31 May 2012

 The boat came through tropical storm Beryl in great shape. She is at Lamb's Yacht Center in Jacksonville, FL.    The Dock-master said that the water is 3 ft over the docks.  The slips are covered so some of the boats had to lower their antennas and biminis due to the high water.


I had my 2 week post-op appointment with my Surgeon yesterday.  He was pleased with progress and with my walking program which is up to 2.5 miles/day.  Slowly increasing to 4 Mi /day.


We are in Pearland for our eldest Granddaughter's High School Graduation which is tomorrow evening. 


Will Post again when we have our travel plans finalized.

22 May 2012

Quite a bit has happened since my last entry but I will try to keep it short.

We rented a car in Jacksonville and headed to Houston for my appointment with a Neurosurgeon. The appointment went well. The Doctor reviewed the MRI and various tests, reports, etc. from the Doctors at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Jacksonville, FL.  He explained to me what the problem was and that I was a candidate for the X-LIF procedure (a minimally invasive method to fuse the L4-L5 vertebrae) After the appointment we headed back to Rockport to wait for my pre-surgical appointment on May 14th with the Neurosurgeon and to pre-register at the hospital.

On May15^th I arrived at Methodist Hospital at 5:30AM.   I went to the Operating Room at 8:15 AM the procedure took approximately 4 hours. I was in my room by 3:30PM and out of bed by suppertime.  That was the most difficult 4 ft that I have ever walked.

I was discharged on Friday, May 18^th and stayed with my son in Pearland until Monday, the 21^st. I am slowly recovering.  Getting around OK but still have pain at the surgical sites.  The best thing is that I can walk without the leg and hip pain that I experienced before surgery.


Our Granddaughters went to the Pearland High School Prom on the 18th.  Ozel took a few pictures of them before they left with their dates. Their brother was there to see them off.  His time will come...

 Ashlynn, Jakob and Amamda 

Ashlynn and Amanda

5 May 2012 Pearland, Texas

I imagine that  everyone is wondering what is up with us. Well, my back gave out.  When the pain was so bad that I couldn't walk one  morning, Ozel took me to the Emergency Room at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Jacksonville, FL.  I wound up staying in hospital for 5 days.  The staff at St. Vincent's were professional and caring.

The Neurosurgeons recommended surgery but advised having it done closer to home to make the follow-up care easier.  The end of the story is that I will have surgery on the 15th of May at Methodist Hospital in Houston.

We left "Freya" at Lamb's Yacht Center.  They will install the new stern thruster while we are in Texas.
Our plan is to cruise the St John's when I'm cleared for travel (should be about 6 weeks after surgery) and might move to the Chesapeake and leave the boat there over the winter.  We would then resume our journey next spring.

I will continue to post to this site as new information becomes available.

This is a Banner at Methodist Hospital that shows the "Best Hospital" designation that their Neurology & Neurosurgery Department earned.