Note from a Nurse

 Far Guy gets to have coffee with his Infusion every week.  The nurses sometimes take time to have "Coffee with Gene."

They take really good care of him. 

Lynn said "Gene is so smart" so he asked for it in writing. 

He handed it to me and said "Here's proof!"

We over did on Friday early Doctors appointment and 7 hours in the car....and paid for it Friday night into Saturday.  We missed our Great Nieces Grad Party on Friday night and our neighbors Barn Dance on Saturday evening. 

We are old.  No I didn't say getting..we are old. 

Minnesota weather on Saturday: High 75F or 24C  Low 49F or 10C eh.  We had some thunderstorms that dropped a bit of rain Saturday evening....they disturbed my evening nap.

Supper was what is in the freezer.  Far Guy had Jambalaya and I had scalloped potatoes. 

Far Side

Old

 We are both feeling our age this Spring...we need some Geritol or something to perk us up...although some warm sunny weather might help.

Yesterday we went to the transfer station with our garbage, we stopped by recycle, turned in some no longer used medications at the Sheriff's Office, went by the Post Office to mail a package and ordered and paid for a recliner with heat and massage.  We checked a bunch of stuff off our list.

I took this photo of an aging church a number of years ago....up North someplace.

We fixed grilled cheese sandwiches and chili from the freezer for supper. 

It spit rain a bit yesterday...not enough to amount to anything.

Far Side 

Tests

 I had a small bigger than I thought surgery yesterday at the Dermatologists Office.  The biopsy on my shoulder came back as atypical cells and the spot on my cheek came back as malignant melanoma. So both spots were taken care of.  I have a considerable amount of discomfort but am glad to have it behind me....keeping fingers and toes crossed that these biopsies come back clear and the huge hole in my face heals well.  They will do some kind of genetic testing on the first samples...some study to see if there is a genetic link to melanoma. 

 Hopefully I can cross this off the freaking list. 

All my eye tests came back okay/normal for aging eyes...cross that off the list too. 

Far Guy is taking good care of me.

Far Side

Another year

 Well I made it another year!

This was my birthday party in 1955 when I was four years old. Guests were; Corrine, Sharon, Rhonda and my baby brother Carey.  Carey is holding a small birthday cake.  Awesome neighbor lady Lorraine would make a small cake just for the birthday girl/boy...a tradition she carried on for many years. 

Here I am with that special cake. 

Far Side

Tiny Mistakes

 I started a new project, first transferring stamped images to dish towels, and then embroidering them.  

I was rocking the project and then bam...some small words were transferred with my image.  Huh...well ya big dummy everything that is in the image will transfer with the heat of your iron. 

Oh well I can always use it myself ...or cover it up.

Some little cross stitches covered it up quite nicely. 

Far Side

It is what it is

 I am a little bummed this week...but it is what it is. 

I have been seeing a few Doctors and having some tests. 

I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and have begun a medication that is supposed to help with the pain in three to twelve weeks.  ( hoping for the three) My Rheumatologist says that it varies from person to person...so far the medication is not great on my stomach....makes it hurt...but what is one more pain to add to a whole bunch. 

I have nodules on my wrists, knuckles, legs, and pain in most of my joints...the worst being my hips and my back and neck feel like they are broken.   I have RA Nodules in my lungs...so the Dr thinks I have had RA undiagnosed for a really long time. 

What helps...warmth and rest...I have the fatigue to go along with it all. 

My Great Grandfather on my Mother's side of the family had Rheumatoid Arthritis.  He lived to be 74 years old.  Neither my Grandparents nor parents have Rheumatoid Arthritis.

So far the joints that are real wonky are in my fingers and knuckles and my toes.

The medication I am taking is Arava.  It will totally wipe out my immune system. 

It took forever to get a referral to a Rheumatologist...I waited for an appointment since last January.  I have had Chronic Lymes since 2000/2013...well now they think that it was not Chronic Lymes but RA...or maybe both. 

At least now something is being done that may help...

Far Side

Not lost

 My Mom was not lost yesterday...she was with relatives who did not check her out of the facility.  After searching bathrooms and every place she could be one of the nurses said "she is gone with her daughter and son in law" ....hmmmm.  My sister is on vacation...and I knew where my brothers were....that left me and Far Guy was not with me...so who in the world??

My cousin and her husband had taken her back to her assisted living apartment.  Not sure why? 

She was not lost...of course only she knew where she was.  

Needless to say I was a tad upset with her.   Hopefully once we get all her "stuff" moved to the nursing home and she surrenders her keys this won't happen anymore. 

