Update - 3 weeks to the day after surgery - July 26th

Well, here's my progress so far. I'm still a little puffy in some areas. My nose is still a bit wide and I'm still a bit jowly from the swelling, but the improvements are pretty much at a daily rate at this point.
I see Simon Jacobson (my orthodontist) again in two weeks and Bill (my surgeon) said that Simon could start moving my teeth to accommodate my new bite.
I'm thinking that if all goes well, everything should be completed by Christmas time - if not - March at the latest.
That's all for now...

More Musician Humour

This one always did 'nail' it...


















And you know, as sick as this may be, it's freaking creative...hands down....

Day 10 - Old Teeth Alignment pic and xrays

Hey! My nose stopped bleeding finally-yay!!! I think you will see from the following xrays why it was bleeding. Lots of stuff went on up in that area.

Much less swelling today, but like my brother Jim said would happen, I now have nice bruising that has travelled into my upper chest area. It's practically unnoticable though, so I'm not concerned.

I did a lot of running around today - one thing was to pick up my repaired camera.

I rushed home to take pictures of the pictures Bill McDonald gave me.

Here are some of them:



This pic was taken on June 22nd, 2006. If you look closely, you'll see that (judging by where my lower barckets are sitting) my upper jaw was way off centre. You'll notice in the subsequent xrays, that Bill also took care of that, and my mouth will be perfectly straight.






Here's a front view which gives you an idea of what's now in my face. It's titanium so the metal detectors won't go off at airports, and as a matter of face, within a short time, they will becaome one with the bone. you can see how far they split my jaw and the amount of screws and connectors there are in there holding everything to gether. You'll notice the same thing in the nasal area above the mouth as well.



Here's the side view showing the amount of screws in my face as well.
as you can tell by the fillings, my dental hygiene as a youth failed miserably.









Cheers....

Surgery Day 8 & 9 Kevin, Carman, and the Toews

Hey everybody.... these are pics from yesterday when I went to the doctors for my 1st follow up visit. Very good news. He said I'm in the top 1% of recovery, so that's an incredibly positive sign.

As you can tell my cheeks are very puffy, but for the most part I look fairly normal to people who don't know me. I only have to wear my 'splint' and 'elastics' when sleeping at this point, but some very good advise I have received *** is to keep them on whenever possible. Generally I do leave them in, unless I know I will be talking a lot and eating. because it makes it harder to do both and it also enhances the 'bad' part of this new look hahaha.

So that was the good news from yesterday.Today was wonderful for the most part as well. I woke up to find that my bud Kevin McCormick was able to come to Abbotsford with me. (Abbotsford is a community in the Greater Vancouver area about 50 k’s. out of Vancouver). I was bringing my Peavey guitar amp in for servicing and had asked Kevin if wanted to join me. He said he wasn't feeling too well at the time, but would call me first thing in the morning to let me know.

My son Carman also phoned to tell me his jobsite was rained out...so I invited him a long as well...











We got out to Toews Music on Clearbrook Road in Abbotsford just before lunchtime.


A little background:

Towards the end of my band Shama, I had purchased a home in Abbotsford and was mortgaged to the armpits. Unfortunately the band made some very bad business decisions during that same period of time and broke up almost immediately after I'd moved in.

I was totally screwed financially.

Not knowing what to do, but knowing that I had to feed my family, I approached a local hotel about having me play their lounge. I had never done a solo thing before, but you know... desperate times call for desperate measures***

The lounge had never had entertainment before, but with some good sales skills, I managed to make them say that they would try it for one month.

The only way I knew how to play at that time was with a band, so I wanted to make up background tapes of drums, bass etc to play along with. It's now a very common practice with solo acts (and of course karaoke), but at that time I don't know if I had ever seen anyone do it - it just seemed logical to me that it was the only way I would sound good.

Being that I had no equipment pretty much except my guitar, I went to the local music store to price out things to rent. In the store, I found one guy pretty much doing everything, while another guy who apparently worked there just sat on his duff smoking and reading the paper. Nice enough guy – but obviously just taking up space. I took note of that.

