31 March, Thurs: 6:00 AM and we were on the road to the Lutheran Seminary in Austin for the annual luncheon and on to Hempstead by 5:00 for dinner with friends. It is the last day of the Month of Madness and hopefully the end of medical madness. The past 8.5 months have been exceedingly difficult, but Ron has not lost his cheerfulness; his effervescent smile is ever present - even when he is sleeping (The caps glow in the dark).
30 March, Wed: Ron receives his permanent upper caps today. Cynthia is doing a follow up with the foot and ankle doctor and ob-gyn. Here is an interesting article about vegan diets that is apparently a contradiction to other studies: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3515293/Vegetarian-diet-raises-risk-heart-disease-cancer.html. It is always good to check sources. Here is a great article from MIT scientist: http://www.veritas.org/can-scientist-believe-resurrection-three-hypotheses/. And here is a 1940 motorcycle.
29 March, Tues: We're off to see the electrophysiologist. The doctor described Ron's huge smile when she asked if he was in pain during the procedure. The pain was very strong but only momentary, fleeting, that past each time she asked him. Ron received a perfect score from the doctor. Everything is working quite nicely. The pacemaker battery is being used up faster than normal which indicates the pacemaker is working harder to keep his heart rate elevated to 60. Likely he will have new batteries in five years instead of 8. Ron will be released to travel the 15th of April. Add at a Magnolia a Grill, Cynthia found another condo rental a block away to move into when we have to checkout here. We reviewed our joint income tax file, it is ready to sign and send. Now we sleep.
28 March, Monday, the madness is over. We slept until light- thirty.
27 March, Happy Easter! He is risen! Worship was magnificent. Merry, Bill, Barb and Jon joined us for Easter brunch at the yacht club followed by an afternoon nap and a five mile walk. 16 deer crossed our path at one point with 5-6 at another section. We found a new route across the peninsula following water and staying on trail or grass most of the time.
26 March, Jon was the photographer for Walden's Easter Egg Hunt. Johanna (bunny) worships at our church. We had dinner with Roxanne, Kiira and Jon at Pappadeaux Seafood Restaurant. Now we sleep.
25 March, Good Friday: Closing on the house was ten AM. The Chinese family that purchased the home is warm and personable; only the son speaks English. The DPS was open, Cynthia waltzed in and out with a renewed drivers license, followed by a trip to Smoothie King. Verizon Wireless is going through an upgrade and billing tried to use three year old credit card information. We enjoyed a lovely walk followed by dinner at the Caddy Shack. Instead of attending Good Friday Tennebrae Service, Cynthia opts for prayer while Ron walked; later, we sat on the patio overlooking the Marina, Ron led us in prayers of Thanksgiving. Amen.
24 Mar, Thurs: Saying Good-bye! The carpets are shampooed, the house power washed, and we are almost good to go after neighbors arrived to do a champagne send-off.
23 March, The house is empty except for recycling in the garage. Ron might move in with the new owners and recycle forever. The Tasmanian Devils arrived to clean today but Ron was safe in the garage. We organized and cleaned out our storage unit with the car full of more items to be donated. The pacemaker site is uncomfortable.
22March, Tues: Madness is Moving. We are Mad? The movers are loading the truck. Cynthia's car is filled with items donated to CALH. Ron is recycling but he took a break to sit with Cynthia by the water to enjoy the glorious, cool but sunny day. After lunch we made a quick trip to Hempstead loaded down with donations. The movers were out of the house by 5:15 PM with the last load to be delivered tomorrow with more donated items. Ron recycled tonight. Cynthia is sleeping.
21 Mar, Mon: Moving is madness. The movers packed for three hours with plans for the truck to arrive tomorrow morning to deliver our household to five different locations. The maid service comes to clean Wednesday, the carpets get shampooed Thursday AM. We close Friday. We packed items to spend two weeks in a small, but pleasant, condo on the water. Ron walked back from the condo to the house to work on recycling despite some discomfort this morning. We are tired. Early to bed.
