It all started out innocently enough. I went to see Dr. Naam about having reconstructive surgery done
on my poor old arthritic hand. We scheduled it for May 5. As we left his office, the nurse commented that I needed a photo ID the day of the surgery.
When I got home I pulled out my driver's license and told Jim that the person in the picture on the license didn't even look like me (I had dyed hair, big glasses and tipped the scales a few (?) pounds lighter. One day, I told Jim to run me by the DMV office and I would have a new picture taken and change the address on my license to the address I have lived at for 13+ years. Yes, I
know!!!
While we were waiting in line for someone to help me, I happened to glance down at my driver's license and stamped on it were these words: "Expiration date 2005!"
Well, when the DMV guy was told this, I thought he might be having a heart attack. He did tell me
I had set a new record. The old record was a woman who had an expired license 5 years old.
He informed me I had to start over--read the Rules of the Road book; take a written test, have an eye exam and drive. A few days later, after having reviewed the booklet, I went back to the
driver's license office, prepared to take the written test.
When the worker asked me for an ID, I was prepared, except for one little thing. She said she
needed to see my Social Security card. Guess what!!! I had lost that card! I was told I couldn't get a driver's license without a Social Security card.
I contacted the national Social Security office and they told me my birth certificate wasn't going to work--they needed an Illinois driver's license (valid driver's license, they stressed). Well,
if that wasn't a big fat mess. I couldn't get my new driver's license without a Social Security card
and couldn't get a Social Security card without a valid Driver's license.
I kept trying to find a type of ID that the SSA would accept. Finally, we drove to Effingham
to the regional office and I explained my dilemma to the gentleman there. He said there was
a solution. If I had a doctor's print-out of where I had seen a doctor, with my date of birth on it
and my Social Security number printed on it--that would work.
I had just seen Dr. Bonutti a few weeks earlier, so we scooted over to Dr. Bonutti's office--his nurse gave me a copy of my last appointment print-out, we took it back to the SS office
and it worked.
I got the Social Security card in the mail within a week and a half and yesterday took and
passed my driver's test, SO I AM LEGAL AGAIN!
We tried to piece together how I could have had an expired license for so many years. We decided that I must have failed to notify the State of Illinois when we moved from the country
to town (around 13 years ago). I had not been in the Driver's License facility for years because
I had a good driving record and all I had to do was order my new license by mail. Luckily,
I had never been pulled over by a policeman who asked to see my license, and it had been
so long, I was not even in the data base in Springfield. They must have assumed I was dead!
So take my advice, and once in a while be sure your driver's license is current; and that you
have a Social Security CARD!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
A strange trip to the Land of OZ.
Did you ever find yourself in a situation where you begin to question your sanity? Jim and I went through that recently--at a doctor's office.
A few years ago I developed a nasty disease called "lymphedema". This is what happens when something goes haywire with your immune system. You can have lymphedema in various parts
of your body--mine was in my arms and hands. Strangely, many doctors don't know much
about the disease and just kind of push you on to another doctor to deal with it.
Jim had to wrap both arms and hands every day--and I was only allowed 1 hour out of the wraps
in each 24 hour period--in order to take a shower.
The wrapping causes pressure to be put on the swelling and attempts to trick the immune system
to start working again. In the midst of this, all at once 2 fingers on my left hand began to "dangle". The doctor said arthritis had eaten through the tendons on that hand. My regular doctor suggested I see Dr. Naam, who is known in these parts as the "hand doctor". We thought Dr. Naam could tie the tendons up so I would have some use of that hand. At the time I was
playing the organ at church and although it was easier to play the organ at that point than the piano (I could slid my fingers on the organ and somewhat hit the right notes), it was still
difficult to do daily tasks around the house with 3 fingers working.
I went to Dr. Naam and he agreed to do the surgery on that hand and we had a time set and everything. Only a day before, however, he called me and said that he had consulted with
doctors across the country and they had advised him it was too dangerous to do any surgery,
as they were afraid the hand might get infected and the infection would spread all over my body.
So, I forgot about surgery and went about my business. Then, I ended up with 1 dangling finger on the right hand. In time, both hands began to draw up and kind of form a "cup". I
can't straighten them out, so my doctor said it was time to talk to Dr. Naam again.
When Dr. Naam came into the office that day he said, "Well, did you have surgery?" Jim and I
looked at each other in confusion. I told the doctor that I had not had surgery because he
backed out of doing it. He argued with me and said another doctor had sent me to him and
the other doctor was going to do the surgery. Finally, Dr. Naam spotted 2 sticky notes
on the inside of my file and they must have explained what had transpired the other time,
so he ended up apologizing for the misunderstanding.
