January | 2020 | Temporary Sanity ...

Everyone knows what a “God Wink” is, right? Sure you do. I believe all of us experience God Winks but we either don’t have identifying names for such events, or we simply accept them as a matter of course as we cruise through our daily routines.

For me a God Wink is something that happens serendipitously. At this point I must admit that I had to look that word up – serendipitously – to see what it means. It just kind of dribble off my fingers and felt like a good choice. According to Webster, I got it right.

Diane and I experience serendipitous events on a regular basis. You know, like choosing a different route to a place visited frequently and finding a lost puppy along the way. Or, stopping at a fast food joint in an unfamiliar city, buying two breakfast sandwiches, then driving back to the freeway through an alley where we discover a person digging through a dumpster for food. Because of serendipity, he got a sandwich I really didn’t need that morning.

Most recently, Diane was having abdominal and back pain for an extended period of time. She finally went to the doctor after her self diagnosis and was diagnosed with UTI. As a precaution her doctor ordered an abdominal CT scan to check for kidney stones. Her Dad had them all the time so it’s possible she may have inherited his ability to produce them.

Diane went to Good Sam Hospital in Portland last Friday afternoon, had the scan, then headed back home.

It’s here that I must explain that we do not live in close proximity to medical facilities that have equipment to perform CT Scans. It’s an hour drive on a good day. During rush hour it just gets longer. Friday afternoon trips to Portland are typically avoided like the plague. But, this was necessary.

On the way home she stopped at Fred Meyer in Scappoose, about 30 miles from the hospital and 10 miles from home. While enjoying this part of her day, doing what he does well (shopping), she gets a phone call from the doctor who reported that the CT tech did a good scan but instead of focusing on the abdominal area, he focused instead on her chest. “How,” you may wonder, as did we, “can a mistake like that happen?” Well, it’s serendipity, pure and simple.

The doctor asked Diane to return to the hospital so they could perform a proper scan of the desired area. Since it was about 5 pm, deep into rush hour(s), she replied, “Well, that’s not going to happen.”

The doctor then asked if she would return Saturday morning. “What time?” Diane asked.

“We open at 7:45 am,” she said.

“Well, that’s not going to happen. Do you have anything later?”

The result of this negotiation was that Diane would return to the hospital at 10 am Saturday morning for the correct scan. The doctor assured Diane there wouldn’t be any charge for the incorrect scan but that she was going to read the results of both anyway. Just because.

Saturday morning Diane got up and made the trip to Portland by herself. That’s her favorite way to go to Portland because being alone allows her to stop wherever she wishes to do pretty much anything she wants. Normally that means a side trip to one of the Goodwill stores along the way. She knows where all of those are. If i had tagged along we would probably have gone to a Harbor Freight, or Home Depot instead.

I stayed home, in my jammies, doing very little, like a good retired person, as I waited for my bride to return safely to me. She always does, but I worry anyway. It’s my job.

Not long after returning home the doctor called to inform her of the results of both scans.

The scan of her abdominal cavity did not reveal anything unusual. She had no evidence of kidney stones which was a huge relief.

Then she revealed the serendipitous results of the first scan, of her chest.

The doctor told Diane she found two spots on her left lung – one 7mm, the other 12mm. We did some investigation and learned that 12mm is about 1/2 an inch. Not such good news, right? Well, without serendipity, those spots would have remained undetected, potentially forever, or until there was nothing that could be done about them. Since they were discovered, she has an appointment to return in 3 months for another CT scan to see if there is any change.

It’s not good news, yet, but it’s important news that might have never been shared without a little bit of serendipity.

With the knowledge that serendipity is on our side, we will continue our daily routine, enjoying each other, trips to the beach, Goodwill, and Scappoose Bagels until it’s time for the checkup scan.

Perhaps the reveal of the next scan will find the spots are gone.

It could happen.

January 3rd, 2020. Australia is on fire, parts of California get unreasonable amounts of snow while other parts flood, the mid-west and east coast experience incredibly bad weather, like all winter long, and it snows in Greece. All of that’s going on while we here in our little corner of Oregon are wandering around in shorts and short sleeve shirts. Well, some folks are, not me. I’m not a shorts guy. Just saying our weather has been clear and spring-like all year. So far.

Add to that the fact that (according to Diane) I’m a typical man who can’t handle a simple cold. Yes, it’s not pretty. It’s that time of year when I’m reminded that snot is salty because it runs down my lip causing me to reflexively lick them before I realize what I’m doing. The solution, of course, is to stuff a kleenex up each nostril and leave them there until March.

I take a bunch of pills every day but not one of them is for ensuring my mucus levels remain stable. I’m in no danger of a doctor telling me that my mucus level is too low making it necessary to start taking shots for it on a daily basis. I wonder if there’s a shot for that. What could it be? A Snot Shot? Sounds reasonable.

My resolution this year was to exercise daily, something that’s just not normally in my wheelhouse. Exercise, to me, is getting up in the morning, stumbling to the kitchen to feed the animals, then stumbling to my recliner where I spend an unreasonable amount of time. Normally I get up from my chair when Diane exits the bedroom, ready to face her day.

To help with exercise, I’m thinking about getting an exercise bike that I can use on crappy days. On decent days I’ll just ride my real bike to the bottom of our hill then push it home, over and over. I plan to simplify that process by installing an electric motor kit on the bike so I can make it back up the hill. I figure I can install one of those on the exercise bike, too. Then I can sit in my chair while the bike runs. Sounds like a plan.

I started this two weeks ago so a lot has happened that I can’t recall. I should journal everyday so I’d have interesting things to share, huh? But, trying to remember stuff is good exercise, too. That means I’m honoring my resolution by not journalling.

Diane and Jennie are getting itchy to paint something again. It’s been a long time since we had a paint night so we’re working up to a plan to have one of our own. Should be fun. There will be photos to share when this happens, so be prepared.

It snowed two days ago. Just a couple of inches and it only lasted two days before it warmed up, rained, and it all went away. Guess that’s it for winter.

Now we can look forward to spring which is already making an appearnce.

Primroses, that we’ve ignored for a long time, are also blooming.

Maybe if we ignore all the growing things around the house they’ll do just fine, too. We’ll see.

I better end this before I forget about it for another two weeks. I’m sure many of you are wondering if I’m still ticking along, which I am. So is Diane. She ticks along better than me most days, but I can still out run her should the need arise.

Cheers to all of you.

Jerrie