Monday Happenings

Two  health care appointments were accomplished.  Far Guy had a "Port Study" done by the Interventional Radiologist...who apparently doesn't know his butt from a hole in the ground.  The port leaks as the needle is being removed...yet did he remove the needle from the port??  No.  They are alive and walk among us everyday.

I need a second consult on my hand...both the scar tissue from the Carpel Tunnel Surgery and a growth on the palm of my hand...the Ortho PA said the growth  must go.  Now we will see what the Hand Surgeon says later this month. I  had ultrasounds and that horrible test where they test every nerve in you arm and hand (Nerve Study)

Two more health care appointments later this week....I swear our social life is mainly at the clinic.

Some snow melted but we still have a fair amount in our yard and at the snowstick.

I have been working on some cards.  I got some new Real Pen Brushes and I really like them. They can be used with water.

With my hand as wonky as it is...I don't do any one activity for very long before I switch. I have less pain that way. 

Part of getting older and having more aches and pains means that you must adapt your activities.
Far Side

Port

Far Guy had surgery yesterday morning to replace the port in his chest.  His old port (his second one) was really hard to stick (it felt like trying to stab a tennis ball) and there was no blood return and his IV every week was getting slower and slower.  One call to his surgeon and we were put on the Saturday surgery list at o dark thirty.

Far Guy’s weekly infusions to protect his lungs are dependant on a working port.

It is over, he is sore and tired and a tad cranky.  Jen came to check on the elderly and to make sure we ate something.  She brought Miney and Little Elvis with her, they always cheer us up!

Chance thought it was great to have company.  I thought it was too…as I got to have a worry free nap and put someone else incharge for a bit.

Daylily

Chance is still holding his own peeing, pooping and begging for food.

Just for reference: 1st port July 2015, 2nd Port March 3 2016, 3rd Port August 25 2018

Flowers and other “stuff”

I had an nice garden surprise. 

A Double Rudbeckia

With all the rain we have had recently the wild gardens are doing well.

Daylily ‘Red Magic’ put on quite a show this year.

Yesterdays Infusion went almost perfectly, the port worked as it should.  Far Guy reported back to his Doctor as requested.  Go figure what changed…although he drank more water and didn’t get a blood return until he leaned way back. One more week behind us. Every week seems to be a medical adventure. 

My “radical thought for the day”…Remember back when Sarah Palin said the Death Squads would take over?  Everyone dismissed her as a wacko??   Now we hear that there are no transplants for those over seventy.  Ever wonder how much it costs Medicare to take care of all of us older folks?? …each one of us that dies is money not spent and more that they can send to some overseas country that supports terrorism.

I finished the book I was reading by Barbara Leaming Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis The Untold Story. I give it a two out of five stars.  I watched How To Make an American Quilt on Netflix I gave it five out of five stars…I really enjoyed it, in fact I might watch it again.  The Bachlorette is nearing the end…will Jo Jo find love?  I like Luke.  Big Brother has been more interesting than usual…I like Pauli, James and Natalie and the weirdo Paul is growing on me.  Yes I might be a reality TV junkie.  Nothing better than a Naked and Afraid marathon or several episodes of Shark Tank to keep me entertained…anything is better than the news programs about who shot who today.

Winter Returns

It snowed.  Winter kicked Spring to the curb. ( our mud was almost gone)

Chance is happy…there is fresh snow to eat.

Not enough snow to restart the snowstick contest but maybe soon.

We went for a ride, it was a gloomy day. It spit snow/sleet/rain all day long.

There is a bright spot up on The Reservation, someone painted a bird and some flowers on this house.  We heard they were rounding up all the stray dogs and spaying and neutering them….and getting them some vaccinations!

I finished scanning the photos from Far Guy’s  Cousin Terry and boxed them up to return.

