We are back in Reno for the month of July. Boots is seeing the doc weekly instead of multiple times each week. Her light sensitivity is not as extreme as before. So, she is able to enjoy a bit more normal existence. Still hard to read, watch TV, work on computer, etc. but at least not as painful.
We were looking for the best deal on audio books for her and remembered how when we were in high school/college there were constant offers from record and book clubs. You could get 3, 4, 6 records for joining and only had to be a member for a year! Or, 3 or 4 books for the same period. Well, you’d think that as successful as that was (didn’t you do at least one of them, if not both???) the internet would have something like that today. If it does, we didn’t find it.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
Geeks – Reno, NV
Boots’ cornea specialist doesn’t really have strong people skills. He is a true geek / scientist. He is looking at the infection and measuring it each time Boots sits in the chair. He let Ruthi look over his shoulder and even into the microscope. While the doc and Ruthi are geeking out about the infection, the bright light is still shining painfully into Boots’ eye.
Each visit indicates the infection has shrunk with the use of the special drug that the doc had created especially for Boots. As the abrasion (another name for a cornea infection) decreases in number the frequency of the application of the drops per day. That alone has allowed Boots time just heal / rest between doses.
Each visit indicates the infection has shrunk with the use of the special drug that the doc had created especially for Boots. As the abrasion (another name for a cornea infection) decreases in number the frequency of the application of the drops per day. That alone has allowed Boots time just heal / rest between doses.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
4 Years - Reno, NV
Today’s the anniversary of the beginning of our RV adventure. We have been on the road for 4 years. We still have 7 states to touch (North Dakota, Indiana, Delaware, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas). They will have to wait. With our medical issues this summer, our slow easy summer on the central coast of California was shorten a great deal. So, when we finally get to our winter digs in Santee (San Diego area) and plan next year’s adventure it may be a repeat of the coast.
We have had some very interesting times while having the adventure of our lifetime. We've seen so much and met many others on the same trail. We even met some people a couple of times at different camp grounds. The first time it happened in Spring 2009 in South Carolina, we were shocked – small world and all. But now it’s just old hat!!
Would we do it again? You bet! Will we continue? Again you bet! But we are going to slow down our summer tours – cover less ground more thoroughly. As we travel we may begin to look at the new places as possible “settling down” places. Not, that we are ready yet but this summer has shown us that complex medical circumstances require open-ended time limits for solutions.
We will be looking at the annual weather conditions with average high/low temperatures. Perfect for us is between 60-80 degrees. We know we’ll have to compromise a little on that. Cool nights/early mornings are ok but we are hoping for nicely warm days – no long pants required and only occasionally AC.
Other considerations are public transportation, movie theaters, in/near large city, etc. So, we’ll see how it all plays out as we continue RVing across America.
We have had some very interesting times while having the adventure of our lifetime. We've seen so much and met many others on the same trail. We even met some people a couple of times at different camp grounds. The first time it happened in Spring 2009 in South Carolina, we were shocked – small world and all. But now it’s just old hat!!
Would we do it again? You bet! Will we continue? Again you bet! But we are going to slow down our summer tours – cover less ground more thoroughly. As we travel we may begin to look at the new places as possible “settling down” places. Not, that we are ready yet but this summer has shown us that complex medical circumstances require open-ended time limits for solutions.
We will be looking at the annual weather conditions with average high/low temperatures. Perfect for us is between 60-80 degrees. We know we’ll have to compromise a little on that. Cool nights/early mornings are ok but we are hoping for nicely warm days – no long pants required and only occasionally AC.
Other considerations are public transportation, movie theaters, in/near large city, etc. So, we’ll see how it all plays out as we continue RVing across America.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
3-Tim Day – Reno, NV
We haven’t added much to the blog lately cause we have been in and out of Reno for Boots’ eye. Finally yesterday-Monday (after seeing them the previous Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) they referred us to another ophthalmologist whose specialty is corneas. This new doc was able to fit us in the next day (today at 9:30am).
It is a 2 hour drive into Reno from Quincy, so to quote Ruthi, “we were up before the crack of dawn” to get ready to drive in. We packed the truck, put the dog in the back seat and then the truck wouldn’t start. We called our Ford Roadside Assistance to find out that we are no longer covered under the warranty. We knew we were out of warranty on the truck but didn’t get the connection to the Roadside Assistance.
Lucky for us, a few weeks ago we had signed up for Good Sam Roadside Assistance. They were very helpful and got a tow truck to us in 45 minutes. We still do not understand why they couldn’t have sent a truck from within Quincy but oh well. So, Tim-#1 shows up and off we go to Reno. We had called the doctor’s office about the delay. They were a bit unbelieving but said to call them when we got to Reno. Since they had squeeze us in they had less patience that might be expected of the medical field.
Our ride into Reno was full of political discussions. While we seemed to be in opposition to Tim-#1 (the tow truck driver) on most topics we did find common ground. You figure in 90 minutes there would have to be bloodshed but we agreed that it’s time for a woman president and that Hillary is a great option, Romney’s business background isn’t sufficient for the presidency, and there should always be a separation of church and state. Points we disagreed on were Romney’s religion is an issue, President Obama is a Muslim, and the Affordable Health Care bill requires governmental “death panels”. Though on that last point, we did get him to agree to research the “advanced directives” so that he could understand the impact better. Besides explaining the language in the bill, we talked about our own directives and how they might be used. Interesting, huh???
