Nancy released from hospital

Nancy was released from the hospital around 11:30 this morning and we are on our way home. We should be home by late Saturday afternoon.

Nancy in the hospital

The doctor finely came in a little after 12 Noon today. She's getting breathing treatments, have her on oxygen and giving her antibiotics through an IV. The doctor has started weaning her off of the oxygen and will recheck her levels later today. When they can take her off the oxygen they will then discharge her so we can continue home. It's a 2 day drive home from here. We have been to so many places the last several weeks so have no idea where the bacteria came from.

Clarksville, TN

We got an early start this morning and was on the road by 8 AM. Our destination today was a 330 mile drive stopping at the Harrah's Casino parking lot in Metropolis, IL to visit the Superman Museum.

Nancy hasn't been feeling well the last couple of days. We both haven't been feeling our best since our week stop in Georgia. Last night she had a bad cough and was having difficultly breathing. I asked her if she wanted me to take her to the hospital but she turned me down saying I needed to get some sleep so I could put in a full day of driving.

We had great driving weather and the traffic wasn't bad until we got to the east side of Nashville. A large house boat was being moved and got stuck under a low bridge blocking I-40 for several hours. I found a way to get around it and came upon another slowdown because of road construction on I-24 north of Nashville.

After getting through all the slowdowns around Nashville I stopped at the Welcome Center/Rest Stop on the Kentucky side of the border for lunch. I asked Nancy how she was doing. She was feeling worst and this time agreed to let me take her to see a doctor.

I disconnected the truck from behind the motorhome and punched in HOSPITAL in the GPS. It took us to Gateway Medical Center in Clarksville. Nancy was diagnosed with pneumonia. The doctor told us that she needed to be admitted and may be in the hospital for a couple of days.

While driving back to the motorhome where it was parked at the rest stop, I passed a RV park along the highway. Back at the motorhome I made a sandwich and looked up the RV park on the computer. I called them and they had a space available. I hooked the truck back up behind the motorhome and was checking in by 6:30 PM. Afterwards I went back to the hospital to see Nancy when they finely had her settled into a room for a couple of days. Looks like we won't make it home by Easter as planned.

Clarksville RV Park & Campground

Barb's Out

Barb is doing better. I brought her home from the hospital today.

Update on Barb

They moved Barb out of ICU last night into another room. She's feeling much better, her blood sugars and blood pressure is back in the normal range. Hopefully she'll be discharged tomorrow and come home.

Emergency Room Visit

As we travel around the country on our adventures, one adventure that we can do without is visiting a hospital emergency room.

Well we're only 4 days into the new year and things are going bad for Barb. Barb was admitted into the ICU at the Biloxi Regional Medical Center this evening.

We went to the mall here in town earlier today and she started feeling dizzy. She hadn't had anything to eat yet so thinking her blood sugar was low, I took her into a cafeteria in the mall so she could get something to eat. That didn't seen to help so I took her back to our motorhome and checked her blood sugar. It was a little high but not that bad so then I checked her blood pressure. It was way to low.

The VA hospital is only a mile from us so I took her to the ER there. By then it was about 2:30 in the afternoon. There were people in the waiting room complaining that they had been there since 10:30 this morning and they hadn't been seen yet. Well the hell with that. It seems like I have a new favorite quotation when I'm around the VA. I said "fine, I'll take her to a real hospital."

I then took her to the civilian hospital here in Biloxi. They checked her blood pressure and it was back in the normal range but her blood sugar had risen to over 500. They checked it again about a half hour later and then it was over 700. The ER admitted her into the ICU to place her on a slow insulin drip. Barb was feeling fine when I left around 11:00 tonight and I'll check on her in the morning.

Barbie has been sprung

Barbie was released from this hospital this afternoon. We'll spend the night here at Betty's then head out first thing in the morning.

Update on Barbie

Barbie is doing much better today. The doctors want to keep her in the hospital through the weekend possibly releasing her on Monday. I brought in her computer for her today but she doesn't have any Internet access. But she has TV in the room and some games on her computer to occupy her time.

Barbie is in the hospital

Barbie was admitted into the Abbeville General Hospital last night with pneumonia. They are going to keep her there through tonight. We were planning on leaving out next Monday on our way to Oconto, WI for the summer. Our route will take us through Oklahoma City for a couple of days, then to Moberly, MO for a couple of days before our final destination at the Oconto Yacht Club in Oconto.

Out of the hospital

Our friend was released from the VA hospital this evening. He's doing much better. We'll spend New Years with him before heading back down south where it's warmer. Our camping friends from Sheboygan, WI has finely made it down to Palacios for the winter. They want us to go down there for a month or so because Jill will be going through kemo therapy and wants Barb to be there for her.

Surgery Update

After much deep thought of life-long restrictions and a support group meeting, Barb has cancelled her gastric bypass surgery that was scheduled for tomorrow. Her shoulder surgery is still on for sometime in November. Our other veteran friends who's surgeries we mentioned in earlier post were preformed with no complications.

