Surgery update, Caminiero cards, and completed sets

 It has been a stressful but nice time since I have posted last. Karen went in for one kind of surgery on Tuesday, but came out with a different one, and we just rolled with it. I guess I’ll get to that first, and then do the card update. 

The original plan with Karen was to go to Mayo Clinic on Tuesday, have them put a 3D printed custom shunt in her trachea, and kind of see how it held up. This was part of a series of 3 types of shunts that could’ve been tried in her lungs. Depending on which one worked, she would then possibly be cleared for another surgery where some mesh would be put in her lungs, the shunt would be removed, and her airway and breathing would be much improved. Right now her lungs are collapsing at 80% (Tracheomacia is the official diagnosis), and it’s hard for her to function everyday without being able to breathe normally. 

We got to Mayo, and were called into an office by the surgeon. He told us that the doctor that ordered the 3D printed shunt had indeed ordered it, but never was able to have the shunt delivered due to not being in the country due to visa issues  as. We still aren’t sure why nobody knew about it until that day, but it was frustrating. Karen, like she always does, remained positive and reminded me that things happen for a reason. The doctor told us that from looking at some of her scans and her past history of her body rejecting shunts that Karen probably wouldn’t be a good candidate for a shunt trial but that she would probably benefit by going straight to the mesh surgery. The doctor did say that he could give her a broncoscophy while she was there (basically cleaning out her lungs and looking for any infections), and we both agreed that it would be great to have that done. The bronch took a few hours, but they flushed her lungs with saline and I feel like she came out great. She wasn’t out of it like sometimes after surgery, she could talk fine, and she said her lungs haven’t felt that clean in a while. 

We had 2 options for the mesh surgery, either do it at Mayo with doctors who have done it a few hundred times, or fly to New Jersey, and do it with the doctor who had invented the surgery and had done it a few thousand times. The choice was easy, and Karen has a phone appointment with the doctor from NJ on January 7, and hopefully we can have the surgery done later that month. 

I ended up taking the 12th through the 21st off because that is how long Mayo told us we would need off for the original stent trial surgery. That meant Karen and I had a hotel and free them. I really wanted to stay in Jacksonville until at least Saturday, but we drove home Friday afternoon. It was soooooo great and I didn’t realize how much I needed some Karen time without having to worry about work or having to get up at 3 AM. Wednesday we went to about 6 different stores and got some Christmas presents, and I think I might have enough alcohol to help me deal with Karens Mom and holidays until the end of the year. 

I’ve been trying to complete some card sets, and I found some deals on eBay, and was able to finish the ‘06, ‘08, ‘12, and ‘13 Topps sets. I still need the Update sets, but some of those sets like ‘12 and ‘13 were ones I had little of, so I’m happy right now just finishing the base sets. I also added the 2005 Topps and Topps Update Verlander rookies, as well as an oversized ‘08 Update Kershaw rookie reprint that will serve as a waaay cheaper version of the card. I did the same thing with the ‘12 Harper card. The ‘13 complete set came with both the regular and SP versions of the Harper card, and the ‘08 one came with the regular and SP version of the Red Sox championship card. 

There was an auction for both the ‘14 and ‘15 Topps sets that was around 40 dollars with 25 bucks for shipping that I was watching. Both of those sets are going for close to 100 dollars on eBay. I think any of those sets should go for 40-50 dollars, so I tried to put a bid in for 50 with 5 seconds left, but got outbid at the end, and I’m still ticked off about it. I just need to be patient, or just get the missing cards from SportLots. 

I’ve also been on a tear with pulling Rays prospect Junior Caminiero from packs. Some people say he will be better than what Wander Franco would’ve been, but we’ll see. 

I’ve pulled his cards from 2024 Big League, Heritage, Stadium Club, and got his Topps cards from getting the complete sets of the main and Update set. On the way home from Jacksonville on Friday, we stopped at Walmart to get a few things, and the only cards they had were Update and a few hanging packs of Allen & Ginter. I was ready to take a gamble and maybe get some Tigers or Rays out of a hanging pack, so I got one. Let’s see how I did. 

A pretty good pack if I can say so myself. Ohtani was the first one, the Baines is an SP, and I pulled one of those silver foil parallels (whatever they are called) of Caminiero!!  The only crap card of the pack would be the one of the soccer player and the one of that tool Jason Aldean. All his songs are about ‘tan-legged pretty little thangs with cutoff jeans sittin in the passenger seat of his jacked up pickup truck’ and most have the same chord progressions behind them. Anybody want the card?  

That won’t be all the Caminiero’s coming in, as I ordered his Bowman and a Topps Chrome X-Fractor from SportLots, and Wave Refractors of his base and Update Chrome cards from eBay. While I won’t say I’m a super collector, I am definitely a Rays collector, and am on board with any promising rookie they have. While I am sad that the team will be playing in Bankee$ territory in 2025, I am a little hopeful that the stadium issue could push a bond vote for the new stadium to be vetoed. While it would stop the development for the new stadium in the parking lot, it could pave the way for a stadium in Tampa or Orlando. If I am looking big picture, I wouldn’t shed much of a tear if the team ends up moving. It would just make some other city have a team with an owner that doesn’t spend and that will never win a World Series. Eventually, Tampa or Orlando will get another shot, and hopefully the owner will spend to strengthen the team. 

I don’t go back to work until Friday, so I have the rest of the week almost to organize cards and get all my complete sets logged into TCDB. I am thrilled to be on vacation, and hopefully next year won’t have to wait so long to take it. Actually, I’ll probably have to take 2 weeks whenever the mesh surgery will happen, so I might be well rested for the next few months. Hopefully New Jersey in January won’t be that bad. 

I also added some stuff to my wantlist, but it’s not cards, just pictures of cards. 

When it comes to cards in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s, I have trouble remembering the base designs after 1956. I know ‘62-‘65, ‘68-‘69, and have trouble with ‘70 and ‘71. After that, I’m solid. The subsets sometimes don’t match the design either. 

I decided to make small pictures of cards and glue them to my list so I could easily identify card designs and sunsets when I get new cards. Hopefully they stay on and can help me out. I’ve also listed an ‘average’ price I’ve seen on TCDB for commons for most sets. Anything I can add to it to help out. 

That’s about it. Sorry it has been a while since I’ve posted. Maybe next time I’ll have sent for my SportLots order. That is going to be one long (and fun) post. 

Thanks for taking the time to check out my latest post. 

-Jeremy