Is There Any Hope For Him?

~ Kyle Busch ~

He can give all the pre-race interviews he wants making him sound like he has matured beyond his 22 years, but when he climbs into a race car or truck his brain turns to mush.

A Work In Progress #5 ~ The Wife

I guess by now those of you who are following my husband's progress are probably wondering just how I am handling all this so far. You're not? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway.

I feel like I have a new name: "Hey-hon-get-me" and I am wondering what that translates to in any given language.

In English, for me, it translates to Why must you always wait till I am settled anywhere, or in the middle of doing something, before you ask me to get you something?

That was how it was the first 3-1/2 weeks. By the fourth week, things got a little better. I wasn't running so much, and he wasn't vocalizing so much from the pain. I was hearing noises I never heard before and at times I felt like I was living with a caveman with all those grunts and groans. Just try and watch one of those deep and profound detective shows on TV while all that's going on. Clues? What clues?

Yeah, three weeks of craziness. Craziness I had forgotten about from the first time he had his knee replaced three years ago. At least then I wasn't subjected to a lot because after staying home the first week he came out of the hospital, I went back to work. Blissful. This time there was no escaping it.

In time, all of this will go away and be forgotten, hopefully. The good thing is that he can drive now and that takes a big burden off my shoulders. I like having a chauffeur.

He is currently in rehab and has to go three times a week for at least four weeks before another checkup with the surgeon. I have been going with him each time, but I think it is soon time to cut the apron strings and let him go by himself. After all, he is a grown man, and my Fridays are filled with lots of racing on TV. And you know what I say about my NASCAR: Nothing comes between me and it. Nothing.

A Work In Progress #4 ~ The Scare

In my last entry (#3), I alluded to a problem my husband ran into once he was home less than two weeks. He had to inject his belly with medicine the first four days he was home and then on the fifth day he was to start a daily regimen of 325mgs of aspirin. This all was to prevent blood clots.

He has had a reaction to aspirin in the past causing what looked like a rash to start at his feet and work its way up to his torso. A dermatologist confirmed it was purpura, which is leaky capillaries (small blood vessels) and that it is caused by a reaction to a medication. Back then (2002), we narrowed it down to the aspirin because his cardiologist had just prescribed it to him to be taken daily. When the rash (it really isn't a rash) appeared, he had been on the aspirin over a week.

This time, I was a little apprehensive when his surgeon said he would be taking aspirin after his knee operation. I voiced my concern to him at one point, but he didn't seem to think it would be a problem, and there aren't many alternatives.

I won't go into detail as to how the reaction manifested itself this time or what he had to do as a result, simply because I don't like talking about it. Or writing about it either. Like I said, it really freaked me out. But I will say one thing...what he had to go through to accomplish the home testing was comical. Well, I thought it was very funny because it wasn't me that had to do it.

The test results came back negative. They told him he is normal. I snickered. Normal? Hardly.

And guess what...all things point to aspirin as the culprit that upset our household once again. Somewhere down the line, if someone, anyone, suggests he takes 325mgs of aspirin, they had better hope they can run faster than I can.

It's That Time Again

And here is my wish to all my readers:

A Work In Progress #3 ~ The Surgeon

He walked up to the receptionist's desk with his cane, and when he was asked his name he simply replied "Charlie Chaplin." (Yes, I am married to, among other things, a comedian.) That is exactly what my husband did when he had his first post-op visit with his surgeon.

Three weeks and one day after the actual slicing open of my husband's knee (an 8 inch gash), he sat across from his scalpel-wielding surgeon. It seemed more like three months for me, and I'm sure it felt that long for my husband too, if not longer. It was his first time outside since coming home, except for the two times the in-home physical therapist took him out to walk on our driveway. But that doesn't count.

We did run into other problems just days before his visit to the doctor however. Problems concerning his blood. His hemoglobin/hematocrit numbers were supposedly lower than they should have been. It dealt with an issue I don't want to get into right now. Let's just say it really freaked me out at the time. Because of it the nurse drew blood and took it directly to a lab where the tests were immediately run, informing us of those low numbers.

As a result of that test, another test was ordered. All I can say is: gross. I will probably make that a separate post once I get up the gumption to write about it. Oh yeah, and after the results come back on it. I'll just keep you in suspense till then.

