Take 5 days of antibiotics, they said.
It should be cleared up, they said.
Well, it has,… kind of.
Week number two of cellulitis and there’s on a half inch of red on each side of my knee incision.The antibiotics are done. I am still not right. Yeah, I know, if you know me you might say I’ve never been right.
There’s never been three more miserable folks; me, Zush and Kasia. Walking is highly underrated:sickness, well…let’s just say I can’t wait to get well.
If it was age, heat or what,Zush has not been in a good walking mood. I would assume that she is probably hurting, She goes out to take care of business and then turns me around to come back.
The Kasia says to me,”Don’t be sad, Mom: I will walk with you.”
So After I hang our freshly washed sheets out on the line, Kas and I will be going out to get a little exercise in this heat.Zush, smart girl that she is, will stay on her new bed and in the air.
It’s just a little bittersweet not to take both my girls out.
Degenerative disc disease, which I am sure was a shocker to my physician who was trying to hang it on loose junk in my knee.
I KNOW the pain my back gets in. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.But to have a physician be so blasé’ about it, well, all I can do is shake my head. I am going to hook up with my old orthopedic team, and that was not necessarily by choice.The local orthopedic didn’t want anything to do with me initially because I had two knee replacements done BY ANOTHER PHYSICIAN.
So color me in for tests and schedules and say a little prayer that things come out ok.
Thanks.
Some days it seems like only yesterday.
This upcoming Thursday marks five years since my double knee replacements.I remember taking the girls for a last walk the night before the surgery, and as I walked down the hill toward the field, I felt the crunching in my knees and thought that it’s the last time I’ll hear that sound and feel that feeling.
So much has changed in those five years.
My Mom is gone,we left the city,I retired…I can go on and on.
Fortunately,with my union bargained medical benefits.I managed to get through the whole deal,and the pain is a faint memory.
Life goes on.
I posted a picture of a cocktail last Friday, and it was a fitting end to my first week back to work.
This week is a different story.
I should have known when I walked a young kindergarten charge to the nurse with almost a 101 fever, this would be coming.I get a flu shot every year but today I am so achy and miserable, well, my girls will go out one more time, I will finish my hot tea, shower, and put some flannels on and try to get some sleep.
I went to bed last night around 9:30pm.
I am up since 2 am.
What the hell?
Those little thoughts that won’t let you sleep. Trying to put something on to make you fall asleep. I didn’t want to take anything to make me drowsy. I figure by the time I went to back to sleep, it would be time for me to get up and make today a really long day.
I don’t know if it is the possible cold front coming through, or the alleged rain and snow mix that is forecasted for Friday.Sometimes they say all your scars in your body act up and make you” feel” the weather. I know, there are a million old wives tales.
It’s frustrating when the husband is sleeping, Zush is sleeping, I come in here to type the blog and put the television on and Kasia is sleeping.
Doesn’t Mom get a break? Just wondering.
If you remember the Alka Seltzer jingle, you’ll know the ad was the Alka Seltzer cold formula.
I have never taken it, although right now, I can probably pass for a tuberculosis patient with this hack I have.I have had a river of hot soup and a ton of expectorant, and yet the hits just keep on coming.
So I will be taking a hot shower tonight and trying to get some of this congestion out of me so I can try to get back to normal. I haven’t been walking past 10,000 much because I just, quite frankly, feel like crap.I am to the point where I’d give all the money I have for 5 straight hours of sleep.After all I want to be up and together for the super bowl. I am sure that this is just a payback for the beautiful weather earlier this week.
Take care, everyone, and I will chat with you tomorrow.
We have officially gotten to the point where the weather has said good-bye to the 50 degree global warming weather, and we are in the 20’s and 30’s, and looking down the barrel of the gun of the even cooler weather down here. The wind says hello…ALOT.
I washed our sheets today and it is the unfortunate time to put the polar fleece sheets on the bed.We each grew up in row homes, then made our way to twin homes, and the home we are now in is a single, raised off the ground.When the wind comes down the street, well, it says hello. The problem with the polar fleece sheets is you really go through a lot of moisturizer in order to make sure you are comfortable through the night. The good “Bad” thing about it is that when it is a really cold morning, you really don’t want to get out of bed, because you are nice and warm.Also, as we are in that arthritic stage, keeping the body aches warm make you feel pretty good, at least as far as we are concerned.
I grew up with flannel sheets, and I really don’t think Jim had them until we got married, and flannel sheets are good. Friends say to me that I don’t see HOW you can ever sleep on polar fleece because it’s too warm. I usually go back to the old axiom of,” That’s why they make chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Everyone gets what they want.”
…with the exception of folks who like coffee ice cream…lol.
…of 55.
We have a surgeon’s appointment in the area for me today, due to a fibroma grown in my forearm. This bastard is leaning on some nerves in my right arm, and the end result is my lack of sleep.
Tomorrow morning I have a 6 month appointment with the dentist.
Not too bad for the year to date. Two general practice visits, one surgical visit, two dermatology appointments**singing in best 12 days of Christmas voice** and one trip to urgent care….
I hesitate to talk it up, but we are a week short of one year of retirement, and I feel like I am spitting in God’s eye.I am hoping we can keep this up.
The one flip side of moving here to Undisclosed is the dampness of the bay.It is rough, especially on days like today,when it is rainy.
Sure, we walked down to the bay today to see the stormy weather, but I can’t lie: I think the three of us were soaking wet by the time we got back. It took us awhile, post drying with towels, to dry out.
All that’s left for me tonight is a hot shower and shampoo, then the Voice on the tv.I did my 15,000 fit bit steps-it’s time to rest.
Stay warm, folks.
If I had a nickel for every time a government agency wanted a fax copy of my personal documents, I sure would be rich.
I had another phone call with the Garden State today and it is incredible.Maybe it’s because I was on the other side of the phone for such a long time that I forget what a headache it is.Then, when the phone call was finished,because he couldn’t reach a second agency, he called back to me to get me to fax MY information that he was supposed to get.
May I need to get back on the payroll…..
My leg is rebelling.
More precisely, after close to a year of fit bit zipping, my right leg below my knee, is rebelling. Yesterday and today,it has been swollen a bit.
If you remember,or if you are late to the party, I had double knee replacements in March of 2011.So there should be no issues, right?
Hah.
With the swelling as one part of the Knee-d Bermuda Triangle, the second part would be the medical care.
Oh yeah.Had double knee replacements and have an issue with a leg? Don’t move ninety-some miles away from the surgeon who replaced your bum knees.You see, down here in the boonies, NOBODY wants to deal with your sore leg, as they don’t want to touch someone else’ work.Nice, eh?
The third point of this triangle is the leg itself.I used my head and didn’t do 15,000 steps today: I was babying it a little bit. The leg is somewhat less swollen than it was yesterday, and honestly, pain was really not an issue.It’s just when something gets swollen with your leg, and you know you are smack dab in the middle of your fifties, you get concerned.
Thanks to my friend Kate for a long distance consult.To my other buddies who have heard my tale of woe, thanks to you too. Zush and Kasia still got walked and by using my head, we are hopefully going back down to normal.
Stay tuned.
I really had been doing well. I have been working on dropping weight, walking,eating healthier,and yet despite this, I fell twice this past week.
Granted, I am smaller than what I had been, but I have been wearing my sketchers which hug my feet.Either I am walking distracted, or just catching my toes in high cement cracks between grass, but no matter what, I am hurting.
I made my 10,000 steps yesterday, and thanks to a copper fit back brace, I might be doing a little better today. Falling at 55 is rough, and you can bet I am going to try to beat this!
It’s getting to a point where my job is my job and that’s great.
My baby Zusher isn’t well.
I am trying to see with the first call from the lead vet, and waiting for the information for the second reading of the labs from a Philly vet, in order to take her for her second opinion.
If we get good new, for which I am praying, that would be great. If not and hospice is the term for Zush, I probable will leave the job to savor every day I have with the girls.
It all is in the hand’s of God and his hands on the heads of the vets.
Still praying for the girls….ALWAYS.
I made a major error yesterday morning. I got up, threw clothes on,got the girls walked, and 65 minutes later, I realized I did not put my fit bit on. Quel Horror! 3500 steps flying into the air!
So I majored in taking the scenic route yesterday, in order to make up those 3500 steps. It is so infuriating to feel married to my fit bit, but the results are speaking for themselves. I just got my Great Barrier Reef badge for walking 1600 miles.
I walk everywhere,everyday at my own pace. I am not a race walker, nor do I ever want to be. I have two knee replacements and my motto is you can’t hit s moving target. I admit there are times when I am bone tired and walking is the last thing I feel like doing.i walk enough during the week in the ant farm maze at work.
My 13 year old Zush and 6 year old Kasia love to walk. I don’t want to disappoint them either. We go out together for the entire pack benefit. I am not bad mouthing race walkers, because they are surely more fit then I will ever be.
