Followup Seven Weeks PostOp

TKR Recovery in Alberta

Schiphole KLM Lounge

Been back home 5 1/2 weeks now. For those looking to read unhappy details about a failed TKR effort, you will have to look elsewhere. Recovery is progressing very, very well! Have been remiss in not updating, but that's typical of when things go well, folks generally only write reviews or comment when things don't go well. Anyway, this post is an update of progress since February 2.

We experienced uneventful flights back from Vilnius to Calgary via Amsterdam. The world was only on the leading edge of the current rogue flu pandemic hysteria. A couple face masks at Schiphol, otherwise it was business as usual back on Feb 2. Happy not to be traveling now. Crazy that world governments are destroying the economy of the planet because there is no fake vaccine for Covid-19 like the useless one we have for influenza (CDC claims 29% effective in 2018/19 in US, and variably 10 to 60% effective since 2004).

Covid-19 Vaccine (you only need 6)

No doubt governments are waiting impatiently to transfer billions of tax dollars to the first Big Pharma out the gate with a Covid-19 vaccine. But wait, maybe there already is a vaccine? Mexicans have been brewing it for decades, probably at least as effective as any big pharma product, and only a couple bucks a dose. Plus it quenches thirst and gives a buzz.

Moving on.....

To add to the fun, we arrived back home to previously scheduled construction in the White Post upstairs bathrooms. Finally making the giant unusable 4 person jet tub go away, and adding an upstairs laundry pair and generally update the facilities.

On return, Elaine's knee was initially very stiff and the incision took a few weeks to completely heal up. Progress however, has been awesome.

Formal physiotherapy was started second week of February at Panther Sports Medicine ,Shawnessy Cardell Rec Centre. The physiotherapist said that she looked like 6 weeks post surgery not 3! Elaine has attended nominally once per week to get aggressive treatment to return range of motion. No pain no gain a very accurate adage. Fear of scar tissue is a big motivator. Elaine has been visiting the Y almost daily since returning home and has been extremely excited about the progress. And yes, if you were wondering, Alberta Health does pay for first 7 physio visits.


Much hard work did not go unrewarded. By February 22 Elaine could climb and descend stairs in a relatively normal fashion. Below is link to short video at downtown Y on Feb 22.

Video Link: One month Post TKR surgery

The Mundare Sausage

It has been daily continuous improvement far beyond any of my expectations. 

To escape the drywall dust we ventured out on a short Alberta staycation. A couple days on Edmonton's Whyte Avenue, followed by an awesome night at the South Africa House.

At Edmonton, couldn't find anything to purchase at the West Edmonton Mall but did enjoy the ice free mall walking. Also enjoyed lunch with my longtime pal Roy in Sherwood Park. Ventured out on Whyte Ave. for some great food, more walking (that knee is getting better every day) and of course a few beers at Blues on Whyte. Too early for music but beer was fine.

Vegreville Pysanka

On leaving Edmonton, I stopped in Sherwood Park at AMA to get a trailer license plate. The government data base was unavailable so no license for me. 

Onto Mundare, famous for its world's largest sausage monument as well as the Stawnichy's Mundare sausage house. Tried twice to get a license at the Mundare registry, before and after visiting the monument and then Stawnichy's to purchase delicious sausage and jerky. Was foiled once again, government database now available but qualified operator not so much.

Onto Vegreville to see the Pysanka. A marvelous creation, said to be the not only the world's largest Pysanka but also the first project to use computer modelling to design the 3500 aluminum pieces it is made up of. As can be seen at video link below, Elaine is walking very well 6 weeks after surgery.

VIDEO LINK: Vegreville Pysanka Walkabout

Built in 1974 to honour the towns centennial, Queen Elizabeth had the pleasure of visiting back in 1978. Even rotates as a massive weather vane.  More detail at link below.

LINK: CBC Vegreville Pysanka story


Another town, another registry. Fourth time was a charm. Now had license in hand for the prototype Generator/Bitcoin mining unit that was installed near Hardisty the next day.

From Vegreville we headed south on a frighteningly slushy Hwy 36 toward Viking. Had spent many years of my Oil and Gas career drilling wells and producing gas in the Viking/Vegreville areas, that world has changed a lot. Main street Viking has more boarded up shops than not, natural gas is worthless, farming suffering from politically motivated embargoes. Very tough economy.

Viking Ribstones

Further on, a few miles east of Viking, we visited the Viking Ribstones. Said to be carved by ancients and to resemble buffalo ribs, they reside on a local highpoint. A sacred place to some as many prayer flags were visible in a nearby aspen stand as well as gracing the fence surrounding the stones. Fortunately its only 100m walk off the gravel road to the stones. Elaine did well on the slippery uneven terrain.
Culturally fulfilled we headed to Wainwright to find accommodation for the night.

Wainwright is a little luckier than most Alberta towns, lots of federal government cash (returning a small part of what they steal each year from Alberta) related to nearby base CFB Wainwright. The base was once the 225 SqMi Buffalo National Park until 1940. I guess it was OK for the federal government of the day to exterminate the 20,000 buffalo on basis of anthrax to make way for a massive military facility. Very convenient.

We looked at the local Wainwright accommodation offering of no-tell motels like the Ramada, Best Western etc. with low expectations.There was a guest house, The South Africa House, that caught my attention. What could possibly be South African in east central Alberta? I called re availability, which was confirmed after a half hour of the manager finding someone to open the door.

