The next hospital visit that I recall took place in San Diego November 1970. I was in Boot Camp. I woke up one Sunday morning and had received a bed bug bite on my left thigh. I had a welt that was VERY tender it had a white head about the size of a pinhead when I went to breakfast. By the time I got back from breakfast the whitehead had grown in size to about a nickel. We had to go to church and by the time I got back from Church the thing was about the size of a silver dollar. I got permission to go to sick call and had to walk across base to the dispensary. I got there showed them my leg which was now swollen about twice it’s normal size and bright red and rather hot to the touch. They had me sign a consent to amputate form and were preparing to amputate the leg to prevent the poison from spreading through my body. I told them that I would not allow them to amputate my leg until after I had received a blessing. The Dr. was very upset about it but I was not to be swayed.

There were a couple young missionaries in the clinic and they came to see what they could do for me. I explained that I needed a blessing; they apologized and said that they didn’t have any oil with them and could not give me a blessing. I remember exactly what I told them, “You see that Dr. standing there with the gruff look on his face? Well he just sharpened his saw and is going to amputate my leg unless you lay your hands on my head and give me a blessing. I don’t care if you have any oil or not, lay your hands on my head and bless me so that I don’t lose my leg.” They gave me the blessing and at the end of the blessing the infection was 100% gone and the Missionaries and I walked back to my barracks. “I’ll bet that neither one of those young men were ever caught without oil again.” I wish I had recorded their names but I didn’t so life goes on.

Another time in San Diego, 1972 I was sent to Balboa Navel Hospital via ambulance (over kill I didn’t need an ambulance). I arrived there and they must have known how “non emergency” I was as I lay there on the gurney for several hours before being treated. In fact I was not treated I got tired of the wait and walked out. I was there due to feet problems and while I was able to walk out I got in considerable trouble for walking out but I think someone at the hospital also got in trouble for not seeing to me sooner.

I have had several surgeries on my feet in the past 12 years most of which have been outpatient things and of no significant consequence.

The most notable in 1987 I was having severe problems with my toes the best thing I can call them is “hammer toes” but in actuality they were not hammer toes but rather a birth defect which is hereditary proof that I am a direct line descendant of King Henry VIII. The problem with the toes is that the middle joint in the toe is upside down. I went to many doctors requesting satisfaction with no success. Finally out of desperation I went to the Dr. yet again (I had to work within a HMO) and once again was told there was nothing he could do for me, I went out to my car got my rusty ax and returned to his waiting room removed my shoes and announced that either he take care of the problem or I would remove the toes there in his waiting room. I explained that if I did it with my rusty ax he would have one heck of a mess to clean up. He realized I was serious and relented and preformed the surgery. During the surgery I was only partly under anesthesia and I distinctly remember feeling 2 of my toes being sawed off and I had the sensation of them flying across the room.

The procedure was that they cut my toe off on both sides of the joint turned to joint over so it was no longer upside down then fused my toes. The procedure for the most part was successful except for my little toes which would be removed at a later date.

On December 24th 1996 when both of my little toes were removed. It felt so good to have them gone I was walking around without the use of crutches or cane that afternoon. When my Dr. found out he was displeased and warned me I had to stay off my feet even if they did feel better.

Although I have severe balance issues now with the loss of my toes I am sure glad they are gone as the pain went with them.

On November 24th 2005 I had my index finger removed from my right hand. The reason for this surgery was because when I was a boy (about 11 or 12 years of age) I was assisting my dad to pound in some fence posts for some project he was doing for the church I believe, anyway I was using a sledge hammer with a short handle and over shot the post (using my finger to drive in the post). The finger was broken and repaired but did not properly mend and always gave me difficulties. In my early military life I started participating in “bar room brawls” and broke my finger a number of times. In 1972 I cut the finger off at the joint with a meat slicer, The Dr replaced it but it never really heaaled. Then in 2004 I broke it again. After being turned down by several other Doctors all of whom admitted that amputation was probably the best option but didn’t feel comfortable performing the surgery for one reason or other. I convinced Dr. Douglas Burroughs to perform the surgery, he removed my finger Wednesday before Thanksgiving 2005.

The surgery was so successful that I was back in the temple shaking hands with people on Friday.