As for me and my girls…we’ll catch up.
I was one of those fortunate girls.
I loved my Dad and he loved me. Don’t get me wrong- he loved all of us, but Dad and I were buddies. My brothers weren’t really into actively following sports, so he was happy when he found a willing disciple in me. We spent a lot of good times together. At the bottom of this blog post, I have a picture of Dad in the car when we were at Penn State for a game.
It’s seventeen years ago today that I lost my Dad. I remember,in many of our talks, how he would tell me about life after he would be gone. I believed him and always kept it in my head. You only have one Dad and no amount of time can replace the hole left behind in your heart when he leaves.He didn’t tell me that, but it’s what I learned.
Miss you terribly,Dad, and will love you forever. Kiss Mom for me.
There must be a triangle where warm rain followed by sauna like temperatures,and chased by 6 hours at work turn you into a walking zombie.
**Sigh**
There is nothing better than coming home and gearing down from the night, especially after walking the girls for the last walk of the night. All I want is cool air,my bed, my girls and the pillow.
Tomorrow promises a swim in the bay for the girls if it isn’t raining, and a shift for me from 1 until 7. I am not as fortunate as I was last week, by being off until Sunday.I have to work this up coming Saturday.
Trust me, though. I am living for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday…but then again, who isn’t?
It’s been that kind of week.
My nerves are shot.
The heat is climbing back up.
My solution?
I decided to go to my trusty freezer and pull out my frozen with a kiss bottle of vanilla vodka and made myself an adult beverage. I have made myself a vodka tonic with lime in it.
Now granted it’s not going to ease my mind or the knots in my back or worry about things, but all I need after this is 1800 steps and I’ll have finished 15,000 steps for the day, a few loads of wash, some walks with the girls, some visits with sick friends and some with neighbors.
Not a bad day off.
If you have been a reader of this blog for a while, you know I have two fur girls, both golden retriever mixes.
Between walking them and the bakery job, I probably have managed to pinch a nerve in my neck. Bad enough being in the get up to use the bathroom years,now,in addition to that, I am shaking my arms down to get circulation back in there.
Seriously?
I need this?
A friend of mine who is a licensed practical nurse advised me to take some anti-inflammatory medicine and to ice my neck down.I am so desperate I am going to give it a shot.
Whoever said ” Old age is not for sissies.”, well, they KNEW what they are talking about.
I have a lower lumbar that is reflective of my 55 years if not more.
Seeing the ads that Brett Farve has out for the Copper Fit, I saw it and initially had a bad taste in my mouth.As a kid, you would always read about people wearing copper bracelets for arthritis.Sure, they claimed it worked, but eventually you heard more about people with green wrists from the bracelets.
I saw the copper fit ads and figured it was worth a shot.I had been scripted for prescription strength naproxen sodium,and figured if it worked, I’d save my both the abuse of taking the medicine, especially working in the bakery.There’s something about working the racks and having to scoot down that low, especially if alcohol isn’t involved, well, it’s rough on the back.
I have found that at least the back brace serves to keep the area warm, and I actually can function in the bakery. I can come home and after walking the girls, I lay with ice on my lower lumbar and I feel pretty good.
There’s got to be something to this copper fit: maybe it’s psychological, but it does work.
…thanks to my FitBit Zip, I thought I was doing something.I could take care of myself.
I am thirty pounds thinner than I was this past October, and was walking up 15,000 steps once I got over my GI attack.
Then came the job,
Nothing trains you for life as a cashier, or life as a veal, as it were.You get to walk maybe six steps once in a while when a transaction warrants it.You get your little scanning gun and record the items on sale in a shoppers basket.Other times you are just doing lifting, scanning, and bagging:all upper torso action.Even with good supportive shoes on, my legs are screaming.Can we walk a little? Nope is the answer. For a 6 hour shift you get a fifteen minute break.When that comes, I haul myself out into fresh air and try to relax away from the store.
The worst thing is I get to come home and I get the girls out for the last walk of the night but it still leave me 500 steps short.It takes little effort to do that, but for legs I thought were in shape, well, they have a long way to go.
I will get my girls out one way or another.I miss them when I am not here, and I am sure they miss me too, or at least our walks.
I would have thought that dropping weight and walking an average of 12,000 steps a day would prepare me for returning to work.
What I didn’t fathom was that they were going to train me as a cashier, which translates that you are a veal.You are allowed a 15 minute break as a part-time worker.That’s it.If you won’t to have water with you at the register, you need a doctor’s note…A DOCTOR’S NOTE. I was at least walking a little around the aisle of the register, so it wasn’t like I was standing in one spot.My legs feel like they were around 25 pounds a leg.Solid dead weight.They hurt. I am training with young kids.They are 19 years old, without a care of the world.
So it’s going to be a rub down your legs down kind of night.
Stay tuned.
…with the day.
As you slowly come back up from a GI bug, you learn to take things with baby steps.
I have had a few days of ginger ale and fortunately am on natural apple juice, i.e., no added sugar or preservatives, and sun peppermint tea. A banana is now part of my morning, although it’s an issue that I have to tweak, because I am having some cramping in my legs.I find it highly ironic that the news now has stories on avian flu, as we have more rotisserie chicken than we know what to do with. We introduced it as basic protein back in our diet.
The biggest whoop is getting back in synch with my fitbit zip, after going through withdrawal for the past six days.The trick is going through with everything on a daily basis,so my general health can rock.
Here’s hoping!
…the score is my GI tract, 3 days, and me, 0.
Went to the doctor today who confirmed that I indeed picked a bug up.I am getting awfully tired of wonton soup.so we stopped at the store today and picked up jello and pretzels and apple juice-you know, the stuff virus diets are made of.
**Sigh**
The flip side of this is that I was advised by the doctor not to start work tomorrow,as to get other folks sick,as I agreed,was kind of dumb.It is weird,having been hired but not actually starting yet.For a day I was really convinced that this is my body yelling out against leaving retirement.
All I know is I can’t wait to get better.
…you know, that link between mind and body?
Coincidence or not, I got hit with a really lousy GI bug late Tuesday night.My Wednesday was lost to Gatorade and ginger ale.I managed to get a little bit of wonton soup in me and my gut is still holding out for normal as of Thursday afternoon.
This Saturday, I am falling off the retirement bandwagon and starting a part-time position in a local supermarket. Do I want to? No, not really. Pretty sad that someone of my age, along with people older than me, need something to add to a cushion to questionable health care costs coming down the way.Don’t get me wrong. It is a part-time position, and I know I am fortunate to be offered it.What is really hard is being out again. After thirty years of dealing with daily bull, I find myself back at square one. It is not a prospect that makes my heart happy. It also is stealing precious time away from my girls, but I can always try to make that up to them the best that I can.
Hopefully, my body will mend itself and my mind will get a little straighter and things will get going.I don’t have to pretend I like it, but hey, it’s what has to be done.
The antithesis of a holiday weekend is the day after.
The day after ham, sweet potatoes, carrots, string beans, deviled eggs, cole slaw, and so on and so on…Even though I managed to crack 10,000 steps today and I just feel like a Mack truck ran over me. I made 15,618 steps and why legs are fine.My head is feeling the weekend. I proudly can announce I had no alcohol,due to medication I am taking,and yet, I am afraid I am going to collapse in the Jim column of ” its gotta be the pollen”.My head is exploding.
We have this week to kick back a little before we gear up for upcoming events. In two weekends, we go up to the big city and celebrate the 50th anniversary of my cousin and her husband.Two weeks after we have company coming down here.
The season is gearing up..no excuses..gotta get ready.
…PAVERMAN!
If you loved following the epic saga of Jim dealing with his case of the shingles, or Jim starting up our compost, you will love Jim as Paverman.
The yard tends to get a little wet when it rains and when you have two dogs and want to save a floor, you try to get pavers to make a path for the back yard. We went to Lowe’s today to get bricks to accent the pavers and pavers themselves.Jim started the project when we got back and if he feels up to it,and the aches aren’t too bad,he might go back tomorrow to it.It is a hard job, and I do feel sorry when I watch him do it, but his sense of accomplishment when it looks good is overwhelming.
Slowly but surely, Undisclosed Deux is taking shape.
I have shoes that I love. I have shoes that I hate.
I have a pair of black boots that I used to love.
I wore those boots yesterday morning to go to the pancake breakfast. It was our turn to volunteer and work it.It was also three degrees when I left to go there.By the end of the day my feet were killing me, and more importantly, the ball of my right foot is a little swollen.What is it about a pair of shoes that you wear with no problem and then one day, it comes and bites you in the butt?
Hopefully, I’ll elevate it through the night and it’ll be a wee bit better tomorrow.Yes, I did still do my 10,000 steps today.Hopefully, I sail through the steps tomorrow and be walking just fine.
Argh!
