still out of service!

[stevan]

Hey, we're with you man!

[campasano]

Brad, my prayers will be offered for you and your bride. Before you know it you will be back on the saw creating beautiful projects.

[SCROLLSAW703]

Wow! Thank you again for all the kind words & prayers! I'm sure you're all gettin' kinda bored with the "thank you's", but we truly appreciate them all!

I've got a spot in the carpet pawed from diggin' at it to get out of this chair & out to the shop, trust me! Mary Ann keeps tellin' me to keep my shorts on, I'll get to make sawdust soon!;) Then she threatens to take me to the dr for anxiety meds! Ain''t that true love? 

Sincerely, you all have been my family thru this, & have made life alot easier! I appreciate that! And bein' inactive at the saw, I appreciate you allowin' me to "fit" in,  & post when I can. To jump in & be able to help someone is what we're about here. Sometimes my posts don't sound the friendliest, I reckon, but that's just me. This site has been home to me since I've been away from the shop. And my second home when I'm in the shop. You're all an awesome bunch of people, with big hearts & powerful prayers! We sincerely appreciate them all! thank you again! Brad & Mary Ann.

[heppnerguy]

I was thinking yesterday that I should be PM ing you again soon. I did not want to bother you too much but I did want to  hear an update on you. Well, then I stumbled onto this thread and got the update I was looking for. It sounds like you are improving, even though you have a long way to go. So happy that Mary Ann is able to get back to work and be among all the people she knows and loves at the store. We lived in a small town in Oregon for 14 years before we moved to Arizona and I really understand what your wife is going through. People that  have never lived in a small town do not understand the small town, community feeling, where everyone knows everyone and go to bat for them when needed. I just want you  to know that Sharon and I have you covered in our daily morning talks with God and that He hears us and has answered many of our recent prayers with miracles. So just know He is listening and it still doing miracles for those who are asking.  Much love to you and Mary Ann from Sharon and I. I think about you every day and through out my day and I am so happy that you are finally getting some good reports and encouragement from the doctors. 

You are right about the love and support found here in The Village. That is the main reason I try to always encourage new member to log on often so we can all get to know each other better and that way we pass along the feelings of a small town to those here.

Dick

heppnerguy

[OCtoolguy]

42 minutes ago, heppnerguy said:

I was thinking yesterday that I should be PM ing you again soon. I did not want to bother you too much but I did want to  hear an update on you. Well, then I stumbled onto this thread and got the update I was looking for. It sounds like you are improving, even though you have a long way to go. So happy that Mary Ann is able to get back to work and be among all the people she knows and loves at the store. We lived in a small town in Oregon for 14 years before we moved to Arizona and I really understand what your wife is going through. People that  have never lived in a small town do not understand the small town, community feeling, where everyone knows everyone and go to bat for them when needed. I just want you  to know that Sharon and I have you covered in our daily morning talks with God and that He hears us and has answered many of our recent prayers with miracles. So just know He is listening and it still doing miracles for those who are asking.  Much love to you and Mary Ann from Sharon and I. I think about you every day and through out my day and I am so happy that you are finally getting some good reports and encouragement from the doctors. 

You are right about the love and support found here in The Village. That is the main reason I try to always encourage new member to log on often so we can all get to know each other better and that way we pass along the feelings of a small town to those here.

Dick

heppnerguy

What Dick said. Same from Barb and I.

Ray

 

[SCROLLSAW703]

thank you Gentlemen! We do appreciate all your prayers. Ya know, sometimes a feller gets to thinkin' about all the bad things that's goin' on his life & then, the voice of God tells ya "I gotcha covered, think positive, & about the friends that are supporting you". Then you kinda forget about the other things & wonder what you guys are up to, & just appreciate the fact that he has all the friends he does. 

Dick, you won't be botherin' me at all if you pm me. News & a note from a friend would be awesome! You're welcome to call any time, too, if ya care too, or anybody else. My phone number is (785)772-7321.

Today,  Mary Ann lengthened my leash & took me outta the house for the first time, for any length of time, since the heart attacks. She took me out to the cemetary to spend a little time with Dad, and to the grocery store to get some walkin' in. It was great to get out & see the country side. I needed to visit Dad. And the stroll thru store was ok, but I'm payin' for it. It's ok! I gotta use these ol' legs to get back in my shop! 

Guys, I mean it from the heart, I can't tell ya what all the prayers & support means to us! Mary Ann says to tell ya you guys are keepin' me from drivin' her to drinkin'!;);) Until next time, you folks are all in our thoughts & prayers. Brad & Mary Ann.

