PolishWineP
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Cheers to you and yours for the holidays! Enjoy your time together and draft those kids to help bottle! Hope someone figures out Gina's pain and helps her with it.
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Jack on Rainy
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Ken,
I haven't been paying attention to this thread. Sorry to hear of Gina's troubles - I guess they are yours to aren't they. Prayers for you and yours this Holiday Season include a return to good health. Enjoy those kids!
I haven't been paying attention to this thread. Sorry to hear of Gina's troubles - I guess they are yours to aren't they. Prayers for you and yours this Holiday Season include a return to good health. Enjoy those kids!
Sorry to hear of the health concerns, especially the chronic pain. I hope you all have a Blessed Christmas, and the joy shines through those troubles.
Also, a heart felt thank you to your family serving in our nations Armed Forces. We here in NC, as many other fine places in our great country, appreciate, respect, and admire their service and sacrificefor our great nation.
Also, a heart felt thank you to your family serving in our nations Armed Forces. We here in NC, as many other fine places in our great country, appreciate, respect, and admire their service and sacrificefor our great nation.
jobe05 said:
jobe, that's funny. I haven't been stationed there... yet, but I went to school there early in my career. Back then they called it "Cherry Pitt" and the little town of Havelock was nick-named "Have Naught" by the local Marines. Guess it wasn't such an exciting place to be 20+ years ago. Who knows now? My first "permanent" duty station was Marine Corps Air Station New River near Jacksonville, NC. Spent 5 years there. (Of course, the local Marines sarcastically called it "Actionville" back them.) I went back there to visit my son a couple years ago and didn't even recognize the place. It's expanded quite a bit. My how times change.
PeterZ
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"Our son, David-26, is aCommunications Officer (First Lieutenant) in the Marines, and his wife, Katie, is a Nurse (Lieutenant Junior Grade) in the Navy."
Who is going to make O-3 first? I have a retired Air Force buddy at work. He and his wife were both E-9 at retirement. Their daughter recently made O-5 while her husband, who was a year ahead of her at the Academy, is still an O-4. That makes for some good natured ribbing.
Who is going to make O-3 first? I have a retired Air Force buddy at work. He and his wife were both E-9 at retirement. Their daughter recently made O-5 while her husband, who was a year ahead of her at the Academy, is still an O-4. That makes for some good natured ribbing.
Scott,
Not so good. By the end Nov, Gina's seizures had stopped completely. We were just working on her continued dizziness and constant pain issues. But on Jan 2nd she had another seizure, and then another, and another. By the end of Jan she'd had upwards of twenty. But it takes so long to get in to see the doctor, then get referred out to a specialist, then get tests done and evaluated. So we finally got the results of her B6 test back around Feb 1st and it was back down below normal levels. All the while she'd been taking daily B6 injections. So the doc doubled her dose...again. And he finally, after over a year of constant hurting, ordered her a slow-release narcotic patch for pain.
No one seems to understand why her B6 level increased at first and then went back down. I personally think it's because she has other deficiencies that inhibit the uptake of B6, but the doctors aren't looking for those. As for the pain, it's partially better, but the narcotic comes with some nasty side effects. First, it makes Gina drowsy and incoherent. But worse, it makes her itch like crazy. So she takes benadryl for the itching, which makes her even more drowsy. So she basically sleeps the day away. We thought she might adjust to the new medication, but after a week, the side effects don't seem to be getting any better.
Sorry for the long response.
ken
Not so good. By the end Nov, Gina's seizures had stopped completely. We were just working on her continued dizziness and constant pain issues. But on Jan 2nd she had another seizure, and then another, and another. By the end of Jan she'd had upwards of twenty. But it takes so long to get in to see the doctor, then get referred out to a specialist, then get tests done and evaluated. So we finally got the results of her B6 test back around Feb 1st and it was back down below normal levels. All the while she'd been taking daily B6 injections. So the doc doubled her dose...again. And he finally, after over a year of constant hurting, ordered her a slow-release narcotic patch for pain.
No one seems to understand why her B6 level increased at first and then went back down. I personally think it's because she has other deficiencies that inhibit the uptake of B6, but the doctors aren't looking for those. As for the pain, it's partially better, but the narcotic comes with some nasty side effects. First, it makes Gina drowsy and incoherent. But worse, it makes her itch like crazy. So she takes benadryl for the itching, which makes her even more drowsy. So she basically sleeps the day away. We thought she might adjust to the new medication, but after a week, the side effects don't seem to be getting any better.
Sorry for the long response.
ken
NorthernWinos
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Sorry to hear there is no response to the Vitamin shots...I too was hoping all was going well.
Hope someday a doctor can get this figured out and take care of those conditions.
Side effects of drugs are sometimes worse than the disease...
Hope someday a doctor can get this figured out and take care of those conditions.
Side effects of drugs are sometimes worse than the disease...
Thanks all. And I don't mean to sound like it's all bad. The Christmas visit with our kids was wonderful. Wine tasting and making wine together weregreat experiences. I even started a CC Cab/Merlot kit with a friend from work a few weeks ago, and it was lots of fun to share my hobby. We got our new puppies right after the New Year, and Gina really loves them. Guess I haven't written much because they keep me so busy, along with all the trips to the vet, puppy class, and Gina's doctor visits. Oh, and there's that work thing too.
