Update

FIRST, thank you for all the Thoughts and Prayers.

Yes there is Power in Prayer.

I am having a hard time coming to grasp this situation, I am weak on the left side, I get tired walking any distance, I cannot tie my shoes, I cry alot, I carry tissues because I drool, I type with one hand, my left hand feels like a club, My left leg is weak, my left side of my face is always asleep, I can not drive, my left arm is about 20 pounds heavier than it was. I am not happy BUT I AM LUCKY!! GOD IS GOOD!!!








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The area below my right ear is where they placed the stent, I had prior surgery there and in April when this artery was checked it was OK, at the hospital it was over 80% plugged which caused the stroke, it plugged in 2 months time.
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They went thru the artery into the brain and opened up the arteries that were also restricted of blood flow, found the area of the blood clot on the right side of the brain, It was awful, far worse than the 7 stents they placed in my heart prior to this.

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To reach my brain and neck area they went into my artery in the groin area, this was very uncomfortable, dam near killed my I thought but I am still here.
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I got to watch this placement of the stent in my neck and the cleaning out of the arteries on TV next to my table, I am home, I CAN WALK, SPEAK, SEE, I start Rehab programs Monday the 26, I have to get into this program as I still have to have the surgery to restructure the bowel as soon as I can, my diet is still light soft foods but I don't have to have someone feed me. Surgery will probably not happen for a couple months which is probably September, than rest again for 4 to 6 weeks which makes it Mid November, Than hopefully it will be off to Florida for the winter.

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Sounds like a lot but I have to be positive as all I am doing now is sitting and thinkin which is no fun at all.

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So, once again, thank you for your thoughts and prayers, GOD IS GOOD!

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Also keep our men and women in Uniform in your prayers!

Garden Time

Well, it finally got warm enough for us to plant our raised bed Garden. It was in-between bouts of stomach pain and lightheaded.

I went slow and we planted radishes, lettuce, beans, and tomayoes and some flowers, it was a nice day and sunny and warm.

I am not up to eating a full meal yet, still on Tomato Soup, Grits, Pudding, Jello, Water, Apple sauce but am making progress. Still have not gotten a call from the specialist who is going to do my surgery.

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Nice dirt in the garden, my Honey putting some beans and Onions, beautiful day to work in the dirt.

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I am planting tomato's and we transplanted the Hen's and Chicken's into containers as they like to spread. I am felling somewhat better, I have still not gained back the 25 pounds I lost but am sure when I feel better it will find it's way back.

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Hope all are doing well.

Don't forget our Veterans.!

HOSPITAL VACATION

Well, things were going so good with our weekly fishing trips, picnic and touring of the North Country I thought that I should mess it all up and take a "Vacation", I went into the emergency room at 10AM Monday, I had acute Diverticulitis. I spent Memorial Day Weekend in Hospital
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I was admitted to the hospital, it should have been a simple stay but we found out that I am now allergic to the Pain Killer "Demerol", after my shot for pain, I had chest pain, could not breathe, swallow or talk and this caused a lot of excitement in the ER as they all hustled to get me back on track, after being admitted I spent my time eating jello, cottage cheese, pudding and Baby Food in very small portions, I went in weighing about 257 pounds and when released I was down to 236 pounds and this was not a good way to loose weight.
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Me and my "BIG MEAL" of milk, jello, pudding, apple juice, ice creme.

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I was pretty sick for a few days, the above picture is me and Mike Hart, Mike drove up from Appling, Georgia to visit and make sure if I died he would have had the chance to say good bye!!! The other reason he came up was to see how weak and fragile I was so he could beat me up! Mike and I grew up and went to High School together and have kept in contact for years, Mike is an Air Force Veteran who served proudly and someone I call an old friend!
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It was not a "Great Vacation" even if I got ICE CREME every morning, noon and night time with my lunch. Oh well, I came home after 10 days in the hospital and am doing OK but still on a very restricted diet until after they can find a surgeon who will do a Bowel Resection on my large intestine to stop this from happening again. I am a "High Risk" patient due to heart and circulation problems so it should be interesting to see where I end up for surgery.
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I missed Memorial Day Parade, speeches and going to the Grave Sites and Monuments this year which was sad as I always make these events.

Hope everyone is doing OK!

Don't Forget our "Veterans"!!!!

Back Again

Well, it didn't warm up much up here so we headed SOUTH!!! We went to Myrtle Beach, SC and spent a few days at the Beach, relaxed, ate lots of food, toured Brookgreen Gardens, some local attractions, spent time on the Fishing Pier where we were luck enough to stand next to several men as they brought in a very large Blat Tip Shark, it only took them about 45 minutes to get it in but it was exciting to actually be able to touch this awesome creature, it went well over 50 pounds, The Temp at the Beach was just 93, *(HOT).


