1948 Killer Smog In Donora, Pennsylvania

Killler smog that engulfed Donora, Pennsylvania in October of 1948.

I have been reading Stan Musial: An American Life which mentioned that a killer smog had took 18 or more lives. Stan Musial’s father Lukasz already had health problems before the killer smog and died less than two months after the smog hit Donora, Pennsylvania, late in October of 1948.

The smog first started engulfing the city on October 27 and remained until October 31, when rain dispersed the smog. Poisonous gases from the Donora Zinc Works and American Steel and Wire plant usually left the area, but this time the poisonous gases were trapped in smog that covered the area nearest to the plants.

Driving was risky during the smog, since visibility was close to zero. Drivers had to drive with their head out the car window to see where they were going.

Surprisingly, a high school football game was played during the killer smog, but no passes were thrown, since they couldn’t be seen through the smog.

Fluorine gas was the cause of the deaths and illness experienced by Donora residents. Some of the victims had 20 times the normal fluorine in their bodies.

Nearly 7,000 people became ill from the killer smog, which was about half the population of Donora. There is no telling how many deaths were a direct result of the smog, in the years following the smog.

Boston.com website has an excellent article on the Donora killer smog:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/11/02/pa_town_remembers_killer_smog/

Historical marker commemorating the killer smog in Donora, Pennsylvania in October of 1948.

The killer smog in Donora eventually brought about change in the way poisonous gases were released into the atmosphere when Clean Air Act was enacted by the government.

It is possible that young kids living in Donora in 1948, who would be about 65-75 today could someday too be victims of the 1948 killer smog if they ingested smaller amounts of the poisonous gases.

 

Immortality Reality Check

I was recently researching the survival rate for my duodenal cancer, which has a history of returning. I found out at one website that I had a 30 percent chance of living past five years.

The oncologist when told about this survival rate gave me a reality check, by telling me the average life span for an American male is only 76. Since I will be 69 later this year that means I may be down to my last seven years of life, regardless of how the cancer situation may change. The five years survival rate doesn’t sound so bad, when I may have only seven years left anyway.

Chemotherapy has gone well during the first ten weeks, which ends tomorrow leaving me with fourteen more weeks left. If the Catscan shows that the cancer has returned when the chemotherapy ends, then I may be forced into making some very difficult decisions. Don’t know whether I would want to start a new round of surgery, if surgery is even an option and whether continuing chemotherapy would even be an option.

It would be easy to be selfish and continue to pursue any surgery or chemotherapy, that may rid my body of the cancer. This cancer has reduced me to a man who has ostrich legs, which really indicate that something is seriously wrong with my health.

One of the main reasons for me to try to go to any length to keep fighting cancer, if it has returned would be to see my grandsons a few more years. I have a grandson who was 14 yesterday that dreams of playing major league baseball. He will be trying out for his high school team in Texas in the spring of 2014. I would like to be around if and when he plays baseball on the professional level.

His brother who will be 12 in October likes to play soccer and does extremely well in school, since he loves to read books. I would like to see him grow up and start a career, while I am still living.

The worst thing about leaving this world is those I would leave behind, including my two sons and daughter and my wife Rhonda and my stepson Justin.

My father is 98 and will be 99 in November of this year. It is now a possibility that he may outlive me and I am happy for him. He made the right health choices to eat almost exclusively healthy meals and very seldom ate out at fast food places. He worked in his garden till well into his 90′s and also mowed the yard.

What really matters the most is that whatever happens will be God’s will, so I am ready to accept whatever God has in store for me.

I may live another 10 or 15 years, but on the other hand I may not even be around this time next year.

I want to see all the baseball and football games I can see while I am still around. I want to listen to some of my 17,000 old-time radio shows from the 1920′s through 1962 when old-time radio died on September 30 of that year.

There is a lot of music I would like to hear again, while I am still around and enjoy nature and see the stars in the night sky.

Only God knows what my future holds and how much time I have left. Time will tell how all of this plays out.

One of my main objectives is to be the same person I have always been, no matter how good or bad the news may be about my cancer as the years roll by. I don’t want anyone feeling bad for me, because I will be worried about the ones being left behind more than myself.

Memories of a Lifetime: 2011-2013

2011 – We were living in Sulphur, Louisiana, a city of about 20,000 at the start of 2011. We were living on Live Oak Street in Sulphur and we found a home church in Calvary Baptist Church on Lewis Street. We were impressed by the pastor Rev. W.D. Darnell, who lived what he preached and only used the King James Version of the Holy Bible. We made many friends, among the members of the church. Rhonda was very involved with the activities at the church and I often sang special music on Sunday and Wednesday nights. Rhonda and me sang duets a couple of times and she sang On The Wings Of A Dove with another lady one time.

Rhonda liked living in Sulphur, since she had a sister and her mom living there. We lived close to the neighborhood, where my daughter and family had lived before moving to Groves, Texas.

I would return to working as a caregiver again in November of 2011. I worked with a disabled man with diabetes and lost the job at the end of the year, when his family changed to another caregiving company.

An international news story was when an earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan took 15,840 lives.

President Obama announces the death of Osama bin Laden on May 1.

Casey Anthony was acquitted of the murder of her daughter Calee Marie Anthony, in a controversial verdict by the jury.

Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Computers dies on October 5 of cancer.

House were renting at $955 a month in 2011.

A gallon of gas cost $2.89.

Movie tickets were selling for $8.20.

 

2012 – I worked as a crossing guard at a school in Sulphur for a few weeks, toward the end of the school year. It was interesting work and enjoyed the job. The job could turn out to be the last job I will ever work, since I haven’t worked since becoming sick a couple of months later.

We moved to DeRidder, Louisiana in July and are living in a trailer, that is about halfway between Merryville, Louisiana and DeRidder. We are living in the country and liking it so far.

