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Posted on Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Skin Cancer V2.0

Sometime in 2001 I was diagnosed as having skin cancer on my right shoulder. I had it removed by Dr Newell in Bowling Green and lived with the slight depression left in my shoulder blade area of my back. It would bleed occasionally and most of the time was not a big deal.
Last year, the depression started filling in and it began bothering me more and more.
This summer the area started to grow outward and become an open sore that would bleed and then scab over and this became a recurring lesion. I wanted to wait until boating season was over before starting treatments.
After Labor Day, I went to see Dr Rice and let him take a look. I told the doc that it had been diagnosed as a basal cell carcinoma in 2001. Basal cell carcinoma is a type of non melanoma skin cancer. Dr Rice's observation was, "Boy, that's a hoss! It's too big for me to work on it." He sent be to see a surgeon in Bowling Green named Dr Weirson a few days later. Dr Weirson had the same reaction and said he needed to discuss the lesion with a plastic surgeon. He called the plastic surgeon, then returned to the exam room and told me he was passing the work to Dr Atalla. I went to see Dr Atalla the next day, also in Bowling Green.
Dr Atalla examined the lesion and said it was large, but not the largest he had worked on and that it appeared that it would be no problem. He mention that he would do a 'rotational flap' to cover the hole left in my shoulder area from the removal of the lesion. We discussed a few other points about the surgery and I agreed with his plans, so we set a date for the operation.
I went to the Medical Center in Bowling Green on September 27th for the pre-surgery screening process. It took over two hours with a blood test and EKG amongst the tests they did on me. I had to go over my medical history with three different people to make sure I didn't forget anything and they didn't miss it. Finally I was cleared for surgery.
Tuesday, October 2nd Linda and I met Brent who took Stacey with him to his house. We arrived at the hospital at 7:30 AM. They quickly put a wrist band on me and took me to the ready room. As soon as I was dressed in the bare back hospital gown, Linda was able to rejoin me in the room. The nurse started an IV with a drip and taped it to the back of my hand. Now the hard part, we waited and waited, I was Dr Atalla's second patient of the day. At 10:20 the nurses came in the room, gave me a mild sedative shot in the IV tube and carted me to the operating room. When they wheeled me into the operating room, several people descended upon me, one at every limb and one at my head. Blood pressure cuffs were placed on one arm and both of my legs, a mask went over my mouth and nose, they asked my name and birth date, then said "here comes the good medicine" and I was out.
I had been told by the doctor earlier that I would be sedated for 2 to 3 hours so that he could remove the lesion, then cut some slices, have them frozen and sent downstairs to be analyzed, then repeat that process until he had 'clean slices' with no cancer cells.
The next thing I knew, I was being told to wake up and cough, then breathe deeply. They were doing something, but I was having trouble focusing on what, coughing was easy to do, it felt like my lower lungs were full of something. They wheeled me out of the operating room and to recovery at 1:45 PM. The nurse began giving me water to drink through a straw and he kept checking as the pressure cuffs were inflating and taking their readings. The drinking water felt great as the air tube they had put down my throat and removed had made it sore. My oxygen levels were a little low so I was told to breathe deep and they had a tube blowing up my nose. After about an hour and 15 minutes they moved me back to the ready room and Linda was able to rejoin me again. She had talked with Dr Atalla while I was in the recovery room and he had filled her in on how the operation had gone. She said he was satisfied with the outcome and that he believed he had removed all of the cancerous tissue. The ready room nurse gave me a Pepsi to drink and told me I had to drink something and be able to urinate before I would be allowed to leave. The Pepsi was a little harsh on the raw throat, but other than that I was feeling fairly well. I think the anesthesia was still affecting my pain threshold. I went to the bathroom and also finished the Pepsi, then the nurse removed the IV about 3:30 PM. Linda helped me dress and the nurse took me out to the parking lot in a wheelchair. Linda brought the car to the door and we left. She drove to Brent's house where we picked up Stacey and went back to the farm. I took a half of a pill for pain, then another half about 2 hours later, finally another half before going to bed about 11 PM.
This morning I felt pretty good when I woke up, stiff and sore over my body, but the actual surgery location didn't hurt much at all. We went back to the doctor's office at 11 AM and let him take a look at how his work had turned out.

