June 22, 2018

June 9, 2018

 As I mentioned in another post I had an appointment with Dr. Brewer, my Osteopathic Doctor who recommended I do a home sleep study and a complete Pulmonary Function test.

 Dr. Brewer said that he did not see anything serious from the Pulmonary study but that I do have some COPD in the form of emphysema, probably caused by my years of cigarette smoking.  For that he prescribed an inhaler that I will be using daily.

 The results of the sleep study showed that I have severe Sleep Apnea and Dr. Brewer recommended that I start using a continuous positive airway pressure therapy (CPAP) machine.  Because I travel full-time he ordered one from Lincare, a nationwide company. The office here in Bend will be my “home office” where I will order any supplies I will need..  On Thursday I went to their office to pick up my new ResMed AirSense 10 Autoset machine.

 I used the machine for the first time last Saturday night.  I have been told that it will take some time adjusting to using the machine and they were right but, when I did get to sleep I slept soundly.  Since I sleep on my side I may have to get a different pillow that doesn’t interfere with the full-face mask.  I have an app on my phone that downloads my sleep information from the CPAP.

 On the 5th one of my best friends Donald Johnson past to his reward in Fairfield, CA.  Don, a retired Air Force Master Sergeant and the father of my ex-wife Susanna, was one of the finest men I have ever met.  He was a kind gentle soul who loved his family and lived his life to the fullest.  Rest in peace Don.  I will miss you for the rest of my life.

Don and Michelle

 On the 6th I celebrated my 70th birthday.  I can hardly believe that I am that I have made that many trips around the sun but I do hope I have many more in my future.

  Yesterday we did some shopping for tires for our Honda CRV here in Bend.  Costco has Michelin’s on sale for $70 off of four and plus $60 off if you use the Anywhere card.  A good deal.

June 11, 2018

 Here is our itinerary for our travels to Texas in the fall:
   
    September:
    1-3: Memaloose State Park, OR (Columbia Gorge)
    3-5: Hermiston, OR (visit friends)
    5-10:  Rick & Patty Stills RV Park, Rathdrum, ID
    10-11: Missoula, MT
    11-15: Columbia Falls, MT (Glacier National Park)
    15-16: Lolo, MT
    16-20: Challis, ID (Sawtooth Mountains)
    20-21: Idaho Falls, ID
    21-24: Hill AFB, UT
    24-27: Spanish Fork, UT (visit friends in Payson, UT)
    27-28: Fort Bridger, WY
    28-29: Rawlins, WY
    29-2 Oct: Casper, WY (visit Joyce’s sister & family)
    October:
    2-4: F.E. Warren AFB, Cheyenne, WY
    4-7:  Not sure yet.
    7-9: Amarillo, TX. (visit friends)
    9-13: Altus AFB, OK
    13-14: Haskell, TX
    14-17: Dyess AFB, Abilene, TX
    17-21: Waco, TX
    21-23: College Station, TX. (visit George H. W. Bush’s Library)
    23-24: La Grange, TX
    24-28: Goliad, TX (visit friends)
    28-1 Nov: Aransas Pass, TX
    Nov 1 thru Feb 2019, Hidden Valley RV Park, Von Ormy, TX., just outside San Antonio.

 If anyone reading this is close to where we are going to be please set us know.  We’d love to see you.

June 16, 2018

 I’ve been using my CPAP machine for over a week now and have not found getting use to it as had as some folks led me to believe it would.  The really hard part was finding a position for my pillow that worked with the full-face mask.  Well, that didn’t work out so good so Joyce ordered me a pillow made specifically for use with CPAP machines.  I am not finding the CPAP Pillow as comfortable as I did the My Pillow I have had for a couple of years but I hope it works out.

 We’re starting to get very busy here at Tumalo.  The park is full almost every night now and we think this will continue throughout the summer with most of the arrivals having made a reservation.  The times of just showing up and expecting to snag a campsite in most Oregon State Park’s, especially in the summer are gone.

