At least from stitches and bandages! His incisions look great, healthy and he’s relieved to not have that bandage near his eye in his vision all the time.
We made yet another 200 mile round trip to Billings on Tuesday for a routine doctor’s appointment for the Cowboy and some quick shopping. Because we left Emmi at home, alone, we ate a quick meal instead of sitting in a restaurant–we enjoyed a delicious Five Guy’s burger and fries. My mouth had been watering after Sue and Dave posted about Five Guy’s.
And that’s not the only reason we ate a quick, outside meal–Montana covid numbers are once again out of control. Montana has the highest 14-day percentage increase in new COVID-19 cases (55%) and hospitalizations (38%) in the country right now. And remember, Montana is a state of about one million people and it’s largest town is Billings at about 100,000 people. Billings Clinic alone has seen 28 COVID-related deaths since Sept. 1, including 14 over the last week. Billings Clinic is one of the two hospitals in Billings, Montana. “The hospital announced it may soon implement “crisis standards of care,” which basically means it will ration its equipment, staff and medicine, giving preference to those it can most likely save, regardless of vaccination status. It’s an ugly system, abhorred by those who will wield it, with tiebreakers in place to decide who potentially lives and dies. Other hospitals in Montana have taken similar steps.” KTVG Billings News Story
Can you imagine being the nurse/doctor who has watched 14 patients die over the last two weeks. I’m a nurse and I can’t imagine! And can you imagine being the “tie breaker” who decides which patient gets the ventilator and which patient doesn’t?
It’s fall in Montana–chilly morning temps with frost on the pumpkin as they say, golden aspen leaves and vivid red chokecherry and underbrush leaves with glorious day time temps and clear, blue Montana skies. My favorite time of year!
A couple weeks ago we had visitors–neither of us could remember the last time we had seen or talked to each other–my oldest cousin on my Mom’s side of the family and his wife came to visit. Ed and Barbara currently live in Texas near their two children. They have been touring in their Tiffin motorhome and having a ball–the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Moab and Arches National Park, Yellowstone National Park, etc. My Mom was one of six children, all daughters and Ed’s Mom, Aunt Lola was the oldest of the six. Ed was enough older than me and my siblings that we seldom saw him–he was in college, starting a career, and getting married when the rest of the cousins were teenagers and much younger. It was so good to see them! We visited Natural Bridge near our home and enjoyed a great meal–and enjoyed non stop conversation. We need to make sure we don’t let as many years go by this time.
Life is good!
Restoration Cowboy Style 
Great news about Michael. I can only imagine hwo thrilled he is. Glad you have finally seen the mountains without smoke. Love seeing snow on them. Nice to have family visit that you haven’t seen in a long time.
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We are so glad his procedures are finished and are going to avoid those dermatologists and give Michael a break!
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Glad the cowboy is free and you were able to get a cousin visit. Sometimes,with the astounding beauty of Montana it’s hard to think of covid lurking there. We got our booster and a flu shot yesterday,a sore arm is a small price to pay.
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The Cowboy received a flu shot last week and we are both going to get a booster. I can get one now as I had the Pfizer vaccine. Good for you!
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So glad Michael is doing so much better! And how fun to reconnect with family. I feel so badly for healthcare workers, the unrelenting stress they’ve suffered over the last year and half, and the hard decisions they’re having to make when hospitals are overflowing. This could break our healthcare system. I wish people would just get vaccinated and wear their darned masks.
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I’m with you Laurel–having been a nurse, I know exactly the stress they are enduring. It isn’t fair to subject our healthcare workers to those conditions. Get your vaccine and wear your mask–let’s get rid of this virus!
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Good news for Michael! Love that gorgeous mountain view! Five Guys is always a great choice for Joe and me…love those fries! No mention of Emmi…how is she doing? Gay
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Emmi is great–we just got back from a week long ATV trip and she was a trooper–riding along, chasing sticks and annoying the other bigger dogs who are scared of her!!!
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Gay beat me to it….how is little Emmi? We all should be on Five Guy’s payroll…we do enough promoting! At least a free order of fries once in awhile, eh? Fall is a beautifiul time of year almost anywhere. Dave used to hate it when we lived back East. To him it meant that winter was coming! No worries about that now so he can just enjoy those beautiful colors and clear skies.
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Little Emmi is great–we just got back from a week long ATV trip and she was a trooper–riding along, chasing sticks and being a pain to the other two dogs who are both bigger than she. Fall was really beautiful in Idaho where we ATVed.
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Family visits are such a treasure, especially when you haven’t seen them fir a long while. Michael must be so relieved to have all the medical cut and paste over with! Dang skin cancer! Now he can enjoy his views without the bandages and tape
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It was really good to see my cousin and his wife. And yes, Michael is very happy to be finished with the “cut and paste” business–at least for the time being.
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When I read your title I thought maybe you were giving Michael away :-)) Glad those bandages are off and did their job. What a difference clear skies make – gorgeous views. Such a bummer about COVID numbers. We lost a dear friend a couple weeks ago. An avoidable death as he chose not to get vaccinated. His daughters and their families are devastated. I worry about PTSD among our brave healthcare workers and hope their mental health is being taken care of.
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I too worry about our healthcare workers who probably view this mess as a “no end in sight” kind of nightmare.
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