His surgeon told him all is well, and everything is progressing nicely. He gave him another prescription for pain pills and also a new one to relax the muscles. Oh joy, just what I need. Now he'll never get out of that recliner. Actually we haven't filled that prescription yet and I am going to let it up to him as to whether he really wants to take it.

The butterflies came off, and most of the scar has lost the scabbing. He no longer has to wear those dreaded compression stockings. His rehab starts next week and he will be going three times every week for a month. He tossed aside the walker a couple days ago and is now using a cane. Thank God for ice packs. We have three of the super duty size that a chiropractor friend gave us. All three are on rotation constantly. The nurse told him the ice pack is your friend. I think his pain pills are a lot more friendlier to him.

As far as driving...the doctor is letting that decision up to him as to when he feels he can safely drive. But he cannot drive within four hours after taking a pain pill or two. The knee replacement is in the left leg so that is a good thing as far as driving goes.

All I can say is that after three weeks I am hoping the worst is over. Things can only get better from here on out. He goes back to the surgeon in a month. I wonder what he is going to say to the receptionist then.

A Work In Progress #2 ~ Staples

The big day had finally arrived. The staples were due to come out. I wasn't privy to watching that the first time, and I don't remember if he even had staples, or just stitches, back then. I was still working and I missed a lot of what was happening.

I wasn't too sure as to whether I wanted to witness the actual removal of the staples. I'm a real wuss when it comes to that stuff. Really...squeamish isn't even near how I feel about that stuff. But I needed to satisfy my curosity once and for all. And so, in the end, I did watch.

It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't pass out. And even though I was standing up, I didn't even sway. I was actually disappointed. How could this be? How could I not even be the least bit upset? I have no answer for that.

But the fact of the matter is my husband at that point was well on his way to recovery. Once those staples (all 39 of them) were out and the site was inspected, cleansed and said to be looking real good, the nurse applied steri-strips aka butterflies.

It would be a week before they fell off on their own. And by then he was scheduled to have his first office visit with his surgeon. It was time to have some questions answered. Like, when can he drive? Stay tuned and I'll let you know.

Whether You're Irish Or Not...

Not The Same Bristol I Remember

Ever since they reconfigured this track, things just haven't been the same. Whenever the word Bristol was mentioned, it would bring up visions of beating and banging and activity all over the track. Someone would spin someone else out, drivers got angry at one another, and there would be cautions galore. I used to look forward to the Bristol races because I knew there would be fireworks, and not in the sky either.

But now...it's not the same anymore. I wonder if it will ever be like it was? The track has changed. Now it's just another track. It has lost it's charm. It's not different from all the other tracks anymore. It makes me sad. I miss the old Bristol.

But on a happier note, Dale Jr. finished 5th (by the skin of his teeth) and came up one notch in the points where he currently sits in 5th place also. See, I look at the big picture. You don't have to be winning all the time; just get those top 5's or even an occasional top 10, and you'll still be in the hunt when the Chase comes around. Of course, an occasional win does wonders for my psyche so I'm not saying that I don't care whether he gets a win or not. I want to see a win soon.

I must admit I was a bit worried when he went in to pit early in the race and his crew messed up and he came out in the 26th position. I kind of lost interest in the race at that point, so I walked away from it. I couldn't watch, but I did continue to listen on my radio headset. And then I decided to watch the live leaderboard on NASCAR.com. That calmed my nerves down somewhat. I watched that until he was back up in the top ten before I even considered going back out to watch it on TV.

When he was at DEI and something like what happened in this race would occur, a lot of times his team would seem to give up. Or they would try but would never get the car dialed in. These first five races so far have shown me that not only does he have a great crew behind him now, but the equipment has been more than exceptional. But we all knew that going in. And so did Dale Jr., hence the reason he chose to sign with HMS.

The bad part about the race being over is now we have to wait two weeks till we see another Cup race. The Nationwide Series will be in Nashville next Saturday so that is at least something to look forward to. I will certainly try to hang in there till then.

A Work In Progress #1 ~ Going Home

On the fifth day of my husband's hospital confinement, he was released to my care. The only reason his stay was extended a day longer than normal is because they didn't get around to walking him on his fourth day. And I have no idea whose fault that was either.

