Day 4273

I took my first long outdoor walk since I was hospitalized. I didn't walk as far as I usualy do, but it's a start. I have no real pain anymore. I'm just a lot more tired than I used to be. We had a nice sunrise walk with Dawn this morning and it was still cool enough to take her on her Sunday outing later in the day. I wasn't able to keep up with Dawn and Janet on the Sunday outing, but I didn't expect to. I walked about halfway and returned to the car. I think I had plenty of walks today.

When we went for ice cream cones on the way home, we discovered that the place was closed. There was a little sign on the window saying that due to a staff shortage, the place would be reducing the number of hours they were open. This seems to be a recurring theme. Small businesses just can't find or retain the staff they need anymore. We found a more expensive ice cream place that charged a ridiculous amount for a cone, but we got one anyway. Dawn waits all week for her ice cream cone. I still don't feel like eating ice cream for some reason. That saved a little money.

My unexpected bile duct blockage is making me a little nervous about returning to the observatory. If this had happened while I was out there, it could have been life threatening. Lack of decent medical facilities is one of the main things that observatory residents complain about. There is only one small hospital in the area and nobody seems to like it. Serious medical problems often involve a drive all the way to Odessa or El Paso and now those hospitals are full of Covid patients. It's a mess. A lot of my friends buy helicopter insurance so they can be airlifted out if something serious happens. 

I can't think of many reasons to like living in a big city but access to good medical care is still at the top of my list. I received excellent care during my hospital stay and didn't have to wait to see the people I needed to see. Janet had the same experience when she was being treated for cancer. I think it helps that our primary care physicians are associated with the hospital. It's doesn't look like we'll be moving to West Texas, but I knew that anyway. The older you get the more you depend on good doctors and having a major hospital nearby.

Since tomorrow is Labor Day, a lot of things will be closed. My gym is going to be closed, so if I want to walk I'll need to get out early before it starts getting hot. My walk in the park this morning wasn't that bad. Of course, I didn't really go very far. We won't be able to visit the Dalmatians tomorrow either since the kennel is closed for Labor Day. I'll still be able to take naps though. It seems like I've been doing a lot of that lately.

We might be able to retire Dawn's cone soon. She shows very little desire to lick her paws lately. Did her bladder stones cause enough discomfort to cause her to start all the licking? Sometimes licking is the way dogs react to discomfort. Maybe it's the new allergy pills she started taking. It's weird that we still don't know what was causing the problem. I'm glad she's getting better though. I'm glad I'm getting better too.

Allie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4272

It's weird how quickly things change. It seems like only a few weeks ago that virtually all the stores where I shop had gone back to their pre-pandemic days. Everything seemed normal again. Now there are fresh banners at the entrances requiring a mask to enter the building. I wonder if toilet paper hoarding is going to return? Most stores just got finished scraping up all those 'stay six feet apart' stickers on the floor. Are they going to have to apply new stickers now?

Some people are quick to blame the unvaccinated for the current virus resurgence. I'm not so sure. By any historic standards, the country is actually doing a pretty good job of getting vaccinated. At any rate, the wrong people are getting the blame. It's young people who still feel invincible who are not getting vaccinated. I have almost equal numbers of conservative and liberal friends and I don't know a single person who has resisted getting vaccinated. I do know a lot of people who were quick to travel, go to ball games, and start socializing again as soon as restrictions were lifted. Large groups hanging out together are still the real problem. Throughout this pandemic I've always thought that if more people were antisocial like me, we could have significantly minimized this mess.

I still go to the gym, but my gym is far from crowded. I encounter far fewer people at the gym than I used to walking outdoors in the park. There is the constant smell of disinfectant at the gym and some people seem to spend more time cleaning their machines than they do actually exercising. People have definitely gotten meaner. It's not just people on airplanes either. The other day a guy chewed me out for being in the wrong lane on the track. There were only three people using the track and there are three lanes. Get a life, buddy.

Dawn seemed eager to take a second walk today. We waited until almost sunset and made our one mile loop again. The days are still hot, but sunrise and sunset walks seem fine for everybody. It's nice to see Dawn healthy again. She has virtually stopped licking and biting at her paws and has a lot more energy than she did a month ago. Hopefully, this will continue. I think we are both getting better.

I'm having second thoughts about my 5000 day goal. Why am I even doing this? I've learned how to fill up space on days where nothing happens, but I rarely have anything important to share. I think I'm kidding myself when I say a write to keep my mind sharp. If I've proved anything at all, it's than in an average daily life, very little happens. I bet I could substitute a post from two or three years ago and you'd never even know the difference.

Tomorrow I'll continue proving that very little happens. If it's not too hot, we'll take Dawn for her Sunday outing. Maybe I'll be able to complete the full mile this week. Last week I had to turn around and wait for Dawn and Janet at the car. We'll see. I feel a lot stronger now. I'm not sure if I'll feel like ice cream. If not, Dawn can have my cone.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4271

Back to the gym again. I'm still not very active, but I'm trying. With each passing day I feel a little better, but I still have no desire to do anything. I'm trying to force myself to go to the gym everyday because otherwise I'd just spend the day sleeping. I'm actually surprised that I can still sleep at night. With all the naps I've been taking, my Fitbit has been registering more than 8 hours of sleep each day for the first time I can remember.

We still start our day with a sunrise walk with Dawn. If there happens to be a breeze, these walks are enjoyable but you can feel the heat as soon as the sun clears the horizon. Dawn still enjoys these morning walks but she has no desire to go any further than her standard one mile loop. I can't say that I blame her. Lately, I'm ready to return home after one mile myself.

