Daughter-In-Law of the year award

So Molly won the DIL of the yr award. It starts today and expires Dec 31. It was a tough competition, but she won out in the end.

A few weeks ago Molly sent me a link of how to make brown sugar. Who would have known that all it is is white sugar and molasses? I wanted to try it out sometime. The opportunity came up today. I was going to make a Sunday treat and realized that I didn't have any brown sugar. We looked through our food storage and didn't find any there. But we did get our food storage updated and brought some stuff that was under the house, into the house. I think we are now stocked up for the winter.

By the way, to make brown sugar you mix 1 cup white sugar and 1 TBS molasses. And it really works. I had just enough white sugar to make the brown sugar. Good news. Oh, wait. I also need white sugar in the recipe. I searched and did find some white sugar. Wheew! Close call there. It's been a long time since I have done much baking or cooking and now I am feeling better I guess I will have to restock.

Thanks Molly for saving our Sunday treat.

Looking for a spinach patch

What a day at PT today!!! I loosened up on the bike and did my regular program. Then I did my squats. I did my usual 10 and felt good so I did another 10. I'm thinking, "Wow, this feels good."  Then it was time for my arm exercises with the weights. I got the 1 lb weights that I always use and they were feeling very light. I started exercising and decided it was time to move on to the 2 lb weights. With the 2 lb weights, I still did all my normal exercises. I don't know where all this strength came from but I'm kinda liking it. Let's hope it sticks around for a while.  I even bought a couple of 2 lb weights for my home workouts. At this rate, I'll be back to "normal" in a short 10 years or so.

Back together again

I guess I should update this. I did get my new IV line put in. So I am feeling put together again.

I guess the big story is my quest to have a different brand line put in. My last 4 lines have been placed at the U. They use the Power Line brand. This line has never worked out for me. I have had big problems with every one of them. The day I called to schedule the line replacement, I made it clear that I did not want the Power Line put in. And everytime I talked to anyone over there, I reminded them that I did not want the power line. Then when I was in pre-op, every person who walked in my room heard that I did not want a power line. When I arrived in the OR, I was told that the dr was trying to track down a line for me. He came back with 2 options. One was the power line and the other was the type that I wanted, however, it was a single lumen. For those of you who might need an explaination that means that it only had one port to hook into. All the other times I have had 2 ports; one for TPN and the other for everything else. The dr asked me which one I wanted him to use. I didn't want the single lumen but even more, I did not want the power line. I'm hoping for good success with this line.

 

salt shakers

Some very nice ladies came to my house while I was in the hospital and cleaned my house. I will be giving them treats for a whole long time to try to keep them from telling others about how bad my house was. But it is nice and clean now.

When we got ready to eat, I couldn't find my salt shaker. Any of you who have every eaten with me knows what a disaster that is. I was able to find the salt shaker. It was on the TOP shelf. All the other spices that were on the counter were put on the bottom shelf but the salt was put on the top shelf. People who I have told this story to, tell me that they were only looking out for my health. I may not have been able to reach anything else off the top shelf but I was able to retrieve the salt.  :)

Tender Mercies

OK. There have been some positive things happen over the last week. Mike came home Monday night because he thought we were going to SLC Tues. Then Wed Mike was supposed to go with some guys from work to a different mine to check out how they do some things. He didn't sleep well Tues night so he stayed home Wed. He decided to take me to the ER for my antibiotic. It was nice that he was there, especially since I was locked up. He didn't have to worry about getting my car home or about me getting in my car and running away.

I am feeling better than I have in several weeks. It feels good to not feel so tired and run down all the time. PT better watch out when I get back down there!

My dr was amazed at all the medical issues I take care of myself. I told her all I was missing was some signed blank lab order forms. I told her that it is inconvenient to have to contact the dr to fill them out for me. She laughed.

I told her that I am usually not hospitalized for blood infections. I just treat them at home. She asked why I was in the hospital this time. I told her I didn't know but it wasn't from lack of trying on my part.

OH! And I had a med student named Sierra. One morning we played dr together. She let me listen to my heart and guts in her stethoscope. And she showed me where my spleen and liver are and we both poked and pushed and prodded. It was kinda entertaining.

Orneriness

I got home and thought ALL my problems were over until I got to SLC. WRONG. Home health called. They were under the impression that they were coming to do all my IV antibiotics. I told them that I would take care of that. All they needed to do was put in peripheral lines as I need them for a few days. They arranged to come Sat AM to do the paperwork and I told them that I would be ready to have a new line put in then. The nurse asks a bunch of questions that I have answered at least 20 times in the last 3 days. Then I asked her if she was going to put in a new line for me today. All she brought in with her was paperwork. She asked if I had the starter kit or whatever it is called with the needle for the IV. I said no. She told me that they do not supply those, they just put them in. DANG. With all the IV stuff I have, you'd sure think I would have a couple of those laying around. NOPE. Now I was NOT happy. The only thing they were to do and we were not set up to have it done. They did tell me that they could have the supplies Tues and take care of me then. I told her that would be a little too late.Well there was one more thing. As long as they were coming anyway, they were supposed to draw the blood for my cultures on Mon. Apparently they didn't know about that either. We mutually agreed that I had no use for their services. The nurse left and Mike and I went to the ER for a new line.

In triage, I was asked what my normal temp was. I asked what's normal? It has gone from 98 to 101 frequently lately.  Then he asked if I was in any pain. I said no except for the bad IV line when I touch it. He asked what my pain level was on a scale of 1-10. I told him to pick a number. So he chose my pain level for me. About then, he found a room for me.