On Thursday March 17th 2005 I had a total knee replacement on my left knee. The surgery was preformed at T.O.S.H. (The Orthopedic Surgical Hospital), which is an auxiliary of Cottonwood Hospital. The surgery was successful and apparently went with out any complications. I was discharged from the hospital at approximately 10:30 a.m. arriving home at about 11:00 a.m. At about 1:15 p.m. I called 911 because I was having EXTREME chest pain and couldn’t breathe; I arrived at Jordan Valley Hospital via ambulance about 1:30 p.m. TediAnn and Tyler followed about 10 minutes behind. The Dr. told me at about 3:30 p.m. that I had defiantly had a myocardial infraction and he was admitting me to the hospital. Tyler went home about 8 p.m. at about 9 p.m. TediAnn went home to get my CPAP machine and other things that I would need for the stay in the hospital. About 10:30 I had to almost yell to get any attention I was still in the ER on that durn gurney (that was at least 4 inches shorter than I am and probably 5 inches narrower) that I had been on since my arrival. I complained rather loudly about the pain my leg was in and still being on the gurney. I told them I was told at 3:30 I would be admitted and here it was 10:30 and I was still here. About that time they decided to move me to ICU. They took off at a dead run (remember the gurney was way to small for me) it was very uncomfortable and I was very upset that they didn’t even offer to help TediAnn carry all my personal effects and CPAP machine in fact just the opposite one of the nurses (who had nothing in her hands) turned and tried to tell TediAnn that she would have to wait in the lobby. I immediately told her that was not going to happen and that TediAnn was coming to the room with me, I also mentioned something about the nurse assisting TediAnn in carrying some of the items.

While in the hospital I was not allowed any pain medication for my leg and when I asked for something I was told to stop bothering them about my leg. I could live without my leg and should not mention it again.

I was transferred to Pioneer Valley Hospital for angioplasty surgery. I was so glad to be out of Jordan Valley Hospital. The angiogram showed that I did in-fact have a heart attack and have a small amount of heart disease. Upon further tests it has been determined that I have Coronary Arterial Disease. When I went in for my one month check up my Dr. (not a member of the church) said “You must have had a Priesthood Blessing because there is nothing wrong with your heart.”

On May 12th 2005, (the day i graduated from physical therapy) I fell while in Albertsons while shopping for my medications and landed on my knee. 

At first I didn’t think I needed to see the Dr. but as time progressed I realized I needed to see the Dr. he took X-Rays that showed that I had cracked my kneecap. Then on Sunday October 9th I fell again shattering the kneecap. I had surgery Thursday December 1st to replace the kneecap and repair the other parts of the knee that were damaged. The surgery was successful.

On March 6, 2006 I had Lasik Eye Surgery at the “Hoopes - Alldredge Vision Institute” The surgery went very well and I now have what is called mono-vision. This was a new and interesting experience for me and the first time I have ever been asked if I would like to have my surgery recorded video. I am now pleased to say that I have a DVD of my eye surgery. As of the date of this writing I am still not used to not having to change glasses when I sit down at the computer or get up from the computer. But it sure feels good not to need glasses.

I was planning to have a jumping up and down party and destroy my glasses but instead opted to donate the glasses to the needy.

On Monday December 8, 2006 After my Granddaughter Ambers 1st, 2006 dance recital I slipped and fell on the ice, then again on Tuesday morning December 9th I slipped and fell again. A combination of these 2 falls resulted in a broken back. Largely due to being overweight there is nothing they can do to fix my back except Physical Therapy to attempt to strengthen my abdominal and back muscles hopefully giving my back the support it needs to prevent further damage. On January 30, 2008 I had spinal injections which were susposed to ease the pain in my back. As of July 12, 2017 I have had a total of 12 sets of injections on my back. They were VERY helpful but the last 2 sets provided absolutely no relief.

On October 12, 2022 I went in had had a series of “Spinal Ablations” (a proceedure where the go in and caurterize the ends of then nerves that are transmitting the pain which so far has worked wonders.

In the late spring of 2017 I woke up one morning to go to the restroom and found myself face down on the floor with my left foot twisted completely backward. For about 2 months I had to be VERY careful walking because I had completely worn out my knee. I have a friend who runs a state wide Physical Therapy company come over and he could completely rotate my knee 360o ether direction. Dr. Momburger who normally has a 6 — 9 month waiting list for surgery got me in for surgery in 9 days. The repair was successful, and I’m good for another 20 years. The reason my knee went out on me this time is because of the amount of time it had to support me while I was so heavy.

TediAnn had a surgery on her left wrist in early November 2017, then on November 27th she had her left hip replaced, my sister Cindy had her right knee replaced two weeks later on December 4th, Then on December 11th I had my right hip replaced. We were anxious to get the surgeries completed in 2017 for insurance reasons.

