Bloodwork and diagnoses

            The human body is amazingly complex. One of those complexities is blood. Not only is this blood composed of a number of types of cells, but these cells are responsible for carrying elements throughout the body and back again. In their final stage some of these waste elements are transferred to other items such as urine, so when I say “blood” in the below paragraphs, be mindful that I am also using these other items. After some discussion of bloodwork and diagnoses, I will also mention some other related topics that are currently impacting me in this same area.

 

Bloodwork

Hospitals are busy places. There are some activities that impact their patients that I’d like to discuss. First, in order to monitor their patients there is a constant stream of testing. Our primary hospital here has a tech who goes around and “checks the vitals” at least once a shift. Even overnight, this same activity takes place at every shift change, i.e. including at 3am. In addition, anyone who is classified as diabetic gets a finger stick and their blood sugar checked before and after each meal. And all this of course is in addition to any testing for the reason the patient is there (MRI, CT scan, EEG, ECG, etc.), and these go on 24 hours a day. So not only does one feel like a pin cushion, but you don’t get much sleep either.

            And things don’t stop when you finally check out and go home. There is required bloodwork that may be scheduled so the doctors can continue to see if you’re recovering properly, and other bloodwork that is needed for a later follow-up meeting – perhaps 6 months or a year later.

            We’re fortunate here in the Lehigh Valley that not only is our primary care physician (PCP) a member of a group that is “owned” by the local hospital, but that the local testing service is also a subsidiary of the hospital. And not only do they all share the same computer system, but that system, containing all the test results, is accessible to the patient online whenever needed. The below charts all come from that computer system.

 

Diagnoses

            All doctors go through increasingly complex and focused education so they can be experts in their specialty. But education does not mean that the doctor is also experienced. And in less metropolitan settings where doctors may have to be the local expert in several areas, that may make the job even more complicated. Thus, experts who work at large research hospitals or university settings often put together relatively easy to understand/use diagnosis tools that can substitute for this lack of experience. In this section I’d like to show one such diagnostic tool that I’ve recently been exposed to because of my liver (hepatic) problems.

            This tool is called the “Child-Pugh”, not because it has anything to do with children, but because it’s named after the two researchers who developed it, one of whom has the last name of “Child” (see https://www.mdcalc.com/calc/340/child-pugh-score-cirrhosis-mortality#evidence).  This tool looks at five of the many items from this bloodwork, rates each item on a 1-3 scale, and asks that you add them. The resulting total score gives an estimate of the severity of liver cirrhosis without requiring the doctor to do a liver biopsy with its accompanying risks. Here are the five items measured for this tool, the scale of each, and my own personal results:

Bilirubin (<2, 2-3, >3)

[Bilirubin, bilirubin-2]

As you can see, my bilirubin was higher during my recent incidents of hospitalization, with my latest reading being 2.3. Looking back over the past 10 years, except for a few times of hospitalization, my readings have been in line, i.e. <2. I’ll have more to say about this below under the section on diet.

Albumin (>3.5, 2.8-3.5, <2.8)

[Albumin]

Aways firmly in range, i.e. 4-5

Prothrombin (<1.7, 1.7-2.3, >2.3)

[Prothrombin]

Although there is a recent spike to 1.4, this is still within the desired limit.

Ascites (absent, slight, moderate)

[Ascites]

Not a numeric value, but testing in this area indicates none found.

Encephalopathy (none, grade 1 (restless, sleep-disturbed, irritable/agitated, tremor, impaired handwriting)-2 (lethargic, time-disoriented, inappropriate), grade 3 (somnolent, stuporous, place-disoriented, hyperactive reflexes)-4 (unrousable coma, no personality/behavior))

I have no chart to go with this, but the reason I was taken to the ER and hospitalized was due to my exhibiting all the issues in grade 1. I’ll have more to say about this in the next paragraph.

 

Adding the results in these areas (2,1,1,1,2) give me a composite score of 7. 5-6 is considered “normal”, 7-9 is considered “moderate”, and 10-15 is considered "severe”. Thus, of the five areas, only the first and last are anything but “normal”. But Encephalopathy is not a measured item that can change based on any subsequent bloodwork, it is observational and will never disappear from my record. I could go several years without any other occurrences of this, but having it once in my record would seem to mean that I can never get back to grade 0 in this measure and thus the lowest score for me in the future would be a 6 instead of a 5. Something about this seems a little unfair.

 

Diagnosis and Diet

            Many articles on the subject of disease use language such as “diet and exercise” as at least a partial solution to various diseases. While I had eliminated non-sugar soda several years ago, I had replaced it with diet Mt. Dew which tasted about the same. I also often had a box of snacks in my room. I tended to have only one bowel movement every few days and was often “stuffed up”. But the nutritionist who met with us on my last ER visit who made a few comments and provided me with the hospital furnished meds indicated that “poops are your friend” and they would ideally like me at 3-4 per day. She also recommended the “Mediterranean diet” (https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/16037-mediterranean-diet) which emphasizes plant-based foods and healthy fats, saying that you eat mostly veggies, fruits and whole grains. My wife has taken charge of this area. She is also trying to create a sodium-limited diet.

