Mea culpa......

8:09 am - Thursday - May 16th - Ramona, CA - 56° F, 81% humidity, wind 8 mph out of the south.....overcast this morning with a forecast high of 62° F.  Feels good to be alive this morning......the view this morning.....↴

When I had my stroke on December 28, 2017 my doctor told me I had won the proverbial lottery....a stroke with no serious consequences.  I had a wake up call then, and the message was 'Clarke, you're not 19 anymore'.  I won the lottery in the sense that a bad thing happened to me, but there were no long lasting effects....in fact, all the symptoms had disappeared within 24 hours.  I made some minor changes in my lifestyle thinking "I've got this under control".  My blood work at the time indicated my cholesterol level was at 170.....wonderful for a person my age (67 at the time), but in addition to taking 20 mg of lisiniprol and a baby aspirin per day, my cardiologist gave me a prescription for a statin (cholesterol medicine) to lower it even further.  I took it for a while, but eventually thought why am I taking this if my cholesterol is so low?  In my arrogance I decided I knew better, and stopped taking it.  That, in retrospect, was a mistake.  Why?  Well, since December of 2017 my cholesterol has climbed to over 200.  Now, I know that the plaque buildup in my main artery did not all occur over the last 1.5 years, but was already well under way when I had my stroke.  Taking the statin (cholesterol reducing medication) would have begun to reduce that plaque, but my refusal to continue taking it allowed it to continue to build to the point where I had a heart attack.  My purpose in being so transparent is not to engage in the "woulda, coulda, shoulda" blame game, but to encourage all of my readers to follow their doctors advice.  If in doubt, get a second opinion, but do not substitute your knowledge and experience for a doctor's years of experience, and knowledge.  My arrogance almost got me killed by my own hand.

So, here I was on May 13th thinking I was doing pretty well, and suddenly I find myself on the edge of cashing in my chips once again.  I end up dodging the 'Angel of death' once again, and within 24 hours I feel great....as if nothing had happened.  I feel blessed, but extremely embarrassed that I have been given, once again, a 'get out of jail free' card when I don't seem to deserve it.  I wonder why, but I'm not going to go down that rabbit hole.  I hope I have learned my lesson....I'm pretty sure TLE will not let me forget this lesson.

I am humbled, and appreciative by the response to my announcement first on Facebook, and then in my belated blog post Wednesday evening covering the events of Monday and Tuesday.  As you know, I have never missed a day of blogging since I began to blog every day back in October of 2012.  I know that many read my musings every single day, and when I even post late in the day, instead of first thing in the morning people have gotten concerned, but in this case I was late into a second day.  Thank you for your patience!

So, for the second time in 1.5 years I have been forced to face my own mortality.  Intellectually I know I have been granted a finite amount of time on this earth, but it is easy to avoid thinking in those terms.  When you go for decades with really good health, and no discernible health issues you begin to take good health, and physical condition for granted.  You assume you will wake up every single morning, and that bad things only happen to other people.  I know so many people who have passed early who were also in seemingly good health, but I preferred think I would live for another couple of decades, and just not wake up one day, but live to a ripe old age.  I had one good friend, Ray Revenaugh, who seemed the picture of health.  He was active, a bicycle rider like myself, and ate healthy.  One day he was out riding his bike and had a massive heart attack.....there was no warning....one minute he was here, and the next he was gone.  Nothing is guaranteed, that is for sure.  Now, each day I wake up I turn to TLE and tell her...."Well, apparently, you've got me for one more morning".....I almost did not get to tell her that Tuesday morning, and had I not been able to wake up that day and tell her "Well, you've got me for one more morning" it would have been 100% my fault.  I owe her more than that, and I will do everything the rest of the days God has granted to me to be alive to do everything I should be doing to be able to greet her each and every morning.

I was discharged from the Cardiac Unit at Palomar Medical Center around 12:30 pm, and with newly prescribed medications was on my way home with TLE courtesy my son, Tim, and daughter-in-law, Laila, who drove us back to RORVR.  We were home before 2 pm, and bidding adieu to Tim and Laila.  It was so good to be back home.  As the afternoon progressed the reality of what had happened began to really seep into my brain.  Over the course of the afternoon and evening TLE kept coming to me in my recliner and kissing me, holding my hand, and sometimes displaying a tear in her eye.  I almost left her.  She has spent so much time in doctor, and hospital waiting rooms over the past few years....never complaining, and always so grateful I am still able to greet her each morning.

To cap off our return home we watched the season finale for 'Survior', fittingly won by Chris who had to spend 28 days on at the 'Edge of Extinction' island waiting for his chance to get back in the game.  He beat out a dozen people to get back in the game, and made the most of his last 4 days, easily winning the $1,000,000 for outwitting, outplaying and outlasting all of his competitors.  Another great season is in the books, and another day in my life with TLE as well.  I woke up this morning (Thursday) and greeted TLE....."Well, apparently, you have me for one more morning".....I am so sorry I needlessly put TLE through the last two days.....I love you so much, Elaine, and you deserve my best!

