Pileateds Visit

  Even seeing one pileated woodpecker is rare for us but on 02/20, there were two. With the snow on the ground, they seemed very hungry and even less skittish than usual. I was doing dishes when one landed on the suet feeder so I called Tom and we both watched them for several minutes.

 They're the size of a chicken so it's quite a large bird for the wire suet feeder. They're great fun to watch from the large kitchen window.

First Eat-Out in a While

  With the recent health problems, I haven't been able to do much of anything but sit in a recliner with my leg elevated. Yesterday, though, we finally planned to meet others for a meal at El Toro.

 This is something we have traditionally done at least once a year - sometimes twice - but the only lead-up I've been able to handle has been a quick stop at a fast food joint. Yesterday my nurse didn't come so I had to bandage my ankle myself (Tom helped wrap it up when I was finished).l When I finished it felt fine, or at least as good as when I had the work done professionally. So off we went.

Bob (l) and Sam Owns

Bill (l) and Tom

Eric Oda

Margarita special on Mondays

 Bob and Sam each had two!

Veggie #4 - Cheese enchilada and bean burrito

 It was delicious food and a blessed chance to get out and enjoy some company.

Yet Another Snow

  It wasn't a big snow - only 2.5" - but it followed a big rain. We received 2.03" of rain on Saturday night into Sunday morning [02/16-17]. And the Tempest recorded 20 strikes of lightning. It was very unusual, spring like, stormy weather for February.

 By Sunday morning - even before I read my gauge at 7 am - the rain had changed to  snow and the temperature began to slowly fall (from 40° to freezing).

 An inch and a half  of very wet snow was on the ground as I brought the gauge in to melt the snow. And soon thereafter another 1.5" fell.

 By afternoon the wind was howling. We watched as two cars left the road just south of the house and we're extricated from the field with difficulty (see below) Once it was dark I watched the wind whip snow in front of the headlights of the stranded vehicles. It wasn't snowing then; it was just picked up from the fields and flung about.

 Here are some views ...

 Barely light out, this is the view I had as I woke Sunday morning.

 The picnic table serves as a good "snow board" as it doesn't quickly melt the fallen snow, allowing cold air to flow beneath it. It's also a solid surface, unlike grass, and allows for a more accurate reading.

 As afternoon progressed the wind began picking up fallen snow and blowing it east in blizzard fashion.

 Soon the trees hung down with the heavy wet snow clinging to their branches.

 The pines to the front of the house began carrying a heavy, if not deep, load.

 This shot is of the first of two slip-offs. Both occurred at the same place just south of our house. The road was covered with snow and ice there. Were both driving too fast for the conditions or was the spot just not navigable? The one vehicle must have sat there an hour or more waiting for a tow. A number of people stopped - including a fireman - so they must have flagged all help off (probably to save money). This screenshot was taken with the Wyze cam aimed south and was taken right as the vehicle was pulled from the snow.

 More Wednesday perhaps? It won't be because I'm hoping for more.

Hospitalized

  For a 75 year old man I've always been proud of my health. A vegetarian for 57 years. A non-smoker, Essentially a non-drinker (I may have a beer annually). And I take just two pills, both blood pressure meds. And a multi vitamin. It was all going well.

 Then it wasn't.

 I've just been released from  the hospital after two days of almost non-stop IV drips,  mostly antibiotics. The diagnosis: cellulitis.

 The chronology is this: On Monday 01-13-24 I went in for my lab work in anticipation of my 01-20-24 annual wellness visit with my family doctor. I showed up early - maybe 8 am - and then drove home and began fixing lunch.  By afternoon I was shivering and clearly ill.

 I won't show the pictures here (because I wouldn't want to come across them as I was surfing the web). But I soon began to have terrible pain in my right ankle. I tested for COVID. Negative. By Tuesday (01-14-24) I had a fever above 102°. I was certainly sick but I was neither throwing up nor coughing.

 I made an appointment (01-16-24) at my doctor's office. A Physicians Assistant was able to see me. She couldn't diagnose the problem without tests so I was sent to the hospital (Kettering - Miamisburg) for a CT scan and a complete blood count. Neither were conclusive. Other tests were scheduled ... but I didn't make it that far.

