This weekend marks two months since we returned from our ill fated trip, and I am happy to report that after much forthing and backing, and two stays in our local hospital, Barbara is well on her way to recovering from the major events and conditions that so bedevilled us at the end of the trip and after we got home.
We are both very grateful for all the help and care that we received in hospitals and emergency rooms, and from many friends who sent cards and flowers, and said prayers for Barbara's recovery.
We have also heard from several Evergreen Club members who kept up with our blog and wanted to be sure that we were OK. Thank you all.
This whole experience, has driven home, yet again, that since we none of us know the day of our appointment with Him, it is well to ensure that we live each day to the fullest, and to prepare our mind and spirit for that inevitable day of home going that awaits all of our futures.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Home Sweet Home
After 4 nights there, Barbara was discharged from the hospital in Abilene, Kansas, on Monday June 22, and we spent the next three days and two nights on the road. We arrived home this afternoon around 4:30pm. Although very tired, Barbara was feeling much better on this last day of the ride home, and after eating a wonderful dinner delivered by our friends the Loper's, she is once again ensconced in her own bed, and will no doubt be very much better for a good night's rest.
Even though it did not end as we expected, we owe thanks to many folks along the way including
several Evergreen Club members who contributed to making this a wonderful trip. Their hospitality was exemplary, and we will treasure the friendships that we made with all of them during the trip west.
On the medical side, the aides, nurses, administrative staff & physicians of Urgent Care, and Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque; the Urgent Care Clinic in Limon, Colorado, and especially those at Memorial Hospital in Abilene, Kansas, all contributed to making the crises of the various moments of the trip more bearable, and in helping Barbara to regain her bio-chemical balance, and dealing with the effects of acute altitude sickness, kidney problems, out of control blood glucose levels, and abnormally high blood pressure, each of them made every effort to support and help us in our time of need.
More detailed recollections of the trip, along with some more photos will be posted later this week.
Even though it did not end as we expected, we owe thanks to many folks along the way including
several Evergreen Club members who contributed to making this a wonderful trip. Their hospitality was exemplary, and we will treasure the friendships that we made with all of them during the trip west.
On the medical side, the aides, nurses, administrative staff & physicians of Urgent Care, and Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque; the Urgent Care Clinic in Limon, Colorado, and especially those at Memorial Hospital in Abilene, Kansas, all contributed to making the crises of the various moments of the trip more bearable, and in helping Barbara to regain her bio-chemical balance, and dealing with the effects of acute altitude sickness, kidney problems, out of control blood glucose levels, and abnormally high blood pressure, each of them made every effort to support and help us in our time of need.
More detailed recollections of the trip, along with some more photos will be posted later this week.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Trip turn around
The past two weeks since Albuquerque have been something of a whirl, and what was the great Noden Road Trip has become more of the Noden emergency room visits. After our arrival in Albuquerque Barbara became ill, and so on the morning after our arrival there, on Sunday, June 7 I took her to Presbyterian Hospital, in downtown Albuquerque, and we spent the rest of the day there while she underwent several diagnostic tests.
The ultimate diagnosis was that she was suffering from acute altitude sickness, complicated by an existing bronchial congestion brought on by a cold. The prescription was twofold. One, a prescription for a substance containing steroids to reduce the chances of brain and/or lung edema, and two, a prompt return to lower altitudes.
After a careful review of the altitudes involved in the balance of the trip, we cancelled the rest of the itinerary including Grand Canyon & Lake Havasu in Arizona, and Bryce, Zion and Arches National parks in Utah and went to visit Alexandra and Martin in Boulder, Colorado. We spent several days there, resting and enjoying the quiet before the wedding, and then after realizing that Barbara was not improving we decided to return home via the shortest possible route to sea level climes. Barbara was very reluctant to leave Boulder because it meant that we would miss the wedding of Basho and Amanda, which was the primary reason for the road trip.
On the way home we made yet another ER stop in Limon, Colorado, to get a prescription for an oral fungal infection, ("Thrush") that Barbara developed while in Boulder. We did not know it then, but this was the result of a steroid induced spike in her blood glucose levels.
After reaching Abilene on the evening of Wednesday, June 17, we spent the night in a local motel, and the following morning it quickly became apparent that Barbara was not doing well. Accordingly, I brought her to Memorial Hospital, and after a long morning session involving many tests in the ER, she was admitted to the hospital. A "perfect storm" of cascading events and conditions, including high glucose levels, high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, oral infection, etc, convinced the doctors that she should be kept here until systemic stability could be achieved. Thus, we have spent the last three days and two nights here trying to achieve that condition.
At the time of this writing we are expecting that Barbara will be sufficiently recovered to be discharged on Sunday, June 21. If so, we will make haste to return home.
The ultimate diagnosis was that she was suffering from acute altitude sickness, complicated by an existing bronchial congestion brought on by a cold. The prescription was twofold. One, a prescription for a substance containing steroids to reduce the chances of brain and/or lung edema, and two, a prompt return to lower altitudes.
After a careful review of the altitudes involved in the balance of the trip, we cancelled the rest of the itinerary including Grand Canyon & Lake Havasu in Arizona, and Bryce, Zion and Arches National parks in Utah and went to visit Alexandra and Martin in Boulder, Colorado. We spent several days there, resting and enjoying the quiet before the wedding, and then after realizing that Barbara was not improving we decided to return home via the shortest possible route to sea level climes. Barbara was very reluctant to leave Boulder because it meant that we would miss the wedding of Basho and Amanda, which was the primary reason for the road trip.
On the way home we made yet another ER stop in Limon, Colorado, to get a prescription for an oral fungal infection, ("Thrush") that Barbara developed while in Boulder. We did not know it then, but this was the result of a steroid induced spike in her blood glucose levels.
