Democrat or Republican?

This years elections is truly a battle. I don't think two candidates could be so different. I've been a republican all my life, but if I'm honest with myself, I can see a greater line being drawn between the middle and upper class.

As a republican, I'm all for less goverment, responsible spending and of course less taxes. I do believe though that we need to take care of the elderly, the working poor, and give the hard working middle class a boost.

My aunt was a lobbyist during the Carter years and she told me that when she arrived in Washington, she was a republican. She left as a democrat.

It's not so much that Obama scares me, but the fact that we will likely have a democratic congress as well. The pork barreling that they push through is atrocious. I would really love to see what McCain could do as far as reform but I don't think his goal is to take care of the middle and lower classes. I like some of Obama's ideas, but it's the unknown ideas/values that scare me.

I'm pretty mixed right now and have no clue as to what/who I'm going to vote for. Any ideas???

Thanks for reading

Thoughts and Prayers

Most cyclists know him as the "Fat Cyclist" and many others know him as Elden Nelson, either way, Fatty is going through some pretty tough times right now. His wife has been battling cancer for sometime now. She has fought hard and has overcome many obstacles, but it appears right now that the cancer has the upper hand. It's truly heartbreaking to read his blog right now. Again, it's one of those times to take notice of your own life and those around you. You may of complained at your spouse for something totally ridiculous......now take a second and put yourself in Eldens shoes. Small Petty things become really no big deal. Who cares if the dishes are done, or someone left their shoes in the middle of the floor. In the big picture, it doesn't matter one damn bit. We live once and we love once. Let's get it right the first time. NO Regrets.
Elden makes the comment of pushing his wife in the wheelchair around his neighborhood as they notice the beautiful fall colors. Take the long route to work tomorrow. Notice things you have never noticed before. Get up 30 minutes early just to spend some quiet time with the world around you. Treasure the moment. I hope you will.

Thanks for reading

I'm Hoping it Worked

Well I'm 3 days into my corticosteroid injection. The day after the injection was miserable. I felt good that morning but as the day went on, it just felt worse and worse. That was by far the worse day. Then came Saturday (the injection was on Thursday), for months I have felt like my left hip needed to pop. I would try various ways and never had any luck. Then on Saturday as I was getting ready to get up, POP!!!! Oh my gosh it felt so good. So with that happening, I think the steroid is slowly working. I do believe I have other issues, like my pelvis still being rotated, but I think it will be easier to fix if I can keep the inflammation down and my back muscle relaxed.

I rode with my boys today for about 2 miles and felt fine (back felt a bit sore later). So if I find the time, I'm going to try and go for a decent slow ride tomorrow. I'm going to continue hammering away at the core exercises in hopes of not repeating the problem I'm currently trying to cure. It's been a miserable road but I've learned a lot.

I'm likely going to need one more injection in about 2 weeks but i'm optimistic about the results.

That's all for now

Thanks for Reading

What the Heck Happened

Last Friday (10 days ago) my wife frantically called me at work saying our dog had been cut. I'm so used to her getting excited over little things, I didn't think much of it. Not knowing what was up, I left the office to go see my dog. She was hiding in the doghouse and didn't really want to come out, which isn't like her. Once she came out, I was to say the least, Shocked!!!!!! She had been cut from the top of back all the way around her ribs almost to her belly. The skin had been torn back about 2 inches on each side of the laceration. It was unreal. I couldn't believe she could be up walking around being cut like this.

Of course this is all happening on a Friday at 5 pm. We called the only two local veterinary offices we have. The first was absolutely rude and let us know how inconvenient it would be to call the staff back on a Friday. The second, Dr. Rowes office, was great. They let us know there would be an after hours charge but we didn't care. The vet was even flabbergasted when she saw the hole on my dogs side. You could see all the muscle underneath the cut as well as a deep hole behind her back leg looking into her belly.

Dr. Rowe was outstanding. She kept Jenny for about 3 hours and gave us a call at home asking if she could keep her overnight and get this.....for no extra charge. The next morning I went in to get her. She was her perky young self. Tail wagging like crazy. She had staples half way around her body with two drain inserted to drain off any extra fluid.

