One Week Post Surgery

LiveJournal Tags: Bucktail Camping Resort,melanoma,Mansfield,surgery

I don’t have a whole lot to talk about but figured I would give everyone an update. We arrived in Mansfield, Pa on Tuesday and got a campsite at Bucktail Camping Resort. We stayed here a couple times last summer when Linda spent time with her grandkids. Linda did all the driving to get here…all 1700 miles from Aurora, CO. Although I wanted to help her do the driving, it was probably a good thing that I didn’t. I unhooked the car from the rig, while Linda checked us in, and just carrying the hitch into the garage of the rig made me get really woozie and I had to lay down so I wouldn’t faint. I get tired quickly but don’t nap cause I have a horrible time getting a good night’s sleep. The area directly under the incision, on my arm is that numb, ouchy feeling like you get when you wake up in the middle of the night and realize your foot or hand has fallen asleep. Linda and I were just talking about what might be causing it cause it’s driving me crazy. I was trying to do some stretches to see if the muscles are tight, etc. to alleviate it and then it hit us. We can see on my arm where they had to pull the skin together, where the melanoma spot was, and the skin in that area is really tight and it’s directly under there where the numbness is. Just wrapped too tight, I guess. See I knew there’d be an explanation for it. Just don’t know how to loosen it up. I think the numbness is easing up….just not quick enough for me.



I can’t get over how lush and green it is here in Pennsylvania. We had gotten used to so much drought-stricken areas out west that this is such a stark contrast to all of that brown backdrop. It’s also been raining ever since we arrived so it’s getting super green and super lush. Our site is nicely shaded and has a beautiful, tall shag hickory tree towering up through the tree canopy. It’s just gorgeous and so majestic ! Boomer is having a ball exploring different parts of the campground as we go out for little walks. They are calling for more rain tomorrow but the weekend is supposed to be perfect so tomorrow night the peace and quiet we’ve experienced these last few days will be replaced with the squeals of little kids and their families. The air will be filled with the smell of campfires and camping will be in full force. Since this campground has so many rides and amenities, geared towards children, the daily rates are quite high so it is pretty quiet during the week. There are many seasonal sites here and that is what draws families to come here from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. They can leave their work behind and get away with their families for rest and relaxation.
Tomorrow it will be one week since my surgery. The doctor said that it would be 5-10 work days before the pathology report would come back on whether the melanoma has spread to my lymph nodes. We’re hoping that we will hear sooner, rather than later and that we get the “all clear” message to resume life as we know it. Until then, I’m trying to “hang loose”, rest and get my strength back. I thank everyone for their prayers and good wishes. Keep ‘em coming…..the biggest speed bump is yet to come.

Good News for Passport America members….

Just heard from one of our other rep teams that Camp Club USA, one of the Good Sam enterprises, has been sold to Passport America. Here’s the info from the Camp Club USA website: “We recently announced that Camp Club USA members will now become members of Passport America, the leader in 50% off discount camping. As a member of Passport America, you will enjoy over 1,800 campgrounds where you can receive 50% savings on nightly camping. If you are a member of Camp Club USA, you will automatically receive a membership card from Passport America equal to the months remaining on your Camp Club USA membership, plus one additional bonus month free. We are working closely with Passport America to make sure this transition is a smooth one for all of our members. To read the full notice from Good Sam Enterprises Chairman & CEO Marcus Lemonis regarding this transition click here.”
More discounted parks added to the Passport America line-up is great…more choices for inexpensive camping as we travel.

Birthday Dinner...

My sister and her husband arrived Tuesday, just a few minutes after we got off work. We decided to go out to dinner for my birthday so we went to the Village Tavern. We've heard great things about this restaurant and it's only about three miles from our place. The restaurant was awesome ! It was a beautiful post and beam structure with soft lighting, an open display kitchen, wood fired pizza oven and a great outside patio area.

I had Shrimp Bayou which was good but a little on the salty side. Linda and my sister, Phyllis had the shrimp scampi which was amazing. My brother-in-law, Mickey had tilapia and he said it was very good. For dessert, the server brought out a birthday sundae that we all shared. We had a great time with them..it's the first time that I think we've socialized with them outside of family events. It was a fun evening and the restaurant is certainly a place we'd go back to again. Once we got back to the community, I gave them a little tour of the place. Some of the residents were sitting in the atrium listening to some music, playing on a boombox. Paul, one of the residents who used to be a dance instructor "back in the day" asked my sister to waltz so they took a spin around the dance floor. He told me the next day that he really enjoyed dancing with her and that she was really good. She and my BIL used to take ballroom dance classes and actually won an event many years ago out of hundreds of other couples. I remember watching them dance, back when they took these classes, and it was a lot of fun to watch them do all the fancy moves.

That evening, after they left to go to their hotel, we got hit with a horrible storm. We were under a tornado watch until 3 a.m. and Boomer was pacing most of the night. It poured rain all night and most of the next day.

I went back to work on Wednesday...working a reduced schedule of 40 hours until my final appt on Nov 24th. I also have to adhere to the low weight restriction on my lifting until then too. Feeling good...if I'm out and about too much or walking for too long, I start to feel a little sore and achy in my abdomen and know I need to sit down and take it easy.

Today we drove out to Wilkesboro, NC to check out the W.Kerr Scott dam and surrounding campgrounds. We have seen the listing on the Workamper web site for the Army Corp of Engineer positions that go up for bid each year and thought since this location is so close to us, that we'd check it out. It's a gorgeous area and a pretty, fall day to take in the sights. Boomer enjoyed getting in the water at the boat launch. We got some info on the bid process from a volunteer at the visitor center and went to check out the site arrangements for the workers at Bandit's Roost campground. Seems to be a fairly small campground....nice setting and the two sites, for the contracted positions is located right near the entrance gate. Everything was nice but after talking about it, we decided that this would be an ideal type of position once we wanted to slow down in a job and stay put for 4 or 5 months. It would seem to be a rather slow paced job and really long hours each day. Even worse than what we work now ! We'll file the info away for "someday", in case we need it.