Saturday, October 6, 2012, Garrison, TX

Saturday, October 6, 2012, Garrison, TX
I didn't have a lot of pain last night. I don't know if that is because of the meds or my leg is healing. I have a lot of bruises starting to show. Even though I didn't have much pain during the night, when I try to bend my leg it's a different story. I have been using a walker that Herb used when he had his knee replacement. Getting around using the walker is much easier than with the cane. I can put some weight on my right leg when walking with the walker. I am continuing to massage using ice, sometimes the messaging hurts a little.

Some of you may know that we aren't the only ones off on travels. Gerri's sister, Montyne, her husband and another couple are on a sailing trip around the coast of Baja California. Their travels can be followed at these websites: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0A0nXMZWPiUWe9mpylEDRQIYhKqy80UPg and http://www.sailblogs.com/member/seasilk-mx


Jo Nell sent over a movie for me to watch, War Horse.  I couldn't get either of our DVR's to read the disk and ended up watching it on my computer.  Something else I have forgotten how to do or that needs fixed.

Frank, Herb and Jo Nell

We had Herb and Jo Nell over for supper. Gerri fixed a bean soup and Jo Nell brought over corn bread.  Jo Nell joked that this was the first time they had ever eaten at our house.  Of course our house isn't normally parked 20 yards from their front door.
After supper we played dominoes. Herb and Jo Nell won one each.

 

 

Friday, October 5, 2012, Garrison, TX

Friday, October 5, 2012, Garrison, TX
I slept pretty well last night. My leg seemed better and the swelling had gone down some. I spent some time on the computer. After a while my leg was becoming uncomfortable, so I went back and lay down with an ice pack.
Off and on I massaged my leg and iced it down. At times it seemed better at others not so much better.
Gerri spent part of her time taking care of me and part in the house visiting. She brought me a couple of donuts about midday as Herb had bought a dozen and was pushing them, sticky, but good-o. Herb and Jo Nell also came out to see how I was doing. 
Gerri started cooking a big pot of variety of beans for tomorrow night's dinner. The weather is to change from the 80's to the 60's with Saturday night lows going down into the 40's, so it will be a cool weekend. Beans and cornbread always hit the spot.
In the mid-afternoon I took a pill for the pain and went to bed again. I had a low grade fever for awhile but it had gone away by supper time. Jo Nell had made tacos and Gerri brought me some. 

Brandon and his 6th Birthday Bicycle

Gerri also called Brandon to wish him a happy 6^th birthday. He has been sick for the past two days and was not feeling very well to talk on the phone. We will check on him tomorrow.
I listened to some old time radio, Gunsmoke and Dragnet while I iced and messaged my leg.
I went back to bed at 9 PM. After that Gerri came back from the house, no dominoes as all attention was given to the Texas-Baltimore baseball wildcard game. She left with the score being 3-1 in favor of Baltimore and hoping Texas can get a few more runs to win the game.
Not a very exciting or active day. I'm hoping that the rest will do my leg good.

Thursday, October 4, 2012, Garrison, TX

Thursday, October 4, 2012, Garrison, TX
I had a lot more pain in my right leg during the night, although the swelling has gone down a little. We drove to the hospital in Nacogdoches to have my blood drawn for another PT/INR.


We then went to a restaurant, Clear Springs, to have lunch. We got there a little before two and we all had the lunch special with two entrees. We all had catfish as one and each a different second choice. We also ordered a small order of onion rings, the lunch came with fries and hush puppies.

