One day left in San Diego

Today is our last full day in San Diego. We'll take Trevor to his girlfriend's apartment and then I have to leave my baby. He is still ill and nowhere near ready to be on his own, but we have to go back home and he has to have a re-check by the cardiothoracic surgeon who saved his life in 2 weeks. Add that to the fact that everything here costs almost twice what it does at home and we just can't stay another two weeks. He's not allowed to fly for at least 10 days. We checked on trains and buses. I could charter a plane for what these trips across the country cost!

He will be living in Mexico until he finds a job and an apartment here in CA. He has a month to find both or he has to come home. If he hasn't been able to find a job in a month in the birthplace of computer technology, he will be asking, "Do you want fries with that?". I know he's smart and can do any job related to computers, but he has to be given a chance first. He missed the interviews that were scheduled last week because he was having surgery to remove over a liter of blood from his chest.

I wrote about not speaking the right language to be here and it keeps getting more and more obvious, I should have taken intensive Spanish rather than German in college. It's frustrating when I can't even tell the maid that we appreciate how clean the room is or ask a waitress for extra napkins. This has opened my eyes to the complaints of people along the border being so anti-immigrant.  I believe with all my heart that this country should allow immigrants to come here. With the exception of Native Americans, all of our ancestors are immigrants. What if our ancestors were treated with the hate and violence poured on toady's immigrants?

I made the appointment with this heart specialist, so that is taken care of. Now, I'm trying to find him a new primary care physician. Not an easy thing to do. Nobody seems to want new patients! Maybe the specialist will have an idea and help him out. If you live in the San Diego region and have a good doctor, I would really appreciate a name and phone number.

He's going to take a shower now and then he'll pack up his suitcase and backpack and off we go. Those two bags will be the extent of all his worldly possessions until I can bring his car and other items out. Once he gets a job, I have about a dozen people offering to drive out with me to deliver them. I think I'll have a lottery, just put everyone's name in a jar and pick 2. :-)

I know he's a young adult and needs to be out on his own, but he's my baby and always will be. I don't know how I'm going to drive away!

Thanks for listening to my whining and moaning about how my life sucks. I'm in sunny CA, my son is ALIVE and my husband is here with me. If my daughter and rest of my family were here, it would be perfect. Family is all there is when you think about it.

Until next time ....

TV Day

I'm getting ready for knee surgery next week, so I'm not doing much the next few days. I can't afford to do any more damage to it. That means, some quality time in front of the TV On Demand. First up, past episodes of Amish Mafia. Yes, you read that right, there is really an Amish Mafia (well on Reality TV, that is) and has ben on TV for 4 years.

This episode shows them trying to get the Amish into politics because former (and current at the time it was filmed) PA Governor Tom Corbin taking a stand against the Amish. I live in the far northern part of the State, so I never read about it, but they had real news footage of Corbin and his security showing them in no uncertain terms that they are not wanted or even going to be tolerated in the public sector. Really frightening to see Constitutional Rights stripped away.

The rest of the show is pretty funny. Who, in their right mind, would shoot and blow up things with a news crew following them? Anyhow, it's funny to see how these people act for the cameras. We get to see Amish Lebanon Levi, Merlin and Mary go against the law and Mennonite advisory Devil Doug. I do my best to translate the Amish~German they speak, but it's not the high German I learned in college. I can keep up a bit, enough to get the just of what they're saying, but it doesn't translate directly to English.

The sickness that got me in 2006, that destroyed my body. Yeah, I was a size 14 child again for a few years and got to wear my favorite clothes, but it took the vitamins and minerals out of my body and now my bones, hair, teeth, etc ... have lost everything they need to stay healthy. I know it's happening again because I can't keep more than a few bites of food or drinks down. It hit over the weekend and yesterday was the worst ever. I can stand to lose a few or more pounds and get back to my fighting weight.

I'll update as soon as I can, but I'm sure I'll be ok. I'm use to having  3 or 4 surgeries a year. It hurts a lot, but I guess it's just my time to pay the piper for the glorious results of a mis~spent youth.

UPDATE:  I just finished Mountain Monsters Season 2, Episode 2 that is supposed to be our merry gang of rednecks hunting monsters in the Appalachia Mountains. (Hey, I love the paranormal) Anyhow on this one, the group is after the evil Chupacabra, only they got the facts about the creature all wrong. I can forgive that, but at the end, they "capture" the monster and just give brief glimpses of it in the "trap." They need a better film editor because it was painfully obvious that what they had in the box was not a large, hairy black cryptic with 2 inch long fangs, but a cuddly blonde dog with a green collar with the name of the trainer on it. SIGH! Please, now I love a good fairy tale and really love to see them get all worked up and curse a bit, but it is not ok to show me a Labrador Retriever and tell me it's a monster. I may get confused, but I can still see. Producers of Mountain Monsters on Discover Channel: You really need to hire someone to watch the show to make better edits, unless the who purpose of your show is be an hour~long joke with an expanded cast of the Three Stooges. If it's the joke, then you have a real winner here. I'm not sure I'll be able to watch it again and I love shows like this. I even watch In Search of ... knowing at the end it will be, "We didn't find him this time, but next ... "

Need more surgery

My new knee surgeon had another MRI done on my left knee & the meniscus is torn again & twice as bad as the last time it was repaired last February.  I'm not at all happy. I'm sick to death of hospitals, doctors & the rest of the medical profession. My knee hurts like crazy & can't hold my weight without buckling.

