A Year of Change

We made it to Denver around 10am. First stop was the distributor to pick up a couple cases of wine. Next we ran to Park Meadows to meet Toby so I could pick up a rifle I’m borrowing. Right at 11, we made it to the surgery center. Soon, we were checked in and getting Lori ready for surgery.

She said she wasn’t nervous but after 26 years, I could tell she was a little bit. This was a big big surgery. The surgeon, who Lori knows well, as she refers a lot of patients to him, came in and we went over the plan. He said it’d probably take a good 3 to 3 and a half hours, and if successful, Lori would be a case study! This means that surgeries like hers are difficult and not that common. We were both excited, but I told Lor, “not what ya want your surgeon to say before you’re going in, right?” Dr. Beckman looks really young, but he and Dr. Braxton were in the Air Force together and were both Chief of Staff in the military. Anyhow, Lori’s head was pounding so we were a go. I gave her a kiss on the top of her head, as they had scrubbed her neck and made her swirl swabs with iodine in her nose to prevent infection, and off she went.

I headed into Denver to hang out and pick up some cigars to kill some time. Then I drove out to our favorite specialty grocery store, Tony’s Market, to get some great food and kill some more time. After that, I headed back to the surgery center. I hung out in the truck for 45 minutes or so until I got a text saying they were closing, meaning sewing her shut, as then I knew she was coming out of surgery.

About 30 minutes later, Dr. Beckman called me and I said I’m out front, and he said, “ok, I’ll just come out”. He came and got me and we went back to recovery where Lori was awake but loopy. He told me, and these are his exact word, “dude, it was brutal but turned out really good”. He told us it would be rough, and she’d be sore as the CAT Scan showed bone on bone with no disc or space between C5 and C6. He said he was going to have to literally hammer out some bone to create a space for the new discs. Here’s an after picture showing the new discs in which are perfect and show a nice space and cushion between the vertebrae. Above the two new discs you can see her C2, C3 fusion from 2012. The two Oreo looking things where you’d see the cream are the discs.

Lori is actually taller now too! She just said this is way worse than she anticipated, ha. I knew it wasn’t going to be a cake walk. After talking to the doctor, I headed to a Walgreens 10 minutes away to try to get her four prescriptions. Luckily, I had picked up some wine as I had to give the head pharmacist a bottle, or I would have been there for hours. Even so, they called me from the surgery center wondering where I was. Thankfully I was just leaving to go back to get Lori. Dr. Beckman met me, and we made our way in through a backdoor as the front doors close at 5pm. It was now about 6pm we got Lori in the truck ready to go home. The ride was rough, as expected as the drugs were wearing off.

We made it home by 8:15 and I got her settled before unloading all the stuff in the truck. An hour later Jagger and Ava showed up. The rest of the night was spent with Lori being uncomfortable and neither of us sleeping that well. At 6am, I did notice she was finally asleep. By 7 she was up. She just had her morning medications. We’ll see how the rest of the day goes. We need to stay ahead of the pain.

Ty went to work at 6:30. I might go to the gym, haven’t decided yet. Hoping the day goes well for Lori. We’ll keep everyone posted, God Bless.

Rough game last night, but we won. The Broncos have 8 wins which is the most in the NFL. Wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it.

We’re off at 7:30 this morning for Denver for Lori’s surgery. She checks in at 11 and at noon should be in the OR. I think the surgery will take 2 and a half hours, but they never really know until they get in there. I’m hoping I can pick her up around 4:30 or 5 to drive home. We’re hoping and praying this works, as you never know until it’s over. Praying it helps her as her headache is really painful. I’ll keep you posted.

Jag and Ava are coming up tonight, and Ty should be home before us. I have some work to do over the weekend and if Lori is doing ok, I’ll head to Gunnison with Davy Sunday night to go elk hunting.

That’s about it, wish us luck, and may God watch over and fix Lori! God Bless.

Surgery tomorrow. We’re still waiting on approval from the insurance company as yesterday, but Dr. Braxton told Lori yesterday that if approval doesn’t come in, he’d pay for it! He said, “we have to get you fixed”. We’re hoping for approval today as it could be $100K that he’d have to pay. So, looks like we’re a go for tomorrow, one way or another.

