Terry here.
Dale's off to her dentist in Mishawaka and I'm waiting until 10:00 A.M. for a new tenant to head for work. Looks like one last landlord function for the year.. re-packing the stems on the washer hookups. We've been winding up activities here in Goshen, seeing friends, family and shutting down the condo/office/shop for the winter. At this point about the only thing left to do tomorrow before we pull out for another Indy doctor appointment, is set the heat back and turn off the water.
The plan at this point is to leave for Virginia on Thursday from New Lisbon Campground, to see Jocelyn, Tom, Ronan and Whiskey the poodle grand-dog. I have one more visit to the doctors at this time scheduled for mid-October. We'll hopefully be done with the doctors until mid-December when we fly up from Texas for our only nephew's wedding. Just happened to volunteer we were coming up to make the two heart doctors happy.
I've been feeling very good since the change-out of the ICD for the 3 lead upgrade, better heart rate and higher blood pressure.
I'll now return the control of this blog to Dale.
Do you think I'll get into trouble, she could change the password.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Parkview Picnic, 2010
Last year I posted about our Parkview Picnic. If you want to go back and read,
I posted it on September 20, 2009.
Long story short. . . those of us who worked/taught at Parkvi
ew Junior High b
efore the "reconstruction/reconfiguration" grew to be quite close and we have started to gather once a year when Terry and I are back in the area for doctor appointments.We met last Saturday eveni
ng for a pitch-in and conversation around 
the firepit. We had some new faces 
this year--people who had not attended before and some of the regulars from last year. It was a great time and great fun with a group of people I will never forget. And I am glad Dave brought Baxter, his Scottie, so I could get a good Scottie fix!One item of note is that Bob, one of the attendees, hit a deer on his way home to Fort Wayne. He was unhurt, but his car is probably totaled. So sorry you had that experience Bob and we are all so glad you are okay. Cars can be replaced.
Thanks for a great evening!
Till next time. . .
Dale
End of the summer wrap up . . .
This is our week for doctor appointments. We hoped there wouldn't be any delays, but that is not the case. Getting a new ICD is a pretty big deal and we are glad Terry has it. It is working great and we are hoping he will continue to do well.
The problem now is that they may need to rethink some of his medications and change some or remove some from his daily routine. With his heart working better, it is likely that some med changes will be necessary. And they wouldn't want to tweak those meds and not follow up on the results. So we will be back next week to see a doctor and again in three weeks.
However, we will still probably leave on time next week and make it to Virginia to see Ronan, Jocelyn and Tom. What a treat that will be as we haven't seen them since June. I don't want Ronan to forget who Grandma Pace is. Then it will be back here for a check and then hopefully we will be able to make a run to Florida to see Brandon and Megan. If we get to that point, we will probably be free for the rest of the winter. So we shall see.
Tomorrow we will be headed back to Elkhart after my doctor appointment to close up the storage condo. We will hang around up there until Tuesday when we head back to Indy.
Till next time. . .
Dale
The problem now is that they may need to rethink some of his medications and change some or remove some from his daily routine. With his heart working better, it is likely that some med changes will be necessary. And they wouldn't want to tweak those meds and not follow up on the results. So we will be back next week to see a doctor and again in three weeks.
However, we will still probably leave on time next week and make it to Virginia to see Ronan, Jocelyn and Tom. What a treat that will be as we haven't seen them since June. I don't want Ronan to forget who Grandma Pace is. Then it will be back here for a check and then hopefully we will be able to make a run to Florida to see Brandon and Megan. If we get to that point, we will probably be free for the rest of the winter. So we shall see.
Tomorrow we will be headed back to Elkhart after my doctor appointment to close up the storage condo. We will hang around up there until Tuesday when we head back to Indy.
Till next time. . .
Dale
Thursday, September 16, 2010
50th Escapade
We are attending the 50th Escapade out at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds in Goshen, Indiana. That's why I haven't been posting much. Things have really been hectic and we have been busy.
We belong to an RV group called the Escapees. It is an organization for "people who enjoy the RV lifestyle." There are quite a few fulltimers in the group which includes couples, individuals and families. Once a year they gather at what is known as an "Escapade" which is a national rally. At these rallies, there are seminars which are given on topics of interest to RVers, vendors who sell products for us and our rigs, special interest groups which focus on particular interests, and entertainment for all.