Honestly it is like dealing with a naughty pre schooler who you want to send to the corner with one arm up and the opposite leg up...but of course at 93 years and 9 months old she would topple over. 

FYI one arm up and the opposite leg up used to be my favorite punishment for my girls...oh yes nose against the wall too:) 

Far Side

So Many Birthday Wishes!

 Thank you for all the wonderful birthday comments.  I had people singing to me all day long...beginning with my husband when I was barely awake, then my baby brother and his bride, Far Guys Sister and then Jen...along with a few emails too.  

We began celebrating the night before my birthday as my other baby brother and she who sees robins first baked rhubarb cake!   Then on my birthday we took DQ blizzards to share with my parents.  My Dad has memory problems...I asked him "How old am I Dad? " He said "34"...I said I will take that.  Then he was quiet and you could tell he was thinking real hard...and he finally got a big grin on his face and said "You are really old!" He remembered that he was in Korea when I was born.  

We drove around a bit before stopping for a proper late lunch or lupper.   When we got home my baby brother and his bride came in singing!  ( Baxter was not singing,  he was looking for treats!)  Later in the evening I had calls from Miss Paige, Jen, Andy and Adam. 

Cards from family and friends.  Thank you all! 

Far Side

One More Trip

 One more trip around the sun...who knew how fast 365 days could  go by. 

Mums 

We will have a quiet day at home.  Jen will stop by in the afternoon.  

There is a large box from Dick Blick sitting on the stairs which is my birthday gift...it has been sitting there for three weeks. Far Guy was real organized this year. 

Far Side

Friday Five

It was a long day yesterday.  Chance had his bloodwork, everything is fine except he has some inflamation that shows up. (probably from arthritis…go figure.)  His Tick Panel was negative.  They changed his medication.  He got me up at 5:30 AM because he had to poop….not quite the squirts but almost….thank goodness he was vocal enough to awaken me.  He was under the weather most of the morning but perked up in the late afternoon and even wanted to play ball.

Far Guy had a Eye Doctor appointment he needs new glasses for reading and night driving.  His eyes are pretty good for an old guy.  What cataracts he has are small and the cute little teenage Doctor said he will probably never have to have cataract surgery. He has been struggling with a stye…well it is not a stye it is a chalazion…and now he must clean his eyelashes twice a day with special “stuff.”   The VA is supposed to take care of his glasses but since the VA Doctor wrote the order incorrectly he gets no benefit…which really pissed him off. 

I am waiting for a referal for my hand/arm.  I even wore the brace when I had a nap.  If I take enough Aleve I can survive.

It was my turn to cook supper, so we had Naan Bread Pizza.  Far Guy likes lots of mushrooms and peppers on his, I like mine plain with just meat and cheese.

After supper we went for a drive.  We saw nine deer.

Twins with their mama vegging out in the bean field

Arm

I have been having some troubles with my arm, carpel tunnel problems.  I have been to physical therapy and was fitted for a night time brace.  It worked fine for many months and I was pain free.  Now the pain is back and not allowing me to sleep for very long at a time.  Brace or no brace it is still painful.   We thought perhaps I was wood carving too much, but after three days off it is no better…my fingers go numb and the pain goes all the way to my shoulder.  So I am off to physical therapy once again.  Bummer…the brace is a pain in the butt.  I have knocked myself in the head many times with it. ( It is hard plastic and is formed to the shape of my hand and arm so I cannot bend my wrist at all.)  I can also remove the brace in the middle of the night without waking up…it might be time to schedule the surgery.  Far Guy gives me a daily brace report..it was on. it was off. you were sleeping with your arm in the air again. where was your brace? (Chance had it one night…it was on his back)

I have many projects that I am working on…I am painting some of the Christmas Ornaments, I have 12 more to carve from scratch and about 6 that just need to be sanded.  Three more afternoons and I could be done with the carving.

I have two new hobbies/projects that require two good arms.  I have ordered supplies for one and the other I have most everything. But that is hobby “stuff”…

I have “stuff” that I have been working on outside that needs to be done before the snow flies.  I just don’t have time to baby an arm.

Zaps

It was a long week. 

I had some fancy smancy Nerve Tests done and there is news.

