On 30 June my dad fell and broke the fourth cervical vertebrae. He also sustained some wicked cuts on his forehead and the bridge of his nose. The doctors also thought he had a concussion. For the first 12 days, he was in the hospital, then he moved to a skilled nursing facility so he could do physical therapy. It has been difficult on all of us. Eliz, my mom, and I have spent many hours at the hospital and skilled nursing facility. At least one of us was with him from around 10.00am until 8.00pm. Some days a little more and a couple days a little less. Eliz has spent more time in the car, ferrying my mom to the hospital in the morning and taking her home at the end of the day. We’ve put about 1300 miles on the car since my dad entered the hospital, which is about 35% above what we normally average for a time period.

For the first week, my dad had a very restricting cervical collar and was unable to eat or drink. Even swallowing was extremely difficult. Once he received his current collar, he began eating and drinking again. Anything he eats has to be soft or pureed. Let me tell you, pureed lasagna is not pretty. Liquids have to be thickened. At the hospital and skilled nursing facility, this, of course, was all prepared for him.

My dad was discharged from the skilled nursing facility yesterday and all of us were happy, though my dad was a bit worried. “Who’s going to do all of the things the nurses did for me?” he asked. My mom told him she would. Eliz and I lend a hand too.

The toughest part is the food. Everything has to be pureed. Unfortunately, the normal food isn’t that great at Maris Grove, so my parents didn’t want to pay extra to have “special” food brought in for my dad. So my mom gives Eliz and I a list and we go to the market for her. I’m pretty sure I’d be living on fruit smoothies and protein drinks, because things like pureed chicken just aren’t appetizing to me. We also help my dad walk around the apartment, though with each passing day he is relying on us a little less. Today, he walked from the den to the kitchen, rinsed out a glass and then walked into the bedroom. He never called for my mom to help him. The physical therapist said he shouldn’t walk without having someone close by.

We only spent a couple of hours with my parents today after running to Fresh Market and Acme for them. My dad was in good shape today and seems to be getting stronger everyday. My mom is happy that he is home and doesn’t mind blending everything. Now I’m looking for a Super Bass-O-Matic 76…

My Dad is Home, Now for the Hard Part is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, iCantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: blog, cervical collar, cervical vertebrae, couple days, day, Eliz, home, maris grove, skilled nursing facility, Today

Me & my dad at dinner today.

After an enjoyable meal, we came home to make peanut brittle. That is our gift of choice to both our dads. They both like it and it isn’t too difficult to make. Eliz does the majority of the work, measuring, watching the temp, etc. I pretty much am the designated stirrer. I stir it frequently from 225 degrees up to 280. At 280, the peanuts go in and it’s got to be stirred constantly until it hits 305. Once the peanuts go in, it is a nice workout. At 305, it comes off the heat and vanilla and baking soda are added. I stir it vigorously for a minute or two and then Eliz dumps it on the table (onto parchment paper and towels) and spreads it out. The whole process takes about an hour and a half.

My biggest contribution comes when I sample the product. It takes about 40 minutes to cool enough to break into smaller pieces. I usually start sampling about 10 minutes after it’s been spread onto the table and every five to 10 minutes there after… Today, we were heading to my parents between 3.30pm and 4.00pm, so we had to “make sure” it wasn’t too warm to break up and stack it in a corning ware for the journey. We don’t want it to stick together… I also sample it along the way, just to make sure everything is good. Today, Jane helped sample.

When we arrived at my parents, they invited us to dinner. It is unusual for them to want to go out to eat. Well, it’s unusual for my dad. They like to go to Ruby’s Diner since it is across the street and fairly quick (as long as it’s not busy.) I wasn’t too hungry today after the big lunch at Outback and all the sampling I had to do. Eliz and the kids weren’t too hungry either, but my dad was okay with going out, so we went.

