Twins!!!

Judging from what our son and daughter in law are telling us we have twins on the way!

They're a bit crowded in this pic but hey, there's definitely two little folks there!

Yup, two in the hangar... launch date sometime in March, 2008.

Twins certainly aren't unusual in our families. Jackie and I both have twin brothers and there's twins running around everywhere in our family trees.

Regardless though, this is going to be so cool!!! Hah! They're going to have their big sister to show them the ropes and she's definitely getting smarter, stronger and wiser by the day...

...not to mention cuter.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share the latest news with everyone.

He's back in the hospital...

Well, this has been a pretty busy couple of months here in our house. Actually, it's been two or three very busy months... personally and professionally... and the only let up in sight is on the professional side. We're starting to get our fall rains so the fire season is drawing closer to a close.

On the personal side... still hectic.

We took Dad to the emergency room this past Saturday morning (September 29). His face was very swollen, his eyes almost swollen shut, his skin extremely taut and hot to the touch, he had a head to toe rash that wasn't getting any better and, in short he was just plain miserable but he still didn't want to go to the hospital.

He didn't really have a choice though. He went.

After sitting in the emergency room with him for a couple of hours I noticed he was losing some of the "puffiness" in his face and neck. When the emergency room doctor came in to see him he did his usual doctor/patient interview and picked up on a previous prescription of the drug "predesone" to my Dad right away.

The story kind of goes like this... When Dad got nipped by a spider a month or so ago (that incident prompted my previous post) his doctor prescribed "Predesone" to him along with some super powerful antibiotics. I guess steroids and antibiotics are common tools in the doctor's arsenal when treating spider bites.

I know when I got bit by a Hobo a couple of years back my doctor prescribed some powerful antibiotics and a topical (and powerful) steroid laden salve that I was to apply directly onto the opened sore. After a couple of weeks the salve and antibiotic treatment had reversed the effects of the spider's venom and things were well on their way to healing with me.

But with Dad things didn't fall into place that fast. After the spider bite his hands, arms, legs and ankles puffed up tremendously. The treatment didn't seem to be working and a couple of weeks later he had that stroke!

While he was in the hospital for the stroke they took him off of all of those medications and treated him with meds via an IV. Everything started falling back into place for him. His swollen arms, hands, feet, legs were looking better, he was more alert, he was getting his strength back, his breathing was less labored... things just seemed to be getting better.

He got released from the hospital with a couple of prescriptions. We noticed a cough that he's had for over a year was still lingering and appeared to be happening a bit more frequently. It's one of those persistent, deep lung type of coughs that never sounds good and never seemed to go away. It's had us all concerned for quite some time. Even the doctors couldn't figure it out.

Finally, one doctor in particular took it on. After a lot of research, poking, prodding, bloodwork, etc. he determined the cough to be directly related to Dad's reaction to a blood pressure medication (Lesinopril) that was prescribed to him and that he quit taking over a year ago.

So, with the hopes of countering the reaction he prescribed some new meds... Predesone being one of them. The prescription was a short term type prescription that would run out after a couple of weeks of use. The doctor was hoping to get a handle on the cough and the still lingering effects of the spider bite. He also threw in some super heavy duty antibiotics... again, short term stuff.

At first, everything seemed to be going well for Dad then one day I stopped by and he was going nuts rubbing, scratching his arms, head and chest. He'd evidently acquired one helluva rash over the past couple of days. The rash was so bad that I thought it was a huge outbreak of shingles. After another visit to the emergency room and a diagnosis of the rash as "Echo Virus" he was precribed another "short term dose" of Predesone and some antibiotics.

As it ended up, the rash wasn't Echo Virus afterall (we had to Google "Echo Virus"). It was a bad reaction to the prescribed medications he'd already been taking...

That coupled with a new prescription of Predesone sent his body over the edge. The latest reaction included the facial swelling and distortion.

So, he's sitting in the hospital as I write this. We're hoping he gets released today but if they want to keep him longer to fix things then "so-be-it"... just get it right this time!

I visited with him yesterday and noticed a remarked improvement. His face was getting back to normal, the "hives" seemed to be going away, he was still "itchy" but he seemed to be in much better spirits. He was tired and far less miserable then he was when I took him there.

In all, he's making progress... again.

I'm heading out to see him here shortly. We'll see what the doctor says but we're not pushing for any "early release".

Update: October 02, 2007.

I went over yesterday morning and "sprung" Dad from the hospital. It's amazing what will happen when a doctor who knows what he's doing gets involved in Dad's health care! His "hives" are almost gone, the doc's cut back on Dad's medicine and his "edema" (yes, water retention around his face, neck and head) is much less now.