When we got to Ford, we worked with Tim-#2 to get the truck admitted for analysis and repair. He told us that they really like to do “cold starts” on diesels to ensure everything is in working order. So, we rented a car to get us around Reno, to new doctor, and back to Quincy. We have to come back to Reno Thursday night anyway because Boots has an early Friday morning appointment at another doctor. She is just falling apart as Ruthi watches. So, Tim-#2 is fine with the arrangement to keep truck until we return and agrees to call us with the prognosis and charges as soon as he knows. No political discussion here.
It’s now about noon and both Ford and the doctor’s offices are closed for lunch. We wait it out and then call the ophthalmologist and try again to get into see him today. They suggest we come to the office and sit in the waiting room until they can get us in – really fun!!! While the clinic wasn’t able to fix Boots’ eye issue they were fun and friendly to us as customers. This new office was less than friendly, we sat in the waiting room for maybe 30 minutes before Boots saw the doctor.
Tim-#3, the doctor examined Boots’ eye pretty much ignoring Ruthi. Well, trying not to be rude but wanting to be included, Ruthi asked questions. Tim-#3 commented on how large the problem on the cornea was (11.6 sq mm). Ruthi commented that that seemed to be pretty large. Tim-#3 asked Ruthi if she wanted to see. Of course she did. He allowed her to view it and even watch as he took a biopsy. So, he didn’t put us together as a couple but he did begin to look at both of us in his discussions of treatment and next steps. Before we left we had a better interface with the office staff and now feel like patients of theirs not just extras, so to speak. We also found out that Tim-#3 is really Tom not Tim, opps!
It is a 2 hour drive into Reno from Quincy, so to quote Ruthi, “we were up before the crack of dawn” to get ready to drive in. We packed the truck, put the dog in the back seat and then the truck wouldn’t start. We called our Ford Roadside Assistance to find out that we are no longer covered under the warranty. We knew we were out of warranty on the truck but didn’t get the connection to the Roadside Assistance.
Lucky for us, a few weeks ago we had signed up for Good Sam Roadside Assistance. They were very helpful and got a tow truck to us in 45 minutes. We still do not understand why they couldn’t have sent a truck from within Quincy but oh well. So, Tim-#1 shows up and off we go to Reno. We had called the doctor’s office about the delay. They were a bit unbelieving but said to call them when we got to Reno. Since they had squeeze us in they had less patience that might be expected of the medical field.
Our ride into Reno was full of political discussions. While we seemed to be in opposition to Tim-#1 (the tow truck driver) on most topics we did find common ground. You figure in 90 minutes there would have to be bloodshed but we agreed that it’s time for a woman president and that Hillary is a great option, Romney’s business background isn’t sufficient for the presidency, and there should always be a separation of church and state. Points we disagreed on were Romney’s religion is an issue, President Obama is a Muslim, and the Affordable Health Care bill requires governmental “death panels”. Though on that last point, we did get him to agree to research the “advanced directives” so that he could understand the impact better. Besides explaining the language in the bill, we talked about our own directives and how they might be used. Interesting, huh???
When we got to Ford, we worked with Tim-#2 to get the truck admitted for analysis and repair. He told us that they really like to do “cold starts” on diesels to ensure everything is in working order. So, we rented a car to get us around Reno, to new doctor, and back to Quincy. We have to come back to Reno Thursday night anyway because Boots has an early Friday morning appointment at another doctor. She is just falling apart as Ruthi watches. So, Tim-#2 is fine with the arrangement to keep truck until we return and agrees to call us with the prognosis and charges as soon as he knows. No political discussion here.
It’s now about noon and both Ford and the doctor’s offices are closed for lunch. We wait it out and then call the ophthalmologist and try again to get into see him today. They suggest we come to the office and sit in the waiting room until they can get us in – really fun!!! While the clinic wasn’t able to fix Boots’ eye issue they were fun and friendly to us as customers. This new office was less than friendly, we sat in the waiting room for maybe 30 minutes before Boots saw the doctor.
Tim-#3, the doctor examined Boots’ eye pretty much ignoring Ruthi. Well, trying not to be rude but wanting to be included, Ruthi asked questions. Tim-#3 commented on how large the problem on the cornea was (11.6 sq mm). Ruthi commented that that seemed to be pretty large. Tim-#3 asked Ruthi if she wanted to see. Of course she did. He allowed her to view it and even watch as he took a biopsy. So, he didn’t put us together as a couple but he did begin to look at both of us in his discussions of treatment and next steps. Before we left we had a better interface with the office staff and now feel like patients of theirs not just extras, so to speak. We also found out that Tim-#3 is really Tom not Tim, opps!
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Small World - Reno, NV
Today, while we were sitting at the dermatologists waiting to go back for our annual inspection. Having been sun-free, so to speak, for all those years we now need to check for damage caused by our “Sun Belt” existence. Anyway, back to the story. Boots got up to turn in her paper work and a gentleman got up from where he was sitting and sat down on the couch by Ruthi. He introduced himself as one of her former clients from Alaska. Luckily, Ruthi did remember him and even liked him. He told her of a few more Alaskan that they had worked with were also living in Reno. He and his wife spend half of the year in Mexico and the other half in Reno. The world really is very small!!!!
Bundt Cake – Reno, NV
Today we had to drive into Reno again for some more appointments. Well, when we got up at 6am (what is wrong with this picture of retirement) there was some snow visible on the mountains around Quincy. But the roads were clear – just a bit wet. The temperatures hovered between 38 and 41 on our way into Reno. There’s a section of CA 70 that is at 5,000 feet with a wide expanse of high dessert - from 3,500 ft in Quincy through this dessert to 4,400 ft in Reno. It is surrounded by mountain peaks - today the range of mountains had a coating of snow evenly distributed. Kinda looked like we were driving inside a Bundt Cake with powdered sugar frosting.
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