 By Saturday (01-18-24) morning (fever cleared) I was in terrible pain and the left side of my right ankle was blistering. Tom took me to the ER. I spend the entire day there and they diagnosed cellulitis, a bacterial infection. They started antibiotics. By late day I was admitted and spent the next two days there (Sat. 01/18 And Sun. 01/19)

 Whoever said a hospital is no place to get any sleep was exactly right. All day I was prodded, poked - and even cut upon - but at night it seemed the door to my room only closed long  enough to  give me the impression I might get a moment's sleep. I never did.

 The most painful part was when the abscess which was developing on my ankle was literally sliced open while I watched. Surely a better technique would be to have placed some drape over the area? The surgeon was training another doctor and they shared technical details of what was transpiring. The area was numbed  ... but not enough. It was excruciating, especially when  "packing" was placed in the wound (yes, beneath the skin). I didn't know human skin could be lifted like a chicken's.

 How did bacteria enter my skin? No one knows. But I do remember a small break in a callus on that same heal. It even bled. That might have been the route of entry.

 Discharged late Sunday (01-19-24) I was happy to get home. Tom has been incredible, waiting on me hand and  foot, taking care of every detail while I was gone. I'm not religious but I would  easily peg Tom as a blessing.

 Monday (01-20-24) I had an appointment with my PCP and he looked at the wound and ordered visiting nurses to start making rounds to my house. One came yesterday and examined and rebandaged the wound. I have an consultation with a wound doctor next Monday. The visiting nurses will come every other day.

 So how am I? A little better every day. It just seems like it's going to be slow going and a long haul. But it beats the alternative and since cellulitis is often lethal without antibiotic intervention, the alternative wasn't looking good.

Later ...

 I've had a number of people ask me what the bacteria was that infected me. Just saw the posted lab results and here's the culprit:

 So it was Streptococcus dysgalactiae. To read more, click here. I especially noted that it's being found more often in human cellulitis.

Follow-up:

01/27/25: First wound doctor appointment. I'd say the general consensus is that things are going fairly well. They measured the wound's depth, size and took pictures. I was wrapped up anew and sent home, asked to return in a week.

 In the meantime, Kettering Home Care has been making regular visits to my house and cleaning the wound and redressing it every other day. I assume this will continue for weeks ...at least. [day 10]

02/03/25: A second visit with the wound doctor. He says all is going well and that healing is taking place. The nurse (Jill) debrided all the dead skin coming off my ankle, especially the heal. I asked her how she faced this day after day? "Oh, I love doing this," she said. I could barely watch. [day 17]

 Here's a view of Parker on my lap and my foot extended onto the stool.

02/10: A third trip to the wound doctor at Kettering Miamisburg. Though they seem to  indicate things are healing, the report posted to MyChart calls the wound "non-healing" and they also note poor circulation in my legs. At first the nurse felt for a pulse and then called for a portable doppler unit to be brought to her. Later she checked my pulse again with her finger and said she felt it and opted not to use the doppler. This same unit was used when I was hospitalized by the doctor.

 The only change I noted was the nurse packed part of the wound with a collagen/silver product and said my home care nurse would be instructed to do the same. This is what she sent home with me:

 Here's some information about Promogran Prisma.

So I'm not sure if I should be positive about today's visit or whether things are healing too slowly ... or not at all. The nurse indicated new pink tissue and she seemed happy with what she saw. [day 24]

02/17: Today things began looking up. The doctor said the wound is filling in nicely and that he was happy with the progress. No longer is the wound tagged as "non-healing". The nurse did not pack the wound with the usual 1/4" tape but placed collagen into the deepest recess of the wound and also across the entire opening. Rather than return in one week, I'm asked to return in two. I credit the positive change mostly to time, the collagen noted above and the 30 gram protein shake I am drinking daily (Premier Protein). [day 31]

02/26: Just got the invoice from the hospital: $23,240.25. My insurance paid all but $110 of that.
 That said, there might be other charges but the itemized list looks pretty complete. The bill I’ll get for home care hasn’t arrived yet, nor a visit to my PCP or any of the wound doctor visits. So I’m not done.
 Just to offer a little more info (without going overboard), the ER charged me $5937, a CT scan alone was $4742, and my two nights in a room was $2704.
 Other bills I've already received (all paid in full by insurance) bring the total tp $23,710.29 [day40]

03/03: A visit with the wound care doctor went well. He said the healing was "awesome" and gave me the go-ahead to drive, to get back to walking (only slow but no limit on distance) and to take showers. I can take a shower any day the nurse is coming so she can bandage it again. I'm not to rub the wound when showering but I can get soap on it and it can get wet. I am to return in two weeks and continue with every-other-day home care. [day 45]

Yet More Snow ...