I'm still having shredded wheat for breakfast. What happened to my smoothie? I have no desire for a smoothie anymore. This is one of the oddest side effects of my illness. How can a mealtime favorite for many years suddenly turn your stomach? I imagine that I'll return to having smoothies at some point, but for now this remains a mystery.

NASA keeps sending me invitations to apply for credentials, but always adds a disclaimer saying that due to Covid restrictions, almost nobody will be accepted. Why not just reach out directly to the ten people you want to cover your events. I have no plans to return to Florida anyway, but it is frustrating that it appears to be coming much more difficult to cover launches at Kennedy Space Center. I'm not even sure that I have a media sponsor anymore since my editor is no longer working at Spaceflight Magazine. I wonder how long it will take me to get to know the new editor?

I walked several miles at the gym today, but my pace was so slow that it hardly registered on my Fitbit. I was so cold today that I wished I'd worn a jacket to the gym. This is another odd side effect of my hospitalization and surgeries. I'm perpetually cold now. The temperatures outside are near 100 degrees but I'm wearing a jacket around the house. I guess I could turn the thermostat up, but Janet and Dawn wouldn't approve. The house isn't really that cold. It's just me.

I guess I'll go to the grocery store tomorrow. There are no restrictions on shopping, just on lifting heavy objects. I'm pretty sure I can still pick up a box of strawberries. Do I even need strawberries and blueberries if I'm not fixing a smoothie every morning? Who knows. I just wish that I'd get back to my old schedule.

I've got no real plans for tomorrow. I suspect that life without a gallbladder will be exactly the same as life with a gallbladder. Maybe one of these days I'll be enthusiastic about something again. I'm not feeling it now though.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4270

I went back to the gym today. All I did was walk around and around the indoor track, but it's a start. I'm still tired, but I didn't feel bad today. I actually think I look worse than I feel. I've got some nasty looking black and blue blotches on my stomach, but the pain is minimal now.

I called the surgical team this morning to schedule my post-op follow up visit and they told me that after reviewing all my lab reports, they didn't need to see me. Evidently, all my blood work is returning to normal and the cultured samples they took showed no growth after five days. This is all good. It appears that I am a routine case with no abnormalities at all. 

I'm glad I'm finished with the Cipro. I feel a little better already. The peripheral neuropathy I'd been feeling is much less evident today. The doctor I talked with this morning said that tendonitis wasn't much of a worry either. Evidently, a five day course of Cipro is very short. Problems with this drug are much more common when you have to take it for long periods of time.

It never got cool today. Even our sunrise walk was pretty warm. It was definitely too hot to take a sunset walk with Dawn. She doesn't seem to mind. As long as she has her spot on the bed, she's a happy dog. The heat was the main reason that I decided to return to the gym. I'm starting to get cabin fever and it's hard to stay active inside the house. I'll probably go back to the gym tomorrow. Walking around the indoor track is boring, but all my doctors says that walking is good.

Dawn seems to feel so much better now that her bladder stones are gone. I think the new allergy medicine she'd taking is helping as well. The paw licking has largely stopped and she has more energy on her walks. I wonder how long she had the stones? It could have been a long time. I've noticed that she's even been a little friendlier toward me lately. Maybe now that we are both free of stones, life will take a turn for the better.

It's weird not to have any travel plans whatsoever. Launches are still taking place at Kennedy Space Center, but Florida is such a mess that it's going to be a while before I get press credentials again. I have no desire to travel to Florida anyway. Truthfully, I don't have much of a desire to travel anywhere. There's no rush. Covid will eventually run its course and life will return to normal. In theory I'll be returning to the observatory in late October, but I suspect that this will change. With hospital admissions rising all over the state, I doubt that that they'd want to take chances with large crowds.

We'll see what happens tomorrow. Janet took the trash out to the curb this evening because I'm still not supposed to lift anything. I wonder if I'll ever feel like having a smoothie again. I've completely lost my taste for these things. This is very strange, since I've enjoyed my morning smoothies for years. I don't like change, but I think I've dealt with last week's changes fairly well. I'm very glad that I'm a reasonably healthy person. Illness of any sort is for the birds.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4269

Another long, uneventful day. I finished taking my antibiotics this morning, so hopefully the weird Cipro induced side effects will stop soon. For some reason I don't feel like having a smoothie for breakfast anymore. Very strange. I've been eating shredded wheat for the time being and having a very light dinner. I probably should be eating more, but my appetite is gone.

I drove to the post office after breakfast and mailed the letter to my sister. No problems driving. I'm not going to be driving anywhere far for a while though. My digestive system still hasn't returned to normal and it's still good to have a bathroom nearby. Janet thinks I ought to start going back to the gym and walking around the indoor track. Maybe next week. I'm still feeling a little nauseous even though the hospital drugs should be completely out of my system by now.

I think today might have been the hottest day of the year so far. We walked very early this morning, but it was starting to feel warm even before sunrise. I didn't take an evening walk because it was too hot. Dawn still wanted to go to training class though. Somehow she knows that Wednesday evening is her day and starts whining to go to class right after dinner. Janet said everything was fine because it cools off quickly after the sun goes down.

Now that the excess fluids the hospital pumped me up with have mostly been eliminated, I feel like my skin is one size too big for my body. Old skin is not very flexible. It's going to take a long time to get back in shape again. Oh, well. I certainly don't have much else to do this month. I'm definitely getting better, so I really need to work on getting strong again. Today I just felt like sleeping all day and that's not a good thing. There's really no reason to feel discouraged. I survived a somewhat serious condition and am on the mend.

I'm fully vaccinated and always carry a mask with me, but I'm getting sick of all the gaslighting and virtue signaling. Have you noticed that the people who are quickest to call someone else selfish are the very same people who were the first to resume traveling, going to sporting events and concerts, and hanging out with their friends. Who's really being selfish here? It's fine if you want to criticize the unvaccinated but let's get real. How about criticizing all the fat people, smokers, and substance abusers who have been clogging up our healthcare system for decades. It's easy to criticize others. A little harder to change your own behavior. 

