#27 Knee Replacement w Dr. Richard Berger

Summary

Bubba On the Lake – Episode #27: Knee Replacement with Dr. Richard Berger

Date: August 27, 2025
Host: Bill "Bubba" Bussey
Guests: Betty Lou Bussey (wife), Caitlin Bussey (daughter)
Theme: Bubba shares the full story of his recent knee replacement surgery in Chicago with Dr. Richard Berger, joined by wife Betty Lou and daughter Caitlin for a candid, humorous, and informative recap of their “knee replacement adventure.”

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Episode Overview

Bubba sets out to demystify knee replacement surgery, sharing his personal journey—decision-making, the travel and procedure itself, recovery, and emotional moments. The family dynamic takes center stage, providing comic relief and real talk about aging, logistics, and health. Bubba also spotlights Dr. Richard Berger's minimally invasive technique and why he chose to travel to Chicago, rather than use Alabama’s many excellent surgeons. The episode blends medical insight with Bubba’s trademark humor and family banter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Go to Dr. Berger in Chicago?

[02:00 - 03:50]

• Bubba explains he knew for years he’d need a knee replacement and put it off as long as he could.
• He had local options with “world-renowned surgeons” but was swayed by numerous friends’ exceptional outcomes with Dr. Berger in Chicago.
• Dr. Berger’s minimally invasive procedure allows much quicker recovery—crucial due to Bubba’s demanding sports broadcast schedule at Jacksonville State.
• Notable anecdote: A whole Sunday School class considered a “group knee replacement trip.”

"Dr. Berger had done several of my friends… very good results. He’s a unique story. He was an MIT mechanical engineer, invented a new knee and hip, then went back and got his doctoring license so he could install it himself. Pretty smart guy that picks up doctoring as a second hobby after mechanical engineering."
— Bill Bubba Bussy [07:04]

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2. Traveling to Chicago: Family Logistics & Humor

[06:53 - 15:14]

• Bubba, Betty Lou, and Caitlin detail their early-morning trek from Birmingham to Chicago, full of travel quirks, family roles, and airport mishaps.
• Caitlin teases that traveling with her parents is “prep for children,” as she handles logistics and jokes about generational role reversals.
• Staying at Trump Tower turned out to be a highlight—great views, excellent service, and spa time for Caitlin.

"Traveling with y'all was like my prep for children."
— Caitlin Bussey [01:39]

"I'm honestly not ready to take on the role of y’ all being dependent on me. Like it's always been roles reversed, and I would love to keep it that way as long as possible."
— Caitlin Bussey [12:13]

• Light-hearted exchanges about being overly early at the airport, getting lost looking for Chick-fil-A, and generational differences in travel habits.

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3. Impressions of Chicago

[08:09 - 11:29]

• Family expresses initial apprehension about Chicago’s reputation for crime, but report feeling “safe at all times” and loving the city’s beauty.
• Betty Lou and Caitlin enjoyed sightseeing solo while Bubba visited a broadcast technology supplier.
• Trump Tower selected for proximity and vanities; Caitlin revels in the spa and jokes the family almost roomed together.

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4. Meeting Dr. Berger: The “Machine” at Midwest Orthopedics

[15:14 - 18:41]

• The pre-op appointment was quickly and efficiently run—“they’re a machine”—with X-rays, consult, and paperwork all done in about 35 minutes.
• Dr. Berger, accompanied by his team of fellows and interns, impresses with courtesy, expertise, and organization.

"We got in there, we were a few minutes early… got paperwork done, X-rays done, met with the doctor, got everything ready for surgery, and we were back out in front of the building waiting on our driver at 12:35."
— Bill Bubba Bussy [17:43]

• Bubba’s humor evident, joking about “the second most famous man in Chicago after Michael Jordan.”

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5. Pre-Surgery Good Omens & Family Rituals

[18:41 - 20:40]

• The day before surgery, Bubba noticed fortuitous signs ("godwinks"), including a double rainbow over the city, which reassured him.
• The family’s regular driver, "Big Mitch from Macedonia," contributed calm and reliability.
• Pre-surgery, the Bussey family shares an emotional routine from the film Somewhere in Time:

  "The Jane Seymour movie... 'Come back to me, my love.' Which I feel silly doing it... but it is the routine, and it relaxes me."
  — Betty Lou & Bill Bubba Bussy [27:28 - 27:51]

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6. Surgery Day at Surgical Center in Indiana

[23:06 - 32:24]

• Surgery took place in Chesterton, Indiana (about an hour from Chicago), at a “beautiful” new surgical center.
• Bubba commends the staff’s professionalism and warmth throughout prepping and surgery.
• Caitlin jokes about military-level sendoffs and her parents’ expressions of love.
• The procedure involved a spinal block (with novel numbing patch), and the next memory Bubba had was waking up post-surgery—famously requesting his usual pizza order!

"Every single time, you verbatim, kind of look around, and you go, 'Can I get a thin crust? Half Hawaiian, half meat lovers, Domino’s.' Every time. It's so funny."
— Caitlin Bussey [28:12]

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7. Post-Op Recovery: A Family Affair (and Comedy Show)

[31:40 - 34:53]

• Bubba’s up and walking almost immediately—using a walker, then a cane, then no assistance—with staff “impressed” and the family filming his “throw down the cane” moment.
• Lighthearted, slightly embarrassing moments: hospital gowns with “three strings in the back”; Caitlin’s horror at seeing her dad’s hospital attire.
• Bubba’s optimism and lack of grinding pain amazed the family:

  "It felt so good because it wasn't grinding anymore. And I'm used to that grinding feeling. And I didn't have that... it just felt so good."
  — Bill Bubba Bussy [31:55]

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8. The Return Home: Planes, Pills & Taco Bell

[34:53 - 42:37]

• Recovery exceeded expectations—Bubba is up and wanting to go out to dinner soon after surgery.
• Airport logistics required wheelchairs and extra help; family discusses managing medications and the comic result of overmedication (“my eyes were crossing and I couldn't uncross”).
• Caitlin credits herself with wrangling travel details while poking fun at her parents’ travel style.
• Homecoming celebrated by much-needed Taco Bell—a highlight for Bubba, who methodically enjoys a Crunchwrap for 45 minutes on the drive.

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9. Week-After Update: Exceptional Progress & Minor Mishaps

[42:52 - End]

• A week after surgery, Bubba is walking better than in years, though notes his “legs may be different lengths now.”
• The family deals with minor medical device mishaps (ice machine bladder break) and continue their lighthearted dynamic through recovery.
• Bubba expresses deep gratitude for family support and Dr. Berger’s skill, credits “meeting protocol” for this stage of recovery.

