On & Off the Road

Just a quick update everyone.

Went to the surgeon at 11:30 this morning.  He said the cyst is too hard to drain… not difficult hard, but rock hard.

So he removed it.  Took about 40 minutes to chisel it all away.  He said it was significantly larger than a golf ball.

Now I have a hole in my neck about 2 inches wide and 2 inches deep… or so he tells me.  Not stitched up.  Scott will have the joy of packing it every night for three weeks.

And now, I am off to bed.  I hurt.  Oh my goodness how this hurts.  I know, I know. I’m a wimp.  Always have been.

Will always be one!

The other day I complained about the golf ball I had discovered hiding in my neck.

I’ve just come from the doctor, and he assures me I have it wrong.  It is NOT the size of a golf ball.  I do apologize.  My bad.

It’s bigger.

So big, in fact, he looked, he pushed, he prodded, he poked, and passed verdict “I’m not touching that one.  We’ll send you to a surgeon.”

So, stay tuned for more on this little odyssey.  I see a surgeon tomorrow morning.

Twenty two years ago, while I was living in El Sobrante, California, I had a fibrous cyst removed from my back, up by my neck.  I remember it probably a bit better than I remember anything else from that time frame because of the complications that arose from that surgery.  Nothing really serious, but enough to stay in my memory.

Some time abut 12 years later, I noticed a bump in that same region.  Remembering that the first bump was a fibrous cyst, I didn’t take any great concern at it’s return.  Some time in the next couple of years, while at the doctor’s office, I mentioned it to him in an “oh, yeah, I’ve got this bump thing.”  He looked at it, and declared that it was probably a fibrous cyst, and that there was no rush to move to remove it.  We measured it, as best we could, at about the size of a pea.

Last summer, I went to see my doctor about something.  We had a look at all the “systems”.  I knew my medical insurance was running out, so we did a bit of a brief physical.  We measured the cyst again, and it really hadn’t grown much.  It was the size of an almond… a shelled almond.  “Nothing to be concerned about, unless you WANT me to take it out.”  His body language said “Please say no”, so I said no.

Somewhere around early March, I found my hand moving to touch the area rather frequently… and I noticed something… the cyst was exuding some kind of odor… I can’t put my finger on it.  It doesn’t do that all the time, and it isn’t doing so now.  But it’s an unpleasant odor.

As you all know, I’ve been doing a lot of walking.  My back has been a bit sore during this walking.  I knew that was coming, I anticipated it.  I do have arthritis in my spine.  Yesterday my back was hurting, and it had migrated up in to my neck.  As the day wore on, the pain became worse.  Last night at dinner, we entertained some very good friends.  While at dinner, my hand, unbeknownst to me, crept up to the cyst.

“OH MY GOSH, Scott!  There’s a golf ball lodged in my neck!” I exclaimed.  I kid you not.  Some time over the past 3 months, I don’t know when.  It might have been gradual, it might have occurred literally overnight, but at some point, this little almond sized, smelly cyst has become a friggin’ golf ball… maybe larger!  And it HURTS HURTS HURTS!  And I am now aware that the pain in my back seems to be radiating OUT from the cyst.

I slept very badly last night.  Any pressure on my neck is excruciating, and would wake me up.  On top of that, our bedroom is very cold, for some reason, but last night I perspired heavily through the night, sticking to the sheets.  That tells me there’s a fever.

Well, it’s time to call the doctor.  I’ll do that tomorrow and get this removed.

Ugh.

Okay, today’s post is short.  Just like my walk today!

There is, it seems, a limit to the joys of walking!  Tonight, my shins are killing me.  And my legs feel like I’ve walked a hundred miles.  Perhaps next week, I should be a little more careful, walk a little less.  Take better care and build up to what I’ve been doing!

On my walks, I’ve encountered some interesting buildings… buildings I never knew existed in Omaha.  For instance, here’s an interesting one:

This is the Omaha National Bank building… Omaha’s first “skyscraper” build in 1888!  It’s rather interesting architecture.  Here’s a closeup of the statue above the door:

These photos really aren’t all that good, I’m afraid.  They’re taken with my Blackberry.  Yes, Kate, I know.  I should get one of them new-fangled iPhone thingy’s so I can take better pictures… AND use Yelp!  I’m waiting for the check.

