SMILES AGAIN AND BOB'S CONDITION

I can't begin to tell everyone how proud I am of the Wednesday Night Riders who helped brighten the day of about 25 residents of Wellington Place in Decorah.

Ron, ChucK, Jim, Roger, and even Richard provided the rides, and special thanks to Chuckles and Helen for helping with the photos and passing out the souvenier pins.

Here are some of the photos Chuckles was able to take of this "feel good" event.

PRERIDE PREP

HE CAN'T WAIT TO RIDE

RON INTRODUCES HIS FIRST RIDER

ChucK READY TO ROLL

JIM POSSES WITH RIDER--NICE TRIKE!

ROGER GETS READY

HOW ABOUT A RIDE IN THE SLINGSHOT

AND HERE'S THE GANG

I do plan to send the rest of the photos of their rides to each driver.

UPDATE ON BOB

To say it's been difficult would be an understatement! I did receive the new valve on Wednesday and was checked out and released by Gundersen on Thursday.  (Thanks to Dennis B for delivering and picking me up). I slept most of the rest of the day sleeping at home. (Anyone who tells you they got a good night sleep in a hospital is lying!)  On Friday I got up and started doing the walking exercises they said I had to do.  After the third walk in the afternoon, I felt short of breath and faint at times.  I sat down, and could feel a sensation of coming close to passing out.  So I called Gundersen and after they looked at the results from the heart monitor I was wearing, they said get to the VMH ER. 

After checking me out at VMH they found that my heart was pausing for short periods of time.  The regular heart beats were around 60, but then they would drop to almost 30 for short periods of time.  That's called pausing, and if it continues or gets more frequent, one could pass out and have to be resucitated. VMH called Gundersen and they said to get me up there ASAP, I needed a pacemaker. The original plan was to fly me up in a copter, but there were storms in LaCrosse, so I had to take the bumpy ride up in an ambulance. But I was accompanied by Claire B who is an iron butt rider, so we were able to talk motorcycles all the way up.  She even showed me some photos of her recent trip to Wyoming and Yellowstone with Marie L.

When I arrived at Gundersen, they had a crash cart and several people dressed in red outside my room.  Fortunately, the pauses were not severe enough, so they fed me with dopamine intraveiniously. It was determined that since none of the surgeons who do permament pacemakers would be available until Monday. (If you have a choice, do not check into a hospital on Friday!) they would give me a temporary pacemaker the next day.  So they cut open the bottom of my neck and put in the temporary pacemaker Saturday.  On Saturday night, I developed a hemotoma in the cut area and had to have pressure and ice applied the rest of the night and into Sunday morning. 

Finally after an unbelievable amount of sticks (I'm a human pin cushion.) and countless EKG's and blood pressure checks, Monday came and Monday afternoon they proceeded with the permanent pacemaker.  It's a leadless one and is about the size of a vitamin tablet.  They observed me through Tuesday and sent me home on Wednesday about noon.

Everything seemed fine until about 3 PM on Wednesday, but I began to feel a little pressure on my chest and could feel a little "bumping" sensation in the heart.  So back up to VMH ER I went. After a number of tests there it was determined that the cause was some premature ventricular contractions.  Apparently quite a number of people have these, and for the most part, they are harmless unless they come in a whole series. After a call to Gundersen, it was determined to put me back on a medication that I was taking previously, and so far, it's working.  I have gone on two walks and rode a stationary bike for a while with no problems.  I return to Gundersen on Monday for a pacemaker check.

I know it sounds like I'm doing a lot of complaining, but I'm really not.  I know a lot of you wanted to know what was going on, so I thought I'd tell you.  THANKS FOR BEING CONCERNED and thanks for the visit from Chuckles and Lois, but I really hated missing the Wellington rides.  That's why I was so happy to see that everytrhing went well. God bless you all!

I also think we are blessed living where we do.  The hospitals in Waukon and Decorah are top notch and we are only a couple of hours away from "world class" healthcare at Gundersen and Mayo.