Jo Nell and Herb Perley

Frank and  Gerri Barker  Jo Nell and Herb Perley

By the time lunch was over I could barely walk back to the car. We decided to stop back at the doctor's office and see if Dr. Davis could do anything more. Basically he couldn't. He did get the results of the earlier PT/INR. My level was 5.6, even after skipping two doses. Dr. Davis did recommend that I skip the dose until Saturday and then take 3mg instead of my normal 4mg. I still have some 3mg tablets from when I went to 4mg. He also recommended that we aggressively message the swollen area using ice to try and speed up dispersing the swelling. He also made an appointment for me to see an orthopedic surgeon Monday, with hope that the swelling will have gone down and that doctor could aspirate more fluid from the knee. Other than that I'll just have to "suck it up" and get through it.
Back at the coach, I put on the new knee immobilizer. The first one broke and we had to exchange it for a new one. I iced up the knee and slept some, my leg was really jerky and I didn't sleep well or long.
I got on the computer and finished yesterday's Blog. I also called Todd and Curtis about my injury and to update them on our plans. Of course our plans depend on how the knee progresses.
Our plan had been to drive to Spring, TX to visit my cousins in that area and my Aunt and Uncle from Corpus Christi. With my not being able to drive those plans are out. We still hope for enough improvement that we can leave here on Tuesday and go to the park we plan to stay at in Austin. There we will visit our friends Carl and Joyce Wolf. If we can go there Dr. Davis will find us a doctor in that area if I need further treatment. If I need more treatment Austin is close enough to Kyle that we can still visit Curtis and his family. If by that time I don't need treatment we will go to an RV park in Kyle, TX and visit with Curtis. And resume our trip as planned.

Gerri and an old Nacogdoches sign, the population is about 28000 now

While I was hanging out in the coach, Gerri had dinner with Herb and Jo Nell, she brought me a sandwich, cantaloupe and strawberries. After their meal they played a game of dominoes, which Gerri won, she brought me peach cobbler and ice cream.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012, Garrison, TX

Wednesday, October 3, 2012, Garrison, TX
Breakfast was planned this morning at 11AM. My leg hurt more than yesterday and was noticeably swollen. Gerri made an appointment to see a doctor that Herb sees for 1 o'clock.
After breakfast we headed for Nacogdoches to see the doctor. We got there a little early, even after stopping at a FedEx office to send some papers to Glenna's investment councilor, Steven Reed. I still have to find a Chase branch to close her credit cards and to stop Chase from sending the balances from her checking and savings accounts to the state of Nevada. The accounts are small unrelated to her death we had received notice that they were inactive and will be sent to the state after October 6^th.
Of course before seeing the doctor I had to fill out four pages of paper work that no one will ever read. The first bright spot in the visit was my weight, 214 dressed. I think the scale was broken. The second bright spot was my blood pressure, 124/74. The only other good news was that the doctor was sure my problem wasn't a blood clot. This opinion was based on my taking Coumadin and that my last 
PT/INR had been high. After poking, prodding and manipulating my leg, his diagnosis was that I had injured my leg and that caused the bleeding and swelling. He said it was probably a torn Meniscus, but there was no way to tell until the swelling and bleeding had cleared up enough for an effective MIR. He wanted to try to drain the fluid off the knee to relieve the pain and swelling. Of course I wanted the pain and swelling to go away too, so he went ahead with his needles and drained a little fluid, mostly blood, from three places. He only got a small amount as the blood had started to congeal. He gave me an order for a blood draw to recheck the PT/INR and a prescription for a knee immobilizer and we were on our way. We stopped at a drug store that also handles medical supplies and they fitted me with the knee immobilizer. One of the first things we found out was I couldn't get in the car with it on.

We started out of Nacogdoches headed for Garrison. Just outside town there was a traffic blockage. It looked like a stalled vehicle but when we passed we could see a man slumped over the wheel. We turned around to see if he needed medical help. Two other cars had stopped and one of the drivers was on her cell phone. Herb asked the driver if he was OK. That apparently woke him up and he drove away, Herb thought his eyes were still shut. We and another driver followed him. At first he seemed to be driving alright but then started to weave around. Jo Nell called 9-1-1 and was giving the dispatcher updates as we drove. The man pulled his truck over on the shoulder and started looking through some things in the bed of the truck, he had an unlit cigarette in his mouth. When the other driver that had followed approached him he got back in the truck and drove off. As the other driver went back to his vehicle all he said was that something is wrong with him, we were never close enough to tell if he had been drinking. We followed the truck again, Jo Nell still on te phone . This time he was driving much faster and turned on a side road before we got close. The dispatcher told Jo Nell that a police car was coming and advised that we not follow the truck down the side road. We continued on toward Garrison, we passed a sheriff's care going the other way but never found out if they had located the truck. We hadn't been in a position to get the license number but had given the dispatcher the name of the company name that was painted on the truck. Hopefully everything turned out alright.
We stopped at an antique store in Garrison to buy me another "Where the Heck is Garrison, Texas" T-shirt but they didn't have my size.
Back at the house we played a game of Mexican Train and I iced my leg. After the game and before supper I laid down with an icepack on my knee and wearing the immobilizer. We had left over BBQ ribs and chicken for dinner and then played another domino game. I won this one.
After we went back to the coach, we caught up on e-mail but the internet was slow, we went to bed at about 11:00.