            Not known for any conservative leanings, Prevention magazine published an article a few years ago (3/1/2023) entitled “31 Foods that boost liver function, according to research and dietitians.” As they address what they term as NAFLD (Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease) about 2/3 of their list of 31 foods are exotic seeds/grains from other parts of the world. But of those remaining, nearly all of them are now a part of my diet. It remains to be seen what their ultimate impact will be, but if all I do is drop my bilirubin from the 2.3 on my last bloodwork down to below 2 like it was until recently, I’ll be happy. [Note that I put little trust in this source. For example, one of the food suggestions was based on a sample of only 25 people, no control group, no peer reviews, and only noting that 52%, i.e. 13 of the 25 people had a positive reaction. Not a very scientific review!]

            I’ve also been working on the exercise aspect. I had planned to start doing some limited walking (with the assistance of my cane) – just daily trips to the mailbox or down the street. With my lowered weight this year I thought I could handle that. But the cold single-digits are upon us and there is a lot of snow and ice outside so that’s not wise. Instead until the spring season begins I have purchased a low-cost exercise machine that I can use on a regular basis (it folds up so takes minimal room). Just got it yesterday and I’m slowly getting adapted to using it, despite my half-foot amputation.

 

Cost Implications

            The cost of medications is a moving target. It used to be that pharmacy companies (generally based in the US), spent a lot of money on drug development, clinical trials, and getting FDA approval.  These companies would recover this cost through the cost of the drug, and the federal government was forbidden from negotiating prices. This began changing in 2022 as part of the Inflation Recovery Act under then President Biden when they announced that they would be choosing just 10 drugs where price negotiation would begin. They were cognizant of the fact that many families had to make tough choice – like do I get the drugs I need or do I put food on the table. It took a while for this to get worked out, but the number of drugs or drug families is now 15/year. Here is an announcement from a few months ago on just one drug family (https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/11/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-announces-major-developments-in-bringing-most-favored-nation-pricing-to-american-patients/).

            (Note – Mounjaro, which I use to treat my diabetes also has a side effect of weight reduction. One of its ingredients is a GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide) much like Wegovy which you may have seen advertised by some Hollywood A-listers. But it also contains a GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) that encourages fat reduction by reducing how much fat is stored and stops the amount of fat in the body from increasing.)

            By putting these drugs on the plan and requiring that the drug companies sell them in the US for the same MFN (Most Favored Nation) price as they offer to other countries, this will reduce the pricing, in the case of Mounjaro, from over $1000/month to only $350.

            For their part, as a representative of the many older retired folks such as myself, AARP had eliminated the complicated “donut hole” coverage scheme and gone to a concept called OOP (out of pocket) maximums. For 2026, OOP is $2100, after which all your drugs are paid for by your Part D insurance of Medicare (assuming that you enrolled in that Part D plan).

            One of the other 15 drugs for 2027 is called Zifaxan (also sometimes known as Rifaximin), which helps treat hepatic encephalopathy. This is being offered through the hospital pharmacy at about $1200/month (for just 60 pills) or $14,400/year – pretty pricy! The GI coordinator has also passed me information on getting the drug through a Canadian pharmacy for much less, or getting me connected with a company who will sell me income-limited credit cards to reduce the cost.

            Two weeks ago, AARP took the next step in the process and added Xifaxan to their official formulary list. But with me already using enough other medications to take me past the OOP, the net additional cost will be zero, even before the MFN pricing is determined and put in place for 2017. This is one more instance where it appears I made the right choice in enrolling in the AARP Part D plan back when I turned 65.

 

Diagnoses and Follow-ups

I’d like to finish this long blog by detailing all the various medical areas I have dealt with over the last 25 years, and where they fit in the above picture.

 

PCP – The job of the PCP is to monitor what’s going on in your life and make medical recommendations. They schedule an “annual wellness check” for all Medicare patients and use several of the comprehensive bloodwork tests to look for trends that they can pass along to you. They also monitor your vaccinations (preventing a disease is a lot cheaper than having to deal with you getting it. I’ve had to delay this meeting twice in the past few months because of dealing with my current liver issues. But I’ve taken the necessary bloodwork tests and will be meeting with her in a few weeks.

 

Urology – in 2001 I had my [only] encounter with a kidney stone. It was very painful. During the treatment and removal process, the urologist noted it was a uric acid stone. This is the same material that can cause gout if it settles in the ankles. After about 5 years of follow-up, he indicated that we did not need to meet again. The job of refilling the low-cost medicine (Allopurinol) used to keep the urine from getting too acidic was turned over to my PCP at the time.

 

Dermatology – on two occasions I noticed some small bumps forming on the skin of my forearms. Fearing it might be caused by skin cancer, I scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist. Both times he cut off the growthe and sent it for biopsy, and both times it came back negative. He gave me a prescription (betamethasone) to be used in the future. I recently started using it again on a new round of these bumps, but I now operate independently of the doctor.

 

Neurology – Since my current set of issues had a mental component, neurology got involved. As the testing needed is quite involved, they operate under the principle of “Diagnosis by Exclusion” i.e. finding all the things it's not. Getting no positive responses from the other medical areas, they needed to do their own testing and see if the remaining cause (mini-stoke or TIA) was indicated. After 24 hours of testing, I received the following message from them: “Your EEG did not show seizures or findings that indicate you are at an increased risk of seizure. We will discuss this further at your next visit.” So I’ll simply look for a follow-up visit perhaps a year from now.

 

Hematology – about a year ago, I found I was constantly being rejected when going to give blood because my iron level was too low. The hematologist said that it was like my body had a slow leak in it and recommended getting IV iron transfusions periodically. At that point my bloodwork showed a level of only 10. His recommendation was to shoot for a level of over 100. My readings since then have been 11, 15 [feeling like it wasn’t working well yet], then 51, 114, and recently 138. I have one more test and then a follow-up visit with him later this spring, so we’ll see what his recommendation is then.

