World United States Florida Tampa

Travels with Clark and Reba

Tampa, FL Mar 13, 2012

Three hours after leaving the our friends house, we were parked at McDill AFB, Tampa, FL. The RV park at McDill is a major cash cow for the base. There are more than 600 spaces and they were all full, even this late in the season. We did manage to get a water-electric site, which was on a canal. We didn't know if alligators would appear. We had to park the trailer in a designated area, which was completely inaccessible by motor home. That meant we had to hitch the trailer to the Jeep to move it to the proper place. Clark put every hitch adapter he owns on the Jeep to get it high enough for the trailer hitch jack to work, and still had to use a separate jack to lift everything higher. That was an exercise that took so much longer than it should have. A new trailer jack is needed, preferably one that's electrically operated. Our purpose in going to Tampa was for Clark to see a doctor who is probably the foremost shoulder expert in the country. In October 2010, Clark went to an orthopedic surgeon in Albuquerque, because of his shoulder pain. He was told he needed a reverse implant, because of his ruptured rotator cuff and torn muscles. We weren't too thrilled with that doctor, but he was the only one in Albuquerque to do this particular procedure. Clark has been living with increasing pain and disability ever since and we decided it was time to fix him. Well! On line, he found the man who developed the reverse procedure and he's in Tampa. We saw him on the 13th and surgery is scheduled on April 2. This doctor has done more than 5000 shoulder replacements and explained, thoroughly, the whole procedure and why it works when there are muscle problems that won't support the normal shoulder replacement. We have high expectations and will stay in Florida until Clark is well on his way to recuperation. We enjoyed the wildlife along the canal behind our parking space. One bird had eaten a big fish and it seemed to be caught in its throat. It took the bird forever to swallow his meal.

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