All posts by David Todd

Health

The Operation Is Coming

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I found lots of illustrations on-line for the type of valve I have.

A little late getting today’s post up, but here it is. In several recent posts I’ve alluded to surgery that I’m going to have soon, but haven’t given specific info. It will be open-heart surgery.

Now, before everyone freaks out, they surgeon and others tell me this is the least risky, least invasive type of open-heart surgery you could have. That sounds strange, I know. but here are the details.

I was born with an abnormal aortic valve.  A normal heart valve has three leaves that move together, opening to allow flow and closing to block flow. My aortic valve, however, has only two leaves (cusps is the medics call them). I normally say genetically defective valve, but that’s probably unfair to the valve. It has served me well for 72+ years, but my cardiologist thinks it’s time to replace the two-cusp wonder, and the surgeons who normally do this kind of surgery agree.

The valve has a condition that’s called stenosis, a build-up of calcium (and maybe other stuff) on it. It’s opening and closing fine, and not leaking, but with the degree of buildup on it, it’s only a matter of time until it won’t work properly, or some of the calcium will slough off and cause a problem in my lungs or elsewhere. So the doc says it’s time to replace it, while I’m still “young” and not a very big risk for surgery. Based on tests, they say I’m low risk.

They aren’t saying the valve was the cause of my mini-stroke in January—it most likely wasn’t. But with that health scare, and with their knowledge of how these things go as a man ages, they strongly recommended I have the procedure done now. That was back in mid-February. The surgery will be, most likely, the week of July 22.

Why so long a wait? Well, it isn’t an emergency. My heart is strong. Tests show my arteries are not blocked (“widely patent” is medical speak for a clear artery, and tests show almost all mine are “widely patent”). I have a good ejection fraction, a measure of the squeezing function of the heart. I have no symptoms of heart disease—no angina (thought I did have some last year) and no shortness of breath. Everything is fine except for my genetically defective valve, which is stenotic, calcifies, and perhaps ossified, petrified, and mummified.

With the wonders of modern medicine, most of these valve replacements, maybe 80 percent of them, are done through the groin. That requires one or two days in the hospital and a seven-to-ten-day recovery period. Back in February they thought mine would be done through-the-groin, and they began running the tests needed to know for sure. Well, it turns out that my two-cusp wonder is quite elongated rather than circular. The two manufacturers of the through-the-groin valves cannot guarantee that their valves will fit and lodge properly, with no leakage or looseness.

Hence, they gotta do mine the old-fashioned way. Put me to sleep; switch my breathing to a heart-lung machine; stop my heart; open my chest to expose the heart; detach the aorta; cut out the bad valve; possibly reshape the valve opening; insert and stabilize the new valve; sew me back up; restart the heart; and wake me up. I’ll then have a week or maybe ten days in the hospital, followed by two months of at home recovery. Easy-peasy. Seems almost ridiculous seeing as I have no symptoms. But the tests don’t lie.

One good thing about doing this via open heart is that in ten years, when my replacement valve wears out and I need another valve, presumably I’ll be less strong to withstand another surgery but they will be able to do it through the groin. To every cloud there is a silver lining, even if you have to wait ten years to see it.

But, with every surgery there are risks. What is my heart doesn’t want to re-start when it’s over? What if some calcium decides to slough off during the surgery? What if the anesthesia is at the wrong level? What if my otherwise strong heart is damaged during the surgery?

I’ll have some posts written ahead of time for when I’m in the hospital. Meanwhile, if you’re interested in this kind of condition, you can find quite a few reputable websites that discuss it.

 

books, letters, reading, The Forest Throne

Something To Read

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Elijah enjoyed this as I read it to him. I enjoyed reading it again. Found a few typos I’ll have to fix.

I’m always reading something: a book, a magazine, whatever holds my interest. At least once a month I try to make a dent in my magazine pile, and I’ll take a couple of days to read three or four magazines.

But books are my main reading. A print book is nice, but I’m not against e-books. In fact, at some times I prefer an e-book. On a trip, or with a large book, having an e-book on my phone is definitely easier to read.

I’m usually working on two or three books at a time, which I read in different places, with one of those books being the main one. I’ll have another one I’m beginning to read to see if I’ll like it. I’m also reading a book more for research than for entertainment. And, I’ll have an e-book or two at the ready on my phone, to read in odd moments, such as in a doctor’s waiting room.

But as of late, I’ve had difficulty finding a book that I like. Here’s what I read or started lately, and a little about them.