Knew something was wrong when I began vomiting up blood and lost about 35 pounds in less than two months during the summer. Found out in October in Houston VA Hospital, that I had duodenal cancer. It was a very disease to diagnose, since it mimics acid reflux and duodenal ulcers. It is very rare disease with only two percent of gastrointestinal diseases being duodenal cancer.

Surgeons in Houston performed a resection surgery on Oct. 16 to remove a blockage, which was cancerous and was successful. However I found out in November, that duodenal cancer has a history of returning and has a relatively low survival rate.

Chemotherapy started at the VA hospital in Pineville, Louisiana on Dec.13 and have had three chemo IV’s since that date, with five more to go. Have finished six of a 24 week program of chemotherapy. It seems like the side effects have been worse with each chemo IV. Had difficulty walking in a straight line after the last IV and sort of lurch from side to side.

2012 was a life changing year for us, with us being evicted, moving to a new city and finding out that I had cancer and had surgery a few days later. Spent a total of 32 days in hospital in Houston.

July 20 would be the first of two mass shootings in the United States, when a gunman killed 12 and injured 58 in an Aurora, Colorado theater.

December 14 would bring the second mass shootings of 2012, when a man kills 20 children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, along with six adults, before killing himself.

A gallon of gas would rise to $3.89 during 2012. It is about 64 cents a gallon cheaper now in 2013.

House rent average goes over the $1,000 mark for the first time, as it rose to $1,045 a month.

A pound of bacon which was $2.96 in 2008 had risen to $4.48 in 2012.

 

2013 – This year should be a very interesting year, as the chemotherapy continues through May and it will be interesting to learn the results of the bloodwork after the last week of chemotherapy. May 21 will be another important date for us as we return to Houston for another C-scan, which will show if the cancer is completely gone or has returned.

We don’t know what this year holds, but we plan to remain positive, even if the news is bad and I don’t plan on being negative, regardless of what happens in 2013.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memories of a Lifetime: 2006-2010

2006 – I would return to my job at Louisiana Community Care, after losing my job with Coastal Culvert. I primarily worked in a group home with seven guys at the time. It was a very demanding job as I had to assist them with their hygiene and washed and dried all their clothes. I would walk in the door at the group home at 4:30 PM and wouldn’t sit down for the first time till about 11 PM, when I had to write down the events of the day for each individual client.

One time a client who ate too fast threw up and I was mopping up the mess and he came up to me and hit me in the head and stomach with a 1-2 punch. Needless to say I was more wary around that client from then on. Another time he woke up during the night wanting chips and when I didn’t give him any he overturned a table and dumped a pitcher of Kool-Aid on the kitchen floor.

I made a point of having all the clothes washed and put away and the floors all swept and mopped, by the time the 12:30 AM relief worker came in. I worked there till around Christmas and retired, since I was now 62 and eligible for Social Security.

Andrew and Rhonda in 2006 at Matthew’s baseball game.

Wikipedia lists very few newsworthy events during 2006 in the United States, with Twitter being launched that year, which turned out to be the most newsworthy event of the year.

Gasoline was selling for $3.03 on August 11, but had dipped to $2.21 by November 17.

 

2007 – We moved to Knoxville, Tennessee in August of 2007, as we followed my daughter, son-in-law, when he was named manager of a Knoxville Domino’s store. About three weeks later, when things didn’t work out well with the job they moved back to Pineville, Louisiana.

Since we had used our savings to make the move we remained in Knoxville till December of 2010.

We had a traumatic event that August, when Rhonda was driving down a Knoxville street and was hit by a car turning out into traffic, from an apartment parking lot. Rhonda sustained a broken foot in the accident and was unable to go for a job interview, that was scheduled the next week. We moved to another apartment in the same apartment complex in September and Justin and me moved everything by ourselves, which was a day long job, since Rhonda was unable to help.

Then I went to work for Luxottica, a company that makes lenses for eyeglasses in Knoxville. It was another typical manufacturing job, with pressure to produce the most lenses in the least time. I was operating four machines at once in the fining department. After finishing the fining, we would take the lenses to the next department the polishing department, which made the lenses look even better. This was another temporary Westaff job, so the job played out soon and was without work again. We were given an eviction notice from the apartment on Thanksgiving Eve, but managed to stay there till I found work the next month.

I went to work as a caregiver with Evergreen Ministries in Knoxville, whose headquarters are located in Haughton, Louisiana in December of 2007. The job went well and I remained there till August of 2008. I was required to take a test, to be allowed to administer meds to the clients and scored 91 on the test. I wasn’t allowed to give meds, till I had passed the test, but it made it easier to work in homes, that needed a certified meds person, since some workers never were certified to give meds.

This was the year that the Va. Tech student killed 30 people. My brother lived next to the campus and was driving on campus toward work, when he saw several police cars speeding toward the site of the shootings.

The big news in technology was the introduction of the iPhone and the Nintendo Wii.

Average income was over $50,000 but doubt many of those people worked at the Alexandria Town Talk.

Price of a gallon of gas was $3.38, which is more than it is now six years later, with it being in the $3.25 range in DeRidder, Louisiana area.

An ounce of gold is $630, compared to when I was growing up, when it was $35 an ounce. Someone that had bought 100 ounces of gold at $35 an ounce for $3500 would have seen their gold raise in value to $63,000 for that 100 ounces in 2007.

 

2008 – Would continue to work for Evergreen Ministries till August of 2008, when Rhonda found a better paying job at Comcast working in their call center. We only had one vehicle, since our Ford Contour had been totaled in the wreck in August of 2007, so only one of us could work.

Would move into this house in Knoxville in 2008:

Our home in Knoxville, Tennessee from August 2008 till December 2010.