I had the Asian Chicken Salad. It had grilled chicken breast, lettuce, bell pepper, and wonton strips. The dressing was awful, the wonton strips seemed like stale tortillas, and ended up wearing honey mustard sauce and Oreo Fantasy milk shake that I tasted from Jane’s dinner. Even that couldn’t stop me from enjoying the meal.

I am 46 and my dad is 93. Eliz’s father will be 84 in October. We are both so fortunate that we can enjoy time with our fathers. It doesn’t matter what the food tastes like or how the service is.

Father’s Day is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, iCantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: baking soda, bloomin onion, caption, corning ware, dad, parchment paper, sister margaret, table, Today, wonton

Generally, I walk behind Eliz in the halls there because they are a little narrow to walk side by side and I don’t want to walk into any one. I look down and concentrate on Eliz shoes so I don’t run into her. I’ve found in the past, if I look straight ahead, I run into her if she stops or slows down when there are other people in the hall that may be blocking our way.

That guy’s comments irritated me. Obviously, I look fairly normal, so there is no way he would know that I’ve got sight issues. He made the comments after he thought we were far enough away that we wouldn’t hear them. I heard them and didn’t appreciate them. Am I too sensitive? Probably. I try so hard to be normal that when someone makes a comment like that it gets under my skin.

This is my last post for 2010. Okay, stop cheering, there’ll be more in 2011. Jacob has gone to his friend Andrew’s for the night and Jane has a couple friends here to ring in 2011. Eliz and I have the Veuve Clicquot chilled and a couple of movies to watch. I’d like to wish all of you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2011!

I Can’t See Very Well, But My Hearing is Still Good is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, iCantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: apartment, couple friends, Eliz, friend andrew, Guy, hall, parent, Today, veuve, walking down the hall

After some stretching (okay, very little stretching on the parents’ part,) we grabbed a ball and warmed up.  We threw the ball around like we do here: Jane to Eliz, then Eliz flips me the ball to me (I like to pretend I’m the second baseman and I’m turning a double play,) then I “fire” it to Jane.  Jane will sometimes just give me grounders that I field (without a glove, I don’t want someone to think I can actually play and throw me the ball) and throw to her.  After about 10 minutes of that the girls took the field and the parents went to the bench.

The batting order was determined by who went over and grabbed a bat first.  I hit fourth.  We went through the order all at once.  After three outs though, if there were any runners on base, they came in and the next batter started a “new inning.”  Wasn’t too different than t-ball for Jane about eight years ago.  Two of the first three parents struck out, while the other grounded out.  I felt no pressure stepping into the batters box, since I wasn’t going to be the first one to strike out.  I so wanted to make contact.  First pitch was a ball high.  Second one was over the inside part of the plate, strike one.  Third pitch was in the exact same spot, strike two.  The fourth pitch bounced on the front of the plate, ball two.  I probably saw that one the best and had the bounce been higher, I probably could have hit it — like in mush ball.  The fifth pitch looked good, but I swung and missed, strike three.  There were at least six strikeouts on our team, including Jane’s K of Eliz.

I noticed when I was batting that I couldn’t see as well if I looked straight at the pitcher, I had to glance toward first base to see the ball better.  That concerned me, because that is what seemed to be going on over the last couple of weeks.  My central vision wasn’t good.  I went out with Eliz to stand in rightfield.  As we were talking, I told her my vision wasn’t right.  Since I started the drops, I had noticed an improvement.  I even commented to Eliz on the ride to school that I’m glad I took the eye drop just before we left home and that I was seeing pretty well as I watched the cars on the road in front of us.  How could my vision have changed so quickly?  Was it the running around while we were throwing the ball around?  Was it bright sun?  I don’t know what the answer is, but my vision seems like it has gone back to how it was before I went to Dr. Garg on Tuesday.  Once I finish with this entry, I will investigate macular edema a little further.