 

Cardiology – the most significant medical event of my life, a “widow maker” heart attack happened in early 2005 (21 years ago). Because of my quick response, I am a survivor. I have no long-term issues, but I continue to have twice-yearly follow-up meetings to ensure it remains that way.

 

Endocrinology – diabetes is a messy and wide-spread disease. In type 2 diabetes the body doesn’t make enough insulin or doesn’t use it properly. This chronic condition is managed with lifestyle changes like diet and exercise, and sometimes medication. So medication has been my fallback position. I currently take pills (twice daily), an injection of insulin (twice daily), and another injection (once a week). This last injection seems to have done the trick with my body weight down nearly 30 pounds over 9 months. When I began having my current problems, there was a concern by the medical team that I may have overdone my routine and with the endocrinologist’s permission, we reduced my daily Lantus dosage. But now with my weight even further down and my wife’s focus on my diet, we’ll have to look at that again. I have two follow-up bloodwork tests and a scheduled meeting with my endocrinologist in two months to make those decisions.

 

Foot Surgery – in January 2024 I went to the ER feeling pretty lousy. While the staff was looking for the cause, one of the blood tests that they ran was on kidney function. The bottom line, i.e. the diagnostic, in this test is called an eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate). My eGFR was pretty horrible with a score of 10, indicating that my kidneys were close to failure. However, that was actually not the case. What I had was an infection around the area on my right foot where I had been working on correcting for several years. But now I had developed sepsis. One definition I have found for sepsis is “a life-threatening medical emergency where the body’s overwhelming response to an infection triggers a chain reaction …” In this case, the infection in my foot was being picked up by my blood which carried it to my kidneys to help clean that “dirty” blood. This automated diagnosis of my eGFR is like blaming your vacuum cleaner for the dirt on the floor, when all the vacuum cleaner is trying to do its job.

[eGFR]

Over the next several days while the surgeon was doing his job of giving me a TMA (trans-metatarsal amputation), the rest of staff were doing daily checking of my kidney function, watching it climb a few points each day. By the time I transferred to a rehab facility, my eGFR was back up to over 50 – not quite normal. As I write this, my last kidney function test shows that my score is 61, i.e. on the low end of normal. But alas, computers do not forget. So while my kidney function is now normal and there are not any ongoing issues with them, my medical record will continue to show that I have CKD (chronic kidney disease)! Our automated systems do have their limitations. I no longer need any follow-ups with my surgeon, but will continue to need to adapt to my amputation.

 

Gastro-Internist – this is the topic I started with in this blog. We’ve looked at all my bloodwork and a number of related items. But there are still areas that need to be addressed such as: how badly has my liver been damaged; how has my life expectancy been reduced; am I a candidate for a liver transplant (and does that answer change if I have a relative who is willing to be a donor)? I’ve gotten my meeting with the head of the GI team scheduled for next Wednesday where I’ll bring up all these issues, then we’ll see where it goes from there.

 

Conclusion

            This has been an intense few days of research and recounting my various medical issues. What does your story look like?

 

 

 

 

Christmas 2025

 

Christmas 2025

We thought that 2024 would be our last year together for our annual family vacation at Pinebrook, but then in addition to Tiernan getting a job there Aryon had trouble finding a job the Pinebrook asked Tiernan if his brother was available. But next year Aryon will be doing his military service and Tiernan has already let Pinebrook he will not be there so we’ll be down to just 5 grandchildren. So we’ve already decided that 2026 will be the last Russell summer at Pinebrook after being there nearly every year since 1977 – a run of nearly 50 consecutive years! Prices are also increasing regularly, so now is a good time to stop.

 

Family Updates

            I thought it might be interesting to give a quick synopsis of each family member.

·       Chris – was just named an associate at Lockheed – no increase in pay, just in responsibility

·       Pam – lots of responsibilities at their church

·       Aryon – in his junior year at Taylor. May be leaving college for the time being and getting a job.

·       Tiernan – in his freshman year at Taylor

·       Ilyanna – planning on going into the trades (not sure which one)

·       Matthew – still working for gun parts company (receiving, repackaging, shipping). Lives part-time with his parents and helps give medical aid to them.

·       Kim – Lost her job this summer and currently unemployed – actively looking for new job

·       Ethan – in an 11^th grade dual-enrollment program at Liberty University Online Academy. If all goes well will be graduating with an associates degree in 2028, then would like to get a job in railroading

·       Isaiah – 10^th grader at LUOA, thinking of getting a job in the trades – probably as an auto mechanic

·       Caleb – 10^th grader at LUOA, will likely go into their dual enrollment program

·       Asher – 8th grader at LUOA, probably will go into military

·       Donna – doing yard work (since I can’t), takes care of pets (4 cats, dog, 2 birds). Recently taking care of me (see next item)

Medical Update

Until about two months ago things were going well. Then started having physical issues and ended up in the hospital with a case of cirrhosis of the liver (sound familiar?) Still working through the issues involved, but a lot depends on a change of diet. However during the process I reached a milestone with a total weight loss of just over 200 (down nearly 30 pounds in the last year.) One more thing to track.

As always, we are finding that HE is in control and we need follow his leading.