  Another 3.5" on 01/10/24. We've had 15" this month. That's usually an entire winter's worth. And cold! We dipped to -3° on 01/09 and +3° on 01/10. The forecast is calling for lows of zero by mid-week again.

 Here's some shot of the most recent snow ...

 Jeff Erisman arrives to dig us out ... again!

 If you look at the picnic table, I cleared the right end before yesterday's snow. The left side contains the total snow from the past two storms, minus melt (8.5").

 Both Bob and I are a little worried about the gutter guards we both had installed. Bob says his are covered with leaves. Both of us have noticed how they serve as ice dams, allowing snow to pile up and long icicles to form. And I have quite a deep drift on the kitchen roof. I suppose I should be worried about the weight.

 

Thanks to Jeff our driveway is blessedly clear. At least we can get out to the road if we need to. And in an emergency, crews can easily get in.

 Through 01/10, we're -2.0° to normal for the month.

 Here are a few late day pix:

 Icicles seen from a second floor window.

 Wide view of a buried Pinehaven.

 Looking west towards sunset.

 And a final photo for today ...

The Big Snow

  I don't know if it's accurate but I've read that we just had the biggest snow since 2004. In any case, I don't remember any storm that dropped 10.5" in recent memory.

 The snowstorm arrived mid-day on Sunday, 01/05, and by the next morning at 7 am I read 8.5". It continued snowing through much of the day and dropped 2.5" more.

 Here are the pictures I took of the storm:

Mid-storm I checked the snow depth on our picnic table: 3". I didn't take my reading glasses so I placed the ruler upside down.

 Tom's car was buried in a drift.

 The north wind (never terribly strong) whipped snow into a drift on our back porch.

 You can see where I've cleaned off the end of the picnic table to I could measure new snow.

 Late in the afternoon of 01/06/24 I was napping in a recliner and woke to hearing a muffled car alarm. At first I didn't know what it was. But when I walked to the window I saw an overturned truck across the road from us at the south edge of our property.

 Someone stopped in a red truck and soon there was a large group of emergency vehicles there.

 It was a white Ford truck.

 An hour or so later a tow truck had righted the vehicle and hauled it away.

 My security cam caught the action at 4:30 pm.

 Note that the truck was facing north (left) when it stopped but traveling south (right) as it skidded to a stop. I doubt anyone was hurt. Whoever was in the vehicle must have been quickly extricated. I never saw an ambulance though I suspect there was one, maybe before I woke from my nap.

 Today (01/08) this is the view. All the snow to the left of Tom's car was shoveled by us.

 Jarred Erisman plowed out our driveway on Monday. He would have done more but I figured having Tom's car parked there would have made a real problem for him. At least we had access to the road in case of an emergency.

Maples Trimmed

  It was a cold (35°) morning with a light snow falling but Joe's Tree Service arrived on schedule about  9:30 am to trim the two maples nearest the house. The one on the south side has a number of dead limbs. In fact, Dave Clopper (the tree service's owner) said the tree's heartwood looks dead and may have been hit by lightning at some point in the past. There was enough dead lumber up in that tree that I worried every time the wind blew. And when we pulled out of the driveway in our cars or walked beneath it when mowing, I was always careful to listen for any unusual rustle

 The other maple is at the northwest corner of the house and it shades the kitchen and holds a myriad of birdhouses and feeders. I've noticed the eastern side is drying and asked Dave to trim any suspect branches.

.

 One of our security cameras watched the two trucks arrive. One is a bucket truck, the other a chipper/shredder. Dave immediately started trimming the south tree while a young man dragged branches to the chipper in the driveway.

 Dave then moved his boom truck to the garage apron and began trimming the tree by the kitchen.

 A bit later we heard a terrible crash and I found a limb had fallen and hit the north dining room window and shattered the storm window and slightly damaged the screen. Dave cleaned up the glass and said he'd take the frames to the hardware store, have them repaired and return with them soon.

 Here's how the maple by the driveway looks after trimming. I'm happy with the result and hope we can get a few more years out of it.