After my hip replacement surgery, I took a job at Amazon working in the warehouse with the intent of getting some exercise and strengthening my new hip. On March 7, 2018, while carrying an oversize overweight box I tripped and fell. Workman’s comp declined my going to the Dr and said that all I needed was Physical Therapy. After 3 months of PT, I was finally given approval to go see an orthopedic surgeon. The problem was he was a hand Dr and knew nothing about hips. So, a month later I was given the go ahead to see a well respected orthopedic surgeon who specialized in hips. He immediately requested X-ray and MRI imaging. Not surprisingly Workman’s Comp denied the imaging. After 6 requests I opted to talk to an attorney. He told me that I didn’t need to wait for Workman’s Comp to approve the imaging but to just go to my Dr. and have the imaging done by running it through my private insurance and then let the insurance deal with Workman’s Com.

Once I had the imaging done my Dr, the Dr Workman’s Comp sent me to and a third Dr all told me the exact same thing. “If I had seen this within a month of the injury, I could have fixed it.” But because 9 months had passed there was absolutely nothing that they could do for me except to certify that I am permanently totally disabled. Essentially the muscle that goes from the spine and pelvic area around to the front of the femur providing the ability to lift the leg was totally shredded. The muscle had “healed itself” apart. My Dr. told me “if I were strong enough to pull the two parts together ‘which I’m not’ there isn’t a combination of stitches glue and staples that would hold the two pieces in place.”

At the Settlement hearing the Rep from Workman’s comp state that they had not denied proper medical attention, to which we responded that technically that was correct they didn't isue a letter of denial but simply ignored the requests. Hie response was that they had not been ignored but in fact were still under consideration. Fortunatly the judge agreed with us that the requests had been ignored and subsequently denied, and I won the case.

I had some unusual growths on my head and went the Dr. to see what they were and found them to be skin cancer. Actually one melanoma and some Basal Cell Carcinoma’s and a couple Squamous Cell Carcinoma’s. The research I found about these types of cancer are:

1. Basal Cell Carcinoma:
• Basal cell carcinoma is a type of skin cancer that usually occurs in the sun exposed regions of the body, like the neck or face. With this type of skin cancer, a person may see it appear on the skin as a pearly or waxy bump, or possibly as a flat, flesh or brown-colored scar-like lesion. A lesion is defined as a region in an organ or tissue that has suffered damage through injury or disease. This can be a wound, ulcer, abscess or a tumor.
2. Squamous Cell Carcinoma:
• The second type of skin cancer that is called squamous cell carcinoma is also often seen on sun exposed areas of the body, like the face, ears and hands. People who have darker skin can have this type of skin cancer on areas that are not exposed to the sun. This type of cancer can be seen as a firm, red nodule (a small swollen or aggregation of cells in the body, usually abnormal), or as a flat lesion that has a scaly or crusted surface
3. Melanoma:
• Melanoma is the third and final main type skin cancer. It can develop anywhere on the body, in normal skin or in an existing mole that can become cancerous. In men, melanoma appears on the face or torso. Melanoma develops on the lower legs in women. In both men and women, melanoma can occur on skin that has not been exposed to the sun. People of darker skin tones should look at the palms of hands, soles of feet or under the fingernail or toenails for symptoms. There are many signs that can alert a person that they may have the disease. Some of these include: a small lesion with an irregular border and portions that appear red, white, blue or blue-black, a large brownish spot that has darker speckles, a mole that changes in color, size or that bleeds, and possible dark lesions on the palms, soles, fingertips or toes, or on membranes that line the mouth, nose, vagina or anus.

MOHS — micrographic surgery is a specialized, highly effective technique for the removal of skin cancer. The procedure was developed in the 1930s by Dr. Frederic Mohs, a Dermatologist, at the University of Wisconsin and is now practiced by Mohs surgeons throughout the world, who are the most highly specialized physicians in dermatology today. Mohs was designed to reduce the re-occurrence of Basal Cell and Squamous Cell Carcinomas. Mohs surgery differs from other skin cancer treatments in that it permits the immediate and complete microscopic examination of the removed cancerous tissue, so that all roots and extensions of the cancer can be eliminated. It should be noted that the Mohs surgery removes only the cancerous tissue, while the normal tissue is spared.

I had a Squamous Cell Carcinomas on my nose and had it removed with MOHS surgery.

For images of the cancer surgeries please click here