It's time to tie a 'ribbon' on our first couple months in Navarre. As you know our luck had been on the 'bad side'. I've commented on a laundry list of incidents that befell us. There are a couple more that haven't been discussed in my recent blogs. The first is rather minor, but simply added to the aggravations. A week before we left Elkhart, my dentist 'installed' a Crown. A week after we arrived in Florida, you guessed it, my Crown tried to become part of my lunch. I didn't swallow it. This was a good thing. The annoyance was I had to find a dentist in Navarre, FL. After questioning a few people that live here, we found a delightful lady who took care of the problem. As I write today, the crown is still in place.
In the latter part of February we went to a dutch luncheon with about forty others from the campground. We went to a chinese buffet in Gulf Breeze called the Golden Dragon. We lined up and filled our plates. So far, so good. We sat down and began the process of devouring everything on our plates. It was bite #2 of a spare rib named after an old Chinese General who was three ribs short. I knew immediately as I swallowed that I was in trouble. The tough rib lodged in my esophagus. It didn't impede my ability to breathe, but it was bound and determined to get out of there. I won't go into all the details. Use your imagination, or not. We were a quarter mile from the "facilities". I didn't want to walk through the entire restaurant while retching. It was good that we were sitting against a wall, and I was seated at the far end. Mary Ellen (my poor wife) gathered napkins and eventually a rag. Thus began "the process" of eliminating the culprit. It took about 45 minutes! While all our friends continued to eat, I continued, well you get the idea. We just happened to be sitting next to an emergency exit. The manager finally agreed to open that door and let us out. Much to the relief (I'm sure) of the rest of our friends. Mary Ellen drove for about a block when I asked her to stop. She stopped in a parking lot, I got out, and finally eliminated the problem.
Well, after so many negative experiences, we were due for something positive. We were told that cocktails would be on the deck of the pavilion. It just happened to be on my birthday, and when Mary Ellen and I arrived, the group sang happy birthday. That was nice. However, after 10 minutes or so, Diane suggested we move inside. It was starting to get a little windy. When we walked in I was totally shocked. The tables were set for dinner with decorations and all. All the couples brought a dish, and of course there was a birthday cake! Wow! There were about 9 couples and the food was great. Diane and Janet did most of the planning and decorating, but I know I'm overlooking someone. After dinner, Dave and Janet handled the "gift distribution". The gifts were a total surprise. All the gifts included a clever saying created by Janet. Dave handed me the appropriate gift. There must have been at least 20 items! They ranged from all purpose cleaner to an air horn to wake up those who chose (unwisely) to sleep past 7 a.m.! This gives you an idea of the wonderful people we hang out with at Emerald Beach. For those of you who haven't bought me a gift, I'm now registered at the Dollar Tree.
I have one more appointment with Dr. O. on April 4th. I have started doing physical therapy. All the exercises can be done at home. Thusfar, I have been very faithful. I do all 10 exercises at least twice a day.
We're planning to leave Navarre on the 9th of April. Today, the temperature in Elkhart was 24 degrees. It got to 74 here. Maybe we should extend.
Lastly, we had two offers on our house. We accepted one and rejected the other. It sounds like a 'done deal'. Both parties had financing in hand. You never know though until the closing. We have to be out by May 9th. By the time we get home there will only be a few weeks to prepare for the move. As of now, I'm only supposed to lift 8 lbs. with my left arm. That means 16 lbs. using both arms. You can bet that Mary Ellen will have a scale handy to make sure I'm not exceeding the limit Dr. O. established. We're counting on our boys to help + 2 men and a truck. Wish us luck.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
FRIENDS
There are 5 couples we spend a lot of time with when we're in Navarre. We've known Jeff and Diane Bloss for 3 years now. They are a fifty something couple. By far the youngest. They live in Quincy, IL. We were invited to their 25th anniversary party last summer in Carlyle, IL. It was very nice and well worth the $500 in gas that it took us to get there!! Right after Jeff got here he insisted on washing OUR trailer. He did a great job, except for the awning!
