We went to church in the New Orleans branch and met Branch President Terry Seamons, Russell Seamons Cousin. They had fast and testimony meeting. It was a great meeting. One testimony was from a man that used to be a Black Panther and found the church. Very cool. Janell and his two Young Women aged daughters were the only Young women.
We talked to the missionaries about someones interest that worked in the french quarter. They are not allowed in the french quarter, they can send a member in.... A little while later we found out why.......
We went back to the condo and walked into the french quarter for dinner, the coupon was for a steak house on Bourbon street so we headed right to Bourbon and walked down that street. Lots of people, lots of music, lots of loud laughter and silliness. There were several girls in bikini's and high heels standing in the doorways. This was strange to me and Kay said "oh there's the prostitutes" oh my gosh Janell and I had our sheltered eyes open and we swore we would never walk down THAT street again. The other streets aren't nearly as bad.
Kay forgot his phone charger so we called the front desk who, being a new hotel, didn't have one that had been left. We walked to the hotel across the street and asked at their front desk and they had one that fit it, but someone had to untangle it. We took it, thanked them and went up their elevator.....and down and left the hotel. If you forget your charger.... ask at a car rental place or a hotel. We have left several at hotels so you give some and you take some.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
New Orleans 1
Janell, Kay and I are in New Orleans Louisiana for fall break. Janell will miss 3 days of school. Janell and I arrived 24 hours before Kay as there was a 300 dollar difference in airfare prices. We used the day to go SHOPPING at the french market. there was a flea market with lots of hand made stuff from locals and other flea market stuff, we got some jewelery and Janell got a giraffe purse with some other odds and ends.
Our hotel/condo is on the edge of the French quarter. We signed up for a swamp tour on Monday, My entertainment coupon book arrived in the afternoon we used 3 coupons, 1 riverboat ride, 1 aquarium admission and dinner. I called Rachael from the aquarium to tell her that this aquarium wasn't lame but Omaha zoo aquarium is much better.
We arrived at 11pm so we paid for valet parking which is at the condo at 26 dollars a day with an exit time at 4PM, I begged them to let me keep it there till 6 PM so we could not have too much time to go to dinner and shop at the grocery store before picking up Kay at 9PM.
For lunch we ordered a muffeletta, a big round piece of bread with lots of meats and melted cheese with a olive spread. I just ordered it and Janell looked at it on her plate. Oops, I forgot she doesn't like sandwiches. We ordered 1/2 muffeletta that serves 2 and one cup of gumbo. She kept looking at it until I coaxed her to try it, and this would be the only thing she would eat until a late dinner and she needed to keep her energy up. She actually ate it and said it was "not bad". She ate the whole thing.
We had a nice Mormon conversation with a Park Service Ranger that kept us there with questions mostly about polygamy. He has a Book of Mormon, I tried to get missionaries to him but ended up telling him to get on Mormon.org. He shook our hands as we left and had nice things to say about us and thanked us for enlighening him. We talked a lot about the word of wisdom, families for ever and a modern prophet.
speaking of the word of wisdom, We drove next to a swerving car on our way into town, Janell saw a lady my age swerving walking and said she thought she was drunk and then we knew she was drunk when she walked into a street lamp. Her first drunk experience. This is a party town but there is lots to do without drinking. she also said she has never read so many nasty things on tee shirts for sale and being worn.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Cinnamon rolls and generation picutres
Frances came down for LDS General Conference. She helped Janell make cinnamon rolls.
Friday, September 25, 2009
A day at Hogle Zoo
Frances and I took Claire and Alice to the zoo.
Frances, Alice, Janae, Claire
Frances, Alice, Janae, Claire
The baby elephant was adorable.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Hike to Stuart Falls
Kay and I decided to take a hike to Stuart Falls in the mountains near our home. Neither of us had been there before but all of our kids had. It was a 2 mile hike each way. We hiked up and saw the upper part of the waterfall 
Kay is a lot more daring than I but he MADE me scale the mountain to see the spring shooting out of the upper mountain. At times he was under me putting my feet on the safe rocks as I was on all fours afraid of sliding down the mountain. (sorry, no pictures of that site)
Kay is a lot more daring than I but he MADE me scale the mountain to see the spring shooting out of the upper mountain. At times he was under me putting my feet on the safe rocks as I was on all fours afraid of sliding down the mountain. (sorry, no pictures of that site)He decided we needed to take a picture under the waterfall. I thought there wouldn't be much water behind the waterfall.
I was wrong. It was SOOOOO COLD!!!
It took a while to dry off. We had fun.
I was wrong. It was SOOOOO COLD!!!
It took a while to dry off. We had fun.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Kay's account of his kidney stone- what he wished he had read on the internet
Saturday I became one of the 10% of Americans who passed a kidney stone. If you don't want the details, the bottom line is that most people say it is the worst pain they have ever experienced and as Regis would say "the audience is right!".