 

 

Health Connections

 

There was a recent article posted on Fox News with the title “Why most people fall off a ‘health cliff’ at 75 — and 5 ways to avoid the drop” (https://www.foxnews.com/health/why-most-people-fall-off-health-cliff-75-ways-avoid-drop). This article was based on an episode of “60 Minutes.” Some of the key quotes were: “most people experience a steep decline in their 70s,” and “At 75, both men and women fall off a cliff.” Being on the far side of 75 myself, I can confirm that the number of medical issues increases at that time.

But I’ve also noted another phenomenon – that the issues we experience are not just individual and unrelated to each other. We tend to talk about them as separate issues – things like “I had a knee replacement”, or “I have diabetes.” But things are not that simple. I’d like to use this posting to relate three pairs of issues that I’m having, then concluding with a very involved situation I just went through.

 

Foot Amputation and Diabetes

I had been battling an issue with my feet for several years. The underlying cause was a malformation at the base of the big toe on my right foot. The pressure from walking on this resulted in the formation of a large callous. This eventually broke off, leaving a hole in my foot. After what seemed like continual issues, including getting neuropathy in the front part of both feet, I had multiple rounds of skin grafts, etc. But nothing seemed to work. I eventually got diabetes as well which added to the overall problem. It’s difficult to label things as “cause” or “effect”, but the chief take-away is that it often doesn’t matter.

In January, 2024, I went to the hospital with an apparent case of Covid – contracted by our son-in-law at his place of work and “shared” with the entire family. But as the on-call surgeon examined the wound on my foot, he made the determination that the extra level of infection in that part of my foot would be best “fixed” by removing first the offending toe, then on further examination that they amputate the front part of my foot as well.

 

Iron Levels and Gastrointestinal Issues

Since I post links to my blog on my Facebook page, that’s the source of most of my readers. Thus, it’s unusual that I get a response from someone outside that group of people. It’s even more unusual that I get a response from an organization. But that was the case not long ago when I got a response from just such a source. The following was posted in response to my blog on my medical conditions from last December

DCC Health ServicesOctober 23, 2025 at 1:07 PM

It’s really inspiring how you stay proactive about your health and keep such detailed notes. When you mentioned your liver specialist, it made me wonder about the difference between a hepatologist vs gastroenterologist — it’s something many people might overlook.

I’ve been seeing a gastroenterologist for the past few years.  This began when I had my first bout of a UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) and they detected the cause of that infection due to cirrhosis of my liver as well as a potential issue with my pancreas. The latter turned out to not be a major issue as the potential cancerous spot upon further examination turned out to not be cancerous. Instead I got put on a program of getting a CT scan every 6 months just to ensure that things did not progress in a “bad” way.

 

Diabetes and Cataracts

Sometimes the connection leads to positive results. One example from my life is that under Medicare, they will pay for an annual eye exam for anyone who is diabetic. Thus, when my annual exam detected the formation of cataracts, I quickly found myself at the office of an ophthalmologist and going through a few hours of intense testing. They quickly scheduled me for the removal of cataracts in both eyes, to be followed by monitoring for healing and then getting a new set of glasses.

Thus, in this case the connection had a positive outcome and resulted in fairly quick changes that may have taken much longer otherwise.

 

A “Perfect Storm”

Earlier this week I encountered a whole bunch of otherwise unrelated issues (primarily ones with medical implications) While earlier these may not have caused any problem, the body is not able to deal with so many of them as one ages. Here is list of all the issues I was dealing with (and all at the same time):

·       Vision restrictions – as I noted above, I was going through cataract surgery. After the second eye was done I was in a situation where my distance vision was severely compromised (this was probably the biggest issue listed here).After the first eye was done, I could still wear my prescription glasses and my eyes automatically adjusted to not using them for reading/middle distance, but continuing to rely on them for long distance. But after having surgery on the second eye that strategy did not work, so I had to get around with my compromised eyes. Once I get fitted for new lenses (next week!) this issue will be resolved.

·       Impact of diabetes medication – I began taking Mounjaro about six months ago. It takes a while to have an impact, but when I started my sugar levels were above 8 (the equivalent of 200+) – well into the “diabetic” range. But, true to expectations, they had been coming down and as of this hospital visit my sugar level was only 5.3 (the equivalent of 105) and below not only the “pre-diabetic” or “controlled” levels into the “non-diabetic” range. While this would be viewed as great news, it was also putting a strain on my body.

·       Iron levels – Just a week ago I had the third of my visits to the infusion center for additional iron (just think of a bag of fluid that looks like soy sauce). Again, preliminary results are positive, but another form of stress on my aging body.

·       Break in sternum – I never mentioned this to the hospital staff, but last week I cracked my sternum when trying to realign my water mug and pulling it toward me. While this is again not a serious issue, it adds to the overall stress as I try to avoid any additional movement that would either irritate it more or cause additional pain.

In addition to all these medical issues, I was having other stresses on my life. The Collegiate Outreach Board where I have served for about 20 years has shrunk and I am now the board chair, the secretary AND the treasurer. We had a meeting this past weekend where due to a number of circumstances I had to quickly put together an agenda as well as put together a couple of quarters of financial statements. I was aware that doing this while dealing with the above medical issues was a strain that I was not used to.

Finally, because of the changes introduced by the sale of our old house and moving in with our daughter and family there were a number of personal issues that impacted me.

On Sunday afternoon, the above set of issues pushed me “over the edge” – first becoming evident in the personal areas, then relatively quickly in the medical area. My interactions with my wife became increasingly improper as I found myself yelling and swearing at her (something that’s totally out of the norm for me and for which I later needed to apologize deeply. But then I began having medical complications as well where I could think but I couldn’t get the end of a sentence out and I was stumbling in my speech. Eventually my wife, to her credit, ended up calling an ambulance to take me to the ER as she couldn’t get me to agree that it was necessary.

