Part 85 Lost pines getaway


When you can’t fight your troubles away at home, you can always leave on a trip, forget to pack them, and hope they stay behind! That’s what we try to do by driving a short way to Lost Pines recreational area in Bastrop, near Austin. Also, we feel that we were cheated out of a summer vacation and must make some amends for this for the children’s benefit (if not our own). The weather has warmed as we near the spot, listening to the band Traffic. For some reason I associate this group, and singer Steve Winwood with Austin, so one of their CDs is a travel requirement when we are in that area.. We check into the Hyatt, where we have been given a special rate. Becah and the kids are eager to explore the place, as I usually would also be. However, the Texans and Jets football game is on, and it is very close, and there are playoff aspirations going on here. I sit and watch the Texans come from behind in the final minutes and take the lead, only to have it slip away with 50 seconds left.

The facility offers many activities for kids, including hay mazes, face painting, campfires at night, and a chilly lazy river to float on. We manage to take advantage of most of these over the next two days.

My mood is inconsistent. At times I am able to enjoy our outing, but at others I feel strangely indifferent. The place itself is nice enough, but it is nowhere near the longer, more attractive vacation that we had planned for the summer. My intermittent physical discomfort clouds everything I do. We have buffet dinners two nights, and I find side dishes like sautéed mushrooms and peas to be delicious. Other menu items, though, are either hard for me to swallow or don’t taste as they should. I see all these foods on the table but can’t enjoy them fully.

That seems to describe my life lately. I make little bits of progress but regress at every turn.

We return shortly to Houston. Thanksgiving approaches. A time to appreciate your bounty. I sincerely am thankful for so much. For so long now I have to remind myself to be thankful because of all the stress in my life and all of the problems that have amassed.




Part 86 Exit the stent


The neurologist, Dr. Su-, has me complete a few perceptual exercises, observes me walking down the hall, and decides that I am in pretty good shape. He recommends that I continue occupational therapy to work on my hand flexibility. It has taken quite a while to get this appointment with him. He has been monitoring me, however, ever since my unfortunate experience with the anesthesia. Becah is impressed with his skills and demeanor, and I find that I am also.

December arrives. In my mind is the fact that almost a year has passed since all of this began, and it is not the “distant memory” that I was assured it would be. It is the ongoing reality.

On December 8, 2010 I check into the hospital again to have my body given proper fluid levels. The following day Mary the nurse, the female anesthesiologist, and Dr. Ra- assist me into another hospital procedure, this time to remove the stent. It has not been quite three months since a stent was first placed, but I have endured enough and the doctor feels that, if it is to be effective, enough time has probably elapsed that it can be taken out now. The procedure goes well, and I soon feel much relief, both physically and psychologically, that it is out of my body.

For about a week my good feeling lasts. I swallow some foods, I walk about, I live in more peace. My inside chest does not hurt. I can put the pills away.