 

We joined Piney Grove Baptist Church in Knoxville and would sing special music there many times and would sometimes be a replacement song leader. The prayers of the congregation had a lot to do, with Rhonda surviving a life or death surgery in 2010.

The average income dipped $10,000 during the year to $40,000.

Gasoline had risen one cent to $3.39 in 2008, while a barrel of crude oil was selling for a record $147.

The average rent for a house was now $800 and the housing market totally collapsed as the value of houses declined precipitously.

 

2009 – Rhonda drove me to Groves, Texas to spend time with my daughter’s family in June and attended a Astros-Cubs game on June 9. Rhonda drove back to Knoxville, while to boarded a plane to Knoxville from Houston later. While I was gone a tornado hit our home in Knoxville, but luckily the only real damage was to the deck as a tree fell on it.

A tornado hit our deck in June of 2009 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

 

Rhonda would experience the first signs of having a serious health problem about November of 2009, when she was sent home from work being very sick. The next year would see Rhonda have her large intestines removed and will have more on that in the 2010 post.

Monthly rent fell to $675 in 2009, while a gallon of gasoline dropped to $2.73, which is about 52 cents cheaper, than it is in 2013. A barrel of oil which had peaked at $147 in 2008 was now only $53 a barrel.

 

2010 – Westaff found me a temporary job working at a call center, which involved taking orders for Talbots a clothing company, which had an office in Knoxville. Temp job is an apt description for this job, since it lasted for about two hours. I completed one transaction and then heard the customer telling someone “If this order comes out right it will be a miracle”. My career as a call center employee came to a screeching halt about two minutes later.

March 1, 2010 was a monumental day for Rhonda, as she had her large intestines removed that day and she also smoked her last cigarette that day and hasn’t smoked since. The surgeon found out she had colon cancer that day, but the colon had already been removed and he also found out that Rhonda had diabetes.

The surgery was on Monday and it was on the Thursday night before Rhonda was to go home, that everything went terribly wrong. She went into septic shock and was moved into intensive care. The doctors were at a loss of what to do, before deciding the next day to perform an ileostomy on Rhonda. Her organs were shutting down and was having problems breathing when the surgery started. The surgery went well, but the surgeon told us, that he didn’t expect Rhonda to be alive the next Monday, after the Friday surgery was performed, but was shocked to see that she was still alive.

Rhonda and me after her second surgery in four days, while she was in a six day coma at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in March,2010.

 

Rhonda was in a coma for six days and didn’t wake up till March 11 on the 16th birthday of Justin. Her sisters had driven from Louisiana to Tennessee, but Rhonda was in the coma the whole time they were there. I did all the housework till Rhonda was feeling able to do it that next summer.

I would return to work at Evergreen Ministries in July of 2010 and would remain there till a couple of days, before we moved to Sulphur, Louisiana. I enjoyed the work and didn’t miss any days of work. Had one close call, when driving the clients home and the brakes failed. I managed to get up on the sidewalk, to avoid hitting a car and drove into a parking lot and stopped the company van.

After the hospitalization and recovery we were ready to return home to Louisiana and left Knoxville. It was 16 the morning we left Knoxville, but when we arrived in Sulphur it was 78 degrees, which is even warm for Sulphur late in December.

Our relatives helped us unload the truck in about a half hour or so. It had taken us three days to load the truck in Knoxville, so it was good to unload it fast.

2010 was a slow news year, with no major story listed at the Wikipedia site.

The Apple iPad is released in 2010.

A gallon of gasoline cost $2.73 and a barrel of crude oil was selling for $73.00 a barrel, which was $20 more than the 2009 price.

Price of gold had skyrocketed to $1237 an ounce, which was $1202 more than the price I remembered as a youngster.

 

 

 

Memories of a Lifetime: 2001-2005

Grandson Mark Geisel who was born one day after my birthday.

 

2001 – Mark Geisel was born on October 15, 2001 in Sulphur, Louisiana, while his father was the manager at the Domino’s Pizza place in Sulphur.  Mark has done very well in school and loves to read. He plays goalie and other positions on his soccer team. His red hair goes back a long way in family history. My mom had a red-headed brother, that was born in the 1920′s or 1930′s. My mom had two red-headed sons and a red-headed daughter and a daughter with auburn hair. I was the black sheep of the family with black hair.

We moved to Gibbons Street about this time and then moved to Linda Drive later that year in the Kingsville area.

September 11, 2001 – A day that will live in infamy.

 

September 11, 2001 was a day that none of us will forget. I had called the mechanic that morning checking on our car in his shop. He asked me if I had the television on and that is when I found out about the horrific events of that day. The memory of those planes slamming into the twin towers of the World Trade Center will forever be ingrained in my memory.

I couldn’t comprehend how four planes could be hijacked the same morning and that day let us know how lax our airport security was at the time. The nation was in chaos at the time, with aircraft being grounded all over the country. It was eerie hearing about passengers on these planes talking to loved ones, on their cell phones telling, about the horrors of what they were experiencing and then knowing those same people on the cell phones died a violent death minutes later.

It is difficult to believe that September 11 of this year will be the 12th anniversary of that horrific day.

The “War on Terrorism” begins with the invasion of Afghanistan.

Dale Earnhardt dies during a crash in the last lap of the Daytona 500.

Richard Reid known as the “shoe bomber” attempted to blow up an American Airlines plane.

The first iPod was released and Wikipedia was launched on the internet.

The average rent jumped $40 from $675 in 2000 to $715 in 2001. The price of a gallon of gas jumped from $1.26 in 2000 to $1.41 in 2001. A loaf of bread cost $1.82.

