Blogger strikes again! They have changed the way I see things when I click on my account and I don't like it! This shouldn't affect the way you view this blog, though. They have made the page secure now, but you don't have to change the way you get to here. Just a little frustration for me, more keystrokes to get to what I want.
OK, enough of that! We've had a good, busy week. I did not go to the dr. for my cold. I have gotten better, just have a lingering cough now, but the aches and headache/sore throat are mainly gone. Energy is still low so I do things in spurts, work awhile, rest awhile.
Bill started sniffling yesterday and I could tell he was stuffy. But, this morning he seems to be better. We don't have anything planned for the next few days so if he gets sick, we can just stay in.
We had a good Thanksgiving. McKenna came Wednesday night and stayed until yesterday evening. She's still a little young to go Black Friday shopping with the rest of her family. She also didn't want to "deal with all that mess" with dinner with the other side of the family. We enjoyed her and she helped cook. We were all tired by the time she was picked up and she was ready to go home.
I don't do the Black Friday stuff, but I did order a couple of things yesterday and got good deals on them. I'm planning on doing more online ordering today. I had already ordered some things and got one shipment yesterday with more coming this week. Emily picked up a gift for Ryan for me so I guess I need to be thinking about getting the house decorated. I'm actually ready to do it and I never like doing it this early!
That's all for now. I hope everyone had a good holiday and that the shoppers were successful. See you next week!
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Saturday, November 19, 2016
All good things must come to an end. After a summer of relatively good health sickness has struck our house.
We got our flu shots on Monday and had no ill effects from them. Our arms didn't even get sore. Tuesday morning we headed to Oklahoma to take our wood splitter to Mary Rose and Jack. It was a really quick trip, but we had a good time seeing William and Petra. We hadn't seen them since William was 2 and Petra was about 2 months. He is now 4 and in pre-k and Petra will be 2 in January. They were both a lot of fun.
Bill did well with them for the most part. Not being used to little ones it was a little overwhelming for him at times, and tiring. When we got back to our hotel Wednesday night, about 7 he was asleep by 8.
We came home Thursday and it was a 2 hands on the wheel day, very windy out of the south, and since we were heading east most of the time, my arms were tired. But, both of our travel days were good with light traffic.
But, I woke up yesterday morning at 5:30 with a very sore throat and felt progressively worse throughout the day. I slept on the couch last night so hopefully Bill won't get whatever it is. I have a fever blister, sores in both ears, the sore throat, pounding head and now starting to cough. I don't think I've had any fever but it's hard to tell since it hasn't been over 97.4. I usually don't run low, so it's hard to tell. I've been taking the standard OTC meds and if I'm not better by Monday I'll go to the dr.
Bill is trying his best to take care of me, but there's not much he can do except get me drinks. He did help me fix supper last night...soup and grilled cheese for him, just soup for me.
It's a good thing we had no plans for Thanksgiving. Maybe I'll feel better Monday, at least enough to get us a small turkey breast and a few of the fixings. But if not, it may be a "whatever we can find in the freezer" holiday. I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving. Just remember it's not just a day for food football, but a day to be thankful for the what you have, no matter how much or little it may be.
We got our flu shots on Monday and had no ill effects from them. Our arms didn't even get sore. Tuesday morning we headed to Oklahoma to take our wood splitter to Mary Rose and Jack. It was a really quick trip, but we had a good time seeing William and Petra. We hadn't seen them since William was 2 and Petra was about 2 months. He is now 4 and in pre-k and Petra will be 2 in January. They were both a lot of fun.
Bill did well with them for the most part. Not being used to little ones it was a little overwhelming for him at times, and tiring. When we got back to our hotel Wednesday night, about 7 he was asleep by 8.
We came home Thursday and it was a 2 hands on the wheel day, very windy out of the south, and since we were heading east most of the time, my arms were tired. But, both of our travel days were good with light traffic.
But, I woke up yesterday morning at 5:30 with a very sore throat and felt progressively worse throughout the day. I slept on the couch last night so hopefully Bill won't get whatever it is. I have a fever blister, sores in both ears, the sore throat, pounding head and now starting to cough. I don't think I've had any fever but it's hard to tell since it hasn't been over 97.4. I usually don't run low, so it's hard to tell. I've been taking the standard OTC meds and if I'm not better by Monday I'll go to the dr.
Bill is trying his best to take care of me, but there's not much he can do except get me drinks. He did help me fix supper last night...soup and grilled cheese for him, just soup for me.
It's a good thing we had no plans for Thanksgiving. Maybe I'll feel better Monday, at least enough to get us a small turkey breast and a few of the fixings. But if not, it may be a "whatever we can find in the freezer" holiday. I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving. Just remember it's not just a day for food football, but a day to be thankful for the what you have, no matter how much or little it may be.
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Grrr! I was 3/4 of the way through a post and it all went away! And even though it saves periodically during the process...you can't access it! Or at least I can't see where you can access it. So now, I have to try to remember what I wrote!
This week seems like it has gone very fast, and we haven't done much of anything. We voted early and didn't have much of a wait. I think next time for a major election Bill will vote absentee. Arkansas has a strange law that limits you to 5 minutes at a voting station (we don't have booths anymore). This was a pretty long, wordy ballot this time. Plus, older people who aren't comfortable with technology are uncomfortable to begin with. So, I think we will do the absentee thing at least for Bill. That way he can take his time.
I have spent the better of 3 hours over the last couple of days removing anything political from my Facebook feed. It doesn't matter who posts it, conservative or liberal, I'm automatically deleting it. I'm not deleting/unfriending the people posting it, because they are entitled to their opinion, but I don't have to read it. And that's enough said about that.
