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Message from Barbara,
I returned home this morning and sent Al back home to
Winston.
Bob was in surgery for about 6 hours. They did install the Impella repaired the valve, and did several artery bypasses. I was allowed in ICU very briefly to see him at 4pm. Frances and I left the hospital for her house and to grab some dinner.
Dr. Lee called around 5:40 to say they needed to take him back to the OR to clear some blood clots. He was there until about 9pm. Last night things were very critical but thankfully did not get a call in the night. We were back at the hospital at 8:30. The nurse said he had turned the corner early this morning and was doing better but is still critical. They may try to take him off the breathing tube later today. The pump is working.

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It’s the start of what looks like another beautiful fall day here in Houston, and I fervently hope a great day in Winston, with Robert beginning his recovery from a successful surgery…

Still in our thoughts and prayers…

nick

Update —  I guess I cross posted with Barbara, please see her post.

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Based on Barbara’s last post, I’m guessing both she and Bob will be busy this am, so I’ll get things started.

From her last update on Sunday:

“Things with Bob are one step forward to two steps back. Last night things were looking rather grim with the doctors deciding it was too much of a risk to him surviving the bypass to try to do it.

I talked with him this morning. The plan as of now, which could change at any time, is to put in the cath pump tomorrow and do a procedure on Tuesday. Not sure if it will be bypass or stint. ”

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Whatever the situation is today, our continued hopes and prayers are with you, for what good they do (and they certainly can’t hurt.)

nick

Today started a bit on the cool side, high 40s, low 50s and you could see your breath.

Nice clear sky.

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As this is “the end of the week” I expect our host is currently under the knife, or will be soon. Barbara and Bob, please accept what spiritual support we can offer, and give us an update when you are able.

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Perhaps more later.

n

Today dawned cool and dreary, low 50s and overcast, after a night of misty drizzle. I scratched my dog’s ears and belly, which always makes me feel better.

I hope everything is proceeding normally for our host, Barbara, and OFD. Once again, our prayers and best wishes to you.

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On another note entirely, I’m pretty sure hell has another inmate today, as Florida State Prison has one less.

“Double-murderer is cursed by victim’s relative who waves ‘bye, bye’ as he is executed after a last meal”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5064311/Florida-set-execute-man-convicted-2-killings.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5061727/Florida-execute-man-convicted-2-decades-old-murders.html

I have a personal connection to this crime and this murdering scumbag and his accomplices. For 26 years the ripples from his crime have affected loved ones, who I hope can get some peace now.

I don’t understand the DM’s love affair with last meals, and I can only hope that everything they gave this scumbag was off in some way- burned, undercooked, salty, cold, whatever. No way should he get anything that he asked for. He already got 26 years more life than his victims, and the one thing their families want the most can’t be given to THEM.

nick

Let’s start today with our continued hopes and prayers for RBT and OFD… to make a speedy recovery and to know you have people rooting for you.

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FEMA’s brief from PR and the USVI shows continued improvement. In PR, more people are covered by cell service, clean water, sewage systems, and hospitals. One hospital that was running on gennie has closed.

The constant movement of hospitals on and off grid says that the story is more complex than the PPT briefing suggests.

Also, St Thomas is still only ~34% under grid power, St Croix less than 11% and trending DOWN, and St John at 30%. Note the amount of time that has passed. Most of us don’t live on what are essentially remote islands under 2nd or 3rd world conditions, but are you prepared to be THAT LONG without power, hospital, and water? There are still 3 shelters operating in the USVI with 66 occupants. PR of course has more, but the number and occupants are steadily declining.

It’s interesting to me that Houston and parts south have completely vanished from any disaster reporting. Funny how quickly that happens. In areas with heavy flooding, you can still clearly see the damage, but recovery is well underway.

PR and USVI have also fallen to the wayside in news coverage. Perhaps the rest of the nation is as tired of hearing about the lazy wastrels whining as the Gulf Coast and Florida are…

Speaking of Florida, when I was there last week there was little sign of the hurricane. A few trees down was about it. I drove from Tampa Int’l Airport to the Sarasota area. Pretty far up the coast, and out of the bad storm… did have one relative down there who lost some window screens on her “Florida room.” And that’s about it…

Here in Houston, we’ve had a cool front move in and should be cooler for a couple of days. I’ll take the reprieve and do some work in the attic, garage, and driveway, which work depends on if we get the forecast rain or not.

Which brings up another thing I’ve been meaning to mention. I find it very convenient to have a bunch of projects to work on in rotation. I’ve found that I can’t just ‘bust ass’ on one thing anymore, but I can move from indoor to outdoor, hard lifting to sitting down, doing bits and pieces. This is a completely different style of working for me and has taken some getting used to. The main difference is how long everything takes (measured by calendar.) It helps tremendously to gather all the stuff you need, and have it handy for the smaller segments of effort you can direct at it. I can get a surprising amount of stuff done this way. If you’ve stagnated or let a bunch of stuff pile up, you might find this ‘little bit at a time’ ‘chipping away at it’ approach useful to get moving again.

Speaking of moving, I better get a couple of tasks started….

nick

I was hoping to be greeted by a post from Barbara or even RBT himself, but we’ll have to content ourselves with passing on our prayers and hopes for a speedy recovery.

The world is rapidly getting weirder, and you don’t want to miss it 🙂

nick