The Great American Eclipse: Path of Totality

August 2017

Some positives about being stuck in Nebraska longer than we planned. We got to go to 2 family reunions. One from Larry’s dad’s side and one from his mom’s!

It was great seeing all the Aunts, Uncles and Cousins!
A couple of problems: at the first reunion it was mine and Larry's job to greet everyone and get them registered (I made a family directory) so neither one of us took pictures. Then the next reunion was after Larry's surgery. He was a little out of it and I was concerned with no one bumping his arm
so again, no pictures!

But a plus I did get pictures of:

We were in the Path of Totality for the eclipse!

That was awesome!

The day began as a disappointingly cloudy one. But with the glasses Gus (Larry’s dad) got, we could watch the progression of the eclipse through to total even with the clouds. We sat outside in the backyard chatting and staring at the sun. (glasses on of course) When the eclipse went total for about 2 minutes we didn’t need the glasses and the ring pierced the clouds! It was magnificent! As soon as it went total we could hear the OOOOs and AAAAs of the neighbors.

Apparently we weren’t the only ones sitting in the backyard enjoying the celestial spectacle.

The funniest part: Gus had been telling us about a loose rooster running around the neighborhood, especially his backyard. It was driving him nuts. It didn’t seem to belong to anyone and Gus kept trying to catch it, I think for dinner. We visited them occasionally and never actually saw the bird. So… did it really exist or was Gus just getting old. But right, on que, when the sun went dark the rooster started crowing. We still didn't see it, so no pictures, but we know it's real!

 Totality!

 We weren't expecting much when we saw these clouds!

You could barely see the sun through the morning clouds!

This is the beginning of the eclipse
through the filter of the glasses!

Totality! It was so much more awesome in real life!

If we had continued to Minnesota we would have missed totality. So... silver lining! 

I must have moved when I took this but I thought it looked cool!

Surgery Went Well, Sort of

August 2017

In the past few years Larry has had 2 surgeries. Both times it took a lot longer than the doctor said it would. After it was over I was told the situation was a lot more complicated than they anticipated. So when the doctor told me his shoulder surgery would take an hour I was pretty much expecting it to be at least 2.

It was 3.

And the 1-inch incision turned out to be about 4 inches. Larry’s like that.

He does everything in a big way!

He was still in recovery when the surgeon came out to tell me what happened. He knew the ligament was shredded. It was worse than he thought. He also said he had to “release” the bicep muscle.

Excuse me… what?

He snipped the bicep tendon. He neglected to tell me you have 2 bicep tendons in each arm and you can get by just fine with one. The physical therapist told us that later.

The good news: he should make a full recovery.

The bad news: it’s a long and painful process.

The sling is a ridiculously complicated contraption.

A lot different than the handkerchief they put on me when I broke my arm when I was 7.

I had to take pictures of how the sling went on so when we took it off we could put it back on.

 His 1 inch incision turned out to be a lot bigger. 

The little incision down further was where they put the scope.

He’ll get passive physical therapy (where the therapist does all the work) for 4 weeks. That should keep the joint loose to keep his range of motion good.

Then he moves on to assisted physical therapy for 4 weeks then active for 4 more weeks.

It’ll be a while but they assure us we’ll be adventuring again in no time! He’s off the oxycodone, the one that some people get addicted to, so that’s good. The big problem now is sleep. It’s hard to find a sweet spot when they put you in a torture devise! But I think we’re past the worst of it.

Hopefully these posts will get more interesting soon.

Glitch In Our Plans

July 2017

Epic fishing excursion plans across Minnesota for the month of August - check.

Epic fishing excursion plans across Wisconsin for the month of September - check.

Friends and family in both states notified that we may be dropping in – check.

New fishing rods, reels and tackle purchased and ready to go - check.

We were ready!

After a month in one place, we were excited to be hitting the road again!

All we had to do was complete enough physical therapy sessions for Larry’s shoulder so that he could do it on his own as we travel! He’d had an MRI early in July.

Surely if there was a problem they would notify us immediately. Right?

Wrong!!!!

The doctor didn’t even look at the images until the day of his appointment,

THREE WEEKS AFTER THE MRI WAS DONE!!!!!

He’d already started physical therapy and his range of motion was improving!

We were stunned when he went to the appointment and they told us there was major damage. He had to have surgery or the doc says he'd loose the use of his arm!

How can that be?

The physical therapist said the therapy was working!

At this point we were extremely grateful for good health insurance.

