Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau

Time out…..David’s Sick

December 19- December 26, 2016                                                                   Most Recent Posts:
Monday through Monday                                                        Fort King Kayak Trail, Rhesus Monkeys and More
Silver Springs State Park and Welborn Florida                              Hiking the Swamp Trail at Silver River

 

Most of the pictures in this post were taken on a 5 mile hike I took on the Winter Solstice, Wednesday December 21st, from the Silver Springs State Park Campground to the Glass Bottom Boat Head waters area.

 

 

David has been fighting off a cold since only a day after he left Disney World. Disney is not a safe place for a person with a compromised immune system especially when he’s not used to having to be vigilant about using hand sanitizing lotion or washing his hands.

 

 

 

 

 

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He’s been increasingly tired since then and although he did take the Swamp Hike with me on Saturday, he declined both Silver River paddles  on Friday and Sunday which is very unlike him. He wasn’t incapacitated, just didn’t have a lot of energy and encouraged me to go on without him while he rested.

But by Monday he has a fever which means he’s for sure got something his weakened immune system can no longer deal with.

 

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The fever starts out at 99 and moves within a few hours to 101. He starts taking tylenol. He can’t take aspirin due to other drugs he is taking. If his fever gets to 101.5 he has to go to the hospital. He goes to bed at 7pm and I start researching local hospitals.

 

 

 

 

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On Tuesday he’s in bed all day long and I’m monitoring his fever. He sleeps all day getting up only to eat breakfast and then a meal between lunch and dinner. HIs fever bounces between 99 and 101.3. I’m thinking hospital. He wants to wait for the 101.5. His poor body battling Multiple Myeloma so valiently is working hard enough. Having an infection makes it fight a war on two fronts. Seems very unfair to me.  I try to be patient with his holding out for 101.5.  We know from experience that regular hospitals do not know how to deal with Multiple Myeloma patients.

 

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After a rough and scary Tuesday with nearly 20 hours of sleep, his fever breaks in the morning on Wednesday and thankfully is down enough that he can go to the clinic for the two hour velcade shot appointment. 

Happily, it doesn’t get above 100 again. He’s resting and stable enough that I can leave him to go for a Solstice Hike over to the Spring Head while he naps. In the evening we watch Polar Express which he enjoys.  That he doesn’t fall a sleep during it is a sign that the worst has passed.   This hasn’t been my favorite Winter Solstice Celebration by far but I am grateful that he is out of danger and improving and that’s cause for celebration.

 

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On Thursday I do 3 loads of laundry.  David is better but still taking it easy.  His cough has calmed down some and what now clearly appears to be a cold has shifted to his head.  This stuffy nose is giving him more trouble sleeping than his medications normally do.

Under normal circumstances, although he tries to be in bed for 10 or 11 hours, he seldom sleeps more than 2 or 3 hours in a row without waking.  It’s no wonder he needs to nap and a real wonder he’s not more tired all the time.  With such lack of sleep, how can his already stressed body fight this cold at all?  

This is our last day at Silver Spring and I’m thankful he is well enough to move tomorrow.  But I’m sorry he has been sick for so much of our stay here and hasn’t been able to paddle on the river at all.

On Friday we head down the River Trail to pick up the kayaks.  We pull them back,  David does fine.  We get loaded up and head out to Wellborn Florida where we will leave the rig while we fly to Maryland to spend the holiday with Carrie and her family.

On the way to Wellborn, which is 90 miles up I 75 from Silver Springs, the ABS light comes on in the rig.  This light business is beginning to feel like a recurring nightmare.  This “idiot light” as David calls it isn’t nearly as serious as the Oil Light so we drive on and figure when we get back, we’ll have to find a chevy truck place so they can use their special tool to scan the 4 brake sensors to see which one has the problem.   For full timers who don’t have a favorite mechanic in every town they visit, that means researching Chevy Truck dealers or shops to make sure they have the tool, can do the job and can get the part.  But that’s for later. 

 

We arrive at the home of Barry and Millie whom we met through RVillage and who have graciously volunteered to let us leave our rig on their property about 90 minutes from the Jacksonville Airport. 

I was unable to find any week long accomodations any closer that would allow us to leave the rig hooked to electricity while we were not in it.   When I appealed to a couple of groups I belong to on line, Barry answered and said we could leave Winnona with them.  This is a generous life saver for us.  Thank you SO much Barry and Millie.

 

Barry and Millie have a 43’ Winnebago Journey parked beside their house and hooked to a 50 amp outlet.  They have been RVing for years..   But when we hook up our coach to the 30 amp electricity Barry has in front of their house, our Progressive Industries protector gives us a reverse polarity error and will not connect.  Barry says no one else has ever had any problem but when David checks the box, it is for sure reversed.   We spend the night with no electricity.  It’s a balmy 44 when we wake up in the morning.  I think seriously about baking a cake in the oven to warm up the rig.

