It's kind of a hassle to get lab work done away from home. I had a good experience with getting my Pro-Time/INR anticoagulation test done. I am a Kaiser Permanente member and they don't have any facilities along the coast of Central California. I found a local non-Kaiser lab that was able to do the test for only $3 more than I pay at home. I got the results by phone and picked up a copy of the results today, and the lab faxed the results to my physician and the program that manages my care.
My test results were a little high, so I knew the anticoagulation nurse would be calling me. Sure enough, she called today while I was writing this blog. She received the results just fine. I need to adjust my dosage of Warfarin a bit and get my blood tested again in a couple of weeks. No problem, I said, now that I have an account set up with a local lab.
I haven't been blogging as much lately but anytime you want to see what's going on with us, you can read Dave's blog. He writes every day or two and he often includes informative videos and good pictures. I've gotten lazy about blogging when he beats me to the punch with his updates. Click here to read Dave's blog.
During our day trip to Solvang yesterday, I didn't take any pictures since Dave took some with his video camera. We had a nice day with excellent weather and no crowds. We saw several empty store buildings, including one big bakery, so the recession seems to have taken its toll on the village of Solvang.
Oso Flaco Lake boardwalk to the beach
Dave wrote that we purchased a California state park pass, the Limited Golden Bear Pass. We owe a big thank you to Kate who writes a blog called Kate and Terry--Travels in Cholula Red. When Kate blogged about buying the pass, I assumed that only California residents could get the pass, but we had no trouble getting it at a nearby ranger station. The park is good for vehicular fees at any California state park. The pass is for the calendar year and excludes the months from Memorial Day through Labor Day. For seniors 62 and over, the pass costs $10. We've already used it three times at parks that cost $4 each to park, so we've already gotten our money's worth. Many thanks, Kate, for blogging about the California state park pass!
Sunset at North Beach, one of the Pismo State Beaches. We used the Limited Golden Bear Pass to park our car right on the beach on 2/2/12.
Today we were returning from our ten-mile round trip bicycle ride to Oceano when Dave's back fender rack broke. He was able to bungee the parts together and make it back to the RV park with me following him on my bike to make sure that he was okay. We added visited a bike store to our list of afternoon errands and he purchased a new sturdy rack.
What else can I say--nice sunny weather, cool nights, lots of exercise, plenty of good food. Life is grand!
Sounds like the two of you are having a great time -- even with the blood work! Beautiful pics
ReplyDeleteIt's always nice to be by the ocean and enjoy those beautiful sunsets!
ReplyDeleteThose are really good sunset pics. Glad you and Dave are enjoying yourselves!
ReplyDeleteGlad the pass is working out for you, sharing is good!
ReplyDeleteTen mile bike ride?? You two enjoy the weekend.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Kenny and Angela a ten mile bike ride?????? Glad you found a lab. It definitely is a challenge to find health services on the road.
ReplyDeletebeen catching up with the two of you on Dave's blog..looks like you are both enjoying yourselves and the weather looks fabulous!!!
ReplyDeleteRather than blog on my blog tonight, I will jump in here and add a bit. My bike rack over the rear fender holds my battery for the hilltopper. The battery pack weighs about 12 lbs. and the rack was of aluminum. It was not very well built and over the years had corroded some. Today I was crossing highway 1 when I hit a large bump. The stress of that hit broke the rack and brought the weight of the battery down onto the remains of the rack which then sat on the rear tire. Needless to say, it was a bit hard to pedal with that resistance.
ReplyDeleteI used a bungy cord to hold the rack sort of in position. At least the tire rubbing was held to a minimum and it allowed me to limp home. I had to use the battery and pedal at the same time for about 2.5 miles though to overcome the resistance. Fortunately I made it back without incident.
Then it was off to the bike store to get a good rack with solid tubular framework. Another 45 minutes to replace the old rack and I was ready to try it out. So I went around the RV park jumping over the speed bumps at about 10mph and everything worked great. The new rack is so much more sturdy, I can actually feel the difference.
Carol I was just saying to Russ today that I hadn't seen a blog from you lately. Good to catch up with you, even though I always read Dave's entries. We hope to be able to get away more next winter and maybe spend some time in your area. You make it sound so great.
ReplyDeleteKeep blogging. I often miss his blog...don't know why, but I do.
ReplyDeleteHey -- we recently bought (paid for by Medicare) a home INR testing system -- called the CoaguChek XS system by Roche Laboratories. This allows Suzy to test in comfort either at home or on the road, not waiting in line at labs, no fees to pay. Extremely convenient! The tester is accurate (automatically calibrated each time you use it); you then make one phone call to the company's answering system, and they fax your doctor within about an hour. Your doctor gets the results immediately (faster than from a lab) and can call you with instructions on tweaking your meds. You might check in with your Kaiser doctor about that. Saves everybody time and money. E-mail Suzy if you want at jerry dot suzy at yahoo dot com.
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