Team Bud Update

Over all, it was another long day filled with waiting and more waiting. 

They took Dad off of the vent during the night, and the nurse said that he woke up on his own. They even had him standing up at the foot of the bed last night. 

 Today was filled with waiting for his BP to increase so he can be moved up to the fifth floor. "Moving on up" as he said today. The nurse said that low BP was normal for bypass patients, and they are optimistic he will get to move tomorrow.

In the meanwhile, one of his cardiologists came by this afternoon. He walked by the room first, and then left, turned around and came back. He said "I thought I was supposed to see a patient that had CABG (coronary artery bypass graft) yesterday. Bud said "It was me." And immediately held up four fingers. He checked him over, and told him that he was like how 5th day recovery patients are. We expected nothing less from my father. 

Thank you again for your support and prayers, and please continue prayers for a great, quick recovery.

Team Bud Update

It was a long day filled with waiting, waiting and more waiting, but Dad's surgery went quicker than the surgeon had anticipated and he's doing great! 

Things got off to a rocky start - the surgeon had an emergency case downtown and was two and a half hours late. Bud kept saying over and over "I'm ready. Let's get this thing over with." He was antsy, but he never got mad; he just wanted it to get over with. Before they took him back, his nurse explained what would happen. They said that they would come to the waiting room three times - the first to tell us when the surgery started, the second to tell us when he went on bypass, the third to tell us when he went off of bypass. They said this whole part would take about four hours. But in typical Bud fashion, he proved them wrong. They started at 3:45, put him on bypass at 4:35. Then the surgeon went to work, and they took him off of bypass at 5:40 and then started to close. So the actual "fixing" part took way less than they anticipated -- a mega good sign. We waited some more and then the surgeon came to talk to us and said things went great, and he commented on how tough Bud was (like that's something we didn't already know). Then we waited some more for them to move him back to his room in the unit, and then we waited some more for them to get to see him. He had great color, and his nurse (who would be there in his room with him all night) said that he even woke up once on his own. Said that she would decrease his sedation and hoped to get him off of the ventilator during the night, and that they would have him up and moving around tomorrow. 

I want to thank the Lord for answering all of the prayers that were said on behalf of my Dad. Prayers made all the difference; that, and his determination to get his garden out this spring. 

I want to thank each and everyone of you for your prayers, emails, phone calls, texts and your support and concern; for most of you, concern for a man you've never even met. Even though the bypass surgery is over, the hard part of the journey begins as he recovers. Please continue to pray - for healing, patience, and strength.

Reality Update

It's been a long day filled with waiting, but at about 7:30 tonight, they finally were able to transfer Dad to Audobon Hospital, and they will do the surgery at 12:30 tomorrow. 

One of the doctors at Suburban came to his room this morning and talked with all three of us for about a half an hour - explaining the procedure and told us exactly what they would be doing and how they would be doing it. She said that if things go as she believes they will, he should be out of there in 7-10 days. While I have complete faith in the Lord that everything will go okay, it is still a major dose of reality when I realized that for a few hours tomorrow, my Dad will be laying on a table with his rib cage split open wide and with his heart inside of his body in a machine for a few hours. But as I said yesterday, he is still very much at peace with the decision to have the surgery and is looking forward to being "the bionic man" as Mom is calling him. 

All day long, his vitals were great, and he looked great. And the nurses and doctors that have looked at him through this ordeal have all said the same thing -- they can't get over how strong and in good shape he is (other than the blockages).

Thank you all so much for your kind words and for your support and prayers. Dad, Mom and I all agree I have the best bunch of friends ever.