20 Mar, Sun: Palm Sunday worship service was wonderful followed by brunch at the yacht club and later meeting the owner of the condo we will rent for a couple of weeks. We had a nice 2.5 mile walk on a pleasant, sunny day with a high of 61 degrees. Ron has enjoyed a pain free day. The aroma of bread baking smells ever so delicious - more so since it is the last loaf of bread we will bake: The bread machine is being donated to CALH. The recycling is slowly getting moved to the trunk of the car. Jon will be here to greet the moving company tomorrow AM. Ron is ready for another walkity and talkity. Good night!
19 Mar: Saturday in Montgomery, Texas with pain that subsided by evening. After another trip to the storage unit our closet is empty. The recycling is slowly being readied. Ron walked 9 miles, 19,000 steps.
18 Mar: Our morning lasted until half past noon-thirty. Imagine that. Ron mailed a package to Oke; Cynthia donated her clown ministry props and costume to a pastor in Illinois but not without pangs of grief saying good-bye. The house is slowly becoming empty. Later today, Ron's smile increased with a surprise bouquet from Iowa friends. Ron has a lot of discomfort following a very painful procedure. In one month when we can cuddle on the left side everything will be good. Almost. Ron has a pacemaker lump in Cynthia's favorite spot.
17 Mar: Happy St. Patrick's Day to Patty and Murray McGrath, Oke, the Inn at Long Trail and to everyone with an Irish heart. Ron's lucky heart is ticking nicely with an implanted dual chamber Medtronic pacemaker. He was released at 1:00 PM with a laundry list of restrictions such as not lifting over ten pounds with EITHER arm or lifting the left arm overhead for a month. Motorcycle riding is not even on the close horizon, but that is OK because the electrical system in the heart is finally fixed. Cynthia would like to have the remote control for the pacemaker. At dinnertime, Ron went for a two hour walk, but he returned after thirty minutes ready for sleep.
16 Mar, Wed: Our scheduled arrival time is 5:30 AM at Hermann Heart and Vascular Institute; Dr. Dougherty, a competent electrophysiologist, performed a radio frequency aided catheter ablation threading a wire into the atrium, searching for the electrical current mis-firing and cauterized it followed by implanting a dual chamber pacemaker. The procedure was finished by 2:00 PM. We were exhausted.
15 Mar, the Ides of March; Jon will house sit while we depart for breakfast, storage unit, and the hotel to overnight for the early Wed procedure.
14 March Madness, Monday in Montgomery,Texas. A Great breakfast warmed our innards at the Toasted Yolk. Cynthia visited her ENT to pick up allergy meds and get her ear checked. Dr, Douglis said the ear is infected, likely from the hearing aids irritating the canal; she needs a custom insert because her ear canal is so small. We are puzzled, but pleased, at Normal ECG readings since the 7th of March, along with low heart rate readings. Ron emailed the week's reports to Dr. Gould's office with a follow up phone call at noon. The electrophysiologist determined Ron is to have the ablation and the dual pacemaker as planned. The temp will reach 88 degrees on this bright, sunny day - Ron had great fun boogieing the bike to Barb's house where it will reside for a couple of weeks. We are racing the clock to get ready to leave for the hospital.
13 Mar: Moving is Madness. The house still looks chaotic, but it is slowly getting emptied. Grandson Brett was pleased to get a bedroom set, boxes of books, art work, and the Monopoly game shipped to his home in Denver. Roxanne arrived this morning with a truck and two men to get a load of furniture. Jon is waiting for the key to his new condo to move his belongings. We left for brunch. One of the waiters at the yacht club described a cardiac ablation procedure similar to one Ron will have Wednesday AM; he said his had to be repeated; it is a five hour long ordeal. And... The boat advisory is lifted; the lake is busy with boaters on this gorgeous day. Granddaughter Samantha delighted us with a visit. She teaches autistic children in Houston.
12 Mar, Sat: Blue skies above, 68 degree lovely weather, Magnolia Diner fed us heartily, the car is loaded with paper for recycling, boxes of Bibles and worship materials to donate, and onto HEB shopping stop for sorbet. Ron's heart has apparently returned to some semblance of normal sinus rhythm. This has happened before. We are monitoring. We are thankful, Praise God.