SA House Great Room

We found the local "Chinese" food establishment, The Four Seasons. These establishments are a staple of rural Alberta small town cuisine. All the best stuff, egg roll, spring roll, wor wonton soup, salt/pepper squid, beef and black bean sauce. Although could not likely find in China, it was pretty good I have to say, had to take some away for a mid evening snack


Then it was onto South Africa House in midtown Wainwright. A truly amazing structure! Built as a family home by transplanted South Africans, it was renovated to provide 5 executive rental rooms. Set on a wooded lot, one could not tell they were in the middle of town, felt like we were at a country vacation home.

 VIDEO LINK: South Africa House Wainwright

A fabulous great room adorned with body parts and skins of numerous former African creatures as well as fine art and very comfy furniture. A huge kitchen with separate clean up galley. Even a bridal suite on upper level. Worth a visit. Many stairs to walk up and down to test a new knee. We enjoyed the entire house to ourselves this night. Highly recommended, good value, a unique place.

Hardisty Oil Terminal

Link: South Africa House Website

From Wainwright it's a little less than an hour to Hardisty via Hwy 41/13. Hwy 41 passes through CFB Wainwright heading south to Hwy 13 then head west on Hwy 13 toward Hardisty, the oil storage capital of Alberta. Some 35 million barrels of storage capacity is located there, one of the planets largest such facilities. Hwy 13 passes through the centre of the complex near the Town of Hardisty.

Trailer mounted Generator and data Centre

A visit to Hardisty would not be complete without breakfast at Deena's Country Kitchen. A small venue, in grand Alberta style it opens at 5AM to ensure the area workers start the day properly. Standard breakfast fare, build your own(sans pancakes) all very delicious. Take the time if in the area.

With full bellies we headed north to the site where the trailer mounted data centre/generator was being off loaded and connected. The crew was already onsite when we arrived around 11. By 2:00 it was up and running, mining crypto-currency. This is a "Proof of Concept" unit to test the idea of mining bitcoins with waste gas.
There is some 80000 mcf of gas flared and vented in Alberta each day. This unit uses about 30 mcfd, so lots of room for expansion if it works and it isn't stolen.

VIDEO LINK: Trailer mounted Generator and data centres

My role was to provide the license plate. With that heavy lifting done and the unit up and operating we headed back to Hardsity for lunch at the The Leaf Sports Pub, a refitted railway station serving up standard pub fare. I can report the burgers are decent, fries also. Then onward to as pleasant a 4 hour drive back home across the plains as one can enjoy.

Back at White Post, Elaine continues the recovery process. Physio is still useful and she is now able to go for decent length walks and is cycling on stationary bike up to 33 minutes at a go. Not quite ready for Prairie Mountain yet, but will not be far off. Couldn't be happier.

VIDEO LINK: Stationary Cycling 7 weeks post TKR

Renovations upstairs are also moving in a forward direction, all going well should wrap up by end of month.Woohoo... so excited for a bathtub.

Druskininskai: Recovery at the UPA Spa

After Care at the UPA Spa Druskininkai - How Important is After Care?

I will start with a preamble regarding surgery after care before we head to the rehabilitation facility at Druskininkai. I will place some photos of the travel from Kaunas to Druskininkai here as a pleasant distraction from the seriousness of the discussion.
 

Window Ledge Art - Gijos Klinikos

The deal maker for us in this process was not the cost, rather the availability of supervised after care (Physiotherapy, massage, doctor/nursing support etc). Lithuania offers well planned after care. An extract from initial discussion email from NordClinic is shown in italics below:

After the hospitalisation your wife should start a physiotherapy course. Physiotherapy is very important while recovering after the surgery. She may choose to have rehabilitation back home or in the health resort in Lithuania. If she chooses to have rehabilitation back home, her stay in Lithuania should last for approximately 7-10 days. If she chooses rehabilitation in Lithuania, her stay should last for 5 days + the duration of rehabilitation. 

The Lithuanian fields are green in January!

Rehabilitation costs an extra 130 Euro per day if the patient is staying alone and 180 Euro per day if she chooses to stay in rehabilitation with an accompanying person.

Below please see the usual description of the patient's stay:

The patient arrives in Lithuania in the morning or early afternoon of the day before the surgery. My colleague from customer service picks the patient up from the airport and takes him/her to the clinic for the pre-surgery health tests and consultation with the surgeon. Afterward, the patient is taken to the hotel of his/her choice. The transportation is free of charge. The next day the patient has the surgery, stays in the clinic for approximately two days (depending on how quick recovery is). In the clinic, the patient gets 3 meals a day and 24-hours nursing. After the patient is discharged from the clinic my colleague takes him/her to the rehabilitation centre. While in rehabilitation the patient receives full board, up to 3 physiotherapy procedures per day and 24/7 nursing.

The lightest dusting of snow

The above described process is pretty much how it played out except there is only one physio procedure/day not three, perhaps they may have conflated the cryo-therapy and heat treatments into physiotherapy procedures?

For some not so obscure reason (arrogance, lack of money, no one cares, who knows)? North American medical care does not seem to think its important to provide after care or followup. Possibly it helps get you back into the medical Matrix sooner?