He was pleased, the incision location wasn't bleeding, the bandages were almost without blood and he wanted to see me in two weeks to remove the stitches. We met Pauline, Brent and their kids at Applebee's for a late lunch. Stacey, Linda and I headed home when Pauline left to go back to work. Brent took Julie and Kyle home with him. When we were home, I took another half pain pill. It seems that as I set still a while, my body stiffens up.

Posted by Dave at 8:00 PM
Categories: Current Events


Posted on Saturday, October 06, 2012

Stacey Wins Again

The Cumberland River Cruisers held their last show of this season at Alex Montgomery Chevy/GMC today. The forecast had been for 60% chance of rain and as daylight arrived it was windy and cool. The rain had already passed through the area, but the clouds were still lingering around. Linda drove her 65 Mustang and I drove the 56 Chevy to the dealership and then we helped other club members setup the tables to register vehicles. As the clock approached 10 AM registration time the weather was looking better. Carol Neff and Linda signed in the owners as they arrived and gave them dash plaques and numbers for their vehicle windshields. During the day, people voted for their 3 favorites and our club collected the ballots. Alex Montgomery employees cooked hot dogs and passed out cold drinks or coffee while the votes were tabulated. The club drew raffle tickets for the door prizes the dealership had to give away and handed those out to the winners. A long distance award was presented, then the Top Ten trophies were passed out to the vehicle owners with the highest vote totals. James and Terry picked EB Groce's 1941 Cadillac as the Dealer's Choice winner and presented that trophy. Terry Riley then presented Stacey Norris with the Best of Show trophy for receiving the most votes for our 1956 Chevy.
 
After drawing for the 50/50 money, we packed up our stuff and went back to the farm. I took a picture of the car with the trophy while I was waiting on Linda to park her Mustang in the barn.
 

Posted by Dave at 5:00 PM
Categories: Cars, Current Events


Posted on Sunday, October 14, 2012

Farm Fest 2012

Our family members began arriving Friday afternoon. Linda K and Imon were first to get to the farm with Airianna and Trevon, then Shelly and Jeff came with their dog and their camper. Last to arrive were Pauline and Brent with their kids and dogs. The little kids began playing together like they had always been around each other. Imon and Brent took two of the old cars to town for a small cruise-in during the Heritage Days activities Friday night.
  
Saturday after lunch, we took a hay ride to Salem Park and let the kids climb on the playground equipment. It was a nice slow ride through the country for the adults and a chance for the kids to take naps on the the way back to the farm. We had a bonfire and roasted a few hot dogs and marshmallows once the day light was gone.
  
Sunday morning after breakfast, we all painted our hands and put our hand prints on a piece of black paper, then signed our names near our print. Linda is going to turn this into a print to hang on the wall I guess. We had a small whiffle ball game in the back yard before everyone began packing their things.
  
  
  
When the game was over, I called for a 'team photo' and was able to get them to line up before leaving for the ride home.
 
We hugged everyone and said good bye. It was fun for us and some have made campsite reservations for next year.

Posted by Dave at 8:00 PM
Categories: Current Events, Farm


Posted on Sunday, October 21, 2012

Foothills Car Show

We took the 56 Chevy and went to the Foothills Festival Car Show in Albany, KY around 10 AM. It worked out fairly well, I had something to do while Stacey and Linda went to the center of town and checked out the Foothills Festival. I hung around the car show and talked with Henry Holly and others.
  
  
  
  
When the car show was over, we returned to the farm, put the Chevy in the pole barn and cut up the two pans of brownies that Linda had baked to take to the hog roast at Garmon's cabin on Jone's Ridge. Our timing worked out well, we arrived about 20 minutes before time to eat, so we had a little time to chat before getting in line for the pot luck dinner. There was probably 70 or more people that had brought dishes and were enjoying each other's company.