I'm not sure how many people are here. . . they keep that a secret till the last day, but I have heard the number 800 rigs thrown around a bit. There are very few children here although there have been more in years past. We have attended about seven of these rallies and none has been as good as the first. I suppose you could surmise that the first was when we were in the planning stages of going fulltime and everything was new and exciting. It is still exciting to be able to go fulltime and to maintain this lifestyle, but information needs change and we no longer are interested in some recurring seminar themes such as "Honey, let's clean the RV," "Having Fun Volunteering," etc. Some important seminars for fulltimers that have to do with investing, domicile, and important legal documents to keep are timely and informative all the time, and I have sat in on those numerous times. My favorite microwave/convection cooking class is not on the schedule this year. I miss Janet and her tips on using the specialty ovens many of us have in our rigs. This morning I am attending a three-hour sessions on "Open Office," a free program similar to "Microsoft Office." I have a Mac I use now most of the time and downloaded Open Office to use on it. I need some help with some of the features. I'm looking forward to that. There have been many changes in format at the Escapade that are different from what we are accustomed to. I can't say I like many of these changes, but we have managed to have a good time anyway.
Yesterday we took a trip down to Indy so Terry could visit his EP doctor. The EP (electro-physiologist) is a cardiologist who implants and maintains the ICD (internal cardio-verter defibrillator) type devices (pacemaker/defibrillator). He is very pleased with the way Terry's new device is working and we are all hopeful it will improve the quality of life by improving his heart function. We are encouraged by what we have seen so far and hope that the good results continue.
Tomorrow when we leave here, we will be driving down to Summit Lake near our former Mooreland home to prepare for our fall round of doctor appointments next week. This is typically our busiest week of the year and it is promising to be that again. After we finish there, we will return to Goshen to close up the condo for the winter and head east to see the kids and Ronan.
Till next time. . .
Dale
We belong to an RV group called the Escapees. It is an organization for "people who enjoy the RV lifestyle." There are quite a few fulltimers in the group which includes couples, individuals and families. Once a year they gather at what is known as an "Escapade" which is a national rally. At these rallies, there are seminars which are given on topics of interest to RVers, vendors who sell products for us and our rigs, special interest groups which focus on particular interests, and entertainment for all.
I'm not sure how many people are here. . . they keep that a secret till the last day, but I have heard the number 800 rigs thrown around a bit. There are very few children here although there have been more in years past. We have attended about seven of these rallies and none has been as good as the first. I suppose you could surmise that the first was when we were in the planning stages of going fulltime and everything was new and exciting. It is still exciting to be able to go fulltime and to maintain this lifestyle, but information needs change and we no longer are interested in some recurring seminar themes such as "Honey, let's clean the RV," "Having Fun Volunteering," etc. Some important seminars for fulltimers that have to do with investing, domicile, and important legal documents to keep are timely and informative all the time, and I have sat in on those numerous times. My favorite microwave/convection cooking class is not on the schedule this year. I miss Janet and her tips on using the specialty ovens many of us have in our rigs. This morning I am attending a three-hour sessions on "Open Office," a free program similar to "Microsoft Office." I have a Mac I use now most of the time and downloaded Open Office to use on it. I need some help with some of the features. I'm looking forward to that. There have been many changes in format at the Escapade that are different from what we are accustomed to. I can't say I like many of these changes, but we have managed to have a good time anyway.
Yesterday we took a trip down to Indy so Terry could visit his EP doctor. The EP (electro-physiologist) is a cardiologist who implants and maintains the ICD (internal cardio-verter defibrillator) type devices (pacemaker/defibrillator). He is very pleased with the way Terry's new device is working and we are all hopeful it will improve the quality of life by improving his heart function. We are encouraged by what we have seen so far and hope that the good results continue.
Tomorrow when we leave here, we will be driving down to Summit Lake near our former Mooreland home to prepare for our fall round of doctor appointments next week. This is typically our busiest week of the year and it is promising to be that again. After we finish there, we will return to Goshen to close up the condo for the winter and head east to see the kids and Ronan.
Till next time. . .
Dale
Friday, September 10, 2010
Winding down. . .
