Author Topic: GRand Adventure  (Read 3493 times)

Soundy

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GRand Adventure
« on: February 08, 2009, 04:58:17 pm »
Reading here this morning and seing all the things people have done that were physiaclly challangeing
but they did with grit and determination anyway made me want to get up and go tackle our mountain (really a
hill but at moment a mountain to me )

I used to hike alot across our hills but don't anymore ...I have driven truck up the hill and walked a little
on the ridge which isn't smooth but is relatively flat ...but it isn't the same as hiking through the woods
and up and down hills and into the little valleys ...

Bo and the girls packed an apple ,orange , banana and three bottles of Gatorade and took off earlier...
they didn't even ask if I wanted to go cause they say I hold them back ...

I gave them a 15 minute head start and armed with a walking staff took off up the side of the hill... going
up wasn't too bad visually ...I kinda leaned into the hill which is steep to keep from toppling over backward...
got to the top and had to sit down as my head was spinning and then I threw up... drank some Gatorade
and rested then took off along the ridge ... I also discovered that I had lost my camera
somewhere on trip up...  :evil:

I snuck (yes it is a word) along through the woods and down the hill a little until I got above the pond
where they were  ...I lay down by a rock and was tossing small rocks down through the woods ...didn't
scare them ...they just figure it was a deer or squirrel moving around ...

they left and went back the way I came but at the foot of the back side of the ridge I had walked along ...I
gave them some lead time then followed them from above ... there is a bend in the hill and I lost track of
them...figured they came up at head of hollow and headed home ...

I sat on the ground and ate a bunch of hickory nuts and drank Gatorade and watched for my missing family ...
birds were watching and waiting for me to leave ... they clean up bits of nut the squirrels drop...I took my
rock and cracked them about 2 dozen nuts open that they can pick over  ...I got back up and walked
back toward the hill above the house to see if I could see them...

looking down the hill made my head spin... I lay down and the cows started surrounding me ... I sat up and
swung my stick around but they just kept watching me ...I pulled out my trusty cell phone and called the
house but got no answer...I was gonna get them to come up with the truck and rescue me ... :D  .. I just sat
and waited knowing they had to come back this way... and they did ...

I walked down the hill with Bo in front of me holding onto his shirt... tried to hold his hand but he kept trying
to help me catch balance when I wobbled and was making things worse by trying to help...

been back about 2 hours and my head is still wonky and my face is a bit numb...a little nauseated and have a
middle weight  headache...my legs are throbbing and I really want to go lay down and sleep til next week ...
gonna pay for this tomorrow... but I survived .... yay  :)

This experiment in my toleration of walking on changing ground conditions was not done in the moderation it
should have been conducted in    ;D

I found my camera ...at the place they climb over a ladder built into the fence I lay down and rolled under it
and camera came out my pocket...so I guess I have to repeat my journey to get some picitres  :o... but not for
a day or maybe week or two...  :D ... should have taken my big camera... it won't fit in jacket pocket and I
would have had it slung around my neck...

my family isn't nearly as excited over my trip as I am ...  >:(

Nap time ...
3mm AN discovered Aug 2004
Translab July 2 ,2007
3.2cm x 2.75cm x 3.3cm @ time of surgery

Kaybo

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Re: GRand Adventure
« Reply #1 on: February 08, 2009, 05:42:56 pm »
Snaps to you for getting out & giving it a whirl!  Way to go girl! ;D

K
Translab 12/95@Houston Methodist(Baylor College of Medicine)for "HUGE" tumor-no size specified
25 yrs then-14 hour surgery-stroke
12/7 Graft 1/97
Gold Weight x 5
SSD
Facial Paralysis-R(no movement or feelings in face,mouth,eye)
T3-3/08
Great life!

Jim Scott

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Re: GRand Adventure
« Reply #2 on: February 08, 2009, 05:51:57 pm »
Soundy:

You deserve a nap!

