The test are in and the results are!

I had my MRI done on Monday and my Electromyography (EMG) done today.

I have a ruptured disk in my neck. I have surgery scheduled for Dec. 6, 2011 to repair it.

This will relieve the numbness in my right arm and hand. The rupture is putting pressure on my nerve which in turn is effecting my ring and little finger going numb and my loss of grip strength in my right hand.

The MRI test was a breeze, they lay you down on a board, slide you into a tube and you do not move. I can see where people who do not like tight spaces could get nervous. For me it did not bother me at all.

Today they ran two types of test. The first one was to check my electrical impulses. They did that by zapping me with electricity up and down my arm to measure the nerve endings. It was similar to touching an electric fence and getting zapped. Not too painful just annoying.

The second test was to check my muscle function. They did that by sticking a needle in different places in my muscle of my right arm and hand and having to move that muscle with the needle still in there. They also stuck me in the back of my neck, that was not fun. The needle had a little sting to it, but it was manageable. It felt like someone poking me with a straight pin, and leaving it in there. it was not too fun moving the muscle with that needle still in there. It was not horribly bad, just slightly painful and annoying.

At least I did not faint through the whole process.

The funniest line was when the doctor said "this one is going to hurt the worst" and I thought, and just what does that mean? did that mean? compared to the previous ones, those hurt less? All I knew each time I got stuck with that needle it hurt, every single time!

Well, he was right, that one had a bigger sting to it as compared to all the other ones. Maybe he should have stuck me with that one first, and then all the other needle sticks I received would have been just a piece of cake, because then I could have established a baseline for the pain level I was enduring. Nothing would have jumped up hiring than that one!

So, I will have the operation on December 6, 2011 and stay overnight and will be able to go home the next day after 9:00 AM, and life will go back to normal.

Matthew just arrived home, and Mary will be coming home soon also.

Sarah and Dan will be arriving on Friday, so we will have a full house

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving.

Posted by Randy

fall activities

Well Fall is upon us, and as I say every year about this time, it is hard to believe we have 3 months left of this year.

Stephen and I went on a camp out in September, called Webelos in the Wild. that was a lot of fun.  Stephen will be crossing over to Boy Scouts next year.

Last year for selling popcorn, so if you are interested in buying some popcorn, please let us know.

Daniel is slowing getting his Eagle Project off the ground. The wood is ordered and dates need to be set up to get it started.

Philomena is doing good with her archery shoots, she is going to do a State shoot in October in Grinnel.

tomorrow we will meet with the doctors and get the results from Stephen's tests that we had done a few weeks ago.

Caroline and I are getting things ready for our trip in October, that is coming up really quick.

and I promised Nick I would help him with some trapping advice.

In another month we will be gearing up for winter. 

I hope everybody is doing good, we are doing fine up here

enjoy the day

posted by Randy

We're alive!

Life is busy and chaotic as usual. It won't be long before the summer is over. I finally took the kids to the beach yesterday.

Sarah has been taking online classes from Drake to get her talented and gifted endorsement. Her school offered her the chance to take over that program, so now she will be full-time and will be quitting her waitress job. Sarah is also helping her boyfriend Dan move back to Iowa City for his last year there. They have been dating for almost a year now!

Mary got back from her semester in London and is working 3rd shift, full-time with lots of over-time at Eaton Corp., helping to send out engine valves. She's working 7 days a week with some 12 hr. days. She is looking towards buying a used car. She will be graduating this May in Theater.

Matthew is also working full-time this summer during the 2nd shift at Curries Manufacturing. He is insulating doors along with other duties. Sometimes, he gets overtime and works until 1:00 am. He'll be going back to college as a junior. He is planning on going to Costa Rica during Jan. for a class. He is a groomsman in a wedding this weekend and I'm sure that the bride was happy to find out that he cut his shoulder length hair this summer.

Daniel is still working at Fareway and will be a senior this year. He has been working on designing and raising money for his Eagle project, which is to build a pergola at Clear Creek school. Daniel and Randy are heading up to the Boundary Waters on a scout trip this next week.

