Uh Oh, It Wont Be Long Now

Did I report the other day that things are back to normal after the operation??? Normal was not the correct assessment of what is going on. Think of drinking lighter fluid or perhaps Bhut Jolokia (a pepper that makes the jalepeno look like a sissy) juice then relieving yourself. OUCH. Nothing like a little liquid fire in the middle of the night and then trying to go back to sleep, thank God for "Movies on Demand". By the way, my Doc prescribed a medication called Cialis to promote regeneration of damaged nerves and blood flow. Our local drug store called yesterday to advise me that they could NOT fill this prescription until the doctor fills out another form and they get authorization from my medical insurance company. "Is there a problem with this drug?" I asked. "No Sir" the druggist replied "but normally this pill is taken five to six times a month and not daily as in your case". Boy what an opportunity. "Will this take long? Uh, OK I can wait till then but it sure puts a damper on this weekend". Wonder what kind of looks "The Madge" will get when she picks this prescription up.
Erin went into Cadens room the other day and look what she found.
We have to think that another few months and he might be climbing out of the crib, roaming around the house at three in the morning, readjusting the various settings on the stereo and/or TV and perhaps make an overseas call or two on the phone. The whole time he is snooping around a big smile will be on his face. Perhaps I am giving him too much credit on making the phone calls since the phone is out of his reach, but a quick push of the chair and look, it is within his grasp. Hello China.

Only in Texas

Back to Normal

Went to the Doctor yesterday to have the last tube removed from my body. Dr. Chip Winkle of the "If you can't tinkle see Winkle" fame is quite a interesting character, he has an earring, rides a Harley and has won numerous awards in the area including but not limited to "most humorous" and "most congenial". He informed me that he is about two operations away from being certified on the Da Vinci robot, Huh??? Don't worry he said he was assisting another doctor who is certified. Well on with a normal life until "The Madge" has me see another specialist.
Bob Stefans of Sugarland sent an interesting story about a man that was pulled over for having a bumper sticker that read "Abort Obama not the Unborn". Well rather than write about it OKC man pulled over
Gotta go now there is somebody is knocking or kicking my front door.

Chew On This

Without getting too graphic the eating instructions you received after having your prostate removed is "After surgery until you expel the air that has been pumped into you eat one teaspoon of ice chips at a time, once you have passed the air you graduate to colored liquids". Breaking wind is no problem for a pro like me so I went into colored liquids within 24 hours, now comes the tricky part. "Continue of colored liquids until you have a movement at which point you can eat solid foods" OK, I have been eating jello and slurping down broth and juices for almost one week, remember you must fast 24 hours prior to surgery. What would they like me to move??? There is nothing in the system!!! I broke down today and asked "The Madge" to give me something to EAT, well I just had a can of Tuna fish and it tasted better than any meal I have ever eaten in my entire life. It took twenty minutes to finish it, savoring each bite and I am full. I don't want to get carried away so for dinner I might have two cups of warm water and an cherry flavored ice pop.
In the meantime I would like to share these with you.

Some of the artists of the 60's are revising their hits with new lyrics to accommodate aging baby boomers.

They include:

Bobby Darin --- Splish, Splash, I Was Havin' a Flash.

Herman's Hermits --- Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Walker .

Ringo Starr --- I Get By With a Little Help From Depends.

The Bee Gees -- - How Can You Mend a Broken Hip.

Roberta Flack--- The First Time Ever I Forgot Your Face.

Johnny Nash --- I Can't See Clearly Now.

Paul Simon--- Fifty Ways to Lose Your Liver

The Commodores --- Once, Twice, Three Times to the Bathroom.

Marvin Gaye --- Heard It Through the Grape Nuts.

Procol Harem--- A Whiter Shade of Hair.

Leo Sayer --- You Make Me Feel Like Napping.

The Temptations --- Papa's Got a Kidney Stone.

Abba--- Denture Queen.

Tony Orlando --- Knock 3 Times On The Ceiling If You Hear Me Fall.

Helen Reddy --- I Am Woman, Hear Me Snore.

Leslie Gore--- It's My Procedure, and I'll Cry If I Want To.

