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Sleep Surgery Support Society

We're an informal group of folks who have gone through,
or are considering surgery to treat sleep apnea.

Annual Fall meetups in Sunnyvale, CA
All are welcome

RogerArrick.com/ssss

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2009 Meetup Pictures

 

This was our 2nd annual meetup and it was a resounding success by all accounts. We had about 25 people which is a little more than last year.

Several people could not make it at the last minute, including a couple of doctors. Next year we will be setting the date much sooner to give folks more time to plan. So stay tuned to this page for details.

Toni organized 2 features this time that I'm sure will be regular items.
   #1 A show-n-tell session where each person told their story.
   #2 Questions were collected and presented to the group for anyone to answer.
These were very interesting and hopefully helpful to others.

I was not able to get a group picture before people left like last year, so I will lay the law down next year. Enjoyed it.

Complete names are not used here for privacy, but if you need to contact someone, Email me and I will arrange it.

 

First Things First

More Pictures & Comments


If you have pictures from the meetup that you want displayed here,
or updates/corrections to the data, Email them to me at Roger@Arrick.com

Special Thanks to


Toni (Learian) for being our "Community Organizer" and lovely hostess.

Best Wishes to


Julie, Mr R, Jose and others on their journey,
and to those having a rough go.

High-5 to


Tom, Jeremy, Katie, Maureen and others for recently getting to the other side.

 

Gallery

Click on the picture for a large version
Click on Giant for a picture suitable for printing

 

Friday Night Pre-Meetup

 8 of us showed for the pre-meetup on friday night.
Toni, Brad, Julie, Doris, Shelby, Mr R, Jeremy, Roger

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 Shelby 'handled' the money.
The next day she was wearing some expensive jewelry.

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Venue

 Sheraton, Sunnyvale CA

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 FAZ restaurant at the Sunnyvale Sheraton

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Saturday Meetup

 The whole group, except picture taker Roger.

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 Our wonderful community orgainzer Toni.

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 Eric at the end of the table. Jeremy on the left with glasses, Shelby on the right with glasses. Adam on the right with the hat. Brad with the yellow hat.

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 Doris, Jerome, George, Neil, Roger, Scott standing.

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 Shelby and Court.

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 Pre-op Day Rat.

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 Standing: Doris, Bill, Eric and his wife.

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 Famous blogger Cupertino Joe, (Scott).

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 Jeremy, Julie and Sharon talking.
Background Shannon and Dorris.

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 These black helicopters kept watching us....

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 Maureen, John's arms, Mr R., Sharon, Mark, Jose, Bill.

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 I really enjoyed the food this time - salmon.

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 Shannon, John, Shelby.

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 Jerome during the show-n-tell session.

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 The Healing Jaw book.
By Susan Beaudette, R.N.

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 That's SeattleBill there on the left at the head of the table.

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 Brad raking in the dough.

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Saturday Evening Dinner at Fuki Sushi of Palo Alto

 Roger and Julie, separated at birth.

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 Roger, Julie and Jeremy.

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 Roger and Julie

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 Bill, Doris, Julie

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 Roger's eyeball, Julie, Jeremy, Scott, Jose.

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 Roger and Julie

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A funny thing happened on the way home to Texas

A semi-short drama
By Roger Arrick

My flight back to Texas was scheduled for 6:20am Sunday Morning. There's no traffic at that time and it gets me back home before dinner.

During check-in I was shocked to discover my wallet missing. That's where my photo ID is, my money, my cards. I've never lost my wallet before. The loss of credit cards and money is one thing, but the thought of being stuck 1600 miles away from home without any resources was quite another. Regret for missing the Survivorman series set in.

After 10 seconds of sheer panic, I told the gate keeper my story. He slowly grabbed his 2-way radio - I heard grumbling. I didn't know what to expect - maybe guys in suits and sunglasses, or maybe a SWAT team. At this point I figure there's no way they're gonna let a lone guy on a plane without a photo ID.

Then a nice lady escorted me to a small desk where she asked some questions. She made a call, wrote down a secret code, then said "follow me sir". Ahead of the line we went, through the screeners, past amazed air travelers, and off to my gate. Actually, it was quicker than if I had NOT lost my wallet. Go figure.