I know the charge nurse so she took good care of me and the nurse putting in my line is in our ward. I don't know her real well but I know she is good at putting in IV lines. Then I went home to solitary confinement because I was too ornery to be around anyone.

Today has been a great day. No one asked me stupid questions. Let's see, I guess I didn't see anyone. I think word got out for everyone to stay away from me. I'd just had too much fun for several days and it all hit yesterday. Sorry world.

I made Bail

I broke loose this afternoon. Yes, it is nice to be home and I'm headed to bed for a nice, quiet and long sleep. I am scheduled for the new line placement Wed in SLC.

Incarceration

Tues I ran temps for all morning and a bit in the afternoon again. I have had low grade temps off and on for several weeks. One of the lumens of my central line had a hole in it so I had an app't to get it replaced in SLC. As I thought about things, I decided it would be a good idea to check for an infection in my line and blood. I totally was not expecting a problem there. I had the cultures done at 6:00 Tues PM. I woke up Wed morning thinking I was feeling pretty good. And then ........................ I got a call from the dr office. They told me that I don't feel good. They told me that I have a blood infection and I need to go to the hospital and get going on IVs. I have done this before. I go in, they run in the 1st dose of antibiotic and send me home to continue with the antibiotic regimen. Shortly after I arrived at the ER, I was told that I was being admitted. Only 2 1/2 hrs later, I was in my room. Meanwhile I had a chest x-ray, and chest CT scan, 2 peripheral IVs placed and the old central line removed. And you can bet that I lobbied to be able to go home and treat myself. Obviously I lost that battle.

Last night was horrific. I didn't see my nurse from 8-11:00 and then she made up for it. I'm sure she was in my room at least once every hr ALL night long. And she had help. At 4:30 I rolled over to try to sleep and here came the lady to do a draw for labs. That ended up taking almost 1 hr. About 9:00 I was finally given some time to sleep.

My dr does not follow hospital patients. We now have 2 hospitalists and my PCP chose the one who would be caring for me.  She was my dr a few yrs ago and she took very good care of me. As she was driving to the hospital to treat me, she thought of a med student she recently had and is now working with another dr in town. Dr Durkin thought I would be a good opportunity for Sierra (med student) so she talked to Dr Greenhouse to make arrangements for Sierra to work with Dr Durkin on my case. Dr. Greenhouse agreed that it would be a good experience for Sierra and she said that she remembered me and would take on my case. It was "old home" week when I was met up with 2 of my old (former) drs. What a strange life I live.

This AM I was discussing with the dr about going home arrangements. I told her that we would have to make arrangements for my IV antibiotics to get shipped out today so I could have them for the week-end. I found out she was planning to send me home with oral antibiotics. I told her I usually get my 1st dose in the ER and then complete the rest of the course at home. So then she asked why I was hospitalized this time. I told her it wasn't my idea and I made it clear to everyone in the ER that I could take care of myself just fine.

I discussed with her some other issues that I had. OK, I told her about some unnecessary things that were being done and other changes that need to be made for my best interest.  Like, vitals 3 times during the night when they were always stable and running my hydration fluids too slow. She laughed at me and told me I was a very informed patient. She also told me that I should go to medical school. I told her that I have been going to med school for the past 25 yrs.

I also mentioned to her that one major problem I have is that I cannot write my own lab orders. I just want to be able to order certain labs when necessary. Then the dr can decide what to do with the results. She did not approve that YET. I am not done with her yet.

My plan was to be grumpy and mean so they would kick me out of here, but everyone just laughs at me. Now I'm begging for bail money. If we all pooled our money, I should be able to break out of here.

It looks like I will go home tomorrow. Tomorrow's project, besides escaping, is to finalize details with the cardiovascular surgeon for the line placement.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's adventures.

money laundering

Several weeks ago when I was taking Mike's underwear out of the dryer, I found a $20 bill.  That was very odd. First, that I didn't see it either putting the clothes into the washer or when I transfered them to the dryer. Second, does Mike have a pocket in his underwear where he kept his money?

Of course I did what any good wife would do and I pocketed the money. I'm sure it was a tip for doing the laundry. I put the money in my shorts which are pajamas or just lay around the house clothes. A couple of weeks later I washed my shorts. I always check my pockets, but why would anyone check their pajama pockets? As my clothes were washing, I remembered the $20. I rescued it from my pocket before it went to the dryer again. That has to be the cleanest $20 bill around.

Conference news

I know everyone knows about the announcements of the new temples but you need to read through the 1st part of this article. I got quite a kick out of it.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=299&sid=17482787

Quick PT update

I don't know if anyone cares but I did PT again today. I was sick all day Sat and again Sun night. I blame it on overdoing PT. So Greg and I had a little chat. I told him that I would like to know what he would like to do each session before I begin. That way I can pace myself. He said that that was fair. Today we went back to the exercises I was doing with the old PT. I was able to increase the bike from 3 min to 5 min. I'm tired, but don't expect that I will get sick. Guess I'll see.

I didn't turn on the AC at all today. What perfect weather!! It won't be long until Mike will have to get us a wood pile going.

Vacation Tuesday

Tuesday, we decided to take a trip to Salem. It was about 1/2 hour away. Molly had to stay home and work. As it turned out she was probably better off staying home anyway. We had to take 2 cars. Mike, Isaac and Mark in one car and Lance, Nathan, me and the GPS in the other.
We started out looking for a camera shop for Lance. The farther we got out of the city, the closer we got to our address. There were fields on both sides of the road, dotted with houses along the way. We saw no sign or indication of a camera shop so we decided to skip that stop.