When I was in the city, I chronically suffered from sinusitis.
I knew, after my initial diagnosis back when I was 17, how to handle it.It didn’t make things easier.But pretty much, about every quarter, I would get stuck with almost a sinus migraine. When I got down here, I was counting my blessings,thinking I was feeling pretty good.
When I got up this morning, I knew my old friend was back.I did not miss the ton of bricks on my forehead.Post-nasal drip? Nah, I thought it skipped town. I should be so lucky.In the grand scheme of things, though, I am ok.I know this is something that will pass. Hopefully with a hot shower and early to bed, I’ll get through the night ok.
Retirement is good,even when you aren’t feeling well.
I was hit with a GI bug around 2am this morning.Not much fun.
The sleep I lost caused me to sleep a little later and wave “buh-bye” to 15,000 steps today.I realized from the get go that it is more important for me to get rid of this bug than to kick over another 15,000 steps.
I am going out now to give the girls their last stroll of the night with me.Jim took the first walk this morning, well, by default.It’ll be interesting to see what the final number is, as I just want to come back in, take a hot shower, watch American Idol, and go to bed.
Stay tuned….
Knowing that retirement was in our immediate future, I canceled Comcast service in the city effective January 3rd.
Our bill came in the mail.Cancel? Us? Obviously not, since we received a bill at full price. What part of discontinue my service don’t you understand Comcast?You gave me directions on how to take the modems to a UPS store to get them to you?
Now my body is aching from moving prep and I am on wait for a customer service representative for Comcast for at least 10 minutes.
**sigh**
Someone wake me when it’s time to go to bed, ok?
I am a coffee girl.
That is a straight away statement.
As I type this, though, I have a cup of tea with me.
Sometimes, I feel the need to warm my self with some tea at night.It brings me back to my brother and my Mom having a big mug of hot sweet tea to make the world right again. I am typing away and my hip is acting up and this is my kick back before I go take a hot shower.It is funny how the image of the sweet ,hot cup of tea just embraces me with warmth,
Oh, no worries.Coffee will be back in the morning.
Tonight?
Tea time.
I have about 2,000 more steps to do today and I’d hit 15,000…I probably will get that under my belt before the night is over.
The one thing I have noticed is my legs are really “tired” and “achy” by the time I get done for the day. I need to remember to put the good shoes on when I am walking. Poor judgement when I am in a hurry in the morning and throw my feet in my loafers.
Jim is out at our neighbors, and in a little while, after the current load of way is done, the girls and I will go out one more time for the night. It’s a little harried, as we have to leave for the city tomorrow lunchtime, in order to get up for the Deli’s Christmas party.
Not too much longer, though, and our Sunday night/ Monday morning travel will be over once and for all!
**Whew**
The Philadelphia Eagles didn’t play football today.
We are sitting here at the breakfast bar trying to move it down a notch, getting ready to try to sleep a little before we come up to the big city and it just is so weird that there is no football.
I walked with Kasia and did 12,000+ steps today with her and did things around the house, but it really is weird, as we have gotten use to watching and/or listening to football on a Sunday afternoon or Sunday night. This is a change from us, as we normally are baseball people.
Zush sleeping as is Kasia, and we are getting ready getting to shower to relieve some aches and relax and try to get some sleep. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when the football season is over…lol.
This trying to keep up with at least 10,000 steps a day is really rough, especially on Fridays.
I lose a bit of time on Fridays because of the time we use running in the car down to undisclosed.Usually I try to squeeze in a few walks with the girls during the day before we have to go in the car.
Today, my legs were so sore but fortunately I got to my 10,000 steps. Since October 29, I have walked 75.78 miles…it is an average of 4. something miles a day.
So forgive me-a hot shower and hair appointment await in the morning,
Getting everything together is a job.Anyone who has gone through the process of retirement and moving knows how it goes.You struggle to get things together while life goes on around you.
The problem is getting run down while trying to take the Undisclosed Location down to our new home.Our sleep is off, weather has been all over the board, and in the meanwhile, We are both running a little on the ragged side.It’s rough that our sleep is off and we are worrying about all other stuff, I have come down with classic “falling apart at the seams” health. Jim isn’t quite as sick as me.I am doing but a couple of ailments but the problem is they are all dancing around at the same time.Jim picked up a prescription for me today. Add to the equation that holidays are here.
Hopefully we all will get through this and I am praying next year will be better.
I bought a zip fit bit to cover my fitness needs while I am healing from my blown out tendon in my knee. My physician seemed to feel that walking was a pretty good way to go.
I just got my weekly email from Fit Bit and found out that since Sunday I have walked 11.81 miles and I went “whoa.”I never realized that.Prior to having my zip fit bit, I have gone through pedometer after pedometer and lost them. This zip Fit Bit clip is securely fit on my clothes.It is accurately measuring my steps and I find that I am trying to meet a 10,000 a day step quota.
Stay tuned.
I have been trying to be religious about attending my flip fitness class.
Until last week.
I left class and as I walked away, my right knee started flaring up. Not good, considering that I have two knee replacements.
I have picked up a fitbit, because throwing my leg into different positions may not be the thing to do: it might be time to gp back to basics, while my knee heals.It’s rough after having gone through the knee replacements, because you remember how it feels when things swell up and then when it actually blows up again.It’s like it’s your worse nightmare.
Walking will be the tour de force for the next few weeks until the knee quiets down.Here’s hoping that it will.
I had really rough back pain this week, and then when the orthopedic physician said about arthritis working in the equation, well, the pain in the head worrying about it was almost matching the pain in my lower back.
I forgot one thing. Flip fitness class.
Fortunately my instructor is always looking for feedback and ways that participants in the class feel that they can get more out of it, or benefit from it.I made it a point to let Jackie know about my back and we worked more core and stretches.It was insane, because I started the class feeling lousy, and left pretty well loosened up. Movement may start out as painful, but when you get things moving, it’s incredible how different you feel.
The funniest thing was we had some good laughs in class tonight, and my buddies and I laughed so hard there were tears coming out of our eyes,Fortunately Jackie is a good sport, because as much as we tried to stop laughing, we couldn’t….after all, laughter is the best medicine!
You need to come out and try this Flip Fitness Class. Message me and I’ll give you the vitals. Young, old, you move and you feel good!
I came home from work tonight to find out our Zush got her bandage off. Jim let me know, and as Dr./Nurse Mom, it’s my job to clean her up. I washed the area and cleaned it up, put Neosporin on it and tried self stick adhesive bandage over non stick gauze.**fingers crossed**
Kasia is keeping her sister on her toes, as it’s Halloween week, Kasia doesn’t care for kids.They probably teased or hurt her when she was younger, but kids are running up and down the street looking at Halloween decorations. Zush is just being a puppy: the pain-killer makes her feel that good. In the meantime, Kasia is ready to pull me into the street to get away from kids.
In the grand scheme of things, keep the prayers coming.They are appreciated by all of us.Trust us, we are sending them back up for you!
My girls are always happy to see me.Their happiness lifts my heart.
With Zush and I both under the weather,we call it an early evening, and I reach over and rub her head.Of course,her sister, Kasia is always a half beat away.We chat and their heads sufficiently rubbed,the blinds are drawn and I pull the afghan up over me.It is nice to feel the warmth of the girls, as they lay on the floor right by me.It is as if they know I know we aren’t feeling better, and we girls gather together to group on feeling better.
This is on definition of cozy I will always hold close in my heart.
They say that there is often sympathetic pain when a family member is suffering.
Zush has her issue with the cyst on her rear left leg. Me? My lower spine is knotted up tighter than a Philadelphia soft pretzel. I had been sleeping off and on since four o’clock this afternoon .My brother-in-law and Jim’s nephew Tom were over and I was completely oblivious to it,
Now I am up and having a little rice pudding for dinner, typing the post, and then a shower and bed, only to be up at three to head back up to the city.It truly will be sweet once the two of us are back on all our wheels again.
Here’s hoping your night is good, your week is better and the weekend comes really quickly!
When we last left our heroine, Zush, she was bleeding from a ruptured cyst located in her back left paw. When we cleaned up her blood from her leg,it just looked soggy, as though she got wet swimming in the bay.
I brought her into our new vet down here at Undisclosed. As a fur mom, it is always comforting to have a diagnosis confirmed. The new vet had said that we could have it off in Philadelphia. I said no, I’d like it done here.It is possible to monitor her and keep her leg clean and tape it up and once we are established here, I could book her date and this way she’d be home with me.
I think Kasia knows something is up with her sister and is just a wee bit kinder to her.I am sure that Zush would be feeling better with that cyst off. I just have to work some prayers that my girl will have no problem with her anesthesia.
Hold a good thought for her, ok? Thanks.
Looking at Zusher’s rear paw tonight. She has a large benign growth on it and it really hadn’t been slowing her down.