The Shit Just Got Real

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Carla Puckett

A few friends have texted or left messages, but I wanted to send this out to all of my faithful readers and update you. Bud (my Dad) is in the hospital. I took him to the ER at midnight Monday night because he couldn't breathe. After working with him in the ER, the Dr. said that it was congestive heart failure. The ER Dr. said that we got him there just in time.  After they found an available ICU bed, they transferred him to Norton's St. Matthews (formerly known as Suburban). They did all kinds of tests on his blood, did EKGs, did an Echo Gram, and things looked great. His breathing was great, and his vitals were those of a 20 year old runner. This morning they did a heart cath, and then, things got real. The cath showed 4 major blockages. At first, after talking with the cardiologist and then later the cardio thoracic surgeon, he said he did not want to go through the surgery. He said he was convinced that he'd be OK (any of you that know Bud know how tough, stubborn, but yet realistic he is). But after some friends from church left after praying with him, we three talked about it, and then he said that he got his answer from God about what to do. He told me to get the nurse to call the surgeon back because he wanted to have the surgery. So as of when we left the hospital two hours ago, they will be moving him to Audobon tomorrow and do the surgery on Friday. What a turn of events. We went to the ER expecting they would say he had bronchitis or maybe pneumonia. This is the man that can work circles around people half his age out in the garden.  And thanks to all of the Lasix and other meds they've given him in the past few days, if you were to talk into his hospital room tonight, you'd take one look at him and say "There can't be anything wrong with this man."

 

Again, any of you that know my father, knows that he has always been a private person, and he has said before about not wanting any info about him on Facebook - he is adamant about "don't put my business out on the street." But in this case, I'm going against his wishes because so many of you are concerned, and because he (and I) would like your prayers. I will post updates on here and keep everyone informed. Thanks again for your concern and your prayers.

I'm Tired

There's a lot going on right now, faithful readers, and I am too tired to talk about it.  I will try to post something tomorrow. 

Welcome To The Frozen Tundra

I don't care if the temps were above freezing this weekend; the driveway here at The Compound is still the frozen tundra.  I am going on record and saying that I wish I'd went against my Dad last Monday when he said to save my money instead of paying someone to come and plow the driveway.  If I could turn back time.  If I could find someone to plow the driveway now, it would take them half of a day to clear away all of the ice. 

It's all easy for him to say - he's tucked safely inside and hasn't had to drive out in this crap for the past week.  But it is what it is. 

Another Snowmageddon Update

Sorry but we have Another Snowmageddon Update.  

Yesterday morning, we got an inch or two of snow, an inch of sleet and throughout the day we got some rain.  It's an effin mess here at The Compound.  Everything that melted yesterday has frozen up again.  And this will be the pattern all week -- anything that melts during the day will freeze up again at night when the temps are supposed to be in the single digits all week.  

Hello from the frozen tundra.  

Saturday Updates

I'm not sure if my eyes are playing tricks on me or what, but as I type this post, the weather icon at the top tool bar on my monitor says it's 37 degrees.  That's 47 degrees warmer than it was approximately this time yesterday morning.  

We had another storm front move through last night.  It wasn't as bad here in Louisville as they were predicting, but we still got an inch or two of sleet and snow last night, and now we've got freezing rain.  The temperature is above freezing, but the ground still thinks it's below zero, so the rain is freezing as it hits the ground.  

Dad and I are fighting another round of bronchitis, and as Sweet Brown says, ain't nobody got time for that.  So we are in for the weekend.  We have plenty of meds, food, beverages and supplies so we're good to go. And we have a huge platter of homemade candies from our dear Sweet Margaret (no relation to Sweet Brown).  So let the rain, sleet, snow or whatever come. I've got some Buckeyes and peanut butter fudge to get me through.

Another Snowmageddon Update

This morning when I got up at 5:00, it was -10 here at The Compound.  Yep, ten degrees below zero.  As I type this, the temperature has tripled; it's a balmy 20 degrees.  And we have another winter storm in the forecast.  We are expecting 4-8 inches of snow, a quarter inch of ice/sleet, and up to two inches of rain in the next 24 hours.

I'm happy to say that I am in for the weekend, and don't plan on leaving the house until Monday morning for work.  

 

Another Snowmageddon Update

When I got up this morning, it was -9 here at The Compound.  Yep, 9 degrees below zero.  As I type this now, it is a balmy 7 degrees.  They are expecting actual air temps of -10 tonight, with wind chill temps -30.  There's not much I can say about that.  

As for the snow sitch, this morning before I left for work, I drove up and down our long driveway half a dozen times to pack more snow down and to get the end of the driveway a bit easier to pull out of.  This afternoon when I came home, I was able to make it into the driveway without having to use the 4WD. 

