Riviera Dunes Marina, Palmetto, Florida – Sunday, November 1 & Monday, November 2, 2015
On Sunday morning we watched our 2-year old granddaughter, Emma, while her mother, Kellie and sister, Vanessa aka “V”, went to Busch Gardens as an early celebration of V’s 17th birthday. Our son, JP is training to run several marathons between now and Christmas. When he returned from running Rick and I met Bill and Ruth and the Blu Mangrove for lunch. After lunch we went to the yacht club where we were pleased to run into both Ken and Jackie and Curt and Ann as well as Curt’s brother Skip with Mary. We were also joined by Bill and Ruth and a couple from Blu Mangrove, Faz and Jen. While at the club, we watched the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Atlanta Falcons.
On Monday morning, I stayed with Emma while Rick and JP went to take care of some business. We returned to the house in the evening to celebrate Vanessa’s birthday. Everyone enjoyed their meal before Vanessa blew out the 17 candles on her cake and opened her presents. We returned to Ocala on Tuesday morning.
Ocala National Forrest, Florida –Tuesday, November 3, 2015 – Wednesday, November 11, 2015
After driving to the cabin and dropping Rick off, I went to see Dad at the rehab center. Unfortunately, he was too sleepy to talk much, so I told him that I’d see him in the morning and then talked to the nursing staff about reducing his Xanax dosage.
Dad looked a lot better on Wednesday, 11/4 morning. I was there when he had his session of speech therapy and the therapist said that he is still progressing well. Rick and I decided to go and check out Silver Springs in the afternoon. I have been going to Silver Springs, Florida, for more than 50 years. Some things are the same, but many have changed.
Silver Springs is a group of artesian springs that feed into the Silver River in Marion County, Florida. It is the largest artesian spring in the world, pumping out over 500 million gallons of water a day, and Florida’s oldest tourist attraction. In 1971 it was designated as a National Natural Landmark. Amenities developed over the years include glass-bottom boat tours on the river.
Long privately owned and operated, the spring area and all associated elements were taken over by the State and made part of Silver Springs State Park effective October 2013. They seem to be trying to let the park go “back to nature”. They do still offer the glass bottom boat rides as shown above. The rides last 30 minutes and an adult ticket is around $11. There is a restaurant on-site and some exhibits, but not much more than just “old Florida” nature.
I talked to the doctor at the rehab center on Thursday, 11/5, morning. He agreed to cut back on the Xanax for Dad and wrote orders for it only to be given at night. He also told me that he thought that Dad could tolerate being taken off of the continuous feeding pump. The nurses will now feed him, through the tube, several times a day instead of having the pump give him a continuous flow. I think this is a very encouraging move and it is one that I know that the speech therapist was hoping for. I spent the afternoon back at the cabin sorting through old papers and new bills.
Friday morning, 11/6, Dad was much more alert, but he had gotten sick before I got there and was coughing. When I asked the nursing staff about it, they said that they thought the sickness was due to the change in feeding and the cough was most likely associated with his getting sick to his stomach. He went to physical therapy shortly after I arrived at the center and did a good job exercising. But, when he returned to his room, he got chilled and just couldn’t stop shaking. I called the nurse and they discovered that he had a low-grade fever. They gave him some Tylenol and I left him to rest.
Saturday morning, 11/7, I watched Dad eat a little bit of vanilla pudding in addition to drinking water. This was the first food he has eaten since October 1. In the afternoon, Rick and I watched college football on TV.
After visiting Dad on Sunday, 11/8, Rick and I went for a Sunday afternoon drive up State Road 19 which runs north-south and sort of parallels the St. Johns River. From the cabin, we drove east on SR 40 to get to the intersection of SR19 where we turned north. We went past the entrance to Silver Glen Springs and continued north until we got to the town of Salt Springs. There, we entered the Salt Springs Recreation Area. Their website http://www.recreation.gov/camping/salt-springs-recreation-area includes the following facts along with much more information.
