Heart to heart......

6:4 am - Wednesday - May 22nd - Ramona, CA - 51° F, 90% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the southwest.....raining today with a forecast high of 59° F.....the view today......↴

It rained overnight, but not very hard because we did not know it had been raining until we opened the curtains.  Tuesday I had a 9:30 am appointment to see my cardiologist, Dr. Mulvihill, at Arch Medical in Poway, CA.  I have been sort of anxiously awaiting this appointment to see if I could 1) return to work, and 2) if I was going to be okay.....not necessarily in that order.

We left RORVR around 8:20 am, and arrived at Arch Medical around 9 am.  There was not much waiting in the 'waiting room'....in fact I didn't have enough time to complete my paperwork before we were called in at 9:15 am.....15 minutes ahead of my appointment!  Within minutes I had been weighed, and had my pulse and blood pressure taken.  About 2 minutes later Dr. Mulvihill came through the door.  The answer to both questions was 'YES', and he said my heart sounded good, and I have been released to work again with only two restrictions......no running, which I never do when working, and no lifting anything over 25 pounds for the next 2 months.....perfect!  After composing a short note releasing me back to work Dr. Mulvihill said were were done for now.....I am scheduled to see him again in 2 months......we were out the door by 9:45 am.  

We haven't been to a movie for a long time for a number of reasons, but primarily because there really hasn't been anything we wished to see, but 'John Wick, Chapter 3 - Parabellum' had just been released on Friday (May 17th).  We've seen the first two chapters, and wanted to see how the series ended.  We liked it, and guess what?  Chapter 3 is not the end.....I'll leave it there.  Considering we went to the 10:30 am showing the theater was about 95% full....amazing for a Tuesday morning.  The theater (Angelika Film Center & Cafe, Poway, CA) was beautiful, and had a cafe, as well as the wonderful power recliners....what a way to see a movie!  The movie is about 2 hours and 10 minutes long, and is pretty much non-stop action from beginning to end.....my heart handled it just fine.

The drive home to Ramona up Highway 67 took about 10 minutes less than the drive down the hill.....no rush hour this time.  We stopped off at Trader Joe's for some produce in Poway for some vegetables before heading home, but were still home before 2:30 pm.  Our managers, Rich and Marnie, were very happy to hear I had been released back to work as this weekend is Memorial Day weekend.  We have about 70 RV's checking in Friday, which will be our busiest Friday by a factor of 10 since we arrived.  The park is looking good after all the work that has been done the last 3 weeks, and we are ready for the summer season!

We enjoyed a quiet afternoon and evening, and were actually in bed by 9 pm......thanks for stopping by!

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Eye for an eye.......

6:50 am - Tuesday - May 21st - Ramona, CA - 52° F, 87% humidity (drizzly right now), wind 3 mph out of the southwest.......cloudy, rainy today with a forecast high of 58° F.  The view this morning.......↴

Beginning to feel like Maine.....another rainy day

Monday was the day of my followup appointment with Pacific Eye Institute in Upland, CA to see how my surgically repaired right eye is healing.  This would be our first long drive in the VW since we replaced the fuel pump on Saturday, but our confidence was high.

We left on our two hour drive to Upland around 9 am, and arrived at PEI right at 11:05 am.....perfect.  I was called into see the optometrist exactly at 11:30 am, and TLE and I were on our way over to my son's office by 11:50 am.  I hadn't seen Chris since my heart attack, so it was good to hang out with him for a few minutes, pick up a few things from the Warehouse (my mountain bike shoes for one) and then head back home.  We left Chris' office by 12:30 pm, and were back in Ramona by 2:20 pm.....we made great time, and the entire round trip drive was uneventful.  We stopped off at Stater Brothers to pick up a few grocery items, and were back at RORVR by 2:45 pm.

TLE fixed me a snack (we hadn't had lunch), and then I drove the car up to the trailer so I could vacuum out the interior.  Now that the trailer is not hooked up to electricity all the time I must deploy our Honda 2000 generator to power up everything, including the ShopVac.  It's the first time I've powered up the trailer in a couple of weeks, and it felt good to putter around, vacuum out the VW and then set up my Workmate® portable work bench and bolt my bench grinder to it for the first time since Southwest Harbor last summer.  I also pulled out all of my sockets for my socket wrenches and other tools I only deploy when we are going to be somewhere for a long duration.  I was back at the Newell just before 5 pm.

Oh, by the by, the optometrist said my eye is healing just fine, thank you, and the vision in my right eye is almost equal to my left eye now.  He asked me to return one more time on June 10th for my final post op checkup.  