The same afternoon, I went to the local cabaret that I had played when I was with Shama and asked the owners if there was ANYTHING I could do for them to make some money.... after a time they decided that I could take the cover charge money at the door. (I guess that because Shama was such an extremely popular band, having one of the guys from Shama 'working' there looked 'cool' for the club…and because I needed money I gratefully accepted it.

I then told them that I had 'created' a job at the hotel and that I had gone to the music store to rent some gear to prepare my act and I found the two guys at the store were very nice etc.... just typical chit-chat.

Their response was something about one of the guys at the store just putting in time because he was expecting a call soon to go up north to work in a mining camp.

I had all the information I needed at that point!!!

Toews Music had two stores at that time. The one in downtown Abbotsford that I had gone to and another one in Clearbrook. (It's like the twin cities - you can't tell where one town stops and the other begins...regardless)

I found out that the owner 'Leo Toews' worked in the other store. When I went to that store, he wasn't there and, they told me, he was at home. Not wanting to lose this opportunity, I looked up his address in the phone book and rushed right over.

I’m sure he was a bit startled at the car driving up his long tree lined drive, but Leo is a very nice soft spoken man and was cordial with me when he asked what I wanted.

I had seen in their stores that they had sold Yamaha products, so I told him that I had worked in a very successful Yamaha-based music store in my hometown of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and that I would love to work for his store. I told him I promised I would make a difference to his business in a positive way.

He thanked me for coming, but informed me that he wasn’t ‘hiring’ at that time.

I told him, “Well - you will be soon… and I want that job when it comes up”

He asked me what I meant, and I told him the story about what I’d heard. I also said, ‘Not to say anything bad about that particular employee, you have ONE guy doing everything down there right now…and he could use someone like me…”

He said to give him a couple of days and he’d get back to me.

As promised, he called and said, “Are you still interested…? If so you can start in two weeks…”

So I worked in the Key Hotel lounge and at ‘the Fun Palace’ until I started at Toews.

(I apologize - I’ve digressed a lot here…but who knows – maybe someday I’ll have grand kids that would like to read about me…haha)

I started at Toews Music on Essendene Street in Abbotsford on August 1st I believe. Within six months there was some changes made and I ended up managing the Essendene store. I continued my ‘management status’ when Leo expanded the Clearbrook store to accommodate the Essendene store’s business as well.

I worked there for three years in total, and although money was scarce sometimes in the beginning, I have very fond memories of working there. For one thing, Leo was a very generous and patient boss who would always lend me things to help my family get by, or give me things out of the store to give to the kids.

By the end of my time working at Toews Music, I had decided to play music full time again. by that time, I was once again in a very good popular band (TRAMA) that was earning me much more money than the store was.
Sleep was hard to come by because I was working in the store during the days and playing in Vancouver every night except most Sundays. One night I rolled my car coming home from Vancouver when I fell asleep at the wheel. I took it as a wake up call (literally) and gave my notice to Leo a little while later.

It was a tough decision to make. Leo even offered to move my hours around to help me if I would stay on and I remember Calvin taking me aside and asking me to please stay. It was hard...I did enjoy it there...

I’ve managed to stay close with the Toews family over the years even though I sometimes go years and years between visits – but they are a great family and have always treated me like ‘one of the gang’.

Today was no exception.

Calvin (Leo and Sarge’s son) has always stayed in touch with me over the years and is an exceptionally nice guy.
Today, Sarge made Calvin promise to bring me by the house before we went out to lunch. Once we were there it was very hard to leave. Sarge is an attractive wonderful woman that has more energy than any ten people I know. She whipped up a fantastic lunch – with a very hearty soup and salmon (yay...I had salmon ****!!!) and it was great….
A wonderful time – we all felt perfectly at home there (Kevin commented a few times on that) – she’s a marvelous host.

It was a great day and I chewed today for the first time since the operation. I had a great time with Carman and Kevin, as well as a great visit with the Toews…


Take care…
Here's some more pics...