"If it’s an inch longer, I don’t care because it don’t hurt."
— Bill Bubba Bussy [43:32]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On role reversal:
  "I'm honestly not ready to take on the role of y’ all being dependent on me, though. Like it's always been roles reversed, and I would love to keep it that way as long as possible."
  — Caitlin Bussey [12:14]

• On the rainbow over Chicago:
  "We had this rainbow... a sign. I mean, we've had two godwinks in this... And it was very reassuring to me to see that."
  — Bill Bubba Bussy [19:12]

• On post-op euphoria:
  "I was just relieved to have it behind me, you know, and like, okay, I survived. My knee is still here... it’s just such a relief."
  — Bill Bubba Bussy [34:07]

• On family routine before every surgery:
  "'Come back to me, my love.' Which I feel silly doing it... but it is the routine, and it relaxes me."
  — Betty Lou [27:28]

• On rapid recovery:
  "I was shocked at how well you felt... like, let's go to dinner."
  — Caitlin Bussey [34:28]

• On priorities:
  “Before we even got there, that I slept real good the first night. You changed ice packs on my knee. Didn’t wake me up.”
  — Bill Bubba Bussy [36:03]

• On the hospital gown dilemma:
  "Of all the advances we've made in medicine, we can't beat that [hospital gown]."
  — Bill Bubba Bussy [31:20]

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Timestamps for Notable Segments

• [02:00] – Bubba explains picking Dr. Berger
• [07:04] – Dr. Berger’s background and innovative methods
• [12:14] – Caitlin reflects on generational shift/caring for parents
• [15:14] – Clinic efficiency and first impression of Dr. Berger
• [19:12] – Double rainbow moment before surgery
• [27:28] – Family’s pre-surgery "Come back to me, my love" ritual
• [28:12] – Bubba’s post-op pizza ritual
• [31:55] – Walking post-op: "it wasn’t grinding anymore"
• [34:07, 34:53] – Rapid recovery, joking about being “healed”
• [43:32] – Bubba shrugs off possible leg discrepancy: “I don’t care because it don’t hurt.”

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Tone & Style

The show is upbeat, warm, and often irreverent, balancing gentle self-deprecation and medical information with familial ribbing and sentimental moments. The trio’s southern wit and plainspoken honesty make even the technical details approachable.

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Final Thoughts

This episode offers both a roadmap and a morale boost for anyone facing joint replacement. It highlights the value of thorough research, embracing innovation, and leaning on loved ones. Bubba’s recovery exceeded expectations, thanks largely to the expertise of Dr. Berger and a family determined to make the journey memorable.
"Thumbs up. Good trip. Praise the Lord—we're home and you’re doing great."
— [47:01 - 47:03]

For further details on Dr. Berger, driver Mitch, and the travel logistics, Bubba promises links and notes at the end of the show.

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[Ads, intros, outros, and non-content sections have been omitted.]

Transcript

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

This podcast is brought to you in part by Coke, Buffalo Wild Wings, Southern Immediate Care Guaranteed Labels, Central State Bank, Sunrise docks, bankers Bounty, Dr. Thomas Dudney and the Green Monster Fishing Light. Now back to Bubba on the lake.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Hey, it's Bubba.

[Narrator/Intro Voice]

Hey, Bubba. Bubba on the lake. It's Bubba. Hey, Bubba, Hey, Bubba on the lake. Yay on. Gotta come and check this. Talking people, talking places from Bubba's perspective. This is Bubba, Bubba, Bubba, Bubba, Bubba on the lake. A Bubba, Bubba, Bubba, Bubba on the lake.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to another edition of Bubba on the Lake. And we have a very special edition. I'm joined by my better half, the lovely Betty Lou. Betty, how are you?

[Betty Lou]

I'm great. How are you?

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

I'm doing great. And back by my daughter, Caitlin Bussey. Caitlin, how are you?

[Betty Lou]

Hello.

[Caitlin Bussey]

How are y'?

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

All?

[Caitlin Bussey]

Happy to be back.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Are you staying out of trouble? I am.

[Caitlin Bussey]

I've had quite the past few weeks, one of them being spent with you, too. So I'm taking some time to detox.

[Betty Lou]

That was the highlight of the last two weeks, was being with us for the week.

[Caitlin Bussey]

It was actually. It was fun.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Well, we will tell you, we needed your help, and without it, I don't know that we would have had a smooth trip. I do want to take issue to one point, the fact that I think y' all drugged me to get me through the airport coming back home. But we will. We will.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Traveling with y' all was like my prep for children.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Kayla, watch this.

[Betty Lou]

Whoop.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

You're out. See, you have to wait till the host calls on you. So we'll get back to that segment in a minute. You don't want to jump ahead. We have been away, and many of you know that I had a full knee replacement. It's something that I. I needed to have done. We knew we were going to have to have it done. Probably 20 years ago, even before I started playing tennis, the very first knee scope I had, Dr. Larry Lemak said, enjoy the next few years of tennis because your knee ain't going to make it that long. And we got all we could out of it. And we may even post some x rays to show you how about a shape it was in. And we. Anyway, we decided to get that done. I pushed it off till I was 60. I'm 61 now, so, you know, life's basically over, so there's no need to even continue. Might as well get it done, right? So we decided to get it done, and we decided to go to see Dr. Richard Berger in Chicago now. The very first question that I'm going to get from any of you is why in the world, Bubba, did you bypass all these great world renowned surgeons that we have in Birmingham, we have in the Auburn area, we have in Montgomery, we have in Huntsville to travel all the way to Chicago to get your knee done? And I'm going to answer that question. You are correct. We have a lot of very good surgeons here and a lot of them have had excellent results. I've had friends that have had excellent results with them. The thing about Dr. Berger, I have probably 10 to 15 close friends who he has done a knee or hip for them and several of them. As a matter of fact, we had a Sunday school class of about 10 guys that were all going to go on a guy's trip and all get knees replaced at the same time. So that may be taking it a little too far. But I don't know that they ever did that. Several of them did, but I don't know if they went as a group. But he does specialize in minimal evasive procedures.

[Betty Lou]

Invasive minimal.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

That's what I said, minimal, whatever she said, procedures. And which means a quick recovery, very quick recovery. And in my work now with Jack State and especially this time of year, it was not a good time of year to go to have this done because we're getting ready for football season and volleyball season and soccer and all of our broadcasts are kicking off school starting and I just did not have a lot of time that I could be down. So we were counting on a quick recovery. And we are back. We are at the time we're recording this. We're not even one week post op yet and I'm moving around pretty well. I'm planning on going back to work at Jacksonville State tomorrow on campus, and it will be one week from having a full knee replacement. So I think that's pretty good. We will tell you all about Dr. Berger and about our trip. We're going to go ahead and take a break and we'll come back and we'll start the trip. Caitlin went with us to be an extra hand because we really didn't know what to expect. And we'll cover all of that when we come back in just a moment.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

It's Bubba on the lake.