Far Guy’s infusion was a bugger this week.  He tried first, got a blood return and then who knows what happened but when we started the IV he had intense burning pain and then the IV occluded…we pulled the needle and fluid poured out… I poked him next with no blood return so he tried it and the third time was a charm…he is really sore and probably needs to see a Dr.  This port sits so deep I think we need longer needles. If it isn’t one thing it is another.  This week I escaped the clinic…but he went in and got a Kenalog injection to help him breathe easier. 

Minnesota Roads and Back on Track

Minnesota roads are looking good, a few isolated slippery spots, otherwise perfect for a late afternoon drive. There is still some snow in the ditches.  The snowstick still has snow too.

Met some special people to have supper with. Pizza and loaded nachos were devoured then we came back home. It wasn’t a trip to our normal town and it wasn’t to the clinic or a hospital.  Yeah!

Earlier in the day Far Guy tried to access his own port, it didn’t go so well so he handed it off to me. ( He was really really disgusted and discouraged…he said “I knew it was a failure.”) I really had to shove on his chest to get the needle in…think owie owie ker…thump.  Sucess with a blood return and the Gravity Flow IV worked like a charm at 66 drops per minute and the IV took 18 1/2 minutes. We are now keeping track of this “stuff.” Next week some of the swelling should be reduced and it will be easier to access the port. Having this week behind us will be a good thing…not sure we have a normal anymore as each week is a new adventure.

Hopefully we are back on track…but neither of us are counting on it.

Not much traffic on this back road, we met maybe six cars on our way and about the same number on the way back.  We got back home just when it was getting to that time of night that you could see a few stars in the sky.  We saw no deer, turkeys or any other kind of wildlife.

March

March came in a bit lionish here, it has been bitterly cold.  We got a skiff of snow a couple of nights.
Far Guy endured the surgery to remove his occluded port and it was replaced with another port on the other side of his chest.  He will have matching scars.  This port is set a little deeper and it is much more painful for him.  We had really good nursing care, we had a nurse that was an old customer of ours.  Far Guy is getting to know all the nurses in surgery and recovery since he has been there three times in the last four weeks…and that may have something to do with why he is not bouncing back very fast. His chest is swollen and painful to the touch…I am thinking I will let him do his own needle stick this week.

We are having quiet days at home.  Walking Chance a few times a day and napping.

I have a variety of projects sitting on my desk and I work on them in between cooking and naps. Photo cards, scanning old photos and some knitting.

I really should make a “to do” list…but just dealing with the here and now seems enough for now.

Decisions

Right or wrong we all have to make decisions.

We decided to send Far Guy to surgery to have his port replaced.  It will happen soon.  He asked my opinion and I think that having a port keeps him out of the clinic and all the germy people…which in turn keeps him out of the hospital.  I am not certain how many times he can have it replaced, I suggested they just put a zipper in his chest.

I am going to start logging our hours spent at the clinic/hospital.  Last week one of the nurses was coughing…we are both a tad paranoid about that. I almost suggested that she should have stayed home…but I kept my big mouth shut.

The Income Taxes are done and were sent electronically, how about that …no last minute filing for us.  Our accountant answered all our questions. Cross something off the list.  Years ago after an audit, I made the decision to use an accountant and I am glad I did. 

The local hospital doesn’t have a copy of our Advanced Care Directive but I will make a copy so they have it on file.   The clinic has it and I hear that soon the hospital and the clinic’s computers will be able to talk to each other…sometimes change happens very slowly in the boonies.

Do you have an Advanced Care Directive?  Do you have a Last Will and Testament and has it been recorded?  We were talking with a young widow the other day and her husband had no will…so she was making her way through a ton of paperwork.  Sometimes the decisions we don’t make can become real problems for those left behind.

Heliotrope

Discouraged

We are discouraged but it could be worse…we were reminded of that as we spoke to a friend whose husband was buried ten days ago.  Dead is worse that having some port problems.

Far Guys port is severely occluded, now even the fancy smancy too expensive pump will not push the liquid gold through his veins.  We made a mad dash to the infusion center and from now on he will have a normal IV there until the doctors and Far Guy figure it out.   It ties us down, but where do we go anyways?  Not far.