Calvin and his wife Andrea






















Sarge and Leo Toews

Recovery Day-7

So here's me on day 7. Notice the swelling has gone down substantially. I have some bruising (not all that evident in the pics) but you can see the red discolouration on my right cheek. The inside of my lips and the inside of my mouth are bruised, and will take some time to heel I imagine. My lips are getting down to the right size which makes them look a bit diminutive in size next to by engorged cheeks...**

**I had a lot of soup today which was amazing ** and this new Pomegranate Frappacino **from Starbucks. It was quite tart in my sensitive mouth but a welcome change from the rather dull “ensure based’ diet I’ve been on. I also had about 1⁄2 a cup of a Tim Horton’s coffee.**

I can brush my teeth and use mouthwash in a normal fashion as well, which makes things a whole lot quicker after eating (drinking…sipping…never actually ‘eating’ yet)

You’ll see that because I’m still swelled, my chin still looks a bit ‘receded’ but that will change as soon as my face returns to normal dimensions.








Today was a great day.*** I am getting a bit of pain in my jaws at this time, and it’s probably due to the fact that I’m talking a bit more. With the swelling going down, I’m able to talk a bit more and therefore, my ‘new jaw’ is getting some exercise.

One thing I never mentioned before was the splint in my mouth. Because of the distance between my back teeth (which will be corrected with the braces soon) I need a ‘splint’ which sole job is to fill in the gap between the upper and lower jaw. The teeth at this time are not ‘meeting together’ so this will ensure that my jaw stays in alignment while the braces move the teeth into position.

I’ve had trouble with the splint up moving around my mouth and not staying put until this time. Last night it stayed in place. It was probably due to the fact that I can feel a little bit more in my mouth (my teeth and gums are still pretty numb as is my chin), and the swelling going down.

I’ve had exceptionally excellent coaching through all this****

Tomorrow is my first check up with Dr. McDonald and I’m looking for ward to what he has to say and I will post it here…

Cheers…

Gary Larson - Why did you leave us?

A friend sent me this - one of the greats...I don't think you have to be in 'the biz' to appreciate this one...

Surgery Day Six

I won't post a pic today - it's a bit redundant because I look basically the same - a little less swelling but now I'm developing a bit of yellowed bruising down my cheeks and into my neck.

My brother Jim had a similar operation 7 years ago and has warned me of a lot of these things in advance, so it's all good.

Aside from that, I feel pretty not too bad at all.

I went out with my friend Mitch Ross today and played some golf. He told me he could improve my game drastically in about 15 minutes and man - he was right!!!! I actually 'played' golf today for the first time in my life!

He gave me some real simple basic easy to follow things to do and it made an incredible difference...

I was hitting straight - way more accuracy...as a matter of fact the people that made up our foursome didn't realize until halfway through the game that I was a total rookie - I mean this was only my second time playing this year.

Anyway - it was nice to acually 'enjoy' golf for the first time...EVER!!!

So that's my main report today...


Take care...

Surgery Update Day 5

Well hello all... today was a great day in recovery land. Started out fairly ordinary (noticed more bruising this morning) but my improvements are coming along very quickly at the time of this writing.

At this time, I am feeling my bottom lip for the first time since surgery - which is remarkable progress...it's still numb of course, but I can move it, feel it, and suddenly over the past few hours, I can control it - which has finally put an ending to my wonderful drooling...lol

I had a talk with Carman my son today. He was fearful that people would possibly think I was off my rocker for posting these developments on my blog. I think he understands now that this type of thing is not out of character for me to do (my life is an open book - I try not to hurt other people, but really I don't feel I have anything to hide) and that I'm actually providing a bit of a service for people who might be thinking of wanting this operation but didn't know what to expect. I've received emails from people telling me that they think it's great what I'm doing and that I'm actually a bit brave **** I don't mind that... :-)

Before this operation, I had nothing to go on - just what the literature said and what people told me...and of course, I found out later, a lot of stuff they hold back from you because it may prevent you from doing something that ultimately you should do.