  • C.S. Lewis’s The Allegory of Love. I just started it, and within five pages I found it very difficult to understand. This is one of Lewis’s scholarly works, and it reads like one. I suppose I’ll find a way to read it, but with great difficulty.
  • Jack London’s White Fang. I brought this book on our recent trip to Texas, planning to read it to our youngest grandson, Elijah. I had never read it. But I got through only one chapter, and Elijah wasn’t interested. I also found it a bit difficult. So I set that aside.  for the rest of the trip, and plan to read it on my own sometime in the next year.
  • I just finished two similar books: XIII Men, and The Master’s Men. They were among the books that belonged to my mother-in-law that we recently liberated from a box or shelf in the basement. The books were similar. The first read almost as creative non-fiction and the second as a Bible study. Two different treatments of the same subject, the apostles appointed by Jesus. They probably aren’t worth reviewing on the blog, though I’m thinking about it.
  • My own book, There’s No Such Thing As Time Travel. Elijah wanted me to read it to him, so I did. He hadn’t read it before, and he seemed to like it.
  • The second book in the series, The Key To Time Travel. Elijah and I got about 2/3rds of the way through it when our child/pet-watching gig was up.
  • The Letters of Cicero. Readers of the blog will know I love reading letter collections. I’ve had this one as an e-book for a long time, and I’ve been slowly reading it in those odd moments. I’m around 33 percent through with it. I’ve found it uninteresting, and have laid it aside for now. I plan on making a presentation of this letter collection at the September meeting of the NW Arkansas Letter Writers Society.

None of these books have been what I would call great reads. They aren’t the sort of book, for example, that I would take to the hospital for a week-long stay. I needed something else.

A few days ago, knowing I needed a book or two to take to the hospital, I started scanning my bookshelves. On a bookshelf tucked away in the basement storeroom are my literature and poetry books. I found several that looked promising. One was The Grasmere and Alfoxden Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth. I picked this up new many years ago, but put it on the shelf. Now, I pulled it out and began reading it.

A journal is kind of like a letter collection. The passages are short. The book is easily picked up at any point for a short read or, if time and interest allow, a longer read. So this looks like a good read for the days in the hospital. This will not be enough reading material, however. I have a few things on my phone, but will be looking for one more book.

How about you? What does your reading pile/list look like?

Bible study, Documenting America, goals

June Progress, July Goals

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The changing of the month, once again. Time to see how I did on last months goals and to set some new goals for July, First, the progress.

  • Blog twice a week on Mondays and Fridays. That’s starting to sound monotonous. Done, with a little help of scheduling posts ahead of time.
  • Make good progress on A Walk Through Holy Weeks, Vol 2: Temple Teaching. I’ll have to see if time will materialize for writing. If I had to set a goal, I’d like to be at least 70 percent done. No, did not make this goal. I was unable to write much on our trip to Texas—too much turmoil and too many responsibilities. I did get some done, and the books stands at around 60 percent complete. I had a problem with the structure of the book and took a couple of days working through the outline and changing the order of the chapters.
  • Continue with my scanning/formatting/e-filing of old poetry critiques project. This task is bigger than I thought, and will take a lot of perseverance to get it done. I think it will take three more months to finish. I got some of this done before we left for Texas, but none after we got back, so I would have to say I didn’t meet this goal. Not sure I’m even at the point where I can say I’m X% done with it
  • Begin to put together my book of our letters from Saudi Arabia.  The letters are transcribed and saved, the travel diary is only a day or two away from full transcription. I’d like to have the book mostly done by mid-July (for reasons that will be revealed in a future post). That means I need to be 2/3 done by the end of June. All transcribing is done, including a little proofreading. The letters and travel diary is assembled in a book file. I’m ready to write the introduction and commentary. I would have to say I slightly ahead of where I’d hoped to be at month’s end.
  • As with last month, I want to spend some time reading for the next Documenting America book, but it will have to be different material than I read in May. I have a book picked out to take with me and read on our next trip. May also get some in before that. No, I didn’t do any of this. My reading took me in different directions. Plus, I don’t really know which volume I’m going to do next.

So as you can see, it was not a great month for making progress.

Now, some July goals.

  • Blog twice a week on Mondays and Fridays. That may not be possible due to some surgery scheduled in July, but I’ll make it a goal and hope to write and schedule some posts ahead of time.
  • Make as much progress as possible on Volume 2 of A Walk Through Holy Week. It would be nice to have the first draft done before July 22.
  • Attend one writing group meeting. The two other meetings are cancelled due to venue problems during the summer.
  • Complete the Introduction and occasional commentary of the Saudi letters book.
  • Possibly complete and publish a short story I’ve been working on, the next in the Danny Tompkins series.