The hospital staff, for whom I have the utmost respect, tried to find what was causing my condition. But they kept coming up negative on all their testing. (As my grandchildren later joked, they scanned my brain (an MRI) and couldn’t find anything!) I had a brain MRI, an EKG, an echo cardiogram, and innumerable personal tests – but everything was coming up normal! In the end they made a series of recommendation (which I have followed through on) – have my cardiologist look at the possibility of having me wear a cardiac monitor for a few weeks (which he declined as not being needed), making a slight reduction in the amount of insulin I take just so it doesn’t get too low (which my endocrinologist has agreed to), and having a follow-up visit with a neurologist in 4 weeks (which I already have scheduled). They also found evidence of a recent/newly started UTI, so they prescribed an antibiotic for a week. They also discontinued one of my medications since my results of the A1C show I no longer need it.

The bottom line is that while I did have some negative symptoms initially, there is no single cause evident, rather it’s the combination of all the little factors that pushed my body “over the edge”. Thus, there is no identifiable medical cause to be found – the solution is in the combination of factors. So, in the coming days I’ll focus on managing my body’s reaction to my need for new glasses, I’ll make the series of small changes that the doctors have recommended, and I’ll be grateful for a medical community that has expressed so much concern. But mostly I’ll try to find ways to repair the damage that I’ve done to the relationship with my wife who has had to  experience my inappropriate actions/words. Honey, I love you and appreciate all that you do!

 

 

 

Wolcott History

Back in 1956-1957 I was a 3rd grader in Alcott Elementary School. Two of the subjects that year were history and writing (in cursive). We had studies in each of these during the week, had a test where we had to recount the history that we had learned and write an essay in cursive about it. Normally, one wouldn’t keep this kind of material, but I liked history even back then, so I filed all my graded essays in a folder, diligently numbering them in order. When we sold the house that I’ve lived in for 50 years, one of the boxes I saved was a bunch of [historical] material from my childhood, including these papers from nearly 70 years ago.

While my cursive writing skills have declined over the years, I still have that interest in history. So, rather than take pictures of them, which most people these days can’t read anyway, I thought I’d type up the contents so people can see what we were taught back then. [Note that I’ve made a few corrections of the grammar and spelling from the original. Also, as I have since learned, there are errors of fact in some of these.]

 

Indians in Farmingbury

The Indians came through Farmingbury on their way to New Haven. They used to camp overnight in some caves. Many of the roads that we have today are Indian trails of long ago.

Some of the roads were named after the Indians. One road is the Potuccos Ring Road. The story about this road is that an Indian caught a deer. He wanted to make sure that the deer could not escape. He made a ring of fire around the woods where the deer was caught. The Indian could not get out of this ring of fire, so he was burned to death.

 

John Alcock in the Wilderness

John Alcock came in 1731. He came from New Haven. His wife came with him. They settled near water in what is now known as Spindle Hill. John Alcock built a log cabin. He also chopped down some of the forest. John Alcock protected himself with a musket. When John Alcock came from New Haven he rode on horseback.

He bought a thousand acres of land and gave a hundred acres to each of his sons and daughters.

 

Finding the Sun

Long long ago in a wilderness near Waterbury no one lived until a man came from New Haven. This man was John Alcock. When the news of a new settlement spread to New Haven, other people came but they settled in the valley. Many people became sick of a disease called malaria. One day someone went out of the valley up into the hills. The air was clear in the hills. So the people moved up into the hills. When they settled, they wanted a village. The village was named Farmingbury because Farmington and Waterbury were on each side of the village.

 

The Village of Farmingbury

Some of the people got together and sent a petition to the General Assembly in Hartford. This was a petition for a new village. The General Assembly refused to grant permission for a new village. After sending three petitions the people were able to have their village. The people decided to call the village Farmingbury. Farmington which was on one side and Waterbury which was on the other side. When this new village was founded, the people were allowed to have a preacher and a school for five months a year.

 

Church in Farmingbury

On November 22, 1771, Mr. Josph Atkins of Farmingbury bought the people together for a meeting. They voted to build a meeting house. They decided to have the meeting house face south. It was to be fifty-eight feet long and forty-two feet wide.

Mr. Joseph Atkins gave two acres of land. The meeting house was built on his land. Mr. Abraham Wooster was the master carpenter of the building. His pay was 480 pounds.

Before the meeting house was built the people met in Mr. Atkin’s home for church. The church was very important in those days. Most of the laws were made by members of the church society.

After the meeting house was finished the people needed a minister. A Mr. Jackson was asked to be minister for four years at a salary of one hundred pounds. Mr. Jackson refused. Several ministers were asked. Mr. Alexander Gillett was chosen. His salary was to be three hundred seventy-five pounds.

 

The First Business in Farmingbury

The first business in Farmingbury was mills. The first mill was built up near the Center. This mill was a saw mill. They used the saw mill to saw wood for log cabins. There were other mills too, a clothing mill, grist mill, a carding mill, and a paper mill.

 

How Woodtick Was Named

One day a man was chopping down trees in Farmingbury. His name was Judah Frisbee. He took off his coat and put it on the stump of a fallen tree. When he went to put his coat on it was full of small bugs called woodticks. He named the section Woodtick.

 

How Spindle Hill was named

A long time ago in Farmingbury there was a mill on a hill. The mill was a spindle mill. Spindles were made because women had to make their own cloth. The spindles were used to wind the wool around. This is how Spindle Hill was named.