Salt Springs is located between the St. Johns and Ocklawaha Rivers, 35 miles east of Ocala, Florida in the Ocala National Forrest. The national forest spans four counties and 383,000 acres. It is the southernmost and oldest national forest east of the Mississippi River, and protects the world’s largest, contiguous sand pine scrub forest. Within the recreation area, a natural spring rises from cracks deep within the earth. The presence of potassium, magnesium and sodium salts give the waters a slight salinity – hence the name Salt Springs. From the recreation area, hikers have easy access to the Bear Swamp Trail and a segment of the 1,400-mile Florida National Scenic Trail.
I visited with Dad on Monday morning, 11/9, and spent the afternoon with Rick.
On Tuesday, 11/10, after visiting with Dad, Rick and I drove over to Ormond Beach to visit with his mother and brother for the afternoon.
On Wednesday, 11/11, Veterans’ Day, a specialist visited the rehab center who gave Dad a “swallow” test. She said that he did really well on it and that she was going to recommend that he now start eating. She recommended that he start with one meal a day under the supervision of the speech therapist. The amount will be increased as his swallowing continues to improve. Also, he can now drink water whenever he wants.
On Thursday, 11/12, I accompanied Dad to his appointment with the gastroenterologist who put the feeding tube in him when he was in the hospital. After looking at the results of the “swallow test”, the doctor told us that when Dad can consume 90% of his daily caloric requirements by mouth, he would remove the feeding tube. Dad has a follow-up appointment scheduled on December 10. Rick and I drove from Ocala to Palmetto that afternoon.
Riviera Dunes Marina, Palmetto, Florida – Thursday, November 12 – Tuesday, November 17, 2015
We stopped by JP’s house on Thursday afternoon to pick up our mail and met Bill and Ruth at the Blu Mangrove restaurant in the marina for a stone crab claw dinner.
On Friday, 11/13, we left the boat around 6:30 a.m. to drive to the Moffitt Cancer Center on the University of South Florida campus in Tampa. Rick had blood work done and a CT scan before we met with the doctor about 9:30. The doctor reviewed the scan with us and told us that after 4 of the anticipated 6 chemotherapy sessions, he now recommended that Rick not have any more for the time being. The growth has shrunk to a very small size and the chemotherapy isn’t making Rick feel any better. He scheduled another appointment on January 22 for blood work and another CT scan and we will go from there. We went to JP’s for a couple of hours in the afternoon and then met Bill and Ruth, Ken and Jackie at the Riverside Café for supper on Friday night.
Saturday, 11/14, was our son JP’s 36th birthday. He worked a marathon in Bradenton that morning and then ran 12 miles to prepare for the marathon that he was going to run tomorrow. We picked up some lunch and went over to the house around 1:00. JP had to eat a special diet to be ready for his run tomorrow, so Kellie, Vanessa, Rick and I enjoyed the Chinese food while JP opened his birthday gifts. We watched the FSU vs NC State football game together and then we left so that he could get ready for his run tomorrow. Ken and Jackie came over to the boat with a gift of 5 pounds of stone crabs for us to put in our freezer and then the four of us went up to the Blu Mangrove for supper.
There are some conditions that develop this http://www.midwayfire.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Approved-Minutes-7-12-16.doc (cialis 10 mg) problem inside the body increases constriction of arteries and vessels that help carrying blood to the male organ.
After church on Sunday, 11/15, we ran some errands and then met Bill and Ruth and the Reef and Grille for lunch and to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play the Dallas Cowboys in football. The Buc’s won the game in the last minute, with the rookie quarterback, Jameis Winston (formerly of FSU) running in the winning touchdown.
Monday, 11/16 – After we ate lunch with Bill and Ruth and a couple of their friends at the Blu Mangrove, we paid a fellow for repairing a very “necessary” part on the boat.
Tuesday, 11/17 – Rick did some work on the boat; we did some shopping; and, we visited with JP and Emma until it was time for her nap. I used some of the fresh herbs that we have growing in pots on the boat to cook dinner for the two of us.
Ocala National Forrest, Florida –Wednesday, November 18, 2015 – Tuesday, November 24, 2015
We stopped at the rehabiltation center on our way back to the forest Wednesday afternoon. I was dissappointed when I talked to Dad’s nurse and speech therapist. They recommended that he be put back on continuous feeding from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. They say that he has not tolerated the manual feeding well, often getting sick or just feeling very bloated. He has not eaten much at meal time and the nurse said that she did not think that he would ever consume 90% of his required calories. (He never did eat much, even when he was well.)
