Guest Blogger Bill Holland’s Sharing of His Hip Replacement Journey

My friend and colleague Bill Holland, author, entrepreneur and consultant, is very soon having a hip replacement surgery. Bill came up with the excellent idea of doing a daily blog just before and after his surgery to deal with his feelings and to help others contemplating similar complicated procedures. They are life changing and certainly anxiety provoking. I have read the first few of his posts and think they are excellent and will share them here. So, here is Bill’s third post, and in the words of Bill:
 TAKE MY HIP—PLEASE!
A decision on replacing the left side of my ass
#hipreplacement

 

 

 

More thoughts from the Colonial Capital, being helped by my friend Thomas Jefferson above: I have gone from feeling as if surgery is down the path a way to realizing that it is just around the corner. Am I nervous? Or have I calmed to the point of thinking this too shall pass and everything will be okay? Neither! To be honest, I’m a little scared. Not as scared as I am on a bumpy flight, but scared nonetheless.

 It’s to the point that I wished I had paid more attention to the instructions which the hospital gave me about exercising to get in better shape. They sell this approach on the promise that recovery will go much better if you follow their instructions.

 The truth is I have done what they told me. Kind of. It’s not my fault that those “daily” exercises I have faithfully completed are supposed to be done three times a day. Wow! I had better get going!

 Of course, both you and I know what’s wrong with this approach. It’s like the person who plays golf 3 or 4 times a year and really wants to play well at the company outing next week. The best she can do now is to get to the driving range an hour or so before tee time to get her swing down. It’s not going to work. I wonder if I am destined for a similar fate?

I have now made a firm commitment to doing those exercises at least three times a day and even more if my joints can take it.

 At this point, my instincts are to keep on writing about what’s on my mind. But to do so without focusing on the reader is a major violation of what is said about some of the best advice I have received about writing: “Always write with your audience in mind.”

 As such, I now share with you some of my upcoming topics. I am writing about these things from your viewpoint; i.e., that of the patient, which is what I am! Here is what I am thinking about:

 Why I want to be the first operation of the day.

Is it true that some on the surgeon’s team members have the wrong title?

My care-giver at home also needs care. (Are you in this position?)

Pain control!

How long do I have to stay?

Will my newly acquired mobility post-surgery be as successful as I hope?

How will my life change?

Be sure to learn more about Bill on his website www.collegetocareercatalyst.com and on his author page here at www.danielwetta.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Blogger Bill Holland’s Sharing of His Hip Replacement Journey

My friend and colleague Bill Holland, author, entrepreneur and consultant, is very soon having a hip replacement surgery. Bill came up with the excellent idea of doing a daily blog just before and after his surgery to deal with his feelings and to help others contemplating similar complicated procedures. They are life changing and certainly anxiety provoking. I have read the first few of his posts and think they are excellent and will share them here. So, here is Bill’s second post, and in the words of Bill:
 TAKE MY HIP—PLEASE!
A decision on replacing the left side of my ass
#hipreplacement

DAY TWO

 Surgical Attendant immediately before surgery: “Now Mr. Holland, which hip are you having replaced?”

Me: “The right one.”

That’s the way it was several years ago when I had my right hip replaced. But once the general public became aware of the almost daily incidences of operational errors ranging from amputating the wrong limb to performing double mastectomies on the wrong women (and worse), extra precautions have been added to make sure the correct operation is performed on the right person.

Today, the question about “which hip” is asked and recorded with nearly every pre-surgery encounter. It sticks out like a sore thumb whenever a wrong answer is recorded.

And more things have changed: The chances of surgically related infections have been greatly reduced by having the patient enter the hospital as clean as possible. That means special bathing each day for three days prior to procedure with a sterilizing cleanser and sponge; a change to clean sheets and pajamas each night; and instruction to make sure all hospital staff wear gloves when attending your incision.

If I had to guess, however, the worse patients are the ones who, like myself, have gone through this before. My arrogance started with the boastful admission that my last surgery was a breeze (That’s a lie – just not a big one.) So, I reasoned this time that there was no reason I couldn’t also carry forward with plans to sell our home and move to California!

