DirtDiva

Shot #6 experience for those interested:

Well, Gerry finally did it---he defied the boss--Yahooooooo! Anyone following my posts knows his boss is an A$$ with a capital A. He told hubby he couldn't go on vacation that they couldn't afford for more than 2 people to go on vacation. Imagine Hubbys surprise when he got to work last Monday and boss plus 3 office people were gone for the week!!! Hubby is too nice a guy, didn't take off but DID call in sick on Friday (should have seen me doin' the happy dance) so we left for the desert on Thursday night.

The driving was not too miserable for him but did tucker him out. We stopped and ate In-n-Out, which is a surprise because he NEVER stops. I think he needed the stretch AND the break. It was cold and windy when we arrived so he opted to stay in the motorhome. His brother walked up and said his sandcar had broke down, they tried to tow it but 1 sandcar had no trailer ball and the other, it broke trying to tow it up the hill. Figured he'd get it in the morning when we arrived. Well, no way was Gerry having his brothers $30,000.00 sandrail sit out in the middle of the desert so he did unload our sandcar (which has a hitch) and let his brother use it.

I was SOOOOO glad he said that he couldn't go. He's knowing his limits now. He had a restless night because he waited until they got back, fell asleep then 3 other people we know pulled in at 3am and he just had to know "what that noise was" so Thursday night was a wash for rest.

Friday he got up, it was windy but he was so in a hurry to ride his dirtbike. We waited a little bit and the wind died down, on his bike he got!!!!! We rode for about 2 hours but not a hard ride. Came back to camp, ate, rested about an hour and then went for an hour ride, real slow and easy as my daughter is learning to ride her dirt bike. Gerry said he felt a little cold. Seems like if it's cold---he's realllllly cold....if it's hot, he's feverish. He said he was tired but nothing like he thought.

Friday night was shot night. We burned the needles in the campfire as we didn't want them in the small confines of the motorhome was 10 kids around. He managed to drink water all day (lots of bush stops) then shot was around 8pm. He immediately went to bed and was OUT!

Saturday I drove him around all day in my sandcar. He didn't have a fever, he was actually realllly cold since it was still kind of windy. He still insisted on coming on our rides, heck, it's just sitting. He drank the water all day. He had a headache all day long but wouldn't take anything. The winds had died down enough for him to sit by the fire until 7pm but then he started getting muscle aches (normally does) so he went to bed.

Sunday he woke up and was really tired. He said he had a slight headache and his muscles were sore but nothing like the night before. He said he was colder than normal but then again it WAS a little cold out. We decided to leave at 3pm as it gave us plenty of time to come home PLUS rest if he needed it.

We all went for(planned) 2 hour ride with 4 sandcars and 2 dirtbikes. We drove for about 30 minutes, got to the first stop---a dry lake bed. My nephew hopped off his dirtbike and was taking his Dad(Gerry's brother) for a ride in their 2 seat sandcar, decided he'd get tricky and haul a$$ to scare Dad....HaHa, right?...well, as we all watched his right 2 wheels came off the ground, spun out of control and rolled upside down then landed on it's wheels, we all rushed over there. My brother in law had a nasty gash on his head where it hit the front bar, had a large knot on top of his head where it hit the top rollbar (hard to fit when you're 6'3") and messed up his wrist and shoulder. My nephew didn't get hurt, just a little whiplash and VERY distraught over hurting his Dad.

We were on the outskirt of the airforce base so no way could he be flown out so we split up---half went to take him to the hospital and the other half stayed behind to try and get the sandcar to camp....proved to be difficult as the frame was bent and the front two tires were completely flattened on the spindles.

This kind of thing is Hubbys specialty---figurin' stuff out---so he said "let's put one of Sue's tires on this side and both cars will go home on three wheels" A couple of the other guys were very skeptical(they didn't know we've done this before) but we pounded, lifted and hammered until we got both wheels off. Gerry drove the busted car and I drove mine. 2 of our biggest guys in the group had to sit on the back to bring the front ends up. No way could Gerry do that so that's why he drove and he didn't argue to do that.

Our 2 hour ride turned into 6 hours. Got everything home, everything loaded onto trailers and everyone helped out. My brother in law is fine, nothing broken and no internal injuries, he'll just be really, really sore for awhile.

Gerry got home parked all our crap, his brother's crap---ate then proceeded to take a shower, he said he barely made it into bed. When I got home from brother in laws house it was 11pm and he was out like a light. He told me this morning he was TOO busy to feel sick. He said he's really tired this morning and he has some muscle aches. He said the headache is there but not real bad.

We did weigh him on Thursday and he's lost 10lbs. We're suppose to call today for last weeks blood work. Some friends of ours noticed that he's pale but still looks healthy, but then again he's trying really hard to stay out of the sun. We need to find out if the weight loss and being pale is a side from treatment and if there's anything we can do about it.

That's it for this week. We're really happy the sides are staying to a minimum but he's counting down the days when he's done. To all those considering treatment, so far life has not stopped for us---we're still doing the things we like and staying active. Yes, there are sides BUT you learn to deal with them as you go along. It may not always be like this but time will tell.

Everyone take care of yourselves,
Susan