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We left the Beach and went down to see all the Motorcycles and people as we were right in the middle of "BIKE WEEK" and they were hundreds and hundreds of Motorcycles around in all shapes and sizes, and the people too!

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We left Myrtle Beach and headed down into South Carolina to Bentonville, then over and up to Lynchburg and worked our way up North.
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We were off the beaten path and ran into these 2 "Rebels" encamped with some others up on a mountain somewhere on one of the Battlefields but can't remember where, but they were very friendly to this Old Yankee, even offered us coffee and the chance to look over their shootin irons.
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I think this picture above is out of order as this is Gettysburg where we walked our fanny's off.
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We found this Hallowed Ground off some back road in North Carolina.
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The picture above was taken I think over in Lynchburg, it was a huge Cemetery and very solemn place.

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I took way too many pictures from North and South Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania of the Battlefields and Monuments and am still awestruck at the Magnitude of Human Life lost.

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Well, we got back home and settled in and are starting our weekly fishing trips once a week thru summer.

Today's trip was over to Lake Ontario and then the St. Lawrence River, we went to Chaumont, Clayton, Mud Bay, Fishers Landing, Depauville and Dablon Point and had fun catching and releasing fish all day, above is one of my Honey's Trophies.
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Not to be out done I landed one of these huge babies also BUT Honey caught more than I did.
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In the above picture over my shoulder is a huge "Freighter" coming down the river heading for some port to take on a load of stuff for shipment to some country we support.
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The picture above is that of a "ROUND EYED GOBIE", they are not native to the river, they were released some time ago in the Bilge water of an Ocean Going Freighter and now are out of control in the river, they eat the eggs of the bass, trout and sport fish in the river, I caught about 5 of them in about 5 minutes, State Law requires that if you catch one of these you DO NOT put it back in the water, they don't get that big, about 5 to 6 inches long and the best part is the Seagulls love them so I caught some more and fed them to the sea gulls.

We took a Break and had a nice lunch, fished some more, then headed for home AFTER we stopped for "Ice Creme". All in all a Great Day for us.

Hope everyone is doing OK, HOPE JACK IS NOT WORKING TOO HARD!

As we move towards "Memorial Day" let us not forget our Veterans, and those serving our country.
MAY THEY BE SAFE!!!!!!!

VACATION

Today was nice, it warmed up to the 70's, and cloudy, supposed to get some rain, I played in Church today for the Praise Music, we got home and sytarted packing for VACATION!

We heading down to the Carolina's and Virginia for a while to enjoy ourselves.

We will be leaving Monday Morning right after My Honey gets the books done and payroll done.

Hope everyone is doing great!!

SNOW

We have been busy with the both of us running to the Doctors, but we are still going, It has been nice here for awhile, we have managed to get outside and do some fishing, and a little traveling, AND Monday May 3rd we leave for MYRTLE BEACH for a couple of weeks to try and find some sun and relaxation, we have been running to the Funeral Homes, Hospitals and hopefully things quiet down here because we are getting out of Dodge for awhile.

We traveled up to Cranberry Lake to try our luck but nothing hitting yet, and we had on pants and a flannel shirt!

This is the Oswegatchie River looking up towards the Adirondack Mountains and it was a pretty day for riding the back roads.

We stopped way up in Belfort and tried our luck here but zip ah dee doo dah, No Fish!!

We did find a nice spot for a late lunch, the black flies were just starting to hatch but they stayed away from us and it was a nice sunny day about 65, sunny and nice out!
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this week Mother Nature reminded us thet we live in Northern New York and the weather can change, we got a SNOW STORM, we had some schools closed, a few traffic accidents and people went from MOWING THEIR LAWNS TO GETTING OUT THE SNOW BLOWERS.

Thankfully it warmed back up and the snow is almost gone again.

One thing about New York weather, if you don't like it today, just wait because it will change tomorrow!!

HOPEFULLY NEXT WEEK WE WILL BE IN MYRTLE BEACH!!

HOPE EVERYONE IS DOING WELL!

NEVER FORGET OUR PAST AND PRESENT VETERANS!!!

SUMMER

Well, I think summer is almost here, It was 72 today, sunny and warm IN THE SUN! We have done some scouting around and found that the water is low enough for us to start our weekly fishing excursions, Today we headed out of the county and went up into Lewis County and tried the West Branch of the Oswegatchie River on State Land, we got a few bites but no luck, we moved on and went to New Bremen and tried it there and could see the trout BUT could NOT get them to bite, tried worms, lures, spinners but they just were not hungry.

We stopped and had a nice lunch and coffee, and had a nice ride back home, 1 thing I noticed is there are not many visable Wild Turkeys around for some reason, Turkey Season starts here May 1st and it don't look good.

Well, hope everyonw is doing OK!

Above is my Honey on the Bridge over the Oswegatchie River which is usually a hot spot for Trout but NOT TODAY!

Let us not forget our Veterans!!!

