We had an excellent week...until yesterday...more on that later.
Bill started using his treadmill again this week. He walked every day except Monday. He's got it on the lowest setting and he says he walks some then rests some then walks some more. His legs don't seem to be bothering him after not walking for so long. But, last night he was bothered all night with leg cramps again. Hopefully he'll start drinking more during the day instead of waiting until after the cramps start and then drink all through the night, which makes him need to get up for the bathroom!
Amanda's surgery went very well Monday and she came home from the hospital Wednesday morning! I went over that afternoon to sit with her while Ryan went to get her medicine, but by the time I got there Tori (her daughter) and her boyfriend were there so I went to the store with Ryan. The tumor was benign and it was completely removed so we're extremely thankful for that!
Now, about yesterday. First a little backstory. When I had my colonscopy about 8 years ago I also had an endoscope to see what my stomach always seemed upset. Acid reflux was the culprit for that, but the dr. also said that I have a pouch at the top of my esophagus. I asked my mom if I had trouble burping as a baby and she said yes, and that when she would finally get me to burp, I usually spit up. Over the years since I've noticed that at times when I eat it would feel like the food was just stuck at the top of my throat, not like I'm choking, there is just a very sharp pain at the base of my throat. Instinct tells me that if I burp and move some air out of the way that the food will go down, so a small drink of diet coke usually does the trick. This has only happened sporadically through the years, but it's been happening more and more lately. I've tried eating very slowly between bites, taken small bites, chewing well, anything I could think of. It also seems to be at the end of a meal so I thought that it was a painful reminder that I was full and not to overeat!
Anyway, last night, just after I had started eating, it happened and a drink didn't clear it. Stretching my neck or bending over also didn't work. I was only getting very small burps. Finally I went to the bathroom and spit up some, nothing from the stomach, and no particles of food. I know this is not pleasant to read and it certainly wasn't pleasant to go through. After about 30 minutes I finally had a good sized burp and the pain all went away. But, I felt horrible the rest of the evening and went to bed about 7:30. I even made Bill take his meds a little early so that I would know he had taken them.
I'm almost afraid to eat, especially meat. So, Monday morning I'm calling the dr. and get a referral to the gastro drs. to get it checked out. I did some research online which I know can be dangerous. It looks like this can be esophageal spasms according to the Mayo website. There are some tests that aren't as invasive as the endoscope that maybe can be tried first, but since it doesn't happen all the time, I don't know.
Anyway, that's our week. We're both tired today and I can tell I slept all hunched up since I ache all over. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day! Happy Easter!
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Saturday, March 19, 2016
We have not had a good week. We did have to cancel the dinner plans with our friends, at the last minute. Bill started having stomach cramps with nausea about 30 minutes before we were supposed to meet them. He was still feeling bad on Sunday and by that evening had a full blown cold again.
He was very nice and shared his cold with me on Tuesday. His has been mostly a drippy nose and a productive cough. His inhalers are keeping things moving so hopefully we have warded off another bout of pneumonia. Mine has been a very sore throat and dry cough.
I had some old, but not outdated, antibiotics here so started taking them Thursday. I'm usually one of the ones that takes all of the medication. If it's to be taken for 10 days, I usually take it the 10 days. But, sometimes amoxicillan (sp) upsets my stomach, even taking it with food. But, I decided to try it. The throat is somewhat better. The cough comes and goes and seems to be worse in the evening. This morning when I went in to take it after breakfast I noticed that my face was horribly red and broken out. I haven't had such a bad attack of rosacea for years. The only thing I can think of that would trigger it now is the amox. So, no more of that. But, I also had some doxycycline which works on the acne part so started taking that. I have some cream that will help with the redness too...if I can only find it! The empty box will not do me any good! So for now, until I can find it, I'll have to put up with the throbbing itch!
I had the rest of my physical this week, except for the colonoscopy and she told me I was perfect. All of my numbers were good as far as HDL/LDL, kidney and liver function perfect and all my parts looked and felt pink and healthy. Of course it will be a little while before the pap results are in but don't look for any problems.
Sunday evening we had some tornado warnings and the weather got a little crazy but then the first part of the week was lovely. I even had to turn the air conditioning on. But, we are back to the heat and it's supposed to be in the 30s tonight with frost. Our trees have budded now so I hope this is the last cold snap.
Amanda is having surgery Monday morning. She has a gumball size tumor on the membrane of her brain, not the brain itself. The dr. believes that it is benign by the way it is growing, but I'm sure it will be biopsied. They've been told it will be a 2-3 hour surgery and she will spend at least 1 day in ICU and should be able to come home by Friday. We're not going to the hospital since we've been sick and I think there will be enough people with Ryan so that he's not alone. So, prayers for them still, please.