The details; (I learned from Lauren this summer that you only have to tell your story once if you blog it)
As I lay in bed in Omaha Saturday morning a pain began to develop in my lower back. At first I thought, this is different. Within minutes I was thinking, I am going to have to go to the hospital. As someone who does everything possible to avoid doctors this is not a thought I have had more than a few times in my life. I decided I wasn't going to die immediately so I should shower and clean up before going. By the time I finished showering the pain had subsided leading me to believe I was going to be OK. Minutes later the pain returned gaining more intensity than at first. About the only thing I knew about kidney stones was that they existed....or are there just gall stones. I'm pretty sure there are kidney stones, especially since I'm also pretty sure I have one.
Having survived the second attack, I went to my computer and searched "kidney stones" then clicked on the wikipedia site. When I read to drink lots of water I immediately went to the kitchen and drank as much water as I could tolerate and threw in 1000mg acetaminophen for good measure. Next I read I would it would come in waves and would be the most painful thing I may ever experience and I would need the strongest pain medication I could get along with an anti-inflammatory. Hydocodone seemed to be the drug of choice. With a small store of random prescription drugs I googled them, tossed out the ones I have no reason to keep and made notes on the rest. The Naproxen (labeled fever, inflammation and moderate pain twice daily) which was only expired by 18 months seemed the best bet. I took 500mg. I also kept Nitrofurantoin Macro (Urinary tract antibiotic) on hand in case I needed it.
It sounded like I could plan on days, weeks or perhaps up to a month of this so I called Janae and asked her to figure out where I should go to get some good pain killer, Flomax ("which acts to reduce the muscle tone of the ureter and facilitate stone passage") and an x-ray to make sure the stone was small enough to pass and see if there were others. Pete had told me he was taking Flomax so I called Colleen and got the low down.
With it apparent I was not going to die immediately I began work on installing a water heater in apt 7 with Donald. He had once had a kidney stone that took 3 days to pass so I asked him everything I could about it while installing the water heater. This, however, was interrupted several times by attacks. I would tell Donald I had to go to my apartment to get through the pain then return to work. I would go to my apartment, lay on the floor and roll, stretch, pant or anything else that seemed to help until it was over. One attack was so sever I broke out into heavy sweating, became nauseous and vomited for several minutes. When I returned to work Donald said my wife would have driven me to the emergency room right then if she had seen me.
Donald had to run an errand so I went to lay down for a bit. Before he got back I decided it was time to go see a doctor. I headed to a doctor Janae had arranged. When I walked in I told them I was passing a kidney stone and I needed some Loritab and Flomax. She talked to the doctor and told me to go to the emergency room. (so much for calling ahead) Being Saturday it was looking like the only option. I called Rachael and asked if she had any other options. She called her doctor and got back to me just as I arrived at Creighten University Medical Center. He also said to go to the ER. Wanting to avoid the ER if at all possible I discussed going to the main desk instead with Rachael. She agreed so off I went. Unfortunately they were closed for the weekend so up to the ER I went.
First came the urine test to see if there was blood in the urine. Twenty minutes later came the results, positive, meaning a kidney stone was likely...Duh. An hour later I was taken for a CT scan followed by a visit from a young woman claiming to be a doctor. She asked if I wanted the good news or bad first. The good news was the stone had passed to he bladder. The bad was that it still had to pass the rest of the way and it would be like peeing razor blades. After four hours I left with the Loritab prescription I had asked for on the way in. Oh, and the receptionist stopped me on the way out and collected $900 "for the room". I suspect there will be more bills coming for the CT and who knows what else.
In preparation for the upcoming very painful but short event I began taking the Hydrocodone and continued drinking as much water as possible. The doctor told me it should pass within 24 hours. Through the night I continued to drink water, take the pain killers and pee. My theory was that my best bet was to drink lots of water, hold it as long as possible and pee a large volume each time. I had this fear of having the stone only get half way out and running out of urine. I also figured this method would expand the urinary tract as much as possible. The doctor had given me a strainer to pee into to catch the stone. 6:30 Sunday morning I noticed a spot in the strainer. My first thought was that can't be it because it was so small and I had not felt it come out. Then I thought it has to be it. Sure enough, it had passed without pain in a large volume of urine. 16 hours later I am still getting rid of the over-saturation of water but it was worth it.
What I wished I knew at the start. Most kidney stones pass in less than one day and with two good kidneys there is little risk of waiting out one day if you can endure the pain. By the time I went to the ER I had survived the pain. Since I had not had attacks for several hours it could be assumed it had passed to the bladder and was therefore small enough to pass the rest of the way. A visit to the ER was unnecessary. Of course, they won't tell you that. However, some stones can be larger but the pain would continue longer.
I did learn it was the only one in both kidneys and if it happens again I will take the strongest medication I have, drink lots of water and stay away from the hospital.
If you are curious how big it is look at the attached picture. Just under the heading of the letter there is a dime and the kidney stone just to the right of the dime.