But we have more snow in the forecast.  Tomorrow night into Saturday, we are expecting another winter storm.  Right now, the weatherazzi isn't sure what will happen.  They think (key word) it wills start out as snow, turn to rain, and end as ice.  But this all depends on how much it warms up on Saturday.  As a precaution, I will make a grocery store run during lunch tomorrow.  I told one of our sweet little old ladies at church that I would get her groceries tomorrow for her, so I'll make sure that we have enough provisions as well.  We already have enough bread, milk, and beer.  We just need some more Dorito chips. 

As always, stay tuned.  

Snowmageddon 2015

Editor's Note:  I meant to post this yesterday morning but Snowmageddon had me all rattled and I forgot.  
 
As I said yesterday morning, the snow continued most of the day.  By the time it ended at about suppertime, we had officially 7.5 inches here at The Compound.  Parts of the county got up to 12 inches.  It sure seemed a lot deeper than 7.5 inches to me, but then again, I'm short.  

On the heels of Snowmageddon is a double-barrel blast of sub-zero temps.  Yes, sub-zero. Wednesday night and Thursday night they are calling for wind-chill temp to be -30 to -40.  No, that wasn't a typo.  Wind chill temps of 30 to 40 below zero.  We'll be praying that the old pipes (and everything else, for that matter) doesn't freeze up.  

For the first time that I can remember, we've opted to not kill ourselves by shoveling or using the snow blower to clear the driveway.  In these cold temperatures, even using the snow blower would be like work.  I was going to pay one of the guys at work to come out and clear it off, but the 'Rents said for me to save my money.  The back porch ramp is clear, and I've got a path stomped down from the house to the garage, and Dad risked frostbite and hypothermia this afternoon to put two poles on each side of the driveway entrance so I can see where to pull in and not go off in the ditch, so that's good enough for us.  

Even though the Governor has declared Kentucky a state of emergency, I will still be at Yum! Center tonight to see Fleetwood Mac.  I'll borrow Yukon Cornelius' dog sled if I have to.  

Snowmageddon Safety Tip

We are in the beginning stage of Snowmageddon here in the 'Ville.  It started after midnight, and we have 2 or 3 inches on the ground here at The Compound, and by the time the storm is through late tonight, we are expecting a foot of snow.  Editor's note:  when I go out this morning to get the newspaper and to clear the back porch ramp, I will take a ruler out to the yard and get a precise early morning measurement.  

So, we're a few hours into Snowmageddon.  On top of this, there are single-digit lows in the forecast all week, and on a couple of days, single-digit highs. It's not too late to start preparing for this. We all think that nothing will happen and we'll make it to/from work OK. But on Saturday, a dear friend was glad she had an emergency kit in her car. She lives close to Columbus, and was on I-70 when ahead of her, there was a huge wreck involving a couple of semi's and 25 cars happened that shut down the interstate for over 7 hours. She is a diabetic, and has the insulin pump implanted, but thanks to her planning and preparedness, she made it through the ordeal just fine. She had blankets, proper food, water, and her cell-phone charger in the car with her.

or those that will be going to work today (and the rest of the week), there's a few things you need to get together tonight and take with you. 

1. A couple of blankets
2. Some bottles of water. Wrap some aluminum foil around them before you put them in your car and they will be less likely to freeze. Or else, just put them in a bag and take the bag inside your office when you get there. But remember to bring the bottles with you when you go home.
3. Some packages of peanut butter crackers, granola bars or similar protein bars
4. If you are crazy and don't wear them in the snow, take a pair of snow boots with you
5. A flashlight with batteries that work
6. Make sure your cell phone is charged up before you go to work and before you leave work to come home
7. A small shovel
8. Remember if you are stuck on the road, only run your car for 10 minutes every hour.

t's not too late tonight to put together an emergency kit to keep at the office just in case. If we get a foot of snow today like some of the weatherazzi are calling for, there are going to be a lot of people that will opt to stay at work instead of trying to get home. Here's some things you can easily get together this morning before you head out:
1. At least a 2-day supply of any prescription and OTC meds that you take daily
2. A pair of sweats and a couple pair of socks in case you have to sleep in your office (you want to be as comfy as you can)
3. A couple cans of soup and a couple packets of instant oatmeal or something that you can easily heat up in the office lunchroom microwave
4. Your cell phone charger
5. Contact lens saline solution and contact lens case if you are a contact lens wearer and a pair of glasses
6. Grab one of the blankets that hopefully you will have in your car emergency bag
7. A couple bottles of water
You will probably think of other things you'd like to put in your emergency bag, but these are basics that will get you through. 

