Dad's Surgery

Dad had back surgery last Tuesday (9/22) at Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Why Alamogordo (or maybe where is Alamogordo) you ask? The first & foremost is because of Dr Frank Bryant - Dad has had several recommendations on the work of Dr. Bryant and decided to let him perform the surgery.

I don't know exactly what went down but in Dad's layman's terms: Dr. Bryant replaced two disks in his back and removed several bone spurs on his spine that were affecting nerves and causing the severe pain and weakness that Dad has been experiencing the past few months. I have since learned (via an RN in the OR) that you don't 'replace' the disks but sort of shore them up. Anywhoo... it was a pretty major ordeal, Dad has 4 3-4" incisions on his back & side and severe weakness in his right leg that should dissipate with time.

He & Mom are staying in Alamogordo for at least two weeks, maybe longer, as he recuperates. I am voting for longer as I know if he heads home now he will jump right in to helping people and doing stuff he has no business doing for 3-4 more months at least. That's just the kind of guy he is and people know he won't say no. I get a bit frustrated at times, feeling like he gets taken advantage of but until he learns to say NO, not much I can do about it. So, I hope he stays an extra week or two in Alamogordo.

He has done a remarkable job so far in recovery but the past two days has been rough. Mom said he hasn't felt very good today (nausea) and in a lot of pain since the morphine that was injected in his spine has worn off. But he is up and moving which is a big step.

I thank everyone for their thoughts & prayers during his surgery and now his recovery. I thank Dr Bryant for his steady hands and great skill as he performed the operation and I thank all the staff, nurses and aides that assisted Dad through his first few days of recovery.

Jeep Update & General Nothingness

Jeep came thru with flying colors today - so luckily the bump in the tire did no damage. Whoo-Hooo!

And on another good note - we are slowly compiling all the crap we need for the new truck that we had on the old truck so we can load the camper up and head out. Got the tie-downs, hitch, bed mat in, now just need all the stuff to wire in the camper. Closer, but at this rate we may be camping in the snow.

Poor pups, the past two days they have had to be outside in the rain. Today Bryan bought the materials to build them a dog house. We built one for Bear but donated it to Winchester (next-door neigh-dog) when we moved. It was a pretty "robust" home and this one will be too, just hope we can move it into place once he's done!!!

I went to sleep in New Mexico & woke up in Seattle

What a dreary, rainy, cool day today. A thunderstorm moved in yesterday evening and it just settled in all day. Fitting for my fortieth birthday. HAHA It really does resemble a typical Seattle day - low clouds obscuring the mountains, cool weather, an all day rain... I guess this is typical for State Fair weather.

I know I should be excited for the rain seeing how we've (Albuquerque area) only had about 3.5 since Jan 2009 but, its still hard for me to get excited for rain & cold, dreary skies. Maybe next year.

Since 5 PM yesterday we've had 1.2 inches of rain at the Powell household in Bernalillo. Whoop-Whoop (See, I'm trying to be excited!)

I's so smart...

I (along with several other classmates), received an 'honor' award for having superior grades last semester. hee hee Not sure why I think its humorous but I do... We each received a gold star pin & a Honor pin... flair for our lanyards. Hee Hee - maybe that's why I find it amusing.

Oh well, congrats to all of us for a job well done.

And the camper fits...

Wouldn't that have just been a kick in the teeth... the camper not fitting on the new, beefy truck?!?! But it did. Bryan decided to move the camper today to make parking a bit easier in our tight driveway and it slid in perfectly. We still need to order the tie-downs and hitch (for Jeep towing) in order to go camping but we are halfway there now. At least we have the truck. And what a truck it is... we can now carry the camper FULL of fresh water, an AC (if we ever buy one),a generator, etc, etc and STILL be underweight for the GVRW rating! WHOOP-WHOOP! Now we can go back- country 'camping' & not worry about water! YEA!

There are a few little things that need to be fixed that Bryan has noticed once he got home but nothing serious.

Here's a few pics of the camper on the truck from this morning. I've been busy with school and the weather hasn't cooperated for more photos... Not my best photographic work but here you go.

What a week...

For this to be a a short holiday week it has sure been a long one! And it certainly didn't end on a real happy note. I was heading over to pick up Bryan to take him to get the new truck (he had it in the shop getting looked over and a couple things worked on) when this 900 year old man switched lanes and hit me (well, the Jeep). Luckily (& thank God) no damage - except to his 800 yr old Buick. Looked like he hit my tire & he hit it hard enough to shift my back-end a bit but the Jeep drove OK and all looked OK but we'll probably have it (axle & wheel) looked at just to be sure.

No injuries...

I need a drink & a nap! And maybe lunch...

New Wheels...

Bryan finally found a truck. He's been looking since about a week after ours was "liberated" by some kind #$*&!)@#&^. We got the insurance payout Thursday a week ago and the race was really on to find one so we didn't spend an arm & a leg on a rental car.

He had to search several states and finally decided the F450 would better suit our needs due to the high payload of these beefy trucks. Now we can load the camper with fresh water and head out to parts unknown and 'rough it'. :-) And funny thing - the F450 were the same price (or cheaper) than the F350's... As we searched for financing, we found out why... maybe. No one & I mean NO ONE, will finance a truck over 1 ton (meaning over an F350). Ford Financing will if its NEW... So... there you go.

Anyway, Bryan went to Dallas this weekend to visit his Mom and decided to look at a truck he'd found online in Granbury. I guess it was pretty good 'cause he bought it. Now he has to leave earlier than planned on Monday & drive it back the 663 miles to Bernalillo so he can be back at work on Tuesday. Lucky him.

Anyway, here are some of the photos of the truck from the dealership. I'll post a few more once it gets here.

Stats: 2008, Ford F450, 6.3 Turbo Diesel, crew cab (4-door), DWR (dually), 4WD, Lariat package (leather seats, GPS, etc). The great thing about it is it already has the tow package, the camper package, running boards, beefed up transmission, etc that we had just put on our old truck so that's one thing we don't have to buy again. Now we just have to buy a new hitch so we can tow the Jeep and camper tie-downs and we'll be set. Camping in Pecos this October!!! YEA!!!!!