That’s all. Maybe this is achievable, maybe not. I’ll see if circumstances allow me to post progress and goals when July rolls into August.

 

book reviews, Politics

Book Review: The Final Days

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An excellent historical account of a traumatic time in our country. Well worth the read.

When we made our road trip back east, the final two nights in New England were in a resort on Cape Cod. In the lobby of the main building was a table of books. The resort made them available to guests. Lynda grabbed one for us to read. Having just finished a Watergate related book, she picked up The Final Days by Woodard and Bernstein.

Years ago, I read a lot of Watergate books, and found I enjoyed the topic. I lived through it, though at the time of the break-in and the first unraveling of the cover-up, I was a busy college student, taking a full load of courses, working a lot of hours, having just started going out with my first girlfriend, and the news about Watergate, if I even heard it, made no impression on me.

So this book was immediately interesting to me. Lynda, having read less on the subject, was also interested. We read some aloud in the resort those two nights, then in car while driving home. It’s a long book, so we didn’t finish it on the trip. Reading it aloud became our afternoon and evening activity during the two weeks between our trips, and we got it done.

I think the book was the basis for a movie, perhaps of the same name. I remember seeing that movie. Hence, as we read and the story line seemed familiar, I was able to tell Lynda what was coming next, and I was usually correct.

This tells about the last six months of the Nixon presidency. The cover-up of the Watergate break-in—that is, keeping the seven people involved in the break-in quiet through the payment of hush money—began to unravel in April 1973, when John Dean, the main architect of the payments, revealed he was talking with federal prosecutors. The firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox came in October 1973, but it was not until spring of 1974 until most of the things going on became public knowledge. Nixon announced his resignation on August 8, 1974 and left office the next day.

The book concentrates on the last six months, but of necessity tells of other activities. Much time is spent on the taping system Nixon had that recorded much of the dirty work of the cover-up and Nixon’s involvement. The court wrangling, various decisions on how to minimally comply, and the toll it took on the lawyers and other in the administration are all covered in some detail. I enjoyed reading about it all.

The authors’ sources were unnamed, but it was easy to guess who some of them were. They were well-connected to the administration, especially to the legal teams. I liked how various “underlings” were brought into the story and what their roles were. I don’t mean that in a derogatory sense, but sometimes the secretaries or aides not involved in policy decisions played unsung roles and it was good to know about them.

One key topic was resignation vs. impeachment. Those around Nixon, both his lawyers and other key staff, realized he could not remain as president after having committed the crimes he did. But convincing him to resign rather than fight it out was a delicate process of helping him to see that his actions in the coverup were not as innocent as he claimed. Perhaps he drifted into the coverup somewhat innocently, unthinkingly, but he still was a key participant.

The books is excellent. I give it 5-stars, and recommend it for any Watergate buffs who haven’t read it yet—or anyone who wants to know some details of that part of our history. But it is not a keeper. Despite its lack of a cover (lost when we got the book), I’m putting it in the donation pile. I don’t think I’ll ever re-read any of my Watergate era books.

Bible study, family

Trip 2 Is In The Bag

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A tender moment, as Elijah cuddled with one of the cats, I think in his sleep.

Saturday evening, we arrived at home around 9:00 p.m., ending our second trip for the summer. This one was to Lake Jackson, Texas, about an hour south of Houston. Our daughter and her family live there. She and her husband and their two middle children went on a ten-day mission trip to Belize. Staying behind were their oldest son, Ephraim, and youngest son Elijah.

Well, also the four cats (not so affectionately nicknamed Useless, Nitwit, Diva, and Blimpie), the 70 pound lab (nicknamed Nuisance), and the bearded dragon. Useless has an infection of some kind and needed watching and medicating. The two kids staying behind were mostly up on the care of the pets. Little Elijah did very well scooping three of the five litter boxes. The twice-a-week sifting was a little beyond his abilities but he tried hard.

One morning, I heard a ruckus, and found the gate that keeps the dog out of the upstairs down. It was almost a two-person job to get it back in place again.,

I got to read a lot with Elijah. He can read okay, but he wanted me to read to him. We didn’t quite finish the second book he asked me to read. He’s a good kid, though, just like his older siblings, he spends a lot of time on screens. Some of that time is actually educational. In between the silliness of certain things, he hears educational videos. And he seems to understand and retain much of the good information they try to convey.

On the other hand, Ephraim is…a teenager. What is that old saw? “When I was sixteen I was amazed at my father’s ignorance.” I have to hope that the second part of that is also true for him: “When I was twenty-one I was amazed at how much he had learned in five years.” I’ll just leave it at that. On Wednesday June 19, I drove him to Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, and saw him off on his big adventure, a European trip, courtesy of his uncle Charles.

