Thanks again, Dad!!

I just finished an evening of firearm cleaning...

2 pistols

3 rifles

2 shotguns.

Included in these, was my Dad's Mossberg 20 gauge that was bought for him in 1957, shortly after I arrived in this world.

He gave it to me Christmas of 2005. Dad passed away January 23. 2006.

Dad called me just before Mom passed away, October 20, 2005. He asked me for my SS# and he didn't really give me a reason why he need it. But I knew it was for a good reason. Shortly thereafter he broke his right wrist.

I plan to do some shooting with my son-in-law over the Thanksgiving weekend - therefore the marathon cleaning session. I took the butt-plate off of the stock just to be sure everything was clean. As I removed the butt-plate, I noticed something in the wood.

I put on my reading glasses - two sets of 9 digit numbers.

One is my Social Security number. A quick check of my Dad's DD-214 (I put a copy in the back of Funeral Flag case), confirmed the other set of numbers was my Dad's Social. In the grain of this 50+ year old wood is preserved our Social Security numbers, engraved most likely with his Case XX pocket knife. This, for sure, would been one of the last time he "wrote".

Thanks again, Dad!!

Dessert Contest

It's that time of year again...



Wow, what a sugar rush!!!

I was feeling not the best yesterday and only had Townhouse crackers and pimento cheese with cranberry juice for supper last night. So this morning's sugar - judging of Desserts for the Thanksgiving Dinner hit me right between the eyes.

Results of the judging will be posted this afternoon after the awards are presented!

And the entries are:

Black Midnight Pilgrim Turkey Cupcakes

Canied Apple Pie Cheesecake

Third Place

5 Way Chocolate Cake

Banana Sour Cream Cake


Apple Pecan Cobbler

Coconut Praline Pie

Second Place

Sweet Potato Pie with Pecan Crisp

First Place

Raspberry Swril Cheese Cake

Japanese Fruit Pie

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Metro Monday

Metro has a couple of sweaters and jackets for cold weather wear. He recently acquired a new military style jacket that a Daschund had outgrown it. Saturday's weather was chilly and the afternoon sunshine made for a glow that accented Metro's hair perfectly.

And Saturday night, Sarah put on his "pajamas". Again, so he could be warm.

Through a glass refracting...

This afternoon, I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. As I stood there with glass in hand I notice the sun dancing through the sugar shaker that was used this morning for our coffee.

I sat the glass of water in the sunbeam.

A jelly glass

A bottle of hand soap

The steam of a dessert dish

The base of the dessert glass

But you offered me a discount!!!

Two emergency room visits this summer...

Fifty dollar co-pay per emergency room visit...

Waiting for the insurance company to make payment to the hospital...

Making sure the EOB is correct...

Getting the actual bills from the hospital...

Writing the check for the $100 balance, this week and mailing it on Tuesday...

Getting a call for the "outside" billing office yesterday afternoon: "If you pay your balance now, we can offer you a 50% discount..." This message is left on our answering machine. So I call back the number on the caller id. I say that I would like to take advantage of the offer. And then I tell the phone drone that I have already made a payment.

"Oh!?!?" She doesn't know how to handle the situation. She will check with her supervisor and the billing office and make the promise to call me back.

SHE DOESN'T!!!

I called back and got another phone drone. She, too, tries to offer me the discount. Then she bring up my account. "Oh, it now shows a $0 balance. I can't offer you a discount on a $0 balance."

Will I be calling the hospital Monday morning??? I've already complained about the lack of care from the Emergency Room doctors. Those docters were "fired" as the result of my and others complaints. And at that time was told the CEO would "get back with you". He hadn't.

So this time I start with the money guy -
Chief Financial Officer Michael Hester (478) 448-4050 mailto:mhester@dodgecountyhospital.com


Then -
CEO Kevin L. Bierschenk (478) 448-4066 kbierschenk@dodgecountyhospital.com

And then -
Administrative Assistant Esther Daugherty (478) 448-4067 mailto:estherdaugherty@dodgecountyhospital.com


Fifty bucks is fifty bucks!!!

I knows me some Puppies!

Click on the pup above to take the quiz!!??

Veterans' Day 2008

On behalf of the President of the United States, a grateful nation and the United States Army please accept this flag as a token of our appreciation for your Father's honorable and faithful service.

God bless you and this family, and God bless the United States of America.

Metro Monday

Wishing for a fish!

Metro loves being at the dock. As we were sitting on the benches and talking with family and friend, Metro was staring at the water. And if we have rod and reel, he will hang his toenails over the edge of the cypress boards, anxiously waiting for a brim to wiggle out of the water.

Coronary Catheterization

Total of 7 blockages, ranging from 20 to 50%. They (more exact I) will be treating with medicines, more healthy diet and exercise...