[Narrator/Intro Voice]

Bubba on the lake.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

All right. All right. It's a beautiful day for football here at the stadium and we're just about ready for kickoff score, 00. And suddenly I'm in the mood for a Coke. Zero sugar. Real Coke, taste zero sugar. Now that's a Winning combo. Yeah. Crisp, refreshing that hits the spot when it comes to great taste. Coke Zero sugar's always on the scoreboard. Coke Zero sugar, Real Coke Taste Zero sugar. Illuminate your night fishing adventures with the ultimate in submersible fishing light technology. The Green Monster fishing light attracts bait fishing game fish in all water environments. Turn any dock into a vibrant feeding frenzy. Compact, tough and energy efficient, the green Monster fishing light will provide endless hours of family entertainment and enhanced nighttime visibility for safe docking. No dock. No problem with our 24 inch portable green monster fishing line. Start landing trophy fish tonight. Visit the greenmonsterfishinglight.com at Central State bank, we believe community banking is more than just transactions. It's about relationships. For over 100 years, you've been helping neighbors grow, businesses thrive and dreams become reality. Because when you bank local, you invest in your community. Central State Bank. Large enough to serve you, small enough to know you. Visit us today or learn [e-mail] Member FDIC.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

We'Re back. It is Bubba on the lake. I'm Bill. Bubba Bussy, your host. And I am sporting a new knee that we just had replaced. Along with me, the lovely Betty Lou. Betty, how are you?

[Betty Lou]

I'm doing well.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

And my daughter Caitlin, who went with us on the trip to help us out and to whoop everybody into shape.

[Caitlin Bussey]

I'm still doing well. You are still sitting here.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

So as we explained in the first segment, Dr. Berger had done several of my friends. They had had very good results. He has a very unique story that he was a mechanical engineer. MIT mechanical engineer, invented a new knee and a new hip, then went back and got his doctoring license so he could install it himself. Pretty smart guy that picks up doctoring as a second hobby after mechanical engineering. So not only did he invent the knees, he invented the tools that he used to put these in. And it's, it's been very educational learning about him. Not to take anything away from all the world renowned surgeons that we have in our area, but we just felt like that a quick recovery was key in this due to the time of year it was and my job. So we headed out to Midwest Orthopedics at Rush Medical in Chicago, Illinois. And I know the first thing I think of, of and you ladies can comment on this.

[Caitlin Bussey]

We need to talk, Mom.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

When I think of Chicago, you know, I can't just pot you down again. So when I think of Chicago, I think of crime and, and murders and all this stuff. But when we were there, I really didn't I didn't feel unsafe at any point, did you?

[Betty Lou]

No, no. It was a beautiful city. I thought Caitlyn and I walked around on our own one of the days because you went and did some kind of electronics today thing or something. I don't know.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Well, we. We at Jacksonville State had bought a bunch of equipment from a company called Studio Technologies, and they are kind of the industry leader in broadcast communications between directors and talent and handling the audio. They use a new technology that's out called Dante Audio, which is now becoming the standard. So it was really one of those godwink things that we had an extra day in schedule and their office ended up being 20 minutes from our hotel, which I thought was kind of cool. So we went up there and it all began with an early morning flight out of Birmingham. And mom does not do well with early morning flights.

[Betty Lou]

Well, I'll make it work, but I'd rather not. You know what I mean? I mean, I think we had to be up at 2:45am or something like that. That's a little bit.

[Caitlin Bussey]

I love an early morning flight, though. I mean, you get there.

[Betty Lou]

Yeah, you get the whole day once you get there. It's just trying to get there. Yeah.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

So we. We had several options where to stay, and we ended up staying at Trump Tower, which was a few blocks away from Dr. Berger's office. But, you know, 10 minutes, 15. So. And we had an appointment at noon that day. So we flew out very early. Caitlin, you met us at the airport. How was that?

[Caitlin Bussey]

I rode with you guys, remember?

[Betty Lou]

I still on pain pills. Go ahead.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Had a little quag, you know, with the whole Star ID sit situation. So I was like, I've gotta. Anyway, I was coming from a work conference, so I was. I drove from Fairhope to Birmingham, back to Montgomery, to Alex City, back to Birmingham and to Chicago in all of about 12 hours. That was a lot of fun.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

It was. It was literally plane strains in automobile.

[Caitlin Bussey]

But no, it was. It was pretty easy. Travel to Birmingham airport. It's very easy. I think traveling with you two is honestly really funny. I've traveled a lot by myself, so having other people who, you know, need to be at the airport four and a half hours early and are confused on how we check bags. Really, it's just really, it's good practice, I guess, for having kids. Maybe one day.

[Betty Lou]

Oh my gosh.

[Caitlin Bussey]

But it's.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

It's.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Honestly, it was fun. We had a lot.

[Betty Lou]

You know, we like flew somewhere on our honeymoon before you were ever.

[Caitlin Bussey]

I mean, that is what scares Me, because I checked three suitcases and I get in the car and dad goes, how'd you do that? You did. You were on a. A lot of pain.

[Betty Lou]

Pre or post.

[Caitlin Bussey]

This was post. Like getting to the airport. I had to arrange for dad to have, you know, wheelchairs and all the good things, cuz he obviously just had surgery.

[Betty Lou]

Right.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

You're jumping ahead. We're still on the front side.

[Betty Lou]

Oh, okay.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

We're still on the front. You got to go in order. Got to go in order.

[Caitlin Bussey]

But no. Yeah. Chicago is amazing. I'd never been either. So I was excited to get a fun, free. Another free trip, as dad would say, out of it. Yeah.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

You travel more than northwest pilots. I say incredible. It never. It never pays for a thing. By the way, every one of these are free. You know, she called me other night, she said, I'm out of money, dad. Can you loan me some to pay day? I said, we'll just go on a trip because they're free. You get to eat all you want.

[Caitlin Bussey]

No.

[Betty Lou]

Oh, Lord, that conversation. The Trump Tower sure was pretty, though.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Let's get to that. Yeah, it was pretty.

[Betty Lou]

The view was incredible.

[Caitlin Bussey]

The service there is phenomenal. I mean, every staff member that we talked to, I mean, everything about it was just over the top. Nice. I went to the spa, of course. Had to get some RNR in as a treat for coming to be the best daughter in the world. I know you refer to me as your spirited child, but I'm also your GSD kid.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

What is that?

[Caitlin Bussey]

I mean, for editing purposes. I'm your get stuff done kid. You can figure out what that actually means. But it was good. It was exciting to get to come. I'm honestly not ready to take on the role of y' all being dependent on me, though. Like it's always been roles reversed, and I would love to keep it that way as long as possible.

[Betty Lou]

Okay. I'm still fine.

[Caitlin Bussey]

You're almost worse than dad. We're sitting in the airport, and you know when you get there, it says where you're going at your gate. And of course, we're three and a half, four hours early. So there's two flights before us on the monitor, and it says, like, Milwaukee. And Mom's like, we're not going to Milwaukee. Where are we going?

[Betty Lou]

I saw that we were early. We were just so dagum early. It was still on Milwaukee. They ain't even cleared the Runway yet. And we're sitting down ready to go to Illinois. So anyway. Yeah.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Well, the key is, though, if we had had trouble. See, we would still made our flight.

[Narrator/Intro Voice]

Yeah.

[Betty Lou]

Oh, yeah, buddy.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

We'd been there, and I was fine. After I found Chick Fil a inside. Yeah, you know, that. That was good. That pacified me for an hour.

[Caitlin Bussey]

So going through security is so much easier now. Thanks.

[Betty Lou]

It is.

