STROKE

I am a Survivor !!!

For those that do not know, on June 16, 2010 I suffered a "Stroke" on my left side, it was awful, I was in Syracuse New York at the New York State Institute Stroke Center, excellent treatment, and physical therapy, I had a blood clot in my right ceratoid artery that broke free and lodged in my right side of the brain, It was horrible, I could not walk, move, I had seizures, drooled and not much smarts.........  Lots of prayer, rehab and love of a good woman helped me get almost back to 100 %.  I am a Stroke Survivor.
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They removed the blood clot in the Brain in 2010 by inserting a small tube into the Brain thru the Groin and threading it up into the head and using dye found the loose clots and suctioning it all out, awful thing to go thru but saved my life.
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Friday the 25 of July I felt yucky, Saturday Night I ended up in the Emergency Room, left side numb, could not stand, sick to my stomach, vision blurred,  I spent the whole evening and morning in ER and at 7AM I was transported to the Stroke Center in Syracusr, NY, it was a little over an hour ride in the back of the ambulance and was kind of rough!!! 
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I had a team of Neurosurgeons, a heart specialist, and I was tested with a MRI, Cat Scan, Echo of the Heart, X-Rays and contrast dye run thru the Brain and both carotoid arteries checked..  Wonderful people and staff, last time here I was in room 43, this time I was in room 44.
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I had what is called a "recurdance", it means my former Stroke Symptons came back in full devastating force, I received injestions in my stomach of "Lovenox" which is a heavy blood thinner, IV's of Sodium Chloride and an injection of Sodium Chloride infused with a dye and thousands of air bubbles which they filmed as they went thru my body.  
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I was not able to walk for 2 days but slowly am up walking a little, still rough shape but am a "Blessed Man"!!  There are many People in the Stroke Center who are far worse off than I.
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I am home, I am on many Prayer Chains, getting excellent treatment and am on the Mend. God is Good !!!

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Don't Forget, Remember the Vet!!!

 

Campers and travels

We went down to our Daughters and Anna Mae picked fresh beans, peas.  We will dig up a hill of potatoes and get a nice piece of ham, some heavy cream  and make soup.
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The garden here at West Side is doing great, this year they tested the soil and corrected it and the gardens grew like weeds.

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A long time ago it seems, we bought a camper, it was 19 feet long, I had an old Ford Club Cab with a bumper hitch, it had a ball and 4 way electric hook up,  the camper was blue, the bed was the kitchen table, you had to fold it down at night and fold it up in the morning for coffee.
It had no TV, just a radio, gas stove, Ice Block Fridg and a toilet and shower and sink.  we lived in it traveling to florida,  we went to Georgia and I saw a long lost high school buddy who has passed on now, from there we went to Florida to Port Charlotte and settled there.
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Above is me and Mike Hart, October, 1988, stopped in to see him in Appling Georgia,  we had not seen each other since 1965, just like old times. 
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We kept in touch a lot after that visit, Mike was Air Force and I was Navy.  He retired from the Telephone company and I from Law Enforcement.
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When I was in the Hospital and not doing very good Mike Jumped in his truck and drove up from Georgia to New York as he was worried I might not make it.  Rest in Peace Old Buddy!!!
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Above is Anna Mae in 1988 in front of our Camper and Old Ford as we slipped and slid all over the road trying to get out of New York State.  We made it out of New York.
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We settled in Port Charlotte/Harbor Heights and sold the camper and bought this trailer in the Peace River Camp Grounds, loved it there.
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This was us a few years back, I was working in Port Charlotte and My Honey was a stay at home bride for a while.  For some reason we left Florida and moved back to New York.
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Yes Sir we had to move from sunny, warm, ocean breeze, orange filled Florida back to New York.  Lord Have Mercy!!!
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Oh Well, it was all worth it as we have lots and lots of memories and gonna make a lot more of them!!!
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Back from Camping

