Another...very...eventful day in the life of Robin and Bill Crook.  Bill had taken out the garbage and when I saw him he was leaning very hard on the counter, in our kitchen, so I asked "what's wrong"?  He stated that when he came in the house he was fine and then for no reason at all his back was in so much pain he couldn't move, at all.  He leaned there for a long time until his arms were shaking and couldn't hold him much longer so we proceeded to sit him on a stool.  It took a few tries because the pain was so severe.  We then put 4 bed pillows under his head so he could rest a bit but that didn't last very long cause his legs were going to sleep so, what now.  Kristene googled what to do with a lower back pain and it said to lay down on the floor on ones back.  Well that sounded all well and good but the problem was he just couldn't move without very severe pain.  Kristene and I decided to scoot the bench over to the edge of the carpet and let him fall to the floor.  Sounds easy enough, right.  He sat there a bit and decided to bite the bullet and go for it, which was what he did.  I thought he was going to pass out because of the pain but we were able to get him in a position, with several pillows, that he could tolerate.  I hated to leave him like that but I had to get going for my radiation appointment.  Kristene took me and when I was done she picked me up.  When we got home, of course, he hadn't moved.  Still in the same amount of pain. She had to leave so I called Janene to come over, which she did. I called Dr. Markle to see what we could do and he said to call 911, which I did.  Three nice young men came and evaluated the situation and decided, to move him, they needed a back-up team so a few minutes later there were 5 of these nice young men in our living room, with Bill on the floor, deciding exactly what to do with him.  One was trying to stick one of those wonderful needles into his hand and it wasn't working so he tried the other hand and much to Bill's relief it worked.  They took him to the hospital and gave him a bunch more stuff to ease the pain but it wasn't working so they they decided to do x-rays and that showed nothing so they gave him more stuff and the pain continued.  Then it was decided to admit him and do an MRI, which they did.  Janene and I went home to feed my little starving dogs.  When we returned the Dr. had been there and Bill wasn't quite sure what she said because she had such a strong accent and with that and him not having his hearing  aids in we don't have the full picture.  The little bit I know is, there is a bulge on his disc so he is to call his primary Dr. and get a referral to an Orthopedic Dr. and maybe stick him with a needle in the painful spot to make it shrink. Doesn't that sound like a lot of fun.  Now remember this, the next time you take out the garbage be very careful so this doesn't happen to you.  Stay tuned, I will have more to share tomorrow.

She ran after the garbage truck, yelling, "Am I too late for the garbage?"  The driver said, "No, jump in.!"
  Red Skelton


THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
  Growing old is only a state of mind-brought on by gray hair, false teeth, wrinkles, a pot belly, and an overall feeling of being totally pooped.