[meflick]

Glad to hear you were given a little more length on that leash and got some time to be out and about with your lovely bride. Perhaps you could point out to her that the shop is much closer and you can set it up so you can set and scroll keeping you off that leg much less then going to the store.  glad you are both continuing to do well.

[SCROLLSAW703]

good morning ssv! hope all is well! Well, here we go again! Physical therapy was here at the house yesterday to assess me, again. His assessment come up with my legs are excessively weak, especially the right leg. My balance is inconsistent, & severe muscle weakness/loss. He looked at me & said at least another 6 weeks. I'm not repeatin' my reply.

 So, next week, we are startin' more intense leg muscle training & balance. I can walk, take a shower, things like that, but by the time it's over, my legs are shot. I guess they think that after bein' in & out of the hospital, & stuck in this chair for 3 months, a feller is supposed to just jump up & dance a jig.:( So, as it is, we'll take it as comes.

I don't know if this is the place to post all this. If it's not, my sincere apologies, but it's part of the update, I guess. He kinda asked some questions about my medical history, & I told him it wasn't good. He said "what do you mean, Brad?" I told him I had viral meningitis in 2009. Lost the use of both legs, & partial use of my left arm & hand. Other sickness, chronic pain, two major back surgeries. He asked me how long I was in the hospital with meningitis, I told him 8 1/2 months. I had to completely learn to walk again. I'm not going into the things it took, because it was more torture at the time than learning. 

The back surgeries are from the meningitis, & sittin' in the pilot seat of a truck all my life. When he asked if he could ask about the back surgeries, I agreed. He wanted to know why. I just told him the dr on call in the ER the night my wife took me in, when I came in off the road, was our resident OB. Instead of using a morphine IV or such, she chose epidurals in my back for pain. She hit me 4x up my spine, & missed every time. The first surgery was bcause of where she hit me at L1. There were bone spurs around the spine, & growing into the spine. Just about to cut the spinal cord in two. 

Since all that, every time something major happens, my legs gets it first. And I wind up in the hospital, & more leg therapy. Yes, it is very painful. Especially the less I'm able to be mobile. So, when he asked about my pain yesterday, I finally told him to let me worry about the pain, & him get on with gettin' me back in the shop. After he'd heard some of what I just told all of you, he told me we would be doing more aggressive leg work.

My sincere apologies if I took advantage of this, or made it sound to you all like I was using you folks for a sounding board. That was not my intention. I'm not to good at puttin' things in short form, but I've tried to keep you all up to date on goings on, & the prayers & thoughts, kind words, phone calls, have been blessings to us! You folks have been like family to us thru all this. And we sincerely appreciate everyone of you! thank you for just bein' who you are, & carin':):) Brad & Mary Ann.

Edited March 17, 2018 by SCROLLSAW703

[meflick]

Brad - please, do not feel the need to apologize.  You can do exactly what you are doing - keep us up to date AND use it as a sounding board!  No worries. I hope they can get your legs with more strength soon.  Tell them if you need to sit, you can sit in the shop in front of the saw!  That in its self would be good therapy.   Please keep us up to date and keep sounding off as you need.  Sometimes, we just need to sound off and here works.

[woodduck]

Brad best wishes to you mate & hope you get better soon. From the other side of the world.

[Rockytime]

That's why this village is like a family. God is still on the throne and you are still on my prayer list.

[SCROLLSAW703]

thank you all, sincerely. Meflick, rockytime, & woodduck. It's good to hear back from you. The prayers are working. But frustration is setting in, along with warmer weather. It's past time to be in the shop. I'm trying to convince them to let me go over to the shop for therapy sessions at the shop, Meflick. Hopefully they'll listen. Thank you all again. The feel of family support here is awesome!

[meflick]

Tell them with with a bit of shop therapy you will be much more pleasant to deal with on the other things.  Continued prayers for you all.

[heppnerguy]

Nice chatting with you on the phone the other day. So glad you posted your phone number so we can give you a call for encouragement and a little comfort when it is needed. I will call you again and check to see  how things are going.

Dick

heppnerguy

[SCROLLSAW703]

and I appreciate that phone call, my friend! it was good to chat with you as well! I hope you're staying well, & keep keep makin' sawdust!

[Lucky2]

Brad, I'm happy to read that there's been some improvement in your and Mary Ann's health. But as things aren't up to 100% yet, you both will still remain in my prayers. Take care, and the best of luck with getting better.

