Ugh, the trip map is gone!

Well, it certainly has been too long. I was reminded of our little log by Kelsey, who managed to find out that the map of our grand trip was no longer available.
Some minor investigation seems to point to the fact that Google Maps may not support the number of way points that we had among our trip.The trip is saved in text version, but I may need to figure a way to save it otherwise.

Anyhow, it turns out that recreating the map online is a bit of a hassle. As mentioned earlier, Google maps will not allow all the way points that we had on our admittedly massive trip. A couple of other online services either didn't fit the requirements.

I'll work on re-doing it in segments.

Time to get back to it

OK, the health drama has pretty much passed and the holidays are over. Time to start planning the next great adventure. This one looks to be the Northwest US, starting in Montana and following a counter clockwise route to Seattle, San Fransisco Yellowstone and ending at Mt. Rushmore. Well, that's the general plan for now, the rough draft. I had to put SF in this trip again, because I think we missed some of the sights and Armstrong State Reserve, a great redwood forest is just a bit north of there. I had thought that the redwoods were much further north, and there is one notable forest near Oregon already on the trip, but I have heard good things about this one also.
Link here:

http://g.co/maps/26gwf

Just remembered about the blog.

Yeah, so Chemistry is really time consuming. I forgot all about the blog.

Anyways, I was sitting there with all my friends at dinner (yes, I have friends) and I got a text from daddy. It said "I'm alive!" I have to say, I was pretty happy.

So, basically he's conscious now. And coming home this weekend. Horray!

My owie has now turned into a scar. It still hurts when I poke it, though. Everyone keeps saying it won't scar much, but I hope it does. That would be the coolest scar ever.

I'mmm Bacckkk !!!

Finally back to what seems like normalcy again. It has been a hell of a ride and I tired of traveling. After my first surgery, things seemed to be going ok, but something it the recovery led me to believe that my recovery was going to be longer. Physically I felt fine, fine for having major surgery. But I was short-winded. And it was getting worse. My surgery was the 22nd and by the end of the week, there were real  hopes of getting me back home. By saturday my blood was no longer carrying adequate oxygen differing reasons so far No matter how much air was passed through my lungs, I was topping out under 90%. With no other choice, they went back in. OK, so I woke back up last night but still had the breather tube. That was removed so now I can try to find just what has been happening.

So I left the hospital yesterday shortly after arriving. The doctor came in there and said "there's nothing I can do for you." and walked out. I actually had to go back to the school to get them to do something about the (still randomly bleeding) gash on my forehead. But at least he gave me something for pain.

Daddy is still sedated. No change so far with his breathing problem.

I am going back to the hospital because apparently I can't remember anything. I'll try to get someone else to keep up with the blog if they keep me overnight.

Okay, I just want to apologize for the delay in updates.

Yesterday I had a seizure and busted open my head on a sink. I couldn't let my daddy have all the fun in the hospital. But I don't like hospitals. So I discharged myself.

Anyways, my dad was having trouble breathing so they made a hole in his throat (I don't know why they didn't just use the original one..) and they stuck a breathing tube in there. It's usually super uncomfortable so they have him heavily sedated.

Which I guess is a good thing; he won't find out about my little accident for a while. He has enough to worry about with the doctors over there making holes in his throat and all that.

I come bearing news!

Daddy can walk around. I talked to him today and he sounds like he is in a ton of pain, which is to be expected. He should be coming home Monday, if all goes as planned and he can walk around by himself.
He's not getting much sleep in the hospital because the nurses constantly come in every thirty minutes or so and do more testing. They woke him up at 5am yesterday to do an x-ray. Really?! They couldn't have waited until 10?
Well, now that he can call me I feel like there should be some more interesting (funny) news coming.

Post Surgery

This is Kelsey, bringing the news.

He has just gotten out of surgery and put into ICU (6:27pm Aug 23, 2011).

He may be in ICU until Thursday depending on how he's healing. Don't worry, being in ICU is common after a surgery like this.

That's about the limit of what I know right now. Grandma is visiting tonight and will hopefully call me after she gets back home. I'm hoping I can talk to daddy this weekend, or maybe Thursday or Friday if he's awake and not too out of it.

However, I figure that if last time he was constantly hitting his morphine, he will be hitting it a lot more this time.

Alright, I think that my cleaning process is done. I hope that it is. I thought it was earlier, but no, there were still more surprises to be had. Don't laugh or snicker; the same process is used for many procedures. At least some of you will be, or have been at this point. I understand, and do and will empathize.

I haven't felt as hungry today. It was somewhat surprising, because daytime TV is a lot of cooking shows. Of course, my appetite was most likely suppressed by spending most of the day in the bathroom. Oh, daytime TV will destroy brain cells. If the programming doesn't get you, the commercials will.

CBRE, especially my manager Eric came through with short term disability coverage for me. CB carries the coverage at no cost to me, but I don't know that without Eric it would have come together in time. I almost certainly would not have known about it until later. My co-workers are carrying my workload, which is definitely worth mentioning since they just did it last month while I was on vacation. I'd better get some doughnuts up there.