 I finally got the results of my new VA claim the other day.  I filed asking the VA to rate me for four things; a broken nose, sinus problems and sleeping and breathing issues.  The VA combined the sinus and breathing issues and awarded me a 30% disability rating for sinusitis.  So, I am now 60% disabled overall but will only get paid for 50%, the magic number for retired military folks.  The reason that I will not be paid for the whole 60% is due to the way the VA combines percentages.  Read more about that here:  https://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/rates-index.asp#howcalc

Nice pic of Abigail and Skyler

Until next time.

Barry & Joyce

June 4, 2018

May 18, 2018

 For a long time now Joyce and I have been discussing changing to the Beyond Unlimited phone plan with Verizon and today we made the move.  Our old plan had unlimited talk and text with data usage set at 30 gigs.  Several times in the past year we have bumped up against that limit and this month we actually went over by 3 gigs which cost us an additional $45.  The new plan gives us the same unlimited talk/text but we now have “unlimited” data usage.  The “unlimited” is actually full LTE/4g service up to 15 gigs and per hot spot then you are subject to prioritizing on the cell towers.  With that in mind we purchased another MiFi Jetpack which gives us another 15 gigs of data before the possibility of being prioritized.

May 20, 2018

 We were pretty busy on our days off this week.  On Friday Joyce had a doctors appointment and then we got some shopping done.  Yesterday we drove over Oakridge to visit Jim and Jeanne Glaspey.

 Last week Max Glaspey, Jim and Jeanne Glaspey’s Great Dane crossed the rainbow bridge.  He was a special friend to not only Jim and Jeanne but he was my buddy.  I loved that guy and will miss him terribly.  I think he is up there playing with my other buddy’s Hunter and Paddy Stills.

My Buddy Max.

May 22, 2018

 Things are rolling right along here at Tumalo State Park.  We’re starting to fill all the yurts and camp sites every night which is not unusual here.  If past history is any indicator of what will happen this year, after the first of June we will be completely booked every night.

Later in the day….

 I started seeing flashes of light on the left side of my left eye, best described as looking through a prism.  As you may know I am partially blind in my right eye due to a TIA I had several years ago so you can believe I was really concerned about what I was seeing in my good eye.

 After a few minutes I told Joyce and of course she insisted we head over to the urgent care at Bend Memorial Clinic (BMC).  The nurse there sent us over to the emergency room at St. Charles Medical Center.

 The emergency room doctor referred me to an ophthalmologist, so we made an appointment with Dr. Majerczyk at BMC.  After his very thorough examination he believed I had a Ocular Migraine which is a pretty common thing.  Jut one more thing to add to my list of that proves, “gettin’ old ain’t for sissy’s”.

June 3, 2018

 On Friday we drove over to Oakridge to visit Jim and Jeanne Glaspey.  Shortly after arriving Jim said he had to go to Eugene to buy a keg of beer.  I thought that a tad strange since I had brought over a couple of 12-packs and I knew he had at least that much in his refrigerator but what the heck, lets go.

 Since it was Jim and Jeanne’s thirty-second wedding anniversary we stopped at Fred Myers so that he could pick up some flowers for Jeanne.  On the way up the hill back to Oakridge Jim asked me if I knew anything was going on at his house would I tell him and of course I said, “Heck no”.

 When we turned into their driveway I noticed some balloons tied to the railing of the deck and then I saw extra cars parked near the garage.  I still didn’t get it but I did notice Jim was smiling a little.  The a bunch of people came running out of the house yelling Happy Birthday.  Joyce, Jeanne and Jim had planned a 70th birthday party for me.

 We had a wonderful time with plenty of food and beverages.  Among the presents and card that I was given, Joyce’s card contained seventy $1 bills.  Thanks Joyce, Jim and Jeanne!

Later.

Barry & Joyce