[Caitlin Bussey]

You don't take your shoes off. It's very easy. And, like, Birmingham Airport takes all of five minutes to get through security. And of course, my bag gets pulled. It always does. I don't know why, but, mom, I was like, dad was hungry, and I was like, mom, just go to Chick Fil A. It's literally, if you've ever been in the Birmingham, you. You walk five steps out of security in your. At Chick Fil a, mom disappears for 15 minutes and comes back and is like, I can't find it anywhere. And I'm like, okay, I just walked.

[Betty Lou]

About three minutes less than I should have. And it was.

[Caitlin Bussey]

No, but it's the big red side.

[Betty Lou]

But I didn't walk far enough. And I thought, well, I'm out here by myself in the wild blue yonder, and it's 3am.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

You could almost hear it clucking. Yeah.

[Betty Lou]

Okay, pop down, both of you. I found it. And we ate breakfast, and it was good.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Thank you.

[Betty Lou]

Yes.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

So we get there, and I actually have an appointment at noon. And we get there, we go to the restaurant that's inside Trump Tower to have a little brunch. And, you know, our room was not ready. Yours was. So we put our suitcases in Caitlin's room and went down. And this thing has an incredible view because they have an outside part, and you're 16 floors up, and you see the entire Chicago skyline. You see out to Lake Michigan, and it was. I mean, it's just beautiful. It really is.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Just like a funny side note, when we were booking all of this, we were trying to figure out, like, where we're going to stay and, like, kind of how we're going to do it, driving and all of that. And dad and mom were like, well, we can just get one room. And I was like, well, Dr. Berger better specialize in lobotomies as well if we're gonna be in the same hotel room for a week. And I'm sorry, but no, we would.

[Betty Lou]

Have been just fine. I mean, you know, ran the call.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Stuff a little bit, but probably a good call, all said and done.

[Caitlin Bussey]

So I was busy. Y' all were busy. We were busy together sometimes, but it was very worth having two separate rooms.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

So we. We head out to our appointment with Dr. Berger. And this is where you start to see that specialized. We kind of joke and say they were a machine. But our appointment was at 12, and we got there a few minutes early and we had a little bit of paperwork to do. Not as much because we'd done a lot of it in advance. And they carry me back to get X rays on my knee, and they do all my knees, all this hips. And then they put us in a room and Dr. Berger comes in and he brings in all of his. What do you call it when you have all the other staff? Well, fellows, fellows, I guess interns, you know, they. They have a whole bunch of people with them. And he's, he's very courteous. He sits down and he says, you know, is there any questions you have for me? And I told him, I said, I'm just glad to meet the second most favorite famous man in Chicago behind Michael Jordan. You know, I thought you might have smoke. You know, when you run into the.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Office that is very single person. We kind of. And you know, mom has never met a stranger. So we'll be. We were in the lobby just like waiting for an Uber one day, and mom was like, oh, I talked to them yesterday. They're from Texas. You know, they have two 16 year olds. And also they were born in Rhode island. And. And I'm like, mom, like, we've never met a stranger, which is great, and I love that about mom. But sometimes I'm. I'm stone cold. Like, if I'm traveling alone, like, I'm a young girl, like, I'm not talking to strangers. Like, sorry, I don't care.

[Betty Lou]

Stranger danger.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Shame that you wasn't at Harbor Freight a little while ago. There's a gentleman. Learned all about us rebuilding the house. You would have been proud. So anyway, back to this doctor. Dr. Berger comes in. He's very professional, and he, he asks any questions. We review the X ray and we, you know, of course, me being, you know, 12 years old, the X ray is a little more revealing than you want it to be because they shoot your hips and, and I get to, I get to laughing and, you know, your mom is pinching me behind my back. And honestly, I thought it was a very flattering X ray. And so we were, you know, we kind of had a church moment there where you're trying not to laugh in church. But here's the thing that was amazing on the serious side of this. We got in there, we were a few minutes early, not a lot. Our appointment was at 12. We got paperwork Done. We got X rays done. We met with the doctor, got everything ready to go for surgery, and we were back out in front of the building waiting on our driver at 12:35.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Yeah, that's nuts.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

35 minutes.

[Caitlin Bussey]

You can't even get into the room.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

So they. They have a machine there. I mean, it's just an absolute machine. Everybody that you meet is in a good mood. They're happy. It looks like they all want a beauty pageant to be there. And even though they're highly qualified. And so, you know, we're ready to go. And I felt good about it. We went back to the. To the hotel. And then the next day we had our free day when I got to go over to Studio Technologies and visit with those guys who had been on the phone with. And they were a pleasure to get to meet them and see their laboratories and all that they're doing. And so we come back and we're getting ready for surgery the next day, and everything is just run smooth. I mean, I have no apprehension at all. I think you could attest to that. I was very calm about it all.

[Betty Lou]

You were pretty calm. Yeah. Before, you know, I don't. That's to be expected.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Yeah.

[Betty Lou]

I don't know.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

I think you. You're always going to be a little bit. Hey, you know, they're going to cut on me. So, you know, you're always got a little bit of ants about it, but it's, you know, I wasn't worried at all. And then what even made it cooler? We had a little thunderstorm come through. We went back down to the. To the hotel restaurant, and there was the most beautiful rainbow you'd ever seen. I mean, it was vivid.

[Caitlin Bussey]

It was a double.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

It was a double rainbow and right over the whole Chicago skyline. And I told Betty, I said, well, this is a sign. I mean, we've had two godwinks in this. We've had studio technologies being 20 minutes away over in Skokie, Illinois, and now we've had this. This rainbow. I mean, I look for little things like that. I know some people might think that's silly or coincidental, but it's things that mean something to me. And it was very reassuring to me to see that.

[Caitlin Bussey]

It was.

[Betty Lou]

Me, too. I love a rainbow. Anyway, it was very pretty.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

And we. We had a driver that we got for the week.

[Caitlin Bussey]

The best. Mitch.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Big Mitch.

[Betty Lou]

We love Mitch.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

He's amazing.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Mitch from Macedonia.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

We will put.

[Betty Lou]

From Macedonia.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

We will put Mitch's information in the notes for this podcast along with everything else we're talking about because I know a lot of you are going to be interested in that. But Mitch was a very calming factor. He had. He had driven one of our friends and was super nice. And I just felt like I had a winning team. I had y' all there. I had Mitch. I had Dr. Berger. I'm like, hey, let's get it on, you know, let's go with it.

[Caitlin Bussey]

So me and mom are, like, pretty efficient. I will say, like, we got there. Got to stimulate the local economy always. We will always find somewhere to shop for a little bit. And then, you know, we get dad in and out of surgery, which, like, I can't imagine going through a knee surgery.

[Betty Lou]

Mm.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

We'll come back to that. We're leading up to that morning, and I'll. I'll tell you about that when we come back. Stay with us.

[Caitlin Bussey]

We're getting, like the birds and the bees.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

We got more to talk about right after this. Stay with us.

[Narrator/Intro Voice]

You're listening to Bubba, Bubba on the Lake.