Getting from his room to the exit was a bit humorous in a way. The transport person had a conflicting appointment (so she said) and zipped him through the halls to the pharmacy as if he was a blur.

Bringing up the rear was me: carrying a normally heavy handbag, a suit bag with his Western boots, jeans and belt inside that seemed to weigh 20 pounds, and a plastic bag with all the goodies from the hospital. His parting gifts, as it were.

I didn't complain because I thought that's just the way they do it these days. Everybody's in a rush, so the hospital staff must be too. When I finally caught up with them in the pharmacy, the transporter left us. And it was now my chore to get him down the oh so very long hall to the exit doors, along with everything else that I was carrying. Or trying to carry.

What we didn't know is that the transporter called one of my husband's nurses and she was waiting for us outside the pharmacy with another nurse. I don't have to tell you that she was very ticked off and she told us she reported the transporter. She said that is her job and each patient is to be treated with respect until you get them to where you are told to get them. In our case it was the exit doors of the hospital, not the pharmacy.

Another thing that puzzled me is that we had no help getting my husband into the truck. Other than the nurse, who did a bang up job of getting him all the way up onto his seat. It wasn't easy, but I wish I had a video camera. He insisted I pick him up in the truck and not the Mustang, but this is one time I should have listened to my head instead of him.

The ride home was quiet and uneventful. Until we got into our driveway. Now it was up to me to get him out of the truck and into the house. Somehow, with the help of a walker, we managed to get him inside and settled in his recliner.

He is getting in-home therapy and Tuesday his staples came out. More to follow on that.

My Husband: A Work In Progress

After jumping in and out of trucks most of his life instead of using the steps like normal people do, my husband's knees started shutting down. I can't exactly remember when the pain first started. It just kind of started at a low level and escalated to unbearable over the years.

Finally when he couldn't stand the pain much longer, he consulted with an orthopedic doctor about his left knee in particular. The right knee was not a problem yet. The doctor turned him away saying he was too young for a knee replacement. Three years passed before another doctor was consulted. He agreed to the replacement procedure, which took place in January 2005.

These procedures are not a happy thing to do. Well, at least until you get to the pain pills anyway. (I hope I never need a replacement of any kind.) My husband was in the hospital three days, transferred to a rehab unit of another hospital where he spent the next four days, and finally released to me on the eighth day.

Until his stitches were out, there were nurses and physical therapists that visited our home for at least three weeks. When the in-home care ended, he would board the little metro bus at the end of our driveway, dressed in sweat pants and sweatshirt, new white sneakers, with his cane in hand, and off he went to another rehab facility. He looked so cute, as I relived the day when I sent my only child off to kindergarten so many years ago.

Meanwhile, his pain meds were adjusted and readjusted till he found a comfort zone, and believe me, some of those meds made for a mighty nice cocktail if you played your cards right. We never did, though. I was the keeper of the pills, and he didn't want any addictions, so we were very careful in the dispensing of them.

After thirteen weeks off the job, he was finally cleared to go back to work. Within less than six months, he had pain once again. It wasn't bothersome like before, just enough to let him know that something was there and it wasn't the way it should be. He ignored it, tried to shut it out thinking it would go away, and the years passed.

After 1-1/2 years of severe pain 24/7 and a few complaints at office visits to his surgeon (the one that kept telling him there was nothing wrong and everything was as it should be), he decided to see a different doctor who is now at the first place he went to and was turned away. We had come full circle. The only reason he went back to the first place is because he had heard so many good things about this new doctor.

And he turned out to be nothing less than a saint. After many MRIs, X-rays, CT scans, etc. at the first doctor, the new doctor ordered a bone scan (something the original doctor never offered or talked about). That bone scan gave us all an answer as to where the pain was coming from and why.

Finally! The results told us that the original replacement parts had worked themselves loose somehow. When his current doctor saw that he said, "No wonder you have pain." That was almost two months ago. A date was set for a replacement to the original knee replacement. That was done on the 26th of last month.

This time, my husband was in the hospital for four days and sprung on the fifth day with no rehab. I was prepared to pick him up on the fourth day, but they weren't ready to release him just yet.