Speaking of awnings, our Canadian friends Gerry & Linda Foyle were only with us for a month this year, but Gerry took over awning responsibilities. Whether it needed to go in or go out, Gerry was right on the spot. Linda simply supervised, eh! They're spending there last month at a campground in Biloxi, MS. They love the casinos as much as Mary Ellen does. We met them one night for a buffet at the Hardrock. They are a fun couple.
There is a great deal that could be said about our Ohio friends, Dave & Janet Lundgren. Actually, writing about Dave would take a whole blog, and I'm not about to waste that much of my time. Let's just say, Dave wasn't invited to the Bloss anniversary blast. Of course he didn't have to spend $600 for gas and gifts! Diane Bloss made a point of letting everyone know they were expecting NO Gifts! I thus found it strange she went on to list the various high-end stores where they were registered!
Beth and Russ Jackson are a lovely "old couple". Russ is a wealthy retired farmer who basically sits around waiting for checks to be deposited. They have a beautiful black cat named 'Stretch'. Stretch and Beth are the nice ones in the family. Russ would improve his ranking if he was more of a philanthropist with his Millions.
Ron & Julie Linn have the most wonderful dog in the park. Sara is gentle and loving. Ron is usually a grouch! Julie is a doll. They left on March 10th. Ron had to get back to do something with trenches. I have no idea what you do with trenches, but whatever it is, Ron likes to do it. They live in Illinois, but nobody ever heard of the town. I think Ron made it up so we can't visit!
These five couples are the reason we've come back to Emerald Beach 3 years in a row. If we decided to try another campground, it would have to be a unanimous decision! We have too much fun together. Enough said.
Speaking of awnings, our Canadian friends Gerry & Linda Foyle were only with us for a month this year, but Gerry took over awning responsibilities. Whether it needed to go in or go out, Gerry was right on the spot. Linda simply supervised, eh! They're spending there last month at a campground in Biloxi, MS. They love the casinos as much as Mary Ellen does. We met them one night for a buffet at the Hardrock. They are a fun couple.
There is a great deal that could be said about our Ohio friends, Dave & Janet Lundgren. Actually, writing about Dave would take a whole blog, and I'm not about to waste that much of my time. Let's just say, Dave wasn't invited to the Bloss anniversary blast. Of course he didn't have to spend $600 for gas and gifts! Diane Bloss made a point of letting everyone know they were expecting NO Gifts! I thus found it strange she went on to list the various high-end stores where they were registered!
Beth and Russ Jackson are a lovely "old couple". Russ is a wealthy retired farmer who basically sits around waiting for checks to be deposited. They have a beautiful black cat named 'Stretch'. Stretch and Beth are the nice ones in the family. Russ would improve his ranking if he was more of a philanthropist with his Millions.
Ron & Julie Linn have the most wonderful dog in the park. Sara is gentle and loving. Ron is usually a grouch! Julie is a doll. They left on March 10th. Ron had to get back to do something with trenches. I have no idea what you do with trenches, but whatever it is, Ron likes to do it. They live in Illinois, but nobody ever heard of the town. I think Ron made it up so we can't visit!
These five couples are the reason we've come back to Emerald Beach 3 years in a row. If we decided to try another campground, it would have to be a unanimous decision! We have too much fun together. Enough said.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
"I Cried Because I Had No Shoes"
By the time we got to our Florida destination we'd had our share of mis-adventures. Of course there was my shoulder, but prior to that we'd had a flat tire and a tongue jack that wouldn't work. But during our 7 nites in Decatur, AL we also had a flooded camper due to a leak in our water heater. It seems that the genius who "winterized" the RV had overlooked a critical element in winterization (drain the tank!) By the way, for those of you contemplating the purchase of a water heater, it will cost you $650 installed! I now believe falling off the ladder and breaking my shoulder was the punishment for overall stupidity. Needless to say we were very relieved to actually be settled at Emerald Beach RV Park thanks to Dan and Mark.