Taxi (our dog) is staying with Lee (my 2nd shift co-worker) again. It's nice to have a place that you know your dog is not only looked after, but has a family and other dogs to interact with. Taxi just becomes part of the family and they all treat her as a member.

I want to take just a couple of sentences to express my gratitude to my family, friends, co-workers and neighbors (most of you fall into multiple categories). It means so much to have the support, prayers and well wishes. Knowing that things can be and will be taken care of puts me at ease. Thank you all.

The doctor said that my recovery would be like being hit by a car. Now, not having been hit by a car before, I have to imagine. I hope it's one of those Smart cars and not a '73 Impala. Are we talking a glancing blow or a full on trying to run me over shot? I'm kinda wishing he hadn't told me that...

Let's do this.

Liquid diet sucks. I should have gotten beer, but I'm trying to be good. I don't eat much each day, but not eating at all is a different experience. Oh, and grits don't count as eating.

If there was an animal in the yard, I'd grab my knife and fork and go after it. If it was a rabbit or deer, I'm sure it would very easily out run me, but I'd still yell "Yeah, you better run..." If it was a bear I'd be all like "Oh yeah, come at me bro" and then I'd run back in the house, 'cause I'm dumb, but not stupid. But I am hungry.

Continuing the liquids tomorrow, and adding the dreaded magnesium citrate tomorrow. Woo! Who knows how to party?

Kelsey headed back off to Campbell today. She will probably take over the blog while I'm down. We had a talk about the grumbles of the operation, and she has promised me that she will put her education first. There isn't much of anything for her to do and I do want her to try and ignore this. Go further. Farther? Farer?

Went out today and gathered products that are allowed on the liquid diet required for the next two days. Lots of juices, some grits (the closest thing to a solid allowed) and some jello. Yum.

Had to pick up a bottle of magnesium citrate. Mineral supplement? Oh no, much more sinister. They want me on empty when I arrive. My dosage is 10 ounces, and from the little research I've done, I'm likely to be flushing stuff that I ate in the 6th grade.

Oh wait, beer is a liquid...got to run to the store.

Oh, Kelsey is back from Campbell this weekend, so she knows about it. Those of you who I've asked not to mention it are free to talk. Thanks for your support.

She is doing great, and I sure did miss her. Yeah, it's only been a week, but...

Went for pre-admission testing today. They need to know your health status before breaking out the carving knife. I had some blood drawn for testing, an EKG and an interview with the anesthesiologist.

This brings me to an important point, emphasized by todays visit. The actual medical care is performed very efficiently. The administration part of the care is slow, and sometimes confused. The medical care, including the consult with anesthesia amounted to less than 25 minutes of a 2 hour visit. 10 minutes was dedicated to the initial check in, leaving about an hour and a half of waiting.

I am not a patient person when it comes to inefficiency. OK, I'm not a very patient person at all.

I marvel at the efficiency of the lab; I was called in, immediately directed to a seat where they started drawing blood. The required supplies were either laid out or within reach and the lab tech was printing my vial labels as she drew blood. The EKG was at least as efficient.

Contrast that with the admission process. The same questions are asked multiple times (because they are on different forms), they have no idea why you might be there, requiring yet another description of the issue, which suddenly requires some more forms. FML.

All of us have jobs that require us to deliver a product or service in a timely manner. Well, obviously only most of us. It seems that the DMV, post office workers and hospital clerks, among others, work on a slightly different schedule.

I know that the information gathered is valuable and essential- that is not my complaint. It is the inefficient use of time that bothers me.

Then again, maybe I just had a bad day. My leg bothers me, not just with the pain, but with the damage I may be doing to it. It just worries me. And gives me reason to complain. Hey! Get off my lawn!

Angiogram done. Yep, turns out that the bypass failed. It looks like a clot has formed at the right side splice, blocking it.

The aortobifemoral surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, the 23rd. The hospital will be WakeMed on New Bern Ave.

Begin operation "Operation"

OK, this will be the start of the operation and recovery portion of the news. I've found the blog a reasonably convenient way of keeping people updated.

A quick recap: I had a femoral artery start to blow out in late 2010. It finally failed and bypass surgery was done in April 2011. The bypass has now failed and the next best (perhaps only) option is an aortobifemoral bypass. Basically an inverted "Y" graft that makes a new connection from below the heart to each of the legs.

The surgery is being scheduled for next week and we'll start the process with an angiogram tomorrow. The angiogram will help pinpoint the failed area and allow the surgeons to plan new connection points. It shouldn't be much, but I've planned to stay out of work tomorrow and Friday. Due to the lack of blood flow to my right leg, my walking distance has been reduced to 25-40 feet before pain sets in. If I sit or lay for a period, it takes a few seconds for my leg to react to requested commands. Kind of like that damn computer. I don't feel any real discomfort until I walk. If I don't slow down or stop, I risk my leg buckling. It is a weird feeling to have a limb perform its own mutiny, and it will.

