On The Road--Oregon Owen Reunion (July 10)

 After second pre-opt appointment of the week on Thursday, we loaded up the car and started heading north.  Our trip started a bit late, because we were waiting for a change of antibiotics.  After waiting about an hour at Smith's in Syracuse while they were trying to track it down, they suggested we head north and they could arrange for it to be delivered to another Smiths or Kroger store along our route.  We ended up picking it up in Twin Falls, Idaho, which worked out as a good stop for our late lunch as well.

The idea for this trip had been bouncing around since 2020.  The Benjamin and Jane Owen Family (my grandfather's parents) have held a reunion for about 145 years.  (My grandfather was number 12 of 15 kids and didn't marry until he was 40 years old, so we are "off generation" from most family members who are near our age.  He was 54 when my mom was born.)  As siblings, some of us had been back to Oregon where most of our 1st cousin relatives still live, but we have never all gone back at the same time.  We set 2025 as the year and we decided to built it around this Owen Reunion which is held on the second Saturday in July in Dallas, Oregon. Since all eight of us were going to be there (plus spouses and some of our kids), we decided to also add a visit to the Oregon coast and a trip to Richland, our hometown for the first 16 years of my life until we moved to Amarillo, Texas in 1971.  This would be the first time we had all gone back to Richland since we moved--and the first time that some of my siblings have ever gone back since a family trip in 1973 (which I didn't go on since I was earning money for college that summer.) It was a bit of a production to get put together with people coming from different directions and with different things to see and to do, but we were excited for this chance to gather and to share time together.

I think Gary thought I was a bit crazy since I felt miserable, but he was a good sport, did all of the driving both ways except for about 1 1/2 hours on the way home, and kept a good watch out for rest areas and clean bathrooms along the whole trip.

Thursday and Friday travel photos--We drove from Syracuse to Pendleton, Oregon on Thursday and then into Portland on Friday, arriving in the early afternoon.

The Columbia River

Mt. Hood

Lots of bridges across the river

Gary took a historic side road and we found this pretty waterfall---

with a cool old bridge...

A walking tunnel now although it used to be part of the roadway--I am not sure climbing up on the top for a photo op is the wisest choice, but the parents were down below taking the photo....

And there were lots and lots of trains on tracks on both sides of the road, and also both sides of the river---fun if you like trains like we do.

Despite the frequent bathroom stops, it was a nice trip and the weather was good.

Matilda

On Tuesday night, I "dragged" myself off my recliner (that is how it felt that night) to join Jena at the HopeBox Theatre in Kaysville to watch Matilda--a production that two of Jena's friends were in--Aubry Aldridge and Kenzie Bates.  It is a fun production although I am not a fan of the actual play itself.  I don't think I have ever seen it before and I felt its themes were intense for how the show is talked about if that makes sense.  The young actress who played Matilda was excellent and many of the younger actors had great singing voices for a community production.

Jena and Kenzie

We didn't get a picture with Aubry although we did talk to her parents before the show. Kenzie will be in another show in the fall in Ogden, so hopefully we can catch her again at the theatre. That will be "Bye Bye Birdie."
 

Urologist Pre-opt Appointment

Monday, I met with Terry, the nurse practitioner at the urologist. He was excited to tell me that in addition to two ureters, I have two separate kidneys on the right side, one on top of the other.  The kidney stone itself is in the lower bottom of the lower kidney. For those of you keeping track, that means I have three kidneys.  Gary suggested I donate the kidney with the stone since it was "extra."  Doesn't work quite like that.

Then, I met with the nurse who handles the surgical paperwork for Dr. Reynolds.  I was set for surgery on Wednesday to blast the kidney stone (lithotripsy).  However, as we went through the paperwork and my current medications, she noticed that I was taking baby aspirin.  This is a new medication for me due to the problem I have developed in my left leg--a narrowing of one of the arteries in that leg.  I didn't know (and they didn't say anything about it when I was having surgery in Washington), but they prefer you to be off of it for 7 days prior to surgery, especially in places like the kidneys which are blood filled.  Aspirin is a blood thinner and can make it more risky to stop bleeding during a surgery. So immediately, she reached out to Dr. Reynolds who confirmed that he wanted to reschedule me for the following Wednesday.  Another week with two stents and a kidney stone did not sound appealing!  However, I appreciated their caution and care. So surgery was set for July 16th.

I had a few more visits to the urologist that week--one for a pain shot to relieve some of the kidney stone/stent pain I was having--that was one nice restful day in the middle of all of this.  I had to do another urine test and they changed antibiotics to provide extra support AND

I was given permission to head to our Oregon Trip--shortened by a few days since I had to get back for another urine test on Tuesday, the 15th for surgery on the 16th.  So our trip which was going to be from July 9 to the 18th got trimmed to July 10 to the 15th and we missed going to Richland and most of the Oregon coast things, but we did make it for some of the highlights...an great blessing in the middle of this craziness of a kidney stone.

Working On Catching Up With the Blog

Rereading my last post on July 6 just made me smile.  I thought that I knew what the plan was, but little did I know how July was going to unfold--maybe unfold is too calm and predictable of a word--maybe unravel would be better.

It had its high points, its unexpected twists and turns, and ongoing health issues still to be resolved.  It was eventful for the first month of my 7th decade of my life--one I won't likely forget.

So, starting back on July 7th--my Monday pre-op appointment at the urologists....