I went in to see Dad on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday mornings. He was very sleepy each day and running a low-grade fever so our visits were limited.
On Saturday afternoon, Rick and I drove over to Ormond Beach to spend Saturday night and most of Sunday, November 22, Rick’s 66th birthday, with his mother and brother. We went to Dustin’s for BBQ on Saturday night (where I broke one of my teeth) and then to the River Grille on the Tomoka River on Sunday evening before returning to the house for cake and ice cream and then driving back to the Ocala National Forrest.
On Monday morning, I made some spaghetti with tomato sauce to take in to the rehab center for Dad to eat. The speech therapist told me that she had brought in a supplement that looked and tasted like orange juice and he had consumed a whole carton of it yesterday. She said that it contained over 200 calories. She gave him another carton of the orange juice supplement today and said that even if he just ate about 5 bites of spaghetti, the combination would be equal to a good meal. He ate much more than 5 bites.
I brought Dad home for a couple of hours on Tuesday. While home, Dad enjoyed watching the squirels running around in the tree just outside the window. Rick had put some corn out there for them to eat.
Riviera Dunes Marina, Palmetto, Florida – Wednesday, November 25, 2015 & Thursday, November 25, 2015
On Wednesday, we stopped by the rehab center early before driving to Palmetto where I had an afternoon dental appointment.
Thursday, November 26, 2016, was Thanksgiving. Rick’s mother and brother drove over to Palmetto with Rick’s nephew (our God son,) Mat or Robmat to his friends, and his girlfriend, Lindsay. They arrived at the marina early afternoon. Mom and I sat at the outside bar of the Blu Mangrove while the rest of them went to see the boat. Then, we went to JP and Kellie’s for Thanksgiving dinner where we were joined by her parents, Judy and Roy and her Uncle Jack. Vanessa had gone to a friend’s to share their Thanksgiving dinner. We had a very nice Thanksgiving Dinner. The picture below shows the dinner table set up in the living room.
Our feast included turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, macaroni and cheese (for JP and Edward) and some baked beans. In addition, we had three homemade pies, pumpkin, lemon merinque and maple pecan pie which were all deeeee – licious. Below is a picture of the table with some of the food.
While we were eating, Emma (our 2-year-old granddaughter) provided lots of entertainment for all of us.
Ocala National Forrest, Florida –Friday, November 26, 2015 – Monday, November 30, 2015
We left Palmetto on Friday driving straight to the rehab center in Ocala. I took Dad outside to sit in the sun where we were joined by my brother Bill, his wife, Mary (from Denver) and their daughter, Christina (from Chicago). While we were all visiting, we were surprised by one of Dad’s motorcycle racing friends, Tim Langford and his wife (from Ormond Beach). We sat outside for a couple of hours visiting. I saw more smiles on Dad’s face this afternoon than I have in a long time. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures.
After visiting with Dad on Saturday morning, Rick and I drove from the cabin to o to stay overnight at his mother’s home. We had Thanksgiving leftovers for an informal supper and then watched the FSU vs Florida football game. FSU won!
On Sunday morning, 11/29/15, we went to the Daytona Beach Drive in Christian Church where my niece, Melissa, delivered the sermon. The title of the serman was Wonderful Counselor. You can hear it by going to their website, http://www.driveinchurch.net/
Later in the afternoon, we were all pleased when Aunt Deloris (Mom’s sister), stopped by for a visit with her son, Michael and his spouse, Jim, who were in for the holiday from Denver. Again, we had a very nice visit with family that we rarely get to see. We ordered pizza from a restaurant that the family has been frequenting for about 40 years, called Mario’s. (Pizza is not on the dinner menu, but if you ask for one, they will make it.) Mario’s Italian Cuisine, is a family original in Ormond Beach since 1956 located on US 1. http://www.mariosormondbeach.com Once again, a delicious meal was had by all. We drove back to the cabin in the Ocala National Forest after supper.
When I saw Dad on Monday, he was in much better spirits.
Our journey has been inspired by Joy and Steve Fredrick. You can see more of their story at