April...You Can Keep It!

A couple of most interesting weeks.

I would have been posting about my 12th week post back surgery, but other issues have arisen that have placed recovery from that operation on the back burner. So I'm going to halt those reports for the latest news.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I broke out in a fever and chills on Tuesday, April 7^th. The chills stopped and the fever subsided somewhat on Wednesday into Thursday morning. They both returned Thursday afternoon along with some pain in my right back/side. I thought the pain was muscular. I was to be proven wrong.

I broke out in night sweats on Friday and again Saturday with my temperature spiking around 103.5 degrees. Idiot that I am, I insisted in trying to tough it out until Monday morning when I could go to the walk-in clinic in Mansfield. Someone had other plans, however.

Sunday morning just as Terry returned from Church, I virtually collapsed being unable to breath or even take more than two or three steps without gasping for breath. Terry fired up the Jeep and hauled my ass over to Troy Community Hospital’s ER. By the time we arrived (about a 15 mile drive) my breathing had returned to normal but the fever and pain were letting themselves take control.

A quick examination in ER and a CATscan proved I was suffering from both a urinary bladder infection and a 5mm kidney stone that was wedged in my ureter (the tube from the kidney to the bladder). I was assigned a room and begun on a regimen of IV antibiotics, painkillers, and fluids—lots of fluids.

I would stay in Troy Community Hospital for only a couple of days before they sent me over to Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre. (It’s where I had my back surgery in January.) Troy doesn’t have a urologist on staff nor does it have an OR with the facilities of Robert Packer. I arrived at RP late on Tuesday afternoon, was allowed one final meal before being shut down at midnight so I could go into the OR on Wednesday to have the stone removed and a stent placed in the ureter. Only the IV fluids, antibiotics and painkillers were allowed after the witching hour.

Being low man on the totem pole (i.e. having a non-life threatening condition and being a nonscheduled, last minute addition to the roster) I waited all day with nothing but the IV drips going for the call which finally arrived around 3:30 PM. Even that was a perfunctory, “They’re calling for you in the OR.” Since I hadn’t had a meeting with the surgeon, and had never met the guy before, I said, “Hang on a minute! I need to see this guy first and talk about what the heck he’s going to do before I go under.” So I had to wait a bit longer for him to show up and introduce himself and explain the procedure and implications.

Eventually I did get to see him and agreed to proceed. I got wheeled down to the OR, met the anesthesiologist and the rest of the crew, had the stone removed and the stent inserted. Then back to my room and a nice slice of pizza and fruit smoothie that Terry picked up at the cafeteria for me.

The next morning, Thursday, I got some more IV antibiotics and pain killers before getting the okay to go home.

And that’s where things stand now. The back pain I had been suffering has been replaced by some discomfort when I urinate in both the kidney and bladder but that should go away when the stent is removed on the 28^th. I hope. Then I can get back to recovering from the back surgery. I hope.  Meanwhile, some oral antibiotics and pain killers have been prescribed. The fat lady hasn’t sung yet, but her appearance has been booked.

I have to say that while there was an awful lot of hurry-up-and-wait involved at both Troy Community and Robert Packer, the people themselves were extremely pleasant to deal with. I think the nurses were happy enough to deal with me as well. I was pretty much independent (except for the damn IV stand that went wherever I needed to go) and demanded little in the way of care (except when the IV bags were empty and needed replacement).

Sandwiched in all this were four (4!) bouts of auto problems. The Tundra got its windshield replaced and is awaiting parts for a repair (secondary air pump?) as is the Aveo. The Jeep dealer had all the parts needed to fix a sensor and cracked ring. None of the problems rendered the vehicles inoperable, which was good, but needed/need to get repaired. They were all the result of either being stored for the winter (Aveo), inactive for a long period of time (Tundra had to sit while I recovered from back surgery) or dealing with the usual early mud season where the road might be a quagmire one day and frozen into a rutted mess the next morning.  

And the cats all had to go to the vet for their booster shots and exams. I did two on my own and then Terry had the privilege of doing two by herself while I was in hospital. She got the easy ones (Chester and Julie).