Our neighbors on site 16 are Betty and Art Stierley. They were here when we arrived. They hadn't been here previously. Art and I had exchanged pleasantries over the first couple days. Of course he noticed my sling and wanted to know the whole story. I'm not sure he really wanted to know about our "trip from Hell", but by damn he was going to hear it! Of course he sympathized with my graphic description of every friggin detail. I guess it was a couple days later when "Mr. Egocentric" got around to asking him some questions. I learned that Art & Betty were in Navarre to bury their 45 year old daughter. She died after a two year battle with breast cancer. For two days he listened to me complaining about my poor broken shoulder, when they were dealing with their own broken hearts. Kids aren't supposed to die before the parents. I don't care if the kid is 45. After hearing Art's story, I tried not to complain too much about our minor plight. "I cried because I had no shoes, and then I met a men who had no feet."
In all my 70 years of life I had never had a broken bone. Thus, operating with only one arm was a whole new experience. It wasn't just the arm, but entire left side from shoulder to hand was bruised and swollen. Initially I had no use of my left hand. The hand had grown to about 3 times its original size. It operated like a faulty prosthesis stuck to an arm but lacking batteries. Neither my wife nor I had thought to have my rings removed when we first went to the ER in Decatur. Now they would have to be cut off. Baptist Hospital ER in Gulf Breeze took care of that minor problem. Now Mary Ellen went in search of an Orthopedic surgeon. Baptist hospital told us about Andrews Institute next to the hospital. This building is orthopedic surgeons headquarters. There were autographed pictures of pro and college athletes all over the walls extolling the virtues of these doctors. Now they were going to be dealing with a semi-pro old person who fell off a ladder. They were not interested when I offered an autographed picture of yours truly. We were introduced to Dr. Ostrander, better known as Dr. O. He looked at the X Rays from Decatur and ordered an MRI. The MRI showed a piece of bone floating around in there. I, 'Mr. Obvious' realized this was probably not good. Dr. O told us that this piece of bone needed to be reattached from whence it came. This would require surgery. Mary Ellen and I quickly decided to give him the 'go ahead' and surgery was scheduled.
It was a 3 hour surgery followed by one nite in the hospital. Dr. O told us they removed the bone, ground it up, added super glue, and shoved it into the humerus at the proximity from whence it came. Don't you love 'from whence it came?' I don't think I've used the word 'whence' in over 50 years. I liked it so much I just had to use it 4 times.
Dave and Janet Lundgren spent the entire afternoon with Mary Ellen waiting for me to get out of surgery, recovery and back to a private room. Dave, and especially Janet are wonderful. More about Dave, later. The gift packages came pouring in. By the way, for those of you who haven't AS YET sent a gift, I'm registered at Ace Hardware!
Now the fun begins for my loving wife, Mary Ellen. I don't know what I'd do without her. Besides being a wonderful wife, she just happens to be a registered nurse. My only concern is she's a Hospice Nurse. By the time this is over I'm sure she'll decide maybe it's time for Hospice.
To be continued...
Our neighbors on site 16 are Betty and Art Stierley. They were here when we arrived. They hadn't been here previously. Art and I had exchanged pleasantries over the first couple days. Of course he noticed my sling and wanted to know the whole story. I'm not sure he really wanted to know about our "trip from Hell", but by damn he was going to hear it! Of course he sympathized with my graphic description of every friggin detail. I guess it was a couple days later when "Mr. Egocentric" got around to asking him some questions. I learned that Art & Betty were in Navarre to bury their 45 year old daughter. She died after a two year battle with breast cancer. For two days he listened to me complaining about my poor broken shoulder, when they were dealing with their own broken hearts. Kids aren't supposed to die before the parents. I don't care if the kid is 45. After hearing Art's story, I tried not to complain too much about our minor plight. "I cried because I had no shoes, and then I met a men who had no feet."