Big game tonight. Ty will be there in his finest Broncos gear. He’ll get there when the gates open which will be about 2:15 this afternoon. Yesterday after work, he cleaned his room really well. Normally he cleans it like a 21-year-old would, but this week, he cleaned it like we would, nice job!

Mild up here with no rain or snow. It’ll come soon enough. We’d be fine if it stayed like this all winter! 6am now and still dark outside. The Sun should be coming up soon.

Have a great Thursday, Go Broncos and God Bless.

After yesterday’s elections, now we for sure have to move! Every tax increase looks like it passed and here in Eagle, every leaning left candidate (they didn’t have to declare if they were a Republican or Democrat) seems to have won. Results are only about 40% in though so maybe that’ll change. Even the guy down the street who took down signs of other candidates, and was charged by the police, looks like he won.

Nationally, an antisemitic, Muslim socialist who is really a communist, is now the Mayor of New York. This will help the Republicans next year though as New York will be a mess and there will also be a huge exodus from the city. Too bad for New York but it’s been a shit hole for years. I haven’t gone these for years and now won’t be going at all. If I have business there, I’ll fly into Newark and meet in New Jersey. In New Jersey and Virgina, the Dems are acting like they won the lottery. This is funny as those two States have always been blue and the Dems should have won. What was surprising was the guy running for AG in Virgina, won after he wished his Republican opponent and his family, including his children, would die. People sure are messed up these days.

We’re hoping Lori’s surgery gets approved today. If not, we’ll get a peer to peer going right away. That’s where her doctor has to talk with the insurance company doctor and make the case as to why she needs surgery. This is common but a pain in the ass.

Ty went to the DMV in Glenwood yesterday to get his picture taken for his driver’s license. He also went for an oil change on his truck and washed it. The restaurant is closed today for a deep cleaning so he’s almost out the door. Jag and Ava are coming up this weekend.

I have to write up a summary today on the new chapter of the Company and what we’re planning on doing in 2026. Still warm outside. 6:30 now so guess I’ll get moving. Have a great day, take care and God Bless.

Made it to Denver by 8am and was on the way home by 10:15. I dropped the truck, grabbed the sales managers truck, and went to pick up Ava and Jagger, and we went to breakfast. I then grabbed his two tires he replaced at Costco and threw them in the back of my truck. I went straight to Costco when I made it up here and got a $200 refund as they were under warranty. They take off the wear and tear by measuring how much tread you have left. Then they prorate it to the purchase price.

Today Ty and I are having breakfast at 8 and then he’s driving to Glenwood for an appointment at the DMV to get a copy of his driver’s license. They never sent him a hard copy when he turned 21, or it was lost in the mail. He does have the Colorado App though.

I skipped steaks at Marty’s last night as I didn’t feel like another 2-hour drive.

We need to drop off our ballots today. We all voted no on all new taxes. Hope they all fail.

Time to go, have a great Tuesday, God Bless.

Out the door at 6am today to drop my truck in Lakewood for service. I’ll grab a loaner and then head over to go to breakfast with Jagger and Ava. I should be home by 1 at the latest. At 5pm I’m going to Marty’s for dinner. There’s three or four of us. I was going to stay home but Lori insisted I go. Jeff, one of the guys, brought some great rib eyes back from Texas.

About 98 hours from now, Lori will have surgery. We can’t wait as we need to get this fixed. There’s no guarantee she’ll get 100% relief, but the diagnostic tests show she’ll get some.

Big Bronco win. It wasn’t easy but it’s a win. Ty and I think Jagger, are going to the Bronco/Raider game this Thursday night here in Denver.

Our tree is up! We have some more decorating to do inside and outside, but the tree is the big project. Lori wanted to get it all done before her surgery.

No snow or rain for the next two weeks. Looks like Davy, Marty and I are going down to the ranch in Gunnison a week from this Wednesday or Thursday. I need to stay home this weekend to take care of Lori and Marty has to move his mom into assisted living next Monday.

That’s it, have a great Monday. We have a busy week. Take care and God Bless.

We’re getting closer each day to Lori’s surgery. Time flies but in this case, we wish we could just jump ahead to next Friday. 126 hours to go from right now at 6am on Sunday.