That’s right, a little more than a week before the hip is to be replaced, we are in the midst of showing our house and attending to the many details that putting a house on the market requires. “A stupid move,” you say? Now you tell me! Where were you when I needed advice?

It’s too late now. We will put things on hold for a few weeks while mending takes place.

I share this with you as the rationale for not attending to more immediate matters. For example, I got a call from the hospital today asking me to log into my “online patient program” and pay more attention to some important instructions they were sending. That’s right, each patient and their care-giver are given special, personalized instructions about daily activities associated with the upcoming surgery. The surgical planners know when you are not complying and are quick to follow up.

Though my house has been taken off the market, I wonder if I have waited too long to take this “hip procedure” as seriously as I should. I hope not.

From here on, I am out to redeem myself and have as good a recovery as possible.

I anticipate that my emotions will still race forward and I will continue to describe my fears as “mild anxiety.” But, having let you in on my little secret, you know better. I need to get busy!

That’s all for DAY TWO: More emotions, struggles and decisions coming DAY THREE.

Be sure to learn more about Bill on his website www.collegetocareercatalyst.com and on his author page here at www.danielwetta.com/

 

 

Guest Blogger Bill Holland’s Sharing of His Hip Replacement Journey

My friend and colleague Bill Holland, author, entrepreneur and consultant, is very soon having a hip replacement surgery. Bill came up with the excellent idea of doing a daily blog just before and after his surgery to deal with his feelings and to help others contemplating similar complicated procedures. They are life changing and certainly anxiety provoking. I have read the first few of his posts and think they are excellent and will share them here. So, here is Bill’s first post, and in the words of Bill:

 TAKE MY HIP—PLEASE!

A decision on replacing the left side of my ass
#hipreplacement

DAY ONE

Any one old enough to remember the Hinny Youngman line, “Now take my wife—please,” shouldn’t be considering hip replacement surgery. But here I am, a 74-year-old diabetic about ready to have it done.

The other day my wife of nearly 50 years asked if I were scared? I immediately transposed the question to one of asking about my general state of “nervousness.” Do men, let alone fathers and grandfathers, really get scared? It happens to me all the time, but it is not something I often admit to. So if you don’t mind….

Scared and nervous aren’t quite the right words. Let’s call it a mild form of “anxiety.” There, that’s better. My man hood is intact, and I am no more of a phony than I was before.

The truth is that I am more afraid than I would like others to know. That’s why when I had my right hip replaced about 10 years ago, I opted for an epidural rather than more general anesthesia. I still remember the doctors asking, “Did you feel that?”

The idea of losing blood (I lost a lot of it during that surgery) and responding to questions half-awake no longer appeals. So this time, it’s the full Monte.

It is now T-minus-7 days. From now until then many thoughts and emotions will go through my mind. My thought is to share them with you, mainly because it helps me. But a side benefit might be that you may decide to get a new hip or knee in the near future. It will be helpful to know that you are not alone in the emotions encountered. You might also learn how to be of more comfort to others as they are forced to make similar decisions.

The actual decision to replace the other side of my ass happened quite some time ago. But now is a good time to share. It seems as if everyone I speak to either has had a joint replacement; thinking of doing it or knows someone who has already. Exactly how does that work? How does one decide to go under the knife?

Here is how it happens (and it is as universal a truth as I have found): Nearly all patients want the surgeon to make the decision for them. And doctors steadfastly refuse. Here is how the conversation goes:

Patient: “Say, Doc, is this something you think I should do? And if so, when is the best time to have it done?”

Surgeon: “You will tell me. I won’t have to tell you.”

Every medical professional has the same answer. The pain the patient feels eventually overcomes the anxiety and inconvenience of the surgery. The first time around, it happened to me while on a cruise to Alaska with my immediate family and father-in-law. When we returned, I called the doctors office and left a message about my willingness to move forward with surgery—immediately!

This time, I got out in front of the pain and made the decision about a month before I had to use a walking cane to get around.

That’s all for DAY ONE: More emotions, struggles and decisions coming DAY TWO and beyond.