Our time here at Elkhart Campground is winding down. We are planning on leaving here tomorrow (Saturday) and parking in the drive at the storage condo Saturday night. Then Sunday morning we will drive the short distance over to the fairgrounds in Goshen for the start of the Escapade, the rally held by the Escapees RV club.
The last couple of days has been spent finishing up the apartment. . . yes, I thought it was done, but then. . . I noticed a slight leak (if there is such a thing) under the kitchen sink. Terry did a quick assessment and determined what he needed to fix it. It didn't require a lot of strength or intense physical labor, so he was able to get it done. But then he wanted to put in a new floor in the cabinet to replace the warped area. Done. The carpet cleaners came Wednesday while he was doing that and cleaned the carpets. The only thing left to do is to drill the door for the deadbolt the tenant wanted. He wants to do that today. Our previous tenant left a yard barn which is in decent shape, but we have no use for. We are going to take it down. I don't really have a time to do that, but I really don't think it will be a big job. I volunteered for that.
Wednesday evening we met friends Nan and Tom at Red Lobster in Mishawaka. We first met these new fulltimers at Elkhart Campground last summer and they caught up with us again at the Sweetheart Rally in Kerrville, Texas, in February. They just arrived back in the lower 48 from their three month trip to Alaska, so we got to pick their brains about the trip. We hope to do this same trip in the future and it was good to hear their experiences first hand.
Then yesterday we met our friend Jeff (wife Sue was visiting a daughter in Chicago) at Ryan's here in Elkhart. Janice and Dean joined us for dinner as well. We are all members of the Class of 05. Our "class" members all went full time in our RV's in 2005. Jeff and Sue have built a house on their lot in the Phoenix area. He just left there a couple weeks ago and said it was 115 degrees and really miserable, so the cool weather here was a welcome relief for him. He is getting some work done on his coach and then hitting the road again.
Last evening we met up with my closest high school friend Luanne and her husband Jim. We try to meet every summer for dinner and catch up with the latest news on our families. Terry and Luanne lived on the same street for several years and we lived around the corner, so we know a lot of the same people.
It is always great to catch up with friends, both new and old, and share our lives with one another. We have made many friends on the road and count those people among our best friends as well as those we have known for most of our lives. Life is grand!
Terry has been doing well. Even with all this eating out, we are carefully watching the diet. We download and print out the nutritional statements from restaurants and, sad to say, many are just crossed off the list. But Red Lobster has some low-sodium meals, Subway has ONE sandwich which qualifies and a couple other establishments have qualifying entries. At some, we eat only the fresh salad off the salad bar which is an option. But as much as I like salad, it does get old after awhile! Hah. Terry does seem to have more energy and is not experiencing the really low heart rates he was having. The increased heart rate results in more oxygen getting to the tissues in the body and the lungs and contributes to an overall better condition. He still has soreness at his surgery sites, but that is getting better daily. We hope that after the fall round of doctor appointments in two weeks we can relax and get on down the road. It's going to take getting back to traveling to make us happy!
Till next time. . .
Dale
The last couple of days has been spent finishing up the apartment. . . yes, I thought it was done, but then. . . I noticed a slight leak (if there is such a thing) under the kitchen sink. Terry did a quick assessment and determined what he needed to fix it. It didn't require a lot of strength or intense physical labor, so he was able to get it done. But then he wanted to put in a new floor in the cabinet to replace the warped area. Done. The carpet cleaners came Wednesday while he was doing that and cleaned the carpets. The only thing left to do is to drill the door for the deadbolt the tenant wanted. He wants to do that today. Our previous tenant left a yard barn which is in decent shape, but we have no use for. We are going to take it down. I don't really have a time to do that, but I really don't think it will be a big job. I volunteered for that.
Wednesday evening we met friends Nan and Tom at Red Lobster in Mishawaka. We first met these new fulltimers at Elkhart Campground last summer and they caught up with us again at the Sweetheart Rally in Kerrville, Texas, in February. They just arrived back in the lower 48 from their three month trip to Alaska, so we got to pick their brains about the trip. We hope to do this same trip in the future and it was good to hear their experiences first hand.