Yesterday I took down all the Halloween decorations outside and Lori put up garland on the mantle and ornaments on the tree. Our neighbor across the field, already had her outside Christmas lights on last night! She’s kind of like the Clark Griswold of the hood.

Big Bronco game today at 11am. Hope we win. Last night, the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays in the 11th inning to claim their second World Series title in a row. Toronto was up most of the game and hadn’t won the championship in 32 years. The game was also in Toronto, so you had a bunch of disappointed fans for sure. They lost the last two games at home. I fell asleep so I missed it, ha.

Tomorrow, I have an appointment at 8am to get my truck serviced so I’ll be up on the road early. Cool up here but no snow yet. Think they said November will be mostly dry up here with the La Nina winds that are here this year. I’ll take it. The less snow I have to shovel, the better.

Have a great Sunday and Go Broncos! God Bless.

Here we go! Halloween stuff comes down this morning, and the Christmas season begins. We did bring our tree in yesterday to get a jump on things as Lori has her last two pre-op appointments this morning. First up is the bone density test at 10 and then one more CT scan at noon.

At 5 last night we went down to the neighbors for their Halloween party. We didn’t stay long but wanted to go see the kids. Jag and Ava had a small party last night and Ty went to Denver to hang with friends. He’ll be back up today, probably this morning.

After Lori’s two appointments, she’ll decorate the tree while I take down the skeletons and spider webs out front. Tonight, we set our clocks back an hour. Can’t believe that in 2025 we still mess with the time. Doesn’t seem right or natural.

The Dems are still screwing the Country. Lots of people working without getting paid and today 43 million people don’t get their food stamps. Most people deserve these but there is a portion of those people that should have never got them in the first place.

The vet came up yesterday and trimmed Harley’s nails and gave her some shots. She’s still a little spicey to the vet. That’s what the vet said, ha.

6:30am now, that’s about it. Have a good start to November and God Bless.

Big day today, if you’re a kid. Halloween is one of those days that you vividly remember as a kid. Most of ours were really snowy. Because of that, we always had costumes that kept us warm. The neighborhood went all out and Mrs. Rossi always made the best cinnamon apples. They were like caramel apples only covered with red, hard sticky cinnamon. Mr. Rossi always had some sort of catering cart out in front of their house where he served hot dogs and drinks like hot chocolate. I don’t remember what he served the adults, probably spiced wine. They were our super cool Italian family that lived next door. I think I’ve mentioned before, I’d jump the fence and eat dinner at the Rossi’s after eating dinner at home. Mrs. Rossi was the quintessential Italian grandmother type. She always looked out for us and boy could she cook. Good times.

Well, a week from today, Lori is having ADR surgery at the surgery center down in Lakewood by St. Anthony’s hospital. I think she checks in around 10:30 and has surgery at 12:30. She should be out a couple hours later and then we’ll head home around 4:30 or 5. We’re praying this gives her total relief. You never know but everyone is comfortable that it’ll give her some relief, especially in her traps and occipitals. We’re just glad it’s finally scheduled.

We stopped to see Jagger and Ava briefly before Lori’s appointment yesterday. We made it home a little before 6pm. Tonight Dea, our next-door neighbor, is having a baked potato party at 5. We’ll go over to see the kids.

This morning we’ll hit the gym, grab some breakfast and then head home. Have a great last day of October and Halloween. November 1st tomorrow! 61 days left until 2026, God Bless.

Yesterday Lori had her ENT clearance. To get this, Dr. Seibert sticks a tube up her nose and down her throat with a camera on it to see her vocal cords, ouch! Today at 3:30 in Lakewood, she has her pre-op with Dr. Beckman’s PA and then the Dexascan on Saturday. We’ll know soon if she’s doing a two-level ADR or a four-level fusion. That’s what Peyton Manning had!

I have calls this morning starting at 8:30 and going until about 10:30 and then we’ll head down the hill. Jag is getting two new tires on today at Costco. I need to grab the old ones and take them to the store up here for credit as they’re under warranty.

Ty had a great day of paint ball with his team yesterday. He’s headed out to work here in about 30 minutes. Nice up here. No snow or rain for the next week or so.

Last night at 7:30 I received the signed Subscription Agreement from the lawyer in Florida on my big deal. That’s good news.

6am now, time to get moving. Have a great day, be well, be kind, stay safe and God Bless.