I think I would like a do-over on April 2015. Except for the Mets. They can keep on doing what they are doing. (Currently 7-3, 1st in the NL East.) But, please get some folks healthy ASAP.

Oh yeah, almost forgot: I’m waiting to become a grandfather as Rick and Sandy will be delivering Chelsea Rose some time in the week ahead.

Sunny Day! At last!

After several days dreary, overcast, foggy, and mizzling skies we finally got to see the sun at the Aerie today. Despite all the moisture in the air, we only had 0.15 inches of rain in the gauge.

I got outside this afternoon to do some work in the garden. Pulled the two tomato plants and then turned the soil in the 8' x 16' bed. Removed quite a few weeds from that area as I worked.

Tomorrow, I'll spend some time digging a small trench in that garden bed so I can compost the mulched leaves and grass clippings from the final cutting--which I will do on Sunday.

I've got to space these things out so as to not put too much strain on my back.

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Speaking about my back.... Being idle the last few days hasn't helped. I probably should have gone to the mall or spent time on the stationary bike but I just didn't have the desire to do either.

Got a call earlier in the week from the neurologists office letting me know that the doctor would not be available on October 30th and they were going to move my appointment to November 5th. I told her I was hoping for an earlier date rather than a later one and she responded that if they get a cancellation, she would call me. *sigh* That's another reason why I haven't wanted to go to the mall. Do not want to get too far from the phone since they may not have my cell number.

About that "Affordable Care Act"...

Yeah, it's neither "affordable" nor providing much "care."

When I was growing up, I was always told to be sure to read the whole contract--including the fine print--before I signed anything. You never know what's in there until you read it and, by gum, the Devil is in the details.

Too bad our "betters" don't follow the same practice. It seems Democrats at both the state and federal (I inadvertently typed "feral" here. Purely Freudian, I'm sure.) level are beginning to notice that the Affordable Care Act may have been misnamed. At the very least they realized it's not going to do what they thought it was going to do.

Still, Democrats are becoming disillusioned at the law’s failure to achieve its ideal of quality health care for every American that doesn’t add to the deficit, reduces medical spending, and promises employees the right to stay on the company plan. And so they’re trying to clean up the mess they’ve made.

For decades, critics of the American health care system have identified two major flaws in its design. First, there is the problem of universality. Not everyone has health insurance. ...

Second, there is the problem of affordability. ...

The Affordable Care Act was sold as a way to solve both problems. What it really does, though, is extend, sloppily and expensively, a right to health insurance to all. It’s a law that deals with the universality problem, not the spending problem. The cost-cutting measures it does contain are mainly experiments that will take years to evaluate. Yes, the rate of growth in health care costs has remained stable for the last three years. But that is more likely the result of the recession, and of experiments in private networks, which began before Obama-care. Most of Obama-care has yet to take effect. The problem of rising health costs remains.

And liberals are noticing. ...

You can read the rest of the article by Matthew Continetti in the Weekly Standard here.

Perhaps if they had read the damn thing before they rushed it through the Senate and the House when both were under the Democrats' control some of the problems now coming to light could have been avoided by--you know--NOT PASSING THIS MONSTER IN THE FIRST PLACE.

But, hey! That's crazy talk!

Oh, and Mark Hemingway says the unions aren't too happy with Obamacare either.

Aerie Report, February 22, 2010

Not much to say except never, ever trust a weatherman. Terry and I made plans to go out this afternoon but while she went off to Curves and some errands this morning I checked the weather gurus (weather.com and AccuHunch) and things didn't look promising. While they couldn't agree on timing, both indicated some possibility of freezing rain/wintry mix/snow taking place between noon and 7 PM. Since our sojourn out would have covered a good portion of that time, we decided to stay in and see what developed.

Terry pulled a nice boneless pork loin out for dinner along with sauerkraut, chunks of potatoes (cooked in the little pork grease the loin produced), string beans (from the garden) and apple sauce (canned two falls ago). Our dinner was excellent! And, while we were eating it, the snow finally arrived.

