The sister ship.....

7:38 am - Friday - March 1st - Wittmann, AZ - 53º F, 71% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the east by northeast.......very cloudy today with a forecast high of 74º F.....get that?  Yes, 74º F!

About 10 years ago I came into contact with a man (Steve) who had just purchased a 1982 Newell, which looked just like mine.  We became friends over time, and after doing some research found that our two Newells had virtually the same completion date in March of 1982.  I knew the first owner of my Newell was an attorney out of Cherry Hills, CO named Leonard Law.  Steve later found out the last name of the original owner of his Newell was also Law....related somehow?  Our VIN #'s are just one digit apart.....his was completed just before mine.  His Newell, at 38' in length, is 2 feet longer than mine.   In August of 2009 we traveled together to Creede, CO to attend a Newell rally, and became closer friends in the process.  I often refer to his coach as the 'sister ship'......

The 'sister ships' in Creede, CO

......I write that to say this......Steve and his wife are thinking about selling their Newell, and I would love to see this one go to someone I know........  

 Steve's 1982 Newell at the Parker Strip on the Colorado River

Steve's coach above and mine below....hard to tell the difference, no?

 They look very similar inside, but his wood veneer is a little lighter than mine (Steve's above, mine below)

......Steve found his Newell in Yuma, AZ in 2008 where it had been sitting unused for a number of years due to the death of the wife's husband.  It was in pretty rough shape at the time, but Steve bought her anyway and brought her back to life.  Thankfully she had been sitting in the dry Arizona desert.  Steve's 1982 Newell has the same engine mine does (Detroit Diesel 6v92 with turbo).  Steve was a Marine Surveyor in his workaday life and had come across a lot of 6v92's in commercial boats in his time, so knew a lot about them.  There is no deferred maintenance on this coach.  A few years ago he had his gear driven alternator rebuilt, and also fixed the tachometer.  I know the rear axle seals have been replaced, and the brakes relined during his tenure as owner.  The current odometer reading is 135,789.....these Detroit Diesel 6v92's are not even broken in until they pass 150,000 miles!

Steve and his wife typically take the coach to the Parker Strip each winter for a couple of months, which is where it is right now.  This will most likely be the last winter they do that, and would like to have it sold by next winter.  Steve has been a member our our Newell Gurus user forum for as long as I have, and his coach is featured on the website masthead.  If you are interested send me a text at 951.236.5312 with your contact information and I will relay it to him......

So, you might wonder, what happened Thursday?  Well, not much.....a lot of napping, some sitting in the sun, some reading, some more 'bad TV' watching, and just general post surgical recovery.  The healing continues to progress rapidly......TLE says I'm looking much better.....

......if you see me head on you would not know anything had happened, except the lump on my right cheek is gone......I won't gross you out this time with a side view, but it does look much better!

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Transitioning........

7:57 am - Thursday - February 28th - Wittmann, AZ - 47º F, 76% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the north by northeast.......clear, blue sky today with a forecast high of 73º F.

My kind of weather!

Wednesday was kind of a transition day for me in my recovery from surgery #2 in which I moved from being 'in pain' to just being extremely uncomfortable.  I took my last Percocet Tuesday evening about 8 pm, and haven't needed one since.  Since then Tylenol has been sufficient to keep the discomfort (not really pain anymore) around a 3 on a 1-10 scale.  In keeping with my doctor's instructions I have just been concentrating on being quiet, resting, napping, and doing nothing constructive whatsoever.  The post surgical swelling has begun to subside, and I find I can turn my head further to the left and right.

I watched what I call a lot of 'bad TV' on Wednesday.....just one terrible 'B' (Blade: Trinity; Enemy of the State, and.....hmmmm.....I forget the 3rd one) movie after another, but it passed the time.  I did watch 'Maltese Falcon' (hardly a 'B' movie) from beginning to end.  What a well written script! To me Humphrey Bogart will always be Sam Spade.  I did not even venture outside the friendly confines of the Newell once all day long. TLE headed into our host's home in the early afternoon to play cards most of the afternoon with Darlene leaving me to vegetate, and nap.

The temp got into the mid 70's Wednesday, and for several hours ALL of our windows were open, and we were running our Fantastic Fan to draw some cool air into the coach.....what a change from a week ago!

