Getting stronger every day

Dave says that he feels a lot better even though he is still spending most of the day in bed.  As you can imagine,  it will take a while to regain his strength after more than two weeks in bed.  He walks around the kitchen and living room every day for exercise, so that's a good sign.  Maybe if the temps get above freezing this week-end we will go for a short walk around the neighborhood.  All in all, the improvement is significant.

Jeannette

Slowly but surely

Dave is finally starting to feel better.  He had a good appointment with his chiropractor today.  At this point no further x-rays are needed, just patience.  Dave's progress has been good enough to predict that this too shall pass.  He still feels better in bed than he does sitting in a chair.  However, he is walking around the house a little more each day, so that should help speed up the healing process.

We are encouraged and confident that his back will heal significantly over the next week or so.

Jeannette

Prone to be prone

Day 14 of spending 23 of 24 hours each day in bed.  This is getting old.  I will take Dave to see his chiropractor tomorrow to see what he has learned from studying Dave's x-rays.  Then I expect we will be visiting other doctors and clinics in the coming days, since I believe we need better and more defined imaging.  Right now we don't know what is causing this severe and enduring back/hip pain.

Stay tuned for updates.

Jeannette

Note:  Pita is delirious with this arrangement.  She sleeps 22 out of 24 hours.  When she is not in bed with Dave, Pita is either sitting on a furnace vent or else in the middle of a spot of sun on the wood floor.

Down Under

Dave finally went down stairs to the basement today.  It has been 12 days since he's been able to do that.  He didn't stay long and the return trip back upstairs was quite painful, but it's a step in the right direction so to speak.

Now we are both on leave.

It was a tough decision, but Dave finally decided to resign from Lincoln Southeast for the rest of the semester.  Since he is part time, he is not eligible for a leave of absence.  He has to resign.  However, he does plan to return to Southeast in the Fall.

This is the ninth day that he has been confined to bed due to severe back pain.  He has had back trouble before, but this time it seems different.  He has already missed a lot of school, and he wanted to be fair to the students and to RJ, so he stepped aside so they could hire someone to replace him for the remainder of this school year.

The good news is that Dave is already working on the marching band show for next fall.  He's arranging Elgar's "Enigma Variations."  Fortunately, that is something he can work on with his laptop in bed.  He's also busy with the NSBA website.  It does help pass the time and definitely keeps life interesting.  (Like we needed that.)

Jeannette

Day Seven

Dave is still on the mend, but he's still not ready to go back to school.  Today is the seventh day that he has been home bound due to back pain.  I took him to the chiropractor today.  He always feels better after an adjustment.  He's back to walking with a cane, so that's an improvement.  Progress is slow, but it's still progress.

Jeannette

Stable

Dave is still confined to bed, but he is improving.  I took him to his chiropractor and family doctor yesterday.  X-rays showed that the problem is NOT a pinched nerve or any sort of disc disease, which means the pain is due to injured and inflamed muscles.  Dave was given a shot of Nubain, a narcotic pain killer, which resulted in a whole slew of side effects, which I won't recount here.  Just suffice it to say, they were all bad.  We do know that he doesn't want to try Nubain again even if it relieves the pain.  So now he is on a muscle relaxant plus Hydrocodone and a new pain patch called the Flector Patch.  He can get comfortable in bed and is finally getting some sleep.  He still uses his walker, and he knows he needs to get up and move around once in a while to keep his circulation going.  However, I think the worst is over.  Now he just has to be patient and allow his muscles to recover.

Sigh . . .

Jeannette

Retrograde

Just when we thought we were out of the woods, Dave developed severe, debilitating back pain.  He stayed home from school Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and today.  He spends most of his time in bed.  Last night I finally resorted to reassembling his walker for the few times he does get out of bed to sit in his recliner.  Dave has made a couple of visits this week to a chiropractor who has helped him before, but this pain seems to be new and different.  Chances are that he has just been trying too hard to get back to normal and has overdone activities (like going downstairs and working in his woodworking shop).  He built himself a little step for exercising his left knee muscles and I think he used that too much as well.  I'm not even sure I can get him into the car today to go to see a doctor.  However, as soon as he is able we will go in search of answers. 

Once again I see the wisdom in taking a one-year leave of absence from Wesleyan.

Jeannette

Remembering 1989

"The Velvet Revolution" is the what we call the events of November 1989 that ended the 41-year Russian occupation of Czechoslovakia. My relatives in the Czech Republic refer to the Velvet Revolution as "The Change."  My second cousin, Jarda, and I have been penpals since the early 1960s.  We had grown up in parallel universes, Jarda behind the Iron Curtain and me here in the USA.  I still remember reading about the Velvet Revolution in 1989 and wondering if things were really going to change.  I had spent nearly 30 years writing carefully worded letters to Jarda, knowing that they would be censored and read by the authorities, and also knowing that my letters might not even make it to him.  We limited our exchanges to weather, studies in school, general information about birthdays, hobbies and other very mundane topics.  But we always kept in touch.  Near Christmas time in 1989 just after the Velvet Revolution, I received a package from Jarda with no letter or explanation.  However, the contents said it all.  During the Communist occupation, religious expression had been totally suppressed.  When I opened my package from Jarda, I discovered this beautiful corn husk nativity set.  It still remains my favorite Christmas decoration.  Here are a few photos.

 

 

 

I spent New Year's Eve 2005/2006 with Jarda and his family at their home in Moravia.  They had a similar nativity set in their living room.  Any corn husk nativity would be special to me, since I practically grew up in a corn field, but this one from the Czech Republic will always be a remarkable treasure.

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Christmas came late this year to many families in the Midwest.  Our family finally got together at Kristi and Paul's house in Omaha on Mon. Dec. 28.  Here are a few of my favorite photos.

       

 Ellie, Angie, Zach and Ty

Kristi got a shirt from California that says "Believe"

 Angie still reads comic books.

 

Ellie is fond of Santa.

 

Only an author would request a book entitled "Origins of the Specious" . . .

 

 . . . and a thesaurus.

 

You can't go wrong with a gift card to Cabela's. . .

 

 . .  . or a bottle of Kristi's homemade salsa.

 

Zachary & Tyler received new games (Wii, I think) . . .

 

 . . . and old games, too.

Angie found them some vintage games for their Game Boys.

 

Back home in Lincoln,  Pita enjoys her train one last time before I put it away.

We had a very white Christmas.
(including the cat)

Jeannette

San Diego Union-Tribune

Pam sent me some clippings about the Lincoln Southeast Band from the San Diego newspaper.  Nice coverage.  Thanks, Pam!

Click to see an enlarged version.

RJ remains cool.

*****

Holiday Bowl in San Diego Dec. 30

This photo came from RJ's Blackberry.  Nebraskans at home did not get to see the pre-game show on ESPN because the game before ours ran into overtime.  Great photo.  Thanks, RJ!

Lincoln Southeast Band

Pre-Game at Holiday Bowl in San Diego

Dec. 30, 2009

Pam sent these photos taken by her son, Dan, on his phone during the Holiday Bowl Game.

Thanks, Pam!

Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego

                                         

I think the band is down there in the right corner.

Fireworks at half-time.

Massed band at half-time.

Massed band AND fireworks.

That girls needs to turn around and watch the bands!

Nice seats!

Great game!

Huskers 33 - Arizona 0

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