Hill Country Getaway

After doctor appointments and other obligations, Peggy, Clayton and I hooked up the old Airstream and headed to the Texas Hill Country for a few days before Clayton’s school starts on the 25th.  We checked in to Kerrville-Schreiner Park in Kerrville, Texas.  This 500+ acre park is nestled on the Guadalupe River and is full of deer.  We had several families of deer with very young fawns come right up to our campsite.  After the first night, we were one of only two trailers in the 20-campsite area called “Deer Field Loop”.  The weather was cooler than San Antonio and we were treated to summer showers off and on each day.  We forgot to pack any reading material so Peggy and I both ended up reading One Soldier’s Story, former Senator Bob Dole’s memoir of his World War II years and his life-threatening injuries.  We sure tend to forget that real sacrifice that this “greatest generation” made for our freedom.

 We thought that Peggy’s Meniere Syndrome was finally under control as she’d gone several days without any of the severe symptoms of vertigo and nausea.  But, Tuesday morning the dizziness returned, followed by the nausea and vomiting.  It seems that being able to sleep it off is required to completely rid her of the symptoms.  As I write this on Tuesday afternoon, that’s what she’s trying to do.  Thankfully, Clayton responds fairly well and doesn’t demand an extraordinary amount of attention when he knows that his mom is really sick.

There's Good News Tonight!

We got good news today from Peggy's MRI. The ENT's office called to say that the MRI showed no indication of a tumor! This means that she does have Meniere's Syndrome, a manageable condition. I have had this for about 9 years and it is managed pretty well with a diuretic and very low sodium diet. The low sodium diet is also good for high blood pressure. All of these ailments that are associated with ageing seem to be inter-mingled.

Anyway, we're tickled with this outcome. As soon as we get a few more doctor appointments out of the way, we plan to slip off to Kerrville with the Airstream for a few more days downtime before school starts on the 25th. Our son John will be joining us for this trip.

The weather is still hot and DRY in South Texas. The two tropical storms that threatened us so far this summer did not bring much rain to San Antonio.

Hanging out at the pool

Clayton is enjoying being back home and getting in some swimming lessons at our neighborhood pool. He's doing well.... Peggy has seen her primary doctor who referred her to an ENT. She's now seen the ear doctor and he wants an MRI to rule out a possible tumor. His diagnosis at this time is leaning towards Meniere's Syndrome, a malfunction of fluid in the inner ear. I have that so we know that's treatable and manageable. We'll be grateful if that's all this is. The MRI is the 6th so we'll report after that.

On a sad note, a colleague, Rick from SACU (from whom I retired) was killed in an auto accident yesterday. Just a sudden loss of a friend who was a couple of years away from retirement and who was really looking forward to it. I went by work today and visited with a lot of my work friends. Something about a tragedy like this makes you want to re-connect with your "family".

I have to say that this is one of the unexpected impacts of retirement. Leaving people behind with whom you've worked and spent so many years is harder than I thought. I'm not sure there's a solution for it...