We have gone on a few hikes to Silly Mountain in the past week but mostly have stayed around the RV Park. Lori had just been getting over a cold when I started to feel one coming on. On Sunday I got up feeling ok but by noon I started feeling bloated with pain in my abdomen. I thought initially it was just a bad case of gas but by evening it hadn't cleared up so we drove to the nearest Hospital ER. We got there at 11:00 and there was no one else in the waiting room. I don't think I have ever seen an empty ER waiting room. At home its usually standing room only. By 2:00AM I had seen a couple of doctors, had been hooked up to an IV, BP and Heart monitor, had a CT scan, Ultrasound and a series of blood tests. In that time all of the test results were back and analysed. They never did find out for sure why I had so much stomach pain but by the time we left I was feeling much better. My laymans' diagnosis is I was probably dehydrated complicated by a touch of the flu or cold and the IV helped rehydrate me.
The CT scan did show some spots on my Liver so they ordered the Ultrasound. While we waited for the Tech we had lots of time to imagine the worst. Once the Ultrasound results came back they determined the spots were just cysts and nothing to worry about. We could breath again. However they did determine that my Gallbladder had thickening walls and contained sludge. A possible precursor to Gall Stones. They have made a referral to a specialist and I have an appointment on the 14th to see if Gallbladder removal will be required. I've been feeling much better the past few days so we will see what the Specialist says and what our Medical Insurance will cover. Till then I am on a low fat and low fibre diet. Low Fibre is just so contrary to how we have tried to eat, like, forever. Has anyone tasted white bread lately. I don't know why they bother, it has no taste and no substance.
I'm not sure if my experience is typical down here but to get into Emergency and have all those tests done and results received so quickly is certainly not something I would have experienced at home. The flip side of course is what this is going to cost. At home one doesn't worry about cost but here I made sure I made a call to our Medical Insurance Co before we went to the hospital to ensure we would be covered. The Insurance Co will be mailing me a report that will include the cost which will be interesting. One thing that all hospitals do have in common is backless gowns. I don't know why they insist on making patients walk down the hall wearing only those gowns, holding the IV bag in one hand and desperately trying to hold the back of the gown closed with the other. I'll bet the staff have a pool to see how long it takes before the patient looses his grip on the gown and exposes the world to their nether regions.
Yesterday we stopped at a local Ford dealership as I had been getting a message indicating a coolant problem. They checked it out and sure enough I have a leak in radiator. A new one is on order and will be installed next week but the good news is the Extended Service Plan that was purchased by the original owner of my truck covers the cost with no deductible. It also covers the cost of a rental car for the 2-3 days it will take for the work to be done. Finally some good news.
Before we left home I had a new windshield installed in the Truck as I had a few stone chips that could not be repaired. Coming back from the Fiesta Bowl on Dec 31 I caught a rock on my windshield. Another stone chip. Damm. The Ford dealer referred me to a guy who will come to the RV park and fix it for $40. Hopefully I can get MPIC to reimburse me when we get home.
We also attended a Newbie Mixer put on by the RV Park. We were conflicted as the Gold Medal game for the World Juniors was on that same evening and Canada was playing those evil Ruskies. We decided to attend and we would slip away to watch the game if the evenings entertainment wasn't captivating. They started the evening off with a game meant to get people talking to each other. That was over quickly and frankly I don't think it really accomplished too much in the way of meeting and getting to know new people.
Following that they had hired a hypnotist for the evenings entertainment. We had never seen one in person before so we decided to stay. Boy are we glad we did. He had about 15 people up on stage to start and ended up with about 7 who really fell under his spell. He had them doing all sorts of things from impersonating Elvis, pretending to play various musical instruments, and laughing and crying at movies that they thought they were watching. He had the whole audience laughing at the antics of the onstage volunteers. We made it back in time to watch the final 10 minutes of the game and while we missed the joy of watching Canada get the early lead and the angst of the Ruskies comeback we thoroughly enjoyed cheering as the clock ticked off the final seconds. Confirmation once again that we are #1 in the hockey world. Like there was ever any doubt.
Thursday we are off to see the Jets annihilate the Coyotes. After watching just about everyone of their games on TV the past 3 years we have been in Jets withdrawal this winter. The NHL network, which we get on our Park cable, did carry the Jets/Leafs game on Saturday night but that is the only game we have seen since we have been down here. Can hardly wait to yell TRUE NORTH during the anthem. I expect lots of other Snowbird Jets fans will be there to cheer our boys on.
Later.
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