Monday, January 18, 2010
Alive and Kickin'
Just a quick update to let everyone know the surgery went very well. I'm still in the hospital (probably for a couple more days) and will post more later. Thanks so much to all of you for all your thoughts and prayers.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Another Chapter In Our Journey
We had planned to spend some time at Disney World this past week since the huge crowds would be gone, but it’s just been too darn cold with overnight lows in the 20’s! (OK, so it’s not as bad as our northern friends, but if we wanted that weather we wouldn’t be in central Florida!) Otherwise not much has happened this week other than meeting friends Richard and Shelley for breakfast at Bob Evans on Wed. and having dinner with Paul and Anne at Boston Lobster Feast Fri. night.
However, we thought we’d go ahead and post a short entry anyway as this will probably be the last one for a couple of weeks. You may remember that several months ago we talked about surgery for my Crohn’s disease and that time is now fast approaching. For those who may not know, the stricture in my colon has resulted from scarring over the years from inflammation during Crohn’s flare-ups at the site of the surgery performed a little more than 21 years ago. The opening has gotten increasingly smaller, basically pen hole size now, and if not careful, a blockage could occur at any time requiring emergency surgery. By having the surgery done as a non-emergency, the surgeon has a clean environment and there’s less chance of infection. The idea is that cutting out this narrowed area will basically give me a clean slate. This is by no means a cure, just another form of treatment. So bright and early Wed. morning I’ll be admitted into the hospital and will be there 4 – 7 days. Recovery will be about 4 – 6 weeks. I’m hoping to feel like being on the computer by next weekend and will plan on doing a short entry after I’m released from the hospital to let everyone know how I am. So until then keep smiling, stay warm, and say a prayer for me.
However, we thought we’d go ahead and post a short entry anyway as this will probably be the last one for a couple of weeks. You may remember that several months ago we talked about surgery for my Crohn’s disease and that time is now fast approaching. For those who may not know, the stricture in my colon has resulted from scarring over the years from inflammation during Crohn’s flare-ups at the site of the surgery performed a little more than 21 years ago. The opening has gotten increasingly smaller, basically pen hole size now, and if not careful, a blockage could occur at any time requiring emergency surgery. By having the surgery done as a non-emergency, the surgeon has a clean environment and there’s less chance of infection. The idea is that cutting out this narrowed area will basically give me a clean slate. This is by no means a cure, just another form of treatment. So bright and early Wed. morning I’ll be admitted into the hospital and will be there 4 – 7 days. Recovery will be about 4 – 6 weeks. I’m hoping to feel like being on the computer by next weekend and will plan on doing a short entry after I’m released from the hospital to let everyone know how I am. So until then keep smiling, stay warm, and say a prayer for me.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Happy New Year!
Can you believe it’s the year 2010?? Remember when that sounded so far off, like a science fiction movie?? Sometimes it almost seems surreal, but time does fly when you’re having fun!
The last couple weeks of the year found us taking care of a couple repairs we had put off till our return to FL. You may recall that back in July we wrote about the driver’s side windshield being hit by a small rock while driving through MT causing a round, baseball sized crack. We drove another 3,500
miles hoping it wouldn’t get any bigger and our luck held out. So a few weeks ago Russ called our insurance company, they referred us to a window replacement company, and the repair was scheduled for 2 days before Christmas. And as luck would have it, the replacement and repair didn’t cost us a penny! According to state law, FL residents do not pay for windshield damage no matter where it happened…woohoo!
On the
other hand, we did have to pay for the repair completed a couple days before New Year’s. Also while in MT we experienced a very brief hail storm, but it was long enough to do some damage to the cover above our full wall slide. Nothing serious, but any time it rained hard, water would pool on the top of the slide coming through some pin sized holes and causing water to sometimes seep inside into the woodwork. A few weeks ago we got a couple estimates, which fortunately turned out to be ab
out a third less than what we had anticipated and less than our deductible. For nearly the same price as the first estimate, Camping Connection (http://www.campingconnectionrv.com/) would come to our campsite to do the repair…a huge plus! We’ve dealt with them before, and they are always helpful, courteous, and very professional. Tony, the manager, personally came out to get an exact measurement, ordered the new cover, and earlier this week two guys came out to install it. This slide is 28 feet long, and they solicited Russ’ help from the ground level while they both worked from the top. Amazingly it took only an hour to remove the old cover and replace it with the new one.
