Ann-Margret is welcome to ride along in the truck.
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Well, in case you don’t know by now, I had a stroke Tuesday/Wednesday May 21/22.
I don’t know what this means for the Roll-O-Rooter truck and my life of wandering.
I may have to go ahead and refinance the house (if I can), or maybe I will have to just sell and get a much smaller house. Something will change. I won’t be able to wander America in a step van for a few years. Perhaps as health insurance becomes available. For now, I’m grateful to a have some kind I normal insurance through working at the hotel.
I had a stroke on the left side of my brain, which is to say it affected my speech center. I have a terrible time with words, spelling, typing, math, and reading, but I’ve made a ton of progress already. Let’s see, I have done CT Scans, MRI, lots of injections, vial and vials of blood work, an Angiogram, and yes…a Spinal Tap. I have had a fear of the dreaded Spinal Tap since a was about 12.
This is all basically just exploratory work while we try figure out the human brain. I wasn’t cured of anything, you understand. I just had a stroke. A hole in the brain. A scar that doesn’t heal. My brain just tries to patch it up and make new connections.
I have also been promised Shingles from the tests from the Spinal Tap. I don’t know what the success rate is, but I am going in for the treatment, asafp.
* * *
So supposedly they found the Shingles virus in my spinal fluid, which is sort of a rare oddity. And thats what they’ll do for the time being – treat me as if I had Shingles. The procedure inserts a pick-line in my chest so I receive the medicine while a pump is whirring away for ten days. Kind of like Iron Man!
Still no thoughts on how the Roll-O-Rooter project is going to play out. I’ m sure it’s not going to happen immediately. File this under: Health Insurance Things That Go Boom.
* * *
My dearest friend and one of my greatest personal influences and largest personalities, Mark Shipp, has passed away. I have known Mark since 1980 and everyone around him has had some manner of influence in his life. There never has been a time in my life when he wasn’t important to me. I absolutely do not know how to go on. My friends can never be the same, and our lives will never quite share the same joy.
This photo was always one of my prized possessions.
* * *
Well, it’s June 16 and I bet I’d estimate my speech is about 98% recovered. Typing is still a big problem, and math is even worse. My man oh man, do I feel lucky.
As I mentioned above, the main thing for me is now all about health insurance. I cannot pursue The Roll-O-Rooter Story if I am end up being destitute or disabled. Something will come of all this. I haven’t counted out life on the road in a truck just yet.
* * *
I need $274,300 for the house.
My Zero is $227,998