[Betty Lou]

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[Caitlin Bussey]

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[Betty Lou]

Dedicated to serving all ages, from children to adults, Southern Immediate Care offers occupational medicine services, including dot physicals and testing. At Southern Immediate Care, your health is our top priority. Visit southern immediatecare.com or call 205-409-2794.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

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[Bill Bubba Bussy]

I am so happy to announce that Our family dentist, Dr. Thomas Dudney, has joined my podcast as a sponsor. My entire family have been patients of Dr. Dudney and his team for over 20 years. Now, I'm going to be telling you a lot more about all of his services and what he does, but I have to tell you, the veneers that he gave me changed my life. I had no idea how big an impact that would have. You can call him today at 2056636545 or visit them at thomasdudney.com and find out more. Well, we are back and it is now surgery day. It is time to go have surgery with Dr. Berger and Betty. In this particular case, he operates at several different locations, including the Midwest Orthopedics there at Chicago. But we're actually scheduled, because of the day we're there, to go to one of his surgical centers, which is actually in Indiana.

[Betty Lou]

Correct. Chesterton, Indiana, which is just over the border.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

About an hour away.

[Betty Lou]

Right.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

So Mitch picks us up and what time did we leave?

[Betty Lou]

3 o'. Clock.

[Caitlin Bussey]

No, 4 o'.

[Betty Lou]

Clock.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

4 o' clock. Because we had to be there at 5.

[Betty Lou]

We had to get up at 3.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Because you do full glam to do anything. I rolled out about it about 350.

[Betty Lou]

I'm a child. I will always have a little face makeup on. I don't care if I'm just staying pulling up weeds around the house.

[Caitlin Bussey]

In the words of Eddie Bussey, there is no ugly women, just lazy ones.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

So we. We load up with Mitch and we head out. And we've got to go south to Indiana and go through what is most people consider the. The worst part of Chicago, the South side. And we're going through and. And I'm sleepy and I go to sleep. And what did Mitch say about that?

[Caitlin Bussey]

He said, there's no better compliment than my. My writer's falling asleep. He was like that. That way I know they feel safe.

[Betty Lou]

That's right.

[Caitlin Bussey]

He was very sweet. I really liked Mitch.

[Betty Lou]

Yeah, I did, too.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

He. He instilled a lot of confidence in me, too. Just the whole trip.

[Caitlin Bussey]

He was one of those people you meet and you just immediately feel safe around. And I know mom and y' all are just funny about this in general, but I was going to go see a friend that I knew that lived in Chicago and, like, go, you know, see the bar scene in Chicago. I'd never been. I wanted to see that while we were there for a week. And mom was like, well, you need to get Mitch to drive you. Keep in mind the bar is 500ft across the street. Like, across the street. And I was like, mom, no, this is ridiculous. But I'm like, you would rather I'm going to see, like, friends that I'm. That we have known, like, as a family from Greystone for years and years and years. And Mom's like, no, get in the car with a complete stranger and go over there.

[Betty Lou]

No, I was just.

[Caitlin Bussey]

At least to his personality, like, he really does make you feel safe. But, you know, y' all are so extra with stuff like that.

[Betty Lou]

It wasn't your friend that you were me, I didn't know who else you would encounter while you were trying to get over there. You know what I mean? Well, about that. You just never know.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Caitlin, when it comes to safety, we are undefeated. And if we ever lose one, you'll know it.

[Betty Lou]

Yeah.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

And it'll be bad for everyone.

[Betty Lou]

It will be bad.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

So we load up and we go to. Is it Chesterton? Is that the right.

[Betty Lou]

Yeah, Chesterton, Indiana.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

And we pull up. It's a surgical center. And it's beautiful. It's not more than two years old. It's out in a big open area. If you didn't know better, you think you were pulling up to a fancy steakhouse or something. I mean, it looked like that to me.

[Betty Lou]

It wasn't all that fancy on the outside. Once we got inside, it was very clean. Yeah, I knew there was a donut establishment right next door that me and donut establishment.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

It was a Dunkin.

[Betty Lou]

Well, I'm trying not to say a word because they're not an advertiser. Hello, Dunkin Donuts. But if you would like to be 1-800-Bubba on the lake. No, I'm just kidding.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Yeah, don't. Don't call that. We have no idea.

[Betty Lou]

No, we don't know who it is.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

I'm just saying that you can drop an email. We do know that. So we go in and again, you know, you sign up and there's several people there to be to have surgery that morning. And they tell me, they said, look, we're going to get you right back. We're going to get you prepped for surgery, we're going to get you IV started, get you in a hospital gown, get you on the bed, and then your family can come back. So they do. They come back. And again, the ladies doing this are super nice and they're just over the top and they tell me everything they're doing. They, you know, check your vitals, they tell you what it is. They get the IV started. They have to shave my leg a little bit. I waited and let them do that. And. And we're ready to go. And they call you guys back, right?

[Betty Lou]

Correct. Yeah.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

And it didn't take long after that. They were.

[Caitlin Bussey]

You would have thought it was a military send off. Like, mom and dad are so in love and I love so much. Like, it's very sweet, but like, the drama, I was like, y', all, come on, wrap it up, let's go.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Well, we. We have a. Unfortunately, I've had to have so many surgeries. We kind of have a Procedure we go through now, and I always like for you to say to me, no, no, don't.

[Betty Lou]

Just let it be.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

No, tell it.

[Betty Lou]

Let it be. Really?

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Yeah.

[Betty Lou]

All right.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Like, y'. All. I'm so embarrassed right now.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

That even means more reason to tell it.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Can you at least explain why I'll say it. It's a movie.

[Betty Lou]

Oh, it's a movie that they both like somewhere in time.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Betty Lou]

The Jane Seymour movie. Come back to me, my love. Which I feel silly doing it. You know what I mean?

[Caitlin Bussey]

It's so humiliating in front of the nurses. Dad was like, say it, buddy. Say it. Say it. Bailey, you better say it. I was like. Under her breath, she was like, come back to me.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Well, that's part of the routine.

[Betty Lou]

It is sweet. It is the routine.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

And it. And it relaxes me.

[Caitlin Bussey]

And then the nurses were like, okay.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

And. And then when I wake up, I want to be told what time it is. What? Because you're, you know, you're. You're out of it. So if she doesn't tell me quick enough, I start doing this, and that means tell me where I am and if I'm okay and all that.

[Caitlin Bussey]

I can't remember what other surgery I came to the hospital.

[Betty Lou]

Like, when you Heart stint.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Yeah. Waking up. Both surgeries. I've been in a room when you were kind of coming back to. And you have the exact same. Every single time, you verbatim, kind of look around and you go, can I get a thin crust? Half Hawaiian, half meat lovers, Domino's every time. It's so funny. And mom's, like, shoving Optavia bars in.

[Betty Lou]

His mouth or peanut butter crackers is what it was this time. What was so fun?

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

You know, for a while before surgery.

[Betty Lou]

I started to tell you what time it was. It's August. Whatever. 13th, whatever. And you're like, never mind. Kelly already told me.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Or whatever.

