Tech vs. UT – a sociological delight

Red Raider fans whoop it up

Students started standing in line at Jones Stadium MONDAY for Pete’s Sake, to get the best seats (student seating is not reserved). They pitched tents. Some had generators. Tuesday there were a couple hundred who had taken up residence at “Raiderville.” They even have a mayor and a police department. By Wednesday there were 700 residents. Thursday another 1,000 moved in. Friday classes across campus were noticeably  devoid of students. If it were Harbor High in the early sixties, I’d swear 17th Street was breaking over head with a 15-knot offshore and water temps in the 70s. 

Tech football team in black

All that is interesting enough, but somebody else started moving onto campus Tuesday. ESPN. ESPN is doing their College Game Day thing on the Tech campus. So they started moving in Tuesday. They plunked down their trailers, their trucks, their cameras, their satellite dishes, furniture, fencing and all right in the middle of campus. They took over the Tech Engineering Key with all their munitions. And it’s clear they agree with Sports Illustrated. This is ESPN’s “Saturday Showdown.” 

Jakes Sub

So if you know Jake you know how much he loves sandwiches. “The bigger the better” is his motto.

We were at Albertsons yesterday so I could get some salad from the deli for lunch. As I was waiting in line Jake comes over to me with this HUGE sandwich(a foot long and 6 inches wide) on a french loaf and asks me if he could get it. He was looking at me as if he were five asking for a treat from the candy isle. I suggested that he shouldn’t since he has been doing so well on is diet(22 lbs lost). He didn’t care about his diet when he saw this sandwich. It has taken him two days to finish But in his defense I did help him out by having about an inch and a half wide sliver. The rest is in his belly. He wanted me to blog about his latest accomplishment of finishing this sandwich. He is very proud.

Bumps in the road

The Road to Recovery is interrupted by speed bumps.

We had come back from Houston. I had taken almost a week where the only time I was on campus was early in the morning or late afternoon-evening. I took naps during the day. Then on Oct. 13 I conducted the news budget meeting in Multi-Platform News. We were off and running. I was feeling much better, and on Oct. 15 I arranged individual time with each of my students (I usually do that twice in the semester).

All these friendly voices whispered things like “take it easy” and “go slow.” I thought I was. Thursday, Oct. 16, I hit the first speed bump. I had overdone things so much on Wednesday, that when I came onto campus Thursday, I not only was feeling “out of gas,” I also felt mildly nauseous and somewhat light-headed. I had to beg off a meeting with one student, and Nancy came and got me about noon. I think I slept most of the afternoon. 

Friday was better. Saturday was so good that I went to my grandson’s party at the roller rink about the time the Tech game was ending. Most of the swelling had left the eye, and the eyelids were wanting to open on their own. Eye patches are not glasses friendly, so we hit upon a plan to have a local discount glasses place put a dark plastic lens on the dark side of the face. That’s another story, but we got the glasses back – done correctly – on Monday.

Monday. Another speed bump. I awakened Monday morning with swelling in the right eye worse than it has been since the bandages were removed. I had an afternoon appointment with Dr. Allison, and he postulated a couple theories; but he said I did not have an infection. He sent me home with instructions to put an ice pack over the eye. We went through a couple packs in the afternoon and evening, and things were much improved. 

So we think we are getting the speed bump message. We don’t like it, but we are starting to figure out that progress can be made even at a slower pace.

Riley breaks a leg – really!

Riley Daly Lane, 3, broke her right femur (thigh bone) Thursday, Oct. 16, at her home in Goose Creek, South Carolina. Riley, her sister Jenna, mother Heather and dad David rushed to an emergency facility in Moncks Corner for X-rays and triage before being taken by ambulance to the MUSC Children’s Hospital in Charleston where Riley and Heather spent the night.

Riley poses for Grandma Nancy in the park near her home.

Doctors were studying Friday morning whether it would be necessary to pin  the bone back together or whether a cast would be adequate to stabilize the bone. Either way, prognosis is that Riley will be immobile for about eight weeks and have to be carried everywhere she goes.

Heather said the girls were watching The Invincibles on television and got into the spirit of the video. They had stripped down to their “My Little Pony” underwear and were pretending to be superheroes. In that company, they were jumping off various parts of the sofa in the den onto pillows on the floor while mother worked in the adjoining kitchen.