All of a sudden, something made me look at it tonight and it was like it got irritated or rubbed or she was getting at it.The fur around the area is bloody.
Going to try to get in to out new vet tomorrow morning to see what they can do to make her comfortable,
Hold prayers and or good thoughts for my girl, so she’ll be able to be made comfortable.
Thanks!
That’s what I went through last week, when I couldn’t go to my Flip Fitness class.I still have my stitches in but by tonight, I was a little bit more secure in going.
There’s something about a Flip Fitness class that has us all together.We are in the same boat-trying to get our bodies mobile and feeling somewhat better about ourselves. When one person isn’t here, they are missed.We share what’s going on and in our own heads, we are happy to be going, because we know it HELPS us.The exercise and stretch is beneficial, but the laughter that we share is even more beneficial.At the end of what is often a very long day, it is a perk to be able to laugh off steam.
Look up Flip fitness classes, if you feel things like yoga or Zumba aren’t your speed yet. You’ll be pleased at the difference you feel in your body.
We managed to get in to the vet with Zush today.She isn’t yelping all the time, but the sporadic yelps let me know she is uncomfortable.He gave her another shot of cortisone and we are leash walking her only for potty walks so she can heal.
It’s a job.
After we got her in for her first shot, combined with the pain killers, she was feeling so good she went and tweaked her back again.That’s the rough part about working. You don’t know if you missed her doing something or she did it while we were working or what.It’s frustrating because you don’t know why and, like an infant or toddler, you are left to wonder what’s the problem.
Down here at Undisclosed, I found a new vet, who is willing to help us until we are down here full-time. I am going to be working with the Cape May Veterinary Hospital with taking care of Zush as needed when we are down here. Eventually they’ll be our new vet.They were so nice over the phone and I felt comforted by them and knew it would be a good fit with the girls.
Hold good thoughts for both the fur girls, especially Zush.
We’ll keep you posted.
It’s been that kind of day.
To top it off, I came home and Zush is hurting again.The yelp is back, albeit it very sporadic.The Zusher needs to be monitored constantly. Unfortunately, I have to be at work and Jim is busy during the day.When I left her this morning there was no yelp. This afternoon, I cam through the door and it’s almost being back at square 3.She isn’t constantly yelping. I wish she wasn’t yelping, period.
Please hold a good thought or say a little prayer for the Zush, and hold a good thought for Mom, i.e.,me.It’s rough when you don’t know what’s wrong with the baby!
![0908061725[1]](https://thereisnosanityclause.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/09080617251.jpg)
I have been constantly harped on by certain folk, who have since been left by me on the wayside, about how I should have adopted children but I was selfish for choosing animals.Oh well….my fur kids are my kids. No excuses.
So I have new sympathy for parents,going through what I have with Zush the past few days.She had her shot, she’s getting her medicine, but she’s still yelping, albeit nowhere as much as she had been. I know I have to know miracles don’t happen, and she’s getting older, and the end result? I just want her to be better.Her yelping gets me.I know she can’t tell me, and I know I have a job to be at and I can’t be with her every minute.I feel like a mom running after a kid with a tissue to wipe its’ news.
Would I change it for a minute? Hell no. I am blessed to have my two girls.
Too bad my girl doesn’t qualify for Obama care..lol
All of a sudden Zush was in such apparent pain she kept leaving little yelps of pain out to let us know something wasn’t right. My nephew Gregory was kind enough to get over to the vet yesterday and pick up her Tramadol for her arthritis.That, we thought, would have resolved the issue but it didn’t.
This morning was not a fun scene. Zush obviously in pain yelping, Kasia wondering what’s wrong and me crying because, yes, damn it, they’re my fur kids.Managed to get through the day to 1:30, when I could leave for the girl’s 2:30pm appointment.
She was in such pain Jim had trouble getting her out of the car, but she got down and into the vet we went. Evidently, Zush’s spine was out of whack and now, with a steroid shot, and slow bathroom only walks, we’ll have our Zush up to speed in new time.When you are talking about a fur baby that’s 12 years old, well we had a big sigh of relief for our girl.She is the rock of our lives!
Below is a shot of Jim’s arm as he carries our Zush out of the back of the car.
Our home of twelve years was sold last June.
I’m not due to retire until this coming January, God willing.
I’m living at my late parent’s house. it is truly transitional housing.
What does this spell?
My handbag is my life.
Women accessorize.It’s a given. Fashion’s fifth avenue has more than enough magazines where you can blink and you still won’t miss the newest handbags on the editorial fashion pages, if not the ads.We are taught that it is an extension of ourselves. Sure it is, until we have our first chiropractic visit or physical therapy trying to regain a normal state in our shoulders, arms or back.Yes, you, reading this rubbing your sore shoulder. You know what I am talking about.
Most working women have their lives, to some degree in a handbag.After all, we carry them, we keep our transit fares in them, our building passes in them, house keys in them, make-up in them, cell phone, e-reader, and so on, and so on…you catch my drift?
Well, being between two houses, I am in a constant state of,” Oh, I might need this:I’ll put it in my bag.” That’s starts one thing, and as Jim likes to call it, you end up having an avalanche effect.For example, as soon as I post this blog, I have to figure out to get a few pounds off the handbag.**chuckling**I know many women, myself included, who could clean out their handbag twice weekly and still wake up in the morning wondering what gremlin got in and throws even more stuff in our handbags.
I thought I was saying something when I went to a Vera Bradley bag, thinking cloth has to be lighter than leather.Yeah, right.The material doesn’t matter,when you put your belongings into it.
I am going to post this, and then,well, my handbag is not the fabric of the picture below but it is of this style, which of course, is so serviceable that Vera Bradley discontinued it!**sigh**
I will go and try to lighten the load.Of course, it goes without saying that I look forward to the time I’ll be living in our new home and won’t need my “stuff’ clogging up my handbag.
Feel free to share your handbag stories with me. I’m all ears.
My “home team” is the Philadelphia Eagles, and as I am typing this, Jim is watching the game.
I watch the game and I wonder why would they abuse their bodies with all these hits to the body and cash the check.Do they worry what will happen to their lives even five years from now.I know they are getting large salaries, but if they keep getting body blows, well, do they even think about it?Don’t they say if you have your health, you have everything.
I remember reading about players from the sixties being diagnosed with dementia and other diseases from all these hits through the years. I know there is a concussion protocol that the NFL follows, but still.What do these players weigh? And they hit down on the field on the turf
I hope they save some of that money for their healthcare.
When September returned, so did my Flip Fitness class-boy did I miss it!
The wonderful thing about Flip Fitness is that you are exercising: you aren’t home, on a sofa, stuffing your face or out sitting on a bar stool. You are actually feeling blood move through your body as you exercise.Your lungs are exhaling when you start your seated crunch and inhaling on the way up…it’s a great class to get your feet wet when you want to take charge of your body again, especially if you haven’t been, of late.After you’ve been to a few classes, you start to feel the accomplishment reflected in your body.
Even more fun is that we laugh. Really.We do. We crack up between exercises and talk about our day, our spouses, our bosses and with the exertion of the exercise,the laughter is the cherry on top.
Flip fitness is through the area: leave me a comment and I’ll message you where I go and the times.
Trust me:you’ll thank me!You’ll have a good ache from the exercising, and a bigger ache from the laughter!
Zush went swimming this afternoon.This followed a trip to our friend Max, and his Mom, Nora, and Dad Mario.It was a pleasant visit and the girls were good, so thanks to the humidity, we took them to the beach.Zush got in the water and cooled off and soothed her aching skin and sore joints. Kasia, Jim and I watched her from the beach…until we saw…
They are calling for thunder showers and boy did the sky show it. Being over by the water, it was truly reminiscent of “The Perfect Storm.”
Now we are all safe and sound in the house after a wonderful afternoon with friends and family.
Have a good weekend! Be safe!
Our instructor for our Flip Fitness class is on vacation for two weeks.
Whoo-hoo…well, because she gets to have vacation, naturally.
We had Jessica as our instructor tonight and it really was funny. Our instructor Jackie is infamous for not liking odd numbers of repetition for exercises. She tens to make us do ten and then tries to slip more in, We imagined her at her shore hang out, and we joked that we were sending vibes down to her every time we changed the count amount.**Don’t tell her, but we did actually do ten most of the time, but she doesn’t have to know that**.
The problem was we were tweaking some different varieties of exercises so, for example, the position might have been different but you had the same, if not better end result. Well, I was kind of getting into it, and hope I won’t be too sore when I have physical therapy tomorrow.
**fingers crossed**
I had physical therapy again today and it is getting rough.
Evidently,there’s a point of strengthening your muscle and then we are to the point where we have been working this week-control of my hip muscles.
Ouch.