I'm a bit conflicted here. I'm a very disciplined person, but did I do something wrong that caused my own hospitalization? How hard will it be to change my behavior? They say gallstones are primarily caused by when bile contains too much cholesterol for the liver to dissolve or bilirubin levels are too high. My blood work is typically normal and my cholesterol has been under control for ages. I think I have a healthy diet, but maybe not. My smoothie is probably way too sweet and I know I don't drink enough water. I eat plenty of fresh vegetables but I also love smoked meats, pizza and pasta. 

Tomorrow is another day. Hopefully I can find something interesting to keep me occupied. Recovery is slow and I'm not terribly patient.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4268

I really miss my long walks in the park. These walks provided a much needed sense of purpose. Sure, I was really just killing time, but it was easy to convince myself that I was doing something important. Hey, as you grow older, staying active and healthy actually is important. Sadly, I'm going to have to wait a while until I can get back on the trails. I can take short walks for now, but my doctors say it will be at least three weeks before I'll be able to resume any semblance of my normal activities.

With each passing day I continue to feel a little better. I think I can attribute most of the weirdness I'm feeling now to the Cipro I have to continue taking. Cipro has a number of unfortunate side effects and I seem to be affected by several of them. Cipro is known to cause peripheral neuropathy and I am feeling an odd tingling sensation in my fingers and legs when I am inactive. This may also be caused by poor circulation, since my resting heart rate is curently much lower than normal. I'm blaming the Cipro though. Cipro also causes headaches and I have one right now. Luckily, I was prescribed a short course of this drug. I only have three pills left and I'll be done tomorrow evening.

We are having a mild heat wave. The temperature got up to 97 degrees today. Our sunrise walk with Dawn was fairly normal, but you could tell it was going to be hot later in the day. We didn't take Dawn on a sunset walk because we were afraid the pavement was too hot for her paws. Dawn certainly didn't seem to mind staying inside. I should have stayed home as well, but I felt like I needed to move. I hate being cooped up all day. I waited until it was just about dark and then took a short one mile walk. I was a little tired when I returned home, but I got to see a pretty sunset. I definitely needed the exercise.

Today wasn't very productive. I watered a few plants, wrote a letter to my sister, and made an appointment for later in September to see my gastrointestinal doctor. They want to review their Barrett's esophagus diagnosis with me. I think they'll want to do some biopsies of the esophagus to check for precancerous cells. Unfortunately, this means another hospital visit, but I think the dreaded event is at least three months away.

I wonder where people find the strength to deal with serious illness? My Dad dealt with Parkinson's disease for decades and my sister has been in and out of hospitals for years. I've generally been the healthy one in the family. I did have Hepatitis C but that was the hospital's fault. It's hard to believe now, but hospitals used to routinely buy blood from winos on the street. It's amazing we all lived through the 60's and 70's. In the grand scheme of things, my surgery last week was minor. It has redoubled my resolve to stay healthy though. I don't have that much time left and I want to enjoy it.

Hard to believe that tomorrow will be September. Where did this year go? 2020 and 2021 have all just blurred together. I wonder if things will ever return to normal? Covid boosters will probably be just like flu shots in the future. The work world will never be the same. I never thought I'd see the day when companies of all sizes were begging for workers and the unemployed still didn't want to work. There is a tendency to blame someone else for everything now. Nobody wants to take personal responsibility for their own lives any more. It's all pretty sad. I'm convinced that the country will remain permanently divided and this won't be good for anyone. We live in strange times. I'm just glad I had a chance to grow up in world that was a much better place.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4267

Today's big event was the first shower I've had in over a week. It felt good to be clean again. Not only did I get the OK from my doctors to take a shower, I am also able to discontinue a lot of the meds the hospital prescribed when I was released. The only drug I need to continue is the Cipro. I'm not entirely happy about this, since Ciprofloxacin has a lot of dangerous side effects. I wish they'd given me something else. Once you start a course of antibiotics, you need to finish it though. I'm basically stuck with this. At least I can stop the laxatives, stool softeners, and the Tylenol. I have no idea why they gave me so much Tylenol. I took a ton of Tylenol last week and it basically did nothing.

I got a lot done today. I called all the people I was asked to follow up with. One doctor said I called too early and another never answered my voicemail. Hey, I did my job though. I talked to the observatory folks and told them I won't be able to come out in September. I talked to a nurse, who answered some of my questions about medications and bruising. Basically, I'm doing everything right and most of my worries are unfounded. It doesn't help that I'm a hypochondriac who is very good at doing online research. I've found all kinds of little inconsistencies in my treatment. I need to just let it go. The doctors still know way more than I do.

Life is fairly boring. There are still a lot of restrictions. No heavy lifting or strenuous activity is allowed. Janet even has to empty the dehumidifier. No alcohol either. That sucks. I'm not supposed to drive for a while, but I probably wouldn't de driving much anyway. A lot of these restrictions go away fairly soon since I appear to be recovering well. I can still walk, although one of the side effects of Cipro is tendinitis. I don't think gentle, slow walks would cause tendon rupture, but who knows. I can't wait to get off these drugs. 

We took our sunrise and sunset walks today. The sunrise walk was pleasant, but the sunset walk was a little hot. Dawn did well though and didn't get overheated. Our little one mile loop is just about right for both of us. It will be at least three weeks before I can begin walking longer. I think they want me to wait six weeks before returning to the gym. It's going to be a long, uneventful month. 

