Whirl Wind weekend

Kentucky often gets a bad reputation.  Sitting just south of Ohio, Kentucky is known for it's southern drawl, bluegrass, moonshine, and even the legal spirit Bourbon.  It's awesome that Kentucky is so close for us too.  Jenn's family lives there.  It's so nice to be so close to visit as often as we do.

6 weeks ago, The Wifey's Granddad had a stroke.  She was itching to get down there and see what it going on.  The stroke was nothing life threatening, it was mild by stroke standards, but put her Granddad's morality in check.  For her Granddad his mortality first came into play when he and his wife, Grandmother, went on a trip.  They were in Nova Scotia, Canada, when he had a heart attack.  It was serious, but again, by heart attack standards it was under control.  Well he got to see the 'fantastic' Canadian health care system. 

For those of you who want to know how it works, here is a sneak peak.  He sat in the hospital for 3 days before they gave his doctor's clearance to do the stent procedure which is done within 24 hours here in America.  They took their time with testing.  About 2 weeks later he was cleared to leave the hospital and come home.

The Wife's maternal grandparents are the epitome of independent senior living.  They were active, sharp, and everything the doctors say you should be when you get older, but this heart attack while on a road trip in Canada, was a snap back to reality.  No one lives forever.

I know this just as much as any, Grandparents and go in a blink of an eye. 

Flash forward, Granddad had a stroke.  Then flash forward to a week ago, he had another heart attack.  At this point Jenn and I revamp our plans for Easter and decide to head to Kentucky for the holiday rather than drive up to see her sister. 

Flash forward this past Friday.  Earlier in the day Jenn gets a phone call update from her mom.  Granddad is doing well and they are talking about sending him home.  No reason to stay in the hospital.  Later that day Jenn noticed a call from her Aunt.  No message.  She tabled the call and decided to call back at a later hour.  She was getting Audrey from school, and helping with homework.

At the time Jenn didn't answer the phone, I got a call minutes later from her Aunt.  A phone call from her Aunt is not something I get.  Ever.  I answer.  Hopefully all was well.  Jenn's Aunt tells me that Grandmother had a stroke and she is on her way to the hospital via ambulance.  She couldn't get a hold of Jenn, and she asked for me to pass along the message.

I hung up the phone, my staff saw the look on my face.  I told them I had to go and get to Jenn.  I tied up a few loose ends with my customers and I was gone.

I got home, and Jenn was surprised to see me home 2 hours early.  I asked her if she called her Aunt back.  She said, no.  I said that she might want to call, her Grandmother had a stroke.  Everything was stable, but you need to call her.

I saw Jenn's heart sink.  I know what it is like being so far away and feeling helpless.  We went through a very similar situation when we went to Chicago for a nice overnight trip to see a show, and I got a phone call that BOTH of my Grandparents were in trouble and that I needed to get home.

This situation hit very close to my heart.   I knew what Jenn wanted to do.  She wanted to get in the car and go.  It didn't matter what her mom said.  Everything could have been hunky dory and she would want to get in the car and go.

With in an hour I would say tops, we had the dog off to my mom's house, and we were in the car heading south to Kentucky.

Saturday we were in the hospital visiting.  They released Granddad, but Grandmother wasn't out of the woods.  Upon first glance you couldn't even tell Jenn's Grandmother had a stroke.  After listening to the nurses and the family's account of what the doctors were saying made me appreciate what we have here in Cleveland even more.

Cleveland is home to 2 world class health systems.  If you have cancer, get to the Ireland Cancer Center at the Cleveland Clinic.  Need a heart transplant, get to University Hospitals.  There are other great programs at these two great facilities including neurology.  If you go to one of these great facilities, you get quick, prompt, and sounds medical advice.  If there is uncertainty, they rarely show you they are freaked out about it, and if they are unsure they don't tell you a bunch of bullshit.  They tell you, hey we are not sure, but this is what we are going to do.  Think an entire hospitals with Dr. Houses. 

Now here we are in a hospital, in a small town relative to Cleveland, hearing all about what the 3 doctors who saw Grandmother said.  1 said, you look great don't know why you are here, a 2nd painted a picture of doom and gloom, and the 3rd said that she didn't have a stroke. 

Get you stories straight.  I was talking to my broth via text while I was there.  He said he couldn't trust anyone outside of the Cleveland Clinic, especially in a part of country where they might use butter to treat sunburn still or use snake bites to treat sinning. 

That might be all well and good, but Jeff Foxworthy said something pretty true, it doesn't matter how much school you might have gone to, you just seem stupid if you have a southern accent. 

In all seriousness, Grandmother seems to be doing well as of right now, which is a good thing.  Jenn stayed down there a few extra days with the baby so she can have the peace of mind that everything is ok.

And it may seem that I am being a little hard on the Kentucky hospital, but in all reality I would put America's worst hospital up against the rest of the world's best hospital. 

