November 11, 2014 - Tuesday/Veterans Day

27 degrees/heavy snow/calm winds

Pentoga Road

A good Veteran's Day to all. I hope everyone will remember and honor those veterans who have served and are currently serving our country. It's today that we remember those like Mr. Milligan, a proud Marine who fought at Iwo Jima, Dad, who served in the US Army, my oldest son, Josh, a Lt. Commander in the US Coast Guard, and Andy, who served five years in the Army. We thank your memory, we thank what you do, we're grateful for what you did. 

The big news of the past 72 hours is spelled 

D I V E R T I C U L I T I S.... diverticulitis. I'd never even heard of it, let alone have something like that knock me, literally, to the floor. 

Just as big in the Pentoga Road news department is the snow that has been falling for the past twenty four hours. I'm sure well over a foot has fallen and with another 5 to 8 inches forecast for this afternoon, I've got a feeling that it might be next June before we see bare ground again.

A light dusting of three to five inches is now predicted for Wednesday with heavy winds. 

I awakened at three AM Sunday morning with a pain in my lower belly. Thinking the chili, heavily laced with jalapeno peppers, eaten for lunch, then the pot pie we enjoyed for supper, needed an outlet, I headed for the bathroom. I didn't make it out of bed. Growing clammy and doubling over in pain, I began suffering from a severe shortness of breath.

I was still determined that the malady was caused by the spicy food I'd consumed earlier and stumbled towards the bathroom only to pass out in the hall. In fact, when I came to, I thought I was on the floor between the bed and the wall rather than in the hallway.

Poor Sargie... between trying to keep me from moving and attempting to get dressed so she could take me to the hospital, the girl became a super woman, confident and caring.

Sargie managed to help me get dressed and we were soon on our way to the emergency room. Naturally, it had snowed earlier and the roads were slippery. At one point, we almost skidded into a deer.

I was soon in Dr. Britton's hands. 

Blood was drawn, x-rays taken, and I was whirled through a cat scan. The diagnosis; diverticulitis, a condition where the pockets in one's colon become blocked and infected causing a person great pain. 

I began to wonder if I might run out of veins. 

For the past two days, I've had a raging fever, managed to talk nonstop in my sleep, and wasn't sure if I was grateful for the cure or wished they would have euthanized me. I awakened last night around midnight soaked in sweat and this morning, though weak, I almost feel human again. The fever has broken and it appears the four different antibiotics I'm taking are beginning to work. 

With a fist full of prescriptions, Sargie's trying to figure out how much, how often, and what, I'm supposed to take.

The worst part of this whole thing? I'm on a clear liquid diet for the next few days. The doctor said chili laced with jalapeños isn't an option. Some colons and the doctors who treat them have no sense of humor at all.

So that's my story. I haven't felt like writing, grading papers, or even watching television or listening to music. Mostly, I've lain in my recliner covered by two blankets, one electric, turned on high, and shivered.

Sargie has been great. She's carried in the wood and shoveled snow while I plowed the first 8 inches from the drive. She's kept the fire going, the clear liquid diet coming, and when in bed, tolerated me trying to crawl under her when freezing to death, and sweating all over her when I got too hot. If anyone deserves the Florence Nightingale award, it's Sargie.

Thankfully, today is Sargie's scheduled day off. She wouldn't be going into work if it wasn't as Pentoga Road has yet to see a plow. It's going to take a while to plow the drive and shovel ourselves out.

 Larry the mechanic called yesterday saying the snowblower was finished, but it won't be picked up for another day or two. The plow on the four wheeler will serve us just fine.

I need to catch up on homework assignments that have poured in the past few days and I think I'll just lay low. No doubt Sargie will do those things she does on her days off. I'm going to grade papers, eventually clear the drive, but mostly, I'll watch it snow. After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...