The key, and probably starting exercise reminds you either of driving school or a DUI maize.There is a line of small neon orange cones, and all ten are laid out in a straight line.Evidently either my hip is so week or balance so bad that I actually have a cane in my hand while I am doing this because when I didn’t, I almost fell. The idea is to raise your leg over the cone and basically with the cone spacing out between both feet, you slowly are putting one foot directly in front of the other.Sara, my therapist, laughed,as said I didn’t leave the line too inebriated.***translation -only a few cones were out of line***.
What is going to make things rougher is that I am scheduled for surgery on August 15th and as of tomorrow, I can no longer use my post-therapy partner for cure all liquid Aleve. I have to go to Tramadol or extra strength Tylenol.
This getting older business is definitely not for sissies.
Between physical therapy and my flip fitness class and getting to and from work, plus walking the girls, I try to keep moving.
Jim added a wee bit to that today.
He cleared out the cottage that we lived in every weekend for five months and actually set up my recumbent bicycle for me. I have been warming up in therapy on it for ten minutes before going on to my exercises so I actually used mine today.In therapy it is on slight tension, and I replicated it here, so hopefully I won’t be too sore tomorrow.
It feels good to have done the ten minutes today, and just as a thumb to nose gesture to myself,I did an extra thirty seconds, well, just because. Hopefully this is a step in reclaiming a home life that isn’t quite so depressing, a home life that will put us back in lockstep with the life we had at our old house that was pretty damn good.
**fingers crossed**
In the office today getting ready to see the physical therapist again.
With my leg. The leg that wasn’t hurting me until this past Monday, AFTER I finished physical therapy.
I went to my flip fitness class last night and what a difference when you gently do something and when you did 10-20 repetitions of something that wasn’t that strong to begin with. I am hobbling around and am getting bummed out.I am walking like I need a knee replacement…oh yeah, I had two already.
I can understand the premise behind physical therapy and have benefited from it in the past. After the initial go round this time though, I can only wonder.
…well, you know the rest of that old song.
I had physical therapy yesterday and was pretty excited. I got to officially go on the stationary bike for 10 minutes and learned a few more exercises. I was sore but felt good.
Until this morning.
You know when you sit too long and you get pins and needles in your leg(s)? Well, it was scary. I was leaving the house with my right leg, which is the leg with the hip bursitis, half with pins and needles.All I could think is what if I fall? I went very slowly to the bus and have been walking rather gingerly in order to get to work in one piece.I called my physical therapist as soon as I got in, ate some breakfast, took some Aleve and am waiting patiently to see what direction I should take. I also have a frozen small bottle of water on my lower back. I have no idea what to do, and will wait patiently.
**sigh**
Having an appointment this morning to see how the lower back and hip are making out. I have been kind of gentle with it, and yet I did fall the week after the shot at Undisclosed.
I am mixed up with emotion. Part of me KNOWS physical therapy would probably be the way to go.Another part of me says swimming is the way, but the pool I would use in the city really doesn’t have lap lanes at convenient times.I know there is a public pool at Undisclosed, but really do not know what their schedule looks like.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Doctor has to say regarding the issue, to see if my lower back has dodged the bullet,and what’s coming down the pike.
For some reason I put a purple shirt on today.
Oh yeah…then I remembered, I am going for my orthopaedic visit this morning and can envision the needle that will be in my future: I admit it’s not something I am looking forward to. I had gone for the x-ray last night to find out the good news that my hip is not broken.**big shocker there-NOT** However, the radiologist read the film and pronounced bony deterioration.
Translated? I missed the bullet with this fall, but have got to quit falling, NOW.
This just reaffirms the statement I made in a prior post.
“Old age is not for sissies.”
**sigh**
***Sigh***
Old age is not for sissies. I read this all the time.
I walk my dogs, take an exercise class, eat lighter now that it’s warm out.
I am in pain.
I thought it started as sciatica, but it stopped traveling and the hip just hurts.I waver between icing it or taking an anti-inflammatory, but I am afraid it’s going past that and medical assistance might be needed.Of course, I really don’t want to pay an orthopaedic man $30 to tell me I need to drop some weight. I KNOW THAT.
I need to lose this pain.
Stay tuned to this blog for the medical update of dancing in the world of medical co-pays, referrals, and hopefully, pain relief.
So my latest fall was this past Monday, and the soreness that followed was to be expected.
I went to my flip fitness class last night and the soreness that wasn’t too bad, well, it seems as if it were awakened by the exercise. Not too much fun, especially when you are left to go scrounging for rubbing alcohol to try to take the ache out. I thought I was using my head and doing moderate versions of the exercises, but I guess I was wrong. I came in here today like a Walter Brennan** remember the Real McCoys?** stand in. I have to admit it is not a really attractive look. The fact that I have been trying to cook healthier for us and now that it is getting warmer,introducing more fruit, well, when you are aching, you really just don’t give a hoot.
I can only hope that the ache dissipates for the weekend and on the mend becomes a permanent state.
HAH.
Oh yes, I know, if you take care of your body they will be golden.
There are certain things that are just things that sneak into there, that is. arthritis. I am sure in this age of technology that all the computer work doesn’t help it any, and then, when you want to retreat into a hobby, your hands are numb.
I have decided to make it my mission to go into natural pain reducers,and see if they might help turn the tide.Jim also gets on me for being glues to my Iphone so maybe a little
less time on there might quiet things down too.
I am looking forward to my Flip Fitness class tonight, as a good stretch in there gets things right.
Make it a good day for you!
Carting weight on a body is a job.
Unfortunately, when you do it for a while,your body begins to groan from the pressure.Then, when you start to try to shed it and move around a little more, boy does your body talk back to you.It’s 4:23am and I am up: I went to bed last night at 8:30 pm because my body was so sore and tired.
I am sure that it’s only the beginning, and hopefully, as things go down, things won’t be quite so painful.I guess I am just looking forward to getting a full night sleep. It’s been so long I won’t remember how it feels…lol.
is making me nuts…nice, cold, rain, sun….my sinuses can’t take much more.
I am in the office and have got a headache of huge proportions. I need the rain that is due tomorrow night to show up and this way, my head would clear up.
Fat chance.
I am almost done for the day and only have one more long day this week,so that is not too bad. I just wish that some stability would return with this spring weather.Until then, basics when I get home, and then, to bed.
The weather has brought an old buddy back into my life: sinusitis.
The pressure in my head is overwhelming, so between last night’s sporadic( at best) sleep and the 25 pounds in my forehead, I am going to make this brief and then off to bed.
Jim and I went over to see his Mom tonight, something we should be doing more often as she’s 95 years old. We enjoyed her company and also hanging with his sister Kathy.
Now we are back, and off to bed!
Good night!
Boxes have been moved into the Undisclosed Location II and boy are we busy.
It’s not like we are in there immediately: far from it.The little things add up and it makes for a long day. Add onto the long day a sore leg and it just intensifies it by a thousand fold. When you need a good comfortable chair, well, fat chance: the furniture comes in another eight weeks.
So for now, it’s just good night,and it’s off to a shower and bed.
Tomorrow is another day!
It’s 1:17am and I am the only one awake in our home.
Amazing what trying to rebound from slipping and falling will do to you.
I crashed and burned about 9:30pm and Kept my aching body under the covers. I had a scare when walking the girls last night that the ligament behind the right knee was not feeling too supportive and I have not felt that in a long, long time.It’s hard to believe that it’s going to be three years since the knees were replaced.Jim and I both agree that we have to shake off this temporary abode malaise and start getting our act together. I personally am looking forward to having a fully working kitchen again and flatlands to exercise myself and the pups in.
Bring it on!
Below? An almost three year old picture of the knees while in rehab…lovely, right?
I went to my Flip fitness class tonight and it was rough.
Sure, you take an anti-inflammatory after you fall once or twice on the ice, but then going to the class tonight was almost like insult to injury.We laugh a lot in the class, and sometimes I get a little goofy to cover the fact that I am physically hurting.Tonight was no exception, especially when we did the slow stretching.It was as though all the muscles that tightened from yesterday’s falls were really letting me know they weren’t too happy.
I’ll keep plugging along, with hopes that spring being just around the corner.
…I’ll give you a hint: it isn’t in love.
We had an inch of snow flow an hour this morning and when I was walking down for the bus, I fell one time and it was very funny.There was so much snow and ice packed down, it was as if I dropped my butt on a chair made of snow.
After laughing about that and walking a little further down, my next fall wasn’t so funny.With two knee replacements I got a little scared because it felt like a ligament was hurt.Needless to say,I finally got up,waited for a bus that never came, and then had to walk up 4 long city blocks to a different bus’ stop.
**sigh**
Is it April yet?
My Kasia is the only one I know, right now that is still in love with snow.
Every time we get out and there is fresh snow**which seems to be quite frequent of late**, she runs around and goes crazy and then makes doggie snow angels in the snow. Jim and I can only laugh, because it really is as if she is having the time of her life.