Philomena went to clarinet camp and Schoenstatt camp, and she entered 4-H stuff in the North Iowa Fair. Her presentation on how to make a Hoola Hoop Rug made it to state, so we will be going to the State Fair August 16th. This week she went to visit a friend in Nebraska for a few days.

Stephen had a lot of fun at cub scout camp this summer and will soon be taking trombone lessons. We are also looking into an ADHD diagnosis for him.

Randy got his masters and has had quite a full summer on the job. I spent the first few months of this year with a bum knee that I finally got a diagnosis for: torn meniscus tendon, but arthritis bad enough that the Mayo doctor recommended knee replacement surgery. I am not ready for surgery yet, so I wear a brace at work.

Randy and I decided to take a cruise before I'm using a walker :) We are going on a 7-night Mediterranean cruise in October to Barcelona, Florence, Rome, Naples (Pompei), Palma Majorca and back to Barcelona. We are really looking forward to it.

This is just a tip of our daily lives, but we are still alive *smiles*

Not yet ready for school to start,
Caroline

nothing much knew

The ice storm that was supposed to hit us today came.  We were on the trailing edge of it so it turned out to be not much of a big deal.  The temperature stayed above freezing so things did not get slick as predicted.  we got a little freezing rain in the morning and then just rain.

We will see what tonight brings for the morning

The snow has really melted up here and we will be transitioning into the muddy yucky season.

Mary is in London doing fine

Caroline is having trouble with her knee

Philomena's birthday is coming up here very quickly

Last week some old lady pulled out in front of Caroline on the highway by the interstate and Caroline ended up hitting her with the Trailblazer.  Caroline got slowed down in time where there was minimal damage and the airbags did not deploy.

I believe the DOT will be sending that old lady a  letter reference her driver's license.

I hope everything is going good where you are at

March is just around the corner

posted by Randy

The ID game!

Can you identify the following people in this picture?

a hint: Christmas 1993

to think that picture was taken only 17 years ago!

Mary is in London

Daniel is at Wartburg College this weekend for an honor band,  his concert is Sunday afternoon

Philomena is spending the night with her older sister Sarah

Matthew is at college

Stephen will be the only one home tonight with Mom and Dad!

he will get to enjoy what it is like to be the only child!

things warmed up a bit this week, but it is snowing again outside

I hope everybody has a good weekend

posted by Randy

It's Cold!

Minus 23 degrees in north Iowa yesterday, now that is cold! Hey, all our cars started though. It's warmer today.

Mary flys to London for the semester today. It is 34 degrees there. She has a direct flight out of Minneapolis. She has already checked in for her flight and paid for her extra baggage, all online.

Sarah got another job in the afternoons as a homework monitor; it pays better than a grocery store too. We enjoyed spending time with Sarah and her boyfriend Dan over the holidays.

Matthew is being a student in Storm Lake and for fun he is planning on building a gigantic room sized Risk game. He's got a rug he is going to dye and he has already bought the not so little soldiers. Very creative.

Daniel is in the Corn Belt Honor Band on Thurs. and then in the Wartburg Honor Band on Sat.-Sun., with his concert at 3:00 pm on Sunday in Waverly.

Philomena was in a dance competition last Sunday in Dubuque. Legacy Dancers is a middle school dance team. Their show case night is on her 13th birthday, Feb. 25th.

Stephen and Randy were polar bear camping last weekend for cub scouts. They had a lot of fun sledding and snow shoeing, but, yes, they did sleep in cabins.

It is nice now that Randy is through with school. He is home more and not busy studying. His job does keep him very busy, but we are getting used to him having the weekends off.

Perkins has slowed way, way down because it is winter. I was working 30 hours each week before Christmas, now I am working 12-15 hours each week. Which is more like what I can handle.

Take care and stay warm,
Caroline

Happy New Year 2011

Happy New Year everybody

from the Clear Lake Schnoebelens  we wish everyone a happy and healthy new year

posted by Randy