[Betty Lou]

And I'm like, well, thanks. You know, I had my whole spill.

[Caitlin Bussey]

And mom and I waiting in the waiting room. Like, you know, there's always going to be somebody in there who's just over sharing, and. I mean, it's early. Me and mom are just both tired. Like, the facility's amazing, nurses are amazing, and nothing to do with that, but we're just both sitting there, and I just kept looking at mom, and I'm like, this lady. Like, if he does not wrap up the surgery soon, like, I'm gonna have to go sit with Mitch, because. Come on. I can't.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Mitch is waiting on us.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Phenomenal.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Yeah, we got the getaway car ready to go. And they. I mean, they told us. I said, you're gonna be in there an hour. So when they roll me away from you guys, I go in and they. They carry me into this very, extremely bright operating room, and I have to scoot over on the table off of my very comfortable bed that I was on.

[Caitlin Bussey]

And I can't imagine the task of lifting you up in. Moving you to.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Well, they. They don't. I do myself. That's what I'm saying. I scoop. And, you know, they. They keep. They keep, you know, your gown from choking you. Choking you when you do. So I get over there and they're. They're going to give me a. A spinal to dead me from the waist down. And that's another thing. They gave me a patch to put on that morning to deaden my back where they don't have to do this. And I'd never had that before, that I recall.

[Betty Lou]

Well, you've never had an epidural either.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Yeah. Every knee surgery you do. Yeah.

[Betty Lou]

Okay.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

And so we've never had. The last thing I remember is I'm laying back down on the bed and they're squeezing my toes, saying, can you feel that? And I said, just barely, because they were already tingling, you know. And the next thing I know, I'm waking up in there ordering the pizza. It is. It really is.

[Caitlin Bussey]

And, dad, you woke up and you look at me and you go, now, Caitlin, you're going to see some things that I never wanted you to see.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Well, when they try to get you up out of that bed, you know.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Me, like, I'm not really sensitive to really anything. Like, I've blood, you know, gory stuff. Like, doesn't really bother me. Nothing.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Well, we can tell by here that things don't bother you.

[Caitlin Bussey]

And I'm just gonna say, as soon as we got out of that room, I said, mom, I'm going to get a massage and a facial, and I need a little bit of time away from all of you. And I love y' all so much. I'm glad it all went well, but I'm going to the spa.

[Betty Lou]

All it took was one. One trip to the bathroom in the back of your gown flying open, and that was all it took.

[Narrator/Intro Voice]

She's ready to go into the spa.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Well, look, let's face it.

[Caitlin Bussey]

I've never wanted to see my father's butt crack, and that's what I took.

[Betty Lou]

Well, but sometimes it's just.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

I told you going in, you were going to see that, and you Know the hospital gown. Of all the advances we've made in medicine, we can't beat that.

[Betty Lou]

Oh, I know.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Somebody do a Velcro.

[Betty Lou]

I mean, we were in Chicago, Illinois. Same thing as in Alabama. They got them three strings on the back, and it looks like a little paisley print. You know, they all look really.

[Caitlin Bussey]

What to expect post you waking up. Like, how long we'd have to sit there, what it would look like as far as, like, you. When you got up and walked around, I was like, what the heck is going on?

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Like, yeah, they. They get you up immediately, and they always want you to go to the bathroom.

[Caitlin Bussey]

They had a leash on them, y'.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

All. They. They. They want you to walk. And I started with a walker. I went down and I thought. I didn't know if I could feel pain or feel anything. It felt so good because it wasn't grinding anymore. And I'm used to that grinding feeling. And I didn't have that. And I thought, well, it's just probably numb, but it just felt so good. So I did the walker. And I could tell because I could pick the walker up and walk with it. I didn't have to have.

[Caitlin Bussey]

The nurses kept screaming at you.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Yeah, but I was just testing. I was just testing to see. So I make one trip down and back, and they made me go up some steps and back. And then they wanted me to walk with a cane. Well, I knew at that point that I had it, that I was in. I was in Winter Circle, right? So I go down with a cane, and I come back and I got you to video, and I threw the cane down, claimed I'm healed, and walked back into my bed. So I was having a little fun with that.

[Caitlin Bussey]

I will say it was really fun being in Chicago where, like, nobody knows Rick and Bubba Bubba on the lake. Like, no one knows any of it. So they probably thought we were match it crazy. But also, like, they were so confused by, like, the entertainment factor of that, because they're like, we've never had people come and, like, film them walking and be, like, throwing down the cane and, like, the drama. They were like, this is hilarious. They loved it. And dad was like, bub on the lake. Check us out. Shameless plug. Like, right after anesthesia.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

So, I mean. And it's no time to. They're saying, hey, get his clothes on. Y' all are free to go.

[Betty Lou]

They probably got your clothes on a tad bit earlier than the other patients, because I think they were ready for us to go.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Yeah, we were being a little loud.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

We Got dressed and we went back out. And Mitch, I don't know what Mitch was expecting, but I think he was impressed that I was walking to the car without any help.

[Caitlin Bussey]

So confused. He was like, why are you not like, laid up? Because dad was like, where are we going? To lunch? Can you play this song like Super Freak by Rick James, please? Like, well, we played Toby, Mac and then Super Freak.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

So we have this hour long drive back and Mitch is caught up in it too. And we are jamming on the way.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Back and we are singing Bubba is a super Freak. He was like, I've never seen anyone like this.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Oh my God. You know, I was just relieved to have it behind me, you know, and like, okay, I survived. My knee is still here. It's going to take some rehab, but we're going to make it. And it's just such a relief. Such a relief. And we went back to the hotel room and I shot another couple of videos. And at that point, I'm even surprised how well I could walk.

[Caitlin Bussey]

I was shocked at how well you felt because, like, and mom and I have talked about this. I think this is a lot of men in general, but like, men are babies, like when they're sick.

[Betty Lou]

Like for the most part.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Yeah. And I was like, I'm a little nervous for dad. Like, this is a big surgery. We're not close to home literally at all. We've got to still get him through an airport and like all this stuff. But you felt great. You're like, let's go to dinner. I want this for dessert. Like the naming. I was like, all right, we're good to go. Yeah, he's golden.

[Betty Lou]

Oh, yeah, we were fine. Now the airport was a little. Well, it was kind of challenging, but not, not bad.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Before we, we even did that.

[Caitlin Bussey]

I felt so bad for that poor guy with American Airlines running your wheelchair. I mean, because Ord, if y' all.

[Betty Lou]

Have ever flown their heart.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Yeah, it's like, there's a lot of like random inclines and it's like a decent ish walk. Especially like post knee replacement for someone to be wheeling. I'm, you know, not going to expose your weight. I don't know how much you weigh, but that guy goes, it's a good 250. Okay, well, that kid rolling you was about 125 soaking wet.

[Betty Lou]

He was, God love him.

[Caitlin Bussey]

And I was like, dad, give him some cash.

[Betty Lou]

I know.

[Caitlin Bussey]

It's like so out of it.