Stay safe.

App Of The Week

Saturday Night Live is one of my all time favorite shows.   I've watched ever since the first episode that aired on October 11, 1975.  Granted, I was a kid and a lot of the things that were funny were clueless to me, but I watched it any way.  Thanks to the internet, I can watch a lot of the sketches from back in the day, and from just months or a few years ago. And thanks to the 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, we all can watch our favorite sketches on the SNL 40 app.  It is available on iOS and Android.  Just search for SNL 40 and download it.  You will be glad you did.  

 

Happy Valentines Day

This would not be politically correct by today's standards, but I remember this Valentine in a box that I gave out in elementary school.  
 

Friday The 13th

Today truly felt like Friday the 13th.  Even though it was Distribution Day, it was still Friday the 13th.  I had a lot of messy things to deal with at work, the biggest of which came to a head yesterday and imploded right in front of me.  But I dealt with it all, and now it's time to move on.  I'm looking forward to Saturday the 14th.

So Happy It's Thursday

You can put the capitalized initials together and come up with how I am summing up the work day.  Even though tomorrow is Distribution Day, it still applies to today.  S.H.I.T.

Wednesday Reflections

 The 'Rents were woke up this morning (sorry - bad grammar, I know) to a phone call from a neighbor saying that the neighbor's daughter-in-law had died suddenly.  Her coworkers were worried this morning because she didn't show up at work.  Her husband was out of town on business.  So when she didn't show up for work, some coworkers went to her home and found her dead.  That's hardcore.  And what's more hardcore is the fact that this same scenario has happened to 3 dear friends of mine over the past few years. 

It's cliche, but we never know when it is going to be our time to go, so we need to be ready -- ready spiritually, religiously, financially, and physically.  This is something that we don't like to talk about but it is a conversation that needs to take place. 

I pray that all of you, faithful readers, are ready.  

One Week From Tonight

I am so excited, that I almost can't type.  One week from tonight I will be at the KFC Yum! Center seeing Fleetwood Mac.  All of Fleetwood Mac. The founding members of Fleetwood Mac. You get the picture.

My Grandma Was Right

Back in the mid-80's, a dear friend was putting together a project in which she interviewed a variety of older people.  One of the people she chose was my sweet Grandma.  She used an old school tape recorder and just sat and talked to Gram for over an hour, recording every word she said.  During the conversation, one of the most awesome quotes from Gram was this:

"When you look in the mirror, that is the one person that you can always count on."  

Gram was a genius, and she didn't even know it.  

Ohio Valley Weather Update

Thursday and Friday mornings when I was getting ready to go to work, it was 18 degrees both days.  Yesterday, Saturday, the high was 60.  When I went to the grocery store in the afternoon yesterday, there were shorts and flip-flops everywhere.  Who knows what it will be like tomorrow. 

Security Tip Saturday

In case you haven't see any news in the past few days, the health insurance Anthem was hacked.  They estimate that the personal information of over 80 million of their insured members was stolen.  As our luck would have it, that's who our insurance is with at work and that's who the 'Rents have their insurance with. 
Anthem said that they would be sending letters to the people who were were affected.  While we are waiting anxiously to see if the letters come to us, we are taking precautions.  First of all, Anthem is going to provide monitoring for a year for their members.  This morning, I took a few minutes and got me and the 'Rents signed up for that.   I'm already signed up for Lifelock, but the 'Rents weren't covered until today.  Later on this afternoon, I am going to go to the AAA website and get the 'Rents signed up for their free identity theft monitoring.  This is all part of our AAA membership.  Second, I am going to go over our checking accounts every day or two like clockwork to make sure no fraudulent charges appear. 