In all my 70 years of life I had never had a broken bone. Thus, operating with only one arm was a whole new experience. It wasn't just the arm, but entire left side from shoulder to hand was bruised and swollen. Initially I had no use of my left hand. The hand had grown to about 3 times its original size. It operated like a faulty prosthesis stuck to an arm but lacking batteries. Neither my wife nor I had thought to have my rings removed when we first went to the ER in Decatur. Now they would have to be cut off. Baptist Hospital ER in Gulf Breeze took care of that minor problem. Now Mary Ellen went in search of an Orthopedic surgeon. Baptist hospital told us about Andrews Institute next to the hospital. This building is orthopedic surgeons headquarters. There were autographed pictures of pro and college athletes all over the walls extolling the virtues of these doctors. Now they were going to be dealing with a semi-pro old person who fell off a ladder. They were not interested when I offered an autographed picture of yours truly. We were introduced to Dr. Ostrander, better known as Dr. O. He looked at the X Rays from Decatur and ordered an MRI. The MRI showed a piece of bone floating around in there. I, 'Mr. Obvious' realized this was probably not good. Dr. O told us that this piece of bone needed to be reattached from whence it came. This would require surgery. Mary Ellen and I quickly decided to give him the 'go ahead' and surgery was scheduled.
It was a 3 hour surgery followed by one nite in the hospital. Dr. O told us they removed the bone, ground it up, added super glue, and shoved it into the humerus at the proximity from whence it came. Don't you love 'from whence it came?' I don't think I've used the word 'whence' in over 50 years. I liked it so much I just had to use it 4 times.
Dave and Janet Lundgren spent the entire afternoon with Mary Ellen waiting for me to get out of surgery, recovery and back to a private room. Dave, and especially Janet are wonderful. More about Dave, later. The gift packages came pouring in. By the way, for those of you who haven't AS YET sent a gift, I'm registered at Ace Hardware!
Now the fun begins for my loving wife, Mary Ellen. I don't know what I'd do without her. Besides being a wonderful wife, she just happens to be a registered nurse. My only concern is she's a Hospice Nurse. By the time this is over I'm sure she'll decide maybe it's time for Hospice.
To be continued...
Friday, March 18, 2011
The Return of the Blog!
Its been almost two months since my last blog. I refused to type with only one finger. Now, finally, I'm able to use both hands on the keyboard. I just didn't have the patients to go from 60 words a minute down to 15. One finger just didn't cut it. So, here goes with two hands.
If I had to do it over again I certainly wouldn't have fallen off that ladder. I still can't believe it happened. I remember, as I climbed a lousy 3 steps on the ladder, Mary Ellen said "be careful Mr. Balance". Shortly after her warning, the ladder moved to the right, and I fell to the left. After laying in the mud for 15 minutes, with Mary Ellen's help, I was able to get on my knees and stand up. Mary Ellen kept saying "I'm going to call 911", and I kept saying "NO". However, once we got 'Mr. Balance' back in the RV, I decided maybe an ambulance was a good idea. And thus the adventure began.
The ambulance arrived in 5 minutes, and the EMT's couldn't have been nicer and more proficient. Decatur General hospital was only 5 minutes away. Again, we were impressed with the nurses and staff. The X Ray showed a broken humerus bone in the shoulder. ER recommended an orthopedic surgeon across the street from the hospital. After looking at the X Ray, he felt the bone was well aligned and didn't need surgery. ER had given me a sling. All I could do was take pain medication. The problem was I couldn't drive, and Mary Ellen was and is afraid to pull the travel trailer.