Congratulations on your adventure in hill-climbing - and thanks for a very intriguing read.  I vicariously enjoyed your walk (well, except for the nausea part) and hope this is just the beginning of more 'adventures' that challenge you and get you moving.  Now, rest up as much as you can and start planning the next 'adventure'. 

Jim
« Last Edit: February 09, 2009, 02:34:18 pm by Jim Scott »
4.5 cm AN diagnosed 5/06.  Retrosigmoid surgery 6/06.  Follow-up FSR completed 10/06.  Tumor shrinkage & necrosis noted on last MRI.  Life is good. 

Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is.  The way we cope with it is what makes the difference.

Soundy

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Re: GRand Adventure
« Reply #3 on: February 08, 2009, 09:06:15 pm »
I didn't nap very well .. sore all over ...just took a hot shower and waiting on warm fuzzy PJ pants
to come out of dryer...head isn't too bad but lower legs and neck are stiff... need to walk it out at
school gym in the morning ...

also need to attack smaller hills ... ;D
3mm AN discovered Aug 2004
Translab July 2 ,2007
3.2cm x 2.75cm x 3.3cm @ time of surgery

HeadCase2

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Re: GRand Adventure
« Reply #4 on: February 09, 2009, 08:47:02 am »
Soundy,
  I enjoyed reading about your great adventure.  We got out yesterday for a long walk with Elvis (a samoyed) - it was 70 degrees here in Raleigh in Feb.  Walks in the country are one of life's quiet pleasures.
Regards,
  Rob
1.5 X 1.0 cm AN- left side
Retrosigmoid 2/9/06
Duke Univ. Hospital

GrogMeister of the PBW

texsooner

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Re: GRand Adventure
« Reply #5 on: February 09, 2009, 12:41:52 pm »
Kudos to you Soundy. Great job to get out there give the effort. Sounds like going over the uneven territory would challenge anybody with perfect balance and conditionng. You deserve a rest, but keep after it and it will get easier and easier.

Patrick
3.5cm left side AN; 11 hour retrosigmoid surgery 8/11/08 @ Memorial Hermann, Houston - Texas Medical Center with Drs. Chang and Vollmer; home on 8/13/08;
SSD(w/tinnitus); dry eye; Happy to be here and feeling good.

Pooter

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Re: GRand Adventure
« Reply #6 on: February 09, 2009, 12:44:47 pm »
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your adventure!  And, what an adventure it was!  Congrats for doing it!

Regards,
Brian
Diagnosed 4/10/08 - 3cm Right AN
12hr retrosig 5/8/08 w/Drs Vrabec and Trask in Houston, Tx
Some facial paralysis post-op but most movement is back, some tinitus.  SSD on right.
Story documented here:  http://briansbrainbooger.blogspot.com/

"I must be having fun all wrong!"  - Roger Creager

Soundy

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Re: Grand Adventure
« Reply #7 on: February 15, 2009, 09:55:27 am »
Plotting a new assault on the hill... was looking at it from bottom and think I have a better way to
go up... the down part still will require someone to be in front of me ... too steep and we
also seem to have a good crop of rocks coming in that I would hate to knock my head against on
the way down

funny what little things I used to take for granted now make me deliriously happy ... used to scoot up
the hill without much thought ... just achy legs ...now it is like I ran a marathon ...

I got my inspiration from all of you that have accomplished a goal ...like the marathons some of you
have ran or bike riding and other physical accomplishments that you all have posted ... with new headache
treatment and new confidence I am feeling alot better all around , just by  climbing that hill that stands over my
shoulder every day taunting me to come on up

onward and upward ...