(I will post more when racing news is at a lull, like today after that sleeper of a race we watched yesterday.)

It's That Time Again

Sunday. 2:00 AM. Set your clocks ahead one hour. I'm giving you enough advance warning. Don 't forget. Especially if you have some place of importance that you have to be on Sunday. Why you would want to miss the race is beyond me though.

Ah yes, the race...Dale Jr. sitting on that front row looks mighty pretty now, doesn't it? Warms the cockles of my heart. And his teammate, Jeff Gordon, on the pole.

Let's talk about Jeff. I never liked him. Actually it was his first wife I couldn't stand. She was a real twit. And she took so much from him when the divorce was final. But then he met Ingrid. And they had baby Ella. And Jeff softened up. And I became a fan. I'm a sucker for guys who love their kids as much as Jeff loves his baby daughter.

And I just need to vent a little here...I am so sick and tired of hearing about that dadgummed oil cap on Carl Edwards' car that I am ready to throw something. The lid maybe. Yeah, that's it. I'll throw the lid they claim came off during the race. Funny how it never was found. And Jack Roush should just shut his pie hole about the whole thing too. He just can't stop attacking Toyota, can he? What a clown.

So remember folks...your clocks? Except you folks in Arizona and maybe a few other places that don't partake of the clock changing ritual. I feel so sorry for those people. They don't know the fun they are missing.

Presenting Pee Wee Herman:

My husband's new name for Kyle Busch is PeeWee Herman. Actually he calls him PeeWee Herman in a racing suit but I couldn't find a decent enough picture of him in his suit. And he calls his brother Kurt, Howdy Doody.

Well, PeeWee Herman is back on top of the points, no thanks to the #99 team and their lame excuses. I don't expect Kyle to stay on top for too long. He'll pull a few bonehead moves and drop down. But the good thing is that the other drivers gained 21 points. Dale Jr. is now only 109 points out of first place instead of 130.

And God bless NASCAR for giving Robby Gordon back his 100 points. They should never have taken them from him in the first place.

And one last item before I go. Martin Truex Jr. will be driving Junior's #5 car in the Nationwide Series at Bristol next week. How cool is that? I really would like to see Truex leave DEI because I don't think he has a future there. Maybe this is the first step...

Well, Carl, What Do You Have To Say Now?

I'm sitting here reading other people's blogs, and back in one corner of my little mind I am also thinking about something I read earlier that had to do with the "issue" of Carl Edwards' post race inspection and failure thereof.

If NASCAR deems it necessary to take points away from Carl and hands out fines or suspends the crew chief and puts him on probation...whatever...I am concerned that there are many people that would like to see the win taken away from Carl too. I have been thinking about that myself. The problem with NASCAR taking the win away from Carl is that it would then be given to Dale Jr. Really, that's not a good thing. First of all, it will be a cold day in hell when NASCAR takes a win away from anyone.

Granted, had the #99 team not cheated (and that is yet to be proven), Dale Jr. probably could have won that race. However, would Carl have been up front, would Junior have spun his tires on that restart, would this would that? See where I am going with this? Circumstances change all the time during a race.

Some say a win is a win no matter how you get it. I say, if it's not an earned win, it's not worth it to boast that you won that particular race. And I know that is the way Dale Jr. feels, too. He would rather earn his wins, not back into them.

I was very happy with a second place. It did, after all, bring him from 23rd to 10th in the points. But to take that win away from Carl? And give it to Dale Jr? Nope...not in my book.

Yes!

Pins and needles. That's what it felt like for me for that entire race today. You know...before it starts, say a little prayer that everyone makes it through, and a special prayer that Dale Jr. finishes the race. I am still a little leery after last year. Guess it's going to take me awhile to get over that. And then I feared that the little black cloud followed him to his new digs.

But, hey, he finished second today. And he moved from 23rd to 10th in the points. I couldn't be happier. Unless, of course, he would have won the race. But those wins will come. And when they do, I believe there will be more than just one or two.

Another nice thing that happened was when his boss, Rick Hendrick, told him he was proud of him. He hasn't heard that since his father used to tell him that. It's nice to hear those things. Makes you feel wanted and worthwhile.