We stayed about an hour after we had ate to continue talking with friends.
Sunday morning, Linda drove the Mule with the biggest hay wagon behind it and I drove the tractor with the scoop and we went down the road to Sue Baker's place. Tommy Baker had told me earlier in the summer that I could have a 20' piece of black culvert pipe that the road relocation crew had left a year or so ago. I pulled the black pipe out of the weeds and rolled it over a chain, then Linda hooked the chain to the tractor scoop and I used the tractor to lift the pipe onto the hay wagon. Linda drove the Mule back up the road while avoiding mail boxes and guard rails with the black pipe hanging over the edge of the wagon. I traded to the small tractor and Linda hooked the wagon to the front of it and I drove the wagon into the barn hallway. I will store it in there until I figure out where I want to use the pipe.
  
  

Posted by Dave at 6:00 PM
Categories: Cars, Current Events


Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Culvert Rebuild

When the TVA crew was working on the power lines hanging above our hay fields, they replaced a metal culvert where we enter into the field from the side road. This first picture is from June when they were doing the work.

I asked if I could have the old metal culvert they were removing and they obliged by leaving it laying at the edge of the field. Brent and I hauled it over near the old barn and I left it lay there until yesterday. The weather has been great for working outside, between 75 and 80 degrees during the day and no rain, so I have made the best of it. I took the tractor with the back hoe and scoop and dug out the old plastic tile that was too short and failing. I replaced the plastic tile with the metal one and covered it up with the dirt I had dug out.
  
Next, I dug around a well casing that was sticking up above the ground. I used the back hoe to push and pull the pipe back and forth until I was able to snap it off about 3 feet below ground level. I then used the tractor scoop to push the dirt back into the hole and level the area. After a couple of hard rains, I will return with the tractor and finish the leveling.
  
I also cleaned out the small ditch that directs water run off from the hillside through the pipe and towards the creek.

Posted by Dave at 6:00 PM
Categories: Current Events, Farm


Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2012

Evening Walk

Linda and Stacey started walking around the hay field while I was working on the ditch. Now they are taking Daisy to walk with them. Maybe to ward off the coyotes that have been seen in the fields.
  
  

Posted by Dave at 4:00 PM
Categories: Current Events, Farm


Posted on Saturday, October 27, 2012

Holly's Hoe Down

Bonnie and Henry Holly had invited us to their annual "Hoe Down" at their place on Jone's Ridge. It was a costume party with a bonfire and pitch in dinner. They asked if we could bring a tractor and hay wagon and provide hay rides to the people that came to the party. We agreed and began getting the stuff we needed for the hay ride. Linda helped me add some rope lights to the hay wagon and we took a battery out of the FarmTrac tractor to use to power the wagon lights with a power inverter. It was misting rain and cool at 4:30 PM when I headed up on the 'ridge' for a 30 minute ride with the tractor and wagon, so Linda and Stacey came up a few minutes later in the pickup truck. Right around 6 PM, probably 60 people had showed up and they began the party with a short prayer, then people started going in the garage to load up their plates with food.
  
The first hay ride trip, the hay wagon was mostly loaded with young kids, so we just rode out a deserted road that ran along the top of the ridge and then returned. Then we hung around the fire pit laughing and talking while Teresa had the kids playing games and going on rope walks through the woods. They crowned a king and queen, had a husband calling contest, and a few other odd events.
  
The second hay wagon trip had more adults and as we came to a wooded place without any lights around, I slowed the tractor, then I turned to the people in the wagon and took their picture. A few seconds after the flash, Jacob and a couple of his buddies, that were hiding in the woods, threw lit packs of fire crackers under the hay wagon. When those fire crackers started popping, the people on the wagon began screaming like they were going to die. LOL! I had been in two way radio contact with Jacob and our plan worked perfectly.
  
We stayed a while and then headed home about 10 PM. Linda and Stacey followed me home in the truck and I parked the tractor and wagon at the back of the barn. We rolled the wagon in the barn and put the tractor in the shed, then went inside the house. I think it had actually warmed up as it got later, the wind had died down and the misting rain had stopped, so overall, it was a nice time at the 'hoe down' and we had fun.

Posted by Dave at 11:30 PM
Categories: Current Events