Moving On

We are leaving this blog as a stand alone entity dealing only with our Big Tour of 2010 - 2011 and its immediate aftermath.  There will be no more entries here, but, I am beginning a new blog of occassional thoughts and photos which may be of interest to some.  See http://franklinsphotosandphilosophy.blogspot.com/

Thanks again to all those who "traveled with us" and helped us along through their prayers and good wishes.

Our Wedding Anniversary - 32 years

It is hard to believe we have been home almost two weeks.  Dorothy continues to improve a little each day.  Her cough has virtually disappeared but she still has a continuing need to clear her throat frequently and periodic pain in her left chest which seems to follow the shape of the bottom half of her left lung, and is usually worse after eating. She still tires easily.  However, today she drove the van for the first time since December 21 and we were both most thankful that we could celebrate our wedding anniversary yesterday by going out for a nice dinner which we both enjoyed heartily.

January 20, 2011 - celebrating our wedding day - January 20, 1979
We dined in the new Sawmill Restaurant at Franklin's Inn in Sherwood Park

 

Before dining out, Dorothy had a treatment at the clinic she attended before our trip.  One of the therapists has just returned from extra study in China so Dorothy received some acupuncture to redirect and strengthen the energy flow; and some cupping therapy to remove toxins.  It seemed more proactive than just contemplating that her conventional medical tests were "encouragingly normal".

If you look closely, you can see a few of the acupuncture needles, as well as
what are sometimes called fire cups which draw out internal toxins.
They are left on for about 25 minutes.

Meantime, we continue to have a lot of winter weather so we enjoy the days when we can look out from our warm condo and feel thankful we don't have to go outside to chop wood or feed the cows.

a few statistics of the Big Tour

Nights away from home = 52
Total kilometers added to van = 14,766
Dash home: Port St. Lucie, FL to Sherwood Park, AB
    4,849 kms. - Jan. 1 to Jan. 8, 2011
    avg. = 606 kms / day

Initial bill for Dorothy's hospitalization - Dec. 24 - 28, 2010 = $35,705.00 US 

   other bills for ER and Doctors to follow.
[So far our insurance plan, through Alberta Retired Teachers' Association, but administered by Desjardins, has been quite helpful and reassuring.  We have not had an indication from them yet that we will have a portion to pay.]
[Note: while the amounts in the bill seem large, we have no way of knowing what similar procedures in Canada cost (via our taxes)]

Testing ... one, two, three, four ...

Dorothy had the last of her four batteries of tests early this morning.  Before sunrise we were off to Edmonton.  It was -30C [-22F] with few signs there would be sunshine today.

Venturing out onto our street - "What are all these people doing out here? It's 30 below!"

The breathing tests seemed to go well.  The respitory therapist, Melinda, explained things fully and was very helpful in understanding what was going on. 

Dorothy - ready for her lung function tests

Later we had a meeting with our lawyer to advise us regarding a form we received from our travel health insurance company.  I was all set to praise him for punctuality compared to our doctor, but he was half an hour late getting back from lunch so we got to practice our waiting there too.

Then it was off to our follow up doctor's appointment.  Remember, the mid-day high today was -28C so it was not easy getting around - or breathing the "fresh" air.  It seems I was mistaken about our doctor not usually working Friday afternoons.  Actually, he does work, but not "regular" appointments - instead he is meeting with fee paying clients who want botox or other elective cosmetic procedures.  So, we had to wait while those folks were served.  From our 2:30 "appointment" it was actually 5 minutes before 4:00 pm before we met with the doctor.  However, the message was probably worth waiting for.  He said he was "relieved" by the results of Dorothy's echocardiogram tests of her heart function.  He said he was concerned they might find heart congestion but that it "appeared" that was not the case.  Blood tests and x-rays were also reassuring.  He explained some of Dorothy's chest and abdominal pains as muscle strains or pulls. He was also encouraged by Dorothy's increase in energy and improved general appearance. He will not get the pulmonary test results until Wednesday and will only call us "if it seems called for". Generally, we ae thankful for Dorothy's progress thus far - she still has a long way to go but there are some signs of normalacy returning.