Now that surgery #2 is behind us we can now make a few plans, and appointments such as dental appointments, and an appointment for me at the Pacific Eye Institute to take care of the cataract in my right eye, plus now we have a better idea when we will arrive back in California to see our kids again.

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In search of symmetry.......

7:35 am - Wednesday - February 27th - Wittmann, AZ - 51º F, 65% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the north by northeast.....mostly cloudy today with a forecast high of 73º F.

I slept pretty well Monday night considering that I was being awakened every couple of hours so nurses could take my vitals, or because I had to go to the bathroom.  Going to the bathroom under normal circumstances is not a difficult proposition, but when you are hooked up to 3, or 4 machines the difficulty factor increases significantly.   Especially when you are hooked up to an IV.....they (nurses, doctors) usually do not want you to become disconnected from said IV, so you must take it......the IV and the stand to which it is attached, including monitoring equipment.....with you to the bathroom.  The stand has wheels, but you must unplug it from the wall socket, snake it out from behind the bed, move the table upon which your drinking water, kleenex, phone, and other useful articles reside, and then drag it behind you, or push it in front of you as you trundle off to the 'patients only' restroom.  

Another thing you don't think about when you are being continuously hydrated via IV is that you will have to go to the bathroom much more often, so your entire routine revolves around getting unhooked from from the various machines to which you are attached so you can go to the bathroom, then upon return to the bed getting hooked up to all those contraptions once again, and pushing your IV stand back into its position behind the bed and table.    In all each trip to the bathroom consumes about 15 minutes of your time.  Once you are finally tucked back into your bed, and comfortable once again you know that in another 1.5 to 2 hours you will start that process all over again.  

Then there are the interruptions I mentioned earlier when they come to take your vitals (blood pressure, pulse, etc.), or to bring you pills to swallow, which are more noticeable when you are awakened from a sound sleep during the night.  Fortunately, that only goes on for about 24 hours and then the surgeon (Dr. Tritle) arrives to remove the drain tube from your neck, pronounce you fit to be discharged from the hospital, and signs your discharge papers.  You willingly go through all of that to get to the money shot below......

No more asymmetrical face....thank you Dr. Tritle

.....once again your facial symmetry, absent for several years, has been restored.  The lump which first appeared on your right cheek about 4 years ago has been excised at last, has been found to be benign, and all that is left is to recover from the surgery, and get back to your vagabond life.

TLE, who spent the night with our niece, Christina, at her home in Flagstaff, arrived back at the hospital around 8:15 am just as I was finishing my two egg omelette, and English muffin.  Within an hour my attending nurse, Mark, arrived with my discharge papers, a few post surgery care instructions, and then we were on our way downstairs to the car and the 2.5 hour drive home.  TLE drove, as I napped, sang along to the music on the 60's channel, and just generally stared out at the beautiful landscape.  We were home just before 12:30 pm, and within minutes I was relaxing in my recliner.

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A cut above, or below, as the case may be.....

1:01 pm - Tuesday - February 26th - Wittmann, AZ - 66º F, 25% humidity, wind 8 mph out of the east by southeast......blue skies today with a forecast high of 68º F.

We checked out of our hotel just before 6 am on Monday, and were at Flagstaff Medical Center by 6:10 am.  We found a parking spot right in front....I would hope so at 6:10 am in the morning!  We walked into the hospital and headed for the pre-op registration office arriving about 6:15 am.  By 7 am my name was called, and we were led into the surgical center where I was placed in a curtained room to change out of my clothes, and into the ubiquitous backless dressing gown.

TLE then took this picture of the cyst in my right cheek saliva gland......

 Before....

.....the surgery was scheduled for 8:30 am, and Dr. Tritle stopped by about 8:10 am to apply a 'smiley face' to my right cheek, so there would be no error......

 Dr. Tritle put a smiley face on my right cheek so there would be no mistake

JUST IN CASE YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE THE GORY DETAILS STOP READING HERE AS THERE ARE GRAPHIC PICTURES FOLLOWING

.....the last thing I remember, just like the last three times I've had surgery, was having an oxygen mask put over my mouth, which also includes the anesthesia.....the next thing I knew I was waking up 2.5 hours later.....about 11 am.....from the surgery.  Where the large golf ball like lump was is now a small crater where the rather large cyst called home for the last few years.  That 'crater' will gradually fill back in over the next 6 months.....

