By: Ken Boone It's Thursday morning, and I find myself in a familiar spot. Sitting in the waiting room of "Celia's place". That's what I call hospital where Celia had replacement surgery on bot hips. My place, where they treated me for my heart condition is on the other side of town. While they are part of the same hospital system, those two facilities are as different as night and day. Her procedure is simple compared to the surgeries she had in July and November of 2019. That's right, two hip replacements in one year. A brave soul is she! Today's is basically a "clean up on aisle 3" sort of affair. It's so routine that the surgeon said she would be discharged later on today. Last year was filled with many challenges for Celia and me, healthwise. We were hoping have all of it behind us by 2020, but that doesn't appear to be the case. We have big plans for this year, and in fact, some of those plans are now starting to take shape. Needless to say, medical misadventures are not part of those plans! Since I started writing this blog and recording my podcast, my perspective has changed dramatically. Where I once referred to the challenges in my life as grievances, I now call most of them regrets. The reason why is that I now take the extra step of taking ownership of those challenges and helping to shape the outcomes. The old, wise saying is making lemonade out of lemons! There's a guy walking around the waiting appearing to try to sell durable medical equipment to the loved ones of the patients who are back in the surgical suites. I'm glad I'll be able to tell him that I've got one of everything he's hawking! I just finished having a post-op consultation with the surgeon. He told me that she came through the procedure with flying colors. He also repeated that she would be discharged later today. I was cautiously optimistic because the pre-op nurse earlier said that she would be get overnight for observation. Note to self: doctor trumps nurse, right? There are at least 20 people who insisted I let them know how Celia's procedure went. They all wanted phone calls, but I think I'll text them instead. As I got older, I realized that I'm not much of a phone guy. In fact, I'm not much of a talker, period. For people who knew me when I was young, that must be difficult to comprehend. Moving right along, I'm now in Celia's room, and she looks fantastic! She's typically very drowsy from the anesthesia, but today she alert and chipper. There's a knock on the door. Enter Carly, her nurse for the day. She looks like she's 18, but has the knowledge base of someone who's done this for 40 years! After the introductions, she repeated the pre-op nurse's assessment that Celia will be an overnight guest. That wasn't good news to my ears, but I did pack a change of clothes just in case. That's right, we are one of those couples who always crashes in the same room! People seem to like that about us. When we told Carly that the doctor said Celia would be allowed to leave today, she expressed a little concern. Because this was a procedure to remove some infected debris, Carly was typically against same-day discharges. Most nurses would have stood their ground, but not Carly. She called the surgeons office and put in a plan of attack that she would be willing to sign off on. Celia and I spent the next 3 to 4 hours discussing all of the things we would do after she was discharged and fully recovered. In no particular order, we would:
At the same time, Carly was coordinating "Operation Celia Goes Home" with Physical Therapy, the surgeon's office, and everyone else who had to sign off. Did I say that she looked like she was only 18? Yes I did! It's now 6:45pm and Carly comes in with the final verdict. Celia gets to go home in about an hour! That's the good news. The bad news is that Carly's shift ends at 7:00pm, and the night crew would be responsible for the discharge. Not their strong suit. To our amazement, Carly refused to leave until everything was in order and Celia was in the wheelchair on her way to the lobby. I also remember saying earlier that her skills of a veteran nurse! It's now 7:45pm and I'm pulling the car around to the hospital entrance, when I see a vision. It's Carly clad in an overcoat and with a backpack. I wanted to roll down my window to give her a shout out, but she just got done with a long shift. After the transportation nurse finished loading Celia into our car, we took off like gangsters fleeing a bank heist. That was in case they changed their minds. I told her that I saw Carly walking through the parking lot. Celia also saw her leaving through the front door a few seconds earlier. We both had the same impression about her as she appeared in her street clothes. She no longer looked like she was 18. She looked like she was 14! All I can say was "damn, they're making angels younger these days"! But wait, there's more!