First I am ageing…who knew… better alert the press…since I am old I have a foot that goes to sleep, just the inner half of my foot and leg which sometimes makes it difficult to walk normally.  I would never be able to do a walk the line test…which the Fancy Smancy Nerve Doctor found out. (It is the foot/leg I injured back in 1980 that they could not fix and they said you will walk ten years but no more…well they were wrong…but maybe since it has been 37 years my time might be up. I may write about that whole fiasco someday. ) I could have more tests done but the result would be that I am aging and I have a bum leg and must be careful how and where I walk. Since I am older I have some spinal stenosis which makes the whole leg problem worse. 

I have carpel tunnel in my right arm and will be fitted for a brace and I get to go to Occupational Therapy.   I think I must have good insurance. If the brace and therapy don’t help I get to see the hand surgeon.  Luckily it is the same surgeon who did my thumb that went in and out of its joint a few years ago. He is an older French Doctor and knows what he is doing and probably went to a real medical school.

They said the nerve tests were painful, just like electric fence zaps, I found them milder than an electric fence…not much milder but tolerable.  The most painful part was when he did the acupuncture needles into the muscles and then did the zaps.  By that time…it was a long session 75 minutes and I had lost all of my sense of humor and asked him if he was almost done because I had reached my pain threshold for the day.  He said three more minutes…well I made it.  He turned around and sat at the desk to put his notes in the computer and I just sat on the exam table, he finally said “you can come and sit in the chair next to me.”  I replied “Are you afraid that I am behind you?”  He didn’t answer so he must have been just a little uneasy.  He said I tolerated it well, so apparently I am not a screamer or swearer…he said many women compare it with childbirth…I wouldn’t. ( I may have said crap a few times or maybe even oh shit!)

He did a good job of explaining all my options of other fancy smancy tests that would just show how old I am.  My nerves are not dysfunctional …just old.

I was real tired after that Doctors visit, Far Guy and Chance came along for the long drive and waited for me in the Parking Lot because it was too warm to leave Chance in the vehicle by himself.  They brought me home and I had a long nap but I am still tired.  I still have some aching especially in my arm.

We will have a quiet weekend at home.

I put out a few glass ornaments.  Something to brighten up the woods.

Chance: Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my day!  I am ELEVEN years old today!  I am an old guy now, sometimes they call me an old fart.

I am a spoiled boy.  At my elderly age my ears must be cleaned on a regular basis…with mineral oil…and my teeth get cleaned often. I like my rides every evening /late afternoon…my sorts are out if we don’t go for a ride.  I moan and groan like it is the end of the world…WELL it feels like it is….then we usually get to go!!!

I have important jobs. I walk with Far Guy everyday, first we get the mail and then we go for more walks later in the day …about 2 1/2 miles…I have met some other dogs while walking…one dog gets walked while his owner is in a golf cart.  Far Side walks too some days… just not as far.

My arthritis is worse some days than others…some days I limp a little and sometimes jumping in the car is really hard….but I still get there!

Far Guy didn’t think I would make it through the winter last year…but I surprised him. 

Far Guy worked on a special “spot” for me most of the summer while I chased the dirt and the shovel.  Two big buckets were filled with dirt and brought in to the workshop/greenhouse and one day when Andy stopped by he dug the “spot” a little deeper…until Far Side said “Good enough.”  It is all covered with a board now so someone won’t accidently fall in. ( I bet if Far Side fell in she wouldn’t be happy…in fact she might get cranky crankier.

Miney and me.

Miney is still my best friend…then Odda, Little Elvis and Putz…I like them all….and my sisters and kids and balls….and Far Guy and Far Side even when she is bossy (which is most of the time).

Happy Birthday to me! I don’t know what they have planned for me…but I know there are some homemade pumpkin treats that will be calling my name.

Lupines, Lawns and Gas

Sure I can be wrong…it happens once in a while.  I am not perfect.

I said in a blog recently that all of my Lupine winterkilled.  I was wrong.

Where there is one I can always hope there are more. 

Recently we saw a whole ditch full of Lupine on the back way to Bemidji the day I had my Oral Surgery…there was no time to stop…but they were impressive.

Back in 2010 I had a few more Lupines in a few more colors.

Who knows what next year will bring.

Yesterday I mowed the lawn again, cleaned out all the birdbaths, did some laundry, had a nap and the day was over just like that.

I was almost out of gas for the lawnmower.  We used to haul the gas can in the old pickup.  I don’t want to haul it in the car.  It gives me a massive headache. My other baby brother very kindly fills the mower and the gas can for me over at his place.  My shoulders are getting older…I think I need to buy two small gas cans instead of one large one.  I might be ageing fast…but lifting and dumping a six gallon gas can into the mower…must weigh about 42 pounds…I can do it but sometimes we have to find better solutions for life’s little problems.  How do you haul your gas can and how large is it?