Our next stop was lunch. We were much more successful finding Wendy's than we were with the camera shop. Isaac ate his chicken nuggets and most of Mark's and some fries. Mark and Nathan ate fries. Then it was off to the pet store which was across the street.

I wanted to look at exercise equipment and try to decide what I want to buy for my house. The GPS said that there was a Sports Authority near by. We turned at the McDonald's and started looking. We could not find it. Mike said that when they drove by McDonald's, Isaac said, "Is dad still hungry?" Then we ended up back at the Wendy's where we ate. Again Isaac commented if dad was still hungry. We went back to where we had been and once again when Isaac saw the McDonald's he asked if dad was still hungry. We finally found the store around to the back of where we had been. As it turned out, they didn't have much equipment and no one wanted to help us. I was too tired to care anyway. We had talked of going to the state capitol building, but I had already had too much fun for one day and suggested we head for home.

Mike missed a turn that we made so we waited for him in a parking lot. A nice man pulled up beside us and told us that we had a low tire. We were lucky to have a service station close by and headed to it. Lance put air in the tire, but the tire was so wasted that it leaked out almost as fast as Lance put the air in. I felt blessed that we were able to change the tire at the gas station instead of along the side of the freeway. By now I had certainly had enough fun for one day and was very glad to get back to Lance's house.

Poor Nathan felt left out because he was stuck with dad and grandma instead of grandpa. Then when he saw his big brothers and grandpa going into the store, and he was stuck with g-ma, he really was NOT happy. He kept calling for g-pa. Poor picked on little guy.

PT

I got brave and went back to PT today. I did just about the same that I did last time, but felt much better today. This new PT DPT might be a good thing for me. I looked up all the letters he is supposed to have behind his name and added them to give him full credit. His name is Greg. He reminds me that Greg is a 4 letter word and I am free to use it in vain as I see fit.

My poor car

Don't get any ideas that you are done hearing about my grandsons. Nothing would be farther from the truth. I have been busy resting and taking care of a bunch of cub scout stuff with still more cub scout stuff to get taken care of. I still have lots of stories to tell.

I wanted to tell you about my poor car. Besides feeling a little on the sick side, (Dr Mike is trying to figure out the diagnosis), I took it out this afternoon. Only long enough for it to get good and wet with a little storm that passed through. Then I went through a very small area where the wind was kicking up the dust like crazy. Visibility was like zero. It wasn't just dirt, but it was gritty. My poor, sad car really needs a shower. But it is feeling pretty big and bad like the 4-wheeling truck.  

I got beat up today

I have a new physical therapist. I go to the same place but there has been a change in the PT. (I'm sure there are supposed to be more letters but I don't know what they are.) I did my usual workout but did push my work-out some. I did 5 min on the bike instead of my usual 3 and I did my squats on level 3 instead of level 4 which made them more difficult. I was pleased with myself for a good workout. Oh, the assistant was helping me while he was working on someone else. I thought I was done and ready to go home, when the PT told me he had something else for me to try. He wanted me to work out doing steps. My legs were already tired and he wanted me to do my hardest exercise. I did 5 on each leg with rests in betweeen. He then said that we would probably add a new exercise each day. I said, "We'll see about that." I think I will do my regular work out and he can add 1 new thing if he wants to. My poor little legs are feeling pretty beat up right now.

Exercise and swimming

The 2 older boys are "house broken." They just wear pull-ups at bedtime. But I am happy to report that Isaac is doing very good in that department and wore underwear to bed most the time we were there.

I was determined to keep up on my excersises while I was on vacation. This was my 2nd night and my last workout. I got enough of a work out just trying to keep up with everyone. The boys helped me out. It was very deflating when I pulled out my 1 lb weights and the boys used 3 and 5 lb weights. Even Nathan took my 1 lb weights and flung them around like they were nothing.

This was going up a little trail to a waterfall. I'm not sure how many people are crazy enough to take a walker up a trail. But it was a fun adventure.  Molly really was a good helper. She pulled me up a couple of hills and kept me from going too fast down some down hills.

I was tired and not sure if I could finish the hike. It was only 2 tenths of a mile up. We came to a pretty good sized uphill. I was ready to quit. Lance told me that all I had to do was get up this hill and I would be to the bridge where I could see the waterfall. Molly pulled and Lance and Nathan pushed and I made it.

This is what we saw. And yes, it was worth it.

When we got back to the bottom of the trail, grandpa had Isaac and Mark down playing in the creek. Nathan joined them and they all waded along the shore for quite a while. Isaac and Molly ventured all the way across the creek on the big rocks behing Nathan and Molly in this picture. I watched from the bridge. Then Mark decided that he "had" to throw a big stick into the water and Nathan decided that he "had" to have that big stick. Nathan took off into the creek. We could all see what was going to happen. Molly got there quick, but not quite in time to prevent it. I have to admit that I was laughing and Lance was ready with the camera and after a few minutes of tears, Nathan was ok too. About that time, we decided to take 3 wet boys and one wet mom home.