Sometimes it is dangerous to leave the boonies.

Garden path at a display garden

Now…what do you think the proper response is when another car tries to force you off the road…go into the ditch, let them hit you from behind or tromp on it to get ahead of the bums?   It has happened to me twice in the new passing lane on the way to town…being a nice old lady I go to the right lane in case someone wants to pass me…not any more ..no more Minnesota nice for me. I am taking that left lane if a vehicle is in sight.  I refuse to yield to idiots that want to come along side me until MY lane ends.  If I hadn’t been driving I would have taken a photo and reported them. ( One time I tromped on the gas and sped ahead, the other time I stomped on the brakes before my lane ended in the ditch…those rumble strips are awfully loud.)

When I called them some really nasty words Far Guy said “Calm down sweetheart.” I think they were probably on the phone and distracted…I would like to see mandatory jail sentences for phone use while driving.  Throw a whole bunch of them in jail for six months and impound their vehicles and sell them at auction….that would stop a few distracted drivers and save a few lives….then again we as a society cannot even get the drunks off the road and out of vehicles… something is rotten in our traffic laws/court system. Discouraging isn’t it?

imPORTent

Hours just seem to slow to a crawl when you are in the hospital.

We spent most of the day there yesterday for a treatment of special DRANO and Far Guys port is still occluded…even the surgeon says it is a problem…and will possibly have to be replaced which means surgery.

For now we must learn the fine art of operating a IV Pump. If the “stuff” won’t go in well lets just give it some help and force it in.  The surgeon says “WELL of course someone will come out and teach you how an IV pump works.” 

NOT TRUE.  The pump is coming but hopefully with instructions because the Medical Supply place will not sent out anyone because Far Guy is not homebound.  If he were homebound they would send a nurse.  I suppose I can search for a You Tube…

Far Guy is fit to be tied and I am so sleepy I am having a hard time staying awake.

One more hurdle to get over.  I was never a good runner anyway…but hurdles…I would have killed myself with boob flap.

For the Birds Again

The Redpolls left just ahead of the warm front that visited us.  Eighty pounds of thistle seed later they have deserted us.

It was a week.  One difficult situation after another.

I wish I was an Ostrich…don’t they bury their heads in the sand until everything is back to normal?
Far Guy said “Hey I am proud of you, you were stressed out but didn’t fall asleep on me.”

During the infusion this week I could push saline through his port but once the IV was hung (gravity flow) there wasn’t enough of a hole in the fibrous tissue that has grown over the end of the catheter in his vein to drip even one drop.  The drop just hung there  ready to drip but was held frozen in time. Once the protein is mixed it must be administered within three hours.  His port was accessed twice last week and has been properly cared for.  His body must be working overtime to cover up the foreign object that is in his body.  We ended up at the infusion center where of course they cannot hang outside meds…but they could do an IV for him ( and I administered the protein) while they tried to access his port, he had a dose of Cathflow( he has standing orders for that) anyways that sat in the catheter about two hours with no results.

The Surgeon will see him Monday.  We have a back up plan that may work. We will see. I guess I need to become IV Certified….not something I really want to do…but I can access a port now and I thought that would be a big deal too…and it isn’t when the  port works correctly.

He has had this Bard Port-a-cath since June of 2015 seven months plus with no problems. Going to surgery every seven months seems a bit scary to me.  Not only that but what are these clot busters doing to his body and or blood?  He had clot busters on January 4 and again February 18…every six weeks?  I am not a Doctor but there must be something wrong with this picture. 

Friday his computer was corrupted by some super virus.  HP is working on it, and luckily he had back upped his computer.   This computer was brand new December 15 2015…so it is only two months old.  Did you know that warranties are voided if you have a virus.  Me neither.  He runs Virus Software daily. Time will tell  if it is repaired or not.