I had been hoping to get some writing done, what with fewer kids around than normal, but, alas, that wasn’t to be. I think I was able to writing only on three days, and not a normal daily output on those days. Maybe I’ll get some done this week with Ezra here. If not, I’ll hope for a good output in the several weeks ahead.

We stayed two nights after the family returned. Took the two middles to the planetarium, our third time to go there. It’s a nice educational facility about three miles from their house. I bought a season pass for them, and hope they go a few more times to justify the expense.

Saturday, we drove back with thirteen-year-old grandson Ezra. He’ll spend a week with us. I have a number of projects lined out for him to help me with. I hope to work him about four hours a day, then he’ll have free time. We are also hoping to read in the Bible every night, and, we shall play games. He’s looking forward to not having his younger sister around, whose antics liven up the game but also makes normal play difficult.

Next Saturday, we’ll drive half-way to Lake Jackson, meeting one of his parents—or possibly both plus two other grandkids—halfway. That will end the summer trips. That is, unless we go to Branson for a week during my convalescence after surgery. But more on that later. For now, we are looking forward to a few weeks of normalcy.

miscellaneous

Things Proposed on Facebook, Part 5: I Forgave People

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Demonstrating absurdity by being absurd. Meh.

Every now and then I’ll find another meme on Facebook that I think is worth adding to my series. If you read any of the prior posts in this series, you’ll see I’m critical of the memes. This one is, perhaps, a little different.

I saw this on Tuesday. It’s in the picture. In case the picture doesn’t come through, here’s the meme:

I forgave people I should’ve beat up.

Ignoring the grammar, this is obviously a horrible meme. No matter how badly you think of people, no one should be subject to your desire to inflict physical violence. No, this is not an acceptable behavior.

Except, this is obviously not meant to be a serious statement. Someone’s just trying have some fun, to demonstrate absurdity by being absurd. The person posting this meme is venting frustration at the behavior of people she (or he) encounters. The statement is harsh, but it not meant to be taken seriously.

Forgiveness is a good thing, a virtue. Multiple times for the same or different offense. Physical violence is never an acceptable solution.

So I give this meme a grudging pass. I wouldn’t post it, but the absurdity of it makes obviously sarcasm, not a true statement of intended behavior.

family, Writing

The Planetarium and More

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A good time at the planetarium.

The child-watching and pet sitting gig is on-going. I don’t know that I can say that I’m having fun, however. These are not the same as the previous child-watching gigs. I suppose they will never be the same again. The world moves on in not always pleasant directions.

On Friday we took our youngest grandson to the nearby planetarium. It turns out it’s a mere three or four miles away from our daughter’s house. I have good memories of school trips to the planetarium in Rhode Island. I think it was in Roger Williams Park, though that memory is sketchy. I loved how they slowly brought the lights down and stars emerged, how the stars rotated in the night sky and at dawn were in a different place than where they started. Those are good memories.

Elijah, spaceman in training.

So when I discovered that we had a planetarium so close to us, I knew that would be our “field trip” for the week, even if we didn’t have to go far. We entered the room, which was more or less how I remembered it. Around 18 people filled only a fraction of the 72 seats. A speaker up in front told a little about the planetarium and had the technician darken the room to the night sky. She told about a few constellations and told about some stars. They then shifted into a movie projected onto the domed ceiling. The moved was the basics of our solar system.

Elijah liked it enough that we went back on Saturday. First was a story time in the lobby, with Elijah being the only child to show up. Then into the star room for the opening (which was identical to Friday) followed by a cartoon movie, Accidental Astronauts. It was good, though sometimes hard to understand what was said. Elijah seemed to like it.

The facility included a lot of display cases of space things. This included scaled models of the different rockets that have gone into space, including the Artemis craft that will take humans back to the moon. That was well put together. Of course, there were computer stations in the lobby where people could see various educational videos or games.

Lauri Cruver Cherian, author

On Saturday, the woman who did the story time in the lobby, just before we went into the star room, handed me a bookmark. It turns out she’s an author. I said we would have to talk after the show. We had a good conversation after, told of our books, and determined to keep in touch. Her name is Lauri Cruver Cherian. Here’s a link to her website. I’m looking forward to exploring her items. Check out her website and books.

Christianity, family, travel

An Eventful Week

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A fun time at the library. Elijah is the one in the gray t-shirt in the middle.

Some things you can’t post to your blog, no matter how much you want to. This is one of those times.