Friendly Oregon Welcome

Our vacation was uneventful until the 2nd day. An Oregon Highway Patrolman noticed our out of state license plates and wanted to give us an official welcome to the state of Oregon. He also told Mike that he needed to slow down and have a front license plate. We have been driving the car like this for 3 yrs and no one cared, oh well. And as far as speeding. The speed limit was 55. I'm not sure that our cruise control will even set at that slow. He just gave Mike a warning. Then we were in Lebanon looking for Lance's home and the Linn County Sheriff wanted to give Mike an official welcome to Linn County. I've never seen such friendly officers before. I thought he was going to help us find Lance, but after we stopped, we saw Lance and his family about 2 houses away, watching the whole thing. It seems that as we were looking for their apartment, Mike stopped at a stop sign and then crossed the street. Mike told me that he pulled out in front of a car, but he didn't tell me that it was a sheriff's car. He got off with another warning. I let Mike drive back to Lance's and then the was grounded for the rest of the day.

After that, every time the boys saw a police car, they would say, "They are looking for grandpa."

freeze warning

We are supposed to get down to 35 degrees tonight. So that means my house will be a few degrees cooler. I will pick a zucchini or 2 this afternoon. I don't think I will lose it, but it will get nipped. I probably won't get even 1 tomato this year. OH well. I didn't put much effort into the garden anyway. And once it's gone, I don't have to mess with it anymore.

We survived and I didn't even visit a hospital

We got to spend a week with Lance and his family. I think we all had a great time. Mike and I were both worn out and tired when we got home yesterday afternoon. And we managed to totally mess up the boys' schedule so they were pretty tired too. I will work at sharing details with you. I'd hate for you to miss out on anything.

Tonight we will start with this. My favorite quote of the week. We were driving in our car with all the boys. Mark says to Nathan, "Does this hurt?" Nathan starts crying.  (Uhm I guess so).

PT

This week's PT went well. I can tell I'm getting stronger. I'm not sure that anyone else can see any improvement.

Yesterday I had a good workout. He set the bike for 5 min but told me to stop at 3 min if I need to. Yah, right. I NEVER do less than they tell me too. However, I did think about quiting early, but I could feel the cardio and I knew I needed that and it felt good so I kept going. Then I did some squats and some arm excersises with weights. Yes, I said I used weights!!! They are one pounders. I bought me some 1 pounders to use at home. I had to go to 3 stores to find them. All the other stores started with 2 pounders. And just for the record 2 pounds is not just 1 pound more than 1 pound, it is double the weight of 1 pound. I'd like to see all you buff people go from your usually 20 lb weights to 40 lb weights in one jump.

We had pack meeting at Camp Lee last night. I wasn't concerned about doing a workout and then going out there because I could drive right to where I need to be and then I would just sit around for a couple of hours, walk a short distance to my car and go home. That was the plan until the gate to the camp was locked. We had to climb through the fence and walk down 50 million stairs. Yes, there really was that many, I counted every one of them. My legs were worse than beat, by the time I got to the bottom. Fortunately for all that were there, the lock was opened before it was time to go home, so Mike was able to walk up and drive the car down for me. And today is a day to sit on my butt and recover. This is the 2nd time in 2 weeks that I have had to manuever the steps at Camp Lee. I have decided that the next time I hear someone say Camp Lee, I am turning and getting away as quick as I can.  

Here is your chuckle for the day.

I pulled into a parking space at Home Depot and could not get the car into Park. It would go to neutral then to reverse but it would not go into Park. I backed out and drove to an empty part of the parking lot and tried again. This time I moved my cane out of the way and it went right into park. It's funny how that works lie that.

Midget Wrestlers

This afternoon we got to skype Lance and family. The boys were in a good mood and more wound up than we usually see them. They were jumping off the couch and being crazy. But the most funny part was watching them rough house with each other. Mark was laying on the floor and Nathan who is 20 months old got on his back. He wrapped his arms and legs around him and he was ready to take on Mark. And then Mark and Isaac would go at it.

I almost forgot the funniest part. Isaac was in the bathroom. The light switch to the bathroom is outside of the bathroom. (Not a good set-up at all.) Anyway Mark turned the light off on Isaac and then he sat in front of the door so Isaac could not get out. Poor Isaac. Stuck in the bathroom in the dark.  But I still chuckle thinking about it. Those boys will entertain me for quite some time. And Molly will go gray and Lance will go bald. And I will still just sit and laugh.

Crazy Scouters

Last Sunday I got to go to a wood badge beading ceremony for 2 of my friends from wood badge last summer. (Just for the record 4 of the 5 women who took the course last summer have earned their beads. I'm sure the other one will. She has been through a lot this past year.) Anyway, it was the night before our wood badge course for this year was to begin so there were lots of wood badgers there including a dr, a lawyer, a stake president and I don't know the qualifications of the other dignitaries. While we were waiting someone started singing "The Muffin Man" song. I don't know how "normal" people sing the song but wood badgers do it like this. Whoever starts it goes to someone and they stand facing each other holding hands right to left and left to right and bounce up and down while they sing it. When they complete the song, they each run to someone else and do the same thing. That keeps up until eveyone has been "Muffin Manned." As I sat back taking this scene in with grown men who in another life are professionals were holding hands, bouncing up and down and singing the muffin man. I couldn' help but chuckle and then wonder what kind of totally crazy people I was associating with.  And these are the people who take your boys on camp outs.

