Our Morning Coffee and Weather

[JEBar]

73 degrees on its way to 87 today in east central South Dakota .... 100% chance of thunderstorms this morning .... the rumble of thunder in the distance appears to support that prediction .... 87 on its way to 93 back home in NC, happy to be in SD .... back to HyVee house brand coffee this morning in a Luckenbach mug

[Mags]

60 and mostly cloudy. Maybe 74 later. Haircut day. Been 9 weeks; got a bit shaggy!

[markiver54]

60 and mostly cloudy. Maybe 74 later. Haircut day. Been 9 weeks; got a bit shaggy!

Haircut day for me as well Mags. The pharmacy is right across the street from there where I will p/u my new meds.
Thanks for your reply on cessation also!!

[cooperhawk]

Carol has been getting a lot of calls concerning my health. I will tell you I am alive and well although a little sore.

For more than fifteen years the Mayo Clinic has been watching an Aortal Aneurysm that I have, (or rather had). they
monitored it as it grew larger and in their estimation the surgery was not more dangerous than the Aneurysm. About two
months ago they checked it and deemed it now too dangerous to not repair so I then spent three weeks off and on being scanned
and tested to see how to repair it and if I was healthy enough for the surgery. Lots of MRIs, CT scans, Sonograms, blood
tests, (lots of blood tests), and consultations. Anyway they decided that on July 23rd they would operate.
Then we got a call that they moved it up to July 16th.

Tuesday morning, July 16th Carol and I reported to St. Mary's Hospital at 7:30 in the morning, and began to wait. And wait.
You have to wait until the operating room is ready and available. They have over 65 if these.
About 10:30 they wheeled me into the operating room and from there I don't remember much.

I guess the surgery took about two hours but it took longer for me to wake up. By two in the afternoon I was in a room and
Carol was waiting. I spent the rest of the day and night there and was released Wednesday morning. All fixed. I was glad
to get out of there. Although the workers there were very pleasant and efficient, it was a place of high activity where it was
really hard to rest.

Got home yesterday and slept 10 hours last night. I have a very sore throat from a breathing tube and pretty sore from
the incisions, (although not as sore as I expected). I could not keep food down yesterday but am doing OK today.

So here's what they did. If an Aneurysm ruptures very often the individual dies unless they can get to surgical help
quickly. If they do then the surgery involves an incision from groin to sternum and is radical. When I was first diagnosed
that was the only way to treat Aneurysms. Since that time the Mayo has developed a method of using two stints, (about the
size of a garden hose), to create a sleeve inside the Aorta. Not every case can be solved by this method and if it cannot, then
they do the radical surgery. In my case I was lucky enough to not need that. It could have gone either way. They insert
two stints through small incisions in the groin, and once in place expand them and join them up. That way they go up
the artery in each leg and join in the Aorta and continue up the aorta a ways. Sounds tricky, but they did it.

They say that this is one of those surgeries that will not make you feel any better. It will just save your life.

I can only say the Mayo and St Marys is a fantastic place to be if you need it. They were superb in every way.

Then they told me,(in front of Carol no less), that I should not lift more than 20 pounds or drive a motor vehicle for
at least two weeks. So now I have a Warden. Fat chance, I have things to do.

Sincerely
Coop

[markiver54]

Glad to hear all went well Coop. I hope and pray for a quick and successful recovery!!
BTW, my Wardens' name is Carol also!...God speed !!

[RanchRoper]

Speedy recovery Coop.

[cooperhawk]

Thanks guys, in a few minutes the Warden is going to take me out to lunch.
Can't keep a good man down. At least not for long.

[JEBar]

speedy recovery indeed .... Mayo is a fine facility .... when our oldest son had to make a decision about doing his medical residency, it came down to choosing between Mayo and Barnes-Jewish in St Louis .... he was very impressed with Mayo and it wasn't easy for him to finally decide not to go there .... I learned the hard way its best to follow Dr's orders in the recovery be sure to take care of yourself

[BigAl52]

Take Care up there Coop and speedy recovery to you. Hot here 100. Went for a bike ride at 6am today to avoid the heat. Then went to work.

[Vaquero]

Speedy recovery to you Coop. Don't over do it, and take care of yourself.

RP

[cooperhawk]

You know I'm feeling pretty darn good already. Fact I'm tired of sitting around already. Now if I can just get the Warden to give me back my car keys...............

[JEBar]

83 on its way to 88 with a 15 mph wind in east central South Dakota .... better than the 94 they are calling for back home .... time for breakfast ..

[Mags]

58 and mostly sunny. Maybe 77 later.

[Ernie]

73 this morning then supposed to hit 90s and thunderstorms after 1:00 PM. Got most of the grass cut yesterday afternoon after work (94 degrees) but still have about another hour of mowing to finish. That and scraping paint and fixing window dry rot will make my chore list until the rain drives me inside.

[RanchRoper]

50's and rain. Tea in Henry mug. Maybe reload a 100 or so rounds today.

[Ernie]

You sound very comfortable with the reloading now. Maybe this winter I will build a bench and unpack all the STUFF I have purchased for this.

[JEBar]

57 degrees, on its way to 74 .... per radar, we are almost out of one heck of a thunderstorm that, as predicted, a storm started moving in .... some loud thunder, thankfully no strikes close by .... strong wind .... about 7:30 something hit the camper and hit it hard, just came back in from taking the pictures below and looking over the camper .... couldn't find anything ..

[BigAl52]

Cooler here today and windy. I was going to go shooting but with the wind blowing like it is Im not going to venture out there. Thunder storms this afternoon. Need to load some 38-55 may go down and do that.

[Mags]

59 and sunny. Maybe 85 later.

[Ernie]

72 with the high of 85 today and rain. Maybe an inside work day today. Cooling off this week