So, I went over yesterday and brought him home. He stopped by last night for dinner and looked even better than he did a couple of hours prior.

Amazing! I think this particular doctor figured out what's been causing Dad's ailments over the past year and a half. It only took the doctor a day and some tests to get it right. Once he got it right everything started falling into place on Dad. The hives started disappearing, the edema started receding, Dad's cough has all but gone away.

WOW!!!

Thanks Doctor Smith.

It's SPIDER time!

It's that time of the year. The Hobo spiders and all of the others are crawling about getting ready for the coming fall and winter weather. I've killed a couple good sized ones already.

Trust me they're aggressive, agitated and they do bite. I don't subscribe to the discussions by some that Hobo spiders are relatively harmless. Nope! I've been bit a couple of years ago, Dad's been bit this year and the bites aren't fun. They are NOT harmless. I have a scar on my leg that's the size of a silver dollar from where I was nipped by one.

Here's a bit of info on them.

Oh, Ed and Sue... although you're not directly responsible I'd like to thank your country for sharing them with us. The Hobo isn't native to the United States but has certainly taken hold in the Pacific Northwest after having been introduced here from the UK (and other European) trade vessels in the 1920's... or so the story's told.

After the spider's introduction it seems to have adapted quite well, given the perfect habitat for it that the Pacific Northwest offers. Even Oregon has it's moments with the Hobo.

We also have the Black Widow spider that occasionally sneaks in an appearance or two. Moreso on the more arid east side of the Cascade Mountains... you know, where the rattlesnakes, scorpions, cactus and other things that bite and prick you reside.

But, just when we thought we had a bad spider situation we get this story fresh out of Texas! It makes you want to move further north... to Alaska or the north part of the Yukon.

Ah... leave it to Texas!

The "Ol' Man"...

...Dad, he has some ailments.

Our son and my brother had to give him CPR yesterday. I was across the state about 300 miles away in the Cheney area working on a fire when the wife called me. I just arrived at the fire after making the 5 hours drive from home earlier in the day. She told me Dad "wasn't acting right". One of my brother's had made his usual stop by Dad's house Sunday morning and while there he noticed Dad was acting a bit confused, pre-occupied... lethargic.

He called our house to try to get someone to come over and help him with Dad. Dad's stubborn as all get out and didn't want to go to the hospital. I wasn't home so my brother called our son. After receiving the call Justin headed for Dad's house to see what he could do.

The wife also went over there after calling me.

By the time I got word and got someone over at Dad's to answer a phone everyone had arrived. I spoke with my brother who told me Dad was "very confused, not himself" then I talked with Dad.

Wow! He definitely wasn't himself. I immediately thought "stroke" and urged everyone to call the medics. Either way, he wasn't well at all.

Eventually someone called 911.

Dad quit breathing. Justin and my brother had to perform CPR on him until the medics arrived.

When the medics arrived they tended to him in their normal, professional manner.

They carted him off... to the hospital, to the place he didn't want to go but had to. They had to zap him to get his heart back once as they were taking him out of the house to put him into the medic unit for transport to the hospital. I guess that didn't sit well with The Old Man.

But what he said made the medics laugh. He had his wits at least.

Yup, the Old Man... he has some ailments. And his chest hurts a little this morning too.

I drove home from Cheney as soon as I heard what was going on. He's doing much better and today the doctors will be trying to figure out what happened to him yesterday.

I'm taking the day off today and will be running Andrew up to see him. The little bugger is worried about him... we all are. All in all, yesterday was a very busy day!

Just another one of life's precious moments.

A postnote re: strokes. Don't hesitate to get medical attention if you suspect someone is having a stroke. Get immediate medical attention. Time is everything when a stroke is suspected.

We were lucky with Dad. We're not even sure that's what happened but the doctors are leaning that way. Either way, it scared the crap out of all of us!

Update! August 14, 2007
It seems Dad had a stroke previously that led to a couple of "seizures" on Sunday... the day all of this came to a head. I visited him this morning and he's doing much, much better. A bit irritated about a couple of things but hey (no driving for 6 months, cat scans, probes, etc.), but HEY, he's here with us. That's the good news! I was comfortable enough with his condition to head out for some catch up work in Northeastern Washington. I'll be back home Friday to see if we can get him out of that hospital and get him back into his comfort zone.

The wife, the son, brother Dan, Andrea... hell, all of them heroes and heroines of this latest "adventure". Thanks for being there!

