Funny

Support

O.K. I have thought about this for some time and I think now is a good time to let it out.

A few weeks ago my mother had an appointment with her "primary care physician". Everything was fine until my mother had mentioned a pain in her left calf. She was honest with her doctor about the location and the circumstances that would elevate the level of pain. Her doctor wastes no time in getting her set up for an ultra-sound to check for blood clots. My mom left her regular appointment at about 9:00 and called me.

9:00. I am working and Melissa had taken Kayla to get registered at Granite Park Jr. High. Mom calls and explains what is going on and being that she has no mode of self-transportation, I would have to help her get to her ultra-sound appointment in 1 hour. Not a problem, I am familiar with this, however I have no way to help her right away. The next thing that runs through my mind is when she had an open sore on her toe and had to spend a full week in the hospital. I did not want to go through that again.

9:30. Melissa arrives at home a few minutes later and I explain the situation to her and, bless her angle wings, I think she wanted to go and help more than I did. Unfortunately, we have children to take care of and one of us will be staying home. Knowing the severity of the situation we had to cancel Emma's appointment with her doctor (she was very sick) and I had to clear my schedule for the day. It was either going to be a short appointment or a hospital stay. We get to the appointment and I am watching the ultra-sound exam and everything is fine with her arteries until....

10:15. To check for blood clots, they apply a great amount of pressure and watch the artery collapse and then spring open. When they got to the back of her lower leg, the artery remained open and was not flexible. I got an empty feeling in my stomach. The exam was soon over and the doctor checking the film had us go downstairs to begin the admittance into the Emergency Department. She had clots. I called Melissa and between the three of us we prepared for a long day, and we also discussed and concluded it would be best to transfer to a different hospital that has a better "financial assistance" program. This was not going to be cheap.

11:30. We are on our way to hospital #2. The computer system was completely down. All the paperwork was being completed by pen and paper. The wait has exhausting, but when we were taken to the E.D. room, we were asked all the questions, why and what's. They needed to talk to hospital #1 to verify everything we were telling them and to start a plan of action. Hospital #1 could not even confirm we were even seen by their radiology department. Finally after a few hours in the emergency department, hospital #2 got all the information required to start treatment.

3:00. No overnight!!!! We were not expecting that, but bet your sweet ass we were accepting it. All she needed to do is give herself 2 shots a day for five days and begin a regimen of cumadin. OK. We can do this. The I.V. is not covered by her health plan, if you want to call it a plan. The cumadin is covered and is relatively inexpensive. The lovenox (I.V.) is approx. $100 PER shot! The math is $1000.00 for this blood thinner. We all know what that means.

3:30. I am sitting in the small office far enough away from everything else you forget you are even in a hospital. The counselor is asking for information that I just don't have. He tells me that my mom and the attending physician will need to sign the application to have the manufacturer "donate" the medicine at no cost to the hospital. So we work our way back to the E.D. to get this accomplished. We meet my mom on the way back and she filled out what I couldn't. The counselor then proceeds to the E.D. for the physicians’ signature and we wait at the pharmacy.

4:15. The counselor re-joins us and explains to us how it will should work, but nothing is a guarantee. We roll the dice and in the end it is covered. (It was not confirmed until after 2 business days). While the Rx is being filled, I take a moment for myself....

I walk out into the bridge area were you can see the rest of the world going about their business. I start to think...

I am really tired... I miss my wife... I miss my kids... I can't wait to see them all... I am alone right now... I have no one to talk to... I do not have a father, brother or sister... Nobody I can pass this onto... I need to "deal" with all of it, every time...

My wife will be there for me when I reach for her... I will be reaching for her more often... She is my support mechanism...

I am sorry to her for this and in the same breath I am thankful and I feel blessed to have her through this and everything else WE will have to endure.

4:45. On our way home.

I hope that at the end of this, none of you will have to feel the isolation I felt for just a few moments. It wasn't the worst thing I have had to deal with but it was the most exhaustive. I hope you all have a strong support mechanism and will appreciate the help you will receive and it helps you get through the tough times.

Thank you to all my friends and I love you all, especially my best friend - Melissa

Another blog?.....

That's all the world needs. However, it is mine. I have created another blog. It is about astronomy, one of my hobbies. It will more than likely have more content than this blog. It is a passion of mine and I would like to share it with all who are interested. Not to worry, It shouldn't be too overwelming and feel like you're in school. It is just an opprtunity and maybe an excuse for you to look up.

http://www.jeremy-365.blogspot.com/

Let it be.....

It has been a rough week for those left behind to endure the loss of a loved one. His jorney has changed. His is a more peaceful journey now. No longer must he suffer, he is now in the arms of someone or something that has taken away the pain.

But what is left behind is not entirely a sense of relief. It is a sure state of confusion with the loaded question, "Why him, did he not do as commanded?" He knows. Not the taker, but the one who is now gone. What a moment that will be for all of us, for that is the debt all men must pay.

For the time being we must wait, pick up the pieces, and move forward.

I guess this will mark the beginning of the Good vs. Evil I hinted about in an earlier blog. I will get deeper, but for now, I would like to post the following as some form of comfort;

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be,
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

And when the broken hearted people
living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, let it be.