We continue to be thankful for the support of our friends, as well.  A few examples are below:

Carolyn sent a "soup hamper"

Margaret sent individual meal sized Shepherd's Pie
[an apple pie did not survive long enough to be photographed]

Florence brought a gift of spring flowers.

And Melisa brought groceries covering all the major food groups, plus flowers.
[Racquel (age 5) did the "Welcome Back" card

Thanks - is hardly enough - but we are grateful for all the support we have received and for how far Dorothy has progressed since we arived home.

the appointment with the Doctor

We arrived punctually for Dorothy's 3:20 pm appointment.  We shared a waiting room with 6 other people; one a 2 year old coughing with indeterminant illness, another a teenager coughing with strep throat.  After 56 minutes, we were ushered into a consultation cubicle, where, 9 minutes later the doctor appeared.  [Note to our U.S. friends, this is very typical waiting time, for an appointment. The appointments are booked every 10 minutes so that the Doctor is chronically behind.  Apparently, it is not an option to go to a longer appointment period of say 15 minutes?]
We had brought all the medical records we received in Florida.  The Doctor reviewed those quickly, commenting he would like to have seen an echocardiogram.  He used his stethoscope to listen to Dorothy's breathing.  He wrote requisitions for tests: (1) a battery of blood work, (2) x-rays, (3) an echocardiogram, and (4) a pulminary function test.  We have to look after booking the first three ourselves, a pulmonary lab. will contact us about the fourth.
The Doctor facilitated the making of a follow-up appointment with him for Friday afternoon.  [Usually, he does not work Friday afternoons.] Our time with him totalled 22 minutes.
I had two additonal questions for him.
1. Should we be in a crisis situation,such as extreme loss of breath, is there any way of including him (as the "family doctor") in the decision making process about Dorothy's treatment?
Answer: You can always phone the office and ask the staff to contact me.
2. What happens if the crisis happens outside of office hours?
Answer: I have no availability outside of office hours.

In memory of Gwen

One of the highlights of our trip was visiting with Gwen in Florida.  We just received news from her daughter, Heather, that Gwen died this past Thursday after a brief illness and hospitalization,  Gwen made us so welcome - she treated our visit as a major event - and she prepared and planned for us.  It was a disappointment for us all that Dorothy's illness began the next day after we arrived and we were not able to have those enjoyable times we had all anticipated.
Dorothy and Gwen became friends in high school and have kept in contact all the way through lives that have many highs and lows along the way.  Gwen was a warm, kindly Christian lady with an infectious sense of humour and a graceful way of making everyone she met feel appreciated.
Her sudden passing is yet another reminder that no one is promised tomorrow and that we need to make sure we savour life and the lives of our loved ones while we have those opportunities.
Gwen's memorial service will be this Wednesday - please join us in a prayer of gratitude for her life among us.

Gwen and Dorothy - two beautiful, dear ladies
December 21, 2010

Saskatoon, SK to Sherwood Park, AB (HOME)

We had a restful night and were faced this morning with news and discussion of the winter storm warnings for the area we would be driving through.  We decided to start as soon as we could.  Our advantage now is that we are on home territory - we know the road very well, and we know the various subtleties of the weather.

Not far from Saskatoon, we encountered snow and drifting snow.

We reached Lloydminster just before noon and had a nice lunch at one of our old favourite restaurants, Spiro's.  It was nice to be welcomed warmly by Spiro and his daughter Maria.  We are among people we know and who know us - it feels good.

Well into Alberta now (near Vermilion) and conditions have not improved.

Near Minburn, AB - it looks like winter driving conditions

After over 500 kms of winter driving - it's nice to see the sign for OUR EXIT.

Our street - Foxhaven Drive, Sherwood Park, AB

Home at last!

Our friend Joe was waiting to welcome us and help me unload the van.

We are blessed with so many supportive friends.  Carolyn made soup for us.  Margaret supplied a casserole and an apple pie.
I would like to thank all those who followed the blog and/or provided e-mails and phone calls of support.  We had an impressive prayer team behind us - from across the country.  Thank you all.
I will not be making daily entries to the blog now but I will update with any significant follow up news as to Dorothy's health situation.  Also, I hope when time permits to add some additional information about the places we went, what we purchased, etc. 

Now we can sit and watch the snow, knowing we do not have to load up the van and drive on tomorrow.