I was kidnapped for an afternoon date - Mon., July 25, 2016

Bob's been having a tough time of it health-wise lately. For the past week, he has had gout in his right foot which is so swollen and painful it's hard for him to get his shoes on. He hasn't been able to run on it either.

Plus, the basal cell carcinoma he had removed from his neck has returned. There is a hard nodule in the exact site where from whence it was removed last year. He will be going in next week to have it excised again. The problem is that when he had it removed last year, it was down to the nerve that supplies feeling to his face. They were able to work around the nerve, but he still had pins and needles sensations in part of his lower face for months after the surgery. (Those sensations finally went away.) If they have to cut into the nerve, it's possible he will lose feeling in part of his face for good.

On a positive note, the recent catheter ablation Bob had done for his atrial fibrillation is giving him relief. On his follow-up exam, they didn't find any sign of the A-fib. Bob has been feeling healthier and more energetic. When he runs now, he isn't getting tired like he used to.

Bob and I at Random a couple of weeks ago

Last week Bob mentioned taking this Monday afternoon off work so we could go on a date. Apparently he reminded me of it when he left for work Monday morning. However, I was still asleep and it didn't register.

I planned my day to go see "Star Trek: Beyond" at 12:45 p.m. As soon as the movie started (not even five minutes into it) my phone started buzzing. My first thought was, "OMG, I bet that's Bob calling me about our date." I had forgotten about it. Oops. A half hour later my phone buzzed again. He will just have to wait.

"Star Trek: Beyond" was excellent, way better than the critics made it out to be. I loved the action, the acting, the interplay between characters, the humor, the new uniforms, the sets, the surprises, the traps and the tricks. I think I have to see it again, because the one thing that was difficult to understand was the dialogue, especially when an alien was talking and there was a spoken translation at the same time, one layered on top of the other.

When the movie was over I listened to my voicemail from Bob. He thought he'd be home about 2:15 p.m. It was 3:00 when the movie finished, so I called him and told him I'd be right home. He gave me a whole list of activities to choose from, one of them being to see "Star Trek: Beyond." I went to see it without him because he doesn't like sci-fi, but he was willing to go see it with me. He also mentioned going to the Museum of Modern Art, going to look at 5th wheels at Camping World, and going to eat and play games at Dave & Buster's.

Geeky me got excited about going to eat and play games at Dave & Buster's. We had only been to Dave & Buster's in Hawaii and that was over five years ago. That was my choice. We had an excellent meal to which we each added $10 game play cards.

In the arcade part of Dave & Buster's it was sensory overload. Loud music was playing, video games were making all kinds of racket, and this is at 4:00 p.m. on a Monday afternoon. I'm so happy there weren't hundreds of people there so we could take our time and check out all the machines to see what to play.

Both of us chose to play Trivia and we did horribly. LOL. That's not like us. Then we wandered around the arcade checking out the games.

I told Bob I really wanted to do the H20verdrive boat races. So we both played (against each other). What fun! I loved it! I want to go back and play some more. The graphics are awesome and it is so fun to make the boat jump and do tricks. You collect gems and smash other boats along the way. What is so cool is that there are about eight courses to choose from and the graphics are beautiful. See the link above to watch a YouTube review that shows the graphics. The best thing about this game is each race is completed on your one turn.

After we finished two boat races, Bob went off to play Galaga and I chose a game where I directed a runner across raised platforms past all kinds of obstacles. You could make your runner turn right, turn left, jump, and slide. It was fun to figure out how to make this game work. If you move the rollerball forward, the guy jumps over obstacles. Rollerball right, guy turns right, rollerball left, the guy turns left. If you make the rollerball go backward, the guy slides down stuff. Obstacles include tree roots, gaps in the path, fire, and quick turns. You can collect energy diamonds along the way. The game was fun, but you had to keep putting credits in the machine to keep the game going. I never did finish it.

What a fun afternoon! I want to go back to do the boat races again.

When we came out of Dave & Buster's, raindrops were falling on our heads. As we drove home, we left the rain behind. By 9:30 p.m., however, the thunderstorms came in earnest. The thunder was rocking the RV and lightning lit up the sky. What impressed us the most, though, was the downpour of rain! Whee! Around 9:45 pm we had a power outage that lasted about ten minutes.

