where's Bill? Surgery done and over with I hope? I am praying it all went very well. Hi Lori. I am still alive and kicking - barely. I haven't been posting lately because things have been going downhill since the day before my surgery, which I had on Sept. 23. Fortunately, I am a "glass half full" kind of guy. The night before my surgery, my cousin called to let me know that my 85 year old aunt, who helped me a great deal after my mother's death, had had a stroke a few days before but was doing OK. I haven't heard from her since, even though I tried to call her before Christmas, so I suspect the worst. I appreciate the prayers. They apparently helped. That S.O.B. that calls himself a "surgeon" almost killed me but I am too stubborn and ornery to kick off just yet. They did the surgery at 9:00 a.m. and I woke up in a room at 11:30 feeling awful. The surgeon's assistant came into the room about a minute after I awoke and said cheerfully "The surgery went just fine but you bled a lot. We're giving you blood now and the first two units (I guess that she meant pints) are your own blood". I just looked at her and said "Oh yeah?" Then the surgeon came in and asked me if I knew why I bled so much. I looked at that quack and said "I was unconcious. You're the surgeon so why don't you tell me?". By the time that I left the hospital three days later, they had given me 7 units of blood. The surgeon also told me that instead of a partial hip replacement, they had gone ahead and done a full hip replacement. When I asked him why, he told me that the hip was arthritic. I found that odd, since I had never had any trouble with it before my fall and I do a lot of walking for exercise. I suspect that he was just padding the bill for the insurance company. One of the day nurses who was taking care of me was a cute blonde who looked to be under 30. She was a real sweetheart. She would come in to check my vital signs and talk to me about what was going on. That was the only information that I was getting because the surgeon had left out quite a bit of information.. The second day was the worst. When the nurse came in and raised my bed, I suddenly felt like I was burning up and I could feel my heart racing. Then I told her to hand me a tub that was on a tray in front of me because I was going to be sick. Luckily she had fast reflexes. She told me that my heart rate had been over 140 and they were still trying to get it down below 100. She also told me that they were checking my vital signs every half hour. I hadn't been aware of that because whenever I woke up, I would just hit the button on the Morphine pump and dose off again. Also on that second day, the pain in my hip was incredible. She told me that day would be the worst of it as far as my hip was concerned and that it would feel much better the next day. She was right. The day that they released me from the hospital, the surgeon and his assistant had come into my room and he took one look at me and told his assistant "He looks great now. He's got his color back", so I guess that I looked like death warmed over the first couple of days while they were giving me blood. I forgot to ask him if he kept the box of Cracker Jack that his medical degree came in. Anyway, the day that I left the hospital, I told that sweetheart of a nurse "Enjoy being young while you can because you will be surprised at how quickly old age will sneak up on you". Then I added "When I turned 50, I knew that I was old but I never felt old until now". (I'm still in my 50s). With that thought in mind, I will leave you with this song from Roy Clark. The funny thing is, the more you listen to it, the sadder it gets. It doesn't start until the 11 second mark, so be patient. Roy Clark Yesterday When I Was Young https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pib915UZzdA Due to some other problems, I probably won't be posting on a regular basis for awhile but I will be back from time to time (I hope). BTW, is it just my computer (I believe that my hard drive is about to fail) or has eBay been screwing around with the boards again? I can't seem to get the format bar to appear anyjmore.
Anyway, here is the link to the song again. Roy Clark Yesterday When I Was Young https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pib915UZzdA
Thanks, koindog. I haven't seen you posting in a long time. It is good to "see" you again.
I guess that eBay has been making more "improvements" again. I finally got the format bar back.