Just after I woke up.....I had a drain for about 24 hours

.....according to Dr. Tritle it took over 50 stitches to close everything up....as you can see from the picture above the incision begins about the middle of my ear, and runs down my jaw line then below the jaw line for total length of about 5-6 inches.....that was all pealed back to get at the cyst.  It took me most of the rest of the day to get over the effects of the anesthesia which left my mind in kind of a fog, and my stomach feeling slightly woozy.  I was authorized by Dr. Tritle to have as many as two Percocets every four hours, but I was able to get by on one every 5-8 hours before the pain would rise above a 6 on a 1-10 scale.  With one Percocet the pain was between a 2 and 3 on the 10 point scale.

For the first 24 hours I had a drain running out of my lower jaw area to a bottle kept in a pocket in my dressing gown, which was periodically emptied....by the time the draine was removed the discharge was down to a minor trickle.....  

Just after the drain was removed 

......frankly the pain, and extreme discomfort I was expecting did not materialize.  I was, understandably,  just a little uncomfortable for the first 6 hours, but then my disposition improved dramatically.  I am able to eat regular food.....no straws involved.  There are no bandages engulfing the right side of my face as I expected......just a long, ugly incision, which will improve in appearance over time.

The one thing I love about Flagstaff Medical Center is you can order anything off their menu anytime between the hours of 7 am to 7 pm.  For lunch I had a bowl of tomato soup, and a cup of coffee.  For dinner I had breakfast......scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, a fruit cup, and a glass of Sierra Mist (soft drink).  You just pick up the phone, dial 12345, and place your order.  Within 15 minutes the food is delivered to your room, and it is actually pretty good food!

So, now I am in recovery mode for the second time this month.  My first surgery back on February 5th is a distant memory, and pretty much healed.  Now I start the process all over again, but all is well in Whatsnewell land.

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Desert View - Day 53 - Happy New Year!

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6:50 am - Tuesday - January 2nd - Grand Canyon - 25º F, 36% humidity, wind - CALM....forecast high for today is 51º F with partly cloudy skies....heading into Flagstaff today on our day off work!  Today's BP is 138/83.

Can't believe it is 2018......in one month we will celebrate the beginning of our 7th year on the road, and 8 years living in the Newell.....none of that seems possible, but here we are, nonetheless!  We began the year with me being sick with a bad case of a chest cold......I hacked and coughed my way into January 2017.  In all I was sick for 10 days....I think I caught whatever I had when we were home visiting our kids for Christmas, because within days I had the same thing they did.....seems like I have a health emergency about once a year.  At any rate I will recap our 2017 in a separate post.

I had the 'open' shift Monday morning which was good for me as the important college football games were in the afternoon after I would be off work, so that worked out well.   New Year's Day began with a whimper, but ended with a lot of foot traffic....TLE reports she dropped over $600 for her Noon to 5 pm shift.  I dropped about $177, so it was a pretty busy day in the General Store.  We are told that once we are past New Year's day things will slow dramatically until the Presidents Day weekend in February.....that will be fine with me

I was home by 12:45 pm and in front of the TV watching the end of the Notre Dame vs. LSU game, which Notre Dame won on a dramatic last second touchdown.  The Oklahoma vs. Georgia game was a barn burner which saw the final score at 54-48 in double overtime with Georgia winning the game to advance to the National Championship game.  The final game of the day pitted Clemson against Alabama.  Alabama won easily, 24-6, so they will also be in the National Championship game next Monday vs. Georgia.  'Breaking Bad' is running a New Year marathon so I watched a number of episodes going to bed finally around 10:30 pm.....of course there were a couple of luxurious naps interspersed throughout the afternoon.

One thing I have noticed since my stroke episode last Wednesday is I am sleeping a lot better at night.  Before I slept okay most nights, but would have one, or two nights a week where I would wake up around 2 am and not go back to sleep for a couple of hours.....now I am sleeping right through the night.....maybe the problem was high blood pressure.....I don't know for sure, but it's a nice change.