My Zosia, on the other hand, shows that she is a seasoned veteran of snow. Her forte’ is fresh white snow to eat for as long as she wishes.I guess it’s her equivalent of vodka on the rocks. To us in seems always incredible, in that Zush turns almost puppy like in the snow.
I come home from work, my body tense from fear of falling and hurting my knees,tight from walking on what crunchy snow there is, and just waiting to hit the front door.
My snow bunnies greet me.
It rocks!
It’s a rainy Friday and my bones are feeling it.
Arthritis is a really crappy thing. It cripples a lot of folks, and fortunately I am not one of their number yet.Yet it is really hard for me to complain knowing the pain I have seen this week.What I go through is nothing next to people who are so far gone that they are terminal.
Their bravery and emotion is astounding.
It’s enough to make me stop complaining and be thankful for the fact that I am up this morning, Jim is up, the girls are up and we have two feet and/or four paws on the ground.It goes without saying that I am feeling blessed to be here this morning, and know I can still sit on my own to type this when others are in bed, just waiting.
If you are of the praying mind, or even just the good thought mind, please think of Sue this weekend.She’d appreciate it as would I.
Thanks.
or, as I would say it: the poor worker without her cell phone.
Jim came down with too much raking,too damp weather, and as a man with a soon
to be 95-year-old Mom would call it….”grippe.”
You should take something, I say knowing downright what the answer will be.
However, even though I thought he should stay home today, he went to work.
As I came into work, I scoured all available sources for Lipton chicken
noodle in a red box-no such luck.
Stay tuned tomorrow and let’s hope Shingles don’t make a reappearance,
Every journey begins with a single step.
My friend, Kathy, talked me into going to Exercise class- my first in a long time.
It was wonderful! The personalities were great, the exercises got the blood moving and
I actually got up this morning with minimal discomfort.
I am going to make the committment to go and get back on track,for I feel with the
juicing and walking and the class, I am going to do and feel better!
Ow.
It’s 2:15am and my shoulder is killing me. Not a fresh, just fell down
type of ache, but an ache of my age.The post 50 yank of a dog leash,
heavy handbag on shoulder,carrying 16 years of school books
shoulder, the Charles Atlas carrying the weight of the world on
me shoulders.
The orthopedic physician has diagnosed it as arthritis, and it’s
amazing to me what a weather front awakens in that ache. I remember as a
kid, watching the Beverly Hillbillies on television and seeing
Granny brew up some “rheumatism” medicine…lol…what I would
give for some now to take the ache away.
My father was a big advocate of rubbing alcohol on sore muscles
and joints. I have done that already.A couple aspirin? Also
done.
Sleep. don’t fail me now!
…in the morning.
That’s what time it is.
Sleep? What’s that?
I was walking the girls in the neighborhood, and a new family bought a home on
the corner of the next block. It was on the corner where two streets met.
Big yard…no fence…big black dog…ran after Kasia.
Zosia ran away and I was yelling at the owner to please get their dog.
I was trying to put myself between the two dogs..Kasia was scared and
started to run from the big black dog.
I fell.
Hard.
Ouch.
It goes without saying that I won’t be walking them that way anymore, although
it was a shame because it was a favorite route for both of them. It took me
back to when we got each dog, and having a fence was what ok’d the adoption.
Here’s hoping the cigar-chomping father who took his time getting off his
butt gets the idea in his head, and there is a fence in his future. I hate to
see any dog get attacked by another.
That’s the end of the current drama
Here’s hoping to sleep by 3:45.**fingers crossed**
I was on the bus this morning and decided to get off and get on the train.
I went on the train and this is what I saw….
How can you all wear this shoe when I can see your toes and the top of the opening? How does it stay on your foot?
Don’t these shoes hurt your feet? I mean,do you have your sneakers hidden somewhere?
***wincing while looking at this picture***
God bless you but I’ll bet your days of flat shoes are coming around the corner.
Unfortunately, with Zush not feeling too well and now I am a little under the weather,well…
We are going to recoup back at home for two days, maybe schedule a vet visit, and come back on Wednesday. Zush is ok as long as she is in cooler air or air-conditioning, but I am hacking, running nose, watery eyes, so I think a little medical stay might be the ticket. Somehow, being down here with both girls and guys sawing at 7am, well…you can deduce the rest.
Happy labor day: we’ll check in with you along the way!
I had an old dentist-the operative word here being OLD- he was in his 70’s.
My mouth was full of silver and spit and polish to hold teeth together, but by
God, my teeth held together,
Something had gotten to me,perhaps it was hearing the same old shtick over
and over, and Jim said try my dentist.
What a mistake.
I never had a dentist who made crowns and things and let his dental
hygienist put them in.This guy thought he was something, showing off
what he can do on a computer and how quickly he can “produce” things
.One month later, a cap fell off.
Guess what?When I went to the office he informed me that he
“thought” he would try a cap, but now that it has fallen off, he wanted
me to put out a grand for a new back molar.Uh, I didn’t have trouble with
the tooth in the first place,and you, sphincter dentist, decided looking
in my mouth =$$$$, and this is what I get for your “dynamic” dentistry?
Hah.
It goes without saying I’ll be going back to the old guy or someone who
does their own work.Leave an email if you want me to tell you the jerk’s
name,
***sigh***
Incredible when you have to go and take medicines as prescribed by your doctor,
how tired you can get!
Jim and I went walking on the Cape May promenade last night and got in around
eleven.This morning, I feel like I was hit by a Mack truck.The Doctor had
said he wanted me to be bed rest and icing my hip.I think it’s a given that sleep
naturally follows.Yet in my head, I hear my mother saying,”Why are you sleeping mow?
What are you going to do tonight?”
The girls and I are taking the breeze in while Jim is riding his bike..maybe
THEN, a nap….lol
Getting old is certainly not for sissies.
I am at it again.
There has been some major lower back pain that is so sharp it takes my breath away.
I figured it’s time to stop being a martyr,not that it gets me anywhere, and see about
finding out what ‘s going on.
It’s incredible how you go back and think,” Did I trip carrying this or that, did I throw
my leg out and stub my toe…” Of course with knee replacements, all I can hear is the
knee surgeon saying about when people mess things up and have to come back and see him and
it ends up that the knee has to get repaired AGAIN.**ARGH**
Asking you, my reader, to send some prayers, good karma, or whatever my way.
No matter what it is, it’s much appreciated!
I gave myself a night off.
I only worked one hour overtime, since I was so beat. Got home and made a nice hot dinner.Did the laundry. Yeah… a real night off. A hot shower will cap it off, and hopefully, some of today’s wear will be relieved.
More rain tomorrow … Maybe the end of April Showers…lol
Things are still going rather quickly right now and I would kill for a
Dramamine that would take away the nausea from the motion.
Topple that with the fact that a front has moved through the area and
I have got a tension-sinus headache that would kill a whale.
Jim has been giving me periodic updates on what’s what, so I wouldn’t
be surprised if my nerves aren’t totally shot by days end.
Don’t forget your umbrella!
My husband and the girls took me out on a hike to Higbee beach today.
So I tucked the drama of the past week behind and we went out for our experience. If you remember a posting of last summer, Higbee had no good memory for me, as I fell and had a piece of driftwood pierce my stomach just out of harm’s way. It was enough that I still have a scar!
Below is the peaceful lake Zush helped discover. May the week be as peaceful for us all!
It was a beautiful day: bright,sunny…so they tell me.
My annoying cough had me getting cough medicine with codeine from my BFF Kate. This afternoon, I had a fever that spiked at 101.6……Jim offered to take me down to see the sunset ….but the illness is winning.
Oh well….
For once it wasn’t my sinuses. Imagine that.
I went to the Doctor today and ended up with two inhalers, cough suppressants, and a referral for a chest x-ray. Can you say viral?
Gee, knew I was sick.
Jim mimics my cough, but as lousy as mine sounds, you can multiply his by 10. I just hope his doesn’t turn into a hospital trip, since he wouldn’t go to the doctor.
The fur girls know we are sick~ pretty compassionate!
We’ll keep you posted!
It’s hard to work through a really crappy headache.
You are sitting at a main desk and it seems like the streams of people just doesn’t stop.
Neither does the headache.
What gets me through it?
Today is my Friday….”Nuff said. 😀
I work customer service.
Right now it is extremely busy.
Any complaint, annoyance or irritation that they are experiencing, they are coming in by the droves. It’s a job. It’s keeping me busy.
It gives me the headache from hell.
I know I am over 50.
I feel it every day.
I know I have survived a ton of illness.
But today?
Looking out the window?
Knowing the weather forecast from checking my phone?
Nope-just feel the weather in my bones.
Rain tonite.
LOL
Ugh.
Motrin?
Aleve?
Heat?
Ben-Gay?
I have a polar fleece shirt and om weighing the options on what will kill the pain off.
After this week, I am hoping to have a good night sleep, meaning, I would not get up
to go to the bathroom.
