Wednesday, January 04, 2012

SHE TURNED TO ME AND SAID “YOU ARE A SPECIAL CASE”

DSC_0002

Even the chickens weren't quite awake yet when I showed up to feed them. It was an early start we had to the day and I was out before the sun cleared the Pedregosa Mountains to our East. Gathered up a swatch of hay for the donkeys and fed Gleeson, Pearce, and Charlie the Cat. Nice hot shower, waved bye bye to Motor and Pheebs on the other side of the locked gate and we headed ourselves off to Tucson.

Nice morning drive again as we slipped straight up the Sulphur Springs Valley through Benson to I-10. Quick stop at McDonald’s & then pedal to the metal for the University of Arizona hospital. Light traffic again and no problem finding the hospital on Ajo Way just a block east of I-10.

No glitches this time and all the paperwork was in order as we checked in at the outpatient registration desk.  Because we arrived for my appointment early, we were taken in early and 15 minutes before my scheduled appointment time of 11 o’clock I was stretched out on a bed in a darkened room with my shirt off laying on my left side.

IMG_1478 

ARRIVING EARLY FOR MY APPOINTMENT THIS MORNING 

An ultra-sound technician lady was at my side sitting in front of what looked like a spaceship computer control board.  Her left hand deftly flitted over a panel of buttons & keys while her right hand skillfully manipulated what felt like a warm computer mouse around my lower abdomen in the kidney area.  Constantly I heard the words, “take a deep breath” zzzzz “ok, you can breath”.  “Take a deep breath” zzzzz “ok, you can breath”.  This went on for a very long time as she slowly moved that mouse from spot to spot.  I could hear computer noises and dingle sounds coming from the spaceship control panel.

IMG_1479

WAITING TO BE CALLED FOR MY RENAL ULTRA-SOUND

The procedure seemed to take a long  time and the hardest part was trying to stay awake.  Imagine having someone slowly massaging your lower abdomen and softly repeating, “take a deep breath” zzzzz “ok, you can breath now”.

Next, I was on my back as she did my bladder area which was followed by me rolling onto my right side while she next spent a long time on my other kidney.  “Take a deep breath” zzzzz “ok, you can breath”.  The whole procedure took about half an hour but at last she was done.  I wasn’t prepared for what the technician told me next.

IMG_1480

NOPE, I AIN’T SCARED OF NO DARNED HOSPITAL STUFF!!

Her words to me were, “I’m sorry this took so long but you have a lot of things in there.”  She then looked me directly in the eye and said, “you are a special case.”  She repeated that phrase twice more before her cell phone rang.  She smiled and motioned me towards the door.  As I left that room I couldn’t help but get the feeling that maybe my ultra-sound was unlike most others she was accustomed to seeing.  Her words, “you are a special case” echoed around in my mind.

While I was having the procedure done Kelly had been busy.  She had arranged for a CD to be made of my ultra-sound results.  We waited maybe 20 minutes until that info had been uploaded and with CD in hand we headed the short distance to where another building’s Urologist department was located.  Kelly wanted to make doubly doubly sure there would be no slip ups in us getting Dr. Funk’s full report on today’s results.  We want to be armed with every shred of documentation we can carry before heading back to Ontario and contacting my Doctor in a few months.  The receptionist remembered us from a couple weeks ago and assured us the complete written report could be mailed to us in NcNeal because we are hoping we do not have to drive all the way back to Tucson again.  Receptionist also assured us Doctor Funk would phone us either Friday or Monday with the results.

It was 5 minutes to noon when we walked out of the hospital into the warming rays of the big Arizona sun.  How nice to be outside in the fresh air again.  Minutes later we rolled back up onto I-10 heading south out of Tucson.  We were on a mission.  We had a Shreddies delivery to make.  Say, have I told you how much I love these big Arizona mountains.

OK, so what the big darn heck are Shreddies??  Shreddies are a breakfast cereal which are apparently only available in Canada.  Last fall we received an email from a reader and fellow RV Blogger who noticed we were heading their way on our trip to southeast Arizona.    Americans, Grant and Kathy Webb from BIRDING RVERS wondered if we could bring them some boxes of Shreddies from Canada.  They love Shreddies but can’t get them here in the States.  Yep, no problem.

DSC_0010

GRANT AND KATHY WEBB FROM THE RVING BIRDERS

With Grant’s directions we found the birding folks in the staff area of the KARTCHNER CAVERNS about 8 miles south of Benson Arizona.  They have just begun a two month stint at the Caverns as volunteers helping out with activities in the large Caverns.  You can read about our trip to Kartchner Caverns here at, SILVER CITY TO THE KARTCHNER CAVERNS  and INTO THE CAVERN AND OFF TO A MONASTERY.

DSC_0009

Always nice to meet fellow RVing Bloggers so we all had ourselves a good chin wag for about an hour.  We didn’t want to hold the folks up too long because we knew they were anxious to get inside and rip into a big fresh new box of Shreddies……Yum:))

DSC_0003

DSC_0007 DSC_0006 

From the Kartchner Caverns we didn’t waste any time ski-daddling ourselves straight south down highway 90 through Huachuca City and Sierra Vista.  We still had groceries to get and we were very anxious to get home and see the doggy guys. 

Stopped into the San Jose part of Bisbee for groceries at my favorite little Safeway grocery store.  Seems we never get out of grocery stores anymore for under a hundred dollars.  Didn’t take us long to go through our grocery list and make fast tracks for home. 