I didn't visit the Dalmatians today, but Janet did. Bullet has gone to his forever home. I knew he'd find a home fast. I marked Bullet as adopted on the website and keep hoping that Charlie and Cooper will find homes as well. They are great dogs, but both have had bite incidents in the past. It's a shame that their past is making it more difficult to find a bright future. Any dog will bite, given the right circumstances. Charlie and Cooper really deserve a second chance.

You watch a lot of television when you are housebound. I'm finally caught up on current events. All I've got to say is that when you sink the ship, you can't really brag about how many lifeboats you have. The way we exited Afghanistan was shameful. What a colossal blunder. We left people behind. We surrendered to the Taliban. And we're no better off than we were twenty years ago. I hope you guys who wanted 'an adult in the room' are happy now. Too bad you got 'Weekend at Bernies' instead.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4266

Illness teaches patience. I can tell my body is healing, but it's a slow process. There is no longer a need for laxatives. The puffiness under my skin is slowly subsiding. I'm feeling a little stronger, but it will take a while to get back in shape. It still seems unreal how quickly your body deteriorates when you are bedridden. I'm determined to resume my regular schedule as soon as the doctors say it's OK. I was headed downhill anyway and the past week has certainly accelerated the process. Muscle atrophy is common in the healthiest person as you grow older. You've got to work hard to keep from losing ground. I saw what happens firsthand when you don't do something. After a serious illness, my Dad stopped being active and spent his days watching television. It was unbelievable how quickly he went downhill.

I'll keep walking for my body. I'll keep writing for my mind. And it's probably important to keep traveling as well. As soon as Covid is over I'm going to be following rocket launches again and watching the Milky Way under the clear, dark skies of West Texas. Janet does volunteer work to stay active. I look for more solitary activities. I don't think it matters what you choose to do. You just can't let yourszelf go to seed.

According to the guidelines I've been given, it appears that my recovery is right on schedule. I still have a lot of unanswered questions though. I was reading through the dozens of lab reports are are available online at the hospital website and was quite surprised to discover that they found E Coli in my bloodstream. How could that happen? We are fastidious about the food we eat and cleaning things has been an integral part of food preparation for many years. We seldom go out to eat either, so it is doubtful that I could have gotten bad food from a restaurant. I suspect the problem is all internal. When a gallstone blocked my bile ducts, my entire digestive system got screwed up. My blood work was off the charts terrible. It actually looked worse than when I had Hepatitis C.  Probably the bacteria entered my bloodstream from my own intestines.

I took three short walks today with Dawn. Dawn got her special outing today, but I was unable to keep up with her. I returned to the car while Janet and Dawn completed the special Sunday walk. I didn't feel like ice cream after the walk, but Dawn certainly did. She seems to know I am sick and has been much more accommodating about sharing the bed with me. I'm glad that Dawn enjoys taking sunset walks now. It's an added incentive for me to keep moving. I walked 3.65 miles today. It isn't much, but it's a lot better than nothing.

I don't think I'll be visiting the Dalmatians tomorrow. It would be bad news if one of them jumped on my belly. Janet may still visit the kennel, but I'll just stay here and try not to do anything stupid. I need to call and make several appointments for follow up visits tomorrow. I'll need to see both the surgical team and the gastrointestinal team before I can be given a clean bill of health. It will probably be two weeks until I see anybody, but I hope the doctors are as pleased with my progress as I am.

I haven't been paying a lot of attention to current events lately. All things considered, that's probably a good thing. 

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4265

This will be short tonight. Literally nothing happened. The hospital drugs have worn off and I am feeling very tired and quite sore. There is nothing wrong. According to the 32 page post-op instructions I was given when I was released from the hospital, everything I am feeling is normal. The most noticible post-op complication is constipation. This is common after any type of surgery, but is almost inevitable when you've had abdoninal surgery. The intestines tend to stop working when your doctor has to move or shift your intestines during surgery. If the condition gets serious it is called ileus and can be quite serious. I don't think I have ileus because I can feel my stomach rumbling and have gas. Spot, our first Dalmatian, did have ileus after having a cancerous section of his intestines were removed and he almost died. He didn't poop for days. Maybe it was weeks. When he finally pooped, we felt like having a giant celebration.

I am following instructions and taking all my medications. Today I took two short walks and Janet is helping with any heavy lifting. The only medication I haven't take yet is the Tramadol. I don't know why they even gave me Tramadol. I have learned a lot about Tramadol over the years working with dogs and I am not a fan. Like any opioid, it is highly addictive and should never be given if there is a danger of paralytic ileus. I hope the over the counter laxatives I'm taking will work. They're safe and usually effective. It's going to be a long three days though. I"ve been told that almost nobody poops for at least three days after abdominal surgery.

I'm glad I like to walk. Walking is the one exercise that is actually encouraged after surgery. We took two short walks with Dawn today. One at sunrise and the other at sunset. Dawn likes the sunset walk, so we may add this to our regular schedule. It's the same little one mile loop, but the second walk doubles the amount of exercise she gets during the day. Dawn's early morning walks used to seem like nothing to me, buy now I feel them. It's amazing how rapidly your body can deteriorate after a week of lying in bed.

I may not feel normal yet, but I'm starting to look a little more normal. When I left the hospital I looked like the Michelin Man. My body was incredibly puffy after being pumped up on fluids all week. You gradually expel all these extra fluids, but it takes a while. I'm glad I can still pee normally. I have ugly bruises on my stomach, but this is considered normal as well. My arms look like I'm a heroin addict. At times I had three different drip tubes in me at once and I lost count of all the blood test I had. There were as many as four a day. I learned later that there was a reason for all these extra tests. The doctors had discovered bacteria in my blood and they were very worried about Pancreatitis and other infection risks. 