Golden Years

As far as I can see the “Golden Years” are not much fun at all.

You never know from one day to the next what body part will fail.

Far Guy is ill again.  He nearly croaked Thursday morning, he was in severe respiratory distress.  Luckily I wasn’t sleeping like a dead person and heard him call for help.  After using his rescue inhaler I asked if he wanted to go to the ER right then or wait until his Doctors appointment in the afternoon?  Of course he chose the afternoon appointment…where he got a going over and a chest X-ray…and almost a hospital stay.  They let him come home with me but he goes back in early Friday (today) and may be admitted then. The Dr is only giving him 18 hours to get better before hospitalization. His oxygen saturation levels are way down even on oxygen, he got a prescription for an antibiotic and a steroid.  He needs to see the Pulmonary Specialist again, the last one retired.

It is really hard to stay out of all the things that make his breathing worse; perfumes, after shave, essential oils, candles, cleaning solvents, smoke from grass fires and dust along with Pine Pollen which hasn’t started yet in our area. The medications that he takes for his Trigeminal Neuralgia even has shortness of breath as a side effect.

We try to stay close to home and avoid crowds and gatherings.  One day last week he went to a program with his Uncle and said “Every woman there wore a different perfume…it was perfume hell.”  That day was the day Far Guy began to go downhill.  His walks took longer he needed to take more time to rest, he started coughing again, everything became a struggle.   He kept thinking that everyday would be better…but that didn’t happen.

Hopefully the medications will help this time.

Update: He saw the Doctor and is doing the tiniest bit better this morning.  The Doctor is hopeful that he will keep improving.  Far Guy sees the Pulmonary Specialist next week.

Thank you for all your good thoughts and prayers!

What day is it?

I was awakened by my husband handing me the phone, I said “Good Morning “ quite cheerfully…one of my best friends in the whole world was laughing…she said “Are you okay it is 8:30 at night?”  It is??  I was just napping and dreaming…it was getting darker out here in the woods..I thought it was Monday morning and it was Sunday night.

I had a great four hour nap!  Chance napped too…and I think Far Guy napped for awhile…you could have moved the entire house and I would not have heard a thing. I was dead to the world.

It was good to catch up with Susan, her birthday is this week. She turns the magic retirement age this week. She is in a high state of stress..getting  a house ready for sale and moving to the lake just a half hour from us.  She may get a week maybe two at the lake before she comes out of retirement to Nanny for her daughter’s four children.  Since she loves kids especially her grands it is a perfect fit for her…she will do it for just one school year and then retire for good.  She was the best Day Care provider my grand boys ever had.  She has raised generations of children…children of children all who adore her.  It will be another year before she can nap full time.

Consciousness: that annoying time between naps. ~Author Unknown

Getting Older

After the fundraising dinner last week, Monday meetings, Monday program and a class on Thursday I was tired.  If I had a rope I would have been near the end of it.

Far Guy has pericarditis again.  At least this time he recognized the signs early before an ambulance and air ambulance ride was necessary like back in 2011.  Pericarditis can happen after a virus…he is feeling “almost normal” after 36 hours on the anti- inflammatory medication.  Hopefully after this course of medication he will be all better.   If it ain’t one thing it is another.

My Doctor finally found a blood pressure medication for me that doesn’t cause hives.  It remains to be seen if it lowers my blood pressure significantly or not..it sends me looking for a potty every hour or so.  I finally printed out a list of blood pressure meds and circled the ones in red that I cannot take.  Some make me sleep for 20 hours straight, some make me lose hair in gobs, some make my joints hurt so bad I have a hard time walking, some make me real short of breath, some rob me of potassium, some just don’t lower my blood pressure at all and most give me hives.  When I was first diagnosed with High Blood Pressure I gave up coffee and staved off medications for several years. I don’t like taking medications..and the stupid blood pressure pill is the only one I take except for vitamins. I “think” that The Lyme's Disease may be mostly behind me and if the blood pressure medication situation is resolved I might feel like a real person one of these days.

Getting old is not for sissies.

This Loon parent has two babies, one is on his/her back.  We stopped to walk Chance at a Public Access and saw this Loon.  I only had my idiot camera..I was bummed out..my big girl camera would have captured this wonderfully. We were out looking for garage sales not wildlife. Yesterday was one of my days off.