Another thing that is different is I have weighed the exact same thing every morning since I got back from Flagstaff Medical Center.....198.8....that never happens!  I'm happy to stay under 200, that's for sure, but usually my weight varies from day to day by .5 to 1 pound.  Now that I am on a low sodium diet maybe I'm not retaining water now which has stabilized my weight from day to day.  These are interesting changes to me, but I will only begin to understand them when more time has elapsed and I can see a trend really developing.  For now, these are all nice changes.  My BP, which I recorded above, seems to be settling in the 130's (high) and 80's (resting), but again I am just 4-5 days along taking the blood pressure medication.  

We are off, in about an hour, to Flagstaff (Tuesday) for the day to do some shopping, visit with my sister-in-law, and niece, and see Star Wars: The Last Jedi.  Art Young is going to ride into town with us, so I am looking forward to a nice relaxing day spent with friends and family!

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Desert View - Day 52 - The Eve

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6:02 am - Monday - January 1st - Grand Canyon - Happy New Year! - 20º F, humidity 37%, wind 2 mph out of the east....sunny with a forecast high of 55º F......BP 133/88.....my best so far since getting home Friday night.

It had been four days since I last worked on Tuesday, and Sunday it was time to get back to it.  I was a little concerned about my endurance, but that was largely a none issue.  Originally I was scheduled to begin working at 10:30 am, and work until 5:30 pm, but that seemed like a long time, so I asked if I could come in at 12 pm and was given permission by our assistant manager, Wayne, to do just that.

Before I went to work I needed to attend to one main duty and that was to dump the black tank.  I waited until about 10 am to begin the process, and by that time the temps had warmed up into the 40's.  By the time I was done with that it was time to begin getting ready for work.

I reported for work just before Noon time, and quickly slipped back into my routine.  It was beginning to get busy.  TLE had agreed to work her full shift (ended at 3 pm) just to be sure I was good to go.  It was comforting to know she was there in case I ran out of gas, but in the end I was fine.  I just took my time, and by the time she clocked out I only had two hours to go before I counted down my cash drawer.

It took me a while to remember to wish each of our customers a 'Happy New Year'......it just didn't feel like New Year's Eve. Usually TLE and I try to stay up until midnight to welcome in the New Year, but I knew since I had to go to work at 7:30 am Monday I would be in bed by 9:30, or 10.....I guess that is part of the reason it didn't feel like New Year's Eve.  In past years we have not been working a job on New Year's Eve.....I think last year we binged watched a big chunk of 'Breaking Bad' on New Year's Eve.....no binge watching this New Year's Eve!

We were busy right up until 5 pm so I wasn't able to begin my 'CLOSE' procedure until that time (checking the cooler/freezer temps, fronting all the beverage coolers, vacuuming the four rugs in the entrance area, and turning off all the cooler/freezer lighting), but I was able to do all that and still get my cash drawer counted down to $400, and be out the door by 5:28 pm.....I ended up dropping must shy of $500.....a pretty busy 5 hours at the register!

TLE was right at the door to welcome me home, and had dinner for me a few minutes later.  I was a little tired, but I'm always a little tired at the end of a work shift, so it is all good.  As we begin the New Year I have a little different take on life.....there is a little more intensity knowing I almost didn't make it.  My blood pressure is under control, and I am taking life a little more deliberately.  Life is good, and I am grateful to still begin each day writing about the day before.

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Desert View - Day 51 - The eve of the EVE

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6:21 am - Sunday - December 31st - Grand Canyon - New Year's Eve - 26º F, humidity 28%, wind 1 mph out of the east by northeast...partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 55º F.....BP 145/86....even better than Saturday morning!

You appreciate waking up in your own bed so much more when you wake up in a hospital bed even one time....much, much more!  And that was how I felt Saturday morning.....very appreciative to be in my own bed, in my own home with no wires attached, and no one poking and prodding me relentlessly.....no waking up every 45 minutes to an hour all night long.

Since our boss was so kind as to take us off the Saturday work schedule I had time to re-acclimate to life at Desert View before plunging back into the workaday life.  I had a few minor chores I wished to do, and a few delicious naps to take.  The day began with a light breeze, and ended with winds in the 10-12 mph range.....just enough to make being outside unpleasant, but outside I was.