11 Mar, Fri: Ron took pictures all the day long. Acrobat is a great tool for organizing them. Packing and sorting continue. Great news: Beanie's kidney transplant continues to improve. Very sad to learn Nagle B. passed away; Condolences to his family and to Kim-Eric whose 102 year old mother passed on Monday. Donna G. reported issues with Verizon disallowing pacemaker monitoring. When it rains it pours, just sayin...
10 Mar, Thurs: The rain stopped by ten AM, partly cloudy skies with glimpses of golden sunlight reflecting on the lake usher in a new day. Ron is photographing all of his financial reports so the paper can be recycled. The Cleaning Machine is emptying and sorting shampoo bottles. 4 full bathrooms. 3 or 4 different kinds of shampoos per bath?? Each granddaughter uses a different kind of shampoo?? Oh well, we are thankful to have so many granddaughters. Thanksgiving was our dinner conversation: Be thankful. Praise God.
9 Mar, Wed: Heavy rains continued throughout the day. Ron was plagued by bouts of dizziness throughout the day beginning with the morning dentist appointment. A long afternoon nap was refreshing. The chaos of using a local mover to ship Cynthia's books and a guest room to Denver was a nightmare. The company was a broker who handed the job off to another moving company. Cynthia's daughter found the shipper, but Cynthia questions that the items will ever arrive.
8 Mar, Tues: We awoke by4:30 AM struggling with fatigue. After breakfast we arrived for Ron's 8:00 AM periodontal appointment; Ron vented his frustration about feeling misled and being given a drug known to cause arrhythmia. We nodded off while waiting to see the electrophysiologist because we are so very exhausted. Dr. Dougherty, a highly rated specialist, will do an invasive cardiac ablation using lasers to cauterize the area of the left atrium that is short circuiting and she will install a pacemaker for both atriums next Wednesday morning at six AM. This is guaranteed to keep Ron alive until the kingdom comes.
7 Mar, Mon: The day was long. Thanks to Sandy for driving to our house to fill her SUV with donated items for the Waller County Auction. We were amazed at huge load fitting into her vehicle. We left for the medical center at three PM to beat rush hour traffic.
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4 Mar: Good grief, Ron still thought it was mid-February; how does time fly so fast & disappear? A-fib still limiting Ron's inclination to over-do exercise & activity. His latest hair-brained scheme requires the gym's rowing machine; in order to burn ONE calorie with each stroke, he has to pause between strokes just long enough to nearly catch his breath before exploding into the next power stroke. This way the breath can barely keep up with the muscular exertion, and the workout is satisfactory. After several weeks of this in August Ron's heart reset itself, so the hair-brained notion is that perhaps it will again reset. We see the electrophysiologist on Tuesday and hope that she can offer a quick, "convenient" solution. Meanwhile Ron continues trying to clean & ready all the recycling reserves while Cynthia communicates frantically with everyone known to mankind who just might cherish some of her prized possessions (and she is proving herself very effective). The house inspection report was positive by allowing us to deduct a small amount and the buyers will do the minimal repairs.
3th March, Thurs: We have a plan. To make God laugh, just tell him your plans, so the plan is a secret. The house inspection is this morning; the moving company estimator will be here this afternoon. We had a marvelous breakfast at the Toasted Yolk before boogieing to Lab Corps and Dr. Mays. From there to the recycling center and onto the storage center and UPS. The revision of Cynthia's book, "The Spirit in the South," will be available online in five weeks at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Now, home and resting! Downsizing is great: to get rid of stuff; just mail it to unsuspecting children with the announcement it contains part of their inheritance.
2th March, Wed: How did we accumulate so much stuff? The Toasted Yolk makes marvelous breakfasts. Foot and ankle doctor today hoping he will treat the knee, after all it is connected to the ankle! Chiropractor this afternoon.
1 March, Tues: Day Two of the ten day house option period. Now that the contract is signed, and the buyers love the house, our focus becomes organizational planning. The buyers are buying the living, dining room, plus all of the patio furniture. Today's agenda begins with CrossFit, breakfast, UPS, chiropractor visit this morning before a noon-thirty drive to Brenham to the opthamalogist appointment we missed last Thursday. The blue bonnets are soon to bloom making for a very pleasant drive. Ron reviewed financial materials en route and drove home because the wee-fee has dilated eyes. Ron had a long walk tonight talking to Donna G. The entirety. Good night!
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