January 30, 2014

01/17/2014

As most of y'all know, I've been having pain problems with my legs since September.  In December I had a sonogram done and then got an appointment with a vascular surgeon .  He had to cancel the appointment but called and made me an appointment with Dr. Athar Ansari at the California Heart & Vascular Clinic here in El Centro.

After visiting with Dr. Ansari yesterday, Joyce and I are very pleased.  Dr. Ansari first explained what is going on in my arteries and what caused it in the first place.  He then gave us an in-depth explanation of what he does to fix the problem and then took us on a personal tour of his facility.

Dr. Ansari is basically going to "roter-router" both of my legs, starting with the left one next Tuesday.  He will go in through my groin with a tool that he co-developed and clean the arteries out, removing all of the "stuff".  After the procedure, I will stay in the clinic for up to four hours and then go home, returning the next day to make sure I am not having any problems.  A week later, he will do my right leg.

After another week, I will need to have another sonogram on my legs to make sure I am still getting good blood flow and then in six months another one will be done.  Dr. Ansari is going to call my doctor at Bend Memorial Clinic and get that set up for me.  He will also be sending Dr. Russell all my charts with the test results and his intervention information.

During our interview, Dr. Ansari reviewed his background with us as well.  One of my questions was why he chose to have his practice in El Centro.  he told us that when he completed his training here in the United States, he wanted to stay an practice medicine here.  In order to get a work permit, he had to choose a place where his services were needed so, "here I am".

01/22/2014

Finally, some good things happening in the Crocker household.

Yesterday, I had my left leg "rotter-routed" and all went very well.  I now have good blood flow when before, as you can see in the pictures, very little blood movement in the main artery.  Dr. Ansari did an outstanding job and Joyce and I are very grateful.  I won't go into the details of how he did the procedure but suffice it to say, I felt like I was in good hands during the whole thing.

Left Leg Before & After

Some advice for everyone.  If you feel any unexplained tiredness or pain in your legs, see your doctor right away.  I should have gone and had my legs checked a long time ago but waited until I was actually getting bad pain in my calves.  That could have proved to be disastrous.  Don't wait!

I had a wound check today and they scheduled me for my right leg to be done on 3 Feb.  Dr. Ansari said he gives his chances about 85% for a complete cleaning of that artery.  It is full occluded so it is going to be harder to do the necessary work.  Joyce and I are optimistic and hopeful that everything will go well and we can get on with our lives.

01/30/2012

Dr. Ansari was able to fit me in earlier than scheduled and I had the right leg rodded-out this past Monday.  I am very happy to report that the procedure went very well, even better than the left leg.  I'm not ready to run a marathon or anything close to it but I can say I feel much better.

Right Leg Before & After

I have an appointment on Saturday to have another ultrasound done and a followup on that in a couple of weeks.  If everything looks good the doctors should cut me loose!

More later.

Barry & Joyce

January 11, 2014

01/05/2014

Happy New Year everyone!  Joyce and I hope 2014 brings you happiness, prosperity and good health.

Joyce and I spent New Years Eve at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Palmdale, CA on our way back from northern California.  If I remember correctly, we were both in bed well before 12 AM.

01/06/2014

Yesterday, we went up into the mountains west of El Centro to Jacumba, CA to do some geocaching.

Back in the day, Jacumba Hot Springs was a major destination along U.S. Highway 80 where folks enjoyed the natural hot springs.  Since Interstate 8 was built, not so much.  The Jacumba Hot Springs Spa and Resort is still there and a couple of restaurants but that's about it.

We visited one cache called Talula's Place (you must be a member to view the cache's page), named for Tallulah Bankhead who owned the property, Bankhead Springs, little wide spot in the road.  The whole "town" is for sale for $1.3M.