This weekend should be really special. It's both Valentine's Day and Gina's birthday ( Feb 17th), and I have four days off work. So I know this is crazy, but we're taking a trip to "Gold Country" in the CA Sierra Nevada foothills. The Amador County Vintner's Association is hosting an event called "Behind the Cellar Door", and it sounds fascinitating. In addition to lots of food and barrel tastings, many of the wineries offer lectures on winemaking. For instance, I'm really looking forward to "The Littlest Winemaker" lecture which is about different yeasts. You get to taste three wines that have only one difference, the yeast. And there's a bunch more that I'm sure will be very interesting. It's a long drive, and I know Gina's not really up to it. But she won't take no for an answer, so I guess we're going.
This weekend should be really special. It's both Valentine's Day and Gina's birthday ( Feb 17th), and I have four days off work. So I know this is crazy, but we're taking a trip to "Gold Country" in the CA Sierra Nevada foothills. The Amador County Vintner's Association is hosting an event called "Behind the Cellar Door", and it sounds fascinitating. In addition to lots of food and barrel tastings, many of the wineries offer lectures on winemaking. For instance, I'm really looking forward to "The Littlest Winemaker" lecture which is about different yeasts. You get to taste three wines that have only one difference, the yeast. And there's a bunch more that I'm sure will be very interesting. It's a long drive, and I know Gina's not really up to it. But she won't take no for an answer, so I guess we're going.
NorthernWinos
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Glad your getting out on a nice trip...That's the best medicine.
Thought I'd share some highlights of our trip for anyone interested. Amador County, CA is "Gold Country" where the California gold rush of 1849 played out. Lots of history there. The predominant wines produced in the area appeared to be Zinfandel, Syrah, and Barberra.
Apparently, some Italian immigrants planted some of the earliest American Zinfandel vines there just after the Civil War. These vines, planted on their original root stock, are still producing, and the wine from their grapes is marketed as Grand Pere (not sure of the spelling but it means grandfather) Zin. At Renwood winery, we tasted 1994, '96, '97, and 2000 vintage Zin from this vineyard. Interestingly, phyloxera has only recently begun to infect these vines, so the clone is now being grafted onto resistant rootstock.
At Amador Cellars we sat in on a talk by the winemaker and tasted three Zinfandels from 2004, 05, and 06. Each vintage had slightly different characterstics and the wines were made with slightly different styles. All very high alcohol wines, varying amounts of oak, one blended with a bit of Syrah, and several other slight differences. All in all, a very interesting session. The winemaker wasn't shy at all about sharing his techniques, yeasts, etc. We also tasted 2007 Zinfandel and Syrah from barrels, and I was surprised how good they both were. What really caught my interest was this winery's Crush Club. You get your friends to go in on a barrel of wine, price tag $1800. You all get to participate in the crush, punching down, pressing, and every step of the winemaking process, and at the end you get a bunch of wine (forgot how many bottles are in a barrel.) Sounded like fun. Wish I lived nearby.
Lots of friendly people and beautiful countryside dominated by green rolling hills and sparsely scattered oak trees. Despite the rainy weather, we had a great time and learned a lot. We'll definitely try to go back there again someday.
Apparently, some Italian immigrants planted some of the earliest American Zinfandel vines there just after the Civil War. These vines, planted on their original root stock, are still producing, and the wine from their grapes is marketed as Grand Pere (not sure of the spelling but it means grandfather) Zin. At Renwood winery, we tasted 1994, '96, '97, and 2000 vintage Zin from this vineyard. Interestingly, phyloxera has only recently begun to infect these vines, so the clone is now being grafted onto resistant rootstock.
At Amador Cellars we sat in on a talk by the winemaker and tasted three Zinfandels from 2004, 05, and 06. Each vintage had slightly different characterstics and the wines were made with slightly different styles. All very high alcohol wines, varying amounts of oak, one blended with a bit of Syrah, and several other slight differences. All in all, a very interesting session. The winemaker wasn't shy at all about sharing his techniques, yeasts, etc. We also tasted 2007 Zinfandel and Syrah from barrels, and I was surprised how good they both were. What really caught my interest was this winery's Crush Club. You get your friends to go in on a barrel of wine, price tag $1800. You all get to participate in the crush, punching down, pressing, and every step of the winemaking process, and at the end you get a bunch of wine (forgot how many bottles are in a barrel.) Sounded like fun. Wish I lived nearby.
Lots of friendly people and beautiful countryside dominated by green rolling hills and sparsely scattered oak trees. Despite the rainy weather, we had a great time and learned a lot. We'll definitely try to go back there again someday.
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Sounds like a great and interesting trip Ken. I hope Gina felt well enough to fully enjoy and appreciate the trip and all it entailed. Sounds like you had fun learning and enjoying the wine.
NorthernWinos
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Glad you got to go on your trip and enjoyed your time spent there....
Sounds like an interesting experience.
Sounds like an interesting experience.
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