To make a long story short--I am scheduled to have surgery on May 5, to be done by Dr. Naam
to try to correct the cupping on my left hand. If it works, I will have the right hand done later.
Later on this blog, I will tell you about how the visit to Dr. Naam turned into a strange turn of events. I want to make sure everything works out before I talk about--afraid talking about it
prematurely might jinx it. Stay tuned!
A few years ago I developed a nasty disease called "lymphedema". This is what happens when something goes haywire with your immune system. You can have lymphedema in various parts
of your body--mine was in my arms and hands. Strangely, many doctors don't know much
about the disease and just kind of push you on to another doctor to deal with it.
Jim had to wrap both arms and hands every day--and I was only allowed 1 hour out of the wraps
in each 24 hour period--in order to take a shower.
The wrapping causes pressure to be put on the swelling and attempts to trick the immune system
to start working again. In the midst of this, all at once 2 fingers on my left hand began to "dangle". The doctor said arthritis had eaten through the tendons on that hand. My regular doctor suggested I see Dr. Naam, who is known in these parts as the "hand doctor". We thought Dr. Naam could tie the tendons up so I would have some use of that hand. At the time I was
playing the organ at church and although it was easier to play the organ at that point than the piano (I could slid my fingers on the organ and somewhat hit the right notes), it was still
difficult to do daily tasks around the house with 3 fingers working.
I went to Dr. Naam and he agreed to do the surgery on that hand and we had a time set and everything. Only a day before, however, he called me and said that he had consulted with
doctors across the country and they had advised him it was too dangerous to do any surgery,
as they were afraid the hand might get infected and the infection would spread all over my body.
So, I forgot about surgery and went about my business. Then, I ended up with 1 dangling finger on the right hand. In time, both hands began to draw up and kind of form a "cup". I
can't straighten them out, so my doctor said it was time to talk to Dr. Naam again.
When Dr. Naam came into the office that day he said, "Well, did you have surgery?" Jim and I
looked at each other in confusion. I told the doctor that I had not had surgery because he
backed out of doing it. He argued with me and said another doctor had sent me to him and
the other doctor was going to do the surgery. Finally, Dr. Naam spotted 2 sticky notes
on the inside of my file and they must have explained what had transpired the other time,
so he ended up apologizing for the misunderstanding.
To make a long story short--I am scheduled to have surgery on May 5, to be done by Dr. Naam
to try to correct the cupping on my left hand. If it works, I will have the right hand done later.
Later on this blog, I will tell you about how the visit to Dr. Naam turned into a strange turn of events. I want to make sure everything works out before I talk about--afraid talking about it
prematurely might jinx it. Stay tuned!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Dr. Peter Bonutti
If you live anywhere close to Effingham, IL, you are certain to have heard of Dr. Peter Bonutti. He is an orthopedic doctor and has a thriving clinic in Effingham. I met him several years ago after having two knees replacements put in at the Vincennes Hospital, and one of them didn't work right after it was done. The doctor who did the surgery knew something was terribly wrong, and reacted in a rather unusual way--he was very rude to me. I ended up at Dr. Bonutti's office and he did another knee replacement. I always like to see the looks on people's faces when I tell them I have had 3 knee replacements--and two shoulder replacements, too. I hadn't seen Dr. Bonutti in several years, but began to have difficulty in walking and went to see if everything was o.k. with the knee replacements. X-rays showed them to be pretty much intact with the exception of some plastic shredding (whatever that means)! The doctor decided my walking problem was probably caused by an arthritic back. When I was in Bonutti's office, I asked him if he remembered his comment to me about my nose. He didn't. One time I said to the doctor, "You know you have replaced nearly everything in my body that can be replaced. There is surely nothing left to change." Without missing a beat, he got right up in my face and said, "Well, I can always work on that nose of yours!" For the people who don't know me, I inherited the LEE nose! The LEE nose looks like a clown's nose, except it isn't bright red--well, maybe it is on occasion! Dr. Bonutti's nurse couldn't believe he had said that to me, but I reminded him he was much younger then and sillier. We all had a good laugh. Rumor has it that this silly doctor has invented several orthopedic devices and methods to install them. I don't know if this is true, but he is one heck of a good doctor--even if he did make fun of my nose!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
A Day In the life ot the People at First Baptist
Our family has belonged to The First Baptist Church in Flora for many years. Our church was
always known for having great singers. They could perform solos, duets, trios and even quartets.
We no longer have a choir, and to tell you the truth--that is probably my fault, as I wasn't talented enough on the piano to play those choir songs. This story goes back a few years.
Our Shari was a teen-ager and she and two or three of her friends always sat on the front row of
the choir section and believe me, there was always some kind of confusion going on up there.
