Where the hell I have been and why your order isn't done yet.

[rcadd1ct]

Sorry for all the stuff going on. Best wishes for you both.

 

[RacerX]

Sorry for the loss of your parents, Bob. Hope you wife gets better soon.
Prayers for you and your wife.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Hang in there Bob & Cheryl! Hopefully the rough patches are behind you and things smooth out from here.

 

[Stanglover]

Bob, my condolences to you on the passing of your parents and my heart felt best wishes for your wife's speedy recovery and you being able to get back to somewhat normal.
Geoff.

 

[Don C]

I'm really sorry to hear about your parents passing and your wife's illness. I hope she has a speedy recovery.

 

[Bill Kanode]

I'm really sorry to hear about your parents passing and your wife's illness. I hope she has a speedy recovery.

Bob, not only are you a tough guy to endure all of this you are a great treasure to the Mustang movement. Bob converted my ammeter to voltmeter in my 1971 fastback and it looks great.I am so happy to join this forum and receive so much good information from long time owners and genius people. I am looking forward to hearing some good news from Bob about Cheryl's health. May God bless your whole family. Thx, Bill

 

[MOTORCITYBADBOY]

Wow! That's a lot of challenges piled on! They say He won't throw anything at you that you can't handle. Stay strong!

I didn't know about the website- I'll be a future customer...

 

[TheRktmn]

I am finally home after having surgery to fix my kidneys. So far so good, hopefully I can get things back to normal work-wise fairly quickly. Now for the PSA:

My Father started suffering from early onset dementia due to Alzheimer's when he was 63 years old. Most noticeable was forgetting things like where he left his keys, then he started forgetting to do things or thinking that he already had. The worst was when he forgot how to do things he had always done.

Last summer I noticed that I was getting more forgetful. Things I have built for years suddenly made no sense and I had to consult my 'how to build' sheets from years ago. I didn't say anything because I was scared to death that I would end up like Dad and we all know that ignoring a problem makes it go away, right?

So in my mind I attributed it to all the other things going on over the previous few months and working too much. I figured once I got caught up things would even out again. Then I started noticing that things weren't getting done. I would kit an order, start on it and not complete it, then go back a few days later and be surprised that it wasn't done and finish it.

In early October one of our dogs ran full speed into the side of Cheryl's leg and broke her tibial plateau (basically her knee). I vaguely remember taking her to the ER that night, but nothing after that. Since Cheryl was now home all the time she started noticing things weren't right with me.
From what she tells me that it was really weird watching me work because I could accept orders, write them up, receive them, mark them and start kitting them just like normal, but the kits were incomplete because I was running out of parts that I had forgotten to reorder. I don't really remember much of July through September and nothing in October after taking Cheryl to the ER....

This part is what I have been told by Cheryl and medical staff: About 3 days after Cheryl's knee was broken Cheryl made me take her to the ER again. Once there she checked me in as being 'in an altered mental state'. Apparently I thought she was one of my sisters, had no idea where I was, what day it was or why I was in an ER.

Luckily an alert Dr ran some blood tests and found that I had been in renal failure for an extended period. According to ER staff I was in the '24 hour window' of checking out permanently. So they did some emergency surgery and found that the tube that goes from the kidney to bladder on the left side was completely blocked and that kidney had stopped functioning and was presumed dead. The right kidney was struggling, but so clogged with stones that it was a miracle it was working. I woke up a couple of days later with tubes in me and and a collection bag on me.

Now I am home, no tubes, no bag and two functioning kidneys. They sent me home with some pills, told me to rest until I felt up to it, then resume normal activities. I guess The Good Lord saw my backlog and figured I really needed to get back to work.

After finally getting to my PC and reading through the 400+ emails I received while out of commission I am sure that all the prayers and good wishes certainly helped - thank you all for them!

So what's the purpose of this long winded story? Guys (and maybe girls) - Don't ignore the little things as you get older. I know it's natural to tough it out, ignore the pain, etc. But as we get older that little thing may be a warning of bigger, badder things. I ignored my back pain because I had back surgery a year ago, so I self diagnosed it as needing more exercise. I ignored the forgetfulness and loss of dexterity as over work and stiff fingers and it damn near killed me. Listen to your body, get regular exams, tell your Dr when things aren't right.

To all of you that emailed and texted me with prayers and good wishes - THANK YOU.

 

[cv_72mustang]

Thanks for the update!! Super glad you're on the mend! Tony

 

[Cleveland Crush]

Happy your on the mend Bob. Thanks for the reminder to discuss things with the doctors!!!

 

[rcadd1ct]

Glad you went to the hospital and they figured it out.

Hopefully everything will be easy for y’all for a bit.

 

[tpj71mach]

Happy to hear you are doing better and on the mend, God bless.

 

[midlife]

Thank you for the PSA. I'm sure Cheryl and the rest of us out on the 'net appreciate you being back and healthy again!

 

[tony-muscle]

Thank you for sharing your experience. It is a crude awakening for all of us as we get older.