 

Voting for a Town

Many people came to live in Farmingbury. The people wanted their village to become a town. They asked the General Assembly. The men in the assembly voted. It was a tie vote. Lieutenant Governor Oliver Wolcott broke the tie vote by voting “Yes”. The people of Farmingbury named their town after Lieutenant Governor Oliver Wolcott. This happened in 1796.

 

Farming in Wolcott

One of the businesses in Wolcott was farming. The farmers made good living in farming even though it was hard to turn woodland into farmland. The farmers had to chop trees, take out stumps and stones. Then the land had to be plowed. But once this was done the land was good farming land.

The crops were planted and harvested. When they were sold then the farmer would get something for all of his work.

 

Schools in Wolcott

Before Wolcott became a town there were schools in Farmingbury. There was a school in the South District before the Revolutionary War, but just where and when it was built we do not know. Another school was built on th north side of Meridan Road and was used until 1855. A larger school was built and used until 1923. Then the school which is now Woodtick school.

 

School in Wolcott

Long ago the schools were not like the schools are today. There were no desks. The children had to sit on benches and work on a shelf that was built all around the side of the room. The little children became tired at times. The school master would let them turn around and rest their backs.

The teacher got very little pay. He took turns living at each child’s home.

There were six schools in Wolcott: Woodtick, South, Center, Spindle Hill, North and Northeast.

 

French Soldiers in Wolcott

The French soldiers marched up Southington Mountain. They became very thirsty. A man showed them where to get a drink of spring water. Soon it grew dark and the soldiers needed a place to spend the night. Mrs. Upson let some of them sleep in her house. Most of the soldiers had to sleep on the floor. In the morning Mrs. Upson gave them some breakfast. Then the soldiers marched on to fight the English.

 

The Wolcott Fair

The first Wolcott Fair was held in 1882. It was held on the Wolcott Green. The people had this fair to show what they grew and raised on their farms.

In 1884 the fair was held on Frank Munson’s farm. After two years it was held where Frisbie School is now. This land is known as The Old Fair Grounds. It covered thirty acres and cost $1,842.00. There have been no more fairs since the early 1940s.

The first president of the Wolcott Fair Association was Mr. Harmon Payne and the first secretary was Mr. John Todd.

 

History of the Mattatuck Fife and Drum Corps

This band was started in 1767. It was called the Colonial Regiment Band. The commander was Capt. Aaron Harrison. The name of the band was changed to the Farmingbury Band. Twenty-one years later the name was changed again. This time it was called The Wolcott Band. Today the band is known as the Mattatuck Fife and Drum Corps. Many Wolcott men have played in the band. The band has played at many important happenings.

 

How Wolcott Helped the United States Grow

A few years after Wolcott was changed from a village some of the people began to leave. They heard of Mr. Sutter’s discovery of gold in California.

These people took all of their things and went West. When they got out west many couldn’t find gold. Many would have been glad to come back to Wolcott but they did not have enough money. These people had to stay in the west. This helped our country to expand.

 

Thomas Judd

Thomas Judd came from the center of Waterbury in 1690 to what is now the South District of Wolcott. He stayed here for several years. His daughter Rachel came with her husband, Thomas Upson to live near her father.

Thomas Judd went back to Waterbury but his daughter and her husband stayed on. Some of the Upson’s descendants still live in the South District today.

 

Seth Thomas

Seth Thomas came to Wolcott to build a shop for his business of clock making. But the people were afraid to let Seth Thomas build this shop because he needed a railroad. The people thought that a train coming through would set the woods on fire. So Seth Thomas went to what is now Thomaston where he built a large clock shop. Wolcott might have been an important town if Seth Thomas had built his shop here.

 

Addin Lewis

Addin Lewis for whom Addin Lewis School was named was born in Wolcott on November 18, 1776. He was a merchant in Mobile, Alabama, and also mayor of that city.

He became quite wealthy and returned to New Haven where he died.

He left $8,500 to the town of Wolcott the interest to be used for the support of public schools. He left nearly $15,000 for an academy in Southington.

 

Amos Bronson Alcott

Amos Bronson Alcott was born on Spindle Hill on November 29, 1776. Amos’ father was a farmer and a merchant. He was a very kind man. Amos’ mother was a daughter of a captain. She was polite and meek.

Amos liked to read. He went to the Spindle Hill School until he was thirteen years old. He used to write on his mother’s kitchen floor. When he was fourteen he got his first job in a writing school. He also helped his father make clocks. These clocks he sold in Plymouth. Later he became a Yankee Peddler.

Amos liked to teach. He was a kind teacher. He tried to make the children happy in school.

When Amos was a Yankee Peddler he travelled in Connecticut and Massachusetts and later in the South. He used to visit on the plantations and read many of the books he found in these houses.

 

Ebenezer Wakelee

Ebenezer Wakelee was the second man to come to Wolcott. He came because his father had been given a grant of land by the king of England. The grant said that Ebenezer’s father owned some land in what is now Wolcott. Ebenezer’s father wanted Ebenezer to settle on this land.

Ebenezer married Miss Elizabeth Nichols and came to live on the Great Plains. He bought some cattle and put a rail fence around his land to keep his cattle from wandering away.