In Calgary, there is an exception if you live alone. AHS reluctantly provides after care at facilities like the Calgary Rockyview(Auxiliary Hospital?). Very highly advisable to tell the AHS that you live alone, whether you do or not. Not sure if Canada follows the US or visa/versa. Mayo Clinic also does not offer aftercare, nor does Centric. I can report that for Elaine's 2 knee surgeries in the 20th century and my ankle surgery in 2005, there was NOTHING other than the surgery provided by the Alberta medical system. Oh wait, they did pull stitches/remove staples.

As for my other experiences in Alberta medical system, not a lot of good can be reported, in fact I have not experienced a good one.

Childbirth in Calgary? I was there for 3 of them and no manual came out with the babies and there certainly was little training or assistance for new parents.

Mental Health treatment in Alberta is a rabbit hole one should avoid venturing if at all possible. In the Emergency Ward, which is typically the entry point, mental health patients wait hours while the twisted sock type/obvious trauma patients glide on past. 

Eye surgery? I have witnessed 4 times not a charm, and they still wanted to do more, maybe 5th a charm? No Thanks!

Druskininkai is a Spa Town

Cancer no better, false hope for most, 4th stage lung cancer, we can just surgically remove that, ahh well that can't work, lets try radiation, nope, hmmm maybe chemotherapy will do the trick? Sorry, after 4 years of making your life hell we have nothing more, now you can die. The doctors wear fine Italian shoes and suits, at least someone is a winner. A friend had bags packed and was ready to checkout when diagnosed. Then the doctors said they could "help" . The false hope keeps you going, That individual is now the poster child that is pointed to by the doctors as a "success". Of course they only measure success by time survived after diagnosis. The absolutely abysmal quality of life is not considered, uninteresting, unimportant. Truly the Matrix. 

I won't inflict the entire nastiness of my mothers final hours lived out in agony at the Peter Lougheed. Suffice to say her words ring in my ears still nearly 20 years later. "What the F*** did I ever do to deserve this"? Cleo was a lady I never heard swear, wouldn't say shit if her mouth was full of it. Such was hospital pain management, a nurse told me that her respiration was too low, couldn't give any more meds. I replied that we both knew that the respiration should be zero...

There is also no interest in whether a surgical procedure is successful. No follow up by the surgeon. How can they possibly improve? One gets better followup from Amazon on purchases, at least they are looking for reviews. Are they waiting for someone else to tell them innovations? Are they hoping to read it in a journal? No need to answer that, only the Americans do material research on new techniques and treatments, and that is because they are rewarded for innovation by the market. Not so in Canada where resources are spent solely operating the facilities. With an infinite line of non-paying customers, innovation is unnecessary. It is because 'free' medical care is not a business, and in Canada it is not even a service. There is no worries about whether the customers are happy. There is 3 year list of fresh meat waiting in the queue.

Spa Treatments for everything

It was not always like this in Alberta. As a young person growing up in the 1960's I saw doctors to be at the top of the human workers food chain. They were highly respected, had the biggest houses and also made the most money. They were private businesses that provided a service to individuals in need of assistance with physical and mental medical issues. Doctors came to your house if you were infirm. Dr. Donald a crusty old Scotsman, would visit my grannie at our home as her health failed in her late 80's. Carrying his well worn black satchel packed with the tools of his trade, he would discuss what ailed her, check her vitals, cheer her up with kind words, confident discussion and the continued recommendation(prescription?) that the lifelong teetotaler have a snifter of Brandy in her evening tea.  A relationship was developed between patient and doctor. 

Welcome Monument

We had medical insurance through Medical Services Incorporated(Alberta) a private plan created by Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons. It managed risk of being bankrupted by unexpected medical costs. We were not a rich family. I didn’t know it at the time but we were indeed poor. A single mom with 4 children, an ailing grandmother, surviving on my dads superannuation benefits and my grannies old age pension. We got by and we had health care when needed; my mom finally had to go to work after grannies OAS expired when she did. 

Then came the Canada Health Act. As a "free" service, operated by government all the caring and sharing is stripped away. Phone consultations are specifically unfunded, not sure about house calls but haven't heard of a doctor doing that in Alberta in decades, at least in the AHS system. There are private options available.

I have previously noted that the choice to have knee surgery in Lithuania was not about money. If the Alberta government would allow us to get surgery in Alberta, in a reasonable time frame(6 months max),it would be a no brainer. I would pay the Mayo Clinic rate. We have numerous contacts for excellent physiotherapy, massage etc. and could certainly make it happen. In the absence of Alberta providing reasonable service, would have gladly had surgery done in Toronto or Rochester at over twice the cost of Lithuania, easily justifiable to avoid 14-16 hours of airport and in air travel time. Not a happy way to and from a surgical procedure.

 

If Centric had any accessible after care arranged that they backed up it would be much more reasonable to endure a 4 hour flight, rather than 9+2 hours plus layovers. Same with Mayo Clinic, about 45 minutes by air closer to Calgary than toronto, would have done that deal if they had after care(and a better attitude).

Arranging for after care in a remote city with zero relationships is difficult and has a lot of risk. Was not going to happen.

Getting to Drushininkai: Onward to the UPA Spa

Algiro Breakfast

I was up early on second day after the surgery, packed up our stuff, quick breakfast at the Algiro Hotel buffet.

Left Knee 2 days after Surgery

Elaine apparently was up a lot earlier, like 3 hours earlier.


She reported that the cramping had gone away as well as no serious pain. They had changed the bandage and was able to send me an informative photo seen nearby of said knee. Elaine was also provided with film copy of before and after XRAY images. Very cool indeed!