Mom said she heard a “slap” and at first thought one sister had slapped the other. However, she quickly realized that slapping was out of character for these two sisters, and she said the “slap”  didn’t sound exactly like flesh on flesh. “When I heard the screams that followed, I knew something was wrong.”

Riley whooshes down a slide in the park.

The family did a last minute reassignment to get David relieved of duty on base, and then they raced to the Monck’s Corner emergency room attached to Trident Hospital. Preliminary reports indicated the fracture was complete, and that raised fears an operation and pinning would be necessary.

Friday, Dr. Hooker, whom Heather compares to her own sister Laura (soft spoken, sweet), placed a half-body cast on Riley. On her left side it extends from ankle to waist. Then it goes down to the knee on the left side.

Grandpa Randy was pondering Friday morning whether this is an example of media effects, uses and gratifications or some other mass communication theory.

Still in our thoughts & prayers

You’re still in our thoughts and prayers.

Randy,

You’re mentioning things I wouldn’t even think about – a ghost over your good eye – Life is full of adjustments – some minor some very major – and you seem to be handling all very well.

Love,

Lane and Dianne

Geoffrey is a Pirate

We found this Halloween costume at Target for Geoffrey and could not resist. Hope you enjoy

Rehabilitation I

Note to self: Before you essay to drive an automobile, master the art of shaving the right side of your face and neck without slitting your throat.

The day after bandages were removed

We returned to Lubbock Wednesday night, and Thursday was pretty much devoted to doctor visits / phone calls and dealing with an apparent reaction to medicine. Medicine changed, we were able to enjoy the weekend, including taking two grandchildren to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua. I even got into the office for a couple hours on Saturday.

As a result of the weekend “exercises,” I am beginning to understand more thoroughly the vision adjustment issues. In this regard, the movie was physiologically painful. I’ve had more than a few depth perception issues, but most disorienting is the brain’s persistence in and insistence upon superimposing the image from the right eye (blank) over the image from the left eye. This is especially disconcerting when moving from a brightly lighted setting to a dim one.

Dr. Allison said it takes “about two months” to fully adjust, and likened the phenomenon to the phantom pain amputees feel from a severed limb. The good news is that the phantom images do go away. So I am trying to be patient, and continue to be humbled by expressions of care, prayer and compassion from many quarters.

Ten days after the bandages were removed.

Fall Photos

Here’s a few fall photos from 2008, taken at local parks and the soccer complex. It’s a great season for fun.

Bandages removed

Megan (Dr. Gambos’ PA) removed the bandages Wednesday with a special flourish as she came down to my neck, where there now was a week’s beard under the adhesive. OUCH! She said I looked ”good” and then did a little eye tracking exercise with me. Megan showed Nancy the ointment routine we would be doing for the next few weeks.

Out and around Houston, bandages and all

After a little bit of clean-up, Megan asked me to look in the mirror — with my eyes open. The right eye is pretty much swollen shut. She and Suzanne decided I was ready for Dr. Gombos.

Dr. Gombos asked how it felt to have the bandages off, and I replied, “good.” Then he also opinied that I looked “good”and asked if I was feeling any pain. I started with the sense of pressure I felt “all around” which I attributed to swelling. He retorted that I had hardly any swelling — much less than normal, but I did have a little more “droop” than normal.

After that rebuff, I debated internally whether to tell him about the stinging and itching I was feeling or about the shot I felt when I looked up during the eye tracking exercise. I told him about looking up. He said “uh huh.” So I went for the gusto and told him about the stinging and itching. He asked if I was still taking the Tylenol and codeine.

When I answered “no” to that one, he nodded and then answered,”That’s probably stitches. Over time, they will all dissolve and you’ll get over the pain.” He repeated some of the things that Megan and Suzanne had gone through earlier and asked the ladies if I had all the proper medications.

With an affirmative response, he intoned a wonderfully sweet phrase, “then I will see you in a month.” Gombos extended his hand, which I shook. Suzanne and Megan got hugs, and Nancy and I were headed toward the A Elevator.

There’s some follow-up to be done in Lubbock, ongoing treatments, convalescence and some adjusting I have to do. But we have closed the door on the operation part of this journey. We are now charting course for three ports on the follow-up leg of the voyage and looking forward to some shore leave at home.