Wolcott Card Group

It was a typical Saturday evening sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s in the small town of Wolcott. Four young couples in their late 20s or early 30s were meeting for their monthly card playing. The game of choice was usually canasta with two sets of four at each of two card tables. If one of the couples was not able to make it that month, then there would be a single table set up and the remaining two people would just watch and rotate in as each game ended. Each of the couples were raising growing broods of children. Sometimes the children would be left at home with a babysitter, but sometimes the children would be brought along and put to bed in the master bedroom upstairs. As one of these children I can recall going along in a car-bed that would be brought in so the youngest child would not roll out onto the floor and then the car-bed would be carried back out when the game was over.

            These four couples were not neighbors, in fact they lived from one end of the town to the other. And there was only one family connection among them. And the men all worked for different employers in cities to the south (Waterbury or Naugatuck). But they shared a love for the town that they had each moved to in the years following WWII. And they each would be involved in the growth of that town during the coming years. Let’s look at these four families and their contribution to Wolcott.

 

George & Jane Woodard

            George (1916-2005) and Jane (1919-1986) were the oldest of the four couples (by just a few years) and the most recent to move to Wolcott (again by just a few years). They lived on Fairview Ave, overlooking Hitchcock Lake in the very southern end of town. They eventually had three daughters (born in 1944, 1946, and 1952). George worked as a night watchman in one of the brass plants in Waterbury. Jane was very involved in the political life of Wolcott as has been reported in great detail in the Wolcott History website). Of significance here is her working as town treasurer and deputy registrar of voters, both positions would have given her access to lists of all the other residents in town.

 

Cliff & Betty German

            Cliff (1922-2012) and Betty (1923-2022) lived on Woodtick Rd, just up the street from Frisbie School. Cliff had served in WWII on a Navy fuel supply ship in the Pacific in the closing years of the war. He worked for US Chemical (later part of Uniroyal). Betty was a younger sister of George Woodard and was a teacher in the Wolcott school system. They had married in 1945 and moved to Wolcott about that same time. They had four children, three boys and one girl, but the first-born boy had died at the age of 3 weeks in 1949. The others were born in 1951, 1952, and 1956.

            Betty was the ultimate substitute teacher. The school could call her at any time, let her know that some other teacher was going to be out that day and she would step in and take over that teacher’s class – it didn’t matter if was a high school English class, math, or another subject. You knew that if you walked into the room and she was there that you would not be able to get away with anything that day. Any my parents being part of that same card group would not get you any favors either. I recall on day where she was substituting for an English teacher that she mentioned that she had been a substitute in every single course except one that was offered that year – the exception being boy’s high school gym class as she was a woman and would not be allowed in the boy’s locker room/showers. But she had even substituted in the boy’s shop class the previous week. While neither Cliff nor Betty were involved in politics, her connection to every family in town through her teaching gave her valuable insights into others.

 

Charles and Gerry Cullen

            Charles (1920-1973) and Geraldine (1923-1983) lived near the center of town. They had married in Stamford in 1943, and had moved to Wolcott shortly after. They had two boys (born in 1947 and 1950). Like Betty German, Charles was a teacher – but in one of the high schools in Waterbury, not in the Wolcott schools. They also attended the same church in Waterbury as my parents. But Charles also had a “side job” working in the town assessor’s office in Wolcott. That meant that he and Jane Woodard would have been working together in the Wolcott town office.

 

Vernon and Sylvia Russell

            My father (1920-2006) and mother (1924-2012) had married right after the end of his WWII service in the Navy in 1946 and bought a large piece of property in the far north end of Wolcott. They eventually had five children, alternating boys and girls, born in 1948, 1949, 1954, 1956, and 1958. Vernon worked as a draftsman for Scovil in Waterbury.

            My father was very involved in town politics and served as a Justice of the Peace. While technically an elected position, the quota of positions was divided equally between the two parties so that if your party nominated you it was guaranteed that you would be elected. In his later years my father also served on the Inland Wetlands Commission, thus continuing to have friends in town politics.

            In her early years, my mother’s involvement was through the Girl Scouts – involvement that had begun in her pre-teen years and which continued through the war years and after. After we had added a garage onto our home, it became the center of the GS Cookie distribution for the entire town. And it was through them that our entire family got involved in the running of the regional GS camp in Otis, MA – leading to both my parents being on the regional GS Council. Once the children were old enough my mother began working for the town, first as being in charge of the annual census (not the every decade federal census, but one that visited every home in town to count the children by age so the school district could ensure that when school began each fall they would have enough classrooms with appropriate distribution and that the busing would be appropriate). In addition, my mother became the registrar of voters for the town’s Republican Party – a job she likely inherited from Jane Woodard. When she passed away a large piece of the property the family owned was given to the Wolcott Land Trust to be preserved in perpetuity.

 

Conclusion

            Four families, ostensibly just meeting for monthly card playing. But all within a few years of age of each other and all becoming residents of Wolcott in the years during and immediately after WWII. Thirteen living children among them – overlapping over a dozen years or so. And all involved in various aspects of running the town – not as significant elected officials, but in the behind-the-scenes jobs that are needed. Between them they knew everyone in town – where they lived, the value and age of their home, the names and ages of each child – a treasure trove of information. Even though I was too young to appreciate it at the time, I’m glad to have been a part of this small group, to have known each family and to have benefitted from their collective efforts on the town’s behalf!

 

 

Cars and Trucks

             On June 10, we had the closing on our old house. Everything went quite smoothly. I was able to use the proceeds from the sale to pay off the mortgage on the house we are sharing with our daughter. At last, I thought, life would slow down a little. But alas, this was not to be.