I was over to the Clinic by 8:30. Wasn't very much stuff that Elaine had at Clinic, it all fit in a small backpack and the handy multi-use plastic bag from duty free that the whiskey previously occupied. All was easily loaded into the back of RAV4 with our other 2 cases

Before and after XRAY: The "Replacement" Implant Left Knee is on lookers right

It was pretty much 48 hours to the minute after surgery that we were out the Gijos Klinikos door and down to the assigned transport "van". Then the fun started. The Clinic was responsible to transport the patients to the rehabilitation spa at Druskininkai. The transport lady showed up with a compact Skoda! Good thing I had my own vehicle....

UPA Spa at Druskininkai

Elaine got into the front seat while Jacqui, an NHS refugee from Northern Ireland, attempted the same in back. It was immediately very clear that this would not happen. The reverse was tried, Elaine wiggled into back seat and Jacqui, with much difficulty, struggled into the front. Dereck, a good sized gentleman had to sit behind the driver. Neither of us had the foresight to have him ride with me. Duh! Elaine ended up with the foot of the injured leg up on the console between seats, cushioned by Derecks coat. This is the only significant fail that I observed NordClinic to incur. 
I should have loaded them all into the RAV4 rental, but then that would transfer the risk to me.

It's a 135 km drive from Kaunas to Druskininkai, 4 lane initially, last 100km 2 lane good tarmac roads. Passed by endless rural pastoral scenes, I saw zero animals, Elaine caught a glimpse of a deer. A tiny bit of snow at a minor high point, otherwise green fields.

The Lithuanians appear to be winners in wealth transfer from European Union. They are near the NATO front lines with the Russian Bear. Lithuania's adjacent northern neighbour Latvia, that borders Russia is host to an apparently problem plagued Canadian-led "Enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group". A noted in article linked below, Turdeau is indeed sending a message to Putin. NATO countries are ensuring that they ring fence Russia from the rest of Europe, the Baltics are clearly benefiting.

Link: Canadian Military Operation Latvia National Post 

In about 1.5 hours we arrived at the UPA spa. The Skoda inhabitants were very happy to exit the cramped vehicle. This facility was opened in 2016, funding of which some unknown amount came from the EU. This is a high end modern facility, also is a dual purpose facility. Rehabilitation for Orothopaedic patients and a high end Spa for lifestyle users and their families. Eastern Europeans have a culture of enjoying other people waiting on them. Apparently also like being covered with mud and other substances and having flesh rubbed by other's hands. From Friday evening to Sunday noon the place was hopping with new non-medical guests. Many proudly walked the UPA halls on weekends outfitted in the provided white robes traipsing from treatment to treatment.

Room 219

The check-in process at UPA spa was very efficient, a quick look at the patients passport and we were on our way to assigned Room 219.

Room 219, and presumably all the rooms are the same, is very efficiently designed with two fully functional hospital beds. Decent wash/shower room, window to the outdoors, lots of storage, beer fridge. What's not to like!

Treatments started almost immediately, up first was a Physician consultation where a doctor, with seemingly the ability to understand English, recorded results from our answers to her difficult to understand  rudimentary English questions. Much writing went on, she must have imagined she heard something that made sense.

Shower and fine heated towel rack

Lunch was at 13:00, immediately after the Dr. appointment. We were treated with the honour of eating in the main floor cafeteria. This is normally reserved for dining of non-medical Spa guests, that are not part of the NordClinic medical package. Its pay as you go normally. Decent food, and I expect the same kitchen serves both places. They are self serve buffet style; soup, salad, starch, and  choice of several entree's. Beer, wine, all kind of booze was also available at a nicely appointed bar, this type of bar is not available in the upstairs cafeteria that is the usual dining spot. We were allowed downstairs this day only as upstairs cafeteria was closed for servicing. Anyone, including rehab patients can go to the main floor facility anytime(well at least during open hours) and buy booze, but the food that is included in the rehab package is served only in 2nd floor facility after this day.

View from Room 219 Balcony

An occupational therapy session was scheduled soon after lunch to see if you could use crutches, walker or cane. Just asked if you could. No training or quiz if you said yes. Then came a topical Cryo-therapy treatment followed by a 20 minute "therapeutic" massage.

Dinner is at 18:00, similar style as lunch, and our first day is done.

UPA Spa: Daily Routine(Groundhog Day)

Physiotherapy Room

Except for one other Physician appointment on the 3rd day, all the days procedures/treatments just repeat themselves:

08:00 - 09:30 Breakfast

11:25 - 11:55 Physical Therapy 30 minutes

12:00 - 12:10 Topical Cryo-Therapy 3 minutes

12:30 - 12:50 Back Massage20 minutes

13:00 - 14:00 Lunch

Cryo-Therapy Room, and device

14:40 - 14:50 Polarized Light Therapy (Heat Treatment)
10 minutes

15:00 - 15:05 Remove bandage, clean wound antiseptic spray new bandage. 5 minutes

18:00 -19:00 Dinner

Polarized Light Therapy

The meals each day are pretty much the same, breakfast offers a couple of egg choices, porridge, bread, sausage, vegetables, cold cuts. Lunch and dinner offer several entrees to choose from, extensive salad bar, choice of soup. Different in a few ways every day but still much the same.