Be sure to learn more about Bill on his website www.collegetocareercatalyst.com and on his author page here at www.danielwetta.com/

 

The Obsession by Dawn Brotherton

When you begin Dawn Brotherton’s first novel, The Obsession, in the Jackie Austin mystery series, there is a refreshing and interesting main character who leads you into the increasingly complicated labyrinth of plot twists and surprises that you expect in a good mystery novel: Jackie is a 23-year-old missilier in the Air Force at Whiteman Air Force Base Missouri in the early 1990s.

A what? 

She might have a job description that we would all like to read. As a missilier, she goes underground for days at a time and is trained to launch ten Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missiles should that become necessary. In the novel, we learn that Jackie was the first female missilier. Author Dawn Brotherton can write about this authentically. Retired as a colonel in the United States Air Force, the author did Jackie’s job!

Written in third person limited point of view, the novel begins with a grisly murder in the first chapter. The second chapter then introduces us to Jackie, who is young, competent and handy. She buys an ivy-covered fixer-upper house in Warrensburg, Missouri, near the airbase. Because her job requires her to be away from home two or three days at a time, there is perfect opportunity for a stalker to do weird things inside her home while she is away. As the plot develops, the reader learns more and more about serial killings that are occurring in the area. The hope, of course, is that Jackie’s stalker is not the killer.

Brotherton builds suspense in perfect pitch with the development of the characters as the story progresses. As with any excellent mystery, clues are there to point possible culpability to several characters, all of whom are close to Jackie Austin. The pace is fast, the characters interesting, the main character has flaws but is good and likeable, and the reader early on empathizes with Jackie. You don’t want to see her get hurt, even though she seems like a woman who can take care of herself and others. On top of this, there are love attractions. Could one be with the stalker or killer?

This debut mystery novel reads as if written by a very experienced writer. Brotherton also writes in the young adult genre. She knows her craft, and, more importantly, she is a born story teller. Not that star ratings matter that much, but I was trying to decide between four and five stars to go with this review. Suddenly, I realized that the author had achieved with me something that few writers do: I couldn’t stop reading the book. I did it in a day and a half while also tending to my busy life. That made my decision easy – five stars!

Seriously, this novel is great competition for any binge watching on Netflix and has the added benefit of exercising your mind. On top of that, the background story to the main character as a missilier is something informative and unusual. Read this book and treat yourself to a fun and suspenseful story. It’s a good mystery. See if you can figure out who and how!

The Obsession by Dawn Brotherton, Blue Dragon Publishing, Copyright 2010, 2016

In print and e-book. On Amazon: 

Click here for Amazon purchase information

 

Help Sport by Joining her Launch Team!

The first review of Sport’s Alien Fantasy is on Amazon! I am sharing this because I want people to know that on Amazon, only a few sentences and the rating in stars can sum up the reader’s opinion of the book. Leaving a “review” on Amazon need not be intimidating at all. The first review gave four stars and said, “An Amazing Ride – Sport travelled through life as if she was there and somewhere else at the same time. Her travels remind that we are all on multiple yet simultaneous paths, putting one foot in front of the other, trusting that we will reach our destiny and that our time on Earth has been useful. We are all here for a higher purpose. Sport teaches us to remember.” 

 

As things turned out, M. J. Scott and I ended up co-authoring the novel, Sport’s Alien Fantasy. I came aboard late: The novel was first written by M. J. Scott (Marilyn) in rough draft form in 1986, shortly after the horrifying explosion of the Challenger spacecraft in which the astronauts on board perished, including beloved school teacher, Christa McAuliffe. Marilyn had written it fast, in about a week, and then it sat nearly 30 years put away in a binder! Marilyn let me take a look at it last year. As editor and publisher of some of her books, I was curious to see it. Immediately, I recognized the extraordinary story within the draft novel’s pages. Scott and Wetta then agreed to corroborate on a re-writing to submit to Amazon’s Kindle Scout campaign. There, the novel garnered nearly a thousand nominations for publication and spent time on the “Hot and Trending” list.

Marilyn  and I believe that this story of a school teacher who must endure the ordeal of a grueling road trip in 1986 in order to determine if her memories of an alien childhood are real or crazy is set to make everyone question themselves when they make judgements about others. Inspired by the life of teacher Christa McAuliffe, Sport takes Christa with her to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello during the Easter break of the students and teachers. It is the beginning of a journey into the unexpected, and it holds a mirror to the faces of people in rural Virginia in the time when our current orientation to a global community was just beginning.