Thanks for stopping by!

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The heart of the matter...

8:26 am - Wednesday - May 15th - 58° F,  89% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the west  by southwest......foggy this morning with a forecast high of  73° F.  The view this morning...

Monday began as a totally normal work day at RORVR.  I was assigned to pressure wash our 5 park models, and after opening the park I stopped by the tool shed to pick up the pressure washer, and hoses.....

The second cabin finished

......I finished most of the first cabin just before lunch, and then finished it quickly after lunch moving up the hill to the second cabin, which took much less time as it was not in as dire a need of pressure washing as the first one was.  As I finished with the second cabin I noticed the picnic table next to it needed cleaning so I went ahead and pressure washed it as well as 4 other tables in the vicinity.....

Can you see the line of demarcation between the dirty and the clean portions of the table and bench?

......by the time I finished pressure washing the tables it was closing in on 4 pm, so I packed everything up and headed for the office to put my tools away and pick up TLE.  We were home a little after 4 pm, and after taking a nice shower sat down to relax, and relax is what I did until about 8:30 pm when I began to feel a tightness in my chest.  The idea that I might be having a heart attack was the furthest thing from my mind for the next 5 minutes, but as the tightness turned to pain, and the pain began to radiate down my left arm I had to face the fact that that was probably exactly what was happening.

About 8:40 pm I told TLE that something was wrong and I didn't feel right.  She asked what didn't feel right and I described what I was feeling.  She suggested that I take my blood pressure, which I immediately did.....the reading?  159/99!  Wow, that is really bad and I am having a real problem no matter what the cause might be.  I asked her to dial '911' immediately, which she did.  As she made the call I went back to the bedroom to lie down on the bed, and she followed shortly thereafter, grabbing my hand and demanding I not leave her....she repeated several times over....."Don't you dare leave me....don't you dare!".  Within 10 minutes the paramedics arrived along with the local fire department.  At one point there were 2 firemen and 3 paramedics crowding back into the bedroom.  

Josh and Jersey began to ask me questions, and within a minute there were giving me 6 chewable aspirin, and a shot of nitroglycerin spray under my tongue.  In minutes I went from 10+ on the pain scale to an 8.  They moved me out of the Newell and onto a gurney, then into the ambulance and off we were in a cloud of dust with lights flashing, and occasionally the siren.  We arrived at Palomar Medical Center about 35 minutes later, and within minutes I was in an ER room being examined by an internist, then a cardiologist.  After 3 more shots of nitro, and an intravenous dose of Fentanyl my pain was down to a 1.

By this time it was 10 pm, and the cardiologist was telling me I had experienced a 'small' heart attack.....if that was small I would hate to experience a major one.  The pain became unbearable at one point just before the arrival of the paramedics.  Thanks to Josh and Jersey for stabilizing me, and getting me to Palomar so quickly!

The cardiologist told me they would perform an angiogram on me Tuesday to find the blockage, and then angioplasty.  He advised that if 3, or more arteries were blocked I would have to have bypass surgery, which I was praying would not be the case.  I remained in the ER room until about 7 am Tuesday when another room opened.  Then around 1 pm I was taken upstairs to the OR for the angiogram to be performed by Dr. Mulvihill who is quite the character.  Within an hour they had found the blockage in my main artery (they call it the widowmaker), performed the angioplasty, and installed a stint, and I was on my way to my room in the Cardiac Unit.

I wasn't able to eat anything until after the surgery and by 2 pm I was getting quite hungry as I had last eaten at 6 pm the night before.  Within an hour I had a late lunch, and a cup of coffee.  Since I had to lie flat for 6 hours keeping my right leg straight and immobile TLE had to cut up my food and feed me for both lunch and dinner.  By 10 pm I was able to get up and walk around my room, and that night I slept like a rock.  TLE, bless her heart, was with me every step of the way, and I know she did not sleep well Monday night in that stiff chair in the ER room, but just as always she never complained for one second.

What began as a very benign day ended in drama, but with a good ending.....thank you for your patience, and for stopping by once again!

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A big bowl of Jello......

6:45 am - Saturday - April 6th - Fontana, CA - 53° F, 81% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the east by northeast.....heavy cloud cover with a forecast high to day of 72° F.

Into every life a little Jello must fall.  Sometimes we go weeks, or months without Jello in our lives, but it seems as if 2019 has been one big spoon of Jello after another.  Nothing dramatic, mind you, just a spoonful here and there, and then without warning you are given a really big bowl of Jello.  All I can say is it is a good thing I really like Jello.

