Page 146 - Winterling's Chasing the Wind

On October 24, a strong category 2 hurricane Wilma crossed the southern tip of
Florida. Five days earlier it had been a strong category 5 hurricane in the western
Caribbean north of Honduras. As it approached the Atlantic, strong winds ripped
sidings off one of the tall buildings in Ft. Lauderdale. The final storm of the season
formed on December 30, thirty days after the official season ended. It contained
tropical storm force winds in the mid-Atlantic between Africa and the Lesser Antilles
until January 6.

CHAPTER 45 - Surgeries, Weddings, and a Storm Named Fay
Virginia had been experiencing back pains for nearly 15 years. In 2007, it reached the
point where she was losing feeling in her left leg. An examination by Dr. Michael
Scharf revealed that the cartilage between two of her vertebrae had eroded to the point
where the nerves to her leg were being pinched. Being scheduled for surgery, she went
to the Jacksonville Blood Bank to store some of her blood. She has very small veins
and the nurse spent 45 minutes trying to draw blood from her left arm before attempting
to draw it from her right arm. Her surgery had to be postponed because she developed
blood clots. It took over three months for her to be cleared for surgery. She had the
spinal fusion on July 3 that ultimately relieved the pain, but did little to restore the
feeling.

The following year her cardiologist discovered that her aortic valve was slowly failing.
She had trouble breathing after taking short walks. After an examination by Dr. Farrell
on May 29, surgery was scheduled for the valve replacement on August 21. On August
11, Wendy, Amanda and Virginia flew to Chicago, one of their favorite places for
shopping. She quickly tired during the trip and upon their return home.

On the Monday evening of August 18, she suffered severe pain in the back of her neck
and shoulder. We took her to the Emergency room at Baptist, she went to the cath lab
on Wednesday and had the valve replaced with a pig valve on Thursday, August 21.
This was the day Tropical Storm Fay was slowly moving across northeast Florida
dumping up to 20 inches of rain. My daughter, Wendy, and I took turns staying with
her while torrential rains caused the St. Johns River to overflow and block access to the
hospital during high tides. Mike and Billie Fouty had come during the surgery and
recuperation. Being a retired policeman, Mike was allowed to pass through when the
flooded road was closed.
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