 

[OLE PONY]

Wow, tough times for you and your family. Remember to take care of yourself to help take care of your family. Hang in there.

 

[Stanglover]

Bob, that is quite the awakening story. Hopefully both you and Cheryl will recover fully to enjoy the rest of your years together.
Thank you for sharing.
Geoff.

 

[mrgmhale]

Greedtings!

I am truly thankful you have rebounded so nicely. I know how it feels to have faced a dangerous medical ordeal, and with excellent & timely intervention come out the other end in really good condition. For me it was nort renal failure. It was a malignant brain tumor that had been found quite by accident nearly 11 years ago. Due to its location the only treatment option I was was surgical removal. I now get an MRI each year to see if anything new is beginning to grow again. Nope, nothing. I did not need that to occur to help me apprecaite living and being generally healthy. But every day I wake up alive I am grateful - not just for me being alive, but for having Lynda in my life still.

Your recent update post is timely, as I just referred a new 73 Mach 1 owner to your site to purchase up a Headlight Relay kit and a Horn Relay kit. I already have one of your Headlight Relays kits installed in our 1973 Mustang Convertible, which works great. I told her I would order another Headlight Kit and Horn Relay kit from you so I can do a video on how to install them, as she is 200 miles from us and likely could use some directions other than the paper instructions (although I felt your directions were plenty clear).

Stay healthy. I am so glad you are feeling better. And do not rush to fill my order (or Wendy's). Take care of you first, seriously. You first.

Regards,

Gil

 

[bkdunha]

Wow, I am just reading all of this for the first time. First off, I am glad you and the Mrs. are both doing better. You have both experienced very serious medical emergencies and come through them. God bless the both of you. I am very sorry for the loss of your parents. This has been alot to endure over the past year. First off make sure you are both doing OK and then it will be time for the business. I hope you know the folks in this hobbyist group can/will understand.

 

[Bill Perkins]

I am finally home after having surgery to fix my kidneys. So far so good, hopefully I can get things back to normal work-wise fairly quickly. Now for the PSA:

My Father started suffering from early onset dementia due to Alzheimer's when he was 63 years old. Most noticeable was forgetting things like where he left his keys, then he started forgetting to do things or thinking that he already had. The worst was when he forgot how to do things he had always done.

Last summer I noticed that I was getting more forgetful. Things I have built for years suddenly made no sense and I had to consult my 'how to build' sheets from years ago. I didn't say anything because I was scared to death that I would end up like Dad and we all know that ignoring a problem makes it go away, right?

So in my mind I attributed it to all the other things going on over the previous few months and working too much. I figured once I got caught up things would even out again. Then I started noticing that things weren't getting done. I would kit an order, start on it and not complete it, then go back a few days later and be surprised that it wasn't done and finish it.

In early October one of our dogs ran full speed into the side of Cheryl's leg and broke her tibial plateau (basically her knee). I vaguely remember taking her to the ER that night, but nothing after that. Since Cheryl was now home all the time she started noticing things weren't right with me.
From what she tells me that it was really weird watching me work because I could accept orders, write them up, receive them, mark them and start kitting them just like normal, but the kits were incomplete because I was running out of parts that I had forgotten to reorder. I don't really remember much of July through September and nothing in October after taking Cheryl to the ER....

This part is what I have been told by Cheryl and medical staff: About 3 days after Cheryl's knee was broken Cheryl made me take her to the ER again. Once there she checked me in as being 'in an altered mental state'. Apparently I thought she was one of my sisters, had no idea where I was, what day it was or why I was in an ER.

Luckily an alert Dr ran some blood tests and found that I had been in renal failure for an extended period. According to ER staff I was in the '24 hour window' of checking out permanently. So they did some emergency surgery and found that the tube that goes from the kidney to bladder on the left side was completely blocked and that kidney had stopped functioning and was presumed dead. The right kidney was struggling, but so clogged with stones that it was a miracle it was working. I woke up a couple of days later with tubes in me and and a collection bag on me.

Now I am home, no tubes, no bag and two functioning kidneys. They sent me home with some pills, told me to rest until I felt up to it, then resume normal activities. I guess The Good Lord saw my backlog and figured I really needed to get back to work.

After finally getting to my PC and reading through the 400+ emails I received while out of commission I am sure that all the prayers and good wishes certainly helped - thank you all for them!

So what's the purpose of this long winded story? Guys (and maybe girls) - Don't ignore the little things as you get older. I know it's natural to tough it out, ignore the pain, etc. But as we get older that little thing may be a warning of bigger, badder things. I ignored my back pain because I had back surgery a year ago, so I self diagnosed it as needing more exercise. I ignored the forgetfulness and loss of dexterity as over work and stiff fingers and it damn near killed me. Listen to your body, get regular exams, tell your Dr when things aren't right.

To all of you that emailed and texted me with prayers and good wishes - THANK YOU.

Thank God you are feeling better and on the mend