I've listed some of my symptoms so that if any of you are experiencing anything similar you may have some info to work with. My original symptoms were the same, but they progressed much slower. This time it was pretty much immediate.

Causes. How did this happen? Yes, smoking is a contributing factor. The original blowout was probably caused by plaque buildup that caused a restriction. The artery was weakened by age and abuse and started to leak. The leak progressed until it finally gave way. High cholesterol, high blood pressure, lack of vitamins and minerals (folic acid, vitamins A, B6, B12, C and E, essential fatty acids) and yes smoking all contribute to weakened arteries.

The second failure is still undetermined. If the surgeons made an error, they could easily blame it on another weak artery and that might be hard to argue. There might be some argument as to why they attached the bypass to an artery that wasn't in good shape, but if it comes to it, the lawyers can hash that out. I just want to be able to walk again. And dance! OK, not the dance part, but it just seemed to fit there.

Silver lining. The in hospital recovery time is 5-7 days. The last time I think it was 4 days. I don't recall having the urge to smoke while I was in last time and was able to go days after without smoking. I really feel that I was close to stopping, but that dumbass effect convinced me that I was fine to start again. I'm going for it again this time. I really have become to dislike it, but still do it. Dumbass.

Ok, that's it for now, I'll update after the angiogram.

Trip map here. Nope.

Sorry, Google Maps looks like it doesn't support the amount of way points that we had. I will try and find an alternative and update.

I did have a very nice map, with all of our stops pin pointed. It is frustrating that it no longer exists.

Trip statistics

18 states:
Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Nevada again, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and back to North Carolina.

Vehicle info:
7358.4 miles with an average travel speed of 59.2 mph and an average mpg of 22.8. Average gas price was $3.587. Lowest gas price seen was $3.34 outside Salt Lake City and highest was $5.26 in Death Valley.
Highest recorded speed was 105 mph in Utah, highest officially recorded speed was with a ticket for 83 mph in a 65 mph zone in New Mexico. Among the lowest speeds were the 0 mph while waiting for said ticket to be written.

Major sights:
St. Louis Arch (MO), Geographic center of the lower 48 states (KS), Arches National Park (UT), Canyonlands National Park (UT), Four Corners (UT, AZ, CO, NM), Goosenecks State Park (UT), Natural Bridges National Monument (UT), Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (UT), Bonneville Salt Flats (UT), Golden Gate Bridge (CA), Lombard Street, San Francisco (CA), Sequoia National Park (CA), Yosemite National Park (CA), Death Valley National Park (CA), Boulder Dam (NV), Grand Canyon (AZ), Petrified Forest National Park (AZ), White Sands National Park (NM).

Travel specs:

Highest elevation in travel was 11,158 feet at the Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70 in Colorado. Higher elevations may have been made, but were not recorded. The lowest elevation was -264 feet in Death Valley. The elevation in Death Valley drops lower, but we limited our record to drivable areas.
The longest drive of the trip was from the Big Texan in Amarillo, Texas to the Motel 6 in Dickson, Tennessee at 892 miles. We were very surprised that it was a par 4.

Highest temperature recorded was 112 degrees in Las Vegas, lowest was 55 degrees in Mammoth Lakes CA. We doubled the temperature from Mammoth Lakes with our same day drive to Death Valley at 110 degrees.

Much like it must be to choose your favorite pet or child, I find it impossible to choose my favorite place among the many visited during our trip. I choose instead to view the entire trip as an experience, one I hope never to forget. I traveled the country with two very dear friends and only wish that more of my friends could have seen the sights that we have experienced. We took 2200+ pictures, so at least we can share some of it.

Next post will contain detail of the trip itinerary, provided I can get Google Maps to work with me.

James says:

Day 13: Home sweet home! It really doesn't matter where you've been, or what you've seen, there is a lot to be said about being back home. It has been a great trip, and we have seen and done some amazing things. It was so much more than I expected and I am so very glad that I finally did it.
We didn't do Rock City this morning, but only because we had a mix up in its location. Both Google and the GPS put it in Carthage, TN and it turns out that it's a lot closer to Chattanooga. We all decided that the extra 4 hours of driving would have to wait and it gives Kel and I an excuse to take a long weekend trip in the future.
Our trip counter got accidentally reset during the trip, so I'll have to do some manual calculations to get the final mileage, but I do know that it is more than 7300 miles.
Oh what a trip it has been. The next post will be the final one, with trip statistics and notes.
Now I guess those bags aren't going to unpack themselves, so I better get to it. I really don't mind it though, as I always find some trip memorabilia tucked in amongst the packings...

James says:

Day 12: Today was a serious travel day. We did 892 miles, and made it to Dickson, Tennessee. We're about 50 miles west of Nashville. Kelsey did a few hundred miles. We didn't see much worth stopping for, and I think we all have that urge to be back home.
We have about 9 hours of drive time left to do, still a stop at Rock City, and we'll lose an hour getting back to Eastern Time. Still, I plan to sleep in my own bed tomorrow night.