[Betty Lou]

And like, I, I even carried, you know, the rest of them, put my bag under the thing. And I thought, oh, I'm carrying my bag. I thought, bless your heart, you know.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Well, before we even got there, that I slept real good the first night. You did. And I knew there would be, as some of the drugs wore off from surgery, that there would be some discomfort. And there was. I didn't sleep as good the second night, so, you know, they told me that not 2, 3, 4. Might be a little shaky, but we made it through it that first night. I slept so well. You changed ice packs on my knee. I didn't wake me up.

[Betty Lou]

He never knew it. Yeah, I just kept changing them out.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

So we. But we did go back to the airport, and I think y' all overdosed. Me going home because nobody overdosed. I remember sitting in the chair and thinking things, but I couldn't say it. And then at one point, I felt like my eyes were crossing and I couldn't uncross.

[Betty Lou]

They were crossing.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

I couldn't uncross.

[Caitlin Bussey]

And if anyone's ever been in a car with Betty Bussy, you know, and where's Betsy? Get her to call in when she was sick on the side of the road from your driving. But, like, I was like, this trip has been so fun, but, like, I'm so ready to get home. And obviously, Alex City is, like the most. The most unideal place to fly because you got to drive an hour and a half, give or take, from Atlanta or Birmingham, whatever. So I was like, okay, we're not home yet, so we still have to drive. So I was like, I'm driving dad in the front.

[Betty Lou]

I was glad for you to drive. Whatever.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

But the flight home was fine because I slept. I slept most of the way.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Your eyes were crossed.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Y' all were. And I was like, betty, I don't think I should have took two of those last pills.

[Caitlin Bussey]

You asked. You were like, I need another pain pill. Mom was like, you really don't.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

I was. I'd heard so many horror stories about flying home and how the pressure in the plane affects your. Your knee and you can bleed. No, I've had no bleeding whatsoever.

[Betty Lou]

Now, you really haven't had a lot of your bruising, but swelling, but that's to be expected. Yeah.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

So we'll. We'll tell you about landing and getting home when we come back as we continue our trip to Chicago.

[Betty Lou]

Where's Bubba?

[Commercial Announcer 1]

I'll tell you where. He's on the lake.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

You know one thing I love about Buffalo Wild Wings? You can get wings with any of their 26 sauces and dry rubs for takeout and delivery. That's like bringing an entire B dubs home with you, which you can't do. I tried. I've knocked down so many walls only to then be told to halt construction because I'm not zoned to be a sports bar. Kind of just looks like a big pergola or something. Because of the lack of walls, at least these 26 sauces and dry rubs are available to go. Buffalo wild wings, let's go. Sports bar.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

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[Bill Bubba Bussy]

All right, we are back and we're wrapping up our exciting trip to Chicago to get a new knee. Dr. Richard Berger and his associates there at Midwest Orthopedic at Rush Medical, they did a fantastic job. We were very satisfied with it. But we are now landing in Birmingham and I'm still highly medicated. Maybe some people say a little overmedicated since my eyes were crossed. And we'll get you out for that.

[Betty Lou]

And we did not over medicate you. It was the whatever was on the bottle.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Well, it, it was good stuff, that's for sure. So we get back and I, the last I really, where I really started, I think coming to was when we were picking up luggage. That's when I kind of started remembering.

[Caitlin Bussey]

I was like, we parked our car at the Birmingham airport. I went into mom mode. I was like, give me the keys. I'm getting the car. Y' all just figure it out. Like, I don't know. I've already arranged for a wheelchair. I've done all I can do. I'm going to get the car. Like, I need an ounce of Alone time. So I like sprint through the airport to go get the car, pull around, pick it up, and you know, Mom, y' all aren't going to answer the phone if I call, I could be in a. I was trying to have a gun to my head and have one phone call and I'm not calling either of you, cuz I know you won't answer.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

You think I could answer? I'm cross. Funny part, I wouldn't even know what phone to answer.

[Caitlin Bussey]

This is the funny part.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

The one on the left or the right.

[Caitlin Bussey]

You answered, mom didn't. And I called mom. And I'm like, hey, like, I'm in front of this door.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Where are y'? All?

[Caitlin Bussey]

Mom's going, well, and y', all. Birmingham Airport. Once again, like three doors in the whole facility. Mom is like, well, we're in front of this door and I don't see you anywhere. And I'm turning around, I can see her. She's looking all around. And I just lay on the horn. I'm so over. And she goes. And I can hear on the phone, she goes, oh, she's this way. My daughter, she lives in Montgomery. And I'm like, here we go, sharing the whole story again. I just hung up. I was like, I need to take a deep breath and I might need a pain pill before all this is over. But anyway, we get him in the car, everything was fine. We finally get home, and I immediately hit the road.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Well, it's, it's, it's. It's on Friday afternoon, you know, it's a very busy time, and I was worried that we would get caught up in the 5 o' clock traffic, so to speak. So we got on out of town and we were all hungry at that point and somebody mentioned Taco Bell and I was like, shout out to the borders. Yeah, I said, you know, that sounds pretty good. I hadn't had a crunch wrap and I don't know when. And I'm gonna tell you, that may have been the best Crunch wrap I ever had.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Everything's better on pain meds probably, if I had to guess.

[Betty Lou]

I guess so, yeah. I hadn't had Taco Bell in years, though. And my little whatever it was, Quesadilla, that was pretty good.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

You couldn't have prized that thing out of my hand with a crowbar, you know. And I ate on it for 45 minutes.

[Betty Lou]

It was huge, that. But whatever it was, thank you. You dropped your phone. Oh, Lord. You drop your phone, though. And I told, I told him, he dropped his phone again. In the car a while ago because we had to go to. Where was that? We went Harbor Freight or something. Goodness. So anyway, he's dropping his phone again and I.

[Caitlin Bussey]

We also have two live guests in our audience today, which is making it so much funnier. Caleb. Caleb and Eli offered. Yes.

[Betty Lou]

Welcome to the lake.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Yes.

[Caitlin Bussey]

They're like two bonus bussy siblings.

[Betty Lou]

Yes.

[Caitlin Bussey]

But yeah, that's whose house I've been camping out at.

[Betty Lou]

That's not here. The third sibling.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

But anyway, so we get back home and, you know, we start the. The protocol for being back home. And. And we're. That's where we are now. We're almost a week post op.

[Caitlin Bussey]

You look great. You're doing great.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Doing good. I think we're doing good, too.

[Caitlin Bussey]

I think you're really great. You're walking around better than I've ever seen you. Even though you are claiming, you know, one leg's longer than the other.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

I think.

[Betty Lou]

Yeah, it may be a hair since he actually has cartilage in that.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Yeah, I think that one's been missing cartilage so long. And I was bone on bone that now that I got something in there, it feels like it's leaning back the other way. That's. That's all I can imagine.

[Betty Lou]

But it's, trust me, going great.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

If it's an inch longer, I don't care because it don't hurt.

[Betty Lou]

Hurt.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Yeah, it's tight. You know, you got. You got some swelling and we, you know, it's going to be weeks before we get all that worked out. But, yeah, we're meeting the protocol where they want us to be at this point.