Physical Therapy

I started physical therapy last week. I've never been so happy to work out. It's been a very LONG time. My muscles are all weak but my quads are the worst by far. We were supposed to go slow and easy. I rode the exercise bike for 5 min and did 10 squats. Then we did some leg and arm exercises. And then my legs were very wobblilly for several days. Monday's work out was much easier just the bike and 5 squats and I felt good afterwards. Yesterday the highlight of the workout was I did deep squats. I did 10 and every single one of them burned. And the good news is that I walked away from the workout.

Snow and more snow

Mike and I drove up Lamoille Canyon a couple of days ago. I was surprised at how much snow there is at the parking lot and turn around. There is a spot where they had cut the snow away to open the road and the snow was about 4 feet deep. They had the snow cleared from all the parking area but you could not even see where the trails are. And there were a few people up there snowmobiling. The lower campgrounds were clear of snow and full of campers. It would be too cold for me to take on in a tent. And then the mountains got snow last night. Will the snow ever end????

Garden time

Mike and I planted our garden yesterday. I told him where to put everything and he did it. I haven't checked on it today but Mike tells me that it is still out there. We filled up most of the garden space but only planted about 1/3 of what we usually plant. The plants have lots of room to spread out.

As I was outside, I looked down at my arms. How could I not. They are so white that the glare coming off them was blinding. I don't think my arms have been this white since I was a baby.

Stay tuned for more adventures of how the garden grows.

My computer died

Yesterday I was using my computer and it just died. All the lights went out. No sounds. It was dead. Several times during the day, I tried to turn it on but it was totally unresponsive. I checked my power cord, eventhough I had recently checked and had battery just before it died and it was plugged in. I checked the plugs. It was plugged in the outlet and plugged into the computer. I was a bit bummed out yesterday, but my computer has been acting up so it was not unexpected. Then this morning I was sitting here and noticed the power cord was plugged in on both ends but it was disconnected in the middle. I got everything plugged in and my computer was happy again and I was relieved.

I see the light

A couple of nights ago I was laying awake in the middle of the night. All of a sudden a light comes on. It was not my bedroom light so I was trying to figure out where the light was coming from. My first thought was my neighbor's back yard flood lights. Nope it wasn't them. My next guess was that Mike had a light on in another room. Nope, the light was not coming from another room. Maybe I was having a vision. It would have been a "penlight" version of a vision because the light was not overpowering. But I wouldn't expect a full blown vision anyway. But no one came to visit me. Oh, I know. It was the rapture. It was just a few days late. I guess that didn't happen either since I am writing this blog. So where was the light coming from? I have a new cell phone and it has an app that saves my contacts and it updates them every night. My great vision was my cell phone updating my contacts.

Guess I'd better update this so you do't think I'm still sitting in the hospital somewhere.

Trish and I arrived at the hospital Friday at 8 AM. And no, I did not want to get up so I could go back to sleep, but I did it anyway. I was in the OR by 10:30. The next thing I knew I was in recovery and it was 2:00. Where did all the time go????  The surgeon came in and told me that getting the old line out was no problem at all, but getting the new line in was very challenging. This was my 16th line in 20 yrs. The problem is the available sites is limited and they are getting scarred. It doesn't help that the 2 lines before this one fell out on their own.

OK back to the hospital. Did I mention that this procedure was supposed to take about 1 hr and this was my 2nd day at it.

I had a hard time waking up from surgery. Finally the nurse made me get dressed and sit in a chair. It was 5:00 and she wanted to go home. I called Becky to come get me when I got out and thought I'd be about ready when she got there. Wrong. The poor girl had to sit and wait for over 2 1/2 hrs.

I got my phone right out of surgery to report to Mike. I had a message from my supply company. I had had to order 2 more TPN to be shipped to Trish since I had to stay longer. The TPN did not arrive. Somehow my supply company was able to track down Trish's phone number and Trish even answered her phone. She NEVER answers her home phone. The supply company had written down the address incorrectly. Trish gave them the correct address. The 2 UPS drivers made arrangements to meet up and trade the goods and get them delivered. The only problem is that Trish was on her way on their weekend trip. So Trish made arrangements with her neighbors to watch for my pkg and pick it up for us.

I called Trish as we left the hospital. No shipment yet. So we headed south to Becky's house. We had only gone about 5 minutes and Trish called that her neighbor had picked up my pks. So we turned around and got it. End of that whole fiasco. It was my 1 week early Friday the 13th. Hopefully I am good for at least another 4 yrs.

I was very sleepy Sat. I got up to get ready to go home and went back to bed. I finally came out of my coma in the early afternoon and drove home. Then I spent the next couple of days in bed. It really took a lot out of me. Don't want to do that again any time soon.

Mike and I  are heading to Utah again tomorrow. It has just been so long since I have been there. I plan to have more fun this time. Jeff and Heidi's open house is tomorrow and I see drs on Tues and Thur (none of them have anything to do with TPN or IV lines). And then hopefully lots of play in between.

I saw the cardiovascular surgeon today. Yesterday I was told that we would probably do the procedure in 2 wks when I am back over here. My big question this morning was if I was going home today or wait until tomorrow. The dr changed all that. He is doing the procedure tomorrow. When I called this afternoon to find out the time, I was told to check in at 4 and the procedure was scheduled between 5 and 6. It is supposed to be a 1 hr procedure with 2 hr recovery time. I was planning 5 hours for the 2. So I made arrangements for a ride at that time and then got a call that they were changing the time to 9 or 10. My first thought was that that was pretty late at night. And then they said that I need to be at the hospital at 8 AM. That is actually a good thing. We will get it done and hopefully not mess up the drs schedule for the rest of the day. The dr plans to go in and slit the vein open, pull out the line, place a new line and suture the vein back up and put humpty dumpty back together again. I hope it works out like that. This time I will be out of it so I will miss all the excitement. I wonder if they will video tape it????

