My Journey

Arjan

Fossil Overlander
On the road that happens.....
Easy fix though.
Better check the other side and replace the bolt(s), too

Know what you meant with the silence and solitude..

Was sitting outside our house in - very - rural France watching the moon coming up and the silence, apart from some owls cracking jokes at each other. and it just felt good.

Take Care !
 

ITTOG

Well-known member
Too bad it looks like surgery. However, I can tell you that within two or three weeks after my surgery my hip/groin was already feeling better. The road to recovery is long but at least it will be in less pain.

Good luck with the truck, hopefully it will be as simple as it looks.
 
Riversdad.....don't be sorry for me.....like I've said over & over.....life has given me much more than what I've ever deserved.....there's not a day that goes by that I don't take a moment to be grateful (seriously).....but thanks. Funny thing about that couch.....I've yet to sit on it. That couch belongs to the dogs.....

ITTOG.....I was on the phone yesterday with the surgeon's assistance and it's almost certain that I'll need a hip replacement. I'll know more after the next round of x-rays.....early August.....

Arjan.....I too thought that the fix looked simple but it's turned into a small nightmare. The shop that repaired it did a poor job. They left bent brackets on the truck and just re-bolted everything back together. I paid them $260 thinking I was good to go. The picture shows what I've got now. I called Firestone (they make the air bag assembly) and they've agreed to replace all the parts at no cost to me. I've found another shop that may do the repair for me once the parts come in. Everyone is way too busy in my town.....

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Life has taken a drastic change for us these days.....hanging around one town.....shopping at one Walmart. And while shopping at that one Walmart, I met a homeless guy in the parking lot.....flat broke.....had an unusual rig and a beautiful Golden Retriever. I saw him again five days later in the same spot, temperatures near & above 90 degrees everyday.....so I invited them to camp on my property. I hooked them up with electricity & water.....

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Jessie.....that was one cool Golden Retriever.....

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They stayed for 4 days.....I loaded them up with bags & boxes of dog treats on the way out.....it made me feel good to help out.....my dogs absolutely just loved Jessie.....as did I.....what a kind heart that dog had.....

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Another good book.....then on to another.....

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Another nice Montana sunrise.....

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.....and even caught a Montana sunset.....

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ITTOG

Well-known member
Well sorry to hear that you will need surgery. However, at least you will have a solid plan with a fairly fixed schedule for recovery. You should be back to easy hikes in three months and back to normal activities in 6 months. I am currently three months out from my surgery and feel I could do a six mile hike with some elevation climb. The hip would be really tired the next day but at least I was able to get out. Surgery on my other hip is next Friday so six months and I should be back at it. Possibly a trip to the grand canyon or to Croatia, Austria, and Switzerland. To be determined.

Thanks for the book. When I added it to my Audible list another one that came up during my search was The Last Blue Mountain. The description looks good. It only has 3 reviews (released in 2020) but it has a 5 star rating. So I added it to my list as well.
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Riversdad

Active member
Just love your upbeat and positive attitude. Wish I could adopt some of your positivity for myself. Good on you, once again, for helping out another person in need of a hand. You've earned yourself a few more Karma points.
 
ITTOG.....did you start physical therapy immediately after your surgery ? I was told that I'd start the day after surgery. I'm curious too as to how long it was before you could drive again ? Next weeks' meeting with the surgeon can't come soon enough for me.....

Riversdad.....my positivity in regards to my situation, I think comes from seeing other people suffer & when I see that suffering, that alone makes me realize how blessed that I am. I feel like it's selfish and it's unfair to the people that truly suffer for me not to be grateful. Just two days ago a friend of mine with a rare liver disease (see Page 1 My Journey) texted me about a small boy in his life that has the same rare liver disease that he has (he mentors this boy as I once did him) and that small boy was just diagnosed with cancer. That small boys' battles & struggles are so far beyond my own. So yea, I have to be grateful day in and day out.....

Arjan.....thanks.....just this morning that guy called me and talked for half an hour. After he hung up I wondered why he called.....probably doesn't matter really.....



It's been a week since my last post so I thought it time to update the blog.....we still await the new truck parts from Firestone so mostly our lives continue to revolve around the cabin, the barn, & the property.....rest assured that we'll be back out there.....if I open that camper door the dogs bolt right inside.....we're ready.....

Landscaping has been coming along.....

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All the stones gathered during day trips to our National Forests.....nearly 100 trees reaching for the skies.....successfully.....

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Our small garden.....yep, I'm not much with the vegetables.....

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Added weathered wood walls to the bathroom.....

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A little more than one year ago.....