Point Mallard campground in Decatur was to be an overnite on the way to Navarre, FL. It turned out to be a 7 nite stay while we tried to figure what we were going to do. The people at Point Mallard were great. They unhooked the truck from the trailer and set us up for an extended stay. At least 3 times a day, a staff member would stop by to find if there was anything we needed. This campground is beautiful, but we found it was more than beautiful, it also had a very caring staff. Stay there when you get a chance, and tell them "Mr. Balance with the broken shoulder sent you". You won't be disappointed!
Now most of you know we have 4 sons. They just happen to be 4 wonderful sons. Dan and Mark were the closest to Alabama. They live in Indianapolis. Dan insisted that he and Mark would come to our rescue. Dan would pull the trailer and Mark would drive "the chase car". We had decided that going south was much more appealing than going back home to the ice and snow. The boys arrived after our 7 nites at Point Mallard and took us the rest of the way. Dan wanted his Mom to ride with him in the truck and I was to ride with Mark in the "chase car". I wasn't surprised Dan wanted me to be as far away from him as possible. I think he thought I just might give him a little too much advice if I was sitting right next to him. He did a great job, and the drive from Decatur, AL to Navarre, FL was uneventful. We wanted them to spend the nite in Navarre, but Dan was determined to start heading back to Indy. They were only here long enough to set us up and left after about an hour. They drove as far as the Birmingham, AL area before getting back to Indy the next day.
Our first priority was finding an Orthopedic doctor down here. More about that in my next blog.
If I had to do it over again I certainly wouldn't have fallen off that ladder. I still can't believe it happened. I remember, as I climbed a lousy 3 steps on the ladder, Mary Ellen said "be careful Mr. Balance". Shortly after her warning, the ladder moved to the right, and I fell to the left. After laying in the mud for 15 minutes, with Mary Ellen's help, I was able to get on my knees and stand up. Mary Ellen kept saying "I'm going to call 911", and I kept saying "NO". However, once we got 'Mr. Balance' back in the RV, I decided maybe an ambulance was a good idea. And thus the adventure began.
The ambulance arrived in 5 minutes, and the EMT's couldn't have been nicer and more proficient. Decatur General hospital was only 5 minutes away. Again, we were impressed with the nurses and staff. The X Ray showed a broken humerus bone in the shoulder. ER recommended an orthopedic surgeon across the street from the hospital. After looking at the X Ray, he felt the bone was well aligned and didn't need surgery. ER had given me a sling. All I could do was take pain medication. The problem was I couldn't drive, and Mary Ellen was and is afraid to pull the travel trailer.
Point Mallard campground in Decatur was to be an overnite on the way to Navarre, FL. It turned out to be a 7 nite stay while we tried to figure what we were going to do. The people at Point Mallard were great. They unhooked the truck from the trailer and set us up for an extended stay. At least 3 times a day, a staff member would stop by to find if there was anything we needed. This campground is beautiful, but we found it was more than beautiful, it also had a very caring staff. Stay there when you get a chance, and tell them "Mr. Balance with the broken shoulder sent you". You won't be disappointed!
Now most of you know we have 4 sons. They just happen to be 4 wonderful sons. Dan and Mark were the closest to Alabama. They live in Indianapolis. Dan insisted that he and Mark would come to our rescue. Dan would pull the trailer and Mark would drive "the chase car". We had decided that going south was much more appealing than going back home to the ice and snow. The boys arrived after our 7 nites at Point Mallard and took us the rest of the way. Dan wanted his Mom to ride with him in the truck and I was to ride with Mark in the "chase car". I wasn't surprised Dan wanted me to be as far away from him as possible. I think he thought I just might give him a little too much advice if I was sitting right next to him. He did a great job, and the drive from Decatur, AL to Navarre, FL was uneventful. We wanted them to spend the nite in Navarre, but Dan was determined to start heading back to Indy. They were only here long enough to set us up and left after about an hour. They drove as far as the Birmingham, AL area before getting back to Indy the next day.
Our first priority was finding an Orthopedic doctor down here. More about that in my next blog.
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