Jeff is complicating things for me. He is getting married Sat so Russ and Sharon and Julie and Trish are all going to be gone. There goes lots of possible drivers for me. Fortunately I was able to impose on Becky to come rescue me. I'm glad that I have lots of family here and they are glad that I live in Elko and don't bug them too often.

A couple of additions

I need to make a couple of additions to yesterday's post.

The first is Trish's point of view from my point of view. When I headed to the hospital for the procedure they told me that they would give me an anesthesia and I would need someone to drive me home. I have had more lines than I can count because it involves more than all my fingers and toes and I have never had anesthesia, other than the lines that Dr. Swensen put in in OR. Well I do have lidocaine. So I told Trish that I would let her know if I need a ride home. She got off work at 2:30 and would stop and get me if necessary. Well they wouldn't let me have my phone during the procedure. I thought of Trish and thought that surely she would just go home if she didn't hear anything. Finally at about 2:45 I asked if someone could call her for me. As it turns out, Trish was on her way to the hospital, but she had NO idea where I was. So she was glad to know to just go home.

And then there is Lance's role in this whole thing. The previous 2 lines before this one each fell out on their own when they were not supposed to. The first one last 3-4 wks and the next one lasted a year. They are not supposed to just fall out after a year but then they are not supposed to require surgery to remove them either. We need to find a balance here. Anyway, 4 yrs ago, Lance gave me a priesthood blessing before I went for my line replacement. His blessing included that the procedure would go well and that the line would stay in. I think the blessing "took". I'm not sure if he will be involved in another blessing involving my line or not.    

BFF Advice

Be very careful when choosing your BFF because they might stick with you for a long, long time.

I have had this central IV line for almost 4 yrs. I thought that was good news (maybe not). I got a hole in it the other day and made arrangements for a replacement. That was interesting. I called the drs office and the message I got from him was to go to the IMC and have them do it there. DUH! The only reason I left there and went to him is because of my insurance. So he got his nurse working on making arrangements.

I knew Sunday that I would have to be heading to Utah but I could not bring myself to pack and get ready. They finally made my app't for Wed AM. So Tues afternoon I decided I'd better pack up and head out. I had a feeling that this was not going to be a good thing.

So I get to the hospital today and was told that they had orders to put in a port-a-cath. I said, "No, I don't think so." I told them I wanted the same thing that I have and they'd better call the dr and get it taken care of. He came back and said we would just put in what I want and not call the dr.

So it's off to the procedure. The first thing they did was cut around the cuff so the line would come out. Very routine, no big deal. That's when routine ended and the headache started. The line is supposed to pull right out but it had adhered further down totally where it was NOT supposed to. So he made another incision and did a bunch more cutting around the line and pulling and tugging. Long story short, 4 hrs later the line is still in, my neck and chest is very bruised and sore and the dr is beside himself. He said things like, this is amazing and bleep bleep bleep and I have never seen anything like this.

He even went in my femural vein and tried to pull the line out from the bottom. When that wasn't successful it was time to call in the vascular surgeon. I have an app't with him tomorrow and he will tell me what he is going to do and when he will do it. Most likely this will be a fairly easy out patient procedure. (We will see). I think we will do it in 2 wks when I have other dr appts scheduled. Meanwhile I will be able to use the old line that is now my BFF.

Since they went in the femural vein, I had to lay flat on my back for 2 hrs. So I was on my back for 6 1/2 hrs. Yes, I was more than ready to get out of there.

I was always told to try to keep my lines in for as long as possible and today they were saying, obviously 4 yrs was too long. What do they want.

So after we figure out how to get the old line out, we still have to figure out how to get the new line in. More fun to come. Stay tuned.

The rest of the story

I forgot to mention the good deal I got on my shopping spree. I bought $90 worth of goods for $30. Of course if I had had to pay $90. I wouldn't have bought it all.

For Trish

A while ago I went shopping for some pants. Every since I took Trish shopping with me a few years ago, shopping brings a flash-back. When I try on pants they are always about 4-6 inches too long. When Trish tries on pants they are that much too short. So I was in the dressing room and Trish was bringing me pants to try on. Then she decided to bring some Capris that I could wear as long pants. It almost worked, but they are a bit short for me.

So back to my latest shopping. I bought a pair of pants and of course they were long. They had a strap that I could roll the pants up and button up the strap and I would have instant capris or leave them down for long pants. I hoped that maybe I could roll them up and wear as long pants. The strap was 1 roll up too many. So close. Back to hemming my new pants.

court house stairs.... the saga continues

Some of you will remember my report of my venture up our court house stairs a month ago. Well I still needed to go to the county assessor and get my house title stamped that my taxes were paid up so I can get the title for our house. I was waiting for the elevator to get fixed and me to feel like the adventure at the same time. Today was the day.