You see, the people that have this type of surgery done - you never see them out in the daylight or in public until they look 'presentable' so you never really get the full idea of what they've gone through. Once they have made it through this difficult phase such as I’m experiencing now, their natural advise is to encourage you to go through with the operation, because they feel so much better themselves.

They hold back the tough stuff...I believe - for fear that you may not do it.

I choose a different route... I think people should see these pictures, realize that everyone has this happen for a time, and the ending result is well worth the few weeks of discomfort.

I will admit to you as well at this time that I have only experienced 'discomfort' and not 'pain' - which is exactly what Dr. McDonald told me to expect.

The discomfort is in not being able to use your mouth properly, and your jaws being a bit sore and stiff. It's not totally bad...like I posted earlier - I lived through kidney stones 5 times - this is a cakewalk.

Anyway, the picture above is from very early in the day today - I have improved greatly since then...

Another reason I have been able to improve so quickly I believe, is because I have not allowed myself to stay couped up in the house. I'm trying to get out and about as much as possible. Bill McDonald told me my recovery starts in my mind, and I'm out to prove him right.

Late this afternoon, Carman, Erin and little Emma came by and we went to the water park. I really think Emma helped in my improvement. Erin had told Emma that I had an 'operation' but how much could a 2 year old understand about such things - but Emma came right to me - then was shocked at my appearance and cried, but then became very accepting again very quick; so much so that we held hands at the park and walked around together.

I could see 'other people' staring at me a bit...but Emma was fine with me - and so was I...it was all good...

I had a bit of a laugh. I had to go to the men's room while there and this young boy about 7-8 came in after me. He came up beside me as I washed my hands and he washed his...very typical thing... I finished while he was still at the sink and walked out to find a woman who was obviously his mother standing outside the door. She looked at me with my puffed out bruised face and immediately threw open the door and yelled at the kid to make sure he was alright.... hmmmmm

Good lesson there... but hey Emma didn't see that - she just saw me...

Great kid...

Take care all…

The Surgery Chronicles - Day Four

Well – had a bit if a trying sleep last night. The weird thing is, when it feels like I’m drooling, I’m not and when it feels like it’s under control – well – it’s all over the place…

Anyway:
I awoke today with some bruising - two spots under my chin and one spot under my right eye. Aside from that, I think the swelling is slowly going down…maybe wishful thinking, but at the very least, I know by next Wednesday I will be looking a whole lot better.

I went for a walk today and drove around for a while. The more ‘normal’ things I do, the better it will be for me psychologically and it should help speed up my recovery. Therefore, I’m trying my damndest to do just that. I’m getting a lot of stares, but I’m okay with that.

My eating consists of ‘smoothies’ (peaches and blueberries, banana and strawberries) and ‘Ensure’ type of drinks. I should be drinking way more water and will have to make a conscious effort to do that. It’s just such a challenge that drinking such a ‘regular’ thing seems to be too much work – which I know is silly because water will be my biggest ally in my recovery.
I just had a lime popsicle as well…

As I sit here typing at this moment, I feel like I am getting better. We’ll see what tomorrow brings for me.

Here’s a pic from day 4

See you tomorrow...

The Surgery Chronicles - Day Three

Well- I awoke today looking even more swollen…but I guess that’s par for the course. I imagine it will stay swollen for a few days and will start coming down early next week so I have a bit of a trying weekend ahead of me. Today I will have to learn how to look after my mouth a bit better and figure out how to brush. It’s kind of hard when you have to go behind extremely swollen lips and around these huge cheeks…it’ll be a bit of a learning curve to say the least.
When I looked in the mirror this morning I had to laugh. Wearing my glasses and noticing that the top of my head is of normal size and the bottom is so distorted, I resemble a fun house version of Rick Moranis…or even better Art Buchwald (no disrespect to Mr. Buchwald who is currently handling his pending death with an amazing amount of dignity and humour)

That’s all I have to report. My son has texted my phone begging me to stop posting on my blog because “I’m freaking people out and you DON’T want to market yourself that way…” Hahaha – that’s Carman for you…in all fairness, he’s probably right. But I feel if a life is worth living, it’s worth keeping a record of it. If nobody reads it, what good did it do?