Tuesday: By morning, our site was flooded. About six inches of water surrounded our 5th wheel. (This is typical because we're in a low spot in the park.) After not having rain for a long time, the ground was so dry the water didn't soak in. By 1 p.m. the water was gone.

This morning, I wanted to see "The Karate Kid," which was showing for free at 10:00 a.m.  I hadn't seen it for a long time and I love the movie, so the price was right and I went. I got there pretty early thinking the theater would be full. Not so. They put us in one of the biggest theaters in the complex.

Usually this theater runs trivia and advertising for 20 minutes before they show the previews. However, 15 minutes before the movie was to start, all that was on the screen was what looked like the front page of a computer sign-on page. It said "Music, Videos, Live TV," etc. at the bottom of the screen, with clouds filling the top 2/3rds of the screen. I went and reported to one of the employees that there was nothing playing on the screen. She told me the previews would come on at 10 a.m.  Well, 10 a.m. came and went, I went and asked another employee about the movie. He actually seemed interested in helping me. Soon, a couple of employees were coming into the theater to check the status. Nothing.

After about 15 more minutes the theater manager came in to say they were having technical difficulties and they would give us free refills on popcorn and beverages. Say no more, I had a senior (small) popcorn and went out for a refill. That was nice.

Another ten minutes went by and the manager came back in to tell us they wouldn't be able to show "The Karate Kid" due to technical difficulties, but they would substitute the new "Ice Age: Collision Course," or "The Secret Life of Pets." Everyone wanted "Ice Age," so that was what they played for us. But not without further difficulties. They got the sound going, but all we could see on the screen was the front page of the computer with the clouds. After about five minutes of that, they finally got the movie visuals working and they re-started the movie for us. It was okay. I really would have rather seen "The Karate Kid."

After the movie, I went shopping at Costco for fruit, eggs, almond milk, and protein powder. Thankfully, Costco wasn't super crowded. I'm home now, have washed and frozen the strawberries and blueberries, and written my blog. Now I'm going to watch a movie from Netflix.

TravelBug out.

Bob's Having Surgery Tuesday - Tues., May 24

Bob has atrial fibrillation which means his heart is not in normal sinus rhythm. This makes him feel sluggish, tired, and not his normal, hard-charging self. Some days he feels great, other days not so much.

Bob on boardwalk at San Jacinto Battlefield
He looks good to me!

Two years ago Bob had a catheter ablation for atrial flutter, which is not as severe as atrial fibrillation. They scarred his heart in a pattern they thought would help diminish or get rid of his atrial flutter. At that time they told him if that procedure didn't work he would probably need to have a more comprehensive catheter ablation to scar different areas of the heart to try to make him in normal sinus rhythm. Lately he has had more of feeling "not so well" and went to see his cardiologist for possible solutions. The time for the other catheter ablation procedure has come.

Today, he is going into Northeast Baptist Hospital in San Antonio for the procedure. I will take him in at 9 a.m. and they will prep him for surgery. He will have the procedure at 11 a.m. He probably won't wake up until sometime in the evening.

Meanwhile, I will go to my dentist appointment at 1:15 p.m. and go for a massage at 2:30 p.m. Around 5 p.m., I'll stop by the hospital to see if he's out of anesthesia yet and spend the evening with him.

Wednesday morning, Susan and I plan to go to Natural Bridge Caverns by New Branfels, Texas, and take the Aquifer Tour. Texas Hill Country has had so much rain that the aquifer has risen up into the caverns and the 75-minute tour will take us down to see the high water. After we finish the tour, I'll check in with Bob to see how he's doing and when they plan to discharge him. Susan and I may have time to go to lunch.

We hope there are no complications. Please keep Bob in your thoughts.

Travel Bug out.

Bob got more than he bargained for - Mon., July 21

To hear him tell it, he slept through it all and didn't feel a thing. Oh, except the shots for the anesthesia. Apparently because he's a big guy, they had to keep sticking him with needles to give him more anesthetic. He said he was ready to kick a nurse. (Sorry Shane, Rosemary, Rosemarie and Vickie.)