First I went to the court house annex right next to the court house. I had to go down 5 steps and then to the elevator to the 2nd floor. I told the lady there what I needed and she told me that I had to go to the county treasure to have that done. I told her that this is where I had it done last year. She didn't seem to care. I knew she was not the nice lady that took care of it for me last year. So I went down the elevator and hobbled up the 5 stairs and then to the court house. I was NOT up to all the stairs today so I went up the handicap ramp and then only had to go up a half dozen steps or so. I went to the county treasure's office and explained what I needed. She told me that I had to go to the county asssessor. I'm not so smart, but I could tell that this was not good. I explained to her that I had just been there and was sent here. This nice lady looked at the paperwork I had and told me that I needed to go to the county assessor's office on the 1st floor not the 2nd floor. Silly me.  So I hobbled down the half dozen steps or so and went outside and down many more steps and into the annex building. Down 5 more steps and into the assessor's office. There I saw the nice lady that I recognized from last year. She fixed everything and sent me on my way. Back down the hall and up 5 steps.

Last year I had everything ready to go and didn't get it mailed in time. You can bet that I will get it mailed off real soon. I would think of hand delivering it to the office in Carson but that might involve more steps.

Gym membership

My Dad gets free gym membership with his insurance and he is actually going to the gym. I am in total shock. This is the man who laughs because people drive to the gym to workout. He doesn't use the machines, but there is a "Silver Slippers" excercise class that he likes to go to. As it sounds, it is excercises for seniors. I think it is a great thing for him to do. Maybe if I work real hard, I can work up to a silver slipper workout myself.

My Wood Badge is Completed!

Some of you may remember a little camping trip I went on last summer for my wood badge training. I am very HAPPY to announce that I have completed all the things necessary to earn my wood badge. The beading ceremony will probably be next Tues at 6:00. I guess you should let me know if you are planning to attend so I can let you know if we have to reschedule it. The problem is that my scarf and beads may not be here in time, but we think they will be here. I will find out Fri of this week.

I would encourage you scout leaders and future scout leaders to attend wood badge training. I promise you will NEVER be sorry for doing it. This includes you Lance, Norman, Todd, Cam, John, Carl, Russ, Jeff. It would be good for Becky and Debbie also, but they can probably wait a year or two before they do it. Let's see Molly should do it too but she can wait a few years.

Door

This is for those of you who like reading about the stupid things I do. Yesterday I stopped by my friend's house to check on it since she is out of town. I got the door unlocked but had trouble getting the dead bolt unlocked. I tried it 2 or 3 times and then thought maybe I just need to push hard on the door. As I pushed hard on the door, the door easily swung open. I about fell into the house. Mike was in the car laughing.

Ideas anyone?

Mike and I are thinking about spending a week in SLC the middle of May. I'm looking for ideas for places to go, things to do and people to see in the area. I will share a partial list of what I have come up with, but now I'm looking for things I might not know about.

Here's my list
BYU vs Utah softball (yep top of the list.
Jeff and Heidi's wedding reception (2nd on list)
Hale Center
Bees Baseball
SLC cemetary
Drive up the canyon (Big and Little Cottonwood, I have never been there)
Hill Air Force Museum (I had to give Mike one choice)
Maybe summer rides at Snowbird
Oh yeah and of course 2 or 3 dr visits

getting strong now

I went to Utah last weekend and didn't even stop at a medical supply store. And I have stopped using all my medical supply toys, except the cane when I am outside or going up steps.

I thought of an old memory that made me laugh again and thought I would share it. I guess it was 2 years ago or longer, I had a little boy here staying with me and then his parents came a few days later and rescued me. After Lance and Molly got here, I was blessing our dinner before we ate. I said that I was grateful that and I paused ....... that Mom and Dad were able to drive here safely. I couldn't help but laugh and Lance and Molly laughed too. It was a fun memory for today.

Don't mess with me

I picked up my refill for my miracle drug to make me strong now. The label said it was the right stuff but when I got home and opened the jar, the pills looked different. I know they change brands sometimes and the pills are the same, but they look different. I took the pills back today to double check that they are the right ones. Come to find out they had given me blood pressure pills. Great! My blood pressure is already low and I really don't think it would have helped my muscles any. Maybe they were testing my to see if I would mess out on my scripts again.  I passed the test.

I DID IT!!!!!!

I guess I was inspired by yesterday's post because I had to pay my taxes at the county court house today. For those of you who don't know, that involves 14 steps. I did NOT run the stairs but I did hobble up all 14 of them and I made it back down safely. Then I was supposed to go next door and go upstairs. There is an elevator there so I was safe. I got in the building and the sign by the elevator said, "Elevator out of order." I looked at the flight of stair and said, "Not today."

I ran a couple of other errands and my legs were tired by the time I got home. All I had to do was go feed the dogs then I would be done for the night. Something that I have feared would happened, finally happened. Mike has some fencing on the ground inside the dog pen so the dogs won't dig under the gate. I tripped on the fencing and crashed. I didn't get hurt, but I knew getting up would be a BIG problem. I had a couple of things going for me. I had my cell phone and my neighbors were home. But first I had to try. Somehow I got up and it was very easy. I'm still not sure how I did it, but it made my day. Getting Strong Now!!!!

Getting Strong Now

Cue the Rocky theme song.

Fast forward through the one armed push ups. (I'm not quite up to that yet).
And definitely fast forward through the eating raw eggs part. (That would never happen.)  YUCK
Now you are to the part where I am running up the stairs. Well, we have to alter that just a bit. I am not running but I am walking up the stairs with the aid of my cane.

I'm excited to report that my blood work came back almost normal. (That is a big improvement.) Because of that I am doing so much better than the last time most of you saw me. The main way I find out just how much better I am doing is when I do something and it is easier to do than it has been. Here are some examples from this week.

The mobility of my neck has been limited. I notice this when I back up in the car and try to look behind me. This week I noticed that I can actually turn my head and look both directions instead of honking my horn and gunning it.