[Caitlin Bussey]

And I'm thoroughly impressed. I mean, you really are moving better than I've seen you move in years.

[Betty Lou]

I think so, too. And we had a little ice machine debacle night before last.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Yeah, I have a leakage that other call.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Once again, GSD child, we might need you to drive to Birmingham. And all this time I'm thinking in the back of my head, don't we have another kid in Birmingham?

[Betty Lou]

I said Montgomery.

[Caitlin Bussey]

I didn't say Birmingham or Birmingham.

[Betty Lou]

Well, if it had been Birmingham, I would have got Hunter to help us. Yeah, I would have. He could have brought it.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

So we're in the middle. We have a game ready that we invested in. After the second knee surgery, I had. I'd had three on that knee, too, on the other. So, you know, we had a. Had a running theme here. And in the middle of the night, the bladder broke, so I refill it.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Maybe like reef a Pipe broke.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

It's. It's the bladder that wraps around your.

[Betty Lou]

Leg that goes into the part that.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Circulates the water around and. And compresses and it breaks.

[Caitlin Bussey]

I'm sorry. The dogs are beating on the door.

[Betty Lou]

Oh, they are.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

And they.

[Betty Lou]

And it feels like a human trapped in there.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

It feels like water running down my leg in the middle of the night. And I'm thinking, wait, can we get.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Mom to reenact what you did in the middle of the night when that thing broke? Well, because it was so funny. I came in here this morning and I was like, what's going on? Ready? Like, what happened? How did it break? Like, I'm so confused because that thing's pretty indestructible. I mean, we've taken it to tennis tournaments and, you know, it's been around for a while. And mom was like, well, we're laying in bed and your dad woke up and said, what the hell? And said he had a dream he was peeing himself and it was the game ready.

[Betty Lou]

Looking everywhere.

[Caitlin Bussey]

I was like, well, yeah, that'll be.

[Betty Lou]

I know. I'll take the game ready, Lincoln, over the alternative any day.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Yeah.

[Betty Lou]

Let me tell you.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Yeah, make that a double.

[Betty Lou]

Yeah.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

So anyway, we're back and hopefully gonna get back to work. And my goal was to be back to semi normal activity. Seven to ten days. We're gonna meet that window, it looks like. So, ladies, thank you for escorting me to Chicago to get a community.

[Caitlin Bussey]

I think the next trip or the next surgery, perhaps maybe we could go to Cabo Turks. I'm kidding. But it was actually fun and I thought it went really well.

[Betty Lou]

And me too.

[Caitlin Bussey]

It was fun.

[Betty Lou]

Like, I would go back to Chicago. I enjoyed it.

[Caitlin Bussey]

I really like Chicago. I thought it was awesome. And I love how they're like, murders, crime.

[Betty Lou]

I don't feel that way at all now.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Wherever we were, when you actually go, I know it's hard to get out of the.

[Betty Lou]

I know where you see all this stuff on TV and you're like, you know, well. And I've been watching Cruise ship Killers, you know, and that right there will put the fear in you. You know what I mean? You ain't going nowhere on a cruise. I tell you that. No time.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Scared her so bad she wouldn't hardly ride on the pontoon boat.

[Caitlin Bussey]

She barely does anyway.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

So that is kind of our recap. I'm sure we'll think of some more things later, but we wanted to share that with you. We'll put as much information as we can in notes about Dr. Berger and Mitch the super driver and where we stayed and all of that. So, overall, ladies, I'm gonna have to say, thumbs up. Good trip.

[Betty Lou]

Yep.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Praise the Lord.

[Betty Lou]

We're home and you're doing great.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

That's right. So we'll. We'll keep rehab and we'll be ready to run sprints here before you know it.

[Caitlin Bussey]

Right.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

So thank you all so much for being a part of this edition of Bubba on the Lake. I call it Bubba's new knee. And Dr. Berger. Thank you.

[Betty Lou]

Thank you.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

You're listening to Bubba on the Lake. Hit me bad. A production of intergalactic pants and teas.

[Betty Lou]

All rights reserved.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

All right, all right. It's a beautiful day for football here at the stadium, and we're just about ready for kickoff. Score, 00. And suddenly I'm in the mood for a Coke Zero Sugar. Real Coke, taste zero sugar. Now that's a winning combo. Yeah. Crisp, refreshing, that hits the spot. When it comes to great taste, Coke Zero sugar's always on the scoreboard. Coke zero sugar. Real Coke, taste zero sugar.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

You know one thing I love about Buffalo Wild Wings? You can get wings with any of their 26 sauces and dry rubs for takeout and delivery. That's like bringing an entire B dubs home with you, which you can't do. I tried. I've knocked down so many walls only to then be told to halt construction because I'm not zoned to be a sports bar. Kinda just looks like a big pergola or something. Because of the lack of walls, at least these 26 sauces and dry rubs are available. To go. Buffalo Wild Wings. Let's go Sports bar.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

This podcast is brought to you in part by Coke, Buffalo Wild Wings, Southern Immediate Care Guaranteed Labels, Central State Bank, Sunrise docks, bankers Bounty, Dr. Thomas Dudney and the Green Monster Fishing Light. Hello, everybody. I'm Bill Bubba Bussi, formerly of the Rick and Bubba show and currently the host of Bubba on the Lake. That podcast has been wildly successful thanks to you and we appreciate it. Beginning Thursday, August 28th, and continuing on every Saturday through football season, we're going to start a new second podcast called the Tailgate Tailgate Show. It will be a fun but informative look at the college football day ahead, complete with topics, awards, picks and guest pickers, all done by the not quite ready for primetime pickers. Please check it out. Our website is the tailgate tailgateshow.com for all the information you will need. Thank you very much and hope to see you there.

[Narrator/Intro Voice]

Bubba on the Lake Speaks through the air Voices rippling waters World stops to stare News and the scores Text spins on his wheel national renown the truth he reveals from the mellow yellow studio he sends the sound echoes through the nation where legends are found the lake holds the power Ripples don't lie but the airwaves Riding waves that won't die Late night static Stars hanging low Every turn of his voice the world seems to glow Microphone crackles like fire on stone Bubble cars Stories makes the air his thrown from the mellow yellow studio he sends the sound echoes through the nation where legends are found the lake holds the power Ripples don't lie Bubba on the airways Riding waves that won't die Sports it flies fast Tech churns the tide News shakes the edge Bubble reads it wide listeners they gather like moths to his flame One man's voice rising never the same from the mellow yellow studio he sends the sound Echoes from through the nation where legends are found the lake holds the power Ripples don't lie Bubba on the airways Riding waves that won't die.

[Bill Bubba Bussy]

Hello, everybody. I'm Bill Bubba Bussy, formerly of the Rick and Bubba Show. Since that show has ended, I've set sail on a new project called Bubba on the Lake. I have a podcast called Bubba on the Lake. I have an online streaming radio station called Bubba on the Lake Radio. You can find out all about both and a whole lot more at our website. You guessed it, bubbaonthelake.com. that's bubbaonthelake.com. my name is Bill Bubba Bussy and I approve this message.