It's been a week and she's doing better. They pulled the drains out last Monday but we had to have more put in as there was too much fluid still collecting under the skin. The bad part is, parts of the skin were torn back so bad that in reconnecting the skin, some parts did have not retained their bloodflow. What they will do to treat this is basically go in and cut out the dead skin and then pull more healthy skin to fill the gap. I told my wife, she's going to be our thousand dollar dog. If any dog is worth it, she is. She's the happiest dog I've ever seen. Her tail is always wagging and she's never been short on showing her love for our family. Needless to say, we love her lots.

No Luck Yet

Well the first set of injections haven't shown any sign of being effective yet. I was hopeful in that I thought the less invasive facet blocks would work. This weekend though, my back hurt more than ever. It amazes me because my MRI really isn't that bad. It shows two bulging discs L5 and S1. They really couldn't pinpoint a cause for the pain and symptoms but can only guess that the discs themselves are causing chemoreceptors to go crazy which is caused by fluid leaking into the dural space which I guess really irritates the nerve roots.

I still haven't been able to ride and as the days are quickly getting shorter and the mornings and evenings getting colder, it's going to be even more difficult. Honestly though it's been a good break but If I wanted a break I probably wouldn't take this much time off. I can't run I can't ride therefore it's tough to exercise. I think I'm in the worst shape I've been in all year.

I have the "big" injection scheduled for Thursday afternoon. This is the one that they use Fluorscopy to find the epidural space between the vertebre and inject a dose of corticosteroids in hope of relieving the inflammation of the disc and nerve root. I'm hopeful this will do the trick. The cost of this is beginning to get outrageous. Isn't it crazy, medicine has got to be the only job in the world that no matter how many times it takes to make you feel better, you have to pay for every single try. I realize that's why they call it "practicing medicine", but practicing can get expensive.

Been A While

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted. Between work and dealing with my back I just haven't felt much like sitting down and writing.

I had my first set of injections this morning. I've been hesitant to go this route but my Dr. suggested going with one to see if we can get any sort of relief. Today they actually did what they call a Facet Block. They actually inject the steroid next to the facets of the spine in the area they believe is causing the problem. This is much less "invasive" then the epidural which they are planning on doing next week. After today's injections, they say I won't know the effectiveness for two to three days. Right now, the injection site is pretty sore and I have that miserable aching back feeling.

My whole goal is to get back on the bike. It's been almost two months and I hate it. It's one of those things, you don't know what you've got until it's gone. Man I miss riding.

Other than my back, everything is going very well. Work is good, home is good. All is good.

I do have to give a huge thanks to my Ortho. He set up todays appointment with the pain specialist and even showed up for my prelim appointment last night. He's pretty awesome to take time out of his day to go sit through of all things, a doctors appointment.

That's all for now. I'll try and write more later.
Have a Great Day

Just Rambling

Sorry for the delay in posting. I really have no excuse except for just having lots going on at work. We've been trying to reorganize the business so that we run the business and it's not running us. I think were on the right track but it's going to take a while. Also, Medicare is requiring that all DME (durable medical equipment) providers be accredidated by September 09'. This is all fine and dandy but it takes away from the real priority which is patient care.
It's exhausting trying to keep myself and all the employees on the right track, all the while keeping the morale high. I'm learning quickly that when you are the owner, the employees don't always like you. Though, I think I've got a pretty good relationship with all of them. To be honest, I'm blessed with the people I work with. They all seem to put the patient first and business second. This is what I want. I don't ever want it to be about quota's to meet as I hear all the other big corporate guys dwell on. I get so frustrated with the whole dog eat dog world.

I was a farrier for 12 years before I started this and that is one thing I truly miss, the comaraderie. Most of us were all out there willing to help the next guy or the new guy. It was one of those "what comes around goes around". And in fact, it always did come around. It was common knowledge that you never bad mouthed another farriers work. In the end, the client, if they knew about horses, would see the difference in work and knowledge.

Are you sick of the elections yet? My goal is going to be to not watch the news until after November 4. I'm so sick of hearing everyone bash everyone else. What's pathetic is that we as American citizens have to sit back and listen to it all, then have to watch whoever wins, go back on every one of his/her promises. The typical American middle class citizen is certain to be screwed by whoever is elected. Crappy attitude I know, but dang it gets so old. Ok, I'll get off my high horse. I'll talk about it again November 5. Actually if it's like the years past, we won't know who won for a week or two.

I'm done complaining, see ya.