If all things had been equal, and I hadn't had a heart attack, the earliest we could have left for Alaska would have been June 11th.  Our original plan called for us to meet our traveling partners on June 1st in Dawson Creek, BC, Canada.  Had we been able to leave for Alaska from Fontana, CA on May 1st as had been our plan we would have been somewhere in the middle of nowhere when I had my heart attack.....sometimes plans get changed for one reason, and it ends up being the right thing to have done for a completely different set of circumstances.  I'm happy we were flexible enough not to press ahead with our original plans, and that I was near an excellent medical facility when I had the attack.  Who knows how things would have turned out otherwise, right?

Thanks for stopping by!

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¡Adios!

7:16 am - Monday - May 20th - Ramona, CA - 51° F, 90% humidity (raining cats and dogs, however), wind 10 mph out of the west.......rainy today with a forecast high of 59° F.....the view this morning......↴

The story of Sunday was the rain.....with the very small exception of between 8 and 9 am the rain came down all day long.....sometimes quite hard (like it is right now as I write Monday morning).  Frankly, that is really part of the story of our first 3 weeks plus since we arrived at RORVR....a lot of rain.

Our plan from Saturday evening had been meet at my son Tim's cabin at 8 am Sunday where the ladies would prepare breakfast for all of us.  The walk down and back was dry as the rain had stopped.  We had scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, fruit, toast and coffee.....

Breakfast at Cabin 65

.....it was a very typical Hockwald gathering as there were no less than 4 conversations going on all at once.  TLE and I are very blessed to have such great daughters and sons-in-law.  Laila calls me 'Clarkey', and the guys call be 'Dad'....I love it.  By 9 am it was time to begin our adieus (until next times), and by 10 am they were all on the road back to their workaday lives.

I spent the rest of the day watching the PGA, and listening to the rain on the roof.  Predictably, Brooks Koepka won the PGA by leading wire to wire.  He began the day at 12 under par with a 7 stroke lead, however, a stretch of 4 consecutive bogies on the back 9 allowed Dustin Johnson to creep within one stroke with 5 holes to play, but then Koepka stabilized while Dustin Justin bogied the next two holes.  Koepka added another bogey in the last two holes, but hung on to win by 2 strokes at 8 under par.  By the end of the day only 6 players were still under par.....it was a windy, blustery, cool day at Beth Page Black and it took its toll on the scores.

TLE was home a little after 2 pm, and watched the last 90 minutes of the tournament with me.  We enjoyed a quiet afternoon, and I think I even took a nap.  I have not been in much need of naps lately, and I kind of miss them

We watched the 3 hour finale of 'American Idol' which was won by Laine Hardy.  While we liked Laine, we really thought Alejandro Arranda should have won......every song he sung Sunday evening was written and composed by him....a new first for 'American Idol'.  He is one of the most talented artists to ever grace the 'American Idol' stage, and is a local boy from Pomona, CA.  We know he will have a long career in the music industry.

And that was our Sunday......a few more pictures for your viewing pleasure from Saturday, and then I will get out of your way......↴

My favorite!  Son-in-law Rod holding Brayden, son-in-law Nick holding Joelene, and son Tim holding Crosby

 Time for horseshoes

Thank you so much for stopping by!

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She's pumping just fine now!

7:09 am - Sunday - May 19th - Ramona, CA - 53° F, 84% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the southwest.....raining today with a forecast high of 59° F.....the view today.....↴

Saturday began with my son-in-law, Nick, helping me remove and replace my erstwhile VW Beetle fuel pump.  I was 90% sure a failed fuel pump was culprit in last Saturday's ERS call to Good Sam.....there is always a little doubt, right?  Well, that is exactly what it was.  Within 35 minutes we had the new pump installed.  Next up was to fire up the Beetle, and it started immediately running just fine now that it was getting fuel once again!  Getting that fuel pump installed was so important for us as I have two doctor appointments coming up Monday (Pacific Eye Institute), and Tuesday (Cardiologist followup) and we need a car.  If our car was not going to run, we needed to make other arrangements pretty quickly.  Thank you Nick for doing such a great job.....I was the spectator, as I should be, and he did the work.  In preparation for the task we both watched a few YouTube videos on how to perform the task, so we both had a very good idea as to how the process should go.  There were no surprises, and the new fuel pump is pumping just fine once again, right along with my heart!

The rest of Saturday was all about time with family.........

Grandchildren Brayden, Crosby and Jolene

......we capped off the day at the Red Barn, aka: Clubhouse, with a family BBQ.  There are two large BBQ's there, a community fireplace, and dining tables inside.  We all moved up there around 5:30 pm, and spent the next three hours grilling two very large salmon steaks my daughter Meredith had bought at COSTCO, eating, drinking, talking, laughing and reflecting around the fire.....just as families do on occasions such as this weekend.....

Kate and Nick playing pool in the Clubhouse

.......around 8:45 pm we cleaned up after ourselves, and headed for our respective abodes for the evening.  No one left that fireplace without a very expansive smile upon their face.  It was a day that exceeded all of our expectations by a mile, and I am so grateful my children, spouses and significant others took time out of their busy lives to spend time with TLE and I this weekend, especially in light of the events of this past week.  Life is good, and my cup runneth over, for sure.