In the grand scheme of things, gallbladder removal is very minor surgery. I know so many people who have endured much worse. My sister once had an eight hour spinal surgery that took years to recover from. I don't think she ever fully recovered. Surgery is still very messy, despite all the high tech equipment in the operating room. We still depend a lot on the body's amazing ability to heal itself. I'm going to be fine, but I'm definitely not feeling 100% today. We'll see if I feel up to joining Dawn on her Sunday outing tomorrow. I think this slightly longer walk won't be a problem, but I'm taking things one day at a time.

Mandy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4264

After a long day at the hospital, I'm finally home again. This is the longest I've ever been hospitalized in my life. You learn a lot when you are hospitalized during a Covid surge. Hospitals throughout Texas are operating near capacity. I was placed on a Covid free floor but you could tell that the disease was nearby. The hospital did a good job of keeping Covid patients in a separate part of the hospital. I was initialy treated in the emergency room, but couldn't be admited as a regular patient until I was tested and proved I was Covid free.

Not only did I have my first and only Covid test at the hospital, I was intubated twice. Both procedures required that I be on a ventilator. You are never even aware that this device is keeping you breathing. Most people are out cold when it is inserted. Breathing pure oxygen feels about the same as breathing regular air. You are only aware of the sensation for a few seconds though before the anesthesia knocks you out. Being anesthetized is still a very strange experience.

Large hospitals are really small cities. They are self sustaining, with their own power supplies. The hospital employs thousands of people. I was completely amazed at how many different people were involved either directly or indirectly in my care. Most of these people have good, well paying jobs and they know it. One of the guys pushing me around on a gurney said it took him a full year just to learn how to navigate the huge labyrinth that is the hospital campus.

If you want to see diversity in action, spend a week in a large hospital. I've never talked at length to so many black people in my entire life. It was a good experience. The lead surgeon doing my abdominal surgery yesterday was an Iranian woman. Most of my nurses were black. Lots of people with high level jobs were middle eastern or Indian. There were lots of white people too, but they were not a majority. 

It was interesting to spend a week with these people. I learned a lot. There are definite cultural differences, but it was all good. The young white nurses were very serious about diet and nutrition and were quite specific about what I should eat after I was discharged. One nurse had a Vitamix just like mine and we shared smoothie recipes. The black nurses told me to eat what I wanted and be happy. My favorite nurse told me to be sure to order the brisket for lunch yesterday and I did. It was delicious and of course the meat was full of fat. Everybody asks you to confirm your birthday when they do anything. When two young black guys who were transporting me to the operating room asked me for my birthday I said Juneteenth and they immediately smiled and started laughing. "Juneteenth boy," they said. "That's good."

My hospital journey isn't over yet. When the gastrointestinal team did their thing on Wednesday they discovered that something is wrong with my esophasgus. I have Barrett's esophagus, caused by years of acid reflux. They want to do an Endoscopic resection, which uses an endoscope to remove damaged cells to aid in the detection of dysplasia and cancer. This will take place about three months from now. What the hell. I've gone this far, I might as well keep going. I really do have a terrible problem with acid reflux and maybe these guys can fix it.

I became familiar with medicine by taking good care of dogs. Most of the conditions I was treated for this week were very familiar to me. Spot and Dash both had stones that had to be removed surgically. Dawn had stones as well. Dot had major abdominal surgery and almost died. All our dogs needed special diets at one point of another. The whole process of doing extensive blood work before administering anesthesia was very familiar. Every dog we've ever had has been under anesthesia. Our dogs made this weeks experience less scary to me. I'd been down this road before. I'm a grumpy person by nature and you'd think this weeks experience would have made me mad. It was actually kind of uplifting.  I feel a little better about everything today.

Cammy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4263

The surgery team gets up early. By 7:30 AM they had me wheeled down to the surgical suite. First they took me to a waiting room where a variety of people came in and introduced themselves. Then I went to anesthesia prep, where various tubes were prepared and inserted. Finally, I was wheeled to the operating room itself. The room was big and very bright. There were four large very bright movable lights on the ceiling and lots of sophisticated looking machines. It looked serious. Everyone was very nice and surprisingly casual. I guess it was just another day at the office for these guys.

I got into a conversation with one of the anesthesia techs about the food I would have to give up after having may gallbladder removed. The tech said she loved nuts too, but loves chips even more. This started a general conversation about munchies, and pretty soon the anesthesia team started talking about how they hoped Texas would legalize marijuana soon. Jeez. I was about the be anesthetized by a bunch of stoners. No criticism here. These kids were young, but they were all very professional. When the head anesthesiologist entered the room they all got very serious and quickly quit talking about munchies.

Being anesthetized is weird. You talk to people about what's about to happen, they put you to sleep, and then it seems like you wake up an instant later and it's all over. Pain medicine is so good now that you feel no pain at all. The surgeon told me that if the procedure went well I would have four very small incisions on my belly. If there were complications, there would be one very large incision that stretched across my belly. When I woke up there were four very small incisions and I was happy. This type of surgery is done using a procedure called laparoscopic cholecystectomy. A small camera is inserted through one incision. Instruments that cut the gallbladder from the body are inserted through a second incision. The gallbladder is pulled out through a third slightly larger incision near the belly button. I have no idea what the fourth incision is for. All my surgeons have been women. I've heard that this is because they are generally more dexterous with the very delicate instruments that are used for laparoscopic surgery. The surgery evidently went perfectly. I feel about the same as I do after a strenuous day at the gym. There is a tightness in my belly that feels like I've done a hundred crunches, but that's about all.