It’s been an awful long time since I last posted an entry on our blog.  I’m sorry to you all for that.  As you are probably all aware, I started a new job the day after Scott and I got home from our trip to California and New Mexico.  Because of that, time has been a little shorter for me than it has been in the past.  And, to be quite honest (and admittedly more than a little silly) I’ve been afraid to write much about my new job for fear of jinxing it!  Even though I don’t really believe in jinxing.

My job is in Downtown Omaha, near the corner of 18^th and Harney.  There’s something downtown Omaha has that my previous office in west Omaha did not.  And that, quite simply put, is “Something Fun To Do”.  It has character.  There are sidewalks and places to see!  It’s fun down here!

Scott and I have gotten into a routine.  We leave home about 7:25ish, and head west.  I won’t go in to the details of that, though right now that isn’t as straight forward as it might seem.  Ah, what the heck, I’ll tell all.  The 16^th St. Viaduct in Council Bluffs is being renovated starting this past Monday.  This means that the viaduct EAST bound lanes are being torn out, concrete, girders and all.  West bound traffic has been diverted to Avenue G and the new viaduct up there, while east bound is now using the west bound lanes on the old viaduct.  Anyhow.  Scott and I leave at 7:25 a.m.

We reach 19^th and Dodge in Omaha at about 7:45 a.m.  There, I am dropped off, and walk the 4 blocks south to my office.  I stop in the Civic Center for coffee en route.

I’m discovering all sorts of new restaurants that I never knew existed down in the heart of Omaha.  Indian and Thai and Bob’s Grill… there are different food vendors in the Civic Center every day… and I haven’t even scratched the surface of what’s available yet!

Paul & Deb will appreciate that I even have stopped in at the Jazz and actually enjoyed it!  The 4 of us ate there and hated it back in September 2007.  At lunch it’s fun!

As a contractor, I’m not allowed to work any over-time for DOT.COMM.  So, I’m out of the office most days at 4:30.  What to do, what to do?  Walk!

I’m having the time of my life walking!  Since I started counting 2 weeks ago today, I’ve logged over 40 miles!

So, that brings us to the end of today’s post.  I’ll have more to post in the next few days.

Well, our whirlwind tour is complete.  We are home.

Today was by far the hardest of days.  In the days before leaving Alamogordo for home, we were aware of a pending winter storm along our route.  However, reports we were watching implied that we’d probably encounter very little problem.  Ugh.  So much for reports and implications.

We arrived in Elk City on time as reported last night.  But as we watched the news after posting my last entry, it became clear bad weather was ahead of us.  We made the decision to take a short rest, then leave at midnight.

Midnight came, and sure enough the wind had died down, so we pulled out of the campground and headed east.  It was shortly after getting on the interstate that we remembered we didn’t have running lights OR taillights!  A passing semi alerted us to the fact.  We were determined, however, to proceed, so we turned on our emergency flashers and drove on. 

As we approached Oklahoma City, the sleet started, and the wind picked up again.  In Yukon, 102 miles down the road, we stopped for gas and realized we’d probably made a mistake, so we found a Target parking lot, and crawled back in to the camper and tried to sleep.  By now it was 3 a.m.

The wind rocked the camper and at times, I was sure we’d roll over!  But after an hour, at last I fell asleep.  We awoke at 6:00 a.m. and again hit the road.

Over the next 3 hours, we drove 80 miles to Perry, OK.  We stopped for breakfast, but then decided to keep on “truckin’”!  This far, our journey had been ice and snow, and very stressful.  I was actually feeling a little scared to get back on the road… but we did.  I’m glad!

Shortly after crossing in to Kansas, the weather and the road began to clear.  And, eventually, after 13 and half hours of driving, we arrived home!

As I sit here on my sofa, I still am feeling the motion of the road!  And I am SO ready for bed!