And Last but NOT least:

Willie Nelson --- On the Commode Again

Many thanks to Doug Martin for sharing these.

Well I Made It

Had to be at St. Lukes Hospital on Wednesday at high noon to prepare for the 1:30 surgery. This particular surgery was to be performed by a robot( for those of you that are interested google Da Vinci Robotic) and had been highly recommended as it is the least evasive and recovery time is cut in half. I went to sleep at 1:20 and woke up 7 1/2 hours later. Then I had to have the typical hospital night rest, every two hours someone is waking you up to take your vitals. Some rest. The next morning at 10 the doctor came in to see how I was doing and said I could go home. This was unreal, less than one day in the hospital for major surgery. I of course jumped at this chance. By the time "The Madge" got to the hospital and we were given the all post operation instructions and goodies (slippers, gauze, urinals etc etc) it was 4 PM. Things were still looking real good. The doctor had given us two prescriptions, an antibiotic and pain medicine, Madge said she would get them filled the next day. I think it was about 7:30 when the train came roaring down the tracks and hit me head on. I didn't realize that I HAD been on pain medicine and it was wearing off. Too late now to go to the drug store so let Jimmy grin and bear it. My stomach was now bloated, more than normal, and it felt as though a steel tipped boot was kicking me the entire night. Since I also have a catheter, I had to keep checking it to make sure I didn't go over the brim. This was not pleasant. The Madge did get to the drug store this morning so everything is once again mellow.

Another Cruise Under Our Belt

First things first, I finally got the movie we took of Caden in the bathtub. The little guy looks like a sea turtle trying to get back into the ocean.

The cruise was great. We were supposed to go with both the Calonico's and the Kennedy's however due to a death in Dave's family they had to cancel at the very last minute. So the Kennedy's and the Murphy's headed down to Galveston to board the "Voyager of the Seas". After being stuck in traffic, due to two accidents, we arrived in Galveston only to be stuck again in "Cruise" traffic. The access to the dock and the parking process needs a major overhaul, but once we were in the facility we had priority boarding, a glass of champagne and were on board in no time.
Hadn't even made it to the elevator when it was time for the bon voyage drink. This was our first time to travel with Kay and Joe and seeing Kay in action is a real treat. We hadn't walked the thirty five feet to the table in the cocktail lounge and she had three different conversations with total strangers. By the time the cruise was over she had been in contact with a least fifty percent of the passengers and ten percent of the crew, Some children actually ran the other way when they saw her.
The weather could have been better, at one point the wind was 40 M.P.H. and the seas had fifteen foot swells. We made it to Mexico where Kay and Madge played with the Dolphins while Joe went to the farmacia to buy prescription drugs that were sold over counter for 1/8 the price that the US gets. Do I hear the word "Illegal"?
We then headed to the Cayman Islands where the Captain announced that it was so rough and windy that he will sail to the other side on the island to see if we could get ashore at another port. The women spent about three hours on land, Joe also went ashore for thirty minutes and yours truly hung around the bar reading a novel. Now it's off to Jamaica, a place none of us cared about. Just as well because we arrived in Montego Bay at 10 in the morning and the Captain announced "Too windy and too rough to attempt docking" We then sat drifting for three hours and headed back to Galveston.
While at sea the Kennedy's celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, their room had been decorated, the champagne had been chilled and the crew sang "Happy anniversary" and gave them a very nice cake with an inscription on it. Since Kay had told all the strangers she met, some of them twice, that they were celebrating their 50th I am surprised the ship didn't blow it's horn and have the entire crew sing. Outside of the weather we had a great time. The food was the best we have every experienced, the crew extremely polite and accommodating, and memories we made will always bring a smile to our faces. Here's a few pictures.

Too much gambling, excitement or Pinot?

Kay doesn't look impressed with this salad

But Joe sure does

The water splashing out of the pool and this pool was drained about half way.

The 50th anniversary party

Now it's time to start planning our next excursion, but before that there are a few things I must take care of. I head into the hospital this Wednesday to have a little surgery, it seems with some of the tests Madge had me do found cancer in my prostate. Well say goodbye to that gland, I am having it yanked out, besides I didn't need it to begin with. So I won't be posting for a few days but should be up and going strong by this weekend.