 

Tuesday, October 2, 2012, Garrison, TX

Tuesday, October 2, 2012, Garrison, TX

We tried to sleep in this morning, and did a fair job of it. We had coffee in the coach and tried to do some things on the computer but it was very slow. The slowness of the internet connection was the reason Monday's Blog was posted so late on Tuesday.

My right leg is still hurting, especially after sitting for awhile. It never hurt today like it did yesterday after driving from Vidalia, LA to Garrison, TX.

Gerri went into the house before me. She, Herb and Jo Nell were on the back patio finishing their coffee. Herb had started the smoker and was fixing ribs, chicken and brisket. We played a game of Mexican Train and then had last night's leftovers for lunch. After lunch we played another game of Mexican Train.

In the afternoon we went back to the coach, planning on some computer time and maybe a nap. E-mail comes in pretty good but anything that involves website is slowwww. I laid on the couch a couple of times but never got to sleep. Once I heard my computer reboot, I guess the power went off briefly because the clock on the microwave was blinking. When we were in Mississippi we were parked under Oak trees and acorns fell on the roof at irregular intervals. Here in Texas it is pecans and they are 4 or 5 times bigger than the acorns. I think Gerri may have dozed off for a few minutes until I said something to her.

I did get some paperwork filled out to mail back to Chase to close out my mother's investment accounts with them. That paperwork has to be sent FedEx to a Chase branch in Santa Ana, CA. I think there is a FedEx office in Garrison. The other things I have all the paperwork ready for requires me to stop a Chase Branch. One to present her death certificate to keep money from small savings and checking accounts that have been inactive from going to the state as abandoned property. This one didn't have anything to do with her death; it just happened that we got the inactivity notice after she died. The other thing I have to do at a branch is close her credit card accounts and pay the balance on the one she used. The closest Chase branch is in Tyler, about 75 miles. The amounts in the accounts and owed on the credit card aren't enough to justify driving 150 miles to take care of. I hope to do those things Friday, either on the way to or after we get to Spring, TX. There is a deadline to stop the money from the two inactive accounts going to the state of 10/6/2012. I figure it will be easier if I stop the transfer than to claim the money and get it back from the state of Nevada later.

Late in the afternoon we played more dominoes before supper. We had the chicken, ribs and brisket that Herb had smoked earlier along with rolls and a squash dish. Excellent meal, but it didn't look like we made a dent in the amount that Herb fixed. We played one more game of Mexican Train after supper. I even won one. We were still full from the big supper and no one had dessert, even though it was peach cobbler and ice cream.

We went to the coach at about 9:30 and I was ready to sleep at 10:30. Gerri was still clacking the keys on her computer but it didn't keep me from sleeping.

The month of October has started with us being in a beautiful place and visiting with family, it doesn't get much better.

 

Monday, October 1, 2012, Garrison, TX

Monday, October 1, 2012, Garrison, TX

Fog shrouded Mississippi

We got up at and were ready to travel by 9 AM. The only thing I had to do outside was unhook from the power. It wasn't raining but the fog was pretty heavy, but not enough to interfere with driving. We headed west and south. The plan was to stop and visit the Silver Dollar Pawn Shop (Cajun Pawn Stars) in Alexandria, LA. We got there and parked across the street. My leg had stiffened up while driving and I had trouble walking. I took a picture of the outside of the building and we continued toward Herb and Jo Nell's in Garrison, TX.

