On the Road with Bob

Beard Brook Hillsboro NH

There are those times, I guess, that even RV full-timers have to pause for a diversion that’s not as much fun as Disney World. That would apply to health diversions.

As you have read, my latest diversion of that sort involves surgery in New England. Here’s the rest of the story; I am going to get a total replacement of my right wrist!!!! WHAT?  (for the not-fainting-prone: You Tube>Total Wrist Arthroscopy Surgery)

I know, you’ve never heard of such a thing. Who has ?  This is new territory, folks, and the magicians undertaking this seldom-heard-of procedure are at New England Baptist Hospital in Boston, Mass. This institution is on the cutting edge (pun intended) of joint replacement surgery. I have carpal tunnel problems which will also be rectified.

There are plenty of RV’ers who, in their retirement years, are feeling the effects of arthritis in their hips and knees. If you happen to be one, and are considering whether to have it done, I can recommend the results wholeheartedly. I had bilateral knee replacement six years ago (that’s BOTH knees at once). I suffered acute joint pain from osteoarthritis for years. I was prepared to have the work done 10 years before it was accomplished. My doctor at Mass.General Hospital urged me then to suspend my decision; to wait as long as I could stand it, so that the procedure would not have to be repeated (things do wear out). Six years ago, when I finally could not walk, and the job was done in Cambridge Hospital, the technology had advanced and the hardware had been greatly improved. My surgeons did a great job, and a tremendous service to me. I say, jokingly….my knees are now the best parts of me! (Titanium and teflon)

I learned to walk again in re-hab, and today I prepare for more metal. This time cobalt chrome with a polyethylene ball insert. I am anticipating the near-total ability to use my wrist and hand for bionic repairs and up-dates to my RV .

Just do it!

These are RV  Tips And Stories, right? Well the only story here is that yesterday, I drove my house to Ocoee, Florida, and left it in storage! Then got back into a plane or two (what…again?)..headed for Manchester NH.  (These should be Airline Tips And Stories)

When full-timing as long as I have been, you have everything just where you want it, and in an RV, that is usually at an arm’s-length . The pattern of daily living is often rigidly established, even though the scenery can change overnight. So it is a sea-change, and a cultural shock, to move in with family for even a temporary stretch of time. I am habituated to the rhythms of my life, and compromise is not high on my agenda, but situations dictate change. Surgery has made the New England stay a necessity, and my daughter (et vir) has adapted to have me in-house, as opposed to my parking the RV down the hill and out of sight;  a situation where I could do my usual puttering, inventing, changing and adapting with all kinds of projects….the right tool within easy reach.

An annual family-gathering has brought me to New England two weeks ahead of my pre-op appointment with the surgeon who is to do my wrist-replacement. After that date I will wait 18 days before being admitted. The post-op will occur 13 days afterwards and hopefully, if the Xrays and observation show the expected recovery….I’M OUTTA HERE! We’re talking a conservative 40 days in the unconventional world (to me) of immobility, so there are likely to be more posts to follow. No need to hold your breath.

Well, finally I have heard from the hospital about the scheduling of my surgery. It takes both hands to guide the RV down blue highways. My wrists are in tough shape, due to degenerative osteoarthritis. I have had bi-lateral knee replacements already. Now my right wrist is going TITANIUM!

I will have to be off the road for about a month and a half. I will be in the hospital one day, and two weeks later the “sawbones’” will check out their handiwork [pun intended] at the post-op session.

So, in mid-August I will be let out of my cage with a repaired wing, cleared to fly and drive.

The poor pelicans, egrets, herons and turtles of put-upon Louisiana should be so lucky.

It has been a while since my posting in January. That is because of a health challenge called Cervical Spondylosis; quite literally, a pain in the neck (region) caused by degenerative bone spurs on the Atlas, or first vertebra.

Fortunately, this manifested itself in a major city where there was a VA hospital. But before I got there, I had to visit  emergency rooms two days running….the pain was excruciatingly intense, and immobilizing. This brings us to the current struggle by the Obama administration to reform the healthcare system. I had coverage through Medicare and the Veterans Administration, and still had to have care that all those without ANY insurance might require. The purpose for emergency facilities is for triage; treating the immediate pressing need in extraordinary situations. Not for people who just do not have any other source for dealing with their crisis. Millions who have no doctor or insurance, particularly the poor, the undocumented visitors, those denied coverage because of insurance company restrictions, all have no recourse but to go to the most EXPENSIVE  place there is for treatment. Brilliant!

Not only do we need the passage of the current bill in Congress, we must have (and WILL have, eventually) full health coverage  for ALL people in the United States. We simply cannot afford the alternative! The insurance companies have Life, Casualty, Fire and myriad other types of policies which make them billions. That is why the biggest buildings in any city belong to their conglomerates. LET THEM BE SATISFIED WITH LESS. Most Americans who are suffering from the  ravages wreaked upon them by the bad economy, caused by those greedy banks, brokerages and insurance companies are FORCED TO DO WITH LESS! NO…not just a public option…..SINGLE PAYER INSURANCE, yes, national healthcare, sans insurance companies altogether. It is coming.

I certainly regard healthcare for all as a right. Why do the Republicans think that putting blinders on a serious situation will make it go away? Conservatism used to mean the taking of the long view. Now, their bent is for short term gain. “I’ve got mine, and I’m not sharing!” That attitude does not work in the modern world, and it is up to us to vote OUT the practitioners of this mindset. Social projects do not mean Socialism. Just human caring for the less fortunate.