It’s a dream, I know.
Worth dreaming…let’s see if it comes to light!
It’s going to change.
My back is killing me. I got my knees replaced. An end piece of the algorithm is NOT to have a stomach grow as an end result.Gravity is a bitch in that respect, because the belly, I feel, is pulling from the back.The comfort has to return!
Pretty sorry when the dreariest of winter days is better than your mood…
Heating pad, anyone?
It is rough to be sociable when you feel like crap.
You have to paste a smile on your face while your teeth clench and the
aching muscles stay knotted and scream for medicine. You can
bear no noise. And yet there you are.
Stuck.
In the middle of it all.
With the phone ringing again as soon as you put it down.
**Sigh**
Yes, I know I am grateful to have a job, but sometimes, all you
can do is shake your head after you are done massaging your temples.
Well, another Sunday, another trip up.
**sigh**
Kasia comes back up without her bandage** knock wood** and seems to be doing ok. I, on the other hand, have an ache in the lower lumbar that really sucks. Zush is hanging in, and Jim is trying to figure out what else we can do to fight inflammation.
It is odd coming up in the light, as the daylight gradually lasts longer. We are looking forward to next weekend when we can stay down for three days.
Have a good week!
..with a morning with me getting dressed in a coma. End result? Two different colored blue socks now reside on my feet.
Left my Iphone at the house, and my nephew Greg couldn’t find it, although to his credit, he did give it the old college try.
My lower back is on the verge of rebelling against the rest of my body.
People are awfully LOUD today…it may blizzard later tomorrow, but they are acting like it’s a snow day here.
BUT…..
Kasia is making her way around ok: she’s taking her medicine and actually listening to people for a change.
The rest of the family is hanging in there.
I guess it’s a wash. LOL
We’re watching the Baltimore/Denver football game, and of course, coughing, belching, laughing… All kind of painful.Zush has been hobbling around this afternoon: her mind tells her to run and her legs ask her why she did run….
Zush has had her meds, as soon as the game is over, I’ll have had my meds for these painful ribs.
Just don’t make us laugh!
Just made a doctor’s appointment for tomorrow to deal with the continuing saga of the cracked rib(s)…..
…and I am not talking BBQ sauce to go with it.
I’ve had cracked ribs before and mind you,they are not fun. I often would think of the pain when John C. Reilley,
in “The Perfect Storm”, bites down on a wooden spoon while George Clooney yanked the fish hook out of his hand.
Yes, I know…ew….!
It’ll be an interesting commute home tonite, as I have taken to anticipating my cough so I could either hold the
area or steel myself in preparation.
I hope this works itself out, as I am sure you are tired of reading about it. I am getting tired of
writing about it.
**hack-hack**
Shingleman is out at a family function.
The dogs have been out but not far.
I have a load of wash in the dryer.
And I am feeling a little low.
Yeah, I know-pity party for one.
We were due to go out and visit out in Lancaster initially today but then I got the bronchial tube from hell and, quite frankly, I don’t want to be around me. I am, quite frankly, tired of this lingering on and the general malaise that is accompanying it. I was thinking back to the ” old days”, i.e., pre Shingleman, and don’t ever remember being laid this low quite as often. I think part of the stress of care giving for Mom has not totally left me and my system needs to get some more juicing in it to bring it up to par.
Oh, and I forgot the big one….here, in the city, for the weekend….
Anymore being here has the appeal of a big wet washrag. I can think of 1 million other places I’d like to be and I where I should be- @ Undisclosed…
Have got to GET and STAY healthy first.
Was home from work today sick.
Now it’s late Friday night, and my eyes are aching along with the rest of me.
It’s high time for this sick thing to pack a bag and leave….. NOW!
Enough said!
It stands to reason that when you GO to the doctor, you need to take the medicine that he/she prescribes for you, right?
Well, I neglected to take the meds to Undisclosed West over New Years’ and am paying the price for it the last couple days.
I don’t feel crappy, mind you, but it stands to reason when you are scripted to take cough medicine, well you NEED to take cough medicine.
Last night around 7, my ribs felt so lousy, as thought they needed a side of b-b-q sauce on them from hacking so much. What did my old sage MD say to me via phone?
“Uh, are you taking the cough medicine?”
So I had my dinner time dose yesterday and later my bedtime dose. Part of me wants to go and work my way in to get seen and get a note to be out as an excused sick day, but I actually feel lousy enough that I think I might try to ride this “I’d walk a mile for a Camel” hack out with the medicine.
Film at 11….LOL
We are on our way back from Undisclosed west. We spent the holiday with our friends Juls and Tim, and despite my cough/ hack coming back, things were fun. It was a vacation for us all & we had fun.
Home in 100 miles, then unpacking, hot shower and bed.
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home!
It’s the week before Christmas.
It’s Monday.
Where am I?
I am at the doctor’s. The ENT, as a matter of fact. It seems my sinuses have decided to be against the Christmas spirit. I then have the joy of getting to the dentist.
Did I mention Shingleman had a GI bug all Sunday?
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la……..
Back in following part two of my dental work.
Feeling somewhat cold, but believe it is due to impending weather change. My jaw is a little achy, and the dental work is on a little hiatus for now.
The girls are keeping their eyes on me, so quiet time for all until dinner time.
You haven’t read too much from me lately. Simple reason behind this?
Trigger finger.
The nerves in the trigger finger,aka, my typing finger, are inflamed. Big time. So, as an iPhone person, I have tried to lay low to quiet it down a notch.
Stay tuned….
I just don’t know.
I got a flu shot on Friday. I was ok on Saturday, and yesterday, I started hacking. Today my fever spiked to 100,5.
I have reached the conclusion that I really don’t like- that is I, after twenty years of getting a flu shot, I have had a reaction.
Great.** Heavy Sarcasm.”
We celebrated the first day of autumn with a trip…
By me..,
Landing on a blunt stick of driftwood, thanking God I didn’t land on the sharp part: I wouldn’t be writing this now. I have also thanked God for my belly, since I landed on it, I didn’t puncture the skin deep, but punctured it deep enough to scare me to pieces. All of this was due to me trying to be a polite dog mom and give a teacup terrier freedom from Kas.
Glad today is almost done.
**Whew**
The rain has arrived: no break for my sinuses.
It was difficult keeping my head up today, I mean, I’d like to know why the eyes are aching and I hate to put it on the rain, but barometric pressure gets me every time.
We needed this rain; I am thankful . I just wish rain came alone- no sinus chaser!
It’s due to rain tomorrow , and I haven’t seen the weather channel. How do I know? …..
Sinuses.
I am typing this with a bear of a sinus headache. I always claimed to have Philadephian sinuses. Prone to winter infections and pollen the other nine months of the year.
t
The headache isn’t do bad in the scheme of things, as it reflects a change in barometric pressure,
Translated?
We need the rain!
Here we are-Memorial Day night.
I am sick like a pup, still,sad looking with a runny left eye,stuffy nose and sore throat. Am taking my vitamin C, forcing fluids, and trying not to give Shingleman credit when he claims air conditioning caused this…..
Hopefully the week will go upward , and this cold/allergies will take a hike!
This Friday my thanks are solely centered on restful times.
Despite my ability to get around on my new knees, sometimes I get off the train or bus and the steps are steep. I came off the steps one day this week and as a result, my right leg is swollen.
As I can walk on it, I just have to rest it and try to get the inflammation down. I am thankful for Undisclosed location, and the ability to rest. The walks with the girls will be short, but the main thing is we’ll all be together !
Have a nice weekend.
Well, I figured I’d spare you the shot of me holding my head again, since I seem to be blogging about headaches/drama a lot.
Someone just saw me in passing and vented to me about the workplace/ a current co-worker .**sigh**
My mistake was I wasn’t busy doing the current minutia mandated to be done by the office. Yup, I said it. I was taking a break, trying to abate my carpal tunnel symptoms.
People take a break sign as ” the doctor is in.”
Really? Do I look like I give a rat’s butt? Just let me alone, please?
There is no happy medium, it seems. Fortunately, Shingleman and I and the girls will be on the road to Undisclosed tomorrow.
Maybe I better put up a sign that says ” The doctor is out.”
Enough said.
Anything that can be somewhat off-center is.
My retired buddies are gone. The inmates are ruling the asylum in the office. Though we have had a good stretch of weather, now it’s been overcast/rainy and my sinuses can work for the Weather channel. Shingleman has painted part of the interior of the house and the faint stench of paint remains.
On the flip side, Shingleman’s birthday is this Sunday ( the girls and I each got Daddy a gift-sssh…don’t tell), we’re expecting Shingleman’s oldest sister and brother-in-law for the weekend, and I get to make a birthday/anniversary cake. We have a birthday Friday night, an anniversary Saturday, and Shingleman’s special day is Sunday.
