When Help Is Needed

As Betty and I were planning for all that needed to be covered during my recovery, the horses were the biggest concern.  Besides the feeding there is the daily cleanup and two horses can produce a lot of manure in 24 hours.  In normal times, I do most of the clean up and usually do it at least 2 or 3 times a day.

Fortunately, God brought a couple of kids into our lives a few months ago.  Evan and Maritsa who live down the street from us have chickens.  One day they showed up at our door and asked if we wanted to buy some eggs which we did.  While we were conducting our egg transaction they asked if they could see the horses.

So we took them outside and they were able to meet Morgunn and Sugar.  They indicated that they would like to learn more about horses.

When Betty began thinking how to handle the manure she had the great idea of asking Evan and Maritsa to help her once a day after they came home from school.  Before my surgery Betty met with their mother, Eva, to be sure she would be OK with the idea as it would be a daily commitment for at least a month.  Eva was excited about it so Betty talked with the kids and they seemed excited too.

Eva, Evan and Maritsa came up to our house the day before my surgery so they could see first-hand what they were getting themselves into.  During my surgery when Betty was gone we had our friend and horse-sitter Connie take care of the horses.

The day after I came home from the hospital Evan and Maritsa started their job and have dutifully shown up ever day right after school.  Betty feeds the horses while they get started on the manure and then she will join them to help finish up.  However, they are doing a great job and carrying their share of the work.

Here are some photos from the other day showing Evan and Maritsa hard at work.

After I’m 100% again we have told them that they can come down once a week, probably Saturday mornings, and Betty and I will teach them how to handle and ride horses.  They definitely seemed excited about that.

Nice kids.

World’s Largest Cave

In our younger days, Betty and I used to be spelunkers, we would explore caves.  We got started as it was something our Boy Scout Troop liked to do.  The caves we explored were smaller, wild caves on private property where we had permission to enter.  Even though they were smaller we still saw some spectacular things.
The world’s largest cave, the Hang Son Doon, is found in Vietnam.  Because of several areas where the ceiling has collapsed there are jungle growths in the cave because the sun has access.

If you want to see more pictures of this stunning cave check out this National Geographic site:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/01/largest-cave/peter-photography

The Magic of Snow

I have always loved snow – except for living where it snows.  What that statement means is I love snow, but I don’t like the cold weather that brings snow and I don’t like shoveling snow and I don’t like driving in snow.  That’s one of the reasons we live in New Mexico.

But I still love snow – at least to watch it.  It seems our horses, Morgunn and Sugar, like snow as well.  We had a brief, unexpected snow shower on Tuesday afternoon and it gave Morgunn and Sugar some unusual energy.  Enjoy.

One Small Step

Yesterday, Betty drove me down to my surgeon’s office.  I wrote about my sidekick catheter yesterday, but there was also one one much smaller gadget attached to my body.  It was a suction bulb drain that drew urine that was leaking from the surgery into my body cavity.  That’s expected and this plastic bulb helps deal with that.

It’s called a ‘JP’ and it’s named after its inventor Jackson Pratt.  The normal course of events is for the bulb to draw off a fair amount of fluid the first day or so and then drop off dramatically so that it’s no longer needed.  The morning that I left the hospital it was still drawing off a significant amount of fluid so the surgeon said to leave it on.

Betty was trained on how to drain it and reset it to create the necessary suction.  He predicted that shortly after we got home the amount of fluid would drop off dramatically and that by Monday we could call to make an appointment to take it out.

That’s exactly what happened (it’s great when your doctor knows what he’s talking about).  So we called Monday morning and got an appointment at 1:00 PM.

He checked everything out and said that it all looked as he expected for this point in my recovery.  He cut the sutures that held the tube to my body and then said, “Take a deep breath.”  You know it’s not going to be good when your doctor says “Take a deep breath.”

He pulled and pulled and it came on out.  Actually it didn’t hurt, just felt strange as it came out from my body’s basement.  Since then I’ve had a new ache in that spot, but I expect that to go away soon.

In any case, it’s one small step toward getting back to normal.

Sorry about one more tasteless body post.

Me and My Catheter

First, I want to apologize for this somewhat tasteless post.  But, when you’re stuck at home watching old movies on TV there’s not a lot of material.

I tried to find a free download of an instrumental version of “Me and My Shadow” so I could play it while I typed:

“Me and my catheter, strolling down the avenue….”

However, the only downloads were for a fee – $1.99 – for a karaoke song and this post is definitely not worth $1.99.

My prostate surgery involved a six inch incision starting just below my belly button and, from what my surgeon said, he had to shove everything out of the way to get to and remove the prostate.  With that much pushing and shoving in that area all the plumbing parts get kind of traumatized and don’t work too well for a time after the surgery.

So I was assigned my own personal foley catheter and I have never had one before.  I won’t go into the details of where the catheter tube is attached to my body.  I’ll leave that to your imagination.  The tube runs down about four feet or so into a large plastic bag about the size of a gallon freezer bag.  Fortunately, foley catheter bags are much thicker that gallon freezer bags – and have a much better seal.

Needless to say, me and my catheter are inseparable – wherever I go my catheter goes.  I thought about giving it a name – “Charlie,” “Charlene,” perhaps “Catherine” or “Cathy.”  But, that would be stupid.

Since I’m pretty much restricted in what I can do and how much I can move there really aren’t many negatives about having a catheter.  It doesn’t hurt or even feel uncomfortable – it’s just there.

What’s kind of nice is it relieves (good choice of word) me of the need to go to the bathroom.  I can drink as much liquid as I want right before going to bed and I don’t have to get up at all during the night.  My trusty sidekick takes care of that for me.  Of course, if you ask Betty about my catheter she might not be as positive because she has to empty it.

I’ll keep it until Monday, January 10 when I go back to my surgeon for a post-operative exam.  By then I assume my normal plumbing will be back to working normally.

I’ll probably miss my catheter the first time I have to get up at 3:00 AM to go to the bathroom – but Betty won’t.

Sunday Reflection–Going Without Knowing

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. (Hebrews 11:8-9)

Abraham was a man who had it made by the world’s standards – respect, wealth, standing, reputation and on and on. Yet, he valued nothing other than his relationship with God.  When God asked him to pick up and leave all he was and all he had and just go – go without knowing where he was going or what would be there – he did it.  He left.

Sometimes God asks us to go without knowing where we’re going or what will be there when we arrive.  We’re asked to love someone who is totally unlovable.  We’re asked give money to someone who will waste it.  We’re asked to give tough love to a child who is straying and whom we may drive away.  We’re asked to believe there is a solution to a severe financial problem.  We’re asked to face an illness with grace without knowing the outcome.

When Abraham trusted God enough to go without knowing what he gained was nothing.  By that I mean there was nothing left between him and God.  When we go in trust we gain nothing and that opens up our relationship with God.

Not knowing is hard for many of us as our culture values control – values being ‘the captain of our fate.’  Yet, the greatest reward is the nothing we gain when we go without knowing.

You Can’t Beat Kids

Since I’m recovering I’ll just steal a video from my older son’s web site of his daughter and our granddaughter Leah.

Oh, by the way, Happy New Year!