2/4/2018 Stalled in Wait Mode in CA

So, here we sit, hanging out in northern CA, waiting to find out whether or not I am going under the knife for what they call an Anterior Cervical Discectomy & Fusion. My surgeon decided to try one last ditch effort to avoid surgery by having me get an epidural injection into the area causing the numbness in my hand, the area from C7 to T1 vertebrae. Currently, it has been almost a week since the needle. The first couple of days were beautifully pain-free and numb-free. But since then, something is not right and it is a process filled with excruciating pain just to get in and out of the bed, any chairs, or the Jeep. 2 more follow-up appointments prior to the scheduled surgery are in order to make the final determination. Oh boy…

The Petaluma Elks Lodge #901 has been a life saver for us during this long, drawn out process, most graciously allowing our extended stay for the medical treatment and various doctor’s appointments. It is in a nice location on the south end of town, with Shollenberger Park just across the street. Our time here was plagued with that particularly nasty version of the flu, putting both Jeanne and I down, bedridden, for about 4 days straight. The bummer about that was it coincided with the Elk’s Law Enforcement Appreciation Dinner, so we missed out on the festivities. 

We did manage to spend some quality time with the Gladiator (Maximus) and his family. New Year’s Eve was a start, with a yuppy trip to Stinson Beach where we noshed on cheese, crackers, and fruit. We frolicked on the beach in the near frigid weather and hunted for sand dollars.

On a much warmer and clearer day we took Max and his mother up to Lake Sonoma to wander around the fish hatchery. We were a little early for any steelhead/salmon runs up the fish ladder, but Max got to feed some of them in the holding ponds. We also drove up to the lookout and got some nice views of the lake. To finish off the nice day at the lake we hit Old Chicago Pizza in Petaluma for one of their awesome deep-dish pies.

Petaluma is home to Mrs. Grossman’s Sticker Factory. I never heard of it before, but according to Jeanne and Jenn it is a world famous printer of all manner of stickers. They also print wine labels for many wineries. We took Max on a tour of the factory where he scored sheets of stickers, an integral part of the tour, and got to play with all the stickers he wanted in the craft room.

Max has short days at school on Wednesdays, so on one of those such days we picked him up and took him to the Scandia Family Fun center in Rohnert Park. It was rainy, so we kept it to the indoor arcade area. We let Max demonstrate his skills such as skeeball, basketball, pinball, air hockey, and motorcycle racing. We also made another trip to Scandia on a clear day and got Max started in the batting cages, preparing for the upcoming little league season.

Well, today is Superbowl Sunday. We will be going to Max’s house and stuffing our faces with the usual fare, rooting for Green Bay to win next year,  and otherwise still kicking back, firmly entrenched in this hurry-up-and-wait period.

Until next post…