Everybody here has been extremely nice and very professional. I still believe Baylor is the best hospital in Dallas. I changed my primary care physical several years ago to make sure that all my doctors were in the Baylor system and have never regretted my decision. I still hate going to the hospital and think most doctors over prescribe prescription medicine, but you've got to take care of yourself.

Hopefully, I will be out of here tomorrow. Basically being in a hospital for a long time is like being in a very nice prison. You do what they tell you. You eat what they tell you. You take lots of pills that you know in your heart are very dubious value. I take the pills though. I tend to trust the experts. I actually like talking to doctors. They are very smart and most lead interesting lives. Doctors are much nicer than advertising executives and not as arrogant as airline pilots. My little room is actually quite peaceful. I don't like being hooked up to tubes, but I'm getting used to it. Hospital beds are fabulous. I wish I could take one home with me because you can easily move them to a comfortable sleeping position without monkeying around with a bunch of pillows.

I've heard they won't release me tomorrow until I poop. That might be a problem. So far I'm feeling pretty good. Things go wrong as you grow older, but I'm trying my best to keep my ailments to a minimum.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4262

One down, one to go. I had a procedure today to remove stones from my bile duct and apparently it was successful. The procedure is called endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and involves passing an endoscope about the thickness of a finger down your throat, through your stomach, and into your intestine where it meets the bile ducts. Special tools are passed through the endoscope to grab and remove the stones. The process has been explained to me several times but it still seems incredibly complicated. The doctors seemed pleased with their results today. Tomorrow they will remove my gallbladder which is the source of these gallstones.

I've asked several doctors why we even have a gallbladder, since it is the most common organ to be removed. Apparently, you can live quite well without a gallbladder. Today I finally found an answer that made sense. The gallbladder only gets called into action when you eat really hard to digest foods. The bile the gallbladder produces breaks these foods down into compounds the body can digest. This is not good news for me. Among the foods that are hardest to digest are nuts and seeds. Jeez. I love nuts. They are my go to snack and I eat them every day. I had no idea that nuts are hard to digest. They are a healthy source of protein and much better to snack on than candy or chips. Oh, well. I guess I'm going to have to change my diet a bit.

I'm getting a much better idea of why medical care is so expensive. Every two hours someone is coming in my room and giving me some kind of test. I've lost track of how many blood tests I've had. Blood pressure and temperature are checked frequently and so are blood sugar levels. Every single time a nurse does something they ask me my name and birthdate and then check to see if if matches the information on my wristband. Sometime they give me little test to make sure I'm not senile. "Do you know where you are," they ask. "Why are you here?" Occasionally is gets ridiculous. "What month is this?" Can you remember what day it is without looking at your watch?" I'm not senile, but apparently the loud deaf lady next door is. I hear the nurses yelling questions to her, and the lady never knows the answers.

I can't figure out whether the hospital is padding the bill, or whether I actually need all this attention. I've never had so many meds in my life. I try to refuse some of the medication because I know from prior experience that it doesn't work on me or that I just don't need it. I wish they wouldn't give me so many pain pills. I"m not in that much pain at the moment. It's hard to get a nurse to change something that is one the schedule though. They follow orders.

I'm a little apprehensive about tomorrow's gallbladder surgery. This is real major surgery. I asked one of the doctors how long the operation takes. "Usually between 45 minutes and 4 hours,"  he told me. Wow. "Isn't that a pretty big range," I asked. "Sometimes there are complications," the doctor said. You always have to sign a ton to disclaimers and forms when you go to a hospital. I never read the fine print, but basically the hospital saying "is it OK is we accidentally kill you?"

I bet I've lost some weight. I haven't had any food today at all. I can't eat tomorrow either since I've got another surgery. A nurse asked me if I'd had a bowel movement today. Nope. Nothing in, nothing out. It's been a long day. You'd think it would be easy to sleep in a hospital since you are just sitting in bed most of the time. It's almost impossible to sleep though. Hospitals run on a 24 hour schedule and nurses think nothing of popping in at 3 AM. The machines I'm hooked up to start beeping a lot and have to be reset. Last night one of these machines had to be reset every two hours.

Pinkey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4261

Well, this was a big surprise. I'm at the hospital. It looks like I'm going to need surgery tomorow. I wasn't expecting this at all when I began to have stomach pains yesterday. Today the pain got a lot worse. Janet said that I'd better call my doctor and my doctor said I'd better get down to the hospital quick. The pain was pretty bad today. I threw up several times. I thought that I was throwing up blood, but then I remembered that my morning smoothie was pink. I'm pretty sure I just threw up my smoothie.

Janet dropped me off at the hospital and then I began the long wait as I was shuffled around from one department to another. The last thing I wanted to do was be in a hospital during a Covid surge, but here we are. After several blood tests and a sonogram, I finally talked to a doctor. The doctor said that I had stones in my bile duct that needed to be removed and that my gall bladder was full of stones. That needs to be removed as well. For the first procedure they will snake a camera and a thin wire down my throat, stomach and intestines to reach the bile duct and remove the stores. This sounds incredibly difficult to me, but the surgeon assured me that he does this every day. There is a small risk of pancreatitis and an even smaller risk of perforating the intestine wall, but the surgeon didn't seem worried. Surgeons never seem worried.

The next day I will have a second surgery to remove my gall bladder. This type of endoscopic surgery is supposed to be minimally invasive with a quick recover time. There is still cutting involved though. I hate the cutting. I'm going to be here a while. They said they planned to release me on Friday morning.

My doctor showed me how to use a special physician referral door to the emergency room. This saves a lot of time. Between some of the tests this evening I was pushed into the general emergency room waiting area for about an hour. This place seemed like one of Dante's circles of hell. People were coughing and half of them probably had Covid. For once I was really glad I was wearing a good N-95 mask. I was glad to return to a private room for the remainder of my tests. I heard that there was a six hour wait for walk ins  at the emergency room.