2002 – My favorite memory of this year was the 40th class reunion of Pineville High School. I had never attended a reunion until 2002. If I was scheduled to work on the day of reunion, then I would usually work, but this year I made sure I had that week off, so I could attend. It was great seeing classmates from the 1962 class, for the first time in many years. I hadn’t run into some of them even though they had never left Pineville. The saddest part of the reunion was when the members of our class that had passed on were mentioned in a Power Point presentation, with Duane Yates singing the Lord’s Prayer in the background. Sadly Duane died before our 50th reunion in 2012. Seeing the teachers and students from 1962 again made this a special time in my life.

The price of gasoline escalated to $1.61 a gallon, a 36 cent a gallon rise since the $1.26 gasoline of 2000, which was two years earlier.

 

2003 – This turned out to be the last full year that I worked at the Alexandria Town Talk newspaper. The paper was never the same, after it was acquired by the Gannett Corporation. The Christmas bonus we had received while the paper was owned by the Smith family and the Central Newspapers chain was the first thing to go, under the auspices of the Gannett mega corporation. That $150 we had received each Christmas was now a thing of the past, as was the free newspapers for employees.

Iraq is invaded on March 19 by the United States military.

Saddam Hussein is captured by the U.S. 4th Infantry Division.

Gasoline prices jumped to 1.83, a jump of 57 cents a gallon since 2000.

 

2004 – My 36 years at Town Talk and 38 years in newspaper production ended in 2004, when I retired with my last day of work being Halloween night. I spent most of my working life at Town Talk. In fact it was my first job after returning from Vietnam in 1966. I had seen my pay go from $1.40 an hour in 1966 to $13.50 an hour in 2004. Still I never took home more than $28,000 in any year, that I worked for the Town Talk.

We had a traumatic event  this year when my stepson Justin was sleeping in the den and was woken by a burglar, who was rifling through cabinets and drawers, while looking for painkillers. Neither Justin or the burglar knew anyone else was in the house. Thankfully, Justin thought the burglar was a relative, who told Justin he was taking stuff because his mom owed him money.

A few days before the burglary a man had knocked on our door and wanted to know if anyone lived in the trailer next door. Evidently, he was casing the house and had a timeline of when my wife Rhonda and me would be at work. Anyway he had left, about 30 minutes before I arrived home from work that night.

Justin followed him from room to room and the burglar told him to tell his mom, that he would return the next night. The burglar did have an encounter with our cat, when the cat bit him and the burglar said “ouch”. The burglar would be later caught due to his own stupidity. He overdosed and the paramedics noticed painkillers all over his trailer, which included some painkillers my wife had in our house, after having major surgery. He lived only about five houses up the street from us and was arrested for burglary and sent to prison.

Facebook was launched in 2004 and was originally only for students at Harvard University.

Strongest earthquake in 40 years hits near Indonesia and the earthquake and resulting tsunami would take 290,000 lives.

Martha Stewart is convicted of felony and sentenced to five years in prison.

Gasoline continued to skyrocket to $2.10 an increase of 84 cents a gallon from the year 2000. Oil peaked at $50 a barrel in 2004.

 

2005 – I returned to work in 2005, when I was hired as a caregiver by Louisiana Community Care in Ball, Louisiana. Sometimes I would start a shift at 8PM and would finish the shift at 8:30 AM the next morning. It wasn’t hard work, but it was detail work, that required a set schedule of administering medicine. I found out later in Tennessee, that anyone administering medicine in Tennessee was required to take a course and pass a test to give meds to a client. However, Louisiana required no certification to give meds. I was giving meds my first night. There was a voluntary meds certification, but it wasn’t required at this time.

Later that year I went to work for Plasti-Pak in Kingsville area and I learned how much work is involved with factory work. I operated a box making machine for Procter and Gamble products the first night there. We went to work at 6:45 PM and the shift would end at 7:15 the next morning, so we would get a full 12 hours per shift, with a half hour break to eat. It was tiring and exhausting work and dangerous work. I back over my foot with a hand truck, which resulted in losing two toenails. I bought steel-toed boots the next day. It was a temp job with Westaff and the job played out soon and I was one of first laid off, since I was one of the last ones hired.

Then I went to work for Coastal Culvert operating out of Eunice, Louisiana. It was the easiest job of my life, after working the hardest job of my life at Plasti-Pak. My job was to be the manager of a new Alexandria branch for the company. My main job was to check inventory of the culvert pipes outside the office. I had to call the Eunice office each morning, to verify I was at work. Then I would read the paper, listen to old-time radio shows or watch Andy Griffith shows on the DVD player till it was time to go home that afternoon. The job lasted from November till February of 2006, before they decided to close down the Alexandria office, since there was little to no business.

I can’t say enough good things about the Coastal Culvert executives. They invited me to their annual Christmas dinner and they gave me a $100 Christmas bonus, even though I had been there less than a month.

Some of the damage from Hurricane Katrina seen the day after.

The major event of 2005 in Louisiana is when Hurricane Katrina hit the southern coast of Louisiana and a break in the levee resulted in 80 percent of New Orleans being flooded. 1,577 died from Katrina in Louisiana. Many New Orleans residents waited five days for food and  water to arrive in the city. It was a colossal case of bad planning by government officials, who let people go for days without food or water.

Katrina didn’t cause much damage in Alexandria-Pineville area, but Hurricane Rita was a different story as many trees fell on houses in the area, with fallen trees closing roads.

Lance Armstrong won an amazing seventh Tour de France championship, as he demonstrated how he could live better through chemistry.

Video gamers saw the Microsoft X-Box 360 launched in 2005.

The price of gasoline climbed to $3.18 in 2005 an increase of almost $2 a gallon from the $1.26 price of 2000.