That's about it from the Haven Convalescent Home. I hope by this time next week we'll both be up and running!
He was very nice and shared his cold with me on Tuesday. His has been mostly a drippy nose and a productive cough. His inhalers are keeping things moving so hopefully we have warded off another bout of pneumonia. Mine has been a very sore throat and dry cough.
I had some old, but not outdated, antibiotics here so started taking them Thursday. I'm usually one of the ones that takes all of the medication. If it's to be taken for 10 days, I usually take it the 10 days. But, sometimes amoxicillan (sp) upsets my stomach, even taking it with food. But, I decided to try it. The throat is somewhat better. The cough comes and goes and seems to be worse in the evening. This morning when I went in to take it after breakfast I noticed that my face was horribly red and broken out. I haven't had such a bad attack of rosacea for years. The only thing I can think of that would trigger it now is the amox. So, no more of that. But, I also had some doxycycline which works on the acne part so started taking that. I have some cream that will help with the redness too...if I can only find it! The empty box will not do me any good! So for now, until I can find it, I'll have to put up with the throbbing itch!
I had the rest of my physical this week, except for the colonoscopy and she told me I was perfect. All of my numbers were good as far as HDL/LDL, kidney and liver function perfect and all my parts looked and felt pink and healthy. Of course it will be a little while before the pap results are in but don't look for any problems.
Sunday evening we had some tornado warnings and the weather got a little crazy but then the first part of the week was lovely. I even had to turn the air conditioning on. But, we are back to the heat and it's supposed to be in the 30s tonight with frost. Our trees have budded now so I hope this is the last cold snap.
Amanda is having surgery Monday morning. She has a gumball size tumor on the membrane of her brain, not the brain itself. The dr. believes that it is benign by the way it is growing, but I'm sure it will be biopsied. They've been told it will be a 2-3 hour surgery and she will spend at least 1 day in ICU and should be able to come home by Friday. We're not going to the hospital since we've been sick and I think there will be enough people with Ryan so that he's not alone. So, prayers for them still, please.
That's about it from the Haven Convalescent Home. I hope by this time next week we'll both be up and running!
Friday, March 11, 2016
Decided to update this tonight, Friday, instead of waiting until tomorrow morning. I don't think anything major will happen between now and then, and if it does, I can always add another update.
We've had a very quiet week. We ordered a new smart TV last week and it came in Monday. Unfortunately, we can't do what we wanted to do with it. So, I'm still looking for a solution. This one is internet capable. Since I will only be able to see 2 Cubs games this year I bought the subscription to MLB.TV to watch every game online. And with an internet ready TV, I should be able to access them so that we can both watch them on TV instead of the computer, right? Wrong! The pre-set internet functions on the TV use the Yahoo platform but it wont recognize my Yahoo login. And it is very limited on what can be loaded. As for MLB.TV, only Samsung smart TVs are supported and we bought a Vizio because we like Vizio. If I had researched more I would have seen that and we would have gotten the Samsung. I've tried to find how to connect a computer to it to access it that way but no such luck. I'll have to ask Bryan to see if he knows how. We can still watch ballgames when we travel on the computer so that will be a plus.
Bill got a haircut this week, managing to get there and back before the rain started. It started raining Tuesday night about 9 and rained all night and all day Wednesday and most of Wednesday night and most of the day Thursday. It rained off and on Thursday night and off and on today. We got about 5 inches, I think. It was enough that our area had lots of standing water and our area usually doesn't flood. Our back yard was flooded for a time and we didn't even try to take the trash to the curb because the ground was so soft. But, that's no big deal, it can wait another week. But, we were lucky compared to so many places.
I finally left the house today to go to the grocery store. Other than that, and snaking an arm out to get the soggy mail, we didn't leave the house. We did have water come in through some windows, but the amount of rain overwhelmed the gutters again. I'm on the lookout for ads for gutter guard systems so we won't have to worry about that anymore.
We bought an oxygen concentrator yesterday and should have it next week. It's a home unit that only weighs 18 pounds, compared to the 50 pound one we have now. It's the size of a carry-on bag. It will be a whole lot easier to carry with us when we travel.
I haven't heard back from Stephanie yet to see if Bill's itinerary will be changed to add a heart cath or not. I'll need to get our reservations made before long so I think I'm just going to add a couple of days on the back side just in case.
