Good News!

Yesterday, Roger went to the orthopedic clinic. After taking more x-rays, the doctor determined that the line that appeared on one x-ray view was not a fracture. He said that the impact from the fall caused the tendon to try to pull away from the bone. The tendon was stretched and caused tendonitis. The line that appeared was the foot trying to heal the tendon. That was good news!

The Lord willing, we will leave Thursday morning to meet our Good Sam chapter at a nearby Corps of Engineers park for Independance Day. It is Red River RV Park which is just a little over an hour away on the Red River in Colfax, just north of Alexandria, LA. It is a very nice park with fullhookups. It is not listed in some older lists of RV parks because it is only a few years old. Although our club camps there several time a year, this will be our first time to stay there half price with our new Senior Pass for National Parks. Barb will have to do the driving this time since I am still recovering. She often helps me drive on trips.The park is next to one of the locks and dams on the river. Tug boats pushing strings of barges can often be seen nogotiating the locks. You can often arrange a tour of the lock and dam which is very interesting. I will try to post some pictures from a previous tour. There is a boat launch and a dock with places to dock your bass or leasure boat temporarily. This trip won't be like our planned trip to the Rocky Mountains but it will be good to go camping with friends.

And the Saga Still Spins Out of Control

I finally was scheduled to see the orthopedic doctor this morning at 8:00 to check out the fracture in my foot. We asked for a later appointment but were told he was only seeing four patients and then would be in surgery the rest of the day. They called yesterday and said they had to back it up until 11:40 because of an emergency surgery. They called again about an hour later and said they need to back it up until 1:40. Five minutes later they called and said that my appointment was moved to Monday at 8:40, because the doctor would be in surgery all day. Now I wait until next week to determine the fate of the fracture in my foot.

A Return Trip

I went out and watered some plants with the water hose this morning to help Barb. I felt some discomfort in my rib cage but bearable. I wanted to help her out since she watered for two hours yesterday evening because of the drought. This afternoon it was off to the doctor to make sure I am on the road to recovery with no speed bumps on the horizon. (We would rather be on the road with our HitchHiker, but that will come in due time.) She said my lungs sounded good and I was coming along well for four or five broken ribs. She prescribed a pain killer that is not a controlled dangerous substance to transition to as I continue my recovery. When I mentioned a pain in my right heel, she said I should have no significant pain with the pain killers I am taking. So it was off to the hospital for X-rays. I have had so many X-rays and CT scans in the last two weeks, I should glow. The X-rays show that I have a stress fracture to a bone just forward of my right heel. Now I have to go to an orthopedic doctor to be fitted for an orthopedic boot so my foot will heal properly. The doctor also said I should be doing NOTHING, since I had multiple rib fractures! Pray for Barb!
More fun and games!

A Trip Begins.....

The departure was earlier than expected (Thursday afternoon not Friday morning) and began in the wrong direction! I got to ride in a new 2009 Chevy 3500 Dually. However, I never imagined that I would be in the back of the vehicle instead of the front. Now the details! I was finishing the detailing on the HitchHiker by waxing the front cap. Standing on the next to the top step of a seven foot ladder, the ladder went to the right and I went to the left. I landed hard on the side of my left rib cage. Luckily Barb was inside doing some last minute jobs. She heard the ladder hit and my cries of agony. She found me rolling in pain on the grass next to the driveway. Once I caught my breath, it was determined that an ambulance wasn't needed at this point. So it was off to the local hospital. Arrived there at 3:06 PM. After eight x-rays, a CT scan with contrast and an EKG, the doctor determined that I had at least four broken ribs and a minimally collapsed lung. The time now was after 8:00 PM and they needed to transfer me to a larger hospital for observation. If the lung collapse got worse, I needed to be in a larger hospital with a chest surgeon . Once a hospital that takes our insurance was found, it took until 10:00 PM for the new Chevy ambulance with only 1500 miles to arrive. Barb beat the ambulance there (where a bed in ER awaited) even after a detour to the sticks and bricks (house) to get things that were needed to spend the night. We arrived at the larger hospital at 11:30PM. At 4:30 AM I was finally transferred to a hospital room for "overnight " observation and got to sleep at five only to be awakened at seven for routine checks. An x-ray taken that morning when compared to the one taken when I arrived showed that my lung was not worse so I was allowed to leave at about 4:30 that afternoon. The doctor said it would take at least 4 to 6 weeks for recovery. So for now I am sleeping in my recliner and popping pain pills every four hours. TRIP CANCELLED!
This is very discouraging since we had to cancel a trip in April to New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona with RVing friends when Barb's dad died. Maybe we will try a third time in four to six weeks.

The Saga Continues

Well we won't be leaving tomorrow morning. It turns out that the size of bolt they told me to get to fix the John Deere mower was over an inch too long. So it was back to the parts store to get the right size bolt. After getting the mower back together I finished mowing our acre and a half lawn. It's funny that it works so much better with that missing bolt replaced. It was hot today (in the 90's). We finished spraying weed killer and I nearly finished waxing the HitchHiker. It turned out to be a bigger job than I thought. We will surely finish getting everything ready by tommorrow afternoon and then relax. We pushed back the reservation at Estes Park, CO by one day and will cut our stay at Grand Tetons by one day.

There Always Seems to Be One Last Glitch

Well it looks like we will have to delay our departure one more day. While giving the yard a final mowing, wouldn't you know the riding mower broke about halfway through. After removing the mower to determine the problem and a one hour trip to the Johm Deere dealer, it turned out to be just a missing bolt. Of course, they didn't have the bolt in stock so I had to make a couple of stops before I found the replacement. I will have to put it back together tomorrow. With a little luck we will be on our way on Thursday morning. We will have to leave early and drive longer the first couple of days to catch up to our planned schedule.

Nearly Ready to Hit the Road to West Yellowstone

We are taking the last few loads to the HitchHiker and putting the last touches on it (touch-up paint, waxing, loading the bikes on the rack, etc.) Hope to leave tomorrow morning and head west. GOODBYE TO WORK AROUND THE HOUSE FOR AWHILE! We plan to be at Rocky Mountain NP near Estes Park, CO by Saturday and want to spend three days there. Then it is back on the road heading on to Grand Tetons NP for three days. From there it is only a short jump to West Yellowstone , MT where we meet ninety other HitchHikers for eight days at the Geezers and Geysers Rally. After a week of new friends and fun it is on to Glacier NP in Montana for about three days. If there is money left, from there we will cross the border into Alberta, Canada and travel to Banff NP and Lake Louise. Then we will make our way home via Kansas City for a visit with family while our children and their families visit.