 Jacumba's Mascot

As most of you know, my main hobby is doing genealogy research, or a Joyce says, "looking up old dead folks".  I have been a member of Ancestry.com for many moons and grandfathered in at $99 a year.  Well, surprise, surprise.  I got an email the other day saying they were going to charge me $189 when I renew.  I can understand a modest increase but $99 more a year?  I don't think so!

So, I called them.  Got it for $149 a year, a more reasonable rate but still expensive.  But, they are expanding Ancestry.com more everyday now.  Not only do I get all the census records, there are the World War I & II draft records, birth & death records for many states and now they are linked to Find A Grave.com.  So, I guess a $50 raise in my rate isn't too much.

01/09/2014

Yesterday was a sight-seeing day here in the desert of southern California.

We left the RV park around 10 AM and headed up to visit Anza-Borrego State Park near  Borrego Springs.  The drive up there has very little scenery that we would call pretty but once in Borrego Springs, that all changed.

This little "bump at the end of the road" is completely surrounded by the state park and is a haven for snow-birds, retired folks and "free-thinker's".  Here in this desert oasis, you will find golf courses, RV parks and several resorts that offer very high-end amenities.

The town has been designated International Dark Sky Community by the International Dark Sky Association and as such, you don't see very may street lights around town.  We had no idea there was such an organization.

Another really cool feature in Borrego Springs is the sculptures of Ricardo Breceda.  Most of the pieces are on the Galleta Meadows Estates, property once owned by Dennis Avery of the Avery Labels family.  The sculptures are gifts from Avery to Borrego Springs.

 I didn't take this one.  Couldn't get it all in the frame as this one did.

There are several more that we didn't get to see so we may have to go back up there sometime.  Might even apply to be a camp host at the state park.

More later.

Barry & Joyce

December 31, 2013

12/21/2013

I have been having some pains in my legs for a while now which has progressively gotten worse the past month or so.  Just before we left on our cruise, I saw a doctor in Brawley to get his opinion.

After a pretty through examination, he thought that I might have some blockage in my legs so he scheduled me for an ultrasound on the 16th.  He did clear me to travel on the cruise.

I had that test done and visited the doctor again on the 9th.  The results are not good.  i do have some blockage in both legs, including two areas of total occlusion.  I now have an appointment on January 11 with a vascular doctor to find out what the course of treatment will be.  There are several options but Joyce and I are hopping for the best and that it will be a quick fix.

So, that problem has caused us to change our travel plans for the rest of the winter.  We did cancel going to Aransas Pass, TX in January but we are hopefully optimistic that we'll make it to San Antonio in February.

12/31/2013

For several months we have been planning on spending time with Harold, Michelle, Abigail and Skyer who are flying out to California for Christmas.  My ex-wife Susanna's parents live in Fairfield so we're all going to meet there.  So, on the 23rd, we rented a car here in El Centro and drove up to Clovis, CA to pick up my mother.  We spent the night there and then drove up to Travis AFB where we had rented a suite on the base.

It was great to spend so time with the grand kids again, even though it was only for a couple of days.

Joyce made this Strata for Christmas morning.  Ummmm...good!

One the 26th, we dropped my mother off to catch a train back to Fresno and then we drove up to Lake Tahoe to spend a couple of days with Harold, Michelle and her step sister, Kelly and her boyfriend Brian.

The 27th turned out to be a very bad day in our lives and one we won't forget anytime soon.  I can't go into all the details right now but suffice it to say, we are devastated.  Joyce and I are coping but it is very hard.  More on this later.

Because of the news we got, we decided to cut our Tahoe stay by one day and head to St. Helena to visit Joyce's family.  We always have a great time visiting with Judy, Frank and Joanne and this visit was especially needed.  We also spent some time with our friends Bob and Chris who so graciously provided a place for us to stay for one night.

The 31st found us back on the rode back to El Centro.  We spent New Years Eve at the Embassy Suites in Palmdale and then drove the rest of the way down New Years Day.

Joyce and I wish all our family and friends a very happy 2014.

Barry & Joyce