Monday, October 8, 2012, Garrison, TX

Monday, October 8, 2012, Garrison, TX

My Swollen Bruised Thigh

Last night I went to bed around 11pm. In the early morning hours it rained quite a bit. I took some pain Medication and slept late. We had our coffee and computer time. Gerri cut my hair before it was time to go to my doctor appointment. Herb drove us in to Nacogdoches. While I was waiting to see the doctor they took x-rays. Of course I had to go through my medical history; I had already filled out the forms. We had picked them up Thursday when the appointment was made. The doctor told me that the only damage to the knee was arthritis on the inside of the knee causing a bone on bone condition. That was probably the cause of the original pain I felt on the 29^th of September. He said that eventually my out of whack INR had caused the internal bleeding, thus the swelling and most of the pain. At first the doctor seemed be leaving it up to me whether or not to try to aspirate some of the fluid from my knee, during our discussion he seemed more sure that was the way to go. I had pretty much decided to go that way to relieve the pain. The doctor did say that the only fix for the knee was to eventually have knee replacement surgery. He did say it might be possible to drain more fluid in a week or two to speed up the healing and that we should have no trouble finding someone to do it in the Austin or San Antonio areas.
I also got another order for a PT/INR to check my Coumadin level and we went around the corner to a lab for that. They will fax the results to Dr. Davis who I saw Thursday and to Dr. Wirtz in Las Vegas.

Boudin Balls 

We decided to have an early supper and stopped at a local hamburger place, The Butcher Boy, for that. Herb had a patty melt and the rest of us had regular hamburgers. Did I say, regular? They were large patties and almost as good as the ones John got us in Las Vegas from a meat company where he used to work. Herb and Jo Nell shared fries and Gerri and I had an order of Boudin Balls and fried Okra. The Boudin Balls were dirty rice and sausage breaded and deep fried. They weren't as good as they sounded, kind of blah compared to Boudain I had in the past, the sausage should have been a lot spicier.
Back at the house we played a final game of Mexican Train, as is often the case Herb won, Gerri came in second. I went back to the coach and iced down my leg. Gerri had done the rest of our wash in the house and she then put things away and went inside for a final visit.

We plan on having breakfast in the morning and hope to leave for Austin between 9 and 9:30.

Sunday, October 7, 2012, Garrison, TX

Sunday, October 7, 2012, Garrison, TX

We slept in this morning. Herb and Jo Nell went to church. I had my coffee and caught up on my e-mail, then tuned in to Bible Study from Oakey. Later we tuned in to the worship service. We had a few connection problems early on but they cleared up.

By the time our worship service was over Herb and Jo Nell had come home. We then went in to their house. This was the first time I had been out of the motor home since seeing the doctor Thursday. They had eaten lunch so Gerri and I had a cheese and cracker snack and we all played dominoes until supper time. Gerri managed to do three loads of wash during the time we were playing dominoes and eating dinner.

We had leftover beans and cornbread followed by ice cream and strawberries over a Krispy Kreme donut. It was Gerri's suggestion for the donuts to get eaten up...not bad at all.

After dinner we finished a game we had started before eating. Gerri and I managed to lose them all.

After our last game we came back to the motor home and I tried to tune into church services but couldn't get a connection to hold more than a few minutes. Herb came over to the motor home and collected our trash as tomorrow is their trash pick-up day.

It was cool last night and never warmed up very much today. We ran the heater last night during supper and Herb's furnace came on at least once this afternoon.

Brandon called us tonight, he is feeling better and thanked us for the new bike he received for his birthday. We went in with his parents on the cost. He was able to go out today and ride it

My leg is still swollen and stiff, painful when I move certain ways, and there is a lot of black and blue. I have a doctor appointment tomorrow afternoon. I hope the swelling has cleared up to get a MRI done. I also hope it's well enough to drive to Austin on Tuesday to get this trip back on track.

 

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.