I wasn't expecting to stay overnight, so I asked Janet to bring me my electric razor, a toothbrush, clean underwear, a laptop, and charging cords for all my devices. My phone and watch are dead. I'm actually writing this blog entry on Wednesday morning and backdating it to Tuesday. With all the tests going on, there was no way to write this evening.

Hopefully, everything goes well tomorrow. I don't like hospitals and dislike surgery even more. It is what is is though. This needs to be done and it would be stupid of me to ignore the problem. The doctors said it was a good thing I came in today because if I'd waited there would have been a good chance for a severe liver infection. The last surgery I had was knee surgery back in the early 1970's. I guess it's finally time to do this again.

Hero is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4260

Charlie, Cooper and Bullet are all still at the kennel. I guess the people who looked at Bullet decided not to take him. All three dogs were very playful today. They certainly had more energy than I did. Charlie has a strong prey drive and tries to kill every toy in the room. Cooper tries to show us how fast he can run. Bullet makes us laugh because he is so goofy. There is still a lot of puppy in him.

Dawn did well on her sunrise walk this morning. She appears to be feeling a lot better. I think we can discontinue the Rimadyl now. This is all trial and error, but we can start the medication again if she still feels uncomfortable. So far there is very little paw licking. It's too bad she got scared at the vet the other day and tore up her paws again. We had almost gotten the problem solved.

I had a horrible stomach ache today. I have no idea why. I basically eat the same thing every day. This felt different than the acid reflux I often suffer from. I didn't feel good up at the kennel at all, but I took a nap when we returned home and eventually I started feeling better. I thought a long, slow walk would help so I decided to go to the gym even though it was late in the day. Unfortunately, rush hour traffic was so bad that I couldn't even get out of the driveway. I took a short walk in the 97 degree heat instead. The walk did help my stomach ache but didn't help anything else. I didn't walk that far, but I was hot, tired, and sweaty by the time I returned home.

I didn't feel like eating tonight and only had a small salad and and even smaller slice of cake. I didn't even feel like having a beer this evening, which is rare. Hopefully I will be back to normal in the morning. I hate to miss meals. Eating and walks are basically all I do these days.

I've got to decide whether to go out to the observatory next month. I'm a bit surprised that they haven't already canceled the upcoming outreach events because of the recent Covid surge in Texas. Maybe the surge hasn't reach far West Texas yet. During the first round of the disease, Fort Davis was about two months behind the rest of the state. The infections did arrive though and they probably will this time as well. I'd rather go out to the observatory in October anyway. The weather is better then and maybe the current Covid spike will have died down. Maybe rent cars will be cheaper as well. Renting a car is a little pricy now and the selection of cars is terrible. One more example of our increasingly dysfunctional world. This might as well be a zombie movie we're living in. Nothing works smoothly anymore.

I've got to go back to the dentist later this week. This time it's for a filling in one of my lower front teeth. Hopefully, this will be the end of my dental woes for a while. I never think much about doctor visits because insurance pays for everything. Dental visits are different. I have no dental insurance and dental procedures can be very pricey. I'd much rather buy a new camera lens than pay for a filling.

Fall can't come soon enough. I'm really getting tired of these hot summer days. The days do seem shorter now. Our sunrise walks start a little later. We used to have to leave by 6:30 to avoid the sun. Now 6:45 seems fine. I complain a lot, but we've actually been very lucky this summer. The vegetation is still green and there have been no floods, tornados, or wildfires. No wonder so many people want to move here.

Mickey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4259

I stayed busy today. We got a late start on our sunrise walk, but it was still nice outside. Dawn was eager to walk today. She was full of energy and enthusiasm this morning, even though we still basically just completed our basic one mile loop. The Rimadyl must be working because she showed little signs of discomfort today. The main problem with the Rimadyl is that we had to temporarily stop her allergy medicine and Dawn has started licking her paws again. It's always three steps forward, two steps back. If the licking started again when the allergy medication stopped, it must mean that the medicine works. We're going to stop the Rimadyl in a day or so, so hopefully we can get back to some semblance of normality very soon.

I took my long walk right after breakfast to avoid the heat as much as I could. We could have taken Dawn on her Sunday outing right after breakfast, but we wanted to give her time to rest after her sunrise walk. I completed my full six mile route and was surprised at how many people I saw out on the trails. People still like to exercise in the summer. They just do it earlier.

The temperature was warmer when we took Dawn on her Sunday outing but we stayed under shade trees while we were walking and only traveled half of our usual distance. Dawn was happy. She got to smell new things and didn't get overheated. As always, we finished our little excursion with ice cream cones. The price for the ice cream has gone up. I'm not surprised. The price for absolutely everything has gone up.

This afternoon I went and got the 2022 registration sticker for my car. You have to do the safety inspection first and then you can get the window sticker. You used to be required to put two stickers on your window, but now the safety inspection information is just transmitted electronically to the registration department, eliminating the need for one sticker. I remember when it was a major job to scrape the old stickers off your windshield. You had to use a single edged razor blade and there was still a lot of sticky residue when you were finished. The new stickers can be applied and removed easily and don't leave any residue at all. I appreciate progress wherever you happen to find it. The new stickers are much better.

I certainly don't see much progress whenever I turn on the television. I guess this is what woke America looks like. You've got a bunch of people more concerned about non-binary pronouns than about what is happening outside their little inwardly focused world. They talk a good game about climate change, while completely exempting China and India from the equation. They want everyone to drive an electric car, completely forgetting that our electric grid can't even handle the use of air conditioners in the summer. They think that removing performance requirements for math and science in schools will create a greater sense of equity. Dumb and dumber is what it will create. I could go on and on. The Afghanistan fiasco might be the last straw. We are no longer a serious nation and the whole world knows it. China totally wins the long game here and they didn't even have to fire a shot.

