My Rocks Are Not Rolling

I had a rude awakening yesterday after thinking that the coast was clear from my kidney stone blasting on July 1. Out of the blue, the pain was back yesterday. Not the worst it has been, but bad. I bailed out of work and went home. Threw up a few times and then started hitting the meds. Lucie was away so Ashleigh stepped up and took care of me. A nurse friend explained to me what meds I had and in what order, and dosage, to take them. During a period when I wasn't hurting too bad, Ashleigh drove me over to get an x-ray done. I cycled in and out of pain all night. The doctor called me in the morning and suddenly I felt fine. He wanted to see me so I rushed in. Apparently there is a big stone fragment stuck down low that he has to go up and fetch. The hard way. With vacation coming up, and the uncertainty of another attack, we scheduled that for next Tuesday. Sounds like a big party...

Later in the day my regular doctor told me my cholesterol was a little high so she put me on some meds for that. Meanwhile, all day I was battling a dead battery! The heat must have killed it. So every stop along the way meant some kind soul had to jump me. Perfect on a wicked humid day when I am feeling wiped out. Tomorrow I will get a new battery. I had Costco rotate and balance the tires (free since I bought them there) this week and had the oil changed. Pretty much all set for the NH trip.

But on lighter notes, Lucie came home after a week at camp. A little sore but not completely exhausted. Elliott blew away his state test scores - especially at math. Ashleigh is working part time but steadily and really enjoying it. And work for me continues to be interesting and I love it.

Bustin' Out

There is a video of Mocha fetching in the pool. She is a natural. We saw a short news clip the other day that in Italy, they use Newfoundlands as rescue dogs. They showed clips of them jumping from helicopters and towing 6 people to shore. Pretty fun stuff. And kind of scary when you are in the water and she gets a running start and jumps on you! Great fun.

I was walking her today with Britni (we have a Y splitter on one retractable leash) and the leash snapped. Fortunately we were just in the neighborhood. So today I had to buy a "giant" one to handle up to 110 lbs. Which she will outgrow eventually (about 85 right now).

The fireworks were great as usual. They sold Little Caesars pizzas there for $5 so we got a couple and sat with a bunch of church friends and enjoyed the show. The little town we go to must spend half its annual budget on fireworks. We know just where to park, and the right direction, to get out and home within 5 minutes.

It was over 100º 3 days last week. But it was pretty dry so it wasn't too bad. Rainy today but it is too late. The grass has gone dormant and all is brown.

Just a couple of tiny sand particles have come out from the stone blasting. Had some real crampy days in the kidney but no real pain. I played hoops for the first time this week - I blamed my poor playing on the stone procedure. What can I use for an excuse next week?

Here is a bonus Mocha video.

Pop Rock

A lot has happened since my last blog. Well, "a lot" is an exaggeration but some things have happened anyway. I had two more excruciating bouts with my pesky kidney stone - within 24 hours. Sent me to two different ERs. The first ER treated me quickly at 4 AM and I went home. But around noon the pain came back and it was off the charts in terms of the pain. Terrible. So Lucie called our doctor and he told me to go to the big regional hospital. Of course by the time we get there and wait for hours and hours to be seen, the pain passed. So in the comfort and privacy of a gurney in the hallway, they did a CT scan and found the stone was lodged in my ureter. Kidney function and urine flow was still happening but it had to go. So I went to a urologist and we set up an appointment to get it blasted. The big day comes (July 1) and I am in getting prepped when the nurses are going over the procedureS (yes plural) to be done. Hold on. What is this "cystoscopy" of which you speak? For my non-nursing friends, that means they ram a camera up me into my ureter to see the stone before they blast it. I didn't recall that being on the treatment plan... They knocked me out so it didn't matter anyway. I laid on a table that had like a soccer ball attached. They lined it up and I guess they fired the shock waves from there. All went well. I woke up feeling fine and went home an hour or so after the procedure. Still filtering looking for any gravel but so far nothing. Feeling good.

Ashleigh started work for the local hospital (where I went twice). She is in a pool of clerks that will be called to help staff doctor's offices for vacations and such. She is making good money and can manage her own schedule (she is a sub on call). She is loving it.

Mocha was fixed and that went well. Her hair is growing back where they shaved her. 81 pounds now. And growing... She is LOVING that pool and swims all day. The pool water temp hit 90º last week.

I put a new wireless router in and our signal strength and the consistency of our internet signal is MUCH improved. I have a wired switch and I hope to get up to the attic today (before the heat blasts in) to run some ethernet wire through the house so we can plug in if we need to.

My high school friend and college roommate Dave Batchelder and family stopped by here Thursday night on their way to NH for vacation. That was nice to see them. We always have some good laughs and memories. His wife and kids are really nice and we were happy to give them a good grill cooked meal and place to rest.

Speaking of NH vacation, we are lined up to go to NH the first week in August. This may be our last chance staying the family Cafe on the water so we will make the most of that.

No real plans for the 4th except to hang out by the pool and go to the local fireworks.