Jim and I tried to sit out in the congregation where we could keep an eye on them and see what they were doing and when things would get really bad, we would give Shari one of those, "wait until we get you home" looks, but Shari soon learned how to avoid that problem--she refused to look at us the whole service.
This particular Sunday, we had a guest speaker. He was a young man and while the first part of the service was going on, he sat in a chair right beside the choir but sitting facing a different direction. This made everything he did visible to the members of the choir and visa-versa, but
the man didn't pay much attention to what was going on. He was probably nervous and I imagine he was going over in his mind what he was going to talk about when his turn came up.
He absentmindedly started picking at a stray thead on his pant leg. Well, you know men--he kept picking and picking until the thread broke. He was unaware the young girls were watching all of this, but they were glued to the scene.
As his hem on the pants began to unravel, so did the choir. The young girls got the older women laughing--the older women made the men start to snicker and before long, since laughter is contagious, the congregation started laughing too--even though they had no clue as to what was going on in the choir loft.
The choir finally began to settle down a bit--until the man stood up to speak, and there was one pant leg dragging the floor and the other one up where it was supposed to be--and well, that started the young girls off on another tangent. The young man said, "good morning" and people snickered all over the church--he made some remarks and everyone laughed--whether it was funny or not. Let me tell you, it was one joyous service.
I'm sure that young man, when he left our church that morning thought to himself--"why I must be a better speaker than I thought. I had those people rolling in the aisles."
And our Heavenly Father, sitting up there in his big Man's Recliner, must have said to himself,
on that Sunday morning, as he shook his head from side-to-side--"goodness, goodness, what am I going to do with those Flora Baptists?", but I'll bet he had little laugh lines around his mouth, too. What do you think?
always known for having great singers. They could perform solos, duets, trios and even quartets.
We no longer have a choir, and to tell you the truth--that is probably my fault, as I wasn't talented enough on the piano to play those choir songs. This story goes back a few years.
Our Shari was a teen-ager and she and two or three of her friends always sat on the front row of
the choir section and believe me, there was always some kind of confusion going on up there.
Jim and I tried to sit out in the congregation where we could keep an eye on them and see what they were doing and when things would get really bad, we would give Shari one of those, "wait until we get you home" looks, but Shari soon learned how to avoid that problem--she refused to look at us the whole service.
This particular Sunday, we had a guest speaker. He was a young man and while the first part of the service was going on, he sat in a chair right beside the choir but sitting facing a different direction. This made everything he did visible to the members of the choir and visa-versa, but
the man didn't pay much attention to what was going on. He was probably nervous and I imagine he was going over in his mind what he was going to talk about when his turn came up.
He absentmindedly started picking at a stray thead on his pant leg. Well, you know men--he kept picking and picking until the thread broke. He was unaware the young girls were watching all of this, but they were glued to the scene.
As his hem on the pants began to unravel, so did the choir. The young girls got the older women laughing--the older women made the men start to snicker and before long, since laughter is contagious, the congregation started laughing too--even though they had no clue as to what was going on in the choir loft.
The choir finally began to settle down a bit--until the man stood up to speak, and there was one pant leg dragging the floor and the other one up where it was supposed to be--and well, that started the young girls off on another tangent. The young man said, "good morning" and people snickered all over the church--he made some remarks and everyone laughed--whether it was funny or not. Let me tell you, it was one joyous service.
I'm sure that young man, when he left our church that morning thought to himself--"why I must be a better speaker than I thought. I had those people rolling in the aisles."
And our Heavenly Father, sitting up there in his big Man's Recliner, must have said to himself,
on that Sunday morning, as he shook his head from side-to-side--"goodness, goodness, what am I going to do with those Flora Baptists?", but I'll bet he had little laugh lines around his mouth, too. What do you think?
Thursday, March 17, 2011
A sad time--
I see it has been nearly 2 weeks since I last wrote in this blog. The N.W.H. blog practically writes itself. All I have to do is check my sources on what those silly politicians are doing--and put it down on paper, but this blog is harder.
As I said at the beginning when I started writing this blog--this shows my kinder, gentler self. Right now,
that self is having trouble accepting a serious illness which my ex-daughter-in-law has. I simply can't get my mind wrapped around this situation.
Of course, she is Rylee's mother and she is a great mother, too. Rylee went through a really rough time when her folks got a divorce, and I can only worry about how she is going to get through this sickness and the upside-down world that will undoubtedly accompany it.
Rylee has 2 brothers and I worry about them, too.
Every time I would start to write in this blog, Jennifer would come floating into my mind.
I ask for your prayers for the whole family. I never know if it is right to ask for a miracle--but
if God doesn't mind--this might be the time to ask for one of those, too.
Thank you for caring!