That being said, I have one picture to add today…plus Rick and Art – you figure it out from there…

Happy trails

The Surgery Chronicles - Day One & Two

8:30 am

Well – here it is – July 5th - THE DAY! I am waiting to be picked up to go to the hospital. My friend Jeff has been kind enough to do so. I will leave here in about an hour (which will be 9:30 am) I have to be at the hospital by 11:00 am for check in. I’m suspecting that will make surgery about 1:00 pm.
Am I nervous? Yeah – a bit…I think I will be a bit more as I near the operation time.
I am quite hungry…and thirsty. I have not been allowed to eat or drink anything since 11:00 pm last night.
I am just about to step into the shower to clean me up. I will dress in comfortable clothes – easy to get back on type clothes and they suggested no T-shirts etc., as it wouldn’t be wise to wear anything that has to go back over my head after the operation. I’m sure my head will be a bit tender.

Now I will let you one more thing about me. I have had kidney stones 5 times. The first two times I had them I didn’t know what they were, and frankly neither did the doctors in emergency.
I thought I had severe constipation actually. I was begging them for an enema. It sounds funny now, but you have to realize how delirious you are when you’re in THAT kind of pain. I guess by the time I had taken the enema (they resisted giving me one for some reason) the stone had passed through the ureter (the tiny tube that runs between your bladder and kidney) and the pain subsided. I went home.

On the thirst time, I finally had a good doctor on call one night that diagnose me properly.

I said,
“No it can’t be a kidney stone, that’s supposed to be the worst pain a man can have!” (in between screams)…

He said,
“Well what the _____ kind of pain do you think you have now?”

(or something to that degree – but the expletive was firmly in there)

Regardless, he had X-rays done immediately, and showed me the stone as it traveled down the ureter from the kidney to the bladder. You have two ureters, so he was able to show me the ‘normal’ one and the one in question, which looked like a snow plough had made it’s way half way down the tube at that point. He also told me that that particular area is full of nerve endings, so while the stone is scratching it’s way through the tube, it sends terrible waves of pain to your brain…and yes – that is true – you really do wish you were dead at times.

I had great painkillers after that. I was surprised to feel what morphine does for you. It’s the wildest thing. You still feel the pain – you just don’t care anymore…that’s it! What a strange thing. I expected it to get rid of the pain, not have it re-program my brain!

Why did I tell you this?

Well – to let you know that I have an idea of what ‘real pain’ is. Now Dr. McDonald told me at our last pow-wow that I wouldn’t be ‘in pain’ so much as ‘in discomfort’. Well we’ll see… I plan on letting you know here…

It’s now 10:05 am. Waiting for my ride still… I am to be there by 11:00 am so I’m hoping this will be okay, because there’s no doubt I will be late now. I would like to think they make allowances for these kinds of things. I’ve been using my time re-reading the postoperative instructions Dr. McDonald’s office gave me as we went through it all on the last visit.


Here’s some stuff from Dr McDonald’s website:
Click here








Now that being said: I apparently won’t have any wiring done, so some of that doesn’t apply to me.