For the second time this year, Junior finished ahead of his teammates. And I believe he would have done just as well last week if Casey hadn't slid into him and wiped out his car.

I was glad to see both Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon walk away from their wrecks. Jeff's was really nasty. Baby Ella needs her daddy. I was thinking: what if Jeff's radiator had flown through the air and into the open window of a fellow competitor? Not good.

Atlanta here we come!

A Few Days Off

Pardon me while I pause from posting...my husband had knee surgery done this past Tuesday and he will be coming home from the hospital this Friday. Needless to say, I will have my hands full...and then some.

Of course, if anything happens in the world of NASCAR that ticks me off beyond belief, I will post about it. But for the most part, I probably won't be back until Sunday with my usual scripture for the day.

I Need To Vent

So lend me your ears and give me a shoulder to cry on. Please.

Thanks to a weeping track, Dale Jr. went from 8th in the points to 23rd. He was the unlucky recipient on the wrong end of a spin from teammate Casey Mears, who spun due to water on the track.

As most of you know, the race was finally called at 2:00 am EST and yes, I stayed up till then. It had looked promising around 11:00 pm that they would get it going, and in all honesty they should not have done what they did on Sunday. They should just have postponed it until Monday and not even started it at all. But do they ever do the right thing?

I don't even want to think about all the fuel they wasted drying the track eleventy hundred times over the weekend. It seems that was all they were doing. So yeah, I sat there and watched; at least it was vehicles going in circles on a track. Worked for me.

In my opinion, NASCAR pulled another bonehead move...again. But they never own up to their mistakes. One of these days that will come back to bite them in the butt. They put every driver at risk when they started the race on Sunday afternoon. At least five cars were unnecessarily involved due to water seepage on the track. And the fact that one of those was Dale Jr. just makes me irritated all the more. And I have every right to be irritated.

NASCAR should be shot for what they put the drivers through.

NASCAR should be shot for making fans wait all day only to cancel at 11:00 pm PST.

NASCAR should be shot for penalizing Robby Gordon. When are they ever going to stop picking on him?

NASCAR should be shot for all the stupid things they do or don't do.

NASCAR should be shot period!

OK, there...I think it's all out of my system. Till next time. Vegas, please be a little kinder to my boy. Does anyone else think that little black cloud has followed him from last year? It too should be shot. Hmmmmm...I do have a license to carry.

Snow Is Coming! Snow Is Coming!

And it's due to hit us sometime after I post this starting around 1 AM Friday continuing into the early hours of Saturday morning. 'bout darn time, I say.

It will start as snow with a possibility of sleet and freezing rain later in the afternoon, then possibly changing back to snow. 5"-8" of snow, people! I'm so excited I cannot contain myself. Really.

Finally something to write home about. I'm so snow-starved it ain't even funny. I sit here and read all about everyone else across the country getting snow and lots of it, and this region ~ which is known for some doozy snow storms ~ hasn't gotten anything to sneeze at for years. I believe the last big ones were over ten years ago.

This one won't be anything like those, but it's better than nothing. Although we don't have to go out in it, we are planning on doing a little bit of shopping in the morning.

And for once, I hope the meteorologists are dead on with this storm. Because all the other storms have either missed us or given us little bitty amounts of snow. Although we did have a good ice storm last week. But that's different...I like me some snow ~ and lots of it.

Abomination

The following (in quotes) is from one distributor, but I am assuming most all of them have similar wording:

"Motorsports Authentics, Dale Earnhardt Incorporated and Richard Childress Racing are going to come together for one of the most historic motorsports unveilings in recent memory…. if not ever. As part of the Daytona 500 50th anniversary celebration, Motorsports Authentics and the above mentioned teams will release details about this one-of-a-kind marketing and licensing program celebrating NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt. Aptly titled “Timeless,” this program honoring the “Intimidator” will resonate with NASCAR fans, collectors, historians and everyone in between."

I wrote about this a couple days ago but didn't really go into detail and I didn't have a picture at that time. And I really don't like to dwell on the subject because it gives me a pain in my heart, but here goes...