Thanks for stopping by!

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A good day to be alive!

7:29 am - Saturday - May 18th - Ramona, CA - 47° F, 84% humidity, wind - CALM.....sunny today with a forecast high of 72° F.....the view today.......↴

TLE went back to work Friday at 9 am leaving me to my own devices, which were not many.  I had the PGA Champsionship on from the time I awoke until almost 3 pm.  Unfortunately, Tiger did not make the cut.  He finished 5 over par after two rounds.....17 strokes behind the leader, Brooks Koepka.  Ironically, Tiger finished in second place just behind Brooks in last year's PGA Championship.  So, no Tiger over the weekend....oh well.

It was past time to dump our black tank so I got to that first thing Friday, and had it dumped a little after 10 am.  I spent the rest of the morning leisurely deploying more of our yard lights (rope, string, solar, etc.), hanging our wind chimes, and installing the mirror, and windshield wiper covers.  We've been at RORVR for over 3 weeks now, so I think it is time to act like we will be here for a few months.  I haven't had any yard lights out since Campbellsville, KY so it is about time, right?

As part of my recovery I am supposed to walk 10 minutes a day on flat ground, but there is really no 'flat' ground here at RORVR, so I do the best I can do.  My routine after two days is to walk down to the office which takes about 5 minutes, talk to TLE for a few minutes, and then walk back to the Newell.  I feel fine, and feel as if I could go longer and faster, but I know from all the reading material provided by the Cardiac Unit at Palomar Medical Center that I need to give my heart time to recover from the traumatic events of this past Monday evening.

I'm still putting eye drops in my surgically repaired right eye 4 times per day, and that will continue until June 10th. I also must wear an eye patch every night when I sleep for the same duration.  I also may not sleep on my right side for that time period.  Between all of that I am popping about 6 different pills each day at various intervals.....my, oh my how my life has changed over the past 1.5 years!

I took several breaks while deploying my yard lights, sitting down in my zero gravity chair to watch the PGA on the outdoor TV.  I haven't had that TV out since last summer in Southwest Harbor.  I often think about putting the outdoor TV in my son's warehouse, but every time I pull it out I am so grateful I have it.

About 8:15 pm my daughter, son-in-law with grandchildren in tow (Kate, Nick, Elijah and Jolene) arrived with their 3 month old bumper pull travel trailer to spend the weekend.  On Saturday three more children (Sharon, Tim and Meredith) will arrive with their significant others, and attendant grandchildren to spend the night in three of our rental cabins.  All of this had been planned for later in the season, but my heart attack kind of sped up their plans to be with their Dad.....it makes me very happy.....↴

Nick & Kate's new travel trailer

.......after they got set up Nick and Kate came over to chat for a while.....our first time camping with them!  They have come to visit us several times wherever we have been staying in SoCal, but this is the first time in an RV.  They are loving the lifestyle, and their kids really love it....of course, what kid wouldn't, right?

And that was our Friday....a good day to be alive......thanks for stopping by!

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You get me for another day......

8:11 am - Friday - May 17th - Ramona, CA - 54° F, 81% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the south....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 66° F.....the view this morning.....↴

A little sun this morning!

We woke up to rain Thursday morning, and it continued raining until mid afternoon, sometimes quite hard.....well, hard for SoCal, right?  Thursday was the first day of the PGA Championship being played at Beth Page Black on Long Island, NY so you know what I was doing for the better part of the day.

My post heart attack rehabilitation calls for me to begin taking short walks of about 5 minutes, to be gradually increased in duration over time as my condition warrants.  We weren't able to take my first walk until it stopped raining just after 3 pm.  We walked down to the office and back with a brief stop at the half way point in each direction.  I had a lot of energy and TLE had to keep reminding me to slow down and take my time, which is very hard for me.

Since my new prescription requirements call for me to reduce my daily blood pressure medication to 10 mg from 20 mg I need to cut all my 20 mg pills in half.  TLE ordered a 'pill cutter' off Amazon Wednesday evening, and it arrived Thursday morning at the RORVR park office, so I spent part of the afternoon cutting the 45 remaining pills in my 90 day supply in half.....that is really a tedious task.  I also had to cut my 'Beta blocker' pills in half.

The 'pill cutter'

The interesting thing about Thursday was I never felt like I needed a nap, and I never took a nap all day.  I'm beginning to think the 2, or more naps per day I was taking in the last few months were due to my heart problem.  I'm sure I will take naps in the future, as I have always taken a nap at lunch time since I was in my 20's, but maybe the multiple daily naps may be history now that the arterial blockage has been reduced.

My first full day home after my most recent hospital visit was nice and relaxing.  I feel great, and am looking forward to getting back to work next week.  We headed off to bed to the gentle sound rain on the roof....a nice end to another day.

Thanks for stopping by!

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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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