Len

[SCROLLSAW703]

thank you Len, I appreciate it my friend. We are both doin' ok. She is doin' better since she has went back to work. She enjoys being around people.

As for me, like I posted on tuesday, my cardiologist has released me to go back to the shop. He said I could even drive. But, my legs are perty weak from bein' stuck in this chair so long. So, we are back to physical therapy again. Supposedly "more intense" but I think its comin' down to how ambitious the therapist is. I've got leg exercises to do, & walking without her, but I made it clear to her I was goin' to start goin' to the shop some, regardless. I don't think she had much of an issue with it.;)

So, from here, hopefully, we're movin' forward. I'm smellin' sawdust in the air!!!:):)

[RangerJay]

You've both had a very long grind - hopefully it is not going to be too much longer - I'm sure your therapist is playing it safe - when I was recovering from my knee replacements (both done over a year and a half) I found it difficult to stand for long periods in the shop - but with a bit of planning I was easily able to rotate tasks between standing, sitting and moving around which turned out pretty beneficial all around.  Maybe you can try to work with your therapist to get some kind of modified time out in the shop that works to your benefit and addresses her concerns?

Jay

Edited March 23, 2018 by RangerJay

[kepy0729]

My thoughts are with you.  My family is from Trego Co. so I know how tough people from the plains can be.

[SCROLLSAW703]

Another update this evening. Things are going ok, for the most part. I'm feelin' ok. Physical therapy has come back in & started workin' on my legs again. I'm not goin' to say it's workin', & or it ain't. I'm movin' around the house without my cane, but if my bride or therapist takes me outside, I still have to have my cane. I'm climbin' stairs better. So maybe improvement is in the makin'.

Lately we've been havin' issues gettin' my INR level into therapeutic level. Which is the blood thinner. For the last week, I've been goin' to the hospital everyday for two injections of Lovanox. It's a form of blood thinner that is injected in the stomach just under the skin. Yes, it smarts a little, but it is what it is. So far my INR is not comin' up to fast. I see my Sawbones friday for a med review & see what else is goin' on.

Mary Ann is doin' well!:) Working her 3 days at the grocery store, & keepin' me out of the shop. Still!:( She keeps tellin' me to settle down, the smell of sawdust will still be there when she turns me lose!;) Women! "Nobody knows what's on their mind"! John Wayne. How true it is, but I don't know what I'd do without her!:)

I guess that's it for now. We appreciate all the thoughts & prayers, & kind words! You all mean the world to us!!!! Thank you for allowin' me to post while I'm inactive in the shop. It has kept my mind busy, & less time concentratin' on the bad things. Hopefully I'm helpin' somebody with my experience. God Bless, & thank you! Brad & Mary Ann.

[Rockytime]

Progress may be slow but it seems to be working. Still prayin'.

[Ron Johnson]

It's a long road to recovery and with time on your side Brad you'll make it. The way I look at, I'm still standing and on this side of the grass. So I have to be thankful to be able to enjoy one more day. Glad to hear you're improving.

[meflick]

Glad to hear things are moving forward, if it is too slowly.  Keep working with the PT, sometimes you have to do a lot of work with PT to get little bits of progress but just remember - its progress which is good. Hopefully they can figure out what is needed in regards to the blood thinner.  Glad Mary Ann is doing so much better and enjoying her work.  Tell her you can't get in to too much trouble out in the shop with a scroll saw and you can sit down to do it.  Tell her that being out there is what you "need' to get you even more on the mend and doing better.  (There is research that supports that! )  I know she's just worried about you and doesn't want anything to happen to you - that's what any good wife does so be patient and maybe she will lengthen that leash to the shop soon! Prayers continue for you.

[SCROLLSAW703]

thank you all for the continued support! We greatly appreciate it! She says she'll walk me to the shop this week end so I can spend a few hours "playin" as she puts it. It's supposed to be cold & snow here this week end, but just the thought of goin' to the shop is encouraging.

Goin' to see our family dr tomorrow to see what's goin' on with the blood thinner, & a med review. We'll see how that goes. Meflick, Mary Ann just grinned when she read your post. 
Just so you all know, Mary Ann reads all of your posts, too. She says she can't believe the friendship & family feeling there is here on this site. I spend more time here than I should at times probably, but this has kept me involved. Thank you for allowing me to do that.       Brad & Mary Ann.  

 

[heppnerguy]

Really happy to hear about the progress for both you and Mary Ann. It probably seems really slow at this point but hopefully it won't be long and you can look back on all this and think it went pretty fast, after all

Dick

heppnerguy