A second opinion was most definitely needed!

The soonest appointment for surgery we could make was 3 weeks away, when we were supposed to be in Minnesota… fishing. We scheduled it because it was easier to break the appointment than get one at the last minute.  We called numerous places for a second opinion. We even called Bakersfield, CA. The soonest appointment we could get was 2 weeks away in Lincoln, NE. We waited.

Cancelling the RV reservations was painful! Probably not as painful as Larry's shoulder but painful! We tried to fill our time so that we didn’t have to think about what the second doctor was going to say. Larry had to get a pre-op physical to make sure he was healthy enough for surgery... if he needed it. That doctor took a look at the MRI. His opinion, even though he said he wasn’t an orthopedic guy wasn’t great news.

We met up with Larry's dad on the way to his pre-op physical.

He had one last session with the physical therapist to learn how to keep his shoulder loose without doing more damage. The physical therapist looked at the images. She said she wished she had seen them before the started. Even she said the damage was extensive and thought he’d need surgery. A second opinion was looking more and more unnecessary but we already had the MRI and x-rays sent to their office so we went. He basically concurred with what everyone else was saying.

Surgery scheduled for August 10^th – check.

Follow up physical therapy – check.

Cancelling ALL our epic fishing plans – check. L

Our 2017 plans have changed.

But our adventures on the road WILL continue!

Hearing Aids, Fishing Poles and TMJ!

July 2017

Hearing aids have been a part of my life for over 10 years.
When I lived in a house without wheels I would take them to my awesome audiologist Dr. Ellen Baker every few months to have them cleaned. Being on the road makes that a little difficult. Once a year I visit Dr. Ellen but in between time my hearing aids get kind of nasty. Not to mention the fact that they don’t work as well dirty. I thought any audiologist could clean them but that wasn’t the case. It has to be someone who caries my particular kind. I found a possible office but it was an hour’s drive away and we didn’t want to drive all the way there just to find out they couldn’t do it.
I contacted Dr. Ellen, she sent them all the information they needed to determine if they had the equipment necessary. They did. We went. Hearing aids cleaned!
YAY! Thank you Dr. Ellen and CompleteHearing!

Bonus!

Dr. Sandra Miller of Complete Hearing started talking with us about our traveling lifestyle. We mentioned our up coming epic fishing plans in Northern Minnesota. She told us about a nearby tackle shop with incredible fishing supplies run by a man who actually knew what he was talking about regarding fishing.

We decided to visit Wolf Tackle Shop and see what they had. I’ve never owned my own fishing pole and Larry’s fishing equipment is older than our marriage. We walked out of Wolf’s with 2 new fishing poles and enough tackle to catch some of the legendary walleye Minnesota is famous for! Plus enough enthusiasm to make it through the last few days of Nebraska cornfields. (Sorry Nebraskans but staying in one place this long was starting to get to us.)

 I've also been living with TMJD (temporomandibular joint disorder) for years now. The clicking in my jaw was annoying but not particularly painful. I wear a night guard that’s supposed to help but for a couple of months now I’ve been waking up with my jaws clamped shut! The first time it happened I freaked out a little, wondering how I was going to get my mouth open. I tried to gently pry it open but it wouldn’t budge. I braced myself and yanked it apart. It hurt for a minute but them seemed fine. Then it started happening when I chewed. I’d be eating, I’d feel a sharp pain in my jaw and it’d be stuck! I was told years ago that other than a night guard there wasn’t much they could do about TMJD. I went to the dentist for a check up recently and she told me not to yank it open anymore. She showed me how to gently push my lower jaw back and open. But she said most importantly I should see a physical therapist who specialized in the jaw. I didn’t even know there was such a thing! She gave me a number to call, I made an appointment and went to see him. He gave me these awesome high tech exercise devises and showed me how to use them! I noticed a difference right away! I do the exercises in the morning before breakfast, again before lunch, and if I remember before dinner (or as mid-westerners say: supper) It hardly ever even clicks anymore and I haven’t woke up with my mouth stuck shut for weeks! If you’re living with TMJD, especially if it’s painful, find a physical therapist who specializes in the jaw and go! It’s so worth it!

My fancy, hi-tech exercise equipment. 

I put the clothespin (rubber tip side back in my molars and open and clothes my mouth)

The clothes pin puts my jaw at the right angle.

I put the tongue depressors in my mouth, bite down and make my jaw go back and forth.

Don't do this on your own. The therapist shows you where your jaw needs to be depending on your problem.