I don't have much strength in my arms when they are extended. This week I was able to reach out and grab the sprayer in my kitchen sink and use all my might and lift it up. Victory!

And I had 8, yes, count them, 8 dinner plates. I lifted them up and put them on the stack in the cupboard.

I am doing better with steps. And I can get myself out of chairs all by myself. I did prove that I cannot get myself up from the floor yet. That will take some time. I will have some kind of celebration when I can accomplish that feat.

Attack

I was using the hose from my vacuum to pick up some dried leaves from my plants that were on the floor. (My poor plants have been pretty neglected lately). I guess I got distracted. When I looked at the end of the hose it was near my spider plant and there was a bare stem without a baby spider plant on it. The vacuum ate it. Naughty vacuum.

Secret Message

I know my blog has been very dull and boring lately (maybe always, just worse now). It is probably a reflection of my life. But I do finally have a post to lighten things up a bit.

Isaac sends me instant messages from time to time. They look something like this.
dkfjeoid9382497fnvdgr8e7t7ec9mixfckjfewq8r37evkfhicnmvfo
dfjioeruf8r3948dfjrhf7erfn9ccfmniuren9c,rexi
And then there are smiley faces also. It's a good thing I am a grandma so I can decipher what he is telling me. It is in code so we can keep it from his parents.
He sent me a message yesterday and I replied with a smiley face and "Isaac." 
Pretty soon after, I get a message from Lance saying how impressed Isaac was. Isaac said, "Wo she knowed it was me." Once again my supersonic grandma skills at work.

Darn cold

I came home from Utah 2 1/2 weeks ago with a cold and feeling totally wiped out. We canceled our shopping trips to Sam's Club, and the church distribution center (a couple of my favorite stops). And we drove right by Chick-Fil-A and my heart didn't even race. (My throat was too sore to even think about lemonade). But we did make one stop at the home medical supply store. It's pretty scary but I keep finding more things there that I just can't live without. They had fancy wooden canes with carving around them. I picked the cane up and knew it was not for me because it is more heavy than the aluminum ones (I'll have to exercise and work up to the wooden one). Upon examining the wooden cane, my heart did start racing. Remember I was in Logan. There was a block A at the top and Utah State was engraved in it. Totally awesome.

This cold has really kicked my butt. But every day is getting a little better and as of the last couple of days, I can think that there may be an end in sight. And today was sunny and 50 degrees. Spring is coming. I can do this.

Coke Addict

I went to SLC 1 1/2 wks ago for a dr app't. I know that is no surprise. Hey but it is getting better. It had been a month since I had been there. And I don't have to go the month of Feb at all. I went the end of Jan and go back the first week of Feb. Since I have Feb off from drs I guess I will go to Twin and get my permanent crown put on that has been ready for me for over 3 months.

I guess I was a bit dehydrated when we made that trip to SLC. I ran an IV but was still very thirsty. It was to the point that if I drank water, it would run straight through and that just makes things worse, but a soda sure does quench my thirst. So I drank a large soda on the way over there. I don't drink that much soda, it is too sugary and makes me not feel good. Anyway, by the time we got to Trish's I was very thirsty still. Oh I guess I should mention that we went over there Sun. We went to church, then Mike and I both had meetings so we didn't leave until 5. We got to Trish's at 9:30. I walked in the door and asked Trish what kind of soda she had. My choices were Pepsi, Coke or Coke Zero. I chose Coke Zero and had just a little bit. But it tasted so good, not the Coke part, I'm not a caffeine drinker, but the fizzy was good. So I had some more and some more and some more. Then I was getting tired (yes, I really was tired) and I decided that 1 liter of Coke was enough for the night and I would go to bed. As soon as I layed down, I was no longer drowsy. I layed there wide awake for hours. Guess I had that coming.
The next night I asked Trish if she had any more Coke. Mike said "I will go buy you some soda if you want, but no more caffeine." I didn't have any soda and slept good.

Possessed washer

As I typed this title, another one came up  "Possessed Garage Door". Maybe I am on my way to my whole house being possessed.

A couple of days ago I was doing laundry. The washer seemed to be running more than normal, but I didn't think much of it. I was getting ready to run errands and checked to see how much longer before the washer was finished. 11 minutes. It took me a few minutes before I was ready to go and I considered checking how much longer on the washer, but decided not to. I would just go and the washer would be done when I got home. When I got home, I noticed that the washer was running. I'm thinking, "What the heck". I was at the pharmacy for an hour, the washer should be done. I looked at the washer and it said it had 11 minutes. My heart sank. I was sure that it was something electronic and it would cost lots of money to repair, not to mention the time without a washer. I turned the washer off and opened the door. My clothes were knotted up in a tight, tight wad. How would you feel if you had been agitating in the washer for probably close to 2 hrs continuously? I worked at getting the clothes separated out and hesitantly started the washer again on a short cycle. I was so relieved when the time did not come up as 11 min. I am happy to report that my washer is working fine now. Wheew!

Lots of rain

I spent almost a week in the Panaca area at Christmastime. It rained and rained and rained some more. I thought my windsheild wipers where going to get all worn out. They got quite a work out. I'm not sure right now, but I think Christmas is in December, isn't it? I think we are supposed to get snow in December. There was  a couple of areas between Panaca and St. George where the road was being flooded by run-off water. This is typical weather for April.

I thought about taking a bath while I was down there but I was afraid that I would start quacking.