Thank you all for posting accomplishments that inspire the rest of us to get off our duffs and try something

Still can't ride my bike ... tried Thursday and landed on the shoulder of the road ...still to wobbly and without
hauling it somewhere our road is too rough and it throws me further off balance ...our road is chipped ...
similar to pavement just not as smooth and it has pot holes galore ...  so I guess hill climbing will be my new
diversion with exercise included ... at least the shoulder was soft due to all the rain we had and all I suffered
was a bit of mud on my clothes ... and bruised dignity ...   :)



3mm AN discovered Aug 2004
Translab July 2 ,2007
3.2cm x 2.75cm x 3.3cm @ time of surgery

Soundy

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Re: Grand Adventure
« Reply #8 on: March 06, 2009, 06:51:41 am »
I have taken some shorter walks about the farm and had less dramatic results and that is a
good thing ...more enjoyable when I don't over do...

but yesterday I did a dumb thing maybe ... but I live to tell about it so I guess it was OK...

my 11 year old is getting chicks from 4-H that she has to raise and turn in 6 of the 25  at the
fair in August ...

my son has been helping me build a chicken house ...we have been delayed on finishing it due to
weather last couple weeks ... yesterday we got out there and finished lathing on roof and
moved on to laying down the tin... I got on the roof and nailed it down ...cometimes I would look
down and the ground was moving around ...had to look off across hayfield or into the woods to stop
swirling feeling ...

my mom shows up in the middle of this and was yelling at Travis for letting me get on the roof and she
was going to call Bo at work to come make me get down... I froze up once and was kinda lounging
across the roof holding on to a lathing strip ...

Travis was trying to talk me down and mom was moaning a groaning and thinking a 911 call was in order ...
I told them to shut up and leave me alone ... I got rolled over on my back and watched clouds go by and
was finally able to let go of the lath strip and continue on...laying across the strips was uncomfortable and
probably helped me unfreeze as much as the pretty sky...

this morning I am achy and the right side of my face is funny feeling ...and the metal taste in my mouth is
more pronounced... but I feel good just because I did it ...

the renewed facial things make me think that there is swelling around the nerve ...when I over do or just get
really tired I get this renewal of facial nerve symptoms ... but the doctors say that swelling shouldn't happen...
maybe no but something is going on in there...

I never in my life thought nailing tin on a chicken house would make me feel so good ...used to do stuff like this
as a part of daily life and not give it a second thought ...now it is like a great accomplishment ...one of the
girls took some pictures ...I haven't even looked at them but will stick one up here later if I remember to
3mm AN discovered Aug 2004
Translab July 2 ,2007
3.2cm x 2.75cm x 3.3cm @ time of surgery

lori67

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Re: GRand Adventure
« Reply #9 on: March 06, 2009, 10:05:00 am »
Oh Soundy, your adventures certainly are adventurous!   :D

We seem to have similar personalities - I'm frequently getting yelled at by my family for attempting crazy things - climbing on ladders, balancing on the edge of the bathtub to hang a shower curtain.  I haven't attempted to get on the roof yet, and I think that's probably not in my future.  Heck, it wasn't even in my past.

I guess you just never know what you can do until you give it a try - and success always makes you feel better.  I'm sure the chickens will be equally as happy as you when they have a roof over their heads!

Looking forward to hearing about the next adventure you set off on!  I think I need to find something more exciting to do - sounds like you have all the fun!   :D

Lori
Right 3cm AN diagnosed 1/2007.  Translab resection 2/20/07 by Dr. David Kaylie and Dr. Karl Hampf at Baptist Hospital in Nashville.  R side deafness, facial nerve paralysis.  Tarsorraphy and tear duct cauterization 5/2007.  BAHA implant 11/8/07. 7-12 nerve jump 9/26/08.

moe

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Re: GRand Adventure
« Reply #10 on: March 06, 2009, 10:14:47 am »
Just curious, how high is a chicken roof? Way to go for keeping truckin and keep pluggn along!
We want chickens eventually, but I'm not ready for another chore....... That's what happens......
Maureen
06/06-Translab 3x2.5 vascular L AN- MAMC,Tacoma WA
Facial nerve cut,reanastomosed.Tarsorrhaphy
11/06. Gold weight,tarsorrhaphy reversed
01/08- nerve transposition-(12/7) UW Hospital, Seattle
5/13/10 Gracilis flap surgery UW for smile restoration :)
11/10/10 BAHA 2/23/11 brow lift/canthoplasty

