Turboville

Pictures from the Motor Home Fire

Here's some pics from the fire in my parents' motor home last weekend.

The RV Goes Up in Flames

My parents' motor home, Envoy SUV, and carport protecting both went up in flames overnight, basically burning to the ground.  Fortunately, nobody was hurt, although there was ammunition that was going off in the fire. 

Five Denton fire trucks came to the house around 4:30 in the morning to put it out.  They were there fighting the fire until 7:30.

Amazingly, the flames or embers didn't reach my parents' house.  But there was a threat of a propane tank exploding at one point, but Denton's finest got that part of the situation under control.

The important thing is, nobody was hurt, thank God. 

Update on Dad's Heart Procedure

My dad got out of the OR around 9-something, and it turned out the artery was 90% blocked.  They put in the stint, and dad is in the recovery room visiting La-La-land. 

My mom indicated all went well, but that he would be in the hospital at least overnight for monitoring and to have time to recuperate.  I'm surprised the hospital isn't trying to kick him out already because of fiscal pressures...he must have a high deductible.

Anyhow, all is well thus far and thank God for that.

Dad's Heart Procedure

My dad is having a heart catheterization this morning.  Last week, in a routine (as routine as such things can be) stress test, his doctor identified an abnormality in his heart rhythm.  So on Friday, they took him in for a nuclear CAT scan.

The CAT scan was inconclusive, so they opted to go in today and do a heart catheterization.  They found that one artery was 85% blocked, and another was 50% blocked.  They are apparently going ahead and putting in a stent for the one that was 85% blocked.  The other I still don't know what they're going to do, and am awaiting a phone call from my mom and sister to provide me with a status.

Hopefully Dad won't wake up and turn out like Dick Cheney, who also has a stent.

Nancy Watson's Surgery -- May 20th -- 6:00 PM

Great news.  Mom was able to come home today.  I was working from my mobile office here at home in Denton and called to check in, and was surprised to find her in the car with Dad already on the way home.  When she arrived this afternoon, she looked great.  She was still a little weak, but miles from where she was even yesterday morning when I last saw her.  She indicated that the doctor told her she could eat anything she wanted, save for popcorn, nuts, and raw vegetables.  So Dad is cooking her a light chicken dinner this evening so she can get some real, non-hospital food in her stomach. 

Thanks again to everyone for their well wishes and prayers, and for stopping by the site to say hello.  I'm going to get her online here in the next day or so she can see all the activity that was going on in cyberspace while she was out.

Nancy Watson's Surgery -- May 19th -- 5:00 PM

I spoke with Dad about an hour ago.  He said that Mom had been up and walking out of her room and around the floor of the hospital that she's staying on.  Pretty soon, she'll be chasing the young M.D.'s around as well, I'm sure.  LOL  He also said that if all goes well overnight, she ought to be out of the hospital by late sometime tomorrow afternoon.  Thank God, as I know she doesn't want to be there any longer than she has to.  So, things are going well for Mom's recovery, and we hope to see her back in Denton by late tomorrow PM.  Will keep you all posted.

Nancy Watson's Surgery -- May 19th -- 9:51 AM

I went by the hospital this morning on my way back to Denton.  When I walked in, Mom told me she had just sat up on her own, and she looked much better than even yesterday.  She also got up and walked around while I was there, with some help from me and the nurse.  When she sat back down, the nurse had to change out the IV from her right hand to her left, but other than that, Mom was looking and doing great, especially considering it was only two days after the surgery.  I remember the third day for my sleep apnea surgery as being the worst, so I think she's ahead of schedule in terms of recuperating.  No, she won't be running the halls of Baylor Medical anytime soon, but she's definitely getting up and around.  Dad will be visiting later this PM and will provide me an update via the mobile. 

Nancy Watson's Surgery -- May 18th -- 7:00 PM CST

Since my last dispatch, they brought Mom something that almost resembled a real dinner.  It included a Pop-Sicle, some creamy chicken broth, iced tea, and Jello.  She absolutely hates Jello and Dad ate the Pop-Sicle, but she did eat some of the chicken broth, which is a great start.  And, she also drank some of the iced tea.  Then, she surprised us all by stating that she wanted to get up and walk a bit.  So, Dad and I helped her get to get out of the chair and standing up, and then she slowly took a few steps.  She did really well, and it was clear that she is getting ready to turn the corner.  I stepped out for a bit to eat at the delicious Baylor Medical Center Irving cafeteria, and when I came back to the room, Dad headed on out back to Denton.  Mom was in and out of sleep again by that point, having worn herself out with the short walk.  So, I'll be here for a little while longer, then will be going back to the motel myself.  Tom Bodett assured me he would leave the light on. 

Nancy Watson's Surgery -- May 18th -- 3:00 PM CST

I just returned to the hospital, and Mom is doing fine, although it hurts her some when she breathes too deep.  The doctor came by this morning and checked her over and said everything was looking really good.  He indicated that he wanted her to sit up later, and not much later a nurse came in to help her do so.  While it was obviously painful to sit up, she did fine.  She has also eased up on using the morphine drip, which is a good sign.  I expect later on they'll see if they can't get her up and walking around a bit.  They also removed the anti-clotting wrap that was on her legs.  So, all in all, while she's still in significant discomfort and pain, she's making good progress.  Thanks again to all for their well wishes and prayers...they're working!

Nancy Watson's Surgery -- May 18th

Greetings.  I arrived at Mom's hospital room around 7 am this morning.  She had been in and out of sleep all night, as the nurses had to come in regularly to check her vital signs.  Kind of reminds me of being on a long airplane flight to Paris or Tokyo, and having the flight attendants wake you up because they need to give you breakfast.  Anyhow, she was feeling a bit nauseous this morning, so I went to the nurse's station and got them to bring her a shot of something to help with the nausea.  Also, in terms of the medicinal regimen, she is now on the last of four bags of antibiotic drip. Otherwise, I've just been regularly feeding her ice chips, and she's sleeping well off and on.

Thanks to everyone who has emailed or stopped by here to say hi and send along their well wishes.  I've been passing those along to mom.  She's not in a position to chat or look at the computer herself just yet, but I have made sure she knows who all has said hello!