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Last edited:

halseyt

Active member
Base camp is looking good. Nice to have..
I'm following this hip stuff. I'm due or overdue but waiting a while longer. Docs tell me new things are coming. Aging.. what can I say.. thought I'd be snowboarding in my 70's but slowing down. Intend to be south this winter.
 

ITTOG

Well-known member
They told me to not drive for two weeks. However I tried it on day five. The only difficulty is I tired in my hip quickly. So then I used adaptive cruise and was fine for about another thirty minutes and then I had to get out and stretch.

The first month you will find staying in one position long is difficult. It isn't painful but you get so stiff in the hip you just ache non-stop. I never really had pain in the hip unless I did something I wasn't supposed to do by accident.

I did battle with a sore groin for about two months. Doc said the nerve may have gotten disturbed by surgery or swelling.

Also ice will be your best friend. I was on it non-stop for the first month and then any time I overdid it or was sore. Actually it was ice water that flows through a pad you strap on. A great device. I have a post about all the equipment required in my build thread. Take a peek at it and you may have more questions.

Overall, I am very happy I got the surgery. I do it again Friday!

If you would like I can IM my number and answer all your questions.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk
 

Ace Brown

Retired Ol’ Fart
Jerry best of luck with the surgery. The base camp looks great. I really need to get busy landscaping at my place. General maintenance keeps me very busy and little time for projects.

I just found out i have DVT (blood clotting) in my left leg. My leg swelled up and went numb. Hard to walk. Ended up in the ER. Now on meds which are helping. Im going to start riding my bike again. Ive got plans to do the IDBDR pretty soon. I hope my doc doesn’t forbid travel.

Ace


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

ITTOG

Well-known member
Jerry best of luck with the surgery. The base camp looks great. I really need to get busy landscaping at my place. General maintenance keeps me very busy and little time for projects.

I just found out i have DVT (blood clotting) in my left leg. My leg swelled up and went numb. Hard to walk. Ended up in the ER. Now on meds which are helping. Im going to start riding my bike again. Ive got plans to do the IDBDR pretty soon. I hope my doc doesn’t forbid travel.

Ace


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sorry to hear that. Did they put a filter in? Very dangerous situation.
 
Tongtu Outdoor.....welcome to My Journey.....I'll assume that your comment was directed at ITTOG.....and based on my appointment with the Orthopedic Surgeon this morning, I agree completely.....

Ace.....that sucks.....how you doing ? Just this morning the Orthopedic Surgeon said to me that a blood clot was a possibility with the hip replacement.....a very dangerous possibility he said.....keep us posted.....wish you a quick rebound.....and thanks.....

Halseyt / ITTOG.....this morning's appointment with the Orthopedic Surgeon was an unusual one.....after a review of the x-rays he said that my hip was in bad shape.....one of the worst that he'd ever seen. That being said, he was astonished that my pain was not off the charts. I'm actually back to 15 mile days, no ibuprofen nor Tylenol.....so the decision for me was somewhat easy.....no surgery. He said that it'll never get better, and that it will definitely get worse. One day I will have a hip replacement. But for now, he says the original hip bone is better than any replacement.....


The afternoons are too hot in Montana these summer days to do any work, so often in the afternoon I can be found with a book reclining in one of my dog chairs.....work comes in the early morning or when the cooler weather of the late evening drops in.....my latest book was a top ten favorite.....Lost Horizon is life changing (even caused me to change the name of my cabin). I came across this book while wasting my life away on a mountain climbing website.....I absolutely loved this book.....

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Early in the mornings & late in the evenings I've been spending quite a bit of my time working on that old barn.....some of you may remember when it looked like this.....

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Here's what it looks like today.....

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I'm pretty damn proud of that old barn these days.....all trimmed out & repainted.....still not complete but you know how it goes.....are projects ever complete ?

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And work continues on the interior as well.....the chicken coop was demolished, six to twelve inches of chicken poop was hauled out, all the holes in the walls were caulked, all the walls covered in Tyvek, and then finished with scrap plywood.....then came the shelves.....works just fine.....not a penney was spent.....

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I relocated the old metal signs and license plates.....still plenty more at the hoarders' property to get.....

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I had the electricians come back to install additional lighting.....

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My plan for one half of the barn is to create a space for climbers, hikers, kayakers, & just good old adventure seekers that need a place to stay & hangout.....the hostel in my town, well, it's no longer cheap.....my space will be free.....

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I've got some rock climbers from the local climbing gym coming out this Friday to check out the space.....one has expressed an interest in living in the truck camper for a few months to help me build out the space.....you've got to love those climbing bums.....my kind of people.....

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That's our world.....

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