One easily slips into this "Groundhog Day" type routine, well maybe we don't awake to Sony and Cher's "I Got You Babe" every morning at 06:00, like Phil Connors (Bill Murray, back when he was funny) did in the classic Harold Ramis 1993 film. It was the last of 6 films Ramis and Murray did, they didn't speak again for 21 years. Maybe that is why Bill's later efforts weren't funny? 

The UPA daily routine is incredibly mind numbing, rather like I imagine incarceration in a Jail, Nursing/Old Folks home or a large Cruise Ship might be like.


Of no material note or relevance, much like this entire blog, it is rumoured that Bill Murray resurrects the Phil Connors character for a Jeep advertisement. This no doubt riveting 30 second remake is to be aired during Super Bowl LIV this coming weekend, February 2, 2020.
Bill was recently observed in Woodstock Illinois, site of original film shooting recently....
Ironically, we leave Lithuania to return home February 2nd....

Eastern Orthodox: Joy of All who Sorrow Church

One day after arrival, Elaine is playing for the camera and managed a nice pirouette
in the UPA main floor lobby. Instantly became a NordClinic Facebook star.

Video Link: Elaine 95 Hours Post Knee Replacement Surgery January 24, 2020

I did venture out for a solo tour into Druskininkai at noon, later in afternoon both of us went for a drive into town after the bandage replacement.

Musical Fountain

A very beautiful town, wealthy Russians have been coming here since Czar Nicholas I bestowed spa status upon Druskininkai in 1837.

A beautiful blue church is surrounded by a traffic circle, more a tourist attraction now as membership has declined. We walked around the Musical Fountain area, a lovely public space, festively decorated for the year end holidays. This outing was a little bit aggressive, Elaine suffered some  probably unnecessary pain later in evening.

 Live Video Link: Musical Fountain

 



Beautiful Flowers arrived courtesy Michelle, very much appreciated by Elaine and me.

I obtained  an access card to the fitness/gym area, a fine facility, I kept up every second day weight work outs and stretching. The equipment is in excellent condition, was even a couple other people there on occasion

UPA Fitness Facility

 
A reprise of town driving tour was done accompanied by Dereck and Jacqui.  We stopped at a pharmacy to obtain some Waterproof/showerproof bandages that are not provided at the Spa. These were provided at Gijos Klinikos and are pretty handy for morning showers, as bandage replacement is late afternoon.

We had our only dinner out in Druskininkai that same evening with Dereck and Jacqui. A busy town, the first three restaurants were packed and they offered little or no hope for seating in less than 1/2 hour, if at all. Saturday night is a busy time in a Spa town. We had just about resigned ourselves to returning to UPA buffet when Dereck spotted some empty tables in a pub/restaurant as we passed by on the main road.

We checked it out and indeed food and drinks were available at Resturantas B12, connected to the Inza hotel. Not a high end place, but the ribs, chicken wings were pretty good as was the beer and whiskey. Wouldn't sell me a beer glass that they served me my drink in. The glass had a unique local Druskininkai logo. I offered the waitress €20, but she steadfastly refused. The desire to obtain a similar glass would later cause me some trouble.

Another morning, another afternoon, another evening, another night... To paraphrase John Prine,
"All the days just repeat themselves like some forgotten dream that we've both seen"

John Prine: Hello In There

Veroyi Outdoor Security Camera

           ASIN B07P4LT3KZ

The pain in Elaine's leg is variable, stinging, sharp, mostly uncomfortable. She dropped the crutches and went for a cane on the weekend. Dereck and I thought we would get drinks in the main floor cafeteria Sunday evening, who knew it closed early? We shared a beer from my stockpile and hung around the main floor lounge chatting. Well the term 'share' is an exaggeration, I drank most of the Pinta as Dereck suffers from ingesting small amounts of beer, still, a nice social gesture by him. Many stories are shared as well as some hilarious video clips. Dereck also demonstrated his £39 Amazon.co.uk security camera, decent coverage of his house step in Ireland. The UPA Spa is awesome,  can even be advised on security cameras! The same device can be had on Amazon.com for $40US. Expensive to be British also it appears, and not available that I can see in Canada, a pity. Dereck/Jacqui headed back to Ireland the next day, we certainly missed their company.

Elaine indulged in a sleeping pill Sunday night that gave her a nasty hangover type response that took most of the morning to make go away. Apparently not unusual with sleeping pills... who knew? Never have taken them.

Cabin fever was so bad that had to get out for a run! I believe it was my first run since September.(well other than down Prairie Mountain a few times) An enjoyable 25 minute outing on nearby pathways, where I amazingly ended up at UPA when I thought I was somewhere far away in town. Some directional challenges it seems.

I saw a Cannabis Massage advert on the promotional lobby video screen and inquired at the desk.
Not sure what this is, had to ask? The lady at the desk giggled and said rub leaves on you? I asked if I could keep the leaves after, she giggled more...I was quickly scheduled for what I thought was a 40 minute event.
What will €40 buy? After dinner it was straight off to the massage room.The masseuse was a matronly 50ish lady. She gave me a small bag and said "bikini" and motioned that I put it on. I open the bag an indeed it contained a very small package cover, I donned the garment, she pointed to  the table to lay down. It was a gentle massage, seems I slept through most of it, and when done found it had lasted a whole hour, Final invoice a mere €45. Nothing came up. I am thinking the marijuana part was made up to suck fools like me in, no leaves, some oil that did not smell like pot. 
The best part was the undergarment that I was allowed to retain on leaving. I can maybe use it as a corona virus mask in a pinch traveling home. That is only if the current corona virus hysteria has not reached an even higher fever pitch prior to our Sunday departure. My apologies, there were no volunteers for a better garment model.