Silver Dollar Pawn, Cajun Pawn Stars

When we started the coach back up in Alexandria the Navcon 5000 unit didn't work. We had this problem a couple of years ago and the unit reset after the ignition was off. I tried that a couple of times, no luck. This unit is the radio, navigation, information and backup camera. The only thing on the screen was the first warning screen about operating the vehicle and navigation system at the same time. The radio was playing but there was no way to change the station or volume.
Most of the morning I had felt like I was coming down with something so in addition to the Tylenol I was taking for my leg I started taking an antiiotic. By afternoon the spacey feeling had gone away but my right leg was still very stiff and sore when I tried to walk.

We are parked where the marker is

As we got nearer Herb and Jo Nell house, I followed the Gremlin, er Garmin, and turned on FM-1970, they live on FM-1971. The GPS showed the roads intersected. They may but not before a couple of miles of dirt road. I don't mind driving dirt roads, but on this one the tree branches were too low for the coach. We unhooked the Jeep and turned around, and back to US-84 and a few miles on to the correct FM road brought us to Herb and Jo Nell's driveway. When I was unhooking the Jeep and for awhile after arriving at our destination my right knee was stiff and painful to the point it was hard to walk.
We drove a total of 230 miles today in 6 hours.
Herb guided me to our customary parking spot and I got the coach leveled, the slides out and the shore power connected. For some reason my leg got easier to walk on.
I finished yesterday's blog and posted it. I took the MiFi into the house for Gerri to use. After awhile the battery went dead, it seems the charger stopped working.
Jo Nell fixed a great supper. After supper we played a game of Dominoes, Chicken Foot. Of course Herb won. After Dominos we had peach cobbler and ice cream.
Gerri and I had been up early the last two mornings so we retired to the coach to called it a night. I did plug in the MiFi using my phone's charger and after awhile it was charged up enough to get on line, the service was still very slow.  Slow, intermittent service accounts for my being so late in posting.


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Sunday, September 30, 2012, Vidalia, LA

Sunday, September 30, 2012, Vidalia, LA
I woke up before daylight to the sound of rain on the roof. We got up about 7 AM. Last night we decided that we would leave Columbus a day early. I had done everything last night except unplug the electric and hook up the Jeep. The rain alternated between a light drizzle and a brisk shower. We managed to get hooked up without getting more than damp. Since it was raining I decided to not dump the sewer at Dewayne Hayes but instead wait until we get to Vidalia. Before getting out of Columbus I stopped for fuel at a Shell station at US-45 and US-82. We aren't used to seeing Shell selling the cheapest fuel around. As we drove west and then south it rained lightly and then heavily. This alternated until we were about 25 miles from Natchez. The RV park we were headed to in Vidalia was just across the Mississippi from Natchez, MS in Vidalia, LA. I missed a sign showing a turn to the RV Park as I headed to where the GPS showed the entrance. Turns out the main road into the park is temporarily closed. We had to do a big circle back and follow the sign.
I got a little worried when RVs passed us on the park entrance road going the other way. It turns out there was a BBQ contest that had just been finished along with Jim Bowie Days in Vidalia plus a large gun show in the Natchez Convention Center just across the river. I was told that yesterday the park was full.

This is a full hook up park so after arriving I hooked everything up and dumped the sewer. Since it looked like the rain would continue, I disconnected the sewer and city water after dumping the holding tanks and filling the fresh water tank. That way I don't think I will get too wet while getting ready to leave in the morning. I hope it clears up enough to walk the 100 yards or so over to the river for pictures. We have put this place on our long list of places to spend more time.
Gerri made BLT sandwiches for supper, I had three. In my defense they were on sandwich thins. They were the best I have had for a long time..
At 6 PM Las Vegas time we tuned into the worship service at Oakey Blvd. The message was delivered by Tristan Kirkpatrick. What a great job he did. He made many points on how to live in the world but not partake in sins and how to prepare while young for a less sinful life later in life.
It rained off and on all evening, sometimes heavily, with water running off the slide awnings by the bucket full.
My right knee is still giving me problems. It is better but I still can't kneel on my right leg when doing things around the outside of the motor home. When I go up or down the steps it pays to remember what my mother's therapist once said, good foot up, bad foot down.