Heart Surgery

On August 6 I went into the local hospital for a heart stress test. It took from 9:30 AM until 2:15 PM. Much of that time was waiting between tests for the chemicals to clear out of my system before new pictures could be taken.

After the tests were completed, LaRue and I took off for a trip to Provo from the weekend to do some shopping. When we returned Sunday evening I saw that my doctor had called on Saturday. So I called him back and he told me the stress test came up abnormal. He said he would contact a cardiologist in Salt Lake Monday morning and arrange for me to get an angiogram. If you not familiar with the angiogram procedure, it's basically where they run a catheter into the femoral artery in your groin and up to the heart. Using a special dye they can see the actualy blood flow into and around the heart.
When the cardiologist's office called me Monday afternoon we scheduled the procedure for Thursday morning at Salt Lake Regional Hospital.

Wednesday after work LaRue and I headed to Provo to spend the night there so we wouldn't have such a long drive to Salt Lake Thursday monring.
We got to the hospital at 10:30. For the next hour they did paperwork and got me prepped - IV, hospital gown, etc. And we waited. And we waited. And we waited. It was almost 2:00 PM before they wheeled me into the operating room. That was because the doctor got delayed doing a pacemaker on someone else.

The angiogram procedure was painless. They only had to numb up the area of the groin where the catheter was to be inserted. I don't remember being unconscious, but I was for a while when they got the images and determined what was wrong. I had some blockage to a main artery that feeds the heart. The doctor inserted a balloon device through the catheter to open up the artery and then put a stent in place to keep the artery open.

In all I was in the operating room just over an hour. Because of the nature of the procedure I had to spend the night in ICU.
Because it was ICU LaRue was not allowed to stay with me. She went to Provo with Gary and Liz to spend the night.

We're back home now for a couple of days rest. Then back to work Tuesday.

Now for some pictures:

Here's the view of the hospital as we pulled into the entrance:



Here's the plaque at the entrance:



It turns out that Salt Lake Regional Hospital used to be Holy Cross Hospital. The only part of the Holy Cross Hospital that remains is the chapel:







Here's me after surgery:



Ready to home Friday morning. Liz brought LaRue up from Provo.

Patio Roofing

This last weekend - July 24th - was a holiday weekend in Utah. So Gary had an extra day off and Andy was available as well. Liz and Gary came out to Vernal Thursday night. Andy and Asher came out Friday night.

On Friday morning Gary and I went down to the equipment rental place and picked up a nail gun. We then got the plywood and tar paper. So, we were all ready to get going on Saturday morning.

Thanks to little Asher being an early riser, we were up and going before 8 AM. While Andy and I made a quick run to WalMart to get an attachment for the drill, Gary started unscrewing the sheets of plastic from the roof of the patio.





Andy took over the unscrewing duties and Gary pulled down the sheets and stacked them in the yard.



Little Asher was wondering what was going on up there.



Hi, down there.



After they got all the plastic sheets removed, I had to go along the eave of the house and scrape off the caulking that had been put on to seal the plastic.



Gary using the nail gun.



Andy clowning around swinging from the tree branches.



Andy and Asher taking a break.



Oh boy! Popsicle!



Asher's doing some gardening.





And a little raking.



Now Asher inspects the sheets of plastic.



Andy and Gary on the finished roof.



Project completed!

Recent Trip

On July 9th LaRue and I went to the Vein Institute in Provo for a follow-up exam from her most recent surgery. Everything checked out fine.

That evening we took Andy, Laurie, Asher, Liz and Gary out to eat at the Indian Palace. They have a website here - Indian Palace

It was really good. We each had a different chicken dish along with a variety of breads. Eating the food brought back memories of the cuisine we used to have when I was growing up in Pakistan. I talked with the owner after dinner and learned that he was from an area very close to where we lived.

The next morning we headed up to see Robin, Emily and the kids in Roy. But on the way I stopped at a really neat guitar shop in Provo to pick up some new strings for my guitar. The shop also makes and repairs guitars. I spoke with the owner about a slight warping issue I am having with my guitar. So the next time we go to Provo I will take the guitar with me for him to look at.

When we got to Roy we all went to eat at one of Robin and Emily's favorite Chinese buffets. Then it was back to their house to let KD open her birthday present from LaRue and me. We picked up some really cute dresses on sale and gave them to her.
Here she is in one of them:



We all grabbed swimsuits and went over to the hotel where LaRue and I were staying to take the kids swimming in the pool. From left to right it's Brighton behind the ball, Emily, KD, Christopher and Grandpa, Robin and Joshua:



They also had a jacuuzi:



Robin is preparing to do a cannonball:



Splash!



That evening we got out the Duck, Duck, Go game I had brought along. It's one of Brighton's favorite games. Personally, I think he likes it because he wins all the time. With Robin's and my help, KD is deciding how to move:



My turn:



Robin takes his turn:



Sunday afternoon after church we all went to Temple Square. Here are the kids at the reflecting pool:



There is the most awesome model of the Salt Lake Temple on display. It is a cutout model showing the inside of the building. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a picture.