Not being religious, I have no idea how to pray, but I may google how. With the Donald in control and Americans being a nation with a majority of believers, it may be useful. Maybe prayer will keep the US from closing all the airports 911 style. Although I'm sure Gander would be pleased to once again take centre stage should that occur.

Elaine had little sleep the last 24 hours, knee hurting a lot, kept her up most of night. She had reduced pain meds, as figured knee wasn't hurting. Not so, apparently it still was and the meds were keeping the pain in check. oops!! Her physiotherapist at UPA advised it will be 4-6 weeks before the pain is manageable without meds. (Dr. Belickas had optimistically reported the knee would hurt for about a year, hopefully over-promising on this one)

Another Morning: A Maxima Mis-Adventure

Thought I would go to Snow Arena for a couple hours today. There is an indoor ski area just outside of Druskininkia. For reference it is Tuesday.

I include numerous Maxima photos here so that us "Westerners"can see that Lithuania is an advanced country, NOT the Soviet Union anymore. In fact they are further advanced than North America, the prices are very reasonable, 25-50% less than in Canada!

Maxima

Checkouts

But first I needed to pick up a few items at Maxima drug store and more "groceries". Picked up 5 more waterproof bandages as well as an additional supply of medicated Lioton 1000TV/g Gel that is designed to inhibit clotting. A few more beer, yogurt and sausage sticks. Couldn't get the requested replacement support hose (that is now suffering a few holes). The clerk gave me a local address across town to get it at.  I exited the parking lot on mission for support hose.

Maxima Related Pharmacy

I notice a souvenir shop a few blocks down and pull off into another Maxima store parking area. There is at least 4 in town of various sizes. Kind of a Superstore/Dollar General combination. I still desired a beer mug/glass with a Druskininkai logo on it. Sadly the store had nothing like it.

Alcohol

More Beer!

On exiting the parking area, while mis-manouvering a greater than 90 degree turn, I inadvertently (stupidly?) hit a small granite bollard that guarded the sidewalk by the exit, didn't sound serious so I carried on.... that was a fail,
Soon I noticed I was being followed, did complete circle around traffic circle, still there, then same at another still there. Pulled into parking lot, Volvo pulled in behind me.

Fresh Meat

I got out of my vehicle, a larger than me gentleman exited his car and approached, I asked him if I could help him? He speaks decent English. He said I had made an accident and left, could have my licence taken away! I said hmm, didn't think it was much of an incident, had seen bollard had a small tilt from mirror, but didn't think a huge deal. Now when stopped I could see a significant scratch on, and some damage to plastic under, the passenger door. No doubt multiple €1000's will be quoted at Vilnius airport! He said I had damaged a bollard and suggested I could pay him €150 and he would get fixed and call it good. I said it's a rental, they can sort it out. Oh you have insurance he says, yes, hmmm...

Cured Meats

No beef here, but  have 10% lean pork

He says let's go to Policia and report, I follow him there. He has a lengthy discussion with a clerk and eventually an enormous young officer comes out from the back. I am asked (with the initial guy translating) if I have documents, I says should be in car and go out to get them, no documents in car! I return and report that nada in car but I have rental agreement at UPA. The disinterested officer takes the keys, which have a phone number, and calls National/Enterprise in Vilnius and determines the insurance company. Reports that to first guy.

Maxima Produce

First gentleman says that insurance office is nearby, he can take me there. We leave police station, No report, Pollicia didn't ask for my drivers licence, did not seem concerned or indicate so.  We drive a couple blocks to insurance office, it is closed for lunch, its 12:30, the guy says he does not have time to wait, offers to settle for €100. I say sure, but need a written release? He says ok, follow me, we drive to industrial area. I wonder whether I should text a last message to Elaine? There is no time to text, and it would really be an offence, since I was driving.

Fresh Fish!

We drive into a do not enter area and park. I follow him up stairs to an office, numerous trophies displayed on a book case. I ask what trophies are from he says they are corporate stuff? Turns out the release letter says he is Directoris of a company that he indicated was related to Maximas. The stores in town, one of which was where I damaged the bollard. He writes a release, I ask for translation, he obliges, sounds reasonable, he signs it, doesn't ask me to, I don't offer. I ask if I can add an English version to the release, he says if I know how... he lets me use his laptop and I paste his word text into google translate, amazingly the text is pretty close to what he said it was. I paste the English version into word document, he prints another copy and signs it. I give pass him €100 which he accepts, I offer my hand and he shakes it.

Dairy Case

I offer up a few pleasant parting words about how wonderful our Lithuanian experience has been, he smiles and directs me out of office down the stairs and out. I am back in car, part 1 of crisis averted. No doubt part 2 at the rental office will be equally disturbing. But hey, they won't be scamming me, I really did damage their vehicle.

Deli

Later I translate the letter head of the paper he signed, he is director/CEO of Druskininku Komunalinus Ukis, a road/street repairs and Utility construction company. No apparent link to Maxima, but maybe he is in charge of maintaining sidewalks? Anyway, was not worth his time to scam me for €100. I passed by the offended bollard the next day and it was repaired, likely was never much damage. The guy did have to earn the €100, was at least an hour of chasing around. Not sure what Directoris might get paid here, he earned it.