 

 

 

 

Cancer Surgery On Oct. 16

Last July I started losing weight for no reason. I went to VA Hospital in Pineville, Louisiana on September 28 and went to emergency room. I had been throwing up blood at home for about two months. The nurse inserted an NG tube in my nose on that Friday, then stayed overnight at the Pineville VA. It is called the Alexandria VA hospital, but it is actually located three or four miles from Alexandria.

Doctor sent me to Houston, Texas VA hospital, via ambulance on an ambulance ride of about 250 miles. Arrived in Houston late that Saturday night. I had no idea at the time, that I would be in the Houston VA hospital for 31 days.

Residue from a barium x-ray in Pineville VA hospital, prevented the Houston surgical team from getting a readable CT scan, thus delaying the surgical team’s decision on if there was cancer in the duodenum. The doctors knew there was a blockage, but didn’t know it was malignant till a second endoscopy revealed, that it was indeed cancerous, after the pathology report was released to the surgical team. The first endoscopy failed, since it was unable to reach the entire blockage, so a longer tube was used for the second endoscopy, which was successful in identifying the cancer. It was cancer of the duodenum.

The decision was then made by the surgical team to operate, but because it was major surgery, it was not easily worked into the surgery schedule. I spent my 68th birthday with family on Oct. 14, just two days before the cancer surgery.

Can remember well going into the surgical room for the surgery. The anesthesiologist proceeded into giving me anesthesia, but was alert for a while in the early stages of having anesthesia applied and can recall it being very painful with a burning sensation. While this was going on the surgical team and/or teams were busy making preparations for the surgery and I could see the nurses getting setting up for the surgery.

Can’t recall much about being in the recovery room, before spending two days in ICU, but the ICU was a beehive of activity. Was sent to a step down unit room next, before being sent to another room. Spent time in six different rooms during the 31 days at the Houston VA hospital.

Found out that most if not all cancer was removed and that chemotherapy would be needed, as a precaution to make sure there was no cancer left.

The surgical team watched my progress, after the surgery closely and I want to thank them for checking on me daily. They were very informative when they made their rounds. I also want to thank the nurses and other staffers in the hospital. Won’t mention names, since don’t know most of their names and it wouldn’t be fair to those not mentioned.

I was released from hospital on Monday night, Oct. 29. We returned home to Louisiana two days later and will return to Houston on November 21, to have the 26 staples removed and being making plans with oncology for the chemotherapy.

It has not been determined, whether the chemotherapy will be done in Houston or Pineville, but am hoping most, if not all of it will be done in Pineville, which is about 80 miles from here, compared to the 160 miles from here in Deridder, Louisiana to Houston.

Not sure when regular posts will return. Main objective now is to recover from surgery and see how the chemotherapy goes in the coming weeks.

Sorry to have not posted for over a month, but hope to be writing regularly in the next two months, depending on how the chemotherapy goes.

Thank you to the readers for understanding, why I have not been posting.

Sheryl Crow Believes Cell Phone Caused Cancer

Just when we thought it was safe to use cell phones again, Sheryl Crow has stated that her “archaic cell phone” may have caused her brain cancer. Crow stated in an article that the cancer developed in the vicinity of where she had talked for hours on the cell phone.

It will be interesting to see if others say they too have developed cancer, close to where they held their cell phones. I think cell phone users everywhere would be in a state of shock, if they were found to have caused cancer, but so far it may be only the older cell phones which have been linked to cancer.

She made the statements on the debut, of the Katie talk show hosted by former CBS anchor lady Katie Couric. The following article doesn’t mention about the cancer appearing, where she held her own, but it includes her comments about former boyfriend Lance Armstrong, who was recently stripped of  his seven Tour de France titles.

The complete New York Daily News article:

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/sheryl-crow-believes-benign-brain-tumor-result-old-archaic-cell-phones-article-1.1156230

 

 

Catching Up

It has been 36 days since last posting, so will use this post to catch up on what has been going on for the last few weeks.

First of all I want to thank the visitors who visited the website averaging about 500 a day, despite not having any new posts.

July 20 was a day that will go down in infamy as we started moving 50 miles north of Sulphur, Louisiana to Merryville, Louisiana. Moving may the most stressful thing ever, especially since it took us 12 days to complete the move, making several trips to complete the move. July 20 and July 21 were the most stressful days.

Moving in 95 degree heat is not exactly a formula, for a smooth move. You really have no idea of how much stuff you have, till you try to fit it in a rental trailer.

There was one respite from the moving, when my daughter took me to see and my grandson to the Houston Astros game against the Cincinnati Reds on July 25.

We were fortunate to find $5 parking, relatively close to Minute Maid Park. Surprisingly the Astros ownership allows fans to bring their own food and drinks to the games. A hot dog and coke at the game would have cost almost $10, so my daughter fixed sandwiches, brought some cheese crackers, cookies and a one liter of water to the park, saving $20-$25. The gate attendants check each bag with food, to make sure fans are not sneaking Big Mac’s or Taco Bell tacos into the game.

We arrived extra early since they were giving away Houston Astros baseball caps to the first 1,000 fans and we knew ahead of time where to be to get in line for the caps. So between the cheaper food and free baseball caps we saved a lot of money.

My grandson was on the concourse in left field and the Reds were having batting practice and hit a ball in his direction, when his mom decided to call him, since we weren’t sure where he was and he reached to pick up the phone and the ball arrived at the same time and another fan jumped in front of him to catch the ball. So he at least came close to having a souvenir baseball.

The game itself was a typical Houston Astros game, with the Astros losing late in the game to the Reds, but just being in a major league ballpark made it worthwhile for me.

Then it was time for a reality check as the move to Merryville continued. Finally on the morning of August 1, we completed the move and are now living in a trailer in the country, almost halfway between Merryville and Deridder.