First up was to organize all my paperwork from my hospital visit, get my pills organized.....I take three in the morning (BP pill, baby aspirin, and for 90 days only a blood thinner), and one in the evening just before I go to bed (statin....to reduce cholesterol.....I'm at 78, which is normal, but since I have had the stroke they recommend getting it down to 70.....I'm not sold on this as my cholesterol has never been an issue.  If I don't see a significant reduction after 30 days I think I will discontinue as I don't like the side effect issues).  Next I moved a few things back out to the trailer including the Christmas tree....had to make room for the blood pressure monitor......very, very important in my life now.

Next I cleaned out the car, and vacuumed it......haven't vacuumed it for at least a month and there were a lot of small pebbles, and large gravel pieces on the floor mats, and everything was dusty....looks a lot better now.

Finally, I had received the hose bibb heated tape to apply to the two connections on either end of the heated hose which is where I suspect the freezing issue has occurred. Right now it is not getting that cold at night (high teens to mid 20's), and freezing is an issue, but good to get ahead of the curve and not wait for it to become an issue.  I hope this additional heat tape does the trick.....only time will tell.  I have no doubt we will see, at some point, temps back in the single digits, and maybe even sub zero weather, and that will be the real test.

There were several college Bowl games on Saturday and I had them playing in the background most of the day.  My USC Trojans played Friday night against Ohio State, and played miserably losing 24-7....in fact there is only one PAC-12 team which has won a bowl game so far....not a good year for the PAC-12.

My last task of the day was to turn on the Sea-B-Que to grill a lean filet TLE had bought a few weeks ago when we were in Flagstaff. When it is breezy it makes it difficult to get the BBQ up to the temperature I prefer, but all I do is add a minute, or two the grill time to get it to the desired medium rare status.

By the end of the day I was feeling pleasantly tired....no doubt some of the tiredness was  the residual of my 30 hour hospital stay.  I was in bed by 9:30 pm and thinking how nice is was to be in MY bed once again!

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Desert View - Day 50 - 1 Million & Testing, testing testing.....

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7:53 am - Saturday - December 30th - Grand Canyon - 17º F, humidity 38%, wind 1 mph out of the east.....partly cloudy.....good not to be in the hospital, and home!  All is well....my symptoms have almost completely disappeared, and my blood pressure is under control.....153/95 this morning before my pill.  Forecast high for today is 61º F!

First of all, let's do a little housekeeping before we get on to the events of Friday......on Friday we passed a big milestone on 'Whatsnewell'.....we passed ONE MILLION page views!  Both TLE and I thank you for your loyalty, and faithfully coming to read each day about our vagabond lives.  As I have always said, it is not much by blogosphere standards.....for some that is 1 day, or 1 week, not just over 5 years as it is in our case.  Again, thank you for reading!

Now, back to regularly scheduled programming.....we'll go back to Wednesday morning, because that is where the story really begins.  

As you know, we had planned to go hiking Wednesday morning (you can read about that here......Bright Angel).  I woke up Wednesday feeling kind of 'off'...not sick, but not feeling myself.....I just wrote it off to going to bed late, and getting up too early.  When I began to type my blog I noticed I kept hitting the wrong keys with my right hand.....again I just wrote it off to a 'bad day at the office'.  But when TLE got up and I spoke to her it seemed to me like I was slurring my words a bit....she didn't notice, and I didn't say anything, but I was now a little concerned, but still not sure anything was wrong.

We went on our hike as scheduled, and I felt fine the entire day, and into the night....not 100%, but fine nonetheless.  On the way home from the hike I noticed when I would press the brake pedal to slow down I would push too hard causing us to slow down way more than I planned.....again I was a little concerned.

We got home, I took a long shower, and sat down to relax.....I felt completely normal at this point.....no slurring, and no other symptoms....I thought whatever was going on had resolved itself.  I went to bed, and slept very, very well, and woke up feeling refreshed and normal, but within minutes of getting up I began to feel weird again.....I told Elaine I thought something was wrong with me, and that I thought maybe I had had a stroke the day before.  I related everything to her going back to Wednesday, and then  asked her to look at my mouth....it seemed to me that the right side of my mouth was drooping.....she agreed.  We decided on the spot that she should drive me over to the Grand Canyon Clinic at the South Rim Village. It's about a 45 minute drive, and we arrived sometime after 12 noon.