I decide to leave Snow Arena for another day. Am back at UPA for 13:00 lunch with Elaine....


Failed at groundhog day today, at least I hope so, do not want to reprise that event!

Later in afternoon, Elaine and I take our first walk together outside, pain meds are working somewhat and we walk around the building and along water course pathway, the swans are lovely. We kept it short. She is now walking reasonably sans cane.

At least it has Alcohol

 





Video Link: Elaine Walk Around outside UPA Spa January 28, 2020

I had found a novel brew at Maxima, Hops and Cannabis. A decent beer, premium priced though(€1.19), almost twice the Argus brew from LIDL). It was a good start to winding down a silly day.


And then, back to groundhog day....Will try again tomorrow to obtain new support hose, maybe actually get to the Snow Arena....

Codiene / Paracetamol

Elaine had better sleep this night, pain meds certainly assisted....we then thought we should stock up on pain meds prior to leaving. Elaine obtained ULTRACOD prescription from physician and I was tasked to get it filled. Took my passport etc and, you guessed it, went back to Maxima. The older clerk did not speak English, luckily a young lady was able to assist.

The only issue was that the prescription was for 20 tablets, they only come in boxes of 30. I was OK with 30 tablets and paid the €7.14(about $10CAD) in cash without being required to show any ID, they returned prescription and I was on my way...


Could I do this again at another pharmacy? I did not try. Not sure how they would track the prescription, didn't notice any information being recorded?

I try again to find support hose, the address given by the pharmacy person the day before is an enormous Spa connected to a waterpark! I walk in and have a look, no obvious shops before the registration area. Maybe it was a joke? I abandon search for support hose.

Another Afternoon - Druskininkai Snow Arena

I went Indoor Skiing on Wednesday at the Snow Arena near Druskininkai. It's kinda like an indoor version of Paskapoo, Calgary's original ski hill. Paskapoo is what it was known as before the 1988 Olympic Committee acquired it. Later the facility was expanded and rebranded as Canada Olympic Park(COP) for the 1988 Olympics.In the 1960's it was locally known by patrons as Paskashitts!


Paskapoo, along with the long gone lift serviced facilities at Happy Valley(now the site of the oxymoronically named Calgary residential neighbourhood of Valley Ridge) and the almost forgotten lift serviced hill at Shagannapi golf course were Calgary's outdoor equivalent of the Snow Arena. 
 

Happy Valley 1970

Paskapoo 1977

Comparitively Paskapoo is somewhat larger than the Snow Arena.

Happy Valley

The size discussion is all from a relative "hill" perspective. The Druskininkai run is 460m long with a vertical drop of 65m. Paskapoo longest run was about 2000 feet with 390 feet vertical That was before the elder turdeau inflicted the metric system on Canada. It then was reduced to about 610m long with 120 m vertical. I guess that Paskaoo has not only twice the vertical drop of Snow Arena, but is also steeper. Happy Valley and Shaganappi were more comparable to Snow Arena if memory serves.

It's about a 3 km drive from the Spa to the Snow Arena, was an easy drive using handheld navigation, even road signs pointing the way. A nice simple process to get ticket and rentals. Both service folks spoke decent English, and by this time I can mumble Aciu(thank you) in Lithuanian  Paid the extra euros to get "new" premium rentals, they told me the older ones were 5ish years old.  Cost of the adventure was €38 for a 2 hour lift ticket, full set of rentals, jacket, salopettes and helmet. 
 

Looking up from mid point

Knowing there was expert medical assistance nearby did not cause me to throw caution to the wind, I wasn't about to take any risk here. I hadn't been on skis in over 20 months. On entering the refrigerated area, one first sees the magic carpet type lift, I paused for a minute at, a line of several 3 years olds was ahead of me. I decided to on pass riding the carpet and went straight onto the main hill. The entry point is mid-hill, soon I was gliding down the slightly snow covered ice and onto the chairlift. Worthy of mention is that Snow Arena also has an outdoor lift serviced hill, however with the mild winter the grass on it was green, not open yet this year.

 Video Link: Druskininkai Indoor Snow Arena

Like Skiing in the Dolomites

 I avoided the requirement for any personal medical treatment, a new knee or hip or face lift/boob job (have heard that knees and hips are secondary, the big medical tourism cash is in facelifts and boob jobs!) I enjoyed somewhere between 5 and 7 runs... lost count, about 45 minutes elapsed time. 

Snow Arena Outdoor Panorama

This activity might be a new "bucket list" life experience according to one unnamed wag. Can chase indoor hills not only in Europe, but in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, North America and even Australia. Have to hurry, numerous ones have already closed. 

 

 

Heading Home

We travel in a couple days, the Wuhan Corona Virus now takes up a large space in the Main Stream Media "news". Hysteria and fear of this magnitude is at a level not seen since SARS in 2002/3. Well maybe the hysteria surrounding Trump running for President and Brexit.

Business Insider: Wuhan Corona Virus less threat to Americans than flu

Influenza Virus

Is Corona Virus really that big a deal? A little research would suggest not.
Overnight the WHO announced a GLOBAL EMERGENCY! To January 30, 2020  Forty Three Airlines have stopped all flights to China. One would think that we must be close to an apocalypse occurring.

According to numerous experts quoted in article at link above. The flu is a far greater danger. Some 15 MILLION Americans have caught  flu virus since October 2019, 20,000 have died from influenza.