11:35 am – I am now at the hospital and have been admitted…vital signs all done. There seems to be a problem with my laptop however. All valuables are to be placed into a safe, but the safe cannot accommodate my computer – at least I think that’s what they’re trying to tell me. I am in my hospital issue clothing, which is, of course, stupid. I do not understand the reasoning behind these things…but whatever - everybody knows this and I’m not breaking any new ground with my observations here.
New thing – guess I overlooked the part in the pamphlet I was given that states that I should’ve left all my valuables at home…. so now they’re trying to figure out what to do with my cash, credit cards and watch…
Dexamethadrone was just given to me intravenously. (Yes they just hooked me up – so my two finger typing has been reduced to one now…lol The nasty side effect of this drug is itchiness in the crotch area. I’ll be sure to report if this happens…
So here I sit on the gurney with my bag plugged into me, one finger typing and a possible case of itchy crotch pending….oh joy!!!!
I just signed a waiver for my laptop. They don’t want to be responsible for it’s disappearance from the lock up…and frankly – I’m a little nervous now too…but I’m sure it will be returned unharmed. I am left with a fairly empty wallet – as the cash and credit cards have all been taken away in a big manila envelope with my name on it…I’m to collect it upon release….
I may have to close this up soon…they want to take my wallet, cell phone and laptop away I think. I won’t be having surgery for at least another hour…but so be it hm?
Well – now I have been told that my wallet, laptop and cell phone will be in my closet with everyone else’s stuff in the room – so depending on the quality of the visitors my roommates get, I could be in jeopardy of losing my things to a thief. I have no one available to come and get my things, so I will have to chance it.

I have just been informed that they will do me early…off I go…

I awoke to Bill telling me it was a huge success. Must have been late afternoon. I awoke again at 5:30 *** as well. I pretty much went back to sleep right after and awoke again at 9 pm.

I feel like my jaw has been hit by a truck and I can’t feel anything in my face… so I’m drooling a lot – every so often one of nurses comes by and suctions out spittle – mixed with blood. I can’t talk very well – depending on the words I’m trying to say…but Lord knows I try to still…lol.

I imagine I will get my nighttime drugs soon and I will drift off…just wanted to report in because once I’m out it will be for the night I’m sure. I have a whole lot of apparatus around my head…things to help with swelling… oxygen up my nose…IV drip of course. I keep hacking up crap from my lungs – probably due to the tube they insert during the operation I would imagine. I have the table across my lap with my trusty laptop plugged in to report back to you here. I will upload this when I get home tomorrow morning.

I am pretty hungry. I ate for the last time at about 6-7 pm last night and had my last liquid at 10 pm last night. I won’t be able to chew for quite a while, so ‘Ensure’, Smoothies and liquid type soups will be the order of that day for the next while.

On a side note, I am rooming with a pretty old woman across from me. Every so often I get a wonderful whiff of what smells like a septic tank on steroids. Not pleasant….nope…not at all…

Well with that, I will try to report back in, in the morning. Dan Weeks is coming to get me at 10:00 am.

6:01 am

I got up and watched TV for a while in the common room. I was finally able to see my face in the mirror when I went to the bathroom – yuck! My lips are huge and protruding out, my cheeks are plumped up about the size of grapefruits and even my nose is wider at the bottom.
The nurse came in about ½ an hour ago to check my blood pressure and it’s quite high. I never get high blood pressure…I just hope this isn’t the shape of things to come. I’m trying to be optimistic about it. I’ve had an operation and a lot of drugs put into me. I’m no medical professional, but could that not elevate your blood pressure temporarily? We’ll see…

I talked of eating earlier and realize how this will be a challenge. Just trying to drink water is quite an ordeal.
Dr McDonald came in at 7:00 am checked me over and thought the surgery was a total success. He says my teeth are lined up perfectly. He also suspects that my high blood pressure reading was due to the operation, and not to let it bother me. He says I should go to my Family Doctor in 2-3 weeks and check it again…it’s okay I have a blood pressure machine at home and I will know on my own.
I am waiting to be discharged at this point. Cleaning up etc.
I have a bit of a ‘catch 22’ situation. I am to keep my head as erect as possible (even elevated during sleep) to keep swelling in my face and neck to a minimum. But because I can’t feel anything in my lip area I drool all the time. I don’t drool when my head is back…and it’s not just drool, it’s mixed with blood as well…I will have to deal with the bed issue when I get home. Don’t want bloody sheets…!!!
Well – I will probably check back in once I am home and somewhat organized.

11:31 am – Okay I’m home – Dan came to get me and promised to be here in a heartbeat if I needed him. Nice guy…amazing how you can have a friendship with someone again after all these years.