Then yesterday we met our friend Jeff (wife Sue was visiting a daughter in Chicago) at Ryan's here in Elkhart. Janice and Dean joined us for dinner as well. We are all members of the Class of 05. Our "class" members all went full time in our RV's in 2005. Jeff and Sue have built a house on their lot in the Phoenix area. He just left there a couple weeks ago and said it was 115 degrees and really miserable, so the cool weather here was a welcome relief for him. He is getting some work done on his coach and then hitting the road again.
Last evening we met up with my closest high school friend Luanne and her husband Jim. We try to meet every summer for dinner and catch up with the latest news on our families. Terry and Luanne lived on the same street for several years and we lived around the corner, so we know a lot of the same people.
It is always great to catch up with friends, both new and old, and share our lives with one another. We have made many friends on the road and count those people among our best friends as well as those we have known for most of our lives. Life is grand!
Terry has been doing well. Even with all this eating out, we are carefully watching the diet. We download and print out the nutritional statements from restaurants and, sad to say, many are just crossed off the list. But Red Lobster has some low-sodium meals, Subway has ONE sandwich which qualifies and a couple other establishments have qualifying entries. At some, we eat only the fresh salad off the salad bar which is an option. But as much as I like salad, it does get old after awhile! Hah. Terry does seem to have more energy and is not experiencing the really low heart rates he was having. The increased heart rate results in more oxygen getting to the tissues in the body and the lungs and contributes to an overall better condition. He still has soreness at his surgery sites, but that is getting better daily. We hope that after the fall round of doctor appointments in two weeks we can relax and get on down the road. It's going to take getting back to traveling to make us happy!
Till next time. . .
Dale
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Congratulations to son Brandon and Megan!
Congratulations to our son Brandon who proposed to his girlfriend, Megan, at the Florida State Game yesterday in Jacksonville! Megan is an alum and Brandon had every detail of the weekend planned. We are so happy for both of them and anxious to see them in October. No wedding details yet, but rumor is that it will be in 2012.
A rough week. . .
This was to be a relaxing week at the Gypsy Journal Rally at Elkhart Campground. So many of our friends, both new and old, are here and we were looking forward to taking in some seminars and hanging out around campfires.
Early in the week our latest tenant to leave was actually out two days ahead of time. Unfortunately, when we did a walk through, we discovered that we would need to paint the apartment, something we had not intended on doing. With the rally going on and Terry's scheduled ICD replacement at the end of the week, we decided to call and see if we could get someone to paint for us. It was just not meant to be, I guess, so we spent nine hours on Tuesday and Wednesday painting the apartment. We still have the bathroom to go, but I can do that myself. We were still able to take in a session or two at the rally, but missed a lot. Still, it is better to have the painting done. Everything else on the apartment I can take care of myself, but we would have had to push our lease signing back too far if we didn't get it painted.
So with that done, we headed to Indy on Thursday, spending the night in Greenfield. We drove on in Friday morning. They had moved up his surgery time, so we had to be in earlier at 8 a.m. We are glad we stayed down there as it was an easy drive over to the hospital. Even though they wanted him earlier, it doesn't seem like they ever get moving very fast. The doctors came in and went over every case scenario. It was obvious to them that due to the peripheral blood vessels which had formed over the years in his upper chest near his ICD that the vein they must use for the three leads might not be good. Options include going in between the ribs and laying one lead on the outside of the heart. That, however, requires a different kind of surgeon and would require another wait. The other option would be to relocate the new device on the right side of the chest, run the leads across the front of the chest through a different vein and remove the old device.
In the end, that is what they had to do. They did a venogram and the vein structure on the current side had suffered clotting at one time and nothing could be done to improve it. It had set up like concrete. Dr. Groh asked Terry what his plan B was and Terry said, "Just do it." So they went to the right side and the venogram showed good flow through there. The surgery lasted a couple hours and he was out by 2 p.m. He got into a room about an hour later and was monitored all that night and the next morning. More xrays and testing the device and we were finally discharged about 2 p.m. yesterday and we started the long drive to northern Indiana.
This new device is a three-lead ICD (internal cardio-verter defibrillator). It is not for the sissy types, that's for sure. This device paces his heart 100% of the time. His bout with heart failure had resulted in very low heart rates and Terry was having trouble doing much activity at all. I think they are going to end up adjusting some meds along the way as well. The new device will result in better and more even heart activity and has been shown to improve ejection fracture in heart patients. In addition, they set it to increase with activity, which means if he does some activity that would normally speed up the heart, his device will actually do that and improve the blood and oxygen flow to his body as needed. In addition, the pacemaker part will more agressively pace the heart out of bad rhythms, reducing the need for any therapeutic shocks. We are excited that he now has the new device, but it is an ordeal.
