Adrenalin Rush!!!

July 24, 2008: noon

Dear friend, visitor and casual reader,

This is a narrative about a trip we recently made, an emergency trip to Hickory, North Carolina, USA to visit my in-laws. 980 miles later and 2 days, I am still recovering from almost 20 hours behind the wheel of my car. Now how do I begin?

Last Thursday we got a call from Karen's mom that her dad collapes at home unable to get off the floor and an ambulance trip to Frye Memorial Hospital ER. Bob had developed a bad bladder infection that upon arrival was 104.5 degrees fahrenheit. He was a sick puppy, trying to fight this at home, but unsuccessfully.

The call was not, or did not seem like an emergency, yet how can you not worry. They admitted him, but Thursday pm, he developed pnemonia with a high fever and feeling really bad. Juanita discouraged our driving up from Birmingham, Alabama, assuring us he would be alright. But things have a way of changing.

Friday morning Karen called and he was having a tough time fighting these two infections and Juanita was staying until 8:00pm at the hospital. Karen called me and we immediately started making plans to hit the road. But I was in a vunerable mode, as my car had been in a Ford dealership for repair for 5 days and I was driving a 2008 Taurus rental. What now?

I was in Birmingham at a company breakfast and called Ford and said I was on the way to get ready. I got there about noon and fortuately they had made the necessary warrantied repairs and 'they' felt my car was OK for a 1,000 mile roundtrip to NC. The cars engine I found out, had a recall on the computer/engine/transmission sensors that was causing the car to break down. The advisor went to the shop and it started and all the 'new' on board sensors said it was OK. Both the advisor and my salesman gave me their personal cell phone numbers in caase it broke down. Was that a vote of confidence? I was doubtful.

I dashed home and Karen had the bags on the bed and she was packed and I was in 30 minutes. We packed light, loaded the car, and started the 460 mile trip through Georgia, north through South Carolina to their home in 7 1/2 hours. Juanita was still up when we got there at about 11:30 EDT. It was a short night and we were up at 7:00am, and off to see about Bob.

The next 4 days we were in and out of the hospital everyday spelling Juanita as she was beginning to show the signs of wear. We had our meals in the cafeteria, but it has much room for improvements on the menu. It was pizza Saturday night and hitting the sack again, an another short night. Sunday we were there at 8:30/9:00am and Bob had gotten out of bed, pulled his IV's out and was dressed at 2:00am at the elevator to go home. Bad reaction to a sleeping pill they gave him.

Sunday his temperature hovered above normal, with antibiotics piggybacked trying to beat back the pneumonia and infections. We stayed each night to nearly 6:00pm, and Karen cooked Sunday night making for us one of our favourite dishes, a nice treat for the weary.

Monday was a better day, but they had again gave him the sleeping pill we told them to put NO on his chart? But Bob's temperature now was normal and had been for over 24 hours, a good sign. The doctor came in after lunch and said we could take him home. Yeah!

Monday afternoon after getting him settled, we got all the shopping lists from Juanita and Karen and I set out in their car. We filled it with much needed gas, shopped for groceries, picked up him prescriptions, and bought some fresh vegetables like homegrown tomatoes and peaches to help his diet.

We had warmed over Karen's dishes with some veggies she fixed and all 4 of us had dinner together for the first time. Bob slept fitfully Monday night but still no fever. We slept a little better, slept a little later, and had a great breakfast Juanita made, one of her delicicies and a pot of fresh ground coffee, strong in my favor. Bob ate fairly well but getting him to hydrate with H2O is a battle.

Karen put some clothes in the washer and did 2 runs as we had only packed for 3 days and were wearing the cleanest dirty clothes. Our medicines too we running out but we both packed an extra day or two just in case. We planned to get away by 9:00 but it was 10:00 before leaving. We bid them goodbye with hopes this time for Bob now has him on his way to being whole again.

Our drive back home was almost terrible, hitting bad weather, accidents and finally I detoured off to sit this out and have dinner at a Waffle house somewhere west of Atlanta, Ga. We did do some needed shopping at Commerce, the factory outlets north of Atlanta, and a needed break in our long trip.

It was 8:30pm CDT before arriving at home and 9:30 before getting unpacked, baths, and finally rest and bed. Almost 8 hours going up, and 11 hours coming back, a much tiring time with me driving the entire trip. Surprisingly the car did fine, even at times getting over 31 mpg, a surprise running the AC the entire trip up and back. The temperature was always over 90 degrees and a code orange making our days hot and sweaty. The fresh clothes we had on felt good, now not offending anyone!

I am off today, the second day after this driving trek, my legs and body aching enduring the restrictions of driving the whole way. I have called Juanita and Bob both yesterday and today and he is doing well, getting stronger everyday. They said they were going to the library today, another good sign Bob is back to himself again.

I share this with you, and maybe lets me know Jeff is a pretty good husband and as Bob said "a strong addition to the family!". Thanks Bob, that made everything now just a little easier!!! Have a blessed day....

Jeff the Knutt in the Ham (BirmingHAM), Al, USA