Monday morning LaRue and I headed home. We decided to take the scenic route and go over Wolf Creek Pass. It's only open in the summer. To get there we drove through the little town of Oakley. Here it is on Google Maps - Oakley.
In Oakley is a world famous diner:



We stopped there for lunch. It was really cool. Everything about it was 1939. Even the waitresses wore period outfits. There's quite a bit about the diner at their website - Road Island Diner.

Civics Lesson

The Washington Post babbled again about Obama inheriting a huge deficit from Bush. Amazingly enough,...... a lot of people swallow this nonsense. So once more, a short civics lesson.

Budgets do not come from the White House. They come from Congress, and the party that controlled Congress since January 2007 is the Democratic Party. They controlled the budget process for FY 2008 and FY 2009, as well as FY 2010 and FY 2011. In that first year, they had to contend with George Bush, which caused them to compromise on spending, when Bush somewhat belatedly got tough on spending increases.

For FY 2009 though, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid bypassed George Bush entirely, passing continuing resolutions to keep government running until Barack Obama could take office. At that time, they passed a massive omnibus spending bill to complete the FY 2009 budgets.

And where was Barack Obama during this time? He was a member of that very Congress that passed all of these massive spending bills, and he signed the omnibus bill as President to complete FY 2009.

If the Democrats inherited any deficit, it was the FY 2007 deficit, the last of the Republican budgets. That deficit was the lowest in five years, and the fourth straight decline in deficit spending. After that, Democrats in Congress took control of spending, and that includes Barack Obama, who voted for the budgets. If Obama inherited anything, he inherited it from himself.

In a nutshell, what Obama is saying is I inherited a deficit that I voted for and then I voted to expand that deficit four-fold since January 20th.

Movies, Movies

This weekend we rented a couple of movies and enjoyed both. I would recommend both.



First was The Spy Next Door. It was very predictable and aimed mainly at kids, but it was good, harmless fun.



The second was The Book of Eli. This one was really good. But the movie has a very dark look and atmosphere until the end. I am not the biggest fan of post-apocalyptic stories, but this one is quite good. I also enjoyed the religious element and conviction of the character of Eli; specifically his conviction that God spoke to him and promised to protect him in his journey. Even the bad guys had respect for the power of the Book even though their motive to obtain it was not for a righteous purpose.
It's also a violent movie and has some language. I have seen many really good movies that have language, but in this case I think they could have left out the F word and still have had the same impact with the dialog. But the violence would still have kept the R rating.

If you haven't seen it the following contains spoilers:

School News

At the beginning of the year many of the teachers at the school where LaRue teaches were told that they had to empty their rooms by the last day of school. The south wing of the existing building is being torn down to make room for the construction of an entire new school. The demolition was to begin immediately after school ended.

LaRue's classroom was at the south end of the wing to be torn down. So, the last couple of days of school all the teachers affected were scrambling to get things boxed up and moved to another part of the building.

Here are a couple of pictures of just a fraction of the stuff we moved from LaRue's old room out into the hall by her "new" room for next year:




Since school ended, LaRue has spent almost everyday (and me when I wasn't working) at school trying to finish moving the heavy stuff and dismantling what she needed from her old room. We haven't had any spare time to do much but work and sleep.

Then this last Monday the construction people knocked down the wing of the building:



The right hand most corner of the foundation was LaRue's room. The fence line used to go to the corner of her room:





And, finally, we had a sudden hail storm this afternoon. Here's a little of the hail:

Extraordinary Measures

I remember when this was playing at the theater but we never went to see it. So, the other night we rented it. It's a wonderful movie. Everyone does a fantastic job. And the fact that it is based on a true story makes it even better.

Here's the review from Amazon.com:
Imagine Harrison Ford as a rogue scientist exploring not ancient artifacts of lost arks, but biochemical research to help cure rare diseases. In Extraordinary Measures, Ford manages to keep some of that wry rebellious Indiana Jones energy as he plays Dr. Robert Stonehill, a fringe researcher whose findings just might help keep alive the two children of John Crowley, played with heart and sobriety by Brendan Fraser. Extraordinary Measures is based on a true story, one chronicled in the gripping book The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million--and Bucked the Medical Establishment--in a Quest to Save His Children, by Wall Street Journal reporter Geeta Anand. The cast is excellent, with Ford tamping down his occasional urge to vamp for the camera, and Fraser grounded in his first true adult role. The supporting cast is also strong, including Keri Russell as Crowley's frantic wife, facing the near-certain death of both of her children; Dee Wallace, Jared Harris, and Courtney B. Vance also appear as strong supporting characters. Director Tom Vaughan switches gears from his wildly successful romp What Happens in Vegas to turn in a crisply paced and suspenseful family drama. As Crowley and Dr. Stonehill team up to raise money to support Stonehill's research, Crowley says, "Who's going to be half as motivated as the dad who's trying to save his own kids?" Extraordinary Measures brings to mind similar dramas like Lorenzo's Oil, but its heart and drive are unique to the story of the Crowleys, a very special family indeed.

It's a movie that I will probably purchase to have in my collection.