Wuhan Corona Virus

In 2018, a bad year, 80,000 Americans expired.

An enlightening quote from same : "A key difference between the flu and the Wuhan Corona Virus is that the former has a vaccine. " Oh, and no, it cannot be transmitted by drinking Mexican beer as apparently many folks are asking. What it doesn't say is that the flu is boring, has no glamour, it just doesn't sell papers and is not good click bait for the Main Stream Media to sell advertising or for governments to pretend they are saving us from anything and everything but themselves. The article goes on to say that, in US last year, the flu vaccine was 29% effective. I'm sure that a cost benefit analysis has been evaluated that shows conclusively, that it's well worth the billions of dollars of tax dollars transferred each year to Big Pharma....

Mass Hysteria

As for Corona Virus, seems like mass hysteria is being fomented for some reason? Not really like anything can actually be done about it. Well maybe nothing other than rich countries flying home nationals from the largest quarantine zone ever to grace the planet. WTF? No doubt bringing carriers of the virus back home to share with friends, family and other unsuspecting folk they may contact. 

The Corona Virus is similar to flu in that it dispatches mainly old/sick folk... SARS in 2002/3 was the same.... Maybe there is concern that old voters will not be able to prop up existing administrations?

As an old person, maybe I should be concerned? I haven't had a flu shot in 20+ years, maybe had one or two goes at influenza in that time. Helpful not to have school age children to bring virus's home. My math would suggest that I have achieved at least a 90% success rate in avoiding flu, far greater than the 29% that the vaccine purportedly reached. I am still on green side of grass, I think I will take my chances using the abstinence technique, from both carriers and the vaccine. At the end of the day, folks have to die from something, flu is far more benign than cancer. 

The entire Corona Virus hysteria is media hype and government pretending to be useful.

The Spa departure day arrived! Not a day too soon, and I would observe not, a day late either. Much recovery has occurred while in close proximity to capable assistance. 

Top of Lithuania Aukštojas Hill

On the drive from Druskininkai to Vilnius we detoured from the direct auto route to scale the slopes of Aukštojas Hill to its summit the, Top of Lithuania! 

At a height of 293.84m above average sea level, we were required to navigate 200m over smooth ground on a fine path border by grass with a hint of snow from overnight. Total vertical ascent maybe 10m. I expect Elaine can claim the record for summiting the peak soonest after knee replacement surgery! 

Less than an hour off the summit and we are back at Vilnius checked into the AirInn hotel, decent room for €60. I return the rental car, the agent says it's too dirty to see the damage properly, not untrue. They will send an invoice next week by email. I will then have the fun of dealing with an insurance adjuster who underwrites the credit card company damage waiver, shall see. The process is done in a few minutes. 

I scoped out the departure terminal in advance of the morning flight. A very modern facility compared to its Arrivals neighbour. Looks straight forward or access, no mile long walks like Heathrow, Schiphole or Calgary. 

 

Vilnius Departures

We do not enjoy the nasty lunch at the AirInn which cost €50was worth maybe €5. We are now resting, onto Alberta tomorrow. 

Well that pretty much does it for this chronicle. I am sure I have informed a few, offended many, enraged others. 

One observation I can make is relative to what Eastern Europe is like now compared to the Soviet Era. Or at least how it appears. I did not visit Eastern Europe during the Soviet times but I know and knew folks who were born and lived there and others that worked there. Described as a desolate place when shelves in stores were mostly bare, lineups for service, dissatisfied workers(you pretend to pay us, we pretend to work, was the Communist adage), unhappy customers. And this was not all American propaganda. The residents of the Soviet Union were largely unaware that what they were experiencing was any different than elsewhere, Soviet propaganda was pretty good, I'm sure it still is. Clearly those Soviet era times are past, at least in Eastern Europe. 

A comparison I will boldly make is that the Alberta/Canada medical system looks a lot like a subset of how life was in the Soviet Union. Empty medical shelves, line ups for service, dissatisfied workers, (we pay them, they pretend to work, at least in the administration) unhappy customers/patients. However the Canadian propaganda, also very good, has us believing that Canada's free universal system is close to the best on the planet. The link below, which polled folks 65 and over(the primary benefactors of the medical system), shows two thirds of elderly Canadians are satisfied with this crappy system. Although of note, Canadians are the least satisfied of folks in the 10 countries surveyed, Seems we must have fairly low standards for things, or only the Dementia and Alzheimer folks were polled. It took a complete collapse of the "system"  to fix the Soviet Union. It will take a similar collapse to fix the close to useless, but grossly expensive, Alberta/Canada medical system. Won't happen in my lifetime.

Link: CARP 2018 Poll

Someone asked for a readers digest version, apparently uninterested in lengthy digressions, sidebars, outrageous opinion. Preferring to enjoy the blissful cocoon of ignorance. My apologies for requiring you to have to read this far to report fully on Elaine. Without further ado, I can report the following short, concise, readers digest like summary that cuts to the chase. I will keep sentences short so they are easily understood and not confused with anything else. 

1. Elaine's knee still hurts. 
2. Crutches and cane have been jettisoned for most part. 
3. Elaine is still walking with a limp. 
4. She is improving slowly every day. 
5. Prior physical preparation for surgery is key

I appreciate all the folks who have taken the time to tune in and follow our adventure. Pass the link on to others if you think it might be of interest. Not over yet, a long road back to normality on the return to Alberta. Ačiū!