They allow spouses to spend the nights with the patients and they brought in a roll-away bed for me. Unfortunately, the springs were all broken on it and the only thing holding the mattress on the bed were two bars strategically placed to afford the maximum amount of pain and discomfort imagineable on the user. At midnight, I took the mattress off the bed, threw it on the floor and folded the frame back up. At least I was able to get a little sleep.
It was a long drive home and we stopped along the way to check in with my sister and to also get Terry's prescriptions filled. Then it was back to Phaeton Place and the comfort of our air bed for Terry. We both slept reasonably well last night. Terry is sore, however, having surgical sites on both sides of his chest; but that should feel better every day.
No plans for today except to hang out here and watch the race tonight.
Till next time. . .
Dale
Early in the week our latest tenant to leave was actually out two days ahead of time. Unfortunately, when we did a walk through, we discovered that we would need to paint the apartment, something we had not intended on doing. With the rally going on and Terry's scheduled ICD replacement at the end of the week, we decided to call and see if we could get someone to paint for us. It was just not meant to be, I guess, so we spent nine hours on Tuesday and Wednesday painting the apartment. We still have the bathroom to go, but I can do that myself. We were still able to take in a session or two at the rally, but missed a lot. Still, it is better to have the painting done. Everything else on the apartment I can take care of myself, but we would have had to push our lease signing back too far if we didn't get it painted.
So with that done, we headed to Indy on Thursday, spending the night in Greenfield. We drove on in Friday morning. They had moved up his surgery time, so we had to be in earlier at 8 a.m. We are glad we stayed down there as it was an easy drive over to the hospital. Even though they wanted him earlier, it doesn't seem like they ever get moving very fast. The doctors came in and went over every case scenario. It was obvious to them that due to the peripheral blood vessels which had formed over the years in his upper chest near his ICD that the vein they must use for the three leads might not be good. Options include going in between the ribs and laying one lead on the outside of the heart. That, however, requires a different kind of surgeon and would require another wait. The other option would be to relocate the new device on the right side of the chest, run the leads across the front of the chest through a different vein and remove the old device.
In the end, that is what they had to do. They did a venogram and the vein structure on the current side had suffered clotting at one time and nothing could be done to improve it. It had set up like concrete. Dr. Groh asked Terry what his plan B was and Terry said, "Just do it." So they went to the right side and the venogram showed good flow through there. The surgery lasted a couple hours and he was out by 2 p.m. He got into a room about an hour later and was monitored all that night and the next morning. More xrays and testing the device and we were finally discharged about 2 p.m. yesterday and we started the long drive to northern Indiana.
This new device is a three-lead ICD (internal cardio-verter defibrillator). It is not for the sissy types, that's for sure. This device paces his heart 100% of the time. His bout with heart failure had resulted in very low heart rates and Terry was having trouble doing much activity at all. I think they are going to end up adjusting some meds along the way as well. The new device will result in better and more even heart activity and has been shown to improve ejection fracture in heart patients. In addition, they set it to increase with activity, which means if he does some activity that would normally speed up the heart, his device will actually do that and improve the blood and oxygen flow to his body as needed. In addition, the pacemaker part will more agressively pace the heart out of bad rhythms, reducing the need for any therapeutic shocks. We are excited that he now has the new device, but it is an ordeal.
They allow spouses to spend the nights with the patients and they brought in a roll-away bed for me. Unfortunately, the springs were all broken on it and the only thing holding the mattress on the bed were two bars strategically placed to afford the maximum amount of pain and discomfort imagineable on the user. At midnight, I took the mattress off the bed, threw it on the floor and folded the frame back up. At least I was able to get a little sleep.
It was a long drive home and we stopped along the way to check in with my sister and to also get Terry's prescriptions filled. Then it was back to Phaeton Place and the comfort of our air bed for Terry. We both slept reasonably well last night. Terry is sore, however, having surgical sites on both sides of his chest; but that should feel better every day.
No plans for today except to hang out here and watch the race tonight.
Till next time. . .
Dale
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