Doctors - final

It's good time in your life when after seven months you can shed all of the doctors, and therapists and try to go back to a more normal life. Finally, this week I had the last follow-up visit with the hand specialist. He did another office x-ray of my pinky finger and said that it looked excellent. He had me make a fist and I can curl it almost as far as the left hand. I have more movement than he thought I would ever have, which is a great feeling too. I know you don't want to be a regular at any doctor's office, enough so that the nurse recognizes you and calls you by your first name. I am glad that I don't need to go back there again, but they really have been great.
A week ago, I had a normal physical with my new primary care doctor, the same one that my wife and son see. I had been going to this clinic because their hours fit my schedule better, but after the accident they seemed out of touch and the the whole thing seemed a bit above them. So, I switched to a doctor that had asked about my condition several times and I felt comfortable with. Well I was telling him about my finger tips on my right hand tingling and he suggested I get an EMG. It's just a nerve test to see if all of the pathways are unobstructed and that everything is working like it's supposed to. It's been kindof funny, because the neurologist thought it was a hand problem and the hand specialist thought it was a brain problem. A family friend, that's also a neurologist, did the test and she didn't find anything wrong. She thinks that any difference is from swelling and will improve in the next six months plus. The two appointments were right after each other, so I had her report to give to the hand specialist too.
People have asked if I am 100%, well are any of us? I am working, driving and loving my family and that is what matters today. I am doing everything that I want to do and yes I still have some "quirks" and I am still getting closer to that 100% every day. But for now without any doctors in the picture and yes September 25th does seem like a long time ago.....

trees

The tree saga continues. You know that tree that got me, well we wanted them cut down..... There has been a beautiful palliated woodpecker creating havoc in the tops of them. They are rotted enough that there must be some grubs etc. living in the limbs and he is making some large grooves( 1 foot long x 2") to get at them. The resulting wood chips were everywhere and I am sure that it is weaking an already bad situation. Well the county, who has decided that the trees are theirs to deal with, hired a tree service to assist them in removing them. The tree service had a boom truck to reach the limbs and three guys with saws and the county had maybe seven others to watch traffic and pick up the mess. They did a good partial job. They left about seventeen feet of trunk still standing, which looks really weird. They assured Carole that they would be back to finish the job, we'll see, I hope soon. They did leave me some nice firewood for next year and some mulch. It was fun to watch, they private company guys no hard hats, the county guys all hard hated up. I think probably we will have to grind the stumps ourselves and then we have discussed putting up a nice post and rail fence where the trees were. We will see what kind of a mood moves us when the trees are completely gone. I'll try to put up a picture of our lovely trunks.

Don't blink

Life passes by or goes on whether your ready or not. I am on the rescue squad with the fire department and this morning was one of those days that's part of life. We went to a neighbors house for a difficulty breathing which turned into a full arrest when we arrived. We did CPR, myself and a couple of others, but there was never a shockable rhythm for the defibrillator is shock off of, so we continued. I got to drive the ambulance to the hospital while some others worked on him. I've driven before, but it's still an experience driving someone else's vehicle, especially an ambulance, when the owner and a crew are doing their thing in the back. We got to the emergency room, they continued were we left off and some time went by, then the doctor called the person dead.... It's the way it goes, you work on the person for an hour and then a doctor has to make the decision whether to keep going or not. All of this happened before 6:15 am. I don't want to dwell on the call for us, but the good things surrounding the person.
This guy was the best friend of my father when he was alive. He was the best man at my father and mothers wedding many years ago. George was the patriacrh of a large family that has lived up the street for as long as I can remember. The family had seven kids, four boys and three girls, and it was always a fun time. My two brothers and myself went there regularly and the best thing was you could always get a decent kickball game going with two equal teams. We usually spent New Years Eve at one house or another, as we both had dairies and our daily schedule was pretty similar. My parents played alot of cards there too over the years. Four of the remaining children have families that live close-by, a real tight knit family. They were there when my parents died and when I was in the hospital too and I'm glad I could be there when they needed it. I feel good about our actions, but you always wish you could have done more... So, I'm falling back to the old adage, you don't know what tomorrow is going to bring so savor today.

Baseball

Maybe anyone reading my blog doesn't always care about some of the stuff that I do, but that's what this is all about I guess. I'm going to physical therapy a couple of times a week, where they are working on the range of movement of my pinky and the rest of my fingers on my right hand. They're still alittle swelled, believe it or not, six months after the fact. They are not really sure why, but they are. It doesn't affect what I do everyday, but it's annoying. My son has been after me for a few days, now that's it a little warmer, to play catch. I didn't know what I could do accurately, I was a bit apprehensive, but it was time to give it a try. My arm responded just fine, to my satisfaction. Little things are important to mentally keep yourself positive about the whole process.
We got together as a team this Monday to pull the schedule together for April. It was crazy. You wouldn't think for six guys it would be that difficult, but it was. We have alot of things that are coming into play which are affecting it this month. A guy is out for two to three weeks for an outpatient surgury, we're sharing a guy with another group and we're getting some help from another partime person who can also work some days. Whe are a seven day a week company and we need different amounts of people on different days. Challenges I guess, but we got it done...