Update!! August 16, 2007
Okay, he's been released from the hospital and is in the comforts of his home. He's doing much better. Thanks everyone for your comments, concerns and prayers.

Devil's Club...

...a seemingly wicked little forest friend.

Devil's Club (Oplopanax Horridus) is a large shrub native to the northeast Pacific Ocean seaboard including the Pacific Northwest and reaching up into Alaska.

In Washington State it's normally found in large quantities along the floors of mountain drainages in the dense, temperate rain forests of the young coastal mountains, the Olympic Peninsula and the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains. Given the ideal growing conditions found at those locations, i.e. dense deciduous and conifer overstories and damp, rich soils the shrub will reach heights of 15 feet or more and will grow in huge seemingly communal "patches" making much of the forest in those areas impenetrable... unless you're insane or armored with a good hat, thick leather gloves, chaps, long sleeves and a very sharp machete.

Devil's club, affectionately referred to by some as "mountain cactus" or "Alaskan Ginseng" isn't all that hiker friendly.

From a distance the plant itself appears... errr, delicate.

It's tall, thick stalks curl outward and upward from the ground. As they continue to grow their many branches shoot for the sky in all directions.

The huge, innocent, delicate leaves invite the uninformed forest visitor to take a closer look. However be careful, the veins of these huge leaves are covered with spines top and bottom. Sinister, wicked, vicious little spines... brittle as all get out and filled with a chemical type of spine that, when embedded and broken off under your skin definitely will make you wish you were somewhere else doing something else rather than dealing with this particular shrub.

It's not so much the burning of the chemical that becomes the problem after getting in the shrub's way. Nope it's that darned prolonged itching, festering and burning of the spine itself as your body resists the invading, severed spear while trying to push it back out from under your skin in the days, weeks or months that follow... depending upon how intimate you got with the shrub.

I've had friends (and relatives) who have had their gloves "stapled" to their hands because they've reached out and grabbed the shrub's stalks or branches (the wrong thing) to slow them down as they tumbled or slid downslope through a grove of Devil's Club. Now that's quite a bit more than that annoyance you'll get when you encounter nettles or thistles.

The sight of a clenched, stapled glove and fist isn't a pretty sight for anyone involved... it's memorable but it's not pretty!

Either way, empathy reins!

However, in a morbid sort of way it can be a humorous sight if you're trying to put a humorous spin on things. It's certainly something to chat about around the campfire or to revisit as a "war story" over the years... after the trauma wears off. A good chat, a fun laugh, a memorable moment to be revisited in chatter but never again to be repeated in life.

I should caution everyone it's only humorous AT THE TIME if it isn't you trying to peel your glove off of your infested hand. So, reserve your laughter for a later date. Tend to the person in need of assistance at the time of the "encounter".

Laugh later.

Devil's Club has particularly delicate little flowers found hidden amongst it's leaves and stalks in the spring and eventually generates clusters of small, bright red berries in the late summer and early fall.

During this "growing season"... spring flowers to fall berries... the plant itself, all parts of the plant is particularly toxic. Hence, the discussion suggests that an invasive little prick from one of those brittle, little spines during this particular "growing season" is a bit more painful than those encountered in the "off season"... if that's possible.

It's been my unfortunate experience over the years that suggests those little spine "invasions" are as equally intense no matter what the season is...

The berries are toxic. The bark's toxic, the flowers are toxic... the whole plant is toxic.

So, what brings me to the point of writing about Devil's Club? Well... it's that time of year. As I drive through my office in the Pacific Northwest I take in the sights along the way... and while I'm there.

I've seen and dealt with Devil's Club all of my life here in Washington State. Not every day but a lot! I'll most likely be dealing with it for quite awhile longer too. It's not going to go away. But, I've learned some things about this Mountain Cactus... this Alaskan Ginseng.

I've learned that Devil's Club has a far less sinister side to it as well. It's a plant revered by the native people of this particular area. It's known to have healing and spiritual powers and is still used in particular tribal rituals throughout the region.

The healing qualities of the plant includes treatment of diabetes, fever and upset stomachs. Here's a great article on the shrub and it's uses.

The bottom line is this... Devil's Club is to be respected. Respected for it's attributes, respected for it's healing powers and respected for it's natural defenses.

People actually harvest Devil's Club after the berries and leaves fall and before the flowering begins. The stalks are severed, the spines and bark peeled and the cambium scraped to be dried and made into teas, powders for salves, etc.

Just when we think we've found the most sinister plant in the world we learn it's not at all as bad as we thought it was.

Isn't that the way life is?