If I'm smart I won't even turn on the television tomorrow. We've got Dalmatians to visit at the kennel and there's plenty to do around the house. I'm thinking of writing an article about Johnson Space Center. It's one of the few places that I've visited extensively that I've never written about at all. 

Lance it today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4258

Dawn didn't want to walk this morning. She still seems uncomfortable after the bladder stone removal procedure. The vet said this was normal, but I hate to see her this way. She's always waiting for the other shoe to drop anyway. We got her some Rimadyl for pain and that seemed to help. We would never use Rimadyl on a long-term basis, but it is effective for short-term pain management. Dawn will only need to take the pills for a few days.

I stopped at a little Mexican garage on my way to the gym this morning and got my safety inspection done. They were so quick that I wasn't sure that they did anything at all. I got the paperwork I needed to get my window sticker though. The little garage was a pleasant surprise. It takes forever to get the simplest thing done at the Land Rover dealer and it's always so expensive. My car is getting older. Maybe it's time to abandon the dealership.

It works out well to go to the gym before I do my grocery shopping on Saturday morning. I wonder when they are going to get their machines fixed. They are currently having a campaign to get new members, but I don't think anyone is going to be impressed by the growing number of 'temporarily out of service' signs on the exercise equipment. Maybe I ought to start using the weight room more. Free weights don't break.

Everyone is wearing masks again in grocery stores. There are no mask mandate signs on the doors anymore, but there are enough stories out there about dire 'long Covid' side effects and fully vaccinated people getting the virus that fewer people want to take chances. I certainly don't want to get sick. I've never really liked crowds anyway. This virus will give me all the excuses I need to remain an aloof loner forever.

I got a letter from my editor at SpaceFlight Magazine today saying that he was no longer with the magazine. This sucks. I really liked working with the guy and it took me forever to build a relationship with the magazine. Now I'm going to have to start all over again with the new editor. I'm not having a lot of luck getting published again at Sky and Telescope either. Most of their articles are scientific in nature. I just got lucky when they became interested in publishing my astronomy related travel article.

My Fitbit died at the gym this morning. I'm afraid I'm going to have to get a new one. The battery isn't holding a charge anymore. I can get it to charge by using a higher wattage charger, but it won't stay charged very long. I watched a YouTube video showing how to change a Fitbit battery yourself. Lots of luck with that. I'd have as much luck fixing a Fitbit by hitting it with a hammer as I would by taking it apart. My hands just aren't that dexterous.

We're not sure that Dawn will want to take her Sunday outing tomorrow. She didn't want to walk today and we don't want to push her. We'll see how she feels in the morning. Even if she doesn't feel like walking, I'm sure she'll still be up for an ice cream cone.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4257

Dawn is fine. The vet was able to flush a large number of stones from her bladder and no surgery was needed. I was a little worried when the vet called while I was fixing breakfast and told me that Dawn's bladder was empty. He wondered if we had let her go pee before we brought her over. Nope. We did everything exactly as we were instructed. It turned out that Dawn had peed in her kennel run while they were getting ready to do the procedure. Plan B was to give her intravenous fluids and let her bladder fill again. This worked and a few hours later the stones were removed. Her teeth were cleaned as well while she was under anesthesia so she wouldn't have to be anesthetized again a few months later for her scheduled annual teeth cleaning. A sonogram after the procedure confirmed that all the stones are gone and Dawn was able to come home early this afternoon. The vet told us to expect blood in her urine for a day of two, but that the procedure had gone very well.

I'm sure today's events won't do much to alleviate Dawn's fear of riding in the car. Is she going for an ice cream cone at Andy's, or a trip to the vet? Both destinations are in the same general direction. Being anesthetized today certainly didn't ruin her appetite. Dawn was really hungry this evening and I had to feed her a little early.

I was planning to get my car safety inspected today, but the two places I tried both had long wait times and wanted me to leave the car. I used to be able to go to the Land Rover dealer and get an inspection done in fifteen minutes. Those days are gone. When I called Land Rover today they told me that a state inspection would take at least five hours. What this really means is that the dealership is short handed and there aren't enough mechanics. Apparently, nothing works smoothly in a post Covid world. So many things I used to take for granted just don't function the way they used to.

This morning was pleasant, but by the time Dawn was safely home again and sleeping on the bed it had become far too hot for a walk in the park. I went to the gym and discovered that even more treadmills had broken since my last visit. Another example of a dysfunctional world. Why is it proving so hard to fix these machines? There must be over a dozen broken treadmills now. Since we didn't take a sunrise walk with Dawn this morning, I had to work a little longer to get today's steps. Three miles inside always seems a lot longer than three miles outside.

Now that school is back in session, I've had to change my route to a number of locations. You definitely don't want to get stuck in a line of cars waiting to pick their kids up from school. If you are near a school zone, the right hand line is often completely blocked with cars and the other lanes become even more crowded. Drivers in Dallas are rude on a nice day. When school is in session they become even worse.

It would be hard to find someone less interested in politics than I am, but I'm horrified at what's happening in Afghanistan. Why won't Biden just admit that he screwed up royally? It was his decision alone to remove the military before protecting the civilians. He keeps doubling down, blaming everyone else, and looking befuddled and senile while he's doing it. If this is what 'having an adult in charge' looks like, we're all in big trouble.

It's time to make a grocery list again. Whenever I'm out and about, it's become increasingly apparent that merchants and their customers have grown sick of all the conflicting social distancing and mask mandates. It's a free for all now and everyone is just doing what they want. 

Blackjack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day