After two more drops today, my vision is bad.  I had trouble reading most of the graphics on TV tonight and the text on the computer is fuzzy.  Fortunately, I have an appointment tomorrow with Dr. Ayres, the surgeon and cornea specialist.  Maybe he’ll have an idea about the macular edema and the quick change in my vision.  Most likely, I’ll have to wait until I go back to Dr. Garg on 15 June.  It’s funny, I think if I had hit the ball, I don’t think I would have noticed or been bothered by the decrease in vision.  I’m already looking forward to next years game…

Couple other short items…  I spoke to Dr. Rist, my gp, today.  She was calling to give me the results from a blood test I had yesterday after my appointment with her.  They were all very good and well within the normal range.  They were dramatically better than a year ago.  My blood pressure yesterday was also pretty good, 104/68.  All in all, the 1500 calories per day has been a good thing.  I will be increasing my caloric intake to about 1700 next week, since I’m within a few pounds of my goal.  The doctor calculated my metabolism and came up with that number.  I asked the doctor if the results were back from the throat swab she had done yesterday (I’ve had a sore throat since early last week, along with chills the first day or two,) but they haven’t as of today.  She prescribed Amoxicillin yesterday since she had noticed some things in my throat.

Also, we’ve been getting more calls to our design company (Digital Graphics Design) as of late.  I had to cancel a meeting with a prospective client earlier in the week since I wasn’t feeling well.  Today we got a call from a professional looking for a small website.  I am going to attempt this one on my own.  Let’s see how that goes.  When I took the call in the morning, I was seeing okay and was confident I could do it.  Now I’m not so sure.

Play Ball! is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, iCantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: ball, batters box, double play, Dr. Ayres, Dr. Garg, Dr. Rist, Eliz, Jane, jane jane, pitch, second baseman, softball game, Today, vision

After having difficulty reading the 20/200 line (their chart is different than all the others, the 20/200 line is CD not SL) I had my IOP taken (9 in the left, 28 in the right – that is high, but since there is no pain and virtually no sight, who cares,) I was given drops to dilate my eyes.  After a 10-15 minute wait, we went to another examination room.  Dr. Garg came in and asked me about the trouble I’ve been having and the surgery, then had a look.  He noticed something and said he would like me to have an OCT scan.  After another short wait, Tom called me in and did the OCT scan.  After another short wait, we went into a different exam room.

Dr. Garg came in and immediately said that I have Macular Edema.  I was pretty happy for a second.  I thought, “Wow, he actually found something!”  Then I though, “Uh oh, now what?”  I asked the doctor how it is treated and then I was happy again.  Eye drops (the name escapes me at the moment, but I think it begins with a D) four times per day.  That is easy enough.  He then showed Eliz and I (between my dilated eye and poor vision, I couldn’t really see much) the OCT scan from today and the one from 15 January.  He pointed out the difference in the one today, which Eliz was able to see.  After about two hours, we were done.  I go back in four weeks.

Today was the first of three doctor’s appointments for the week.  Tomorrow, I go to my general practitioner for a check-up.  Perfect timing for me to visit her, as I’ve had a sore throat for about eight or nine days.  I’m interested to see what she says about my weight.  I was in the mid-180′s the last time I was there in March.  I was 168 this morning.  I know many of you have been asking about how I dropped a total of 66 pounds since 10 December 2009 and want to know my secrets.  The short answer is 1500 calories a day and I weigh everything I eat at home (unless it is packaged, then I use the nutritional info on the package.)  When we’re out, I use the restaurant’s own nutritional info.  If a restaurant doesn’t provide the info, then I calculate it.  If I can’t calculate it, we don’t eat there.  Do you hear me Bertucci’s?  I’ve kept a food journal since February and I’ll post it soon (I wanted to do it a couple of weeks ago, but my vision issues got in the way.)  Friday, I visit Dr. Ayres for another post op check.

