Hi Friends, many of you have sent so many good wishes, prayers, and have asked how Cassie is doing so I thought I would send out an update for those of you interested. Cassie is overwhelmed with how many stagers have asked about her and kept her in mind. She thanks you.

It's been just about three months since this began, Friday after Thanksgiving. Cassie has been home from the hospital about four weeks now. What was so overwhelming when we got home has become routine. The wound(surgical incision) on her belly is almost healed closed. Just one small spot still open so I continue to change the dressing every two to three days. Having a coloscopy bag sucks! But I change that every two to three days and she has gotten the hang of emptying it in between. She is still taking pain pills. While the pain is much, much less the doctor says it may still be two months until it's gone. Enough about the yucky stuff.

Cassie has been talking to a therapist the last three weeks. She was very reluctant but now she likes it. I was surprised to hear her primary doctor say she has PTSD. I thought that was a soldier thing. But she said she feels her life was taken away. I say it came to a sudden stop but over time she'll get back on track and have her life back. I'm glad a therapist is helping.

The cloud over her and me is in early 2025 she needs another surgery to reconect her bowels and hopefully remove the colostomy so it's not permanent.

On the up side, Cassie is recovering well now with some pain and discomfort, especially when she tries to do too much. Still using the walker but relying on it less and less. She has been showering every few days for about three weeks and needs my assistance less. Imagine not having a shower from Thanksgiving until Feb.
She made dinner the last two nights and it was good! She doesn't need me that much anymore and that's a good thing but I try to help by getting stuff so she doesn't have to over do it. She is by herself during the day while I'm at work.

Anyway, thank you all, Cassie thanks you all for caring. This was rough.
Onward & upward.

Need prayers again friends. Saturday son and wife were at a fun park with the great grands. while playing miniture golf he had a seizure and fell hitting his face and left shoulder. taken to ER in ambulance. We went to his house to sit with the kids while his wife and daughter went to hospital. He had one about 4 years ago. The CT scan showed no brain bleed and no broken bones in his face. His left eye is black and so swollen he can barely see so depth perception is off. His whole face is swollen and purple on mostly the left side. Both knees are skinned and large bruise on left hip. They found that he was prescribed Tramadol for pain which can contribute to seizures. Also alcohol can contribute and he had a relapse last week and drank heavily two days in the last three weeks. (Recovering Alcoholic). The last time he could not drive until cleared by a neurologist and that was 3 months. As a traveling salesman for Kimble Midwest that will most likely put him on temporary disability until cleared. Plan called for by the doctor is: Get off the Tramadol. Evidently his seizure tendency was not noted when his PCP retired and he got a new doc although in the same office. NO Alcohol period! Get more rest and reduce stress which is tough when out of work. He has had considerable problem sleeping according to his sleep number bed. He is only 53 and our baby although he is 6'2" and 300lbs. The weight also may contribute to his problems. Also he has had lots of broken bones when younger. The worst was broken right femur, twice. Motorcycles when younger, of course. As you can see he needs our prayers. He is a Christian so he does pray but like most of us struggles with lots of pain and bone and joint problems. At least since moving back from Texas I can drive him and he won't be home going stir crazy. Hopefully this wont last 3 months like last time but it is and will be life changing. Jean and I are only 6 miles away and of course retired so are available to help out. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and prayers Stagers. I know it works.

On another topic, our son David in Indianapolis is adapting to his loss of sight in his right eye. Still keeping it dilated to help heal for another two weeks but he is driving carefully and working on the computer some though the eye strain slows him down. Computer drafting is his work.

Thanks again for your prayers for my family,

Randy

Good morning and TGIF. It's National Pizza Day!! What are your favorite toppings? I like a Meat lovers or a Supreme without mushrooms. No Anchovies for me.. I don't eat bait!

It's 45° and heading for 57°. Looks like rain will move in after midnight.

A couple service calls are planned for the day and then I'll be in the office doing monthly paperwork.



A man was on the very top diving board of a swimming pool.

He was poised, he lifted his arms, and was about to dive in when the life guard came running up, shouting, “Don’t dive, there’s no water in that pool!”

“That’s all right!” said the man. “I can’t swim!”


Enjoy your day folks!

Sometime last week, or the past weekend, my laptop was ruined by my electric adjustable chair.
Ordinarily, I turn my laptop off and then lean it against the bookcase which is a couple of feet from the side of my chair.

Usually, I have a throw blanket that I use to cover my legs up. The management of our facility does a good job, but they don’t furnish the heat to the level that keeps me comfortable. Well, I suppose that in retrieving this blanket, it caused my laptop to slide under the chair.

Then in adjusting the chair, its frame took a little bite out of the lid of the laptop, as well as the screen!

In seeking repairs, we discovered a repair shop is near downtown Austin, is a better equipped Dell Computer repair shop, since they repaired my Dell laptop in one day!
Now it wasn’t cheap, but it was back in operating condition.
So, you now know why I have been absent for two or three days. My apologies to all. Just Sayin…RJS

I just read a post by ShortorderCook62 about his son's eye injury, and was very moved.
My stepson is addicted to pain killers and his meds are very regulated.
If left to his own device he will take to many.
So I keep his medications at our house.
He has to come by everyday for that days ration.
If you do something similar, or have a friend or family member or even yourself that needs help or prayers.
Don't hesitate to mention them on this forum.
We are more than just a group of friends who enjoy finding.
We are a family.
God Bless You all!
Commander Bell out

John was retired and regularly would carry his lawn chair and tackle out the riverbank near his cabin in Alaska. Since he was retired, there was no hurry as he could take as much time as he wished.

It really didn’t matter if he caught anything, the activity alone was more than adequate to satisfy John. He wasn’t hard to please, even watching an eagle dip down to snatch a fish near the surface of the river was rewarding to him.

He thought to himself that there was a chill in the air and tomorrow if he came to fish, he needed to wear a jacket.
Nothing seemed to be biting today, but just being there was adequate compensation. Before he turned around to see what was making some noise behind him, or at least out of his vision, there was a young grizzly bear shuffling along, seemingly in no hurry but who came on up with only a glance at the fisherman.

When the bear got even with the fisherman and his chair, and about 5 or 6 feet apart, he simply sat down and gazed out over the water. It was obvious the bear wasn’t a threat to the fisherman but did pay close attention to what he saw the fisherman doing.

Since the bear appeared to not be a threat, and just interested to what the fisherman was doing, the fisherman began to verbalize just what he was doing and why.
This seemed only the right thing to do since the fisherman wasn’t catching anything, but he did continue to cast his lure out into the river with ease.

All this the fisherman explained in a calm and sincere manner. The bear listened intently, but whether he understood would not be clear to the fisherman. It was not different than if the bear was his grandson.
After about a half hour, the bear gets up, he had been sitting there in a comfortable position, completely content.
John hoped he would return and thought about whether he should bring a couple of beers to develop a stronger friendship.
As far as tackle, John wasn’t sure the bear could handle a rod and reel, but they were proficient in catching fish with their paws and mouth. He finally decided “Well we will see!” Just Sayin…RJS