The “gig” I referred to in my last post is watching grandkids and their pets in their home. Their parents and the two middle children are on a mission trip to Belize. They have their own difficulties, dealing with a severe water shortage resulting in their camp having running water only one hour a day. The pictures sent out show them doing good work.

75 pound dog named Nuisance tests strength of restricting gate, Details at 5.

Us, at the home front? It’s going. A few moments of excitement:

  • Yesterday, a coral snake (venomous) in the front yard. The dog found it, but fortunately I wasn’t the one walking it this year. My shoulder still hurts from last year’s snake-dog interaction.
  • Also yesterday, an altercation in the house between the dog, affectionately nicknamed Nuisance by me, and a cat or two resulted in a gate that restricts the dog’s access to the second floor. Took me a half hour to put it back in place.
  • Monday, as the mission team was leaving, a wallet went missing in the house. After an all hands search, they had to leave without it. Five minutes later we found it (a long story) and we rushed it to the rendezvous point so they could make it to the airport on time.
  • The dish I made on Monday we are still eating. The trying-not-to-be-seen teenager ate only one meal of it, then has been having cereal.
  • Found a missing library card. It was in the garage. I found it while gathering up recyclables yesterday. No idea how it got there.
  • Elijah and I went to the library Tuesday for a program, only to find I misread the schedule and it was on Wednesday. So we went back Wednesday. It was a good program and Elijah liked it.
  • Tomorrow we go to a 1:00 p.m. program at the local planetarium. If it’s good, we might go back Saturday and Tuesday for other programs.
  • Meanwhile, I’ve been unable to get much writing done. I won’t make my goals for this month.

So that’s the news about my gig. We’ll still be doing it on Monday, when no doubt I’ll have more excitement to report.

Christianity, family, travel

Got A Gig

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It’s watching two of our four grandkids, the four cats, one nuisance of a dog, and the house. Cook, taxi, housekeeper. Doing okay, though I keep forgetting about one step down from the entry to the living room, which is dark and dangerous. May have to put a rug down or something.

Saw our daughter, son-in-law, and two middle grandkids off this morning on a 10 day mission trip to Belize. Here’s hoping all goes well on their end, and ours.

Tried to write today but couldn’t get much done after the hubbub of this morning. Perhaps tomorrow will be better.

And hopefully my Friday post will be better as well.

book reviews, C.S. Lewis, Christianity

Book Review: “God In The Dock” by C.S. Lewis

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An excellent anthology of Lewis’s essays.

I continue to work my way through the writings of C.S. Lewis, hoping to get through them all in my lifetime. I got a late start on it, so am having to read them a little faster than I would like. Thus, I’m not sure I have the comprehension I want of his works.

The most recent book of his I completed was God In The Dock. This is a collection essays Lewis wrote over his lifetime, many of which were published in magazines, a few being pulled from things never published. The book itself was published posthumously by Lewis’s editor, Walter Hooper. The book is divided into four parts: theological essays; semi-theological essays; and essays on ethics rather than purely Christian. The fourth part to the book is excerpts from a number of letters that Hooper felt made a good addition to the book, consistent with the other subject matter.

I read this book in three different time spans, one each for parts 1 and 2 and a third for parts 3 and 4. I think this was a good way to do it. It kept me from becoming bogged down reading the same kind of things all over again. And the short nature of essays made it easier to concentrate on what Lewis was saying in them, as compared to his longer works that caused me to zone out.

One essay that particularly stood out to me was “The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment”. Lewis wrote it in 1949 when the U.K. was debating whether incarceration should be retributive or healing. Lewis makes a good case that maintaining a prisoner in jail until he is “healed” can be a form of tyranny. Never declare the patient healed and you can hold him forever. The article, which was published in an Australian magazine, prompted response letters and a rejoinder by Lewis. Oh, he did live to argue and debate! I intend to study this sequence of article and letters more to get a better handle on the subject. It’s always good when you can

I think Hooper did a very good job in putting this anthology together. But it does get a little confusing. The version I had was in an even larger anthology titled The Timeless Writings of C.S. Lewis. But God in the Dock was also published as a stand-alone book. But as I look at the contents, it seems that several essays varied depending on the edition of the book.

Also, Lewis had one specific essay titled, “God in the Dock”, from which the book title is derived. That creates some difficulty. When someone says, “Lewis said this in God in the Dock, are they referring to the essay or the anthology? And which essay within the anthology? It makes citing the work somewhat difficult.

I give the book 5-stars. Although some of the essays weren’t stellar, that will be true in any anthology. I’m keeping the volume in my growing C.S. Lewis collection. Most likely I’ll never read it again cover to cover, but I’ll re-read different essay in it and perhaps write my own in response.