Class Reunion

Can you adopt an entire graduating class as your own? Well it would seem so. Sarah's classmates are the greatest! We had a blast Saturday night (and the entire weekend). With time being limited, you tend to spread yourself thin to get to each person and at least say, "Hello". With email and "free" long distance calling, we will stay in touch with them. My favorite line of the evening, "If I knew it was going to be this great, I would have worked harder"...

All of the sudden, three years is beginning to feel like way too long.

http://telfair1963.blogspot.com/

The Waiting Game

So much for the theory "if they wait a week before calling about the results of the Coronary CT scan" - I won't need a Heart Catheterization.

Sometime on Tuesday. The hospital will call me on Monday with my scheduled time.

Blossom where you are planted!

Are you in a tight spot? Blossom where you are planted!

Are you between a rock and a hard place? Blossom where you are planted!

Are you going through tough times? Blossom where you are planted!

Bloom where you are planted!

Happy Birthday, Metro

Eight years ago today, a little boy was born. A very little boy. He was one of three born to his mother that day. He remained unnamed for 11 weeks. That was when we were introduced to him. He melted our hearts and changed our lives. We adopted him and he joined our family.

Today, he still still a small boy - just over five pounds.

Metro with a Catfish larger than he is!

Two Appointment/Same Day - Cornary CTA

More detail here - later....

Finally made it to an appointment that was originally scheduled for August 18th. But the ERCP kinda bumped that in the head.

We were early for the follow up appointment with the Endocrinologist and were walking out before the scheduled time. We had time to kill, so we headed to the mall for a bit of shopping.

A Coronary CTA is a CT scan with three passes and then another one after a contrast dye has been injected. And about 3 seconds after the dye hit my veins, it felt like I grabbed an electric fence with my right hand. OUCH!!!

And I did have an allergic reaction to the contrast. I woke up in the wee hours of Thursday morning with my eyes nearly swollen shut and itching. It was like a million mosquito bites!

Benedryl, lots of water and 24 hours later the reaction subsided... Then, the wait for the report.

Two Appointment/Same Day - Endocrinologist

The follow-up to the ERCP was schedule for Wednesday. But before that, more blood work to see how my liver is functioning and my general health. We arrived an hour early for the 11:30 appointment and the Physician Assistant saw us in the waiting room. Shortly thereafter, we were called back to the exam room. Stopping by the scales, showed just a two pound increase (mostly related to jeans versus shorts). The liver function enzymes were back to normal. HOWEVER comment "you are slightly anemic. Your hemoglobin level is 11 and should be 14. Your hemoglobin was above normal while you were in the hospital."

• No wonder I have been running out of gas toward the end of the day.
• No wonder I am anemic, I've been on a very restrictive diet (which prohibited red meat).
• And to make sure there is not any blood lost anywhere else, I have another test scheduled for 8:00 on October 31st - a Colonoscopy - "because you are at that aged". Yay, for being over 50!

Metro Monday

The calendar may say it is only a week until autumn, but the temperatures in south Georgia won't reflect the season until much later in the year. This weekend I felt well enough to work on the Cabin at the Pond. We are "closing in" - literally!

It was hot (mid 90's) and sunny on Friday afternoon and Saturday. We prepared ourselves with extra fluids. We had been just pouring Metro's water into a stray plate or tray. But we wanted him to have a go to place for his water at the Cabin. As I was grabbing water, fruit juice, Dr. Pepper and Coke Zero, I placed a small metal container in the bag.

Metro enjoying his cool drink of water.

Porch Puppy

Just because...


Because he was too cute... just sitting there as we gathered the tools and put away fishing rods. He knows by our actions that it is time to head back to the house. Metro is so in tuned to our routines. He know when I grab my keys and put on my shoes that we are going outside for a while. He know when I pick up my backpack, I'm going to work. He will wait at the back door for me in the afternoon. Sarah says Metro will camp out about 30 minutes before I arrive.

We are amazed by Metro and the ways he patterns his ways with ours.

Metro let's us know when to open the door for him. If his food bowl is empty (he free feeds), then he will stand by the kitchen and bark. If we are not in bed by 11:30, he will whine and moan - telling us it is beyond our bedtime.

It is often said, "We do not train our dogs, but they train us."

Metro Monday

Let us introduce - Mona!!!

Brooke and Kyle has blessed us with a Grand-puppy. She is a Dachshund and is as sweet as can be!

Metro, on the other hand, isn't so sure!

I'm 85.16% the man I use to be...

Just before Vacation Bible School, I weighed 217 pounds, my blood pressure was much too high and my gallbladder was literally killing me. I stepped on the scales in the lab this morning.

Today, I'm below 185 pounds (fully clothed and with my Reebox Classic tennis shoes on) for the first time in many, many years. My blood pressure is getting close to being normal all the time. The pain in the upper right quadrant of my torso is slowly fading. I am sleepy at 10:00 p.m. instead of closer to midnight and sleeping until the alarm clock makes that noise at 5:45 a.m. I still have a "spare tire" around my middle, but it is more like a bicycle inner tube than the truck wheel that I was carrying with me.