I had been checking both forecasters all afternoon and they kept changing their projections as to time and quantity. I came to the conclusion that they really do not know much more than I do when it comes to forecasting the weather. We should have gone out.

They say there's a chance for more snow (albeit small amounts) Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Then, they say, it will get interesting. We shall see.

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I've a dental appointment tomorrow morning and I'm a bit concerned. It's been nearly six years since my last visit and, while I've got nothing that pains me, I do have two or three already filled teeth that have...well, lost parts in the interval.

******

Speaking of health care.

What is it about the word "NO" that the White House does not understand? Two days before his televised summit with the Republicans during which it is alleged he was going to work for a bipartisan health care reform, President Obama produces a bill that is almost exactly like the ones already passed in the Congress and Senate but with even fewer details so that the Congressional Budget Office can not even determine its cost. The man and his cronies obviously believe that political leadership means cramming stuff down the peoples' throats.

Now that he has produced this bill (and basically said it's-my-way-or-the-highway), what, exactly does he plan to do on Wednesday? He's certainly not looking to get any "bipartisanship" out of the many times spurned Republicans.

I sincerely hope that the Republicans stick to their guns and tell the President that he can put his Health Care Reform where the sun don't shine.

The President and the Democrats have burned a lot of bridges lately. I wonder when it will occur to them that they are on an island.

Strange bedfellows

Maybe Obama's campaign promise to bring us all together is starting to bear fruit.

Union pulls back on supporting bill

The SEIU executive board will hold what Lodes described as an "emergency" meeting Wednesday night to decide how to move forward. "Right now, they don't have the information they need to make this decision," said Lodes, who added that the SEIU informed the other organizations on Tuesday they would not be joining the press conference.

The board meeting likely will not produce a final determination by the union about whether to support advancing the Senate healthcare bill, which not only lacks a public option and the Medicare buy-in but also would levy an excise tax on so-called Cadillac health insurance plans that some union members have, Lodes said.

(Emphasis added.)


Howard Dean: Health Care Bill 'Bigger Bailout for the Insurance Industry Than AIG'

Dean sent shockwaves when he said Tuesday in an interview with Vermont Public Radio that the removal of the Medicare buy-in means Democrats should just kill the health care bill and start over.

"This is essentially the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate," Dean said.

(Emphasis added. Say! Wasn't "Kill the bill!" one of the frequent chants at the tea parties? Maybe Dean was listening.)



NBC poll: Public sours on health reform

As the Senate sprints to pass a health-care bill by Christmas, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that those believing President Obama's health-reform plan is a good idea has sunk to its lowest level.

Just 32 percent say it's a good idea, versus 47 percent who say it's a bad idea.

In addition, for the first time in the survey, a plurality prefers the status quo to reform. By a 44-41 percent margin, respondents say it would be better to keep the current system than to pass Obama's health plan.

Okay, some are stranger than others. (See Howard Dean for a definition of strange.) Still, this is one weird coalition that's forming against unread, unknown Obamacare.

UPDATE: Olbermann joins call to kill bill Olbermann? Dude this health care bill is toast! Strange bedfellows, indeed.

Cause and Effect?

NBC: Senate rejects low-cost drug imports
Plan would have allowed Americans to buy prescriptions from abroad

The vote on the amendment by Sen. Byron Dorgan , D-N.D., was 51-48 in favor, but 60 votes were needed to prevail under a special rule. Obama had supported the measure as a senator, but his administration echoed safety concerns raised by the pharmaceutical industry — which is supporting the Democrats' health care bill.
…
Both the pharmaceutical industry and the Obama administration were lobbying against the proposal, saying it would not protect people from potentially dangerous or ineffective drugs. Dorgan's plan would have cost drug makers billions of dollars and had bipartisan support.

No breakdown of the vote is offered in the story. You would think that would be an important part of the story.

Drugmakers will pay more for health bill
Senators: Billions from pharmaceutical industry to close drug coverage gap

Democratic senators said Wednesday they've been told the pharmaceutical industry will contribute billions of dollars more than it has previously promised for President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, with the money being used to close a gap in Medicare drug coverage.

Curious. No?