We got home this afternoon after spending 3 awesome, enjoyable days at Whetstone State Park located up in Lewis County, New York,  The park has been around since the 1800's, it sits inside a 3 mile gorge cut into the shale on the Tug Hill Platue, it has 2,400 acres, a 500 acre reservoir stocked with tiger muskies an bass.  62 camp sites, 24 electric, showers and fire places, it is nice, we have been going here for years but finally got back to camping here !!
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We arrived and unhooked and set up the camper and site, plugged in and all set.
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My Honey enjoying the quiet and peacefulness of the Park.
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Groceries put away, water set, wood stacked and taking a breather.
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We are set for 3 days of relaxation!!!
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Doing some cooking as food always tastes best outside.
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Pictures are out of order for some reason so don't pay any attention to where they are!!!!!   This is my Honey eating Eggs, Sausage, Toast and fresh Coffee .
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Part of the Park is a walking trail that walks all the way around the gorge, we didn't walk around it just some easy places.
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Lots of things to look at in the trails, this is a weird looking tree, full of carved initials of people who stopped to look at!!
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The end of a Beautiful day, Lights out!!!!
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Great Breakfast of Eggs, sausage, toast, coffee

and also some orange juice, *(not fresh).

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Anna Mae is standing where the Road used to be, the spring run off from the snow melt was severe and the road is gone and is now a creek.
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This is the entrance to the Gorge Trail, it is strictly enforced and it is very deep and dangerous, we have walked parts of it but never the whole rim.

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My Honey having Breakfast!!!!

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Dinner was Salad, fresh grilled Burgers !!!

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Anna Mae looking over the spring run off damage that damaged a lot of the interior road and creek bed.
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Usually above the creek does not have all these rocks but now it does after spring snow melt and flooding.
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Some of the flood damage to the creek!

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Above is looking at the wash out and cave in of the banks along the creek.
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Above is a partial buried picnic table and a Fire pit buried by the spring flooding, this section of the park is no longer used.
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The rock slide area of the place that caused the road wash out and flooding.
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I am enjoying the camp fire, and a nice hot cup of coffee, it was almost 80 degrees and humid but enjoyable.
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We had a great 3 day break and looking forward to more time away!!
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Puttering around !!!

We went down and puttered around with the Camper,  Anna Mae put some things away in cupboards, I cleaned out the storage compartment where I store the Reciever, sway bars, hand cranks, and ax, wd-40, and tarps, ropes and wood leveling blocks.

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Above is the "Sway Bars" and hitch we put on the Camper, the receiver that goes on the KIA with the 2 inch ball weighs about 500 pounds it seems like, but actually it is about 80 pounds, seems heavier, we did not have sway bars on our first camper 25 years ago, we towed it to florida and only had it on a 2 inch ball with safety chains.
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Got Battery Charged, checked Fridge, Oven and all looks good.  Camper all clean and spiffy.
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Full Queen Bed in Front, gas stove, lots of storage, top right is microwave, dining room table and makes into a bed, but the camper only sleeps 2!!!.

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Electric/Gas fridge and freezer, freezer got down to 32 degrees and froze some water in it.
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The rear door and closets, lots of storage space. 
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 And finally, the room  needed at 3am, the bathroom, with a shower, sink and ceiling fan.
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We are looking at Maps, web sites and dday dreaming about some traveling,  Hopefuly will head out this week for a few days on a trial run.
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WISH UP LUCK cuz we already said a little Prayer !
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Camping

Hoping to get in some camping this year!!!


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.In February we bought a Shadow Cruiser 19 foot Camper, they had to plow a way into the lot when we went to pick it up in February
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. We have had a lots of campers but usually leave them set up on our lot we had on Lake Bonaparte but we left there after 25 years.
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We towed it home and stored it at our daughters, and when spring came we opened it up, plugged it in and set our stuff in it, most of which came from our former place on Lake Bonaparte.
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We took the new KIA down and set everything looks good, only problem is I cannot hook it up to tow it, due to my health issues I don't have the strength to lift the receiver and am unable to put on sway bars, My honey can't lift due to her back.

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We are set to Travel I hope as soon as I feel strong enough to hook this thing up and go!!!!!

 

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The farthest we ever towed was we went from New York to Florida, spending a month on the road going from New York to Myrtle Beach to Georgia then on to Florida!!!  Loved it but had to go back to work after a year off!!.

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For now, we go down to where we have it stored and sit under the awning and hopefully we will get some use out of this little Jewel.


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