We're supposed to go out to eat with some friends tomorrow night, but it's supposed to start raining hard again about that time, and Bill woke up stuffy with a sore throat so we may cancel. I've given him a couple of doses of cold/sinus meds and we will see how he is in the morning. These friends won't mind if we reschedule.
We haven't gotten very good news about our daughter-in-law Amanda. She finally saw a neurosurgeon today and he doesn't want to touch it with the area the mass is in. So, he's referring her to another dr. that they see Tuesday. She's still been in terrible pain, none of the meds are working, and now it's starting to affect her balance. So, she's still needing some prayers. They are both barely hanging on with all of the waiting and not knowing.
That's been our week. Don't forget to set your clocks ahead tomorrow night when you go to bed!
We've had a very quiet week. We ordered a new smart TV last week and it came in Monday. Unfortunately, we can't do what we wanted to do with it. So, I'm still looking for a solution. This one is internet capable. Since I will only be able to see 2 Cubs games this year I bought the subscription to MLB.TV to watch every game online. And with an internet ready TV, I should be able to access them so that we can both watch them on TV instead of the computer, right? Wrong! The pre-set internet functions on the TV use the Yahoo platform but it wont recognize my Yahoo login. And it is very limited on what can be loaded. As for MLB.TV, only Samsung smart TVs are supported and we bought a Vizio because we like Vizio. If I had researched more I would have seen that and we would have gotten the Samsung. I've tried to find how to connect a computer to it to access it that way but no such luck. I'll have to ask Bryan to see if he knows how. We can still watch ballgames when we travel on the computer so that will be a plus.
Bill got a haircut this week, managing to get there and back before the rain started. It started raining Tuesday night about 9 and rained all night and all day Wednesday and most of Wednesday night and most of the day Thursday. It rained off and on Thursday night and off and on today. We got about 5 inches, I think. It was enough that our area had lots of standing water and our area usually doesn't flood. Our back yard was flooded for a time and we didn't even try to take the trash to the curb because the ground was so soft. But, that's no big deal, it can wait another week. But, we were lucky compared to so many places.
I finally left the house today to go to the grocery store. Other than that, and snaking an arm out to get the soggy mail, we didn't leave the house. We did have water come in through some windows, but the amount of rain overwhelmed the gutters again. I'm on the lookout for ads for gutter guard systems so we won't have to worry about that anymore.
We bought an oxygen concentrator yesterday and should have it next week. It's a home unit that only weighs 18 pounds, compared to the 50 pound one we have now. It's the size of a carry-on bag. It will be a whole lot easier to carry with us when we travel.
I haven't heard back from Stephanie yet to see if Bill's itinerary will be changed to add a heart cath or not. I'll need to get our reservations made before long so I think I'm just going to add a couple of days on the back side just in case.
We're supposed to go out to eat with some friends tomorrow night, but it's supposed to start raining hard again about that time, and Bill woke up stuffy with a sore throat so we may cancel. I've given him a couple of doses of cold/sinus meds and we will see how he is in the morning. These friends won't mind if we reschedule.
We haven't gotten very good news about our daughter-in-law Amanda. She finally saw a neurosurgeon today and he doesn't want to touch it with the area the mass is in. So, he's referring her to another dr. that they see Tuesday. She's still been in terrible pain, none of the meds are working, and now it's starting to affect her balance. So, she's still needing some prayers. They are both barely hanging on with all of the waiting and not knowing.
That's been our week. Don't forget to set your clocks ahead tomorrow night when you go to bed!
Saturday, March 5, 2016
As I sit here this morning I'm wracking my brain trying to remember what we've done this past week and I'm pretty much coming up blank. It must have been a pretty normal, dull week.
We did have another go-around with insurance and medications. Now, after getting new prescription for Symbicort, insurance has decided they won't pay for it, but they will pay for Advair. So, another message to the dr. for the new one. We've had to switch all of these meds to home delivery, which is OK with me. We will save money 24/month through the local pharmacy compared to 20/quarter. They also want us to switch his other meds, and we would save money on some, but I want to keep them through the Mayo pharmacy. We don't pay that much and the peace of mind is worth it.
Bill has been doing better with fluids again. Only cramps 1 night and that day he didn't drink much. Maybe that will be it for awhile.