If the pressure in my head would drop off for a wee bit, things would be good.
For now, I’ll take what I can get.
It’s been a long day.
My husband is out with his buddy,
I am in bed. A bed with clean sheets and blanket, pillows just the way you like them…is there anything to soothe a busy soul that’s better? Since I have no company but the girls, the tv is mine, we girls are tired from playing in the field…
All is good ….
It was one year ago, on the 18th of March, that I had my two knees taken apart, and two new titanium knees put in their place.
It has been a long haul… LONG, long haul..I did my PT post-op , and I can do steps , but not quite well enough to make me happy. I know it takes time, but you wish you can walk, er, should I say, ambulate, as a “regular” person. I can bend my knees and often do my exercises to keep them a little limber, but sometimes, you think it would be nice just to be able to jump out of a car. I am just biding my time, trying to get the weight down, and make the knees work.
It was hysterical to look at the picture that I have added to this post one year post-op. I remember the relief at actually having my knees done. The mere fact that when I’d be standing up, I would no longer hear the crunch crunch of bone on bone when I would walk-that was a thought that made my day. The bow-legged stance that I had adapted along the way would be a thing of the past, and I was so happy to say good-bye to it. My youngest dog daughter, Kasia, NEVER had a real walk with me. New knees would allow me to finally get her out with Zush on a real walk. Zush, who suffered with me as my knees went downhill, would be walking full-steam with me again. As my nephew Greg would say, “It’s a win-win” situation.
Thank you to all who have helped me, prayed for me, supported me and stayed by me during this year. I have another 29 years to go on the warranty, according to Dr. Bartolozzi…..here’ hoping!
An actual post op shot of one of the two knees the hours after surgery.
By looking at the picture, you wouldn’t know that Jim is falling apart.He was trying to look pleasant for the camera.
His health is suffering, the shingle nerve pain is getting to him, he isn’t sleeping well at all:how he is actually functioning on 2 feet is beyond me. I try to tell him stress aggravates shingles, yet he continues daily life as best as he can.
Keep us all, but especially Jim in your prayers or whatever-we need all the good vibes we can get. Thanks, friends!
My Jim is too funny.
Sick with his shingle pain, looking really twisted up with agony, moaning, ..whatever,….then one or both of our fur kids come along and he starts laughing. We always knew our Zush, the older gal, was our child in a fur suit. Our friend, Georgine, says you talk to Zush and she looks at you with those eyes and its like she is looking into your soul. Zush is respectful if you aren’t well. She’ll curl up next to you and be quiet company, and , once in a while she’ll give you a kiss.
Kasia, the baby fur kid,may understand you aren’t feeling well, but she’ll still come up to you, hit you on the shoulder ever so gently, and as lousy as you feel, you can only smile when you rub her belly and she stands as still as a statue. For both of them, if you stop doing whatever they like you doing, they nudge you to tell you not to stop.You can only laugh at that.
Our gifts from God- they’re the best medicine in the world.
…and another day walking the girls, only this time with Jim. We were trying to get his mind off his shingles, so we all walked until we couldn’t anymore. It’s a shame because it is almost sunset, and we hate to leave to come back up.
We walked the girls on the Cape May beach for a few miles and now we just came back from a long neighborhood walk. We hate to leave, but for now all four of us are refreshed and waiting for NEXT weekend!
This bit with Jim’s shingles is wearing on both our nerves.
We are down at Undisclosed, and things haven’t changed. Jim is in big time pain and slept most of the day. It goes without saying I’ll be trying to get some sleep.
The girls are the only ones making out in this, as Jim can not be bothered to walk them, so they are going steady with me and loving it.
“Patience is a virtue.”…lol
Here is a shot of Shingle-man, aka, my Jim, who was playing guitar last night when his Mom and sister were over to pay us a visit. They figured since he is past the contagious stage, it was worth the trip. It was really funny because although he was not quite as miserable as he has been, they could see the difference in him was the medicine was kicking in. We both were sleepy, and we are not talking midnight, here, folks, we are talking 8P.M. My Kasia is sitting by her boyfriend, Daddy, waiting patiently for Mom to take her and Zush out for a walk.
We are leaving mid-day for the ‘Undisclosed Location”, as our feeling is it is just as easy to feel lousy there, but there is something about being out of the city that makes it all a little better.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Jim’s shingles are a new experience which, quite frankly, I wish I never bought a ticket for.
I love my husband. Really.I do
Coming off of care giving for Mom, at least with Mom you could figure out how to make her comfortable. In a sense, it was basic care 101.
Shingles? Hah.
My friend Kate has been holding my hand through this and the doctor actually responded to me this morning but, **shaking my head** I just don’t know.It’s as though the Bermuda triangle has hit and we can’t seem to pull ourselves out of it. I know I can’t make his pain go away, but at the same time, I can’t seem to even help make him comfortable. It is a very frustrating situation that I find myself in. The doctor called with a basic increase in medicine this morning, and perhaps that’s the ticket. I hear from people who had relatives who had it and how badly the pain affected them and, quite frankly, I get scared. Cancer hits, you know you are losing control of your body.When possible, you do everything within your power to rid yourself of it. Dementia hits, the scariness is that your mind is going. Shingles, that damn dormant chicken pox virus, lies dormant, comes out with stress, bites you in the butt and seems to suck the life force out of you. It is truly an “E” ticket ride.
Me? Well, I’ll keep on keeping on, keep working the beads, and looking for only the “A” ticket rides.
.
Walked with an Undisclosed Location buddy today from our meeting spot down to the channel,which Jim has ball parked as 4.6 miles round trip. I feel really good , and a hot shower later, well, I think a little back and body Excederin are in order. I feel really good, but a little achy, so I think this might be the ticket.
Walking down here calms me and clears my mind. I have two good buddies who I walk with and with Jim getting better, well, the girls have been getting good walks from Mom, so it stands to reason that I’d be less sore than from the beginning.
It’s good to be in motion again.After four years of classical bad diagnoses of torn meniscus and $80K in titanium knees later, I am coming up to the one year mark of my surgery. Best thing I ever did, or should I say, had to do.
…C-O-M-P-O-Z…
anyone beside me remember that commercial? I think it was on the radio a lot.
I have had a really bad stress headache perking for a bit, so today’s breakfast of champions is…
Here’s hoping that the need for the two are minimal this weekend and some meditation saves the day. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and be well!
Having a rough morning after a rough weekend at home. I can honestly say the highlight of my weekend was watching the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet.
I was going to upload a picture of the excederin bottle to really give you a picture of how the caregiver is feeling today, but figured I’d stay positive and show you Zush’s baby sister, Kasia, who usually gives me this look when I come in the door in the afternoon, alleviating any need for Excederin.
I love my girls!
We are being lazy this Super Bowl Sunday..outside of food shopping , taking care of the dogs, we are just vegging. Jim is still hurting, so we are laying low. Going to brew a nice Keurig cup and kicking my paws up…
Took today off as a vacation day. It is far from it.
Trying to get the girls to the vet, didn’t sleep well with Jim sick with shingles, and trying to get to Mom’s for final meetings with caregivers.
We will have a sick bay weekend, laying low…here’s hoping yours is super!!!
…Well, since Mom isn’t here, I have been trying to help my brother Bob get seen at Pennsylvania for his knee, which is killing him. He didn’t realize that when, God forbid, it would come to a chance of surgery, the Doctor wouldn’t touch you until you lose the weight. Bob is morbidly obese. “How am I going to lose 100 pounds in a month?” I told him you aren’t necessarily having surgery, and at least they would get you started on the road to healing your knee. Stay tuned for this one.
…On the other hand, there was NOTHING worth blanking out my brain on Sunday night more than the Kardashians. Having gone through the week I went through, I could only snicker at their drama. It’s making public television look like the only way to go.
Here’s hoping we all have a little less drama this week………( outside of the beauty of this dramatic picture)
Yes, OUCH!
I was walking the dogs on Saturday morning, and twisted my right ankle on a horse-chestnut or whatever from a tree, and the end result sucked I fell on my right side and my shoulder hit the ground first.
You know how you “know” you are going to fall? Well, I tried to brace myself for it and as my shoulder hit the ground, I heard a “pop” and thought, uh , “Holy Chicago”….
Long story short, I am hurting big time, yes, even three days later. It was frustrating because when I fell, I couldn’t get up. Really. I COULD NOT GET UP! I was thinking that I was going to have to shimmy my butt over to a tree and try to pull myself up. Fortunately I had my cell and called Jim and he was over in a split second. I told him don’t pull me up .I didn’t want to have him get hurt. I told him just to stand there so I could pull myself up on him. Tears were in my eyes-I was so frustrated. The dogs were so good-they stayed with me and were licking my face when I first fell. It just was so scary.
So if you see me walking around kind of twisted, now you know….
Send Stolyichnaya-so if I fall I have good reason….lol
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