As I wrote the other day, I had my first cataract surgery appointment the other day.  Everything went 'according to Hoyle' until the consultation with Dr. Dovich at the end of the appointment.  What I didn't relate to you then I will now.  Apparently the optic nerve in my right eye is larger than the one in my left eye.  That could indicate the beginnings of glaucoma.  One of the causes of glaucoma is high blood pressure.  As you know I had a period of time with untreated high blood pressure which was revealed by my stroke on December 28th, 2017.   Obviously, I've been on blood pressure medication since then.  At any rate Dr. Dovich wants to conduct a couple more tests to determine if I have glaucoma so when they do the operation to insert the new lens they can also perform a procedure to mitigate the damage, if it is indeed caused by glaucoma.  Those tests will be run on April 19th, and then I will meet again with the doctor on April 24th to get my prognosis.  

All that means my cataract surgery will be not scheduled until sometime in the first, or second week of May.  After another 4 weeks of followup appointments we would be into early June, which is when we expected to be in Dawson Creek, BC to begin the ALCAN highway to Alaska.  In order to get to our Denali reservation by July 9th we would pretty much have to drive 170 miles a day, every day until we arrived there.  No stopping to smell the roses along the way.  We want to do the Alaska trip right the first time as who knows if we will ever get back.  After a couple of days of thought and discussion TLE and I made the very hard decision to abort our plans for this summer, and aim for the spring of 2020 to make the trip.  I know, bummer, right?  However, taking care of my health is our primary concern right now.  Jello comes along, so it comes down to how you handle it.

So, what to do this summer?  We have been talking the last 2 years about finding a place to drop our anchor for a year and just work a job.....a job, mind you, that we would find fun, and a job working with good people.  A job that would pay decent money, and enable us to become more financially secure, and build up our savings.  Another plus would be our proximity to our children, grand children and great grand children for the next year.  The grands are growing so fast, and we have been missing all the changes in their lives.We haven't found that job yet, but there is one which looks promising, and there is the opportunity at the end of the summer to just continue through the fall and winter until next April.  

We found an RV park here in SoCal looking for a host couple for the summer just outside the lovely mountain town of Ramona, CA called Ramona Oaks RV Resort.  We submitted our resumes to the park manager on Thursday morning, and by Friday morning we received a call from the manager offering us jobs.  $11/hour with about 32 hours each per week.  The owners of the park are pretty much hands off, allowing the managers to run the park, and they are very nice people who have been full timing for about 10 years now.  They even worked Amazon in Campbellsville, KY back in 2012, the same year we were there.  We talked a while on the phone, and decided to drive down to Ramona (114 miles each way) to inspect the park, and meet the people with whom we would be working.

Since we were last in SoCal the traffic has become exponentially worse.  It used to be you could drive to Ramona down I-15 in about 2 hours, but with heavier traffic added to a lot of construction it took us closer to 2.5 hours to arrive at Ramona Oaks RV Resort.....

......over the decades we have lived in SoCal we have been to Ramona and the surrounding areas many, many times.  We know the area, and love the vibe of the town.  Ramona Oaks RV Resort is located 5.6 miles north of Ramona on SR-78 at about 2,100' elevation, and is about 17 miles from Julian (we visited there a couple of winters ago), and less than 40 miles from the ocean.  There is a COSTCO, and TJ's in Escondido, just 23 miles down the hill.

We arrived at the park a little after 1 pm, and spent a couple of hours visiting with the managers (Marnie and Rich), and checking out the facilities.    We were quite impressed.....

 Club House

 Catch and release fishing pond

 Very large pool, and a nice Jacuzzi

 A lot of oaks as the name would suggest

Hiking, and mountain bike trails

......amenities include, but are not limited to pool, jacuzzi, club house, miniature golf, volleyball, basketball, horse shoes, playground.  A new water tank is being installed, and the electrical system is being upgraded as I write.  The owners are investing a significant amount of money into infrastructure, which is good to see.

After bidding adieu to Marnie and Rich we headed back into Ramona to have lunch at Packard's Coffee Shop (4 stars on 90+ reviews) to have a couple of panini sandwiches, and some coffee while we discussed our visit.  We haven't been to Ramona in about 12 years, but always stopped in at Packard's for coffee and sometimes a sandwich.  We were so happy they are still open for business. In short we have decided to accept the position at Ramona Oaks, and will move down there sometime after April 25th for the summer, and make a decision by Labor Day if we wish to stay for the fall and winter.  We are very excited, and pleased with how easy this bowl of Jello has been to swallow.  This job was just posted on Workamper.com on Wednesday, the day I got the possible glaucoma news from Dr. Dovich, and within 2 days we had the job.

We didn't leave Ramona until after 3 pm.....bad decision as that is the beginning of rush hour.......it took us a full three hours to get back to the Elks Lodge in Fontana......ugghhh!!!  So, our plans are set, and we both feel at peace about our decision.  Of course, our children and very excited we will be in town for at least 4 more months, and possibly a year.

Thanks for stopping by!

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