OLD MAN MAINTENANCE

Thursday, December 10 - Nerve root Epidural steroid injections @ F4/F5. That's my treat for tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. at the Spinal Care Hospital of Houston. Marsha's treat is she gets to drive me home from downtown Houston. A bigger treat will be if it's during rush hour. Actually, we should be done before the 4 p.m. rush hour if all goes off on schedule. Not permitted to lift, twist, bend for two weeks…..good luck with that. Looks like Marsha will have to do all the setting up at our site. Poor girl.

Friday, December 11 – Well, not to bad a procedure. They took me back about 11:15 a.m. They gave me an IV. I was given a med to put me in a twilight sleep but I was out! Next thing I know the nurse was asking me if I would like something to eat and drink. With very wobbly knees, they released me at 2:00. I think Marsha did a great job of driving home….not sure…..I slept the entire way home.

Later, when I was much more alert. Marsha shared with me some of the things I said while still groggy. She said I had the nurses in stitches….no pun intended…..LOL. They wanted to get me up and walking but I still wasn’t very stable. Two nurses got a walker for me to use and asked Marsha to come around the front of the walker. Marsha asked them why she was in front. One nurse told her that she was going to pull Paul’s pants up…..to which Paul responded…..”She doesn’t know how to do that, she only knows how to pull them down.” Oh brother, the entire recovery room broke out in laughter. Marsha said she apologized for me.  I then had to use the restroom. They would not let me go alone, so Marsha had to stay in with me. When we went to exit the restroom, Marsha couldn’t get the door unlocked. She was making a bunch of racket trying to open the door. When we finally got out, two different nurses were standing at the door. Marsha said I looked at them and said…..”She is a wild one.” Which broke them all up,again Marsha apologized. Guess I shouldn’t talk when I am sedated. Sorry hon…..at least the nurses had a good laugh.

Saturday, December 12 – Went to Carrie's today. Marsha and Carrie spent the day making Christmas cookies. I ate about a dozen..........yum! Marsha said she still has two more kinds she wants to make, and I will have the honor of icing the cutout cookies tomorrow…..Yea for me.

My back actually feels pretty good. I would say out of a 10, 10 being MAD, I am about a 5. Real improvement! So, I spent a couple hours scouting out RV Parks. We are considering moving down to the west side of Houston after Christmas so we will be ready to head West after Marsha returns from her trip to Ohio. I did eliminate one place, but didn’t have any luck finding a good place, need to check more on the internet. We got back home about 6:30 pm. It was a foogy drive. The days have been getting warmer, but the nights are still very cool. 70 tomorrow and 72 on Monday.

Hope to be able to give you a great report on my back in future blogs. Thanks for stopping by.

LITTLE THIS……LITTLE THAT

Monday, December 7 – Got up to take the MH in for generator service. We need to get ready for boondocking in Quartszite after the holidays. We'll need the generator because there are no hookups when boondocking. The generator gives us electricity. They changed the oil, filters, and tried to solve a stalling problem that I've recently experienced. They were unable to diagnose the stalling problem. So now I have to visit another repair shop. Dag Blast it! Enough repairs all ready! We expected some maintenance issues buying a used MH, but I would sure like to put them behind us!
While we waited ALL day, we decided to have breakfast at a local place downtown called The Whistle Stop. We had an excellent breakfast for little money. It was as Marsha puts it….A cute little place. It was a “good old boy” place. We were amused by the decorations.


In Livingston their motto is “Get Hooked on Livingston.” It appears they also got hooked on Santa!

We even found a catch that our good friend, Red Burgess, would be proud to display in his house…….LOL Love ya, Red!

Tuesday, December 8 – Yesterday was MH maintenance, today it’s Paul’s maintenance. Got an appointment in Houston for the doctor to read the results of my MRI exam last week. Anxious to hear what he has to say.