Ok, I'm going to get back to Texas, but where was my wallet? Two possibilities: #1 the hotel room, #2 the sushi place. A call to Margo woke her up, it was 7am there. My first words were "Get a pen". Dummie me, I should have first told her everything was all right. She called the hotel - no wallet. Then she called the sushi place only to learn they didn't open until 5pm.

We landed in Dallas sometime around noon. The next short trip to Tyler had a 2 hour layover. No big deal, except, I was beginning to realize I didn't have any money or credit cards. It's like being naked - almost. After digging through my carry-on and multiple pockets, I was able to scrape together 4 quarters and 1 penny

So the hunt began, what could I buy for $1.01? Hmmm, candy bars are $2, drinks are $2, small bag of potato chips $1.75. Heck, gum is $1.20. That's ok, I'm a vibrant, resouceful soul - this could even be fun. Then a brilliant thought sprung to mind - Donuts - the largest volume of food one can have for the least amount of money! I know, not the most nutritious fruit on the planet, but it may tide me over. I hadn't eaten for a while and was already running on fumes.

If you've ever been to DFW, it's like walking the city-crossing tubes of Logan's Run, but I eventually discovered the oasis of a tiny donut shop. There it was, on the top rack, the basic plain glazed donut, in all its sugar-coated glory. It even had a glisten from the lights above - like it was made just for me - just waiting to nurish my quickly deteriorating body. Then the price tag hit me like a 50# sack of flour - 99 cents, with tax $1.07.

At that point I realized just how screwed I was. Optimism had clouded my outlook, but no more. A fog of donut depravation encompassed my entire being. I stared at my 4 quarters and 1 penny in a futile attempt to multiply them by psychic will - no dice. There I was - a smart, resourceful, successful person who had paid $60 the night before for uncooked fish, glaring at a simple donut that was well beyond my financial means. I noticed the donuts with sprinkles snickering among themselves.

While moping around the airport passing candy stores and restaurants I happened upon a Subway sandwich shop and to my surprise and delight, they offered a .59 cent cookie! I couldn't contain myself and got into the line on the exiting side by accident. Others waiting for real food on the entrance side glared so I shuttled over to the end of their line to prevent a riot. While waiting, and waiting, I used all my faculties to calculate the caloric value of all models offered and after much throught decided that the peanut butter version would benefit my frail body best.

After the cashier snickered and wrapped up my solitary cookie, he casually returned change of 36 cents. It seemed like a small fortune. After careful consideration, I couldn't resist dumping it in the tip jar. After all, it was of no practical use - 2 hours of walking had proven that. Secretly I hoped the jesture would make my single cookie grow - wrong again. For a moment though, I felt like Bill Gates donating ten Billion for malaria vaccinations, and that feeling alone was worth my entire fortune of 36 cents.

My attention turned to the cookie. I handled it like a rare Egyptian artifact. Every bite counted. It's one sweet cookie I will never forget. Even my appreciation for Jimmy Carter rose ever so slightly.

Another phone call to Margo and the decision was made to cancel my debit card. There's no telling where it could be. Anywhere. Maybe in the hands of the Russian mob buying illegal weapons at this very moment. Testifying before congress was NOT on my life list.

Well, time finally rolls around for my flight to Tyler. Woops, a short delay of 15 min - No problem. Time again, woops delayed 30 more min - I'll live. Time again, woops delayed 30 more min. Uh, pardon me folks, my cookie juice is running out! Finally after about 4 hours of waiting, I boarded on the way back home. This whole adventure was starting to look like a bad remake of Apollo 13.

After getting home we made a call to the sushi place, tell them what happened and describe which table. "Tell them to look in the pit!" I yelled. Yep, right there it was. The wayward wallet had been resting peacefully underneath a short table the whole time totally oblivious to the chaos, like a lost child playing in a garden while the parents go crazy.

Later that night I was able to recruit a special friend (who shall remain nameless to protect her modesty) to retrieve the wallet. Four days later, the wallet and my pocket were reunited! The contents appeared untampered with. Thanks Doris! :)

Well it was quite a journey and one I will never forget. I've learned many lessons. It will be funny next time I travel explaining to the TSA why there's a photo ID and a peanut butter cookie hidden in my shoe.

Special thanks to Fuki Sushi of Palo Alto for their honorable handling of my wayward wallet. Our group shall return again next year and drop a another small fortune.

 



Sleep, the Mandatory Luxury