Lastly tonight, I went to Anthem Institute (formerly Chubb Institute) for a Graphic Design Advisory Board meeting.  It was both good and bad.  Good because I love talking about graphic design work, the industry, and the curriculum at the school.  They’re making some positive changes there that will give students a deeper design knowledge that should translate into being better prepared to land a job once they graduate.  The bad part about tonight was talking about new version of programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Flash.  How is that bad?  I so want to use them, start shooting pictures again, shooting videos (and editing them,) and cool stuff like that, but my vision is not cooperating.  Maybe I’ll be able to get back to it once the drops work their magic…

Oh, and one last thing.  Really.  The parent daughter softball game is Thursday afternoon at Friends Central.  I am hoping to get an at-bat.  I will most likely strike out, if given the okay to hit, but I want to try.  I’ll let you know how it goes.  Fortunately, Lankenau Hospital is literally right around the corner…

Wow, I was Wrong! is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, iCantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: cataract extraction, Dr. Ayres, Dr. Garg, info, last hope, OCT, perfect timing, poor vision, retina specialist, Today, Tom, vision, wait

We wouldn’t have been able to get everything out as quickly as we did without a ton of help from Eliz’s sister Margaret and her husband Chris, along with Frankie, Michael, and Frank.  It is hard trying to pack stuff up and move it while also trying to help customers and ship orders placed online.  It will take us another week or two to get everything out of boxes and onto shelving units.  It is kind of tough right now when get orders.  Eliz was able to find all the products for the nine orders we shipped yesterday.  We received a couple of orders late today that will be a challenge tomorrow.

It is nice working from home though.  It will be nicer once everything is setup.  I was able to hook up the credit card machine today so we could deliver a couple of phone orders to local salons.  Bring your credit cards over and I’ll show you how it works…

We went to moldy premises today to get the final few things we had there out and to let Peco in to get a final meter reading.  While there, waiting for Peco, a customer called my mobile.  She has been in many times over the past month or two and wanted to come in to buy a few things before we exited the used salon furniture business.  She was surprised that today was it for that even though we told her in the past not to wait too long and had showed her the mold and mushrooms.  The customer was there for about five minutes when the woman from Peco showed up.  The woman from Peco told me they were going to shut the power off.  Not a problem for me.  Then she killed the power.  I was in the warehouse and realized our truck was still inside.  She wasn’t happy about it, but the woman from Peco turned the power back on long enough to get the huge door opened, the truck out, and the door closed.  I thanked her and gave her three cases of Disani water that hadn’t sold.

Meanwhile, the customer continued to look at things we had for sale using a flashlight.  She ended up buy about $55 worth of stuff, most of which we were going to put in the dumpster.  It was simply incredible.  I’m sorry we didn’t have more junk there for her to buy.

The customer took so long that we were late picking up an order of perms and developer from one of our buying partners.  Being late for that pushed everything else back; orders that should have been shipped out today will go tomorrow (we received the orders today, so it isn’t that bad that they’ll take an extra day,) the local deliveries were made later than we like (though the salons were still open when we got to them between 6:30 and 7:00,) and dinner was not eaten until about 8:00, which is too late for the kids, in my opinion.  We did all this running around with our perm and developer order in the back of the car (okay, it’s an SUV — a 2010 Pilot.)  We had about 34 boxes of stuff in the car, plus a bin with the phone system in it.  Many of the developer and shampoo boxes contained gallons of product (four gallons per box.)  After dinner, I enjoyed carrying the boxes inside so they wouldn’t freeze overnight.  I figured that would burn enough calories so that I could have a small snack afterwards (I’ve been eating about 1500 calories per day since 10 December and have lost about 15 pounds.)

I’m looking forward to this new year.  We’re out of the mold and trying something different (going to customers more, instead of waiting for them to come to us.)  The beginning of the year is always hectic but fun.  Jane’s birthday is 2 Jan, Jacob’s is 7 Jan, as is my dad’s — he’ll be 92 on Thursday.  Once again, I’d like to wish all of you a happy and healthy year.

My First Post of the New Year! is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, iCantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: challenge tomorrow, Chris, customer, Eliz, everything, Frank, Frankie, furniture business, Jacob, Jane, Margaret, Michael, Peco, salon furniture, step stool, Today

After lunch, we went to visit my parents.  We do that every weekend and sometimes during the week if they need something.  Today we took them a couple of rye breads, a frozen dinner they asked for, a box of Tastykake cupcakes courtesy of my friend Alex, and a couple of treats.  While we’re visiting, we talk for awhile, watch TV, and help them any way we can.  Usually, the kids and Eliz hang out with my mom, while I talk with my dad.