I was happy to see a successful loon hatch! Now if they can avoid the Eagles, Snapping Turtles and Northerns..everyday is an adventure in survival for a loon baby:)

What is?

The secret of my beauty?

OR

What is the secrete of your beauty?

Some yayhoo left me a message on Facebook.  He should have stayed in school.  I have no secrets.

I have this one wild hair on my neck that grows about three inches overnight..that hair follicle must be working overtime on the holiday pay scale. If I could harness that secret I could retire for sure..cause I am sure I could sell it to balding men that do the comb over.

I try to watch that one wild hair..sometimes it gets away from me and starts to curl..then if the wind blows it feels like there is a bug on my neck..ewww.  I try not to whop myself too hard on the neck..just hard enough to kill the bug that is really a hair and not hard enough to damage my windpipe. I am sure the last time it went wild that many people were talking to me whilst staring at it thinking does she know that she has a very long curly hair on her neck? Or does she purposely grow out the hair on her neck so she can measure it?   I had to think back..who did I talk to?  Were they were smirking or walking away from me bursting into uncontrollable laughter?

I hate that wild hair…unless of course I discover it’s secrete secret:)

Chokecherry blooms along the drive.

Oldness

 It is a fact of life, when you get older, your body or mind starts to fail. Your big outings are to the Clinic, and if you feel up to it after that you might live dangerously and go out for a late lunch or early supper.  When you get older you can often just eat once late in the afternoon and it counts for two meals.   You look in the mirror and instead of a youthful image, you are frightened by the old lady that stares back at you.. screaming does no good..she is not going away.  So you may as well just accept the fact THAT YOU ARE OLDER!  It is just one of those facts of life..you can be carried into oldness kicking and screaming or you can just sit back and enjoy the Senior discounts and afternoon naps.

This morning I heard on the Today show, that Memory Loss is not a problem until you start becoming lost.  What if you can't remember that you are lost..just a thought.

 Far Guys medication makes him forget sometimes.  However it is a very selective memory loss, as it always seems to be concerning something that I have told him and reminded him about..and then he says "Well how come you never mentioned THAT before?"  or "This is the first I have heard of that."  I have threatened to write stuff down and make him sign it and date it.  He on the other hand says that I just think I told him and since he cannot read my mind he hasn't got a clue.  He is constantly hollering at me from the other room "I can't hear you talk to me when you are in there."  Perhaps I was just mumbling under my breath.  One of our most frustrating forgetful incidents is medications..some days he just forgets all day long to take his meds..If I ask him, he will say "Yes, I took my meds." When it is obvious by the pill reminder container that he has not.  "WHAT are all these pills doing in here then?"  I am now in the habit of walking by his pill container and visually checking its contents..I pick it up and shake it..and always remember to take it with us wherever we go.  Togetherness takes on a whole different dimension when you get older..together perhaps one of you will always remember to take your meds everyday..and keep you from getting lost.  

 Happy Birthday to my perfect Son In Law handy Andy..he is smack dab in the middle between thirty and forty today. He is on the cusp of oldness, the part where a little grey hair just makes you more handsome:)

Older

Uffda..another whole year..OLDER. This photo was taken when I was eight years old..that would have been fifty years ago in 1959. I loved that dress, my mother sewed it for me, it was a turquoise blue. Doncha just love the way it fits those growing bosoms? And those white anklets and those little black flats..I must have been a real stylin eight year old.

I never anticipated being fifty..and then to be fifty eight..unbelievable. When I was a teenager a bunch of us girls were fooling around with a Ouija board..some idiot asked "How old will I be when I die?" The answer was 49..so that's how old I thought I would be..never to reach 50..silly I know. Funny how things that you do as a child, or things that are done to you or said to you, shape and form the rest of your life. When you are in your teens, fifty seems unreachable. Now I have not only reached it, but surpassed it by eight years. That is freaking amazing.

Yesterday we had lunch in Fargo, ND with our daughter Jen and her family on the "middle day" the day in the middle of both of our birthdays. I trapped poor Adam on our side of the booth..squished him to the wall and kissed him on the cheek many times..he was a giggling mess. As he scooted into the booth ..his looked at me scooting in behind him and said "OH NO." He knew he was in for a good kissing. Last Thursday we went out for dinner with my parents, and my brother stopped by yesterday and gave me a hug, and Chance has already given me several kisses this morning, and Far Guy even remembered, he left me a beautiful card on the table!

So you may be thinking what is Far Side doing for her Birthday..well you can bet I am not cooking or baking my own cake. I am going out and taking photographs:)