As I said at the beginning when I started writing this blog--this shows my kinder, gentler self. Right now,
that self is having trouble accepting a serious illness which my ex-daughter-in-law has. I simply can't get my mind wrapped around this situation.
Of course, she is Rylee's mother and she is a great mother, too. Rylee went through a really rough time when her folks got a divorce, and I can only worry about how she is going to get through this sickness and the upside-down world that will undoubtedly accompany it.
Rylee has 2 brothers and I worry about them, too.
Every time I would start to write in this blog, Jennifer would come floating into my mind.
I ask for your prayers for the whole family. I never know if it is right to ask for a miracle--but
if God doesn't mind--this might be the time to ask for one of those, too.
Thank you for caring!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Well, we are back from a month in the south and getting settled back in. This house seems SO big after living in a motor home--and the nice thing is I don't have to step on a pedal to flush the toilet! Anyhow, until I get my thoughts together, my brother sent me this via e-mail. I thought it was so cute that I wanted to pass it on to you!
A very gentle Southern lady was driving across the Savannah River Bridge in Georgia one day. As she neared the top of the bridge, she noticed a young man fixing (getting ready) to jump. She stopped her car, rolled down the window and said, " Please don't jump. Think of your dear mother and father."
He replied, "Mom and Dad are both dead. I'm going to jump."
She said, "Well, think of your wife and children."
He replied, "I'm not married and I don't have any kids,"
She said, "Well, think of Robert E. Lee."
He asked, "Who's Robert E. Lee?"
She replied, "Well bless your heart. just go ahead and jump, you dumb a-- Yankee!"
The reason this probably caught Bob's eye is Mom and Dad named him Robert E Lee on
a February 20th morning not too many years ago. Rumor has it, he was named after a
boat. Just kidding!! Good one, Bob!
A very gentle Southern lady was driving across the Savannah River Bridge in Georgia one day. As she neared the top of the bridge, she noticed a young man fixing (getting ready) to jump. She stopped her car, rolled down the window and said, " Please don't jump. Think of your dear mother and father."
He replied, "Mom and Dad are both dead. I'm going to jump."
She said, "Well, think of your wife and children."
He replied, "I'm not married and I don't have any kids,"
She said, "Well, think of Robert E. Lee."
He asked, "Who's Robert E. Lee?"
She replied, "Well bless your heart. just go ahead and jump, you dumb a-- Yankee!"
The reason this probably caught Bob's eye is Mom and Dad named him Robert E Lee on
a February 20th morning not too many years ago. Rumor has it, he was named after a
boat. Just kidding!! Good one, Bob!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The Least Tern Nesting Area
We have driven along Highway 90 here in and around Biloxi dozens of times since we came early in Feb. When I kept seeing the sign along the road which said, "Least tern - Judith Toups Highway", well, my writer's brain was brought to attention.
What is a least tern and who is Judith Toups. The least tern is the smallest member of the gull
and tern family and when the world's longest man-made beach along the Mississippi Sound was built in 1952, the least terns found a paradise for nesting.
As for who is Judith Toups--that is a little more complicated. After her children became more or less raised, Judith began painting and soon birds appeared in many of her pictures and before long she got a field guide and binoculars ansd began to learn to identify the birds she found along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She founded a local chapter of the Audubon Society.
Hurricane Katrina changed forever the hometown of the Toups family. Although a year after Katrina, casinos and money-making businesses began to rebuild, families had to relocate as
they tried to sell their stripped real estate or wait around to settle with insurance companies.
When Judith's daughter, Christine, lost her job at a local newspaper after nearly 12 years of
service, Judith sold the family home and moved to Decatur, AL and it was there she died of lung cancer, caused by years of chain-smoking, on Feb. 27, 2007.
I urge you to look up the story of Judith Toups on the internet. Hers is a fascinating story.
What is a least tern and who is Judith Toups. The least tern is the smallest member of the gull
and tern family and when the world's longest man-made beach along the Mississippi Sound was built in 1952, the least terns found a paradise for nesting.
As for who is Judith Toups--that is a little more complicated. After her children became more or less raised, Judith began painting and soon birds appeared in many of her pictures and before long she got a field guide and binoculars ansd began to learn to identify the birds she found along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She founded a local chapter of the Audubon Society.
Hurricane Katrina changed forever the hometown of the Toups family. Although a year after Katrina, casinos and money-making businesses began to rebuild, families had to relocate as
they tried to sell their stripped real estate or wait around to settle with insurance companies.
When Judith's daughter, Christine, lost her job at a local newspaper after nearly 12 years of
service, Judith sold the family home and moved to Decatur, AL and it was there she died of lung cancer, caused by years of chain-smoking, on Feb. 27, 2007.
I urge you to look up the story of Judith Toups on the internet. Hers is a fascinating story.
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