So, a good part of the story takes place in the 1980s, when today’s digital and international connectivity began to make its impact on man’s daily life on earth. The authors believe that the global connections and disconnections prevalent among human relationships today can be understood in the symbolism of the Challenger explosion. In the novel, Sport compels the reader to feel the sadness that fearful unwillingness to help others can inflict upon those in dire need, but she also thrills us with the joy of self-realization.

Sport finds a new beginning and a new ending. She lives to be, perhaps, the extra-terrestrial being who can teach us what we need to know to master living and loving one another on our stressed planet.

Author M. J. Scott and I are currently soliciting a small number of people to be on a “launch team” prior to a major publicity campaign in the first half of June. Our goal is to have honest reviews of the book on the novel’s Amazon purchase page when the official launch begins. Please consider doing this. The novel is unusual and special, in my opinion, and I think is best described as being in the “magical realism” genre. At 50,000 words, it is relatively short. We are requesting that you join our team now by purchasing the book from Amazon, reading it, and rating it on the Amazon site prior to June 5, 2017. The e-book is less expensive at $3.99. The print edition is beautiful and sells for $9.95. The reason we are asking for purchase is that Amazon then shows the rating as coming from an “Amazon certified purchase,” which lends credibility to the rating.
Let us know if you think that Sport makes an impact on your world view. Here is the link: Click here to visit Sport’s page on Amazon!

P.S.: This book is free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers!

M. J. Scott (USA)

I have had the pleasure of publishing two of M. J. Scott’s books, Power Steering and Power Steering 2, which serve as great vehicles for her selfless words of encouragement and enrichment to all her readers. Marilyn is a great believer in positivity and the healing power of love. Although she is a Christian, her works approach God in a universal way so that believers of all faiths can relate to the successes she reveals from trust in higher power.  “Catching Love” is her Easter blog, decidedly Christian, a true celebration of risen spirit. I am pleased to distribute it this Holy Week of 2017.

CATCHING LOVE

 When emotions curl up around your mind and heart, it’s time to find the welcoming message and share it! This can’t wait until there’s time and money locked into a concrete set of plans. This is an elusive feeling that can’t be contained by ribbons or kept on a branch.

Reach for its essence – wordless feelings placed on this earth parcel by God through His Son to radiate His wealth of giving Love.

More than a feeling, it is a mysterious element meant to bring humanity the freedom of inner expression. Think of a bearing of light-like candles waiting for a match to illuminate. What is provided? The greatest giving that transcends our understanding of the hope that was presented at the manger of life-filled purpose. The Child of the Heavenly Father grew into the creative source of Light and Love, brought as a gift from Above. Words only pour forth from the unseen revealing of a desire to place Love on the Altar of Faith. The great altar became a cross that was crooked and bent, but living tall now in the springtime blossoming of the dogwood tree. The Easter Resurrection can only be described through the heart rending moments of crucifixion, in yielding life hidden in a tomb, and through the great rock of silence broken on Easter Morning!

Lo, the rising of the Master of the Universe!

Christ, who spread his teachings, is the Light of Love that will never be doused when flames of rage fill the unheeding hearts. His understanding reaches out to those who as yet are unprotected; namely, the ones who cannot recognize and accept His Love.

Catching Love is gentle like the notes of music that have been composed by the artists as their gifts too. These meld into a creative blend of love that melts the hardened hearts in the warmth of discovering how life is really intended.

Easter is God’s renewable gift to the world to grow His Garden of Believers. These find nourishment in their willingness to open arms and accept that God’s spring opens them to the very heart of life.

In the current events of history, it appears that the saddest tomb is the darkened one holding those still unwilling to receive the Light of Love.

For all, the greatest Easter is within reach! The Love extended provides the most wonderful happiness of life.