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By: Ken Boone Today's my birthday! To be precise, at 6:40PM, I will have successfully lived 62 years on this earth. I share this date with R&B singer Anita Baker and actor Lorenzo Lamas. The three of us may have been born literally minutes apart. But perhaps the most famous member of this club is comedian George Burns. He lived to the ripe old age of 100, which gives the rest of us hope. January 20th is also the day we inaugurate the President of the United States, although that happens every four years. For me, it's either an extra happy birthday or a "I can't wait for this day to end" date on the calendar, depending on if my candidate wins or loses. And that's all I'll say on the subject. For me, this particular birthday is much more significant to the others to date. Today makes it 50 years that I've outlasted an "end of the world" prediction. According to a then well-respected source, the country of China was going to press their version of the red button and put an end to all of humanity! As I look at all of the equipment on my desk and in my studio, it's obvious that they (China) did not blow up the world. They have bombarded the marketplace with affordable stuff that leveled the playing field in the areas of music, communications, entertainment, etc. You probably would like to ask me, "Ken, what in the heck are you talking about?" Well, let me start by saying that I heard this "prediction" when I was just six years old. My brother and I went to my mother's Sunday morning choir rehearsal, sitting quietly in the back of the space. Of all the new, weird things I was forced to do as a result of my Mom converting to a new religion, attending her choir rehearsals was the worst, by far! The choir director, who also served as a conference-employed Bible instructor, carried a great amount of spiritual clout within those circles. And she sure knew how to wield that clout. I can't speak for anyone else, but she single-handedly inflicted more spiritual harm on me than any one person could have. In this instance, she was reading an article about that prediction of destruction. That fateful event was supposed to occur sometime in calendar year 1970. In all fairness, she was reading a newspaper article and I was eavesdropping on "adult conversation". That's a recipe to get things wrong, to be sure. However, that message stuck with me. So much so that I tried to live a sinless life in the hopes that the 12-year-old Ken would get a spot among the select few who gained eternal life. When 1970 came and went with a whimper, my belief system was shattered and replaced with an unhealthy dose of cynicism. The decades that followed were filled with a lot of fits and starts. For every significant achievement in my life, there were twice as many episodes of underachievement. I could tout the fact that I had very few failures, but that's because I didn't attempt to accomplish many things. Although it took longer for me than for others, wisdom eventually kicked in. I looked at the accomplishments of others as inspiration, and not a source of contempt. There were others who endured much worse than me who not only survived, but thrived. And I realized that I turned out just fine! As I said earlier, today is my birthday. Part of the extended celebration is a visit to my cardiologist for a test that will help to define my quality of life for the next decade of my life. I also treated myself to an inexpensive set of headphones to go in my mobile podcasting setup. Those "cans", like most of the other items in my well-stocked gig bag, were made in China, the country who, according to that prediction, was planning to end us 50 years ago! I guess not! But Wait, There's More!