I just syringed some Ensure down my throat with my anti-swelling and antibiotics. I will now get myself ready for bed…propped up etc. My nose is bleeding quite a bit – probably from the high blood pressure, so the sooner I get laid down the better.

With that I will take a break. I will enter more later tonight possibly, but right now, I need rest.

Vernon, Kalamalka Lake, Kelowna and the operation

Well today is July 4th, and tomorrow is D-Day. I go in in the morning I guess...I will phone to find out exact times later on this morning. They will do their thing - I will stay in the hospital overnight and then (ideally) be released on Thursday.

I've decided to keep a bit of a journal here on my progress.

Now - that being said, I have no idea how the course of this procedure will go.... I mean I know what's going to happen, but not exactly how much pain I will be in etc. I've heard varying reports because, frankly, everyone is different. Some people breeze through - others not so lucky. As well, some recover very fast and others ??? Well...

The reason I tell you this, is just in case I really don't feel up to reporting in on here.
I WANT to keep a journal...but may not have the where-with-all to do so.

Today will be my day to amass all of the things for me to eat. I have a book on 'smoothies' and I will also eat a lot of 'Ensure' and soups. Sucking through a straw is not an option. The sucking can loosen the sutures. Therefore, I will possibly have to eat with a big syringe. But, once again, it depends on how my recovery is. It's possibly I will have movement almost right away, meaning I may be able to eat a little more naturally...we'll see.

I have myself booked for a boat cruise the Friday after next so I'm optimistic. It's not a singing gig - I'm just playing bass...

This past weekend I played with Atlantic Crossing in Vernon for the 'Funtastic Festival'. It was the best show we have had with the show to date. I took the opportunity to visit my friends there as well. Pete Langtry has been my best friend for years, and unfortunately he lives a fair distance away from me now. He used to live in Whistler so I used to be able to see him much more at that time. His career as a chef made him pack up and move, so he and Sheila (his wife) moved to Vernon. I see them infrequently these days, but friends are friends...we will be thick as theives for life.
The day after the show, Pete had to work so I grabbed Sheila and their two kids, Tyler and Jessica to join me on Kalamalka Lake to visit my friends from Saskatoon Jim and Holly Mitzel.
Jim Mitzel is a guy that goes way back to the Shama days with me. One of the wonderful fringe benefits of playing with Randy Bachman has been getting back in touch with family and old friends.

Back to the story... Jim had told me a while ago that he, Holly and the girls would be at their spot on the lake this summer and that I should make a point of dropping by when I'm in Vernon for the show. Wanting to make sure I also had my Pete and Sheila time, I combined the two. Sheila and the kids joined me in the morning, we picked up Pete via Jim's boat later in the day.

Anyway - it was a fantastic time - Jim and Holly's girls are beautiful and an absolute delight. They've done a terrific job as parents...and everyone got along wonderfully.

Later on, I found out that Holly does stone massage and she was kind enough to give me one...UNBELIEVABLE!!!











After my massage, I departed to Kelowna and my friend Ken's place (KAMP KEN as some of us call it)
Ken has a beautiful place right on the beach in Kelowna and had also invited me to his place as I was passing through. Our friend from Maui, Steve Gatchell was also there at the same time so it was perfect timing. I hadn't seen Steve in a long time. When I got there, there was a 5 alarm party going on. Ken had mentioned something about a barbeque....I had thought he had meant with Steve, him and me...forgetting that whatever Ken does, is on a big scale. Regardless it was a wonderful time and the night ended with Scott Theilman (a brilliant musician friend of mine from Kelowna) and myself trading the guitar back and forth doing silly songs entertaining the guests around the gas firepit on Ken's deck.

Here's one final picture of me and Steve Gatchell from Maui at Ken's Place on Saturday night. In the background you'll see Scott Theilman as well.










Well that's all for now... like I said, I will try to report back in here...maybe even with pictures....AGH!

Take care...