Rhonda and me have both had health problems since the move. Last Monday was a bad day for both of us, with Rhonda in bad pain from an intestinal blockage and me having an acute acid reflux attack.

It was far worse for Rhonda as she was admitted into the hospital on Monday night, but was released on Tuesday after the blockage had been cleared.

Tuesday was my worst day having thrown up ten times during the day. It may explain why my weight has dropped from 209 the last time  I went to VA to 179 pounds last night, since unexplained weight loss is a symptom of acid reflux disease.

Just wanted to update the readers on what has been going on and am planning to start making nostalgic and current posts in the next post.

Duggars to Change Name of Show: 20 Kids and Counting

There should be a name change in the future for 19 Kids and Counting as Michelle Duggar and her husband Jim Bob Duggar, announced on Today show, that they are expecting a 20th child in April. Jim Bob said they didn’t want to stop at an uneven number.

It is surprising that they would want another baby, after the problems experienced last time, for both mother Michelle and daughter Josie as detailed in this paragraph from the article at msnbc.com.

Michelle Duggar’s last pregnancy was fraught with danger. She suffered from gall-bladder problems as well as preeclampsia. In order to save her life, doctors delivered daughter Josie three and a half months prematurely – she weighed only one pound, six ounces at birth, and endured a series of health emergencies, including a perforated bowel. Josie eventually went home with the rest of the Duggar family, and is now a healthy toddler who will celebrate her second birthday in December.

It is hard to believe that they would take the chance  of  losing the mother or baby again, after what happened last time.

http://moms.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/07/8684372-20-kids-and-counting-michelle-duggar-announces-shes-pregnant-again

Teen Pregnancy Drops Off After Age 25, Other Funny Newspaper Clippings

I was looking at funny newspaper clippings, when I was astounded to find out in one, that teenage pregnancy drops off after age 25. And to think all these years I had thought it dropped off at the age of 19.

Readers can blame me for captions below the clippings.

It is amazing what you can learn in a newspaper story or advertisement.

I was thinking the same thing when I saw two men approaching me with machetes and AK-47 machine guns and a rolling pin. My only thought, was that I have to get that rolling pin away from them.

This wife decided to let a stranger decide whether she would have the cat or her husband left after they made their decision.

I think it is safe to say that this tombstone will never be sold unless someone changes their name to Hendel Bergen Heinzel.

This is major news and should have been on the front page, not in the police blotter. It wouldn't hurt to send a photographer to get a closeup of the running pot pie.

I can think of a lot of reasons to not answer this ad.

Those federal agents probably still haven't recovered from the shock of finding weapons in a gun shop.

I would think twice before going to this health clinic.

This woman has her priorities slightly mixed up.

It will take a fast talking salesperson to pull this one off.

If all else fails, blame it on the babies.

The same doctor in the ad had just spent thirty minutes telling a patient to switch from candy cigarettes to Camels.

 

You can't be too careful while using camouflaged paint.

Wife’s Story Of Almost Dying in March of 2010

Note: The following story tells about how my wife was at death’s door, at University of Tennessee Hospital during a week in which she had a total colectomy, which involved removing her entire large intestines and colon.

The surgery was on a Monday and she was scheduled to go home that Friday. Then everything went wrong and instead of going home on March 5, she almost went to her heavenly home. I will let Rhonda pick up the story from here. Her Facebook page includes some photos with her story under Notes.

My Hospital Stay

by Rhonda Miller-Hindsman Godfrey on Monday, July 26, 2010 at 10:45pm

On March 1, 2010 I went into the hospital to have surgery. I was having a total Colectomy due to medical issues. Went under anesthesia and had the surgery. Came to and everything was fine the doctor put me on a fast track and had me eating solid foods that evening. Thursday morning he came in and said he was sending me home friday morning. Later on that evening things went out of control for me. I had started feeling bad, my body and face felt hot. Called the nurses station for them to bring me some ice chips. No one came. I get up walk down the hall and up to the Nurses Station to get me some ice and something cold to drink. Hoping this was going to make me feel better. Only to have someone tell me that I could not get any and that they would have to check with my nurse. This upset me as I wasn’t feeling well anyway. I informed them in a not so polite way that I was being released in the morning and I wanted some ice right now. The lady gave me about 2 or 3 bites of ice in a cup, then she asked did I need her to carry it back to my room for me. I just laughed at her and said Hell no I will have this gone before I even get around the corner. If I would have known that was going to be the last time I would have anything to drink I would have taken my time with it. So I get back to my room and I am upset I remember talking to Andrew and telling him not to bring Justin up there since I was going to be going Home tomorrow. If I would have known what was going to happen next I would have begged him to come and be with me. I was all alone in my room not wanting to watch tv or be bothered with any noise. My friend Brenda called and we were talking and I remember crying to her telling her I just didn’t feel good. That I was unable to get anyone to bring me any Ice and I was hot. At this time I am starting to panic feeling all alone and no one there to help me. I felt completely helpless, alone, afraid, and terrified. My emotions were going everywhere. What I did not know at the time or do not remember Brenda telling me she was going to call the Nurses station and talk to my nurse. The next thing I know is the phone rings and Brenda says is the (Nurse walks in) nurse there? I said yes she just walked in.

 

The Nurse started asking me all kinds of questions. She was a very kind older lady. She was watching me I explained to her that I did not feel right. I was having chest pains and was having a hard time breathing. The nurse said she would be right back. The next thing I know is all the lights in my room are on and there is a room full of doctors or interns in my room checking me out listening to my chest and stomach. Then they order chest x-rays, and a echo cardiogram. Nothing unusual there. So they send me down for a cat scan. Back to the room. During this time my family had been called in because they did not know if I was going to make it through the night. Terror set in for me because every time they would put me on the small tank of oxygen I would have an even harder time breathing. I did not know at the time what day this was or what time it was.