Today was a bit different because my mom was preparing dinner when we arrived, so we all kind of hung out in the kitchen and dinning area.  When we arrived to their apartment, there was a gift on the shelf outside their door for my dad.  After we went through all the stuff we brought for them, he opened the present.  It was from a few ladies who my father taught to shoot pool.  My parents both laughed as Eliz read who the pound of fudge was from.  Between that gift, the treats we brought them, and the ice cream they have stashed in their freezer from the “cafe” down the hall, they should have enough sweets for a week or two.

After my mom had everything simmering on the stove, my parents, Eliz, and I went into the den, while the kids went into the bedroom to watch TV.  We talked about Shavu’ot, a jewish holiday that Jake has to do a presentation on at school (which neither I or my parents knew anything about,) Jake’s decision to got to Japan with the Japanese club from Westtown, some trips we took when I was a kid, and business.  We spent between and hour and a half and two hours visiting, then we headed across the street to Borders and then came home.

Since it is Hanukkah, we wanted to do one of our family traditions: make potato latkes.  (The kids are being raised without religion, though they are exposed to both jewish and catholic traditions.  If they want to pick a religion when they’re older, that’s up to them.)  The best part of latkes this year was that both kids wanted to help in the preparation.  They both peeled potatoes.  Jake then cut them up for Jane to feed into the food processor for shredding.  Eliz then grated the onion in the food processor.  I added the other ingredients and cooked them.  Jane later said she wanted to form some and cook them, so my cooking duties were over for the day.  Don’t tell her, but she is better at cooking them than me…  We then enjoyed them together, along with roasted turkey breast, at the dinner table.

Simply eating together at the dinner table is good.  We don’t get to do it as often as we should.  We all had a hand in making the latkes and spent real quality time with one another.  Eliz and I both really enjoyed it.

A Good Day is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, iCantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: Alex, appointment, basement, Borders, Crozer, day, dinner, Don, Dr. Ayres, Eliz, friend alex, frozen dinner, glaucoma, Hanukkah, I, Jake, Jane, Japan, Japanese, japanese club, jewish holiday, mom, ophthalmologists, problems, rye breads, shredding, Today, video

I have been told that these new machines have an audio device so that the visually impaired can vote on their own. I have also been told by a poll worker where I vote and another polling official from another county that it takes quite awhile to vote using the devise. If I used that device today, it would have been an inconvenience to me. Last November, I’m not sure I would have made it home alive as the queue was 15 to 20 minutes long without anyone using the audio device. I am not a fan of these fairly new (five or six years) machines.

Tonight, I had an Advisory Board meeting at Anthem Institute (the school formerly known as Chubb Institute.) Chris Stahley asked me to join after I completed the Graphic Design & Multimedia program there in 2004. Chris left Chubb a few years ago, but I still get invited back… I enjoy going and seeing the new things that are being considered for the program. For example, we didn’t get any video production, but as part of the board’s input back in 2005, it was added. I’d love to have done some video work…

As I was sitting there listening to Ken Rementer go over the current curriculum and textbooks, I realized that I will never be able to learn more than the programs I already know. And, as each new version of the programs that I know is released, the more difficult it will be to work with them. I don’t know why that just sunk in tonight. I’ve had great difficulty using Illustrator, Photoshop, Flash, et al. for well over a year. I really miss creating logos, doing web design, and making flash movies. Very frustrating indeed. I’ve got to find a hobby that doesn’t require seeing…

Voting & Anthem Institute (formerly Chubb Institute) is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, iCantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: advisory board, Chris, Chris Stahley, chubb institute, device, Eliz, Ken Rementer, party affiliation, Pennsylvania, poll worker, Today, voting