Pooter

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Re: GRand Adventure
« Reply #11 on: March 06, 2009, 11:31:05 am »
Hehe..  I so love reading about your latest adventure.  I can't say that I've done much of anything as adventerous as that, but I was gonna get on a the roof to fix a shingle a month or so back.  By just talking about it, Jenni was half scared to death at the thought of me on the roof, so she called a construction friend of our to come do it.  Probably for the best looking back.

Congratulations for taking the bull by the horns and doing something more "normal" for ya!

Regards,
Brian
Diagnosed 4/10/08 - 3cm Right AN
12hr retrosig 5/8/08 w/Drs Vrabec and Trask in Houston, Tx
Some facial paralysis post-op but most movement is back, some tinitus.  SSD on right.
Story documented here:  http://briansbrainbooger.blogspot.com/

"I must be having fun all wrong!"  - Roger Creager

Soundy

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Re: GRand Adventure
« Reply #12 on: March 06, 2009, 12:36:34 pm »
Just curious, how high is a chicken roof? Way to go for keeping truckin and keep pluggn along!
We want chickens eventually, but I'm not ready for another chore....... That's what happens......
Maureen

well for chicken the roof doesn't need to be very high but inside of the chicken house is about 7
feet tall at center and 6 feet at back and front wall ... I made it with a storage area for feed and assorted
chicken things... don't want to go in there bumping my head ...husband says it is too big ... going in the
old one I have to duck to go through the door and stoop inside ...he wanted to kick Waldo Honker Goose
out of that one and just revamp it ...Waldo has been here for 9 years Easter and I figure he has senrority...

Waldo also likes to smash baby chicks in his beak and it is not good for them  :o ...so they have to be separated
and in something where he can't get to them...

I am so stiff and sore now ...my arm and shoulder ache... but it a kinda good ache...
 
and Pooter ... that is what made me happy ...it was closer to normal activity for me ... and I have found I have
gone soft in the 20 months since surgery

3mm AN discovered Aug 2004
Translab July 2 ,2007
3.2cm x 2.75cm x 3.3cm @ time of surgery

Soundy

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Re: GRand Adventure
« Reply #13 on: March 08, 2009, 09:49:46 am »
Travis who has help me get the thing built is at moms today helping her put in flooring in her dining
room and kitchen ...he said he is dreading it because mom is going to be telling him off all over again
for letting me on the roof ... he may be 28 and bigger than me but I am still mom ... if I want to get
on a roof and feel like I can I will... but funny my mom chewing him out like he could stop me ...

Mom thinks he should move in with us while he is out of work to watch me during the day ... he and I
both laughed at her and she puffed up and got mad ...I don't do stuff like that when I am alone ... well
since well before surgery I haven't done stuff like that ... but I'm not having a baby sitter ...

Travis says he needs to find a job before we drive him nuts...  ;D
3mm AN discovered Aug 2004
Translab July 2 ,2007
3.2cm x 2.75cm x 3.3cm @ time of surgery

MAlegant

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Re: GRand Adventure
« Reply #14 on: March 08, 2009, 03:20:47 pm »
Soundy,
I just love your stories and your attitude.  You will continue to feel better (minus the soreness) the more you do.  I just can't believe you CLIMBED A ROOF.  That may be why your mom thinks you need a babysitter, because you're a daredevil.   ;D I have to say that if were there with you I'd probably be cheering you on to ever more adventures.  I'm a troublemaker.
Marci
3cmx4cm trigeminal neuroma, involved all the facial nerves, dx July 8, 2008, tx July 22, 2008, home on July 24, 2008. Amazing care at University Hospitals in Cleveland.