to happen. Here are some pictures of our adventure:
Tomas and Cassie entering theforesttprimevall!
Just checking to make sure the photographer is still with us.
Look Nana! We discovered a river! Ewwww, look at all the junk somebody threw in there!
Wandering through the wilderness!
Follow me Nana! I'll lead us out of here! Watch out for that log on the ground!
Walking in the woods is so much fun!
Some pretty flowers we saw on our journey!
Home again, home again, jiggedy jig!
June 25, 2009
My latest weigh-in
June 24, 2009
I had a successful surgery
Yesterday morning I went the Vantage Surgery Center in Medford where my surgeon Dr. Grey (and a host of other's, 'not Losties!') performed a rotator cuff repair. Dr. Grey had to fix two tears, snip one of the two tendons on my attaching my upper bicep and cleaned up all the osteo arthritis in the area (it's actually called a decompression repair) I went in around 9:00AM and was done in two hours then stayed in the recover room until about 2:00 PM. Cassie brought me home and we enjoyed a great lunch. The anesthesiologist injected my neck with a nerve block to stop any pain during and after the surgery and I was told that it should last until tomorrow (which thankfully it is still working!) Last night as I was getting ready for dinner, I happened to walk by the bedroom mirror and got a good look at the contraptions they hooked me up with.
The gray thing on my shoulder is a high tech cooling device that hooks up by hoses to an ice pump to help keep the swelling down. It's very comfortable and works very well! The black sling is high tech too! It has a belt that holds my arm tight to my body with a padded spacer in-between. Also very comfortable. The last time I had a rotator cuff fixed (my right shoulder) I had to 'sleep' sitting up and there was so much pain I got only a few hours of troubled sleep for a week! I slept pretty darn good last night and I have no pain at all! (yet, I'm still prayin' though!) I thought I looked so cool in the mirror I asked Cassie to snap a pic of me in my "Mad Max" getup to share with all my readers. I even have some "battle scars!" This pic may just be TMI(too much information for the very sensitive, young or impressionable. Sorry!)
This is me on drugs! And my gear!
My favorite nurse and photographer Cassie!
June 13, 2009
Today was The First Official Meeting of the DrG-DSers
Today was the first Official get-together of the DrG-DS Group! We are patients of Dr. Greenbaum who have had the Duodenal Switch (Bariatric Surgery)
What a great time we had! Our first meeting started with a cookout (we ate in the house though, I made a burnt offering to Dr. G on the grill!) Cassie and some of the DSers started a Yahoo group just for patients of Dr. Greenbaum. So I grilled some steak Crystal marinated some delicious spare ribs that I grilled. We had hot dogs, and Cassie's home-made tater salad and my home made cole slaw.
The meeting was called to order as soon as the food was cooked. We said a prayer (for protection from my grilling!) and commenced eatin'. It was wonderful having real adults over to the house to talk with and share stories about all kinds of subjects. Of course I had to take a few pics to commemorate the occasion.
Here's Cassie and Christina chatting away in the front.
My Grandson Tomas was with us for a while.
Crystal and her son Sean, what a cutie he is!
He has beautiful eyes!
Crystal's husband Sean, what a great guy!
Christina and Cassie again.
Hey! there's me on the wrong side of the camera!
I am usually the one taking the pics , but Cassie insisted I turn the camera over to her for a bit!
We all had a great time and shared some good food. For desert Christina suprised us with pig candy!
Which is Bacon sprinkled with brown sugar and a little chili powder. Cooked on the grill. Yummy!
To those that couldn't make it we missed you, but don't fret we are going to do this again in July or August. Keep tuned to the Yahoo group for details."
We hope to see more people come, we have a big house and room for all in the group! We'll probably skip the tater salad and cole slaw though, Meat is so much more fun and tasty too! Gotta get that protein in!
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June 5, 2009
That's What Love is Like!
"You know when you listen to music playing from another room?
And you're singing along because it's a tune that you really love?
When a door closes or a train passes by so you can't hear the music anymore,
but you sing along anyway...then, no matter how much time passes,
when you hear the music again, you're still in the exact same time with it.
That's what love is like."
