I have to admit, these days I consider myself a pretty lucky man, in spite of, or perhaps because of this month. It has very much been one of the longest, hardest, most difficult. But, I remain at least somewhat optimistic, though the cynicism is never far below the surface.
We lurched into Albuquerque, NM. on April 28th, after a long, difficult drive from Midwest City, OK. Driving over mountains shouldn't have been too difficult, but the old condo on wheels was not used to the change in altitude and proceeded to overheat, compounded by a bad gas mixture that probably contained too much ethanol for the old Chevy engine's tastes. We stopped in Cline's corners, at about the only building that seemed to exist there, an ancient restaurant/trading post affair, that had seen better days when Route 66 was more traveled than the interstate. After refilling engine coolant, adding STP to the gas, and refilling my gut with a fat, greasy burger, we got on our way. I had been experiencing chest pain off and on for the last month, mostly feeling like severe indigestion (of course), and had tried various things with mixed success, knowing all the time that the 4 stents I had installed in 2006 were probably loaded with cholesterol and I needed some more professional help if I intended to keep driving to the Grand Canyon.
We finally made it to a KOA in ABQ on the 28th of April, two days later I finally determined I needed to call 911 and make a trip to the ER. Everyone was very professional, we made it to the University of New Mexico hospital, I was stabilized, and moved to cardiac cath later that afternoon. Following a brief look around, the docs added 2 MORE stents to my collection, this time added to the opposite side of where the first 4 were placed. I found out several things in the process too. My old stents, in spite of negative information in the press, were NOT clogged at all, and in fact, working just fine. Even if they had been clogged, I was assured current medical technology would allow new stents to be placed within old ones, something I was unaware of, but makes sense. The new stents were in arteries that had not been previously angioplastied. Although the fact I smoke is not helpful, the biggest reason I needed stents at all is genetic. I did completely quit smoking (something else I didn't think I could do) for about 4 days while in the hospital and shortly after. At this point, though I have a follow up visit scheduled soon, I do feel much, much better. And VERY LUCKY!
I also feel very lucky because my children are employed in career oriented fields, though perhaps not the ones they had planned. They are each mostly self supporting, healthy, and happy. The new granddaughter is growing and healthy. Even if my personal circumstances are less than optimum at this point, those closest to me are surviving and being productive, useful citizens. I am also grateful, AND LUCKY, to love and be loved by Ann, aka Purple Grannie! Life would simply not be the same without her, and I know that.
Closer to home, some of the worst days are in progress, and hope for the immediate future is bleak. Ann's (purple grannie) cousin suffered a stroke on the same day I went into the hospital. Though it seemed she was making good progress at first, she ultimately passed away last Thursday, and will be laid to rest tomorrow. Ann has traveled back to Georgia (1400 miles) in a rented car to be with her family and pay her respects. The three dogs have been severely ill, possibly from food poisoning, and did probably the worst thing 3 dogs could do in a motorhome. Needless to say, it feels more and more like the Donner party every day, but if I eat the dogs, it WON'T be because I ran out of food. We should take a lesson, the Donners kept their 4 legged animals OUTSIDE, but these guys are really substitute kids, and really didn't mean to do what they did...........
Add to this, the Great State of Florida has ended my unemployment funding. A lot of folks probably see that as a good thing, and I know I certainly would never have believed I would be unemployed for almost 2 years, but The Great Recession is still going strong, and more teachers will be unemployed in the coming weeks if current trends continue. All we can do is keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep sending resume's and filling out applications. Somehow, this too shall pass.