So take a tip from me.  If you have an AAA membership, sign up for their free identity theft protection. And if you pay for AOL (America Online), they offer free identity theft protection as part of your monthly subscription.  If you don't have either of these, then spend a few bucks and sign up for Lifelock. And also do like I do - go over your checking account every day or two.  We work too hard for our money to have some hackers take it away.

As always, be safe. 

Flashback Friday

Way back in the day, I remember how I looked forward to going to the bank on Friday evenings with my Mom, Dad and Grandpa.  Grandma was the smart one, staying home while getting family members to take care of the banking.  But I digress.  Mom and Dad would deposit their paychecks, Grandpa would deposit his and Grandma's Social Security checks at the first of the month or else would get some cash out, and I would be there with my savings account passbook and deposit part of my allowance into my savings account. 

This was the weekly ritual.  Every week, the 'Rents would deposit part of their paychecks and keep cash out, and at the first of the month Grandpa would deposit his and Grandma's Social Security checks and also keep cash out, and I would deposit $1 of my weekly $2 allowance into my savings account.  Yep, I deposited half of my allowance into the bank.  I can't tell you how proud I was of my savings account passbook.  Each week I would go there and give the tell a dollar bill inside of my savings passbook.  She would take the dollar out, stamp the inside of the passbook and then write the amount and her initials and give the passbook back to me.  I thought I was somebody special for having a savings account.  

Fast forward to today, when the majority of people don't have a savings account, and where we are in a time where actual walk-up-to-the-teller's-window banks are almost becoming a thing of the past.  More and more we hear of banks closing branches.  It's just a matter of time before all banking will be done by ATM or over an app on your phone.  But keep in mind you can't get a sucker from your phone app like you can from the teller. 

Public Service Annoucement

Dear Cane Run Road Drivers:

To all of you that I come in contact with every single work day, this Public Service Announcement is for you.  

Every morning you are in front of me in the left-hand lane on Cane Run Road as I get close to my office.  I know this because I have a very good memory and I see the same cars morning after morning.  You are in front of me in the left hand land every morning.  And then you come to a complete stop and start your turn signal in an attempt to get over in the right-hand lane so you can get on the ramp onto the Watterson Expressway.  Once again, this is morning after morning.  

Why in heaven's name don't you get over in the turn lane BEFORE you get to the ramp????  That is the only question that I have.  

Yours truly,
Puddin

Snowmageddon Forecast

The weatherazzi has everyone in a tizzy tonight.  First of all, we've only had 3+ inches of snow for the season, and that came last November. So we are past due for snow.  Second, they are calling for a dusting to an inch tonight.  Cell phones have been blowing up since early afternoon with weather advisories, and just now as I was trying (key word) to watch Andy and Barney, the TV channel kept a steady stream of advisories running across the TV screen. 

It was in the low 50's today, so any snow that we get shouldn't stick to the roads, but who knows.  We've got plenty of bread and milk so we're ready at The Compound.

As always, I'll keep you posted. 

Old Friends

I heard from an old friend earlier this evening.  She called on the old school home phone - she didn't text or email, nor did she call my cell number; she called my old school home phone number.  We had a great time talking, just like we did back in the day when we were teenagers, talking on the home phones.  We laughed, and we were solemn when we talked about her dad who passed away a year ago.  But best of all, we reconnected by voice - not by 160 characters being read over a smart phone. 

Re-Entry

This was one of the busiest re-entry days that I've had after a week of vacation.  There weren't many problems to deal with, thank goodness, but there was a lot of paperwork and emails that had to be dealt with.  Add to that two interviews and it was one busy day.  But I made it through.  

Tomorrow is already filled up with meetings all day long, so I won't have much time to get caught up on re-entry things, but I will give it a try.  

Link Of The Week

You already know that I love to shop online.  Trust me - our mailman and our neighborhood Fed Ex and UPS drivers also know that I love to shop online by the number of times they visit The Compound.  But I digress.  

I also love to watch the informercials for products.  The Nutri-Bullet and the Spin Mop are two of my all-time favorites.  Here's a link where you can find just about any As Seen On TV product.  The website is  http://www.asseenontv.com/.   Visit them today and order something.  I'm sure there's at least one item on there that you cannot live without.