- Anonymous
Cassie Hussey
Aah, the Golden Years! (Sent to me in an email from my sweetheart Cassie!)
Really; the only thing golden is the color of
your urine from taking all those dammed pills!!!
LAUGH A LITTLE EVERY DAY....
SPECIAL POEM FOR OLDER FOLKS
A row of bottles on my shelf
Caused me to analyze myself.
One yellow pill I have to pop
Goes to my heart so it won't stop.
A little white one that I take
Goes to my hands so they won't shake.
The blue ones that I use a lot
Tell me I'm happy when I'm not.
The purple pill goes to my brain
And tells me that I have no pain.
The capsules tell me not to wheeze
Or cough or choke or even sneeze..
The red ones, smallest of them all
Go to my blood so I won't fall.
The orange ones, very big and bright
Prevent my leg cramps in the night.
Such an array of brilliant pills
Helping to cure all kinds of ills.
But what I'd really like to know...........
Is what tells each one where to go!
There's always a lot to be thankful for if
you take time to look for it. For example
I am sitting here right now thinking how nice it is
that wrinkles don't hurt.
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June 4, 2009
Sears repair technicians
Cassie and I have been having trouble with our Frigidaire refrigerator the last few weeks. The refrigerator side wasn't getting cold enough and we had food going bad a lot quicker than it should have. Because we are on a fixed income we had to wait for my pension check to come in before we could call the Sears repair service. Our warranty had run out two years ago (naturally) and we new it would cost us a lot to fix. (it always does!)
I took a look at the problem two weeks ago, and decided that there were two things that could be at fault. The motorized damper between the freezer ($80.00) and the thermostat controller ($75.00) I looked at the parts website two weeks ago to see what the parts would cost and either one would cost about $80.00. Cassie suggested we call the Sears technician instead of just replacing one part at a time and guessing.(She thought it would cost more that way!) So we called Sears and we were told that it would cost $75.00 just for the technician to come out and parts would be extra. Sears gave us a window that the repair tech would be there of between 8:00 AM and 12:00 Noon which as everyone knows is quite an inconvenience but we agreed that it was necessary. The guy came out After 2:00 and we had to call at 12:00 to find out if he was coming at all! He took 10 minutes to diagnose the problem went out to his truck and spent 15 minutes rummaging around out there, then came back in and shocked the living daylights out of me! He said the repair would cost $545.00!
"What!" I said. "I can't afford that kind of money, I'm on Social Security Disability!" He told me the part was $280.00 and the rest was labor. I told him I already looked up the price of the parts and the total of them all was $160.00! He told me they no longer just replace the individual parts, just the sub-assemblies. I said, "Yeah that's because you technicians are getting too lazy to diagnose and replace the small parts and to hell with the consumers." "And while I'm at it, we are all ready paying $75.00 for your house call, it should include the 20 minutes it will take to change out the part! (I had taken the parts out to check them the day before and it took me 20 minutes total. So I knew what to expect.) Why are you going to charge me another $190.00 to change out the module!" He told me the $75.00 was just the service call and that the labor and parts are extra.
I then asked if I could just buy the part from him and install it myself, and he said that he couldn't sell me the parts. He then offered me a coupon good for a $100.00 off on a new refrigerator at Sears. That's when I lost my temper and told him to get the "blank" out of my house! We then called Sears service but I was still too upset to talk coherently or civilly to them so Cassie took over. The down side is we have to call today to see if they will do anything to help us, the upside is that in the meantime I went to the website and ordered a new part. (the thermostat controller) The part had been reduced in price from $75.00 when I checked 2 weeks ago to $29.95 as it was an approved substitute. It should be here tomorrow on Friday. Then I'll see if it was that or the Damper. I hope it is the thermostat, the letter I will send to Sears will be a doozy!
I am going to ask Cassie to call Sears back today because I am still very PO'ed with them and I know I'm going to blow at the slightest provocation!
If we can't resolve this it will be a cold day where the Boogyman lives before we buy any appliances from sears again!
I thought it was quite ironic that two of the Sears logos were contrary to what we encountered:
Yeah Right!
Stumble It!