When I dropped Bob off at the hospital this morning for his routine catheter ablation, all was well. He felt great, said he didn't have atrial fibrillation. I went to work at the insurance office confident he would be all right.

At 10:45 a.m., I received a phone call from Bob's doctor (never a good sign). The doctor told me Bob was in atrial fibrillation. Because of that they could not do his catheter ablation. (If he had been in atrial flutter or normal sinus rhythm, they could have done the ablation.)

They planned to do an echocardiogram to see if there were any blood clots. If no blood clots, they would proceed with the ablation; otherwise there was too much risk of Bob having a stroke.

About 11:00, I received another call from the hospital. Two nurses had to get my consent for Bob to have two different surgeries: a TEE (transesophageal echocardiogram), and if that showed no clots, they would do a cardioversion on his heart to shock it into normal sinus rhythm (at which time they would do the originally scheduled catheter ablation). After asking about risks and listening to the answers, I gave my consent. I was told they would do the cardioversion about noon and then, if all looked good, he would have his ablation at 3:00 p.m.

From 11:00 a.m. until late afternoon, I didn't hear another word from the hospital. It was definitely a time of worry for me. At least I was busy at work so I didn't have too much time to dwell on the surgery, though I was a bit distracted as the afternoon wore on.

Finally, at 4:30 p.m., an RN called to tell me Bob's surgeries were done, he was in the recovery room, and all looked good. When I left work at 5:00, I drove to the hospital and walked into the Cardiovascular Area recovery room just as Bob woke up. What timing! He was a bit sleepy and groggy, which is to be expected.

Calls were made by me to Bob's mom, my mom, and Bob's Aunt Sally; and I texted Bob's son, boss, and bookkeeper to let them know how Bob was doing. Bob called his mom later in the evening when he was more coherent.

About an hour after I arrived in the recovery area, a room opened up in the Cardiovascular Unit, so Bob was transferred there. His nurse told us the hospital cafeteria closed at 7:00 p.m. Bob ordered his dinner at 6:50 p.m. He hadn't eaten since 10:00 p.m. the night before and he was hungry. I zipped down to the cafeteria for a tuna sandwich for my dinner which I brought back to his room to eat.

Bob's dinner came at 7:30 p.m. and I fed it to him. He can't sit up, stand up, or move his legs at all until around 10:30 p.m. The nurse came in about 8:30 to have Bob verbally answer a questionnaire. Bob was cracking jokes with the nurses, said he was trying old material on a new audience. I headed out about 9:00 p.m. Bob was reading his book and said he'd probably nap some more.

In case you're wondering about the orange wristband...it indicates he's allergic to shellfish.

Happy patient - surgery is over

Shaka, bra'

I am relieved he is doing well and the surgeries helped put his heart in a normal sinus rhythm. We'll see how he fares in the next couple of weeks.

Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and blessings. I know that you, in combination with Bob's positive attitude, helped him through this challenging time.

I will be back at the hospital tomorrow morning to hang out with Bob and listen to discharge instructions. Bob cannot drive for the next couple of days so I will be his chaffeuse or chauffeuress.

I hope you're having a good Monday.

P.S. I forgot to mention our son, Randall, hyperextended his knee on a pillow bouncer while trying to emulate some of David Lee Roth's (Van Halen) moves.

Randall

Travel Bug out.

Update on Bob's Second Opinion - Tues., July 15

Bob's consultation with a second cardiologist has resulted in a green light for a catheter ablation. The procedure will be done next Monday, July 21. I will take Bob to the hospital at 8 a.m. After his procedure his leg has to be kept straight for at least six hours to prevent blood clots from forming or his incision from re-opening. I will spend the evening with him at the hospital. He will spend the night and I will pick him up on Tuesday late morning or early afternoon.

Then he can't drive for a few days after that. He will have to rest. By then he should be almost as good as new.

Have any of you readers had or known someone who has had an ablation procedure? If so, please share your experiences with us. 

Travel Bug out.