Seth’s Sightings

Since my mid-month column, I went to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania HUP for surgery. I was opened, examined, and sewn back up…mission NOT accomplished. I spent two nights recovering in the hospital, then was sent home…two days of being woken up in the middle of the night for blood draws, then greeting the morning with a vitals check and heparin shot, followed by a meeting with the surgery students as they made their rounds before 7 a.m. Sleep? Hah!

Back home, there was about a week of taking things easy. That was the week the Nor’easter blew through. The March weather “Lion” roared (In like a lion, out…). At home, there was just a light shoveling to do, but around the Plateau, some serious snow. But, since it is March, that snow didn’t stay long. We finally both got out of the house on Friday to go into Lehighton. The end result of that trip was Ruth stepped into a hole in the dark and broke her leg. I drove her to the hospital and checked in at the emergency room to get x-rays. Our visit lasted four hours until 3 a.m., released after the E.R. doctor took a look at her bone breaks, then put her leg into a splint. She was given crutches, and directed to see an orthopedist.

The next few days were spent in the house, with Ruth slowly getting familiar with moving on crutches. Since I was allowed to drive, I was out to do a little shopping and some newspaper work.

Ruth was lucky and got a Monday morning appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. Her

by Seth Isenberg

surgery was Wednesday afternoon getting screws and a plate installed. She’s now in a cast and has learned to get around. After about a week, we were both strong enough to attend some of the Penguins home games. The Spring weather is warm enough to get some spring flowers started more crocuses in my yard, some pale blue and the rest a deep purple. When we returned to Philadelphia for the postsurgery appointment and oncology planning, the city was decorated with blooming trees, and early spring flowers like daffodils. It was wonderful.

The doctors saw I’m healing well, and will need to, as hopes are to try another surgery in late summer. In the meantime, more chemo for me.

This past weekend was hockey hockey hockey. On Friday, Ruth was self-sufficient enough so I located a hockey buddy and we went down to Allentown to see the NCAA tournament games at the PPL Center Penn State versus Michigan Tech, and then Michigan versus Colgate both games the same night. Ahead of the game, there was enough time to stop by the Allentown Farmers’ Market for a bite to eat.

A kind box office staffer found seats for us with nearly no stairs to navigate. They were away from any crowd all the much better.

The games themselves were blowouts. Most of the fun came when the pep bands played and the fans cheered. While it was good to be there, there wasn’t enough good hockey.

The local Penguins provided some good hockey both Saturday and Sunday, but are fading in the playoff race. Their season wraps up in mid-April.

If baseball is your thing, the Railriders open their season at home in Moosic on the 31st, April 1 and 2.

I’m monitoring the snows in the Sierras, looking at the snowfall at the Donner Ski Ranch atop the pass in

California. Their snow total could reach 700 inches if the weather trend continues. Nearly two feet fell there last week.

Looking ahead, we have a family gathering coming up for the upcoming holiday, which means a road trip where I’ll be the only driver (Ruth won’t be able to drive until May). We will take the dogs…I’ll share about the trip in the next column. Thanks to everyone who reached out to help when Ruth was laid up.

As always, best wishes of good health … and … watch where you step.

NCAA tournament hockey at the PPL Center in Allentown. Here the Michigan Wolverines huddle prior to their game against Colgate. The Wolverines defeated Colgate, then defeated Penn State, moving on to the Frozen Four. They will play Quinnipiac on April 6 in Tampa. The winner of that game will play the winner of the Minnesota-Boston U game for the D1 national championship.