Results are in. The procedure that Dr. Wimberely has recommended is…Selective Nerve Root and Epidural Steroid, bilateral. These are similar to the epidural shots I had back in July, but they do it under fluoroscope x-ray  and inject the steroid directly into the area of the spine that it causing me trouble (L4/L5). It will paralyze the nerve so that I do not feel the pain. With a little luck, the doctor says this may give me relief for a couple years. I can have up to four injections. Let’s all hope I only need this one. Eventually, I will need spinal fusion....jeesh!

IS THIS REALLY TEXAS????

Sunday, November 29 – Still laid up with back ache.....yuk! Marsha is making our Thanksgiving Dinner today.....Turkey, potatoes, dressing, and gravy! She is trying her baking expertise in the Convection Microwave. The turkey turned out super!! It was so juicy. She finished decorating. Looks pretty good!

Monday, November 30 – We went down near Houston (about an hour's drive) to do some Christmas shopping today. Livingston is not the town for shopping.

You might be thinking.........Boy, Marsha and Paul aren't doing much. No Grand Canyon, No Las Vegas, No L.A. There's plenty of time for that later. We're here to spend the holidays with our girls. We've missed them and want to spend enough time with them that they ask us “When are you leaving Texas.....LOL

REMEMBER: It's not a vacation.....it's a life style! We'll be moving on after the holidays!

Tuesday, December 1 – I exercised the onboard generator today. This involves running it under load for about 30 minutes. This is something that should be done monthly to keep things running smoothly. I will also be getting the generator oil and filter changed before heading to Quartszite, AZ where we will be needing it for boondocking.....no electrical hookups.

We went and played Mexican Train with Barb & Bruce Highland. People we met the other night from Two Harbors, Minnesota. They have been full-timing for two years. Very nice people. We hope to meet up with them in Quartszite.

Thursday, December 3 – Went to the Orthopedic doctor today. They took some x-rays and scheduled an MRI for Friday. I won't get the results until Tuesday, December 8.

Marsha and I then went Christmas shopping….again. We were near Humble, TX, a big shopping area so we took advantage and shopped for several hours.

Friday, December 4 – My back feels BETTER today! The doctor gave me a med-pack (steroids), and it already feels much better. I take the pills for a week. At least he's provided some help.

I also went in for the MRI this afternoon. This place is like a 4-star spa. They asked us several times if we would like anything to drink OR EAT!! When I was taken back for the MRI, Marsha asked for a cup of coffee. They brought it to her in a small private waiting area….oh brother….in a china cup and saucer. They even gave us a gift….travel mug….when we left and asked if we would like a bottle of water to take with us! This is going to cost a bundle. I was given the MRI x-rays to take to my doctor on Tuesday. It is obvious I have back problems. The two doctors have said it was from an injury I suffered as a youngster............probably that darn football.

While we were in Houston today it S-N-O-W-E-D !!!!! YIKES!!! We didn’t come West to freeze in the snow! It was funny to see the Texans enjoying the snow. This is only the 8th time it snowed in Houston so many of them have never seen snow!!! When we were at the mall, someone came into the Macy’s store and told the employee’s that it was snowing and THEY LEFT THE STORE to go look. We couldn’t believe that the employees walked out the door to see the snow. Everyone was taking pictures and videos. The big news story was the snow. What a hoot for an Ohioian. It didn't stick on the ground but all the cars and roofs of buildings were covered. School was let out at noon......LOL

We're snug here in the motor home. It's 36 outside but we're very comfortable with our furnace running. We were advised by the campground hosts to turn off the water faucet, drain our water hose and store it in the MH basement. They don't want frozen pipes.

Saturday, December 5 – JEEZE LOUISE......IT'S ONLY 27 on the thermometer this morning! CRAZY! The whole country is experiencing a cold wave, I understand.

We're headed to Tyler, TX to spend the day with Kelly. She's going to buy a new computer, and Marsha is going to help her set it up.

Had a nice weekend at Kellys. She made a delicious vegetable lasagna dinner, and we enjoyed visiting and watching college football with her and Scott.