The details; (I learned from Lauren this summer that you only have to tell your story once if you blog it)
As I lay in bed in Omaha Saturday morning a pain began to develop in my lower back. At first I thought, this is different. Within minutes I was thinking, I am going to have to go to the hospital. As someone who does everything possible to avoid doctors this is not a thought I have had more than a few times in my life. I decided I wasn't going to die immediately so I should shower and clean up before going. By the time I finished showering the pain had subsided leading me to believe I was going to be OK. Minutes later the pain returned gaining more intensity than at first. About the only thing I knew about kidney stones was that they existed....or are there just gall stones. I'm pretty sure there are kidney stones, especially since I'm also pretty sure I have one.
Having survived the second attack, I went to my computer and searched "kidney stones" then clicked on the wikipedia site. When I read to drink lots of water I immediately went to the kitchen and drank as much water as I could tolerate and threw in 1000mg acetaminophen for good measure. Next I read I would it would come in waves and would be the most painful thing I may ever experience and I would need the strongest pain medication I could get along with an anti-inflammatory. Hydocodone seemed to be the drug of choice. With a small store of random prescription drugs I googled them, tossed out the ones I have no reason to keep and made notes on the rest. The Naproxen (labeled fever, inflammation and moderate pain twice daily) which was only expired by 18 months seemed the best bet. I took 500mg. I also kept Nitrofurantoin Macro (Urinary tract antibiotic) on hand in case I needed it.
It sounded like I could plan on days, weeks or perhaps up to a month of this so I called Janae and asked her to figure out where I should go to get some good pain killer, Flomax ("which acts to reduce the muscle tone of the ureter and facilitate stone passage") and an x-ray to make sure the stone was small enough to pass and see if there were others. Pete had told me he was taking Flomax so I called Colleen and got the low down.
With it apparent I was not going to die immediately I began work on installing a water heater in apt 7 with Donald. He had once had a kidney stone that took 3 days to pass so I asked him everything I could about it while installing the water heater. This, however, was interrupted several times by attacks. I would tell Donald I had to go to my apartment to get through the pain then return to work. I would go to my apartment, lay on the floor and roll, stretch, pant or anything else that seemed to help until it was over. One attack was so sever I broke out into heavy sweating, became nauseous and vomited for several minutes. When I returned to work Donald said my wife would have driven me to the emergency room right then if she had seen me.
Donald had to run an errand so I went to lay down for a bit. Before he got back I decided it was time to go see a doctor. I headed to a doctor Janae had arranged. When I walked in I told them I was passing a kidney stone and I needed some Loritab and Flomax. She talked to the doctor and told me to go to the emergency room. (so much for calling ahead) Being Saturday it was looking like the only option. I called Rachael and asked if she had any other options. She called her doctor and got back to me just as I arrived at Creighten University Medical Center. He also said to go to the ER. Wanting to avoid the ER if at all possible I discussed going to the main desk instead with Rachael. She agreed so off I went. Unfortunately they were closed for the weekend so up to the ER I went.
First came the urine test to see if there was blood in the urine. Twenty minutes later came the results, positive, meaning a kidney stone was likely...Duh. An hour later I was taken for a CT scan followed by a visit from a young woman claiming to be a doctor. She asked if I wanted the good news or bad first. The good news was the stone had passed to he bladder. The bad was that it still had to pass the rest of the way and it would be like peeing razor blades. After four hours I left with the Loritab prescription I had asked for on the way in. Oh, and the receptionist stopped me on the way out and collected $900 "for the room". I suspect there will be more bills coming for the CT and who knows what else.
In preparation for the upcoming very painful but short event I began taking the Hydrocodone and continued drinking as much water as possible. The doctor told me it should pass within 24 hours. Through the night I continued to drink water, take the pain killers and pee. My theory was that my best bet was to drink lots of water, hold it as long as possible and pee a large volume each time. I had this fear of having the stone only get half way out and running out of urine. I also figured this method would expand the urinary tract as much as possible. The doctor had given me a strainer to pee into to catch the stone. 6:30 Sunday morning I noticed a spot in the strainer. My first thought was that can't be it because it was so small and I had not felt it come out. Then I thought it has to be it. Sure enough, it had passed without pain in a large volume of urine. 16 hours later I am still getting rid of the over-saturation of water but it was worth it.
What I wished I knew at the start. Most kidney stones pass in less than one day and with two good kidneys there is little risk of waiting out one day if you can endure the pain. By the time I went to the ER I had survived the pain. Since I had not had attacks for several hours it could be assumed it had passed to the bladder and was therefore small enough to pass the rest of the way. A visit to the ER was unnecessary. Of course, they won't tell you that. However, some stones can be larger but the pain would continue longer.
I did learn it was the only one in both kidneys and if it happens again I will take the strongest medication I have, drink lots of water and stay away from the hospital.If you are curious how big it is look at the attached picture. Just under the heading of the letter there is a dime and the kidney stone just to the right of the dime.
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