By Ken Boone I’m sitting in the lobby of a government building in Charlotte, NC. Celia’s attending a meeting in one of the conference rooms somewhere in this huge structure. Unlike most of the government buildings I’ve been in, this one looks more like an art school, complete with hip lighting and avant garde sculptures in the courtyard. Maybe this is why I feel inspired to write at this time. As I mentioned on my most recent podcast, I had appointments with both my cardiologist and my general practitioner a couple of days ago. I also got an order to produce multiple podcast episodes for a client. While the two seem unrelated, I felt that the results I got from the doctors would impact how I approach the podcasts. As I expected, both doctors had to do a double take, because I looked like a totally different person. I lost over 60 pounds of bloat and moved around without getting winded. I do have a turkey neck, but I’ll wear it like a badge of honor. Dr. V., my cardiologist was concerned when I told him that my blood pressure readings were still elevated. He introduced another med that should address that issue. Dr. R., my primary care physician, wanted to make sure that my A1C didn’t go past my last reading of 6.4. Apparently a mere one decimal point rise would throw me in the diabetes range. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Although I was annoyed with myself at the possibility of receiving another serious diagnosis, I was committed to accept the outcome and follow the doctors’ orders. I did use the 24 hours between my appointments and getting the lab results to think about the holes I dug for myself and what I did to stop digging. I remember during my first visit with Dr. V, he used phrases like “treating this like I had a cancer diagnosis”, “trying to make me comfortable”, and “circling the drain” to describe my condition, treatment, etc. In other words, I looked and acted like someone who didn’t care if I lived or died. Dr. R. was much gentler, but equally concerned about my prognosis. With meds and marching orders in hand, I went about taking their suggestions and seeing positive results. However, I still had to address what was going on between my ears. To me, that was the hard part. I started by comparing the hopes and dreams I had for my endeavors with the outcomes achieved. I quickly realized that things weren’t going according to plan. When I started this business, my goal was to devout 2/3 of my efforts to creative pursuits (music, podcasts, blog posts) and 1/3 of my efforts on business services such as accounting. Much to my frustration, the time allocations were flipped. I’m working hard to correct this problem and will keep you posted on my progress. In 2019, I produced 60 podcast episodes, wrote 30 blog posted and 3 theme songs. I hope double my output in 2020. Before I left home to come here, I saw that I got an email from Dr. R. She told me that my A1C was lowered to 5.6! I’m out of diabetes range. I also found out that I was getting false blood pressure readings. They mentioned something about a defective monitor. Those numbers are actually normal! All of that is wonderful news. Now if I can hit my numbers regarding the podcasts, blog posts, and theme music, I’ll be cooking with gas! I haven’t totally emerged from that hole, but at least I’ve stopped digging! But wait, there's more!
For the first time in decades, I was awake to watch the Times Square ball drop on TV. It wasn't because I stuck to some well thought-out plan, like taking a nap in the afternoon. It was because I've been sticking to the resolutions I made this past September. While getting ready to "street me" at the end of my unplanned visit to Atrium Health University City in Charlotte, I was given a long list of instructions to follow. Celia took careful notes. Angel and her husband, Chad, went to the supermarket to pick up foods that made up my new diet. They then went to the pharmacy to pick up the first set of meds prescribed by both of my new doctors. They refused to take a dime for all of the things they bought that day. And they a lot! Enough to fill my refrigerator, my freezer, my pantry, AND my medicine cabinet. I'm still trying to think of a way to pay them back. Now, back to the resolutions. I was told watch my sodium intake. So I've become an expert at reading labels in the grocery store. It was quite depressing to find out that I have to swear off the deli counter in Publix. I was also advised to keep tabs on my level of physical exertion until my stress test that's supposed to happen later this month. My first visit to my cardiologist was an event I'll never forget. Although he looked like a man who's seen it all, he took one look at me and asked why did I take so long to seek medical attention. He then hosted my latest "come to Jesus moment". (I was getting a lot of those during that time.) I don't think Dr. V held out much hope for me. Not because he though my condition was dire. I probably looked like a person who lacked the fortitude, and follow-through, undertake the changes necessary to get back to some level of normalcy. What he didn't know about me is that once I set my mind to do something, a bulldog determination takes hold of every fiber of my being. And one of the things that triggers that state is when it's suggested that I can't do something. With the zeal of a new believer, I dove into my new regimen, with shockingly positive results. My heart guy is happy. He noticed some major changes at my follow up visits. My wife is happy. Angel and Chad are happy. And most important, I'm happy too! I have an appointment with Dr. V on this Tuesday. I also have an appointment with my general practitioner. She hasn't seen me since my initial visit in October. I can't wait to see their reactions. I'm not expecting them to take me off of my meds. I've come to terms with the fact that I'll be taking between 10-12 pills a days for the rest of my life. What I'm hoping for is a pat on the back for sticking to my New Life Resolutions! But wait... there's more!
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About the AuthorAs owner of the Descant Music & Media Group, Ken is a creator and producer of several podcast shows. He is also a music producer, as well as a writer and an accountant for small businesses and nonprofits. Archives
June 2020
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