Schultz Fire Air Support - Bell 212

There have been two sort of scary situations this week, so I have told about them in the order of occurrence, (in chronological order).

First, Tuesday, June 5th:

I feel as if I am beating a dead horse. This year, 2012, I suppose the scariest thing I have experienced is when I was told by my doctor that all the symptoms I have been experiencing over the past eight to ten months are related to not only my original neck injury in 1991, but that it is also related to the three herniated discs in my lower back, as well. He said that this time, not only am I at risk of not only my neck affecting my life, but also my back, which is slowly going to prevent me from walking at all, or nearly so. I have to consider not only one surgery, but two; my neck and my back.

It seems that instead of only having spinal stenosis in my lower back, I have also developed a lot of bone growth in that area, as well as in my c-spine. I have been having increasing problems with my balance, and coordination, and my knees have also begun buckling from under me, when I walk, even using my cane. The extra bone growth in my neck is the reason I have been having a lot of hearing problems in my left ear, too.

Now, with all the bone growth trying to protect the damaged areas, it is also impinging on practically every nerve, affecting the hearing in my left ear, as well as the use of my arms, and adding much pain and muscle cramping with it. In my back, I am having increased trouble walking, with or without my cane. A walker is out, as it seriously affects my left arm, and shoulder, as well.

Once, when my doctors suggested I have surgery on my lower back, due to many years of slowly increasing symptoms, from herniated discs at L-2/3; L-4/5 and L-5/S-1. These were from being rear-ended in 1979, while I was stopped at a traffic light. Thankfully, I was driving a full-sized Mercury, which was totaled, but also protected my husband and myself from worse injuries.

Now, I have to decide, if I will have the neck surgery first, or the back. If I have neither, I will most definitely end up very disabled, and very possibly totally paralyzed, with the possible exception of my right arm and hand.

Hmmm, choices... I am now waiting for a referral to the Neurosurgeon, and I am sure to have more tests, such as more myleograms, of both my neck and my back.

The good news was, that I do not have osteoporosis. That is most certainly good news, though from here, it's a little difficult to appreciate.

I know I recently answered another Plinky prompt which was also somewhat related to this topic, but this is the answer to the current Plinky prompt, like it or not.

Second, Friday, June 8th:

There was also a semi-frightening happening last evening in my area. The nearby mountains had a moderately large fire. Smoke hovered over the valley, and several planes were flying in and out of the area, dropping flame retardants over the affected area. I don't recall anytime in recent history that so many of the big bombers were flying, so many, and so close together as this. There were also helicopters, flying in and out, dropping their huge water bags, into the lake, and carrying it to drop on the fire, as well, in addition tot he flame retardant material being dropped by the bombers. There are many homes and RV parks up in those mountains, so they really jump right on any fires that may get started in that area. Thankfully, the winds did not become strong, so things stayed controllable, this time. This morning, I can still smell some smoke, but the sky overhead is only lightly showing smoke, and the fire trucks are not rushing around like they were yesterday afternoon, into the early evening.

I am grateful that my younger sister is no longer up there, fighting the fires we inevitably have every summer in this area. That was some of her volunteer work. This area is rather dry in summer heat, and extremely low humidity. Many times the humidity in this area is in single digits. Once already this year, it was at only 2%, which makes practically everything growing on the mountains instantly flammable. When fires get too close, there are always evacuations of everyone living in or near the burn areas. Once, there was a huge fire that started in San Diego, and it burned all the way into many areas of Riverside County, causing evacuations in areas never before seriously affected. People, as well as their livestock had to be removed, and transported to other ranches, miles away from the burning areas. There was also danger from large propane tanks which many people had for cooking and heating, as there were no natural gas lines in many areas.

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