 

My surgeon was called in he was going to have to do emergency surgery on me but for what no one knows. I had turned septic my body started shutting down. One organ at a time. I felt like they were trying to kill me and I was going to die. I just wanted the pain and the terror to go away. I was completely scared to death. I was alone in this area waiting to be taken into surgery. The doctor sent my husband Andrew in to see me one last time. I remember telling Andrew I love you too, but can you leave now so they can go ahead and operate on me now. Then the next thing I know Andrew and Justin are coming back in to see me. I told Justin I love you and don’t you cry or worry because momma will be right back out. Little did I know what was to come.

 

So this is the last moments I remember before I went in to have surgery. I kept asking the nurse if I could have a sip of water or a wet rag for my mouth it was so dry. When you are gasping for air your mouth tends to feel like you have paste in your mouth and you can’t get rid of it no matter how hard you try you can’t even form saliva. I kept asking this nurse all kinds of questions. Her answer was always the same not right now as soon as the doctor says you can. So here I am fighting for every breath I am taking and not knowing anything that is going on. No one had answers. All I knew was that they were going to open me up to see what was going on. So after about 5 people were brought in and then taken back for surgery they came after me. They removed the oxygen mask from me and replaced it with another one. I could not breathe. I was begging them to please just let me breathe. I felt like someone was sitting on my chest pushing all the air out of me and not letting any of it back in. I was told that I had started convulsing. But to me I thought I was fighting to stay alive but was unable to move it felt like I was paralyzed.

 

Hello I am here, Andrew, why do you keep yelling at me? What Danna, Donna, and Robbie are here where I can’t see them. Andrew where is Justin. Justin says Momma I am here I love you momma. I love you to Justin. Then I hear a lot of talking but I can’t make out who or what they are saying. There are these shadows and I can’t make out the faces. There is a light around them but it is hazy. I could hear my husband and Justin as plain as day but others I could not understand. I would find out later that I was in a coma.

 

While in this coma I had actually thought that Andrew and Justin were ignoring me and I did not understand why Justin would be telling me to open my eyes and tell him I love him. I kept yelling at the top of my lungs that I was awake and that I did love them and for them to not leave me. I kept trying to grab their hands and hold onto them but I was unable to move. I did not understand at the time what was going on and I was very scared.

 

Then on March 11, 2010 I heard a nurse say today is your son’s birthday and he just wants you to open your eyes. So I opened my eyes and the next few hours felt like seconds everything seem to go so fast for me. They were removing the tubes and the main lines that they had on me then they were making me get up and out of the bed. My feet and legs were huge and I just could not believe how swollen I was and that it was March 11 then everyone started telling me I had been in a coma and that my sisters had come to be there with me and that I was not expected to live. This was a lot more than I could handle and then the Doctor told me about the ileostomy bag and the drainage holes. Then the next day is when they hit me with the other medical conditions that came up after the surgery. They are as follows: cirrhosis of liver, diabetes, bone degenerative disease, nerve damage, neuropathy, PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and that there were 5 masses found in the piece of the colon that was sent off and they were cancerous.

 

So now that I no longer drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes I have all of these other things to live with. This has been a very long journey for me and it is not over on September 30, 2010 I will be seeing my surgeon and discussing the next surgery that I am going to be going through on October 18, 2010 and what will be done and what will happen after that. I am so looking forward to getting closer to having this bag removed and back to my old self as much as I can be that is. We may actually be looking at 2 or 3 more surgeries so I will find out more on September 30,2010. I am praying for some very good results from the Doctor and some encouraging results from my test.

 

Now there is one thing I have not written about at this time and I am just waiting for the right time and the right way to tell that part of my story. This part of the story is about when I was in that Coma and what I remember going on at that time I am working on that in a separate note article. So now I am going to share this with you and I am adding the photos that my sister and them took of me while in that coma. I am not ashamed of any of this I went through it I lived through it and I am here to testify about it.

 

There is one thing I do want to say that if you ever have a loved one or even someone you know that is in a Coma talk to them don’t be afraid of them because if you talk to them then they do not feel alone. I don’t care if you do nothing but read a card or book or newspaper or even the directions on the equipment around them. Just hearing your voice is soothing and let them talk to you about it in there on time. Do not push the person to try to remember everything that happened it will overwhelm them and throw them into a psychotic break. Take it easy and slow and be there and just try to understand. One thing I can honestly say is that unless you have went through the exact same thing as that person then you do not know and you cannot understand what it does to that person. So be patient and understand that they are being harder on themselves you don’t have to be any harder on them.

 

I can honestly say that me and my immediate family (Husband Andrew, & Son Justin) have been through the wringer. If we would have let this take over us and not be there for each other than we would not be together right now. This has been tough and I have had a lot of breakdowns and would blame everyone for not understanding. The nightmares and day terrors were the worse. But I felt like no one and I mean no one not even my doctors could understand or even explain to me what was going on with me.

 

So I am going to sign off for now.

Thank you for reading this and trying to understand my ramblings.

Rhonda

 

 

Predictions Made in 1950

 

The February 1950 edition of Popular Mechanics featured predictions of what products we would be using in the future.

 

Popular Mechanics magazine looked into the future and made some predictions on what life would be like in the year 2000. The writer of the article was Waldemar Kaempffert, science editor of the New York Times.

 

He predicts that the highways would be double-decked with the top deck for fast non-stop traffic, while the lower deck would be for shops alongside the highway.

 

One prediction that never materialized was the rockets that were to have flown from New York to San Francisco in two hours. A eight room house would only cost $5,000. We all know that never materialized either. Houses would not be built with wood, brick or stone in 2000, since the cost would be prohibitive, but instead built with metals and plastic.