I will let you know how everything turns out. 

In the meantime, pray, send good vibes, do anything that you might think help to make sure Jenn can get through this with some sanity. 

The Infant Road Warrior!

So this past weekend was the annual October trip to Kentucky. This year, was a bit different. I had more than 2 days to visit, and we had an extra passenger with us. A little 3.5 week old named Addison. This was to be the first trip down to visit Wifey's side of the family. Great Grandmothers, Great Grandfathers, Cousins, Great Aunts, Grandmas, and Grandpas. All of them were anxiously awaiting her arrival in the Commonwealth.

We left Friday, just about 10am [or so]. Audrey couldn't go down with us this time because she had another commitment at her mom's house to see the Taylor Swift concert. She sat 3rd row. She wore a cowgirl hat. She looked cute. She was also getting over step throat, and turns out, she was still contagious too. She had that crazy mutant strep that didn't react to anti-biotics, so she went back and got better drugs, and it seemed to kick strep's ass just about the time she needed to go to the concert.

So back to the road trip.

By the time we got on the road for real, after feeding the baby in the parking lot of Panera Bread Company, we were fed, baby was fed, and the dog peed on everything in the grass near the parked car.

This little one didn't make a single sound until we were just getting into Cincinnati. She was fed, and back on the road. The 5 hour trip only took us about 6 hours. About 30 minutes per stop because of the baby eating and changing.

My hopes for this trip were that Jenn got a little break and let the extended family care for the baby a bit while she got to relax. I also wanted to see if we had time to hit the bourbon trail, because, if you read this blog with any consistency, or follow my twitter, you'll know that I am a huge fan of bourbon. I wanted to hit the Four Roses Distillery tour, but it would have to wait for another trip.

Within minutes of arriving at Jenn's Grandparents house, I was invited to go to the University of Louisville [U of L] football game. They were playing a rare Friday night game, and Jenn's GrandDad was not going to have a companion, as GrandMother wanted to stay with Jenn and the baby. So I tagged along with GrandDad to the game.

The U of L Stadium is a beautiful Stadium. The game was great until about the 3rd QTR. U of L imploded and ended up losing the game. I felt right at home. It felt like I was watching the Browns. As much as I hate to see them lose, there is a certain comfort in rooting for the under dog. Rarely do my teams win and I am ok with that.

So with the end of the game marked the pre-game of another college football game. Every year since Jenn and I started to date, we have gone to a University of Kentucky [UK] game when we make our trek down in October. The UK football is experience is far different than any other college game I have been a part of.

The game was to start at 12:21pm. The tailgating gear was packed by 8:30am. We were on the road to make the 90 minute drive from Louisville to Lexington by 9:20am. We had tents up and drinks flowing by 11:30am. This is the type of tailgating Kentucky does. By the time we got there the lot was nearly filled up, and we were the late comers. Not many people did a full tailgate when the game was as early as it was. They would eat a light lunch and then party after the game. We were in our seats in the West endzone by kickoff and we watched UK lose to Alabama. This is just another loss to me.

UK fans love their team, and they love their college, and the love their players. Despite the loss, the party was in full effect at the end of the game. By party I mean, drowning their sorrows in a bottle of bourbon. They lost to a highly ranked team, and they did a pretty good job fighting off the routing.

Jenn and Addison showed up to the after-gate to shwo off the baby. Yes, my 3.5 week old baby was out there with us, partying and being shown off. I couldn't have been happier. We even used her stroller as beer holders. It was an amazing time.

By the time the UK tailgate was packed up and we were headed home, it was close to 7:30pm. Yes, UK football is an all day event.

Sunday in Kentucky for me is usually a fight to find the Browns game on TV. I got lucky this weekend because the Browns played Cincinnati, which is just an hour away, so we got the game televised. I watched the Browns lose in 74 minutes rather than just the standard 60. It felt good to know we could have won the game, but like normal, they lost. Again, losing at this point feels natural, but with the shedding of the dead weight named Braylon Edwards, I think things might turn around for my Browns.

So the drive home Monday was met with tears. Jenn always hates leaving her family in Kentucky and usually she cries for sometime once we get on the road.

I hate seeing her like that, and the end of the trip is always met with the same bittersweet ending.

The ride home was great. Addy slept most of the way, and when she was up, she was not crying at all. She liked riding in the car. We didn't time the end of the trip well. We were off by about 10 minutes and Addy woke up about 10 minutes from home and was starving. It made for a pretty un-nerving 10 minutes, but I can't complain. Out of a combined 12 hours in the car, she only made noise for 10 minutes of it.

So I sit here after working for 13 hours yesterday, wondering if the Bourbon Trail is just a myth. Every time I go down to Kentucky, I want to hit a few distillery tours, but like Peter Pans shadow, it eludes me.