We got his itinerary for his May check-up and I have to call them. Dr. Hosenpud said that he wanted to do a heart cath this time instead of the stress echo. The stress echo is what is scheduled. I also noticed that there was no dermatology appointment so I need to ask about that. Right now everything is being done in 1 day...10 appointments starting at 7:30 and ending at 3. Of course some of the appointments are done back to back in the same place, such as the blood draw, 24 hour urine catch container and the stool sample instructions. They also do the chest xray and ekg back to back in the same area. It looks and sounds worse than it is. There isn't much time between for meals and if they do the stress echo he can only have a light meal. So, I'll talk to Stephanie next week and see if things need changed. It could be that they decided on the stress echo due to the emphysema and COPD, which hadn't been diagnosed when Dr. Hosenpud made his decision about the cath.
I haven't felt good the last couple of days. I don't really think it's the cold/sinus problem that has plagued everyone all winter, it's more allergy related. The trees have started to bud and I noticed the other day that the tulip trees have bloomed. I remember when I was married the first time in 1973 and the tulip trees had bloomed that week and we were able to have pictures taken under the tree. But, I think all of this is stirring my allergies. My throat has been very sore and it's just from sinus drainage. I've also had a sinus headache...welcome to spring!
We got some bad news concerning our daughter-in-law this last week. She's been having terrible headaches and an MRI was finally done. It shows a mass on the right side of her brain and white patches on the left which shouldn't be there for someone her age. They are waiting on an appointment with a neurosurgeon. She told me Thursday that the entire left side of her head hurts and the pain is starting to affect her face. She's going back to her regular dr. Monday to see if he can expedite things. So, if you are a praying person, say a prayer for Amanda, and if you're not, think good thoughts for her.
We're supposed to get monsoonal rain this coming week, starting Monday night. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are supposed to be the bad days. The local weatherman is comparing this with the flooding that Nashville, TN experienced in 2010, so it's going to be pretty bad.
That's about all I can think of. Probably as soon as I publish this I'll think of everything I wanted to say. Maybe I'll start working on this early in the week and just save it as a draft. Hmm, might have to try that!
We did have another go-around with insurance and medications. Now, after getting new prescription for Symbicort, insurance has decided they won't pay for it, but they will pay for Advair. So, another message to the dr. for the new one. We've had to switch all of these meds to home delivery, which is OK with me. We will save money 24/month through the local pharmacy compared to 20/quarter. They also want us to switch his other meds, and we would save money on some, but I want to keep them through the Mayo pharmacy. We don't pay that much and the peace of mind is worth it.
Bill has been doing better with fluids again. Only cramps 1 night and that day he didn't drink much. Maybe that will be it for awhile.
We got his itinerary for his May check-up and I have to call them. Dr. Hosenpud said that he wanted to do a heart cath this time instead of the stress echo. The stress echo is what is scheduled. I also noticed that there was no dermatology appointment so I need to ask about that. Right now everything is being done in 1 day...10 appointments starting at 7:30 and ending at 3. Of course some of the appointments are done back to back in the same place, such as the blood draw, 24 hour urine catch container and the stool sample instructions. They also do the chest xray and ekg back to back in the same area. It looks and sounds worse than it is. There isn't much time between for meals and if they do the stress echo he can only have a light meal. So, I'll talk to Stephanie next week and see if things need changed. It could be that they decided on the stress echo due to the emphysema and COPD, which hadn't been diagnosed when Dr. Hosenpud made his decision about the cath.
I haven't felt good the last couple of days. I don't really think it's the cold/sinus problem that has plagued everyone all winter, it's more allergy related. The trees have started to bud and I noticed the other day that the tulip trees have bloomed. I remember when I was married the first time in 1973 and the tulip trees had bloomed that week and we were able to have pictures taken under the tree. But, I think all of this is stirring my allergies. My throat has been very sore and it's just from sinus drainage. I've also had a sinus headache...welcome to spring!
We got some bad news concerning our daughter-in-law this last week. She's been having terrible headaches and an MRI was finally done. It shows a mass on the right side of her brain and white patches on the left which shouldn't be there for someone her age. They are waiting on an appointment with a neurosurgeon. She told me Thursday that the entire left side of her head hurts and the pain is starting to affect her face. She's going back to her regular dr. Monday to see if he can expedite things. So, if you are a praying person, say a prayer for Amanda, and if you're not, think good thoughts for her.
We're supposed to get monsoonal rain this coming week, starting Monday night. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are supposed to be the bad days. The local weatherman is comparing this with the flooding that Nashville, TN experienced in 2010, so it's going to be pretty bad.
That's about all I can think of. Probably as soon as I publish this I'll think of everything I wanted to say. Maybe I'll start working on this early in the week and just save it as a draft. Hmm, might have to try that!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)