            A few weeks before we had gotten a variety of blinking lights on our Subaru Outback – including the dreaded check engine light. But this can be as innocuous as not clicking the cover on the gas cap tightly – and I’ve had that happen before. The solution to that problem is to click it down tightly, then drive for a while. Otherwise, you have to disconnect the battery, let it sit for a while to reset the condition, then refasten it. But that did not work this time.

            The week after closing I scheduled our vehicles with our local mechanic, Ron Detwiler, as they both needed an inspection before the end of June. Unfortunately, he did not have good news for me – the lights were due to the transmission. The CVT in Subarus of that age had been having problems and the company had given a special 10-year/100,000 miles warranty. But that little “/” meant that if either of the conditions was reached that the warranty was no longer valid. While we only had 91,000 miles, our car was a 2014 and was now 11 years old. So we were out of luck. And the cost to fix the problem was going to be more than the car was worth!

            My wife is a plantaholic, meaning that she spends a lot of time (and money) on plants. But carrying plants or bags of mulch in the back of a car means that it’s constantly getting dirty. So she really wanted to have a truck this time. Kim and I did a LOT of looking to see what was available – starting with smaller trucks (Ford Maverick), then adding in mid-sized and eventually full-sized trucks. But we quickly ruled out the smaller ones as the back seats were too cramped for our growing grandsons. And new larger ones were much too pricy ($60K) and had the same trade-off issue which meant that getting a large enough rear seat meant getting a smaller truck bed – some being only 4’ long.

            Sitting the looking aside for a few days, we considered what the cost might be if we got two used vehicles – a truck for Donna (which would not get a lot of usage so the cost of fuel would be reasonable), and a passenger car for all our other driving (including running the boys around until Ethan is old enough to drive in a few years). So we broke our looking into three pieces – a used truck which was not for moving people, only plants; a lightly used car with enough rear-seat space for the boys; and a plan for getting rid of our old Outback.

 

            Part 1 – a truck for Donna – We quickly found that used trucks were all VERY used with over 100K miles – not something we were prepared to consider. But it was then that something happened that we can only describe as a God moment. Donna recalled that many years ago when she was listening to a local Christian radio station that they ran ads for something called _____ Great Cars in Sinking Spring, about 35 miles from here. Some quick checking revealed that the company was called John’s Great Cars and they had since moved to West Reading (about 15 years ago!). We looked up their website and found that while they had only a few used trucks, they had just listed one that day that met our requirements.

[Dodge Ram]

 

This is a one-owner Red Dodge Ram. While it’s from 2013, it only has 43K miles on it and the only damage is a dent on one corner of the box. It’s been garaged its entire life and the prior owner had just moved and no longer had a garage for it and was sad to see it go. We made an appointment to go see it, noting that they had not even had a chance to clean/detail it yet. The owner, John, called it a unicorn as it was a one-of-a-kind with such low mileage. We immediately put down a small deposit and as soon as they can complete the detailing in a few days we’ll go pick it up.

 

            Part 2 – A car for me – Fortunately, cars are not as hard to find as trucks. Looking at another Subaru Outback (which has a large enough rear seat for our growing boys), we noted that our local dealer (about 10 miles away), in order to meet the needs of their customer base, buys a large quantity of Outbacks in the fall so that they have many different ones for their customers to choose from and can sell them right off the lot instead of having to order them and wait for delivery from the manufacturer. Those that don’t sell by January/February they then title for use as loaner vehicles for customers getting servicing there. Then in May/June they sell off those as they prepare for the new models coming in the next fall. Thus, right around this time of year they have a quantity of vehicles that have only been driven by service customers. When we started looking they had nine of these lightly-used vehicles. Each had 2-3K miles during their 3 months of usage and all had the most commonly desired features, but not the less asked-for features or non-mainline colors.

            Since this will likely last for many years and eventually be driven by Kim and our grandsons, I let her pick out the top ones that she liked. As I write this, I’m scheduled to go to the dealer tomorrow morning and may have a new Outback by the end of the day.

[2025 Outback]

 

            Part 3 – Getting rid of our old Outback – Because of the transmission issues, I know that our old car is only worth about $500. And I’m not sure that it would even be able to make a trip to any of the dealers to offer as a trade-in. So, I decided that we’d donate it to a charity that would be able to come pick it up. After not much research, it will be going to Habitat for Humanity. They have a branch that does this for them with about half of these donations being cleaned up and auctioned off and half being crushed for scrap. They get the funds from both types and the donor gets a tax credit. Ours will quite surely be of the scrap kind. I’ve made the initial arrangements, gotten the title assigned and notarized to them, removed the license plate, and am just awaiting a call to schedule the pickup. They don’t need the vehicle to be running, only that it can move forward and backward and it have four inflated tires so they can roll it up on the truck that will come for it. Pretty painless. This will also greatly simplify the process of purchasing either of the above vehicles as I don’t have to worry about the trade-in process.

 

            Conclusion – While getting not one but two new (to us) vehicles right after going through the home sale process was not something that I was planning on, in the end I’ll spend less than the cost of one new vehicle. We’re still working through the logistics of which vehicle will park where. Eventually it will be four vehicles (Kim’s Crosstrek, the new Outback, the truck, and Matthew’s car), but there will be days this week when we may have the old Outback as well and we’ll have to do some shuffling. But God has been good to us throughout this process – especially with the timing coming after the sale of our former house so we have the necessary funds. That’s not to say that it would have been nicer to not have the stress of all of this. But we’ll give Him all the glory – both now and in the coming years.