For though they may be parted
There is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer let it be.

Let it be, let it be.
Yeah There will be an answer, let it be.

And when the night is cloudy,
There is still a light that shines on me,
Shine until tomorrow, let it be.

I wake up to the sound of music,
Mother Mary comes to me,
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be,

Let it be, let it be.
There will be an answer, let it be.

Let it be, let it be,
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be.
There will be an answer, let it be.

Bless those who are strong enough to stay behind.....

Let's skip ahead

Not Good v. Evil.....but I wanted to share a poem I came across. It is from the legendary Chinese sage Lao Tzu from his book "Book of Tao"

"Before the heavens and Earth existed
there was something nebulous,
Silent, infinite, unfathomable,
Without beginning or end,
Standing alone, changing not,
Ever present and revolving eternally,
The source of the ten-thousand things...

I do not know its name
And call it Tao;
If a name must be given,
I shall call it the Ultimate...

The Way of heaven achieves all without striving;
Answers all without speaking;
Accomplishes all without deliberate design;
The net of heaven is broad, with wide meshes,
Yet nothing slips through...

He who walks in harmony with the eternal Way
Shall be the master of existence;
Knowing the ancient beginning
Is the essence of enlightenment.
This is the mystic unity of the Way..."

I don't get too much into poems. My brain doesn't work well with abstract thought. Give me a formula and I can solve anything, but let me be creative and the simplest tasks can be very laborous. That's why I dropped out of Architecture and became a drafter. When I came across this particular poem in the "Burnhams Celestial Guidebook", I was blown away by how well I understood the meanings, and how simple but beautiful the desription of the Milky Way. My friends know how important astronomy is in my life, so I am sure I will write plenty more entries regarding the heavens above. After all, we are all stardust........

Number 4

Why four? Why not four? Four is the first number NOT to get a medal. This entry is dripping with sub-standardness. Is that even a word? Anyway.... Here is my no-medal award winning blog entry.

I just want to give a big shout-out to my Grand Pa. I want to thank him for everything he has instilled in me. What are those? you ask. Be PATIENT and I will get to that. I know that I wasn't always there for you when you needed me, but you were always there when I needed you, only, I didn't know at the time that I needed you. As an adult I look back on the things you gave me that I now carry with me through life.

The home I am raising a family in, was once yours. It has gone through some changes in the last three plus years. It hasn't been easy but I am thankful for your guidance. I know it has turned out just the way you wanted. Not only did you guide me just in your presence, but you gave me the important knowledge of how to do the day to day things. People from time to time will say nice work or they are amazed at how much we were able to do physically. Those compliments are hard to take at times because I know I don't deserve them as much as you deserve the credit of keeping me honest and humble. I can only hope to carry on the good work and show my children how to be good human beings.

I know you are still around, because I can hear you at night with grandma walking through the house, and I want you to stick around as long as you like and watch the home you once lived in continue to be a home that is loved and full of love.

I love you Grand Pa and I miss you. Thank you for your help......

Sorry to all those out there for this short and touchy feely entry, but I wanted to get this message off my chest. I hope to be back with something a little more controversial next time. Perhaps a little teaser for you.....Good v. Evil. Sounds exciting huh. Stay tuned.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming......

In the beginning...

First of all, I am a drafter not an English major. If you have hang-ups with grammar or spelling, you might want to get over yourself and realize that this world was not created just for you.

Let’s dive into the shallow end.


The family and I were on our way home from a great friend of ours (better than family actually) and I had a thought. “ I finally have my first blog topic”

During the drive, I was reminded of my 12th grade physics instructors mind-blowing (for a 12th grader) example of “Relativity”. I strapped myself into the drivers seat and backed out of the driveway. We got onto the highway and it returned to me. I was planted firmly into my seat with no relative motion. The seat was strapped to the vehicle with no relative motion. The only things that were moving were the outside references. Without those references we would have no visual cues that we were in motion. So here is a question, if we had no relative motion while in the vehicle, why can’t we say that we were simply “pulling” Salt Lake to us? From our vantage point, the world outside was moving in a direction I told it to with the accelerator, the brake and the steering wheel. It was amazing I could focus on the drive home.

It gets crazier. I then began to realize that we were actually driving through space. The car was making contact with the road that was attached to the earth and this is where we get moving crazy fast. The Earth revolves around the sun at approx. 18.5 miles per second, pretty fast. I never knew my Ford explorer had that kind of horses under the hood. But, that is not all. The sun orbits the center of the Milky Way Galaxy at a speed of 140 miles per second. Well, my doors should be falling off, but they aren’t.

Thank goodness I don’t sense any of that motion when I sit in my car and go get groceries. Why don’t we have any of that sensation of motion? I won’t get into that. If you are interested there are better sources to get your answers.

I just wanted this opportunity to remind everyone that we are all space travelers and to welcome you all to my travels through this “blog” space.

Thank you for your time.

P.S. – I don’t know when I will do this again or what it will be about, but when I do, I hope it will be as interesting and eclectic as the commercials during the Super Bowl.