Hiccups Over!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my home town. The weather has been lovely with melting each day—unexpected for the end of January! The hiccups are not exactly a distant memory, but in the past at least! The medical folks think the problem developed from the facedown intubation during surgery, and it was exacerbated because my surgeon was relatively new and had not gone through all the expected protocols for effective medical service. The hospital offers a SeamlessMD program, but he had not been registered, so I was not included, and thus got no service! I have never dealt with an experience so terrible. I didn't even know there was such a thing as fast hiccups. They began during the night after my surgery and continued for the next seven days and nights. The spasms occurred about every three seconds, but sometimes more rapidly, and often with double and triple spasms. Sometimes the complete exhaustion allowed me to sleep. Wendy commented that sometimes I snored along with the hiccups. Monday, was my last bad night, as I finally took some T3s and got to sleep about 5am. Wendy got up at 7:30 and said I was sleeping hiccup-free, so she left me sleep. I woke for a phone call about 11am. That was when we finally got some action on the medical front. The call was from the Low-Back team contact. She was one of the doctors I was hounding for help (I was leaving plaintive hiccup-filled messages on her answering machine). She had, like-wise, been trying to get in contact with the surgeon and had failed to do so! (No kidding, I left lots of messages on his machine, too), any way, she was able to enrol me directly into the SeamlessMD program which is designed to accommodate a seamless transition to home after surgery (what a concept!) As a result, I was finally in that program; the nurse-practitioner called me, and after I explained my problem, she sent a prescription order to my pharmacy for a drug to deal with the hiccups. Wendy picked up my new med Tuesday afternoon. I took my second dose at midnight that night; the hiccups stopped about 1am, and I enjoyed a lovely sleep each night since, along with hiccup-free days, too! It’s a 7-day course of metoclopramide hcl 5mg. I asked the nurse-practitioner about the med, since it's not listed as a hiccup killer! She acknowledged that this is an off-label application, but one that in her experience seems to work, so she uses it! So, I am delighted to be back on my healing program, getting sleep, and allowing my incision to heal. My back seems to be healing well, and I am feeling little pain. The current difficulty is waiting out the 6-week period before the rehab can begin. In the meantime, I am allowed to walk, but little else. I can't bend over to the floor, I can't lift stuff, I can't twist my back... Two weeks are almost completed! Otherwise, Wendy continues with her work with the Sweet Adelines choir and with her enjoyment in the Silver Sound Choir. For the Spring concert, she has joined the tenor section of this choir and is enjoying that experience. The markets were dogged by big events this week: the FED and the USA jobs data. The FED is teasing two actions: dropping the interest rate, and changing their Quantitative Easing program. They were equivocal on both issues and investors were alarmed. Then, USA jobs data dropped showing Bidenomics had produced another blockbuster month of 353,000 jobs. The upshot of it all was bad news for Canadian investors (Yeah, that's me you're looking at!) and begrudging good news for USA investors: even if they're not going to cut rates, the USA economy is doing so well that companies are making big money. So, I did not have a good week—sigh! NHL teams are off for the All-Star break, so my Oilers are sitting on their 16-game winning streak. Penguins are close, but out of the playoffs. Leafs are in a playoff position. #8-Jayhawks were dropped another spot in the rankings, but enjoyed a blowout win over Oklahoma State early in the week to set up today's big game against #4-Houston. KU came out hard, built up an early lead, and were never threatened in a 13 point win—that should move us up. Rock Chalk Jayhawk! 

Erica writes, "We have been enjoying the extraordinarily warm weather in PA. The snow is starting to melt. We got out for a walk in the snow, only to find some of the paths covered in slush and ice, but it was quite nice anyway. I’m on worship team tomorrow and looking forward to that. Eric is eyeing up bass ukuleles to round out his collection. We are also working on a few upcoming adventures: a short trip to Arizona at the end of February, Greg and Kiersten’s wedding in June, and a Girls' 50th birthday trip to Costa Rica in the fall."

Erin and Kristian are likewise enjoying the mild winter in Regina, but already we're hearing concerns about moisture levels for the agricultural industry. Kristian's high school curling team lost in the playoffs and have thus ended their season. Erin remains very busy with year end, and now month end, as well as the training of her replacement. She expects to begin the transition over to Volkswagen soon. 

Travis and Joanna got back from Punta Cana on Monday. I was able to pick them up from the airport although my hiccups were still a thing at the time! Travis had a couple of busy days, but is caught up to his Puckshots work now. Joanna is back at work as well. Last night, we had a special celebration for Rosie as she has completed her Canadian citizenship. 

Welcome Rosie!