My dark passenger, Earl the Black Pearl, is still quiet. I’ve been pain-free for two weeks now. We’re not lulled into a sense of security though. We know he’s still in there. It has been a long time waiting to see the urologist, but we finally saw him on Wednesday. It was interesting. We got to see the DVD of the CAT scan from April 1st. From the chest down, every few millimeters, we got to see me in slices (cross-sections). Earl is an 8mm stone trying to get through a 2mm passage. He’s blocking the right ureter as best he can. We discussed options, and settled on something other than pain and narcotics. We can go in there and get him. It will involve a surgery or two, and take weeks or months altogether, but eventually we should be able to blow him up with an ultrasound beam (from outside) or a laser beam (from inside). I’ll still have to pass him, but hopefully passing him in pieces will be more manageable than what I’ve experienced so far. We’ll do a CAT Scan tomorrow to find out exactly where he’s hiding now. In another week or so, they’ll put in a stent to allow normal kidney function on the right side for a while. Stay tuned…
A rainy day
It rained last night. And continued this morning. There were puddles on the ground! I can’t remember the last time it rained.
The Mandevilla
Looking a little lean, a while back, all trimmed up and tied up, ready to burst forth in the spring.
Now, it’s busy bursting forth, as expected.
Now, it’s busy bursting forth, as expected. A couple weeks ago,
While I’m trying to move a kidney stone along, I’m in the emergency room answering questions. In Texas, in addition to all the other questions, they ask what religion you are. He asked. I said “none”. He didn’t understand the answer. He listed the choices. I said “none”. “None of the above?” he asked. I said “none”. “Don’t want to say, huh?” “I just said. None.” He wrote something down. Probably “undecided”.
Addendum
The Big Day started in Port Aransas, where it usually does. Judy and I aren’t there, we’re still at Sandpipers 170 miles south. Judy stayed here, I went there; this is not something Judy wants to do. A Big Day. I’ve described it before as “Like having fun, but different.” Judy agrees. So really the Big Day started the day before for me. I drove to Port Aransas (with a stop at Snoopy’s for an early dinner). I checked into a room and slept for three hours before meeting Jon at midnight. I wanted to be well-rested. You know it’s really Jon’s Big Day. He plans it. We both do it, we both look and listen, but he spots way more birds way faster than I do. There are other people that help as well. People call and text during the day to say what they’re seeing and where. Usually we don’t divert much from our itinerary, but by the end of the day when we’re scratching out every last bird we can before dark, those calls and texts really help. There was a fair amount of dashing back and forth that last hour or two and we got some cool migrants as a result. A whole bunch of year-birds for me. A few year-birds for Jon, but he’s already doing a Texas Year, so he’s been hard at it since January 1st. One new Lifer for me; the Whip-poor-will. Good to get that one. Now I still need to hear one call. I may have to go a little farther east for that. Maybe Georgia. So, as I said before, a good Big Day, but throw in an extra 350 miles of driving for me to pull it off this year.