Friday, September 25, 2009, 02:26
The Healing Begins
My husband, Randy, had surgery today to remove the large lipoma from the back of his neck. The surgeon said it was the size of a baseball.
Randy has a horizontal incision between four and six inches long between his shoulder blades and a drain tube and bulb. I have to empty the bulb twice a day for the next week and record the amount that drains out of the surgical site. He has an appointment for next Tuesday to see how everything looks, and he might be able to get the drain tube out then.
He came out of the anesthetic quite well. When he had knee surgery 16 years ago, he was very cold coming out of the anesthetic and could not get warm. He did not experience the shivering, teeth-chattering cold this time around. There was initially a problem with the drain tube because the bulb would not stay deflated like it was supposed to. The surgical nurse changed the dressing on it and put some of that "plastic wrap" type of bandage over it. That sealed it off well enough that the drain bulb stayed deflated like it was supposed to. (When it's deflated, it creates a vacuum to draw the blood and fluid out of the surgical site.)
The biggest problem for Randy right after the surgery was an intense thirst. He drank several glasses of ice water and and several glasses of Sprite in recovery, and then on the way home, after we got out of the city limits, he was intensely thirsty again. So we stopped by his office to get two bottles of water. He had those pretty much polished off by the time we got home at 4 p.m.
I figured it was a pretty good sign that he was hungry after we got back to the house. I warmed up some soup for him, and he ate all of that along with some crackers. Then it was time for pain medication, and he laid down and slept for a couple of hours.
Other than the fact that his throat is very sore from the oxygen tube, he is doing pretty well.
I am hoping he will be able to sleep tonight. He did not sleep well at all last night. But, at least the surgery is finished, and now all he has to do is rest and recover.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Wednesday, September 23, 2009, 18:10
A Rip-Roaring Good Time
My little 1995 GMC Sonoma gets 30 miles to the gallon. That's why I decided to get it fixed. I asked Randy to crawl around under it to look at the exhaust system on Sunday. It seemed to me he should do this before he has surgery on Thursday. I would rather he did not crawl around on the ground with a six-inch incision in the back of his neck.
When he came out from under my truck, my husband informed me there was bad news and worse news. The exhaust pipe was nearly rusted through. He had taped it up with aluminum tape in hopes that it would be enough to get me into town. The other bad news was that there was a seal leaking under there someplace in the vicinity of the drive shaft. He could not tell exactly where it was coming from.
Monday morning I called the shop in town and told the guy my truck needed work and that I would be bringing it in at some point during the day. I had a meeting at 1 p.m. so I headed off for town about 12:30.
Going up a long hill halfway to town it happened.
The exhaust pipe gave way completely. With a ROAR, I headed up the hill. The steeper the hill became, the louder the truck got and the less power it had.
Great. And I only had several more hills like that to get up before I got into town.
A semi-truck behind me (probably a grain truck) was right on my tail. The ROAR of my little truck probably convinced the driver that maybe he should back off a tad.
When I finally reached town, I took a shortcut to the garage.
"It's all yours," I told the mechanic.
In addition to the exhaust system and the seal, I asked him to check the brake lines. I have blown brake lines three times in the last several years, and let me tell you, it's not much fun.
He asked if I wanted a ballpark estimate.
"I would imagine," I said, "it will be somewhere between $1,000 and $2,000."
He nodded. "You're on the right track. I always like to ask because people come in here thinking a new exhaust system should be 200 bucks."
I really don't know why people would think that. A new exhaust system was 200 bucks 25 years ago.
I set off for my meeting on foot. When it was finished, I planned to hang out at the newspaper office until Randy could pick me up at 5 p.m.
Yes, spending that kind of money on a 1995 IS a lot of money. Buying another vehicle would be even more money. Financial experts say you should keep repairing your vehicles because in the long-run, over many years, you will save tens of thousands of dollars.
Unfortunately, when I called the garage Tuesday afternoon, the mechanic informed me they were only going to cobble together a pipe for it because the truck was not "worth" putting on a new exhaust system. Needless to say, I was not very happy. I asked them to put on a new exhaust system, not cobble together the one that's there. And isn't it my decision to decide what is "worth" spending *my* money on?
Wednesday morning the garage called to say my truck was finished and I could pick it up at any time. I told the guy I wouldn't be there to get it until later in the afternoon, and he said that was fine.
Guess how much they charged me to fix the pipe and repair the seal and give it a once-over?
$85.00
LeAnn R. Ralph