We decided to attend the last night of the Candlelight Processional on Dec. 30 partly because of the guest narrators, actors Angela Bassett (ER, What’s Love Got To Do With It) and Courtney B. Vance (ER, Preacher’s Wife, Law & Order: CI). This husband and wife team gave an incredibly wonderful performance l
ast year and was just as great this year. They do such an excellent job of bringing the narrative to life. Both seemed to be really enjoying themselves especially Courtney who sang along with several of the songs while Angela seemed to only sing along with The Hallelujah Chorus. You can’t really hear the narrators sing since their mikes are turned off when they are not narrating, but you can see them singing along! We didn’t think we’d get in for the 5pm show but were pleasantly surprised when we did.
In fact we got in with about 10 min. to spare so changed our plans for the rest of the evening. The performance lasts about 50 min., and as soon as it was over, we made our way to the front of Epcot to catch the monorail for the Magic Kingdom (the castle was beautiful!) We arrived in plenty of time to see the Spectromagic Parade at 7pm, stayed for the Holiday Wishes fireworks, made it back to the monorail, and arrived in more than enough time to catch the 9:30 Illuminations fireworks at Epcot! What a fun evening!
The weather here in the Orlando area has turned cold. OK, so we don’t have snow and it’s warmer than most places up north, but it’s been in the low 30s at night and next week it’s even supposed to get down into the 20s! What’s up with that?! Good thing we have winter clothes with us!
Well, that’s all for now, but let us wish everyone a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year!
The last couple weeks of the year found us taking care of a couple repairs we had put off till our return to FL. You may recall that back in July we wrote about the driver’s side windshield being hit by a small rock while driving through MT causing a round, baseball sized crack. We drove another 3,500
miles hoping it wouldn’t get any bigger and our luck held out. So a few weeks ago Russ called our insurance company, they referred us to a window replacement company, and the repair was scheduled for 2 days before Christmas. And as luck would have it, the replacement and repair didn’t cost us a penny! According to state law, FL residents do not pay for windshield damage no matter where it happened…woohoo!On the
other hand, we did have to pay for the repair completed a couple days before New Year’s. Also while in MT we experienced a very brief hail storm, but it was long enough to do some damage to the cover above our full wall slide. Nothing serious, but any time it rained hard, water would pool on the top of the slide coming through some pin sized holes and causing water to sometimes seep inside into the woodwork. A few weeks ago we got a couple estimates, which fortunately turned out to be ab
out a third less than what we had anticipated and less than our deductible. For nearly the same price as the first estimate, Camping Connection (http://www.campingconnectionrv.com/) would come to our campsite to do the repair…a huge plus! We’ve dealt with them before, and they are always helpful, courteous, and very professional. Tony, the manager, personally came out to get an exact measurement, ordered the new cover, and earlier this week two guys came out to install it. This slide is 28 feet long, and they solicited Russ’ help from the ground level while they both worked from the top. Amazingly it took only an hour to remove the old cover and replace it with the new one.
We decided to attend the last night of the Candlelight Processional on Dec. 30 partly because of the guest narrators, actors Angela Bassett (ER, What’s Love Got To Do With It) and Courtney B. Vance (ER, Preacher’s Wife, Law & Order: CI). This husband and wife team gave an incredibly wonderful performance l
ast year and was just as great this year. They do such an excellent job of bringing the narrative to life. Both seemed to be really enjoying themselves especially Courtney who sang along with several of the songs while Angela seemed to only sing along with The Hallelujah Chorus. You can’t really hear the narrators sing since their mikes are turned off when they are not narrating, but you can see them singing along! We didn’t think we’d get in for the 5pm show but were pleasantly surprised when we did.
In fact we got in with about 10 min. to spare so changed our plans for the rest of the evening. The performance lasts about 50 min., and as soon as it was over, we made our way to the front of Epcot to catch the monorail for the Magic Kingdom (the castle was beautiful!) We arrived in plenty of time to see the Spectromagic Parade at 7pm, stayed for the Holiday Wishes fireworks, made it back to the monorail, and arrived in more than enough time to catch the 9:30 Illuminations fireworks at Epcot! What a fun evening!The weather here in the Orlando area has turned cold. OK, so we don’t have snow and it’s warmer than most places up north, but it’s been in the low 30s at night and next week it’s even supposed to get down into the 20s! What’s up with that?! Good thing we have winter clothes with us!
Well, that’s all for now, but let us wish everyone a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