I'm a blessed man. I know this. God has been good to me and Sarah. My Faith is renewed and I am obligated to share it.

So here's the deal...

It''s been a while since I posted a new blog. But I've got a good reason. I've been SICK!

We went back to Macon on Wednesday the 13th to get the results of my Stress Test. "We were not able to see proper blood flow at the bottom of the heart. We need to do a heart catheterization to check it out".

OH JOY! It is scheduled for Monday the 18th at 1:30.

Wednesday night, I experience pain more intense than that of my gallbladder attack the Monday morning before my Cholecsystectomy. At midnight, Sarah says, "Take one of the Nitro pills, that's why you have them". One NitroQuick under the tongue. Pain remains. Five minutes later, the second NitroQuick, pain remains. In the meantime, we are dressing to head to the hospital per the instructions on the Rx for the NitroQuick. Hours later, x-ray and blood-work and Toradol shot for the pain - I am given a prescription for Naproxen. NAPROXEN??? that's Aleve...

We place a call to the family doctor, after two hours sleep in the recliner on the heat pad. When we get there at 9:30, they have the name and address of an Endocrinologist in Macon.

By the way, when you are stopped by the Georgia State Patrol with your flasher flashing, going 82 mph in a 65 zone and look as sick as I did - the first thing he will ask you is "Do you want me to call an ambulance?" With the advice to 'slow down a bit and be careful', we were back on our way.

We get to the Endocrinologist shortly after 11 o'clock. The Physician Assistant orders liver function test and ultrasound to confirm the diagnoses that I feared some four weeks earlier. I have a stone blocking my bile duct.

Shortly before noon, I am in a hospital gown and waiting in the Surgery Center of the Medical Center of Central Georgia. Two IV's established, blood drawn and at 1 o'clock, I am taken to Ultrasound.

I said to the Ultrasound Tech, "I know you can't tell me what you saw, but there is a reason for me being in all this pain. Right?"

"Yes, let's just say, something is stuck that needs unsticking."

PAIN!!! Pain like I have never experience before. And I cannot have anything for it. Says the nurse in the Surgery Center, "If we give you anything for pain, it will further constrict the bile duct and make it more difficult for the doctor when you go to surgery." Oh, let's make it easy for the doctor, shall we????
We wait, and wait and wait. Between 4:00 and 4:30 the pain peaked. I didn't know it at the time but I was passing the ROCK through my bile duct on my own. Sarah was sitting on the side of my bed holding me, telling me to not hold in my yells. I let loose a scream or three, but then I thought of something. My Lord suffered, He suffered beyond anything we will ever endure. Then I thought of something else. Before we left home, Sarah called one of our church family. They were praying for us. I started. Mrs. Lois, Mrs. Christine, Dennis, Lisa, Melissa, Amanda, little Sami...... I started on the right rows of pews and I named each and every one of the CHURCH FAMILY that were praying for us. I let my mind concentrate on those that were back in Telfair County, with us on their minds.

At 6:30, I am finally taken to the Operating Room. The room is lined with as many electronic instruments, screens and computers as needed for the launch of the Space Shuttle. And I remember nothing else...

I wake up in Recovery. Sarah is brought to me shortly thereafter. It is confirmed; rips, tears and abrasions were present in my bile duct where the ROCK made its exit. The doctors repair and angioplasty the duct. After a while, I was taken to the Medical Observation Suite (one step up from ICU). Sarah insures that I will be well taken care of and is given phone numbers to reach the nurses. She heads back home for some much needed rest.

I watch the Olympics on the TV hanging on the wall and am given something for pain... I don't sleep!

Morning brings breakfast: Clear broth, lemon Jello and a Sprite. I eat the Jello and drink some of the Sprite. The broth - bleeeck!

Lunch: Tomato soup, more lemon Jello, orange like juice stuff and some (it would have been better - colder) Vanilla "shake" in a carton. Remember those 8 oz. milk cartons at school??? The Tomato soup felt so good to my sore throat where all the camera, light and probes when down during the Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Sarah arrives back at the hospital shorty before lunch and helps me get set up to eat.

Then I slept, the last pain medicine was pumped into my IV about 10 o'clock. I sleep while Sarah reads from her Bible. We waited and I slept some more. Finally about 6:30 the Physician Assistant arrives with my chart in hand while I am finishing the last of my supper - again, Tomato soup! My liver enzymes are still high, white blood count is still elevated but I am able to walk and eat without upchucking! WE GET TO GO HOME.

Much slower this trip!!! As we approach, the Northwest corner of the family farm - two whitetail does are standing in the middle of the road in front of the neighbor's pond. We stop in the road as close as we dare, and watch. Then two spotted fawns jump from the bank of the opposite side to join their mothers.

We are Home. Sweet, Home!