Of course, the pain in my knee & hips have set off even more migraines. Why can't I have even 1 day without the unending torture & pain?

The latest surgery is scheduled for March 26. Please remember me when you pray to your chosen deity.  I can't take many more surgeries.

Finally home and healing ~ Resistance is Futile

I had the second neck fusion done several weeks ago in Pittsburgh by the only specialist I would allow to work on such a delicate area. Dr. Vinny Silvaggio is a partner in 3 Rivers Orthopedics. He performed the first fusion in April. He warned me that it might not work and he would have to go in through the back of my neck and have more metal put in to keep the nerves from being pinched. Sadly, that prediction is exactly what happened. The pain was coming back and it radiated out to my left shoulder. Numbness would be next step. He asked if I could take the pain another 6 months to give more time to completely fuse, but I wasn't able to deal with it. I met with him last Thursday & he personally made sure I was first on the next surgery day. That happened to be Monday. It worked out well, only 3 days to worry.

We had to be at the hospital at 5:30 a.m. on Monday. Mom, Randy and I were there in plenty of time. The surgery was scheduled for 7:30 a.m. I was taken back at just about the exact time. Of course, I got kisses from both and my teeny beanie Peace bear was in my hand. He goes everywhere with me. This was his third surgery with me this year. I started to have a bit of a panic attack when I first had the face mask put on. Claustrophobia is a horrid thing and mine keeps getting worse. The staff were wonderful and had me calmed down in minutes.

More Health Woes

I went to my monthly visit with the surgeon who fused my neck in April. We were so hopeful then. I healed quickly and was feeling good. Sadly, that is no longer the case. I went to the doctor on Friday and had the news I was dreading. It looks like my neck isn't fusing like we hoped. The surgeon is sending me for a CT scan tomorrow morning and then we'll go back to Pittsburgh this Friday and sit down with the CT scans and make a decision on what the next step will be.

I'm afraid that steel rods will need to be placed to keep my neck safe. My nightmares are now revolving around what will be done to my neck. I'm scared and I can't help it.

The surgeon is one of the most highly respected spine surgeons and we completely trust him. If he thinks I need more surgery to keep my neck safe and to take away the pain, then there's no question I will have it done. He is one of only two doctors I trust completely. My family doctor and this surgeon are it. I've been injured too oft3n by too many other doctors. My knee is still mess up after I made the mistake of not going to Pittsburgh to their orthoscopic doctor to have my knee repaired. Now it looks like the knee surgeon cut the nerve to my lower left leg. Walking hurts like crazy. I just cry with pain every day. He says it's only pinched and he can go back in and repair it. He must be out of his mind. There's no way in this life that I will ever allow him near me with a scalpel. He was supposed to set up an MRI to see what is really wrong with my lower leg. That was a month ago. The Pittsburgh got approval for the CT scan in several hours. There's the difference between a true specialist and a wish he was.

I'll get my neck taken care of right now and then get my knee taken care of by my neck surgeon's partner who does knees, legs and hips. Until then, I'll just suffer.

Don't end up like me. Please get a second or third opinion before allowing anyone to operate on you. I'll keep everyone updated on the decision made.

Even more surgery

The days are flying by and soon I'll be in Pittsburgh for yet another surgery. How many can one body survive? I have to have a herniated disc removed and replaced with a donor bone, then a titanium disc will be fused on that spot. I'll never be the same again. I don't know if I'm making the right decision, but the disc is pressing on the nerve and causing my arm and hand are going numb and it hurts all the time. :(

I'm probably out of my ever-loving mind to have this done so soon after the knee surgery, but sadly I can't heal the way I wish I did. I woke up this morning and could barely move. It hurt so bad! I sat and cried after everyone left for the day. The pain was unbearable. I can't believe it's so bad at this age. I should be traveling around the world, not being pushed around WalMart in a wheelchair because I can't walk.

I go on Monday for the pre-op check up and to make sure I'm healthy enough to have the surgery. I can't miss this chance. I could lose the use of my arm and I can't stand that, so I have to go and let the doctor know I'm doing great and am all ready for the surgery!