After reaching Abilene on the evening of Wednesday, June 17, we spent the night in a local motel, and the following morning it quickly became apparent that Barbara was not doing well. Accordingly, I brought her to Memorial Hospital, and after a long morning session involving many tests in the ER, she was admitted to the hospital. A "perfect storm" of cascading events and conditions, including high glucose levels, high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, oral infection, etc, convinced the doctors that she should be kept here until systemic stability could be achieved. Thus, we have spent the last three days and two nights here trying to achieve that condition.
At the time of this writing we are expecting that Barbara will be sufficiently recovered to be discharged on Sunday, June 21. If so, we will make haste to return home.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Stop # 8-Albuquerque, NM-June 6-9
After a long drive through southern Colorado we crossed the border into New Mexico, and drove to Santa Fe where we stopped to go through the Georgia O'Keefe museum there. Barbara has long had the urge to see the works of this iconic American modernist, and she was not disappointed. The museum was superb, and we had a lovely luncheon in the open air terrace of the restaurant next door.
Our hosts for the next few days were Bob & Donna Benson, whose beautiful ranch house was made even more interesting and colorful by virtue of the bedroom to which we were assigned--The Balloon Room. The whole room was decorated with miniature hot air balloons in an unusual and colorful nod towards the sport of ballooning which is very popular in Albuquerque.
Unfortunately, it was in Albuquerque that Barbara awoke on the second day of our stay feeling very ill, and after we took her to an urgent care center, they in turn sent her to the city's Presbyterian Hospital. After several hours there of observation, poking, prodding, monitoring, and giving lengthy medical history information to the EMR staff, it was determined that she was suffering from acute altitude sickness. At the end of the day, and armed with some new medications to treat the condition, they released her with the strong recommendation that we not visit any more locations during our trip that were any higher than the 6000 foot mark.
Thus, we very reluctantly cancelled our plans to visit, Williams, AZ at the Grand Canyon, Lake Havasu at the western edge of Arizona, and that portion of the trip to the national parks at Bryce, Zion and Arches in Utah. After resting for a day during which she became comfortable with the effects of the medication, we drove back into Colorado on Tuesday, June 9 and have safely arrived at our daughter's home in Boulder, Colorado.
We will rest here for for several days, and then attend the wedding which was the primary object of this road trip. Assuming that Barbara is feeling OK again at that time, on June 23 we will resume the trip, ("downhill") into South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, and North Carolina and then home in early July.
Stop # 7-Colorado Springs-Wednesday & Thursday, June 03, & 04
After a long drive from Kansas, we fetched up in Colorado Springs at the home of Richard & Barbara Kohlhaas, who live in a Co-Housing community in the center of the city. Barbara and I were unfamiliar with the concept and we quickly learned about the ownership and governance of such a community. Richard and Barbara were kind enough to take us to their community dinner of the first evening that we were there, and we had a delightful meal, and were introduced to the community members in attendance.
On the next day, we were required to attend to the first crisis of the trip which began late in the afternoon as we drove across the Kansas-Colorado border and discovered that the A/C in the car had quit running. In addition, a small stone chip in the windshield, which had been there for some time, became a full scale crack, and it was obvious that it would have to be replaced promptly. Fortunately, we have full glass insurance coverage, and we had the windshield replaced quickly without out of pocket expenses for us.
After finding the nearest Infiniti dealer we had them diagnose the problem, and after some time sitting in their showrooms, we learned that we were facing a major expenditure to replace the A/C compressor, the seals, the condenser, and various other related parts. In addition we were told that we had other mechanical problems, and that when all was counted up, we needed to make repairs that would cost approximately $2300.We also were told that the repairs would take a full day, and so after securing a loaner car from the dealer, we retired to the Kohlhaas household to decide what to do next. We briefly considered trading the car, and buying a new one, but the overall costs of such a transaction were prohibitive for us and so we elected to go ahead a repair the faithful Q.
While we had the loaner car, we spent the day sightseeing; first at the Garden of the Gods, a city park of awesome rock formations, dimensions, with Pikes Peak as a background, and then later in the tiny community of Manitou Springs, a funky little place with small art galleries, restaurants, and shops that was a delight to wander through. In the evening we ate at Giuseppe's Restaurant in the old railroad station of the Denver & Rio Grand Railroad. A great treat, an excellent meal, and we managed to snaffle a menu to send to my Cornell Hotel School colleague, Giuseppe Pezzotti.
Stop # 6-Garden City, KS.- Tuesday, June 02
After leaving Council Grove we drove across the State of Kansas, to Garden City. Here we stayed with Max & Marianne Miller on the evening of June 2nd. On the way, we began to more fully appreciate the sheer size of the state, as we drove through many hours in the farm country, and kept passing very tiny roadside communities, that were a long way from any urban centers.
We arrived at the Miller's to find that Marianne had fallen in the pool area of her local YMCA while doing her morning workout, and had cracked her wrist bone, and subsequently had been placed in a soft removable cast, which made for some difficult maneuvering problems and hand coordination.
We spent a very pleasant evening with them, and learned about their pre-retirement life on a cattle farm and Max's current business in ownership of a building in their downtown. In order to avoid any extra work for Marianne, we left early the next morning before breakfast for our next destination, which was Colorado Springs.
We arrived at the Miller's to find that Marianne had fallen in the pool area of her local YMCA while doing her morning workout, and had cracked her wrist bone, and subsequently had been placed in a soft removable cast, which made for some difficult maneuvering problems and hand coordination.
We spent a very pleasant evening with them, and learned about their pre-retirement life on a cattle farm and Max's current business in ownership of a building in their downtown. In order to avoid any extra work for Marianne, we left early the next morning before breakfast for our next destination, which was Colorado Springs.
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