To me, this is the dumbest thing I have heard of in a long while. I know "she" contrived the idea first, ran to Richard Childress with it, he wasn't too keen on it and almost didn't agree, but he did; it was then presented to Motorsports Authentics. I heard it straight from Mr. Childress about his hesitation to go forward with the idea when he presented the car on QVC a few days ago.

When I first heard about it, I literally spit out whatever it was I was eating at the time. Too bad, because I also wanted to throw up and had nothing to throw up with. Anyone who thinks this is a good idea...well, I won't even go there. To each his own.

If those people mentioned above wanted to honor the late great Dale Earnhardt Sr., then they should have used the exact same car he drove to win the Daytona 500 back in 1998. I am sure more people would have bought that than will buy the CoT version. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Dale never laid eyes on a CoT, not in person and not on paper. The car and its concept did not exist in his time. So why in hell would they want to put something out on the market that is bogus to start with?

Well, I will tell you why. Remember whose idea it was in the first place? Yeah, it was her idea. She is so damned afraid the public will forget who Dale Earnhardt was. I was not a big fan of his but I will never forget him, and not just because he was Junior's father. I'm sure the majority of his enemies, if he had any, will never forget him either. And most of all, those that loved him dearly will never ever forget him. So why is she so damn worried?

Honor the man the right way... not with some dumb version of a car he never drove.

I'm In A State Of Confusion

(Photo courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports)

Just what exactly does Dale Jr. have to do to gain a little respect from the majority of the media? These days he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. When he does good he's everybody's sweetheart; but let him finish ninth in the Daytona 500 and all of a sudden he's in deep trouble. Say what?

And that's what confuses me. How can the whole remainder of the season be judged by one race, and the first one at that? I truly believe a lot of those writers just like to see how many hits they can get on their sites when they write something derogatory about him.

I am going to try and justify that ninth place finish with the fact that it was their first points race, and I think Tony Eury Jr. just got mesmerized there at the end and couldn't make a proper call as to whether Junior should pit or not. At the very last second he told him to stay out. Most of the leaders came in. Had Junior been allowed to come in and get four fresh tires, I think he may have been a factor at the end, too. But we'll never know that. Anyway, I am hoping it was first race jitters. OK, I know they won the Shootout and also the first Duel qualifying race, but those weren't points races. They were fun races with no pressure. OK, I also am aware that the qualifying race was important, but Junior never has qualified well and he can start at the back of a race and still work his way to the front.

What it all comes down to in the end is that this is the first race of the season. The entire team still has a bit of time to grow as a team, a team that gels and comes together as one. They may be lacking that yet. But for heavens' sake let's allow them to do that before criticizing them and writing them off as one reporter (that I know of) has already done. He stated that because of what the team did or didn't do, that they won't even make the Chase, let alone win a race before the Chase. Well, mister, put your money where your mouth is...because you certainly have a big one.

Daytona 500

Congratulations to Ryan Newman on winning the 50th running of the Daytona 500.

Dale Jr. finished 9th. I was hoping for a better finish, but I am truly satisfied with what he accomplished overall considering what he went through during the entire race.

I watched the free DirecTV HotPass that concentrated solely on his car and team, including the communications between his spotter, his crew chief, and Dale Jr. Yeah, I heard some F-bombs and the S word and I thought it kind of cute that the audio was turned off after the word was said. Kind of like shutting the door after all the horses run out. Hey, I'm a grown-up, I can handle those words.

Listening in on everything can be sort of nerve-wracking because you get to hear all the things that go wrong. Like after the first caution when Dale Jr. said he felt a vibration the likes of which he'd never felt before. And then after another caution when he peeled onto pit lane and he broke his gear shifter knob off the lever, including the threads. And all I could think of was, I thought he left DEI.

Due to my watching HotPass, I really didn't get a grip on what was happening behind Junior for most of the race. I did see what happened after the fact though, but I will say here that I don't think I would want to tune into HotPass on a regular basis. This ole heart can't take much of that bad news.

At any rate, even though he finished 9th, he is 8th in the points, sitting only one point ahead of Robby Gordon. He earned 5 bonus points for leading a lap, and that explains why he is ahead of Robby.

So now all the SpeedWeeks hoopla is over and I can go back to some normalcy in my life. Until next week when we visit the Auto Club 500 in Fontana CA.