 

Razors will be a thing of the past according to the writer, since a chemical solution will remove beards. Gillette, Schick and other razor companies are glad that prediction never came to fruition.

 

There will be no dishwashers in 2000, because dishes will be thrown away after being used. Two dozen plastic plates will cost a dollar, which isn’t too far off from the prices of 2011.

 

Soup and milk will be sold as bricks, but that never happened. Fast cooking electronic stoves will thaw a frozen steak in eight seconds and will be ready to eat in two more minutes.

 

Turning sawdust and wood pulp into foods is another prediction that went wrong. One prediction that did come true is that shopping by television, which is evident by the many products for sale on QVC and the Home Shopping Network.

 

The writer goes on to say that the housewife of 2000, will wash anything in the house with a water hose since the houses and everything inside will be waterproof. A calculator-weather forecaster machine will predict the weather.

 

Hurricanes will be stopped by igniting the water with oil. Wish it was that easy to stop a hurricane. Supersonic airplanes will travel 1,000 miles an hour. I can personally attest that this never happened since it took about two hours to fly from Houston, Texas to Knoxville, Tennessee which is about 200 miles less than 1,000 miles.

 

One prediction that has come true is the prediction that flying will be very expensive because of the high cost of fuel. The writer says a trip from Chicago to Paris would cost $5,000.

 

Families in 2000 will use helicopters, parked on their rooftop to get around fast, while the family car would be used for shorter trips of less than 20 miles.

 

Tuberculosis will have been cured by 2000. As far as I know there is no cure for tuberculosis 60 years after this article was written. Cancer will not have been cured by 2000, which is sadly the case today.

 

The prices shown in the magazine are as interesting as the predictions. The magazine shows a table saw for $15.95. Doubt if you could find one today for anywhere close to that price. Another item for sale in the magazine include a 65 pound boat for $35.

 

To read the complete article:

 

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/10/05/miracles-youll-see-in-the-next-fifty-years/?Qwd=./PopularMechanics/2-1950/next_fifty_years&Qif=next_fifty_years_00.jpg&Qiv=thumbs&Qis=XL#qdig

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Living With a Diabetic

My wife had a total colonectomy on March 1, 2010 having her large intestines and colon removed. Her doctor told us after the surgery that he had discovered she was diabetic.

She had no idea how much diabetes would change her life. She has found out how fast blood sugar numbers can change, either upward or downward.

At first she had more problem with low blood sugar numbers which made her very weak. Now the numbers are running higher into the 300′s and 400′s. She took Metformin at first along with insulin shots but found out it made her nauseous and that she was allergic to the Metformin. Then the doctor started her on a newer and much more expensive drug Onglyza. I was surprised she was taking only a 5MG dose, which doesn’t seem like enough to help.

She was taken off the insulin shots for a while, but later her blood sugar numbers escalated so much, insulin shots were prescribed again and she was giving herself insulin shots several times a day. She is still taking the Onglyza plus the insulin shots.

Originally she was classified as a Type II diabetic, but is now very close to being a Type I diabetic. I will never forget the first time she gave herself a shot. She was terrified and didn’t think she could do it, but was alright with it after the first shot. Not that it is something she looks forward to, but she knows it has to be done to live a somewhat normal life.

The most frustrating thing about diabetes is the way blood sugar numbers go up and down, depending on what foods are eaten, how much exercise is being done and how much stress a person is under at the time.

My wife has a long history of diabetes in her family but didn’t know till she was 43 that she was diagnosed with the disease.

I have a nephew that has had diabetes from an early age and have often thought of how someone so young can cope with the stress of having the disease for the rest of their life.

You would think after all these years, there would be an alternative to insulin shots, but as far as I know there are no oral medicines on the horizon that can lower blood sugar numbers faster than insulin shots.

People without diabetes can go to a restaurant and eat what they want, not even worrying about their food choices, but diabetics have to consider the consequences of eating foods that will raise their blood sugar numbers  precipitously

Diabetics can’t just jump in the car and drive somewhere, without first stopping to bring their diabetes meter,  medicine or some candy to alleviate the situation if their numbers should suddenly fall or rise.

In the last couple of years, one of my brothers was diagnosed with diabetes in his late 60′s. So none of us have any guarantee we will live our entire life without diabetes.

Diabetes is a life changing disease, that requires following the doctor’s orders closely. Diabetics have to be careful about walking around barefoot, as a nurse working with diabetics told us at a diabetes clinic I attended with my wife, that it is important to keep the feet from anything that may infect them and walking barefooted was extremely dangerous.

My wife likes to swim, but I worry about her feet becoming infected while in the swimming pool at the local health center.

So next time you hear a family member or friend has been diagnosed with diabetes, you will know their life will never be the same again.

Some well-known people like Mary Tyler Moore have diabetes. She showed you can live with diabetes and still be successful.

While watching the Indy 500 race recently, there was a driver named Charlie Kimball that has diabetes. They were watching his blood sugar numbers during the race. Since his numbers run on the high side and would get higher during the stress of the race, he had a plan of action if an insulin shot was needed.

When he had to make a pit stop the same pit crew member that changed one of the tires, would give him an insulin shot in the thigh with a diabetic pen and he would continue the race. The worst thing about the situation is that the  pit crew member had only given a shot to an orange before, so he would have been giving a shot in the middle of the race for the very first time.

Thankfully, he didn’t need a shot during the race, but every time he does race, he has to not only contend with the other cars in the race, but also has to contend with a terrible disease.

Diabetes is a terrible disease, but it can be controlled by medicine whether oral medicine or insulin shots. There may be a cure for diabetes someday, but until then, stop and think what the diabetic you know is going through, trying to live a normal life.