Barry and David spend the morning working on the electric problem.  They switch the wires in the box but that doesn’t solve it which means the problem is somewhere back up the line.  Barry calls a knowedgable friend who comes by around 2:00 and is able to fix it so it will work but tells Barry the wires are too small for what he’s trying to do.   I hope Winnona will be OK here but it’s too late now to find anywhere else.  So it’s take a chance or cancel our flight.

As long as the Progressive will not cut the current, we’ll be ok and not have to completely empty our refrigerator and give away or throw away all the food.  Everything is fine Saturday night and into Sunday morning.  We test the air conditioner since it will be in the 80’s while we are gone but it will also be raining so we can’t leave the windows open.  The AC works ok too.

 

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On Christmas Day we talk with Carrie and our families on the phone and join our generous hosts for Christmas dinner.  This is our first Christmas dinner anywhere but together with Carrie.  The food is good, the company is fun.  Things seem to be working out.  I’ll try not to worry while we are gone.

I do wonder what you all do if you need to leave your rig for a week.  I’d love some advice for next time.

We leave tomorrow headed for BWI and a drop in day time highs of 35 degrees.  Brrrrrrrr!  Wish us luck!!

18 comments:

  1. We've left our MH for weeks at a time with no problems. Most of the times it is just at a campground with FHUs, but there have been times when we've used an extension cord hooked into a 20 amp circuit, just enough to keep the fridge on and the batteries charged.

    Thank goodness David got over that bad cold, he's a trooper.

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  2. It must be frightening when David gets a cold or rise in temperature. Because of his positive attitude it just doesn't seem right when he is down with something like this. Glad he got back to feeling better.

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  3. The fever breaking was a very good sign for David.

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  4. So glad David's system was strong enough to fight off the cold - and that it was only a cold. Given all the nasties in hospitals it was probably best to ride it out at home if you could - although not easiest on you :-( Love your wraparound tree - and the attention-seeking little bird :-))) So nice of them to let you hook up Winona, and they needed to get that electrical issue resolved anyway. Looking forward to family pics from your visit to Carrie's!

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  5. So glad to hear that David is back to snuff at least for now. I'm sure seeing his new granddaughter is making him (and you!) smile.

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  6. Davis is definitely a fighter and you are his great supporter. Im sure you are having a great visit with your grand daughter.

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  7. So glad that David was able to fight off that cold without having to go to the hospital. Our Winter Solstice and holiday celebrations have been very low key this year, too—but we're celebrating life, that's for sure! How wonderful that your kind new friends provided a place for Winona while you were away.

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  8. That cold was definitely not fun:( We left our full time rig in Key West in Dec for a week. Because we had lots of food but no power, against my better judgement we left the fridge on gas with batteries on. Sure enough the batteries were dead on our return. This shortened the life of the batteries and it would have been cheaper to just to toss the food and save the batteries.

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  9. Really glad David recouped in time for your Christmas trip!!! Hope you had a great time!!!

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  10. That is wonderful news that David was able to fight off the virus. That says a lot about the strength of his immune system:) Glad you were able to enjoy the area some but I know your mind was back at the MH with David. What sweet people to let you leave you rig at their place and have you for Christmas dinner. We have just booked a site and left our rig when we flew out of town. We don't tell the park. We left ours for two weeks in Sept. and pulled in our slides. All went well thank goodness. Most parks don't want you leave your unit unless that is something they let weekenders do.

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  11. David is such a fighter. So glad he beat this one.

    As long as I can stay plugged in for my household fridge otherwise it's empty it out. Depends on the predicted temps beyond that. When gone two weeks last month I left a heater on low too. Nice folks to help you out. Looking forward to Christmas pics.

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  12. Glad to hear that David recovered from the virus so you could make the trip to Maryland.
    Great idea asking for help from RVillage. Sounds like nice people.

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  13. So glad David is feeling better. Nice folks to let you keep your rv there, we've not yet been away from ours more than one night.

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  14. Sorry to read David was not feeling well but glad he recovered and you were able to spend the holidays with family.

    Happy New Year!
    Celebrating the Dance

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  15. Thanks for the encouraging words! I just take it one day at a time and assume I will recover in time without having to be admitted to a hospital again. This is the slippery slope in myeloma - not letting any infection get "out of control" lest you slide into the abyss!

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  16. So glad you licked the cold. Sounds as though your trip to MD was free of sickness.

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  17. So glad the cold did not require the hospital and glad too for Millie and Barry letting you stay!

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