Pheebs came racing out of the Motorhome and up to the gate about 300 miles an hour.  Sure is a good thing her tail is fastened on securely because if not it would have flown off into outer space a long long time ago.

Pearce ran out to meet us as well but Motor and Gleeson, being their usual Coach Potato selves were sound asleep in the rig when we drove up.  It’s quite a bunch of sleepy heads we got here….including me.  Tomorrow we head back to Tucson, but this time….to the Airport:)) 

The Last Paragraph:  Have to say again how fortunate I am in having the efficient and caring person beside me that I do.  I never would have thought of getting that scan result CD today or going to the Urologist’s office and doubly doubly checking on everything.  Typically, when I walked out of that Ultra-Sound room this morning my priority would have been to get out of that hospital area, head that Jeep out into the desert somewhere and see if I could find me some good Saguaro photos.  I sometimes have a habit of not taking things to seriously……..

DSC_0075

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Sophie went to see a psychiatrist about her husband.
"Doctor, My husband has this problem. Almost every night now he's dreaming he's a refrigerator!"
"My dear, that is not really a problem! A lot of people dream that they are somebody or something unusual..."
Sophie leans forward as she softly whispers this confidence: "But you see doctor it is also a problem for me! Jake sleeps with his mouth open and the light keeps me awake!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
BAYFIELD BUNCH PHOTO ALBUMS https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295
The only thing better than right now  will someday be the memories of
right  now...AL.

18 comments:

  1. "You're a special case" - Hmmmm..makes ya wonder huh? Kudos to Kelly for being on top of things. Dealing with the medical community can be a pain but it sure seems she is organized and efficient. Hope you are able to put off any major procedures until spring.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glad Kelly is on top of things...hoping and praying you can slide thru until spring before needed any major procedure...anxious to hear the results hope you share with us all ..take care...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Shreddies are about the same as Wheat Chex from Ralston Purina. They also make corn chex and rice chex. I'm sure Canadians think their Shreddies are much better, but it wouldn't nearly be worth the trip when Wheat Chex are available on every grocery counter in all of the US.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Al, I may need to make that photo of you my screensaver. With eyes wide open like that, I would be fully awake and ready to start the day! LOL!
    I have to say that Kelly is such a wonderful partner to have, isn't she? You are both the perfect complement to each other.
    And of course the four-leggers round out that perfect equation!
    --Jool

    ReplyDelete
  5. you are indeed 'special'!!..and you even deliver Shreddies!!..to Grant and Kathy..'Raider's mom and dad..may he rest in peace!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good picture of you, Al? Didn't think your arm was long enough to take shots like that! LOL ;))

    ReplyDelete
  7. I read your blog every night then as I read "groaner's corner" and laugh out loud my husband mutes whatever he's watching and turns to me saying he's ready. Thanks for the nightly laugh

    ReplyDelete
  8. So you are heading back to Tuscon to the airport? Does that mean you are flying back to Canada for surgery? You are indeed a special case, as your hundreds of readers can attest, but I'd be a little worried if a medical tech said that to me.

    It was great that you could hand deliver Shreddies from home.

    ReplyDelete
  9. OK, that settles it! We need a side by side comparison of "Shreddies" and "Wheat Chex".
    I'll wait right here while you sort that out.
    Thanks.

    On a slightly less silly note, I'm of the firm opinion that ultra sound is probably one of the best diagnostic inventions in terms of it being the least invasive.
    Just don't fall asleep. Although, when I had one a couple years ago, the rather cool jelly the technician used perked me right up in a hurry.
    Gah!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wheat Chex are a very poor imitation of Sherddies. Shreddies are a larger square have a more "malty" taste. I do try to get by with Wheat Chex between visits to Canada but, they just aren't the same.

    Thanks again Al but, now you have let the secret out. Next year everyone will want you to bring them Shreddies.

    ReplyDelete
  11. LOL..Grant n Kathy!! Have visions of the guy at the border checks face, when he sees 6 cases of Shreddies in the Bayfield bunches Motorhome !

    ReplyDelete
  12. Having worked in a hospital,it probably wasn't a real good idea to say that to you..3 times...My daughter does vascular ultra sound in Methodist Hosp, Indianapolis...Your training is to say nothing about what you think you might be seeing to the patient...All that does is keep swirling around in your mind until you get the call from the Doc...bad judgement on her part, but maybe she was just trying to explain why it took so long..they wanted to get a GOOD scan...Now, get out in that desert and get a couple cholla spines in your socks!!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. The Shreddie mystery is now solved for me. I hope your other mystery is solvable also.

    ReplyDelete
  14. It is nice to know that you are special, Isn't it? Hope all goes well.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wonderful idea about the CD..I will have to keep that in mind. We seem to have contributed to several Dr.'s "new car fund" in our travels with Bob's condition.

    Although I am a new follower, it is evident you have helped so many through your blogs that I vote we start a "bailout the bayfield bunch" collection (air fare) just in case you become a little too special Heck 410 x 5 !!!! We followers are still getting alot of daily entertainment for our buck. Here's hoping for continued healthy travels.

    Just BS! (Bob and Sue)

    ReplyDelete
  16. We have known for a long time that you are a special case, but now it is confirmed by ultrasound.

    We'll want to try some Shreddies when we get to Canada again one of these decades!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Yup.. you are one special case all right.

    Soooooo airport, huh?

    You snuck that one in there as a cliffhanger, no doubt, so we all just have to tune in tomorrow!

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  18. Going to the airport to pick up his Aunt from Fla. Pat/Central Texas

    ReplyDelete