Scribed through service, Marilyn J. Asprey (Author M. J. Scott, USA)

Member, St. Stephen Lutheran Church. Williamsburg, Virginia

This week, March 5-11, 2017, is the annual Smashwords’ “Read an E-book Week” during which readers can get free downloads or deeply discounted books by participating authors. This includes four of the authors who have published with my company. I cannot imagine it, but  there are some people who still have not tried reading e-books. I do understand that most of us enjoy the feel of pages in our fingers, yet e-readers offer very enabling advantages, such as ability to change font and size for eye convenience,   ability to read in the dark, the feature of looking up word definitions and Wikipedia information without leaving the page, the purchase of additional books from online stores without moving, and the ability to store your entire library safely backed up on a cloud…no worry of fires destroying all!   Now you can see why Smashwords likes to celebrate this week. It offers a chance to acquaint readers to another way of enjoying books, magazines and stories. As you read this blog post, click on any of the photos to download the free or discounted books or short stories. The photos are links.

Parent’s Playbook by Bill Holland, PhD, is a mini-book that is spot-on with seven rules for parents about teaming with their child to complete the steps that guarantee success in finding a lucrative job and career after college graduation. Bill’s book, while slanted to parents of student-athletes, is perfect in general for parents of kids of all ages, especially those in ninth grade and up. Handy and specific, this playbook helps student and parent avert the disasters of under-employment after college. Bill is an award-winning college professor, business executive, nationally recognized career management guru, author of four books on career management and the principal founder of College to Career Catalyst, LLC. Parent’s Playbook is on sale this week for $2.50, a fifty percent discount.

Sharon Dillon’s offering is Echoes of Your Choices (Laughter, Peace and Joy). Sharon is an author, blogger and humorist who has been a multi-year participant in the Erma Bombeck Writer’s Workshop in Ohio. Her stressful life of marriages, living all over the world as a military wife, raising children, graduating college at age 47, working as newspaper columnist and managing career led her to search for the path to peace and laughter and joy. Several years ago, Sharon began consistent blogging and developed a following of people attracted to her common-sense, tranquilizing and universal style of guidance to a balanced life. This blog, “Thoughts to Ponder,” became the basis for her humorous and calming book. Echoes of Your Choices is on sale this week for $1.50, a fifty percent discount.

M. J. Scott is author of four non-fiction books with a fifth book, a novel called Sport’s Alien Fantasy, about to be published by Daniel Wetta Publishing. Marilyn has two sale offerings this week: Power Steering and Power Steering 2. Marilyn has written most of her life, and her writing style has been described as narrative poetry. A self-described “country girl,” she has traveled in all fifty states, many of them for years via an Airstream travel trailer. Always fascinated with spirituality and destiny, Marilyn developed the concept of “power steering” which she uses in a car analogy to describe higher power working in people to enable them to find their best destiny. To rely on “power steering” is to learn to meditate and quietly hear the speaking of intuition and then to trust it. Her career as an educator and her inspirational works have been factors in her receiving the Excellence Award by “Women of Distinction” online. The two Power Steering volumes are on sale this week for $1.50 each, a fifty percent discount.

Master artist and author Dan Wetta, now 89 years old, continues to astound with his prolific painting and story-telling. Dan (my father) has now published 7 illustrated e-books and 3 illustrated books in print through Daniel Wetta Publishing. His lifetime collection of paintings, cartoons and stories are documented in these works. They fill a canvas of the artist’s life, an interesting journey through time and the old South that begins with a childhood in New Orleans and education in a Benedictine Seminary. Normally $2.99, his offering this week is FREE on Smashwords. One of the seven e-books, New Orleans in my Mind goes deep into recollections by the author of his childhood in New Orleans and his high school and early college education at St. Joseph’s, a Benedictine seminary and monastery, during the 1930s and 40s. You will love seeing his color illustrations and cartoons in the book that highlight his stories.

 

Finally, I would feel so honored for readers to download my two short stories, “Awakening from the Golden Sleep” and “Nightfire!” from Smashwords. I wrote these as prequels to my two novels but constructed the stories to stand alone and apart from them. They are always free on Smashwords, but please try them this week and see if I whet your appetite to read the novels. Now ask yourself, “Is there any better week to read an e-book?”

 

There are tens of thousands of books on sale this week on Smashwords. You can visit their page to browse and search here: Click this link to Smashwords’ special week sales here.