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Staying Busy

I have been trying to stay busy after getting over this cold/flu/bug/disease/ thing ah mah gingy I have had that blocked my sinus, plugged my lungs and made me cough up toenails, and am doing pretty good at getting rested up.

I have an appointment with my Cardio Surgeon, My Heart Doctor and my Urologist all in a row so should be checked out pretty good from head to toe.

I was rested up enough to go out and play with the "Friends of God" and we did Angels Inn Nursing Home and also went to the Jefferson County Home for the Aged on Sunday and played and sang our little hearts out and we enjoyed ourselves and the residents also enjoyed them selves joining in on the singing and toe tapping and clapping.

It always makes me feel good when we play for these "Young-Uns" in these places, it is also sad to see some of these people who were once healthy, happy give-em-hell types who are now tied into wheelchairs, unable to walk, some who just sit and stare with no emotion, others who sit with colors and a coloring book and the others who will join in and sing and clap and laugh, it is funny how life treats us in the end and how we all end up different than others, BUT, that is just life, nobody said it was going to be fair!!

Karl who is the other Member of the group that is so kind to let me play is off, he had to have Carpal Tunnel Surgery on his left hand and can't play for a while, but this is Dennis and Roger I played with.

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From the Angels Inn above we moved on to the Jefferson County Home for the aged.

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I had to take a break, I was running out of Oxygen and tired so Walt Joined in and took over on my new Guitar for me for awhile. He thought if he didn't bring his guitar he could sit back and relax but I am glad he was there.

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I did manage to tune up the new Banjo and try a little picking and grinning, the t-shirt is from the group Fred and the Eds who are a very good band from watertown. I worked with Fred as a fellow Policeman who also is a very good guitar player.

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At the end we always close with "Amazing Grace" and I managed to get enough oxygen back to finish out singing with the gang to close out the day.

Let us not forget our service men and women both from the past and the present!

Computers

I had a friend give me a couple of Computer Towers to putter around on, I am trying to make 1 out of 2 so I opened them up and got to the guts of the machines.

I have no idea of what I am really doing but it has kept me entertained for several days unhooking wires, changing things around and scaring my honey because me and electrical things do not get along.

Besides, it is still cold outside can't go fishing yet as the water is still high and fast and temps are only in 40's and 50's when you go outside.



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While inside I found this little guy wandering around, I thing he is my "Virus Protection" that guards me input and looks for things!




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I got a little deeper into the computer and found this couple wandering around, she was friendly and waved but he was holding his hand out I think looking for money to finish helping me put these things back togeather.


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Well, I got done puttering around, put them back togeather and after all that work, moving things around, changing wires and connectore and all sorts of things I sit down and. YUP, you guessed it, neither computer would work!!


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Oh well, tomorrow I will join the "Friends of God" and will pack up the guitars and head out to play at a "Senior Citizen" place called "Angels Inn" in Watertown where we have played before and then we will go play at the Old Folks Home at the County Building.

Remember to keep the Coal Miner's Families in your thoughts and Prayers as they deal with the current tradegy.


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Hope everyone is doing well, and don't forget our Veterans.

What did you say?

HOPING EVERYONE HAS A BLESSED EASTER!


We have been busy running to the Hospitals and then to the Funeral Homes again, First we had to go to my wifes Uncle Bob Greenwood who passed away, then we had to go for Her Uncle James Astafan. Both good honest upright men who lived full long lives.


Well, we have been staying busy, at least my Honey has been busy taking care of me, I came down with a very serious Chest Cold, Lung Infection and Sinus Infection and Ear Infection, I spent 6 days in bed, 1 day at the Doctor for some anti-biotics and 1 day at Ear, Nose and Throat, (ENT) as I could not hear, I used it to my advantage like not hearing honey tell me to "take out the trash" of "Turn the TV down", ENT set me up for a surgical procedure which I have had done 3 times before where they have to drain the infection from behind my ear drum.

There is not much they can do to help with the pain of inserting the tube thru the ear drum except to tell you to "HANG ON"!! The pain is tremendous as they puncture the ear drum and then insert the drainage tube but well worth the relief it brings, the only problem now is everything is too "LOUD"!








My left ear was plugged solid, I have some scar tissue on it from the previous 3 tubes, the Doctor was a very nice man, Dr. Hillerman, he added me to his schedule to do the procedure and did not me wait a MONTH before he could get me in which I am thankful for, Dr. Hillerman placed the last tube, # 3 in my ear which lasted 10 months before it fell out, The first tube and second tubes each lasted over a year before they fell out.

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The above picture is the drainage tube put in my left ear, the white area around the plastic drainage tube is Scar Tissue which is from the 3 previous tubes.
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The Tubes they insert last abut a year if you are lucky and keep them dry, use an ear plug when showering and do not go swimming and get the ear wet that has the plug in it, but its great to hear again.

On this Day we are thankful for everything we have been allowed to have, let us not forget our men and women in uniform serving.