Although Spring has arrived by the calendar date, our local weather has not been cooperating. Not only is it cold and in the 20s during the early morning, but it has also has been windy with snow flurries. In fact, the weatherman is once again calling for measurable snow tonight and into Monday morning. This puts a bit of pressure on me since I always have PT on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. There has been three snow alerts over the past three Mondays! I actually called off one of my PT sessions and the snow storm never materialized. (Duh!)
I was watching the NBC Today program on Thursday morning and the anchors were talking to the substitute weather woman. They were joking about Al Roker not being on set since Spring has been so cold. The weather woman said that last year's first day of Spring came in at 70 degrees!
Needless to say, I have not been out fishing this season. This terrible weather is not conducive for a handicapped individual to get all bundled up and sit in the back of an ice cold boat for several hours hoping for a single bite.
In fact, that seems to be what Jeff and Penny ran into yesterday while fishing on the Susquehanna River. Jeff caught one nice chunk and Penny failed to catch a single smallmuth bass even though she was using live bait.
"Nice job, Jeff!" It's not always easy to feel your bottom bouncing tubes when the wind is ripping up river. I must give you credit for at least attempting a few hours on the water in search of the big Mommas!
Jeff Little reported that a lot of smaller fish were holding in wintering holes, but that the bigger fish are nw staging just off of spawning areas. In fact, he had posted on FB a nice 20+" smallie that he caught this weekend. "Great looking smallie, Jeff!"
Jeff B. (CHRGD)wrote to me this weekend and said that he was able to sell his kayak. I know that we both keep having ongoing desires to keep on fishing from kayaks, but with the arthritis we struggle with doesn't allow us the pleasure we once had being so close to the river and smallies as we brought them to hand. Kayak fishing also allowed us to enter places on the river that were once unobtainable by a bigger jet rig.
I doubt that I will ever own my own kayak ever again. *Sniff*
This past week, I had an appointment with my neurosurgeon, Dr. Marotti (Argires, Becker, Marotti, and Westphal). I had a bone scan done of my spine on February 28, 2013. This was my six week follow-up appointment to see the bone scan results.
My diagnosis was "Lumbago (Primary) with Degeneration of lumbar or lumbosacral intervertebral disc, Lumbosacral spondylosis without myelopathy"... Yeah, right! To make a long story short, I have a lot of lower back problems, especially at the L5/S1 area. This is right near my hip bone and causes pain that travels into my right buttocks and thigh. It makes it hard to sleep on my right side and the longer I lay on my back, the more it hurts me.
Lumbago is a herniated disc and the degeneration is being caused by the arthritis.
I will be waiting another 8 weeks to return to see Dr. Marotti and to make a follow-up appointment with Dr. James Thurmond for pain management. We will be using less invasive techniques like cortisone or heat to cauterize the nerves effecting my back.
This wait will allow me more PT sessions to help get my left knee back into shape before attacking yet another health issue, my lower back.
As I mentioned earlier, there is another alert for snow starting later tonight and going into Monday. In fact, we may see a sloppy mess throughout the day as it warms and then snow returning by evening. I will only believe it when I see it this time. Okay, call me a "Doubting Thomas" (LOL)... But after the last few missed calls by our well-trained and paid meteorologists, I don't hold a lot of faith in this call at all.
Take Care and Be Safe!
Dad