I walked in to the admittance room, and told the receptionist I thought I had had a stroke....within seconds a doctor and nurse appeared, took me into the back room to begin a stroke assessment.  Then another doctor, the head guy I think, came in, asked me a lot of questions, also assessed me, and concluded very quickly I needed to be transported by ambulance down to the big hospital in Flagstaff (Flagstaff Medical Center) where they have the proper testing equipment and specialists to assess me.

TLE followed the ambulance in the VW, and we all arrived in Flagstaff at the hospital about 2:30 pm.  They knew I was coming, and immediately whisked me into a room and began assessing me again.  From there I met a lot of people who names I will try to remember as we go along.  The first person I met was an ER nurse named Chris (female).....very professional, and attentive.  She was like the quarterback orchestrating all that had to be done and it all got done very quickly.  

First up was  a 'CT' scan (no bleeding was observed....good), then an MRI to see if there had been a stroke.....if you have ever had an MRI done on your head and neck you will know what I mean when I say the SOUND is overwhelming.....the MRI took almost an hour, and I had to stay still for that entire time......needless to say I barely made it to the end without freaking out, and I am not exagerating!

By time the MRI was completed it was after 7:30 pm and I was still in the ER....they advised me early on I would be admitted, but they were quite full due to an influenza outbreak....they were wheeling in one sick person after another.  I had one more test to determine the condition of my heart (all fine), and finally was taken to my room for the night around 10:30 pm....totally exhausted, and very hungry and thirsty. I had last eaten a bowl of  Cheerios about 9 am that morning, and had not had any water to drink since about 11 am....they could not let me have either until they had been able to assess my status.  Finally about midnight I got a cup of ice to suck on, and then an actual meal.....YAY!

I had an IV installed when I got in the ambulance, and now in my room they had me on a saline IV drip, which made me have to go to the bathroom every 45 minutes. I had about 5 wires attached to my upper torso area, a blood pressure cuff (took my BP every hour on the hour the entire time I was there), and my index finger had a device attached that read my pulse.  Every time I had to go to the bathroom I had to have everything unhooked, then hooked back up when I came back.  I slept 45 minutes at a time, and by morning I was ready to be done with it all.

Around 7:30 am Friday morning a new doctor came in to give me an update on my condition (Dr.  Micheal Mortensen)....I had had a small stroke in the back of my brain on the left side.  They had ruled out anything else except for blood clots coming from the heart, and that would be checked via an 'echo cardiogram' later that morning (came out negative).  My prognosis was good, but they wanted the 'echo cardiogram' done, and reviewed, and they wanted a neurologist to review everything and talk with me.  Once that was done I would probably be discharged and sent home later that day......GOOD NEWS!

My neurology nurses were Caleb and Jenn (12 hour shifts), and they were wonderfully attendant to my every need......they made me feel like visiting royalty.  There were many others, and to a one they were all very professional and genuinely concerned about my comfort, and made sure I was kept up to date about the progress of my assessment/treatment.

At any rate I eventually talked with the neurologist (Dr. Zarkou, female)....she gave me a very good prognosis, and remarked that I had almost returned to normal as far as my facial features, and speaking.  

Finally, about 4 pm my nurse, Jenn, came in to advise I was being discharged, and that my medicines would be delivered shortly.  I took my first blood thinner (baby aspirin), and my first blood pressure medication, got dressed and was walking with TLE to the car by 5 pm.  We stopped off at a local CVS Pharmacy to buy a blood pressure monitor machine so I can check my blood pressure daily.

Before I knew it we were on our way north on US-89 and could see the headlights of hundreds of cars headed south from the Grand Canyon.....it was about 5:30 pm.....

In the car headed for home!

.....we were home by 6:50 pm......that was a jam packed 30 hours....it felt more like 5 days.

I feel incredibly blessed that I came through this with such little inconvenience.....I could have been much worse like paralysis, or death.  I got a little wake up call, and if I take my meds, and watch my diet it should not happen again....'God willing, and the river don't rise', as they say.  

Thank you for stopping by every day like you do....it always amazes me that anyone besides my children read my blog!

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