November was a month!

Yep, I know, bad blogger, it has been a LONG time since I posted. I will tell ya though, November has been a month!

Let’s fill you in….

It all started Wednesday afternoon October 30. I was on the phone doing a recorded interview with a person about an accident. Michelle came in and said “We need to go to the doctor now!”

Earlier in the week she had some serious pain in her innards, and was doubled over in pain for a few hours. When I was getting ready to make the decision to go to the doc it went away. On Wednesday the pain came back!

I ended the call, headed out, and we were off to the ER!

I soon realized, I had NO idea where our ER was….  Luckily there are blue hospital signs pointing the right direction.

Little did I know an advantage to a small town is that the ER is SO much better than Seattle. Michelle and I once sat for hours at Harborview in Seattle, and then finally left when she wasn’t seen.

Here, she was back in a room in less than 15 minutes.

The diagnosis was gall stones, LOTS of gall stones, one got out and annoyed her pancreas (hence the pain).

We spent the next two days in the Hospital. The first plan was emergency surgery the next day. Then, come morning, she looked like this.

The doc was amazed she looked so good. Because of this, they wanted to hold off on surgery. If they could let the pancreas calm down and use diet to keep it that way, she could do an outpatient surgery that would heal MUCH faster.

We spent another night in the hospital though just to make sure she was ok.

The strangest part was the guy next door. Every now and then we would hear “Where’s my pants!” “Where’s my underwear!”

This was after the lady in the ER who sounded every bit like Linda Blair in the Exorcist. There were sounds coming from her I have NEVER heard! I am not sure if this was normal for our ER or if it was due to it being Halloween.

November 1, we got our walking papers and were out!

She was SO happy to be home!

November 19, at high noon, was the surgery day. We got there and were checked in.

The doc came out to talk to me, and said it would be about 2 hours before she was done.

She had to fast before surgery of course, so being supportive I did too. I was starving, and had 2 hours to kill!

I went to subway and got a wrap and a couple cookies, then went to an overlook to watch the waves as I ate lunch. Someone clearly wanted a bite!

After I ate, I hit Starbucks so she would have an ice tea on the way home. I then went back to the hospital to hang out. I was gone for MAYBE an hour.

I walked in, and the lady at the volunteer test saw me, and said with urgency. “ARE YOU TONY VALENTE??? The Operating room is looking for you! You need to go now!!” And she took off at a trot to take me there!

OK my heart skipped and I though “HOLY CRAP!! (it wasn’t crap) What the hell happened???”

I got there to find out surgery went so well she was done early. (Maybe THAT coulda been the message given when I walked in???)

The doc came out and told me all was good, and I would be able to go home soon.

Remember the small town? Right after the doc left, the other husband who was waiting for his wife came out and saw me. He walked up and said, “Hey, they were looking for you! I told them I heard you saw you went to lunch. Glad you made it back!”

Michelle is doing VERY well! She took two weeks off work and rested. She is already back on the treadmill, carefully, and still gets tired some, but she is recovering SO well! Proud of her!  My heart rate got back to normal later the night I brought her home…

There was more that happened this month though!

First off, the first sign of Lincoln City Christmas was spotted. At the septic tank service company Poopin Santa arrived!

This is my favorite Christmas decoration ever!

I got our lights up as well, and our Snow Man.

Sadly though, a wind storm came through not once, but twice. SNOWMAN DOWN!!!

I hit Ace hardware and I think I have him secure now! We will see when the next blow happens….

Then there is Kitten Kitten…

One day, while cleaning the house, our cat’s food dishes were put outside to allow sweeping and mopping. When we looked outside, this little lady was helping herself!

Well you know, once you feed a stray, she is yours…  So Kitten Kitten has joined the family. She is skittish and skinny, but she doesn’t run away from us. Our own cats aren’t 100% happy about this, but we just explain they need to be nice to the needy!

The Oregon Coast put on a bit of a show for me this month! It never fails to amaze me!

First with a bike ride to the Lighthouse, I spotted these guys.

Then of course, there were sunsets.

Then we had a king tide, which are the highest tides of the year. This year it brought big waves as well! It is so much fun to take a long lunch and head down to Depoe Bay on days like this.

There was also time for Beach Walks, as we know, one of my favorite things to do here. The beach was good to me this month. I found some very nice agates.

And surprisingly, I found my 3rd (Yep 3rd!) Lincoln City Finders Keepers Float.

There are those who believe that the floats on the beach here are a scam, or fake news . Then I tell people I have found 3, and their mouths drop. I found this one  right at sunset, and I almost didn’t go for a walk that night. SO glad I did!

Finally there was Thanksgiving. We took the earliest day possible for Michelle’s surgery. This meant she was recovered enough to enjoy a great meal! We made our normal Mushroom Risotto. Of course, being me, I needed the one item that SCREAMS thanksgiving in addition to the risotto! (We got a can with an upside down table)

All in all, this November will be VERY memorable. The important thing is Michelle is OK!

Looking forward to a new month and a great Christmas!