Oklahoma City update

We've been here in the Oklahoma City area for 10 days now. Space rent for September, $285 which includes electricity, is due tomorrow. Barb has had 2 medical appointments so far and is scheduled for gastric bypass surgery in 2 weeks. The VA has also scheduled her for surgery on her shoulder which she has been waiting 5 years for. A veteran friend of ours, who had his leg partially amputated earlier this year, has been told that he will have to undergo additional amputation of his leg in the coming days because he is not healing. Another veteran friend of ours will be undergoing breast surgery for cancer in the coming days. They have both been there when we needed morale understanding from friends and we have both assured them that we will be here for them with our morale support. With Barb's medical treatments and follow ups and our morale support for our other disabled veteran friends, we will probably be in Oklahoma most of the winter.

North to Wisconsin

I'll be leaving out tomorrow morning on my way to Oconto, Wisconsin. Barb still has a few followup medical appointments here in Oklahoma City so she'll stay with our daughter here and I'll drive the pickup back down here after the first of July to pick her up. We have to finish up the work that I contracted John Winter to do on our boat so we can get it moved before the end of July because he sold his property. I was supposed to be up there a month ago but because of Barb's hospital stay, we are behind. I have a stopover planned in the Chicago area on Sunday to visit with the guy who is hosting our new web pages.

Barbie has been RELEASED!

Barb was released from the Oklahoma City Veterans Hospital today after being in there for 6 weeks and 2 days. She is doing fine. For the next couple of weeks she'll have a few follow-ups and then it will be time to hit the road again.

A situation has come up with our boat so we'll be leaving here on June 13th heading up to Menominee, MI. John Winter, the builder on our boat, has sold his property and has to vacate in 2 months. I'll help him finish the work that we contracted him to do then move the boat back over to the Hi Seas Marina in Oconto, WI. We plan on being up in the area until the middle of August.

3-Day Pass

Barb received a 3-day pass from the hospital yesterday. She has to go in everyday though to receive an IV then sign-in again on Monday evening. They are now saying that they will release her from the hospital next Friday if everything goes ok this coming week and she will not have to undergo a daily IV at home afterwards.

2nd 12-hour pass

Barb had her second 12-hour pass from the hospital today. We visited our friend Suzi, who just returned from a 2 week trip to Belize, for a couple of hours and the remainder of the day just relaxing at home. We both feel she will be released from the VA Medical Center this week. She will still have to receive antibiotics through an IV administered by a nurse who will come to the motorhome until the middle of June.

12-hour pass

Barb got a 12-hour pass today from the hospital. I had to have her back by 10 PM this evening but I'll be able to take her out again for another 12-hour pass tomorrow. As soon as they are able to take the stitches out they will release her so she can come home. A nurse will come out then to the motorhome everyday for a couple of weeks to give her an IV of antibiotics.

Update

There were tornado warnings across Oklahoma City last night. The warning sirens were blaring and the news channels were telling everyone to take cover. There were heavy rains and reports of ping ball size hail. There was lighting and thunder and power transformers flashing through out the city. They showed where these vortexes were supposed to be but the spotters on the ground didn't see anything. After it was all over with there was very little damage.

Barb is doing better. They told her that they want her to stay up to two more weeks before releasing her. She is not to walk on the foot yet and has to use a wheelchair to get around. She will be getting a 12-hour pass on Saturday and Sunday so she will be able to leave the hospital but has to be back by 10 PM each night. It's a little time together. Our house gets out of the shop tomorrow so we'll have someplace to go other than my daughter's house. I'll be able to pick it up by 4 PM.

Mother's Day

Barb was able to "escape" from the hospital for a few hours today. We "borrowed" one of the VA's wheelchairs and first we went to the Tinker AFB Exchange to buy a few things. We also bought a small recliner that we have been looking for to put in the motorhome. She wanted sushi for lunch so we went to a new Vietnamese restaurant across from Tinker AFB called Pho Air One. A couple of hours of private snuggle time and then I had to get her back to the VA before she was missed too much. Barb is doing real fine. I hope they will release her by the end of the week. I hope we get our motorhome back by the end of the week too.

In for repairs

The motorhome went in for repairs today at AAA Fiberglass in Oklahoma City. The winter before last we flooded out the bathroom area when a valve stuck in the toilet causing an overflow. The chipped wood sub flooring never dried out and became soft causing the ceramic tile to start cracking this last fall. The soft sub flooring migrated into the galley area too. All the tile in the bathroom area and wood floowing in the galley area has to be tore out so the sub flooring can be repaired. It will be replaced with laminated wood flooring. The repairs may take up to two weeks. In the meanwhile, I'm staying with my daughter Evon in Oklahoma City while Barb is at the OKC VA Medical Center.