Bill has been walking just about every day this week. He doesn't use his oxygen to walk to his mancave, which is the attached apartment to our garage for those that may be new visitors here, but he does use it while he's walking. His cough is worse some days, but others he doesn't cough at all. It makes it hard to tell if it is just the emphysema cough, or a cold, or a rejection problem. So, ever vigilant. His nose has been drippy for the last few days and this morning his voice is deeper, so he is congested some. He also had an upset tummy last night. I think it was a combination of sinus drainage and not taking his omeprazole. We are trying to wean him off of those since they can cause problems after prolonged use. I can tell a difference when he doesn't take them. He doesn't sleep as well and he seems to have indigestion through the night. I had tried every other day this week, but will go back to daily.
It has finally gotten cold enough to turn the heat on. It's supposed to frost tonight so we'll just stay in. It's harder to breathe cold air for people with compromised lung capacity and it is advised to stay in, so that's what we will do.
I saw our friend Ron at Walmart this week. We hadn't seen him or Buddy all summer, which is really unusual since we saw them once a week. He told me that he feels sorry for Bill since he needs the oxygen all the time now. He remembers how he was before the transplant and stroke. And, anyone who knew him before can really tell a difference. But, as I told Ron, he's alive and he gets around and still does as much as he can. He also told me that Buddy got hit and killed a couple of weeks ago. He's still very upset about it. I had to break that to Bill since he loved that dog, but he took it well. I still haven't put away his basket of toys. I'll probably do that while Bill is out walking. It's in a corner now and can't really be seen, so he doesn't think about it much anyway.
Our cat has brought some others in! I have seen an adult black one that is gorgeous, very stately with an extremely long tail. Yesterday I watched a younger black one come over from the house across the street and later saw it sunning on the fence that encloses the air conditioner. There was also another tortoise shell one (this one had a tail and the first one doesn't) eating. As far as I know they all live under our house. It will be our luck that we will have babies before long. They still run when they see us, but Miss Kitty will watch me talk to her. She won't come out until I open the door to come in, but she doesn't hide completely. When they multiply again I'll have to call animal control to trap them. I can do 1 or 2 but not a lot of them.
We're going to make a very quick trip to Oklahoma in the next few days. We are giving Jack (son-in-law) our wood splitter. We have to coordinate around work schedules for them, and they aren't able to come here to get it right now. Mary works week-ends and William is in pre-k, so we're going to take it. We also have seen the baby since she was about 2 months old and she'll be 2 in January. We're both tired of travelling so it will be a quick trip.
I think this is it for now. Hopefully I get it posted before it goes away again. Have a great week-end!
This week seems like it has gone very fast, and we haven't done much of anything. We voted early and didn't have much of a wait. I think next time for a major election Bill will vote absentee. Arkansas has a strange law that limits you to 5 minutes at a voting station (we don't have booths anymore). This was a pretty long, wordy ballot this time. Plus, older people who aren't comfortable with technology are uncomfortable to begin with. So, I think we will do the absentee thing at least for Bill. That way he can take his time.
I have spent the better of 3 hours over the last couple of days removing anything political from my Facebook feed. It doesn't matter who posts it, conservative or liberal, I'm automatically deleting it. I'm not deleting/unfriending the people posting it, because they are entitled to their opinion, but I don't have to read it. And that's enough said about that.
Bill has been walking just about every day this week. He doesn't use his oxygen to walk to his mancave, which is the attached apartment to our garage for those that may be new visitors here, but he does use it while he's walking. His cough is worse some days, but others he doesn't cough at all. It makes it hard to tell if it is just the emphysema cough, or a cold, or a rejection problem. So, ever vigilant. His nose has been drippy for the last few days and this morning his voice is deeper, so he is congested some. He also had an upset tummy last night. I think it was a combination of sinus drainage and not taking his omeprazole. We are trying to wean him off of those since they can cause problems after prolonged use. I can tell a difference when he doesn't take them. He doesn't sleep as well and he seems to have indigestion through the night. I had tried every other day this week, but will go back to daily.
It has finally gotten cold enough to turn the heat on. It's supposed to frost tonight so we'll just stay in. It's harder to breathe cold air for people with compromised lung capacity and it is advised to stay in, so that's what we will do.
I saw our friend Ron at Walmart this week. We hadn't seen him or Buddy all summer, which is really unusual since we saw them once a week. He told me that he feels sorry for Bill since he needs the oxygen all the time now. He remembers how he was before the transplant and stroke. And, anyone who knew him before can really tell a difference. But, as I told Ron, he's alive and he gets around and still does as much as he can. He also told me that Buddy got hit and killed a couple of weeks ago. He's still very upset about it. I had to break that to Bill since he loved that dog, but he took it well. I still haven't put away his basket of toys. I'll probably do that while Bill is out walking. It's in a corner now and can't really be seen, so he doesn't think about it much anyway.
Our cat has brought some others in! I have seen an adult black one that is gorgeous, very stately with an extremely long tail. Yesterday I watched a younger black one come over from the house across the street and later saw it sunning on the fence that encloses the air conditioner. There was also another tortoise shell one (this one had a tail and the first one doesn't) eating. As far as I know they all live under our house. It will be our luck that we will have babies before long. They still run when they see us, but Miss Kitty will watch me talk to her. She won't come out until I open the door to come in, but she doesn't hide completely. When they multiply again I'll have to call animal control to trap them. I can do 1 or 2 but not a lot of them.
We're going to make a very quick trip to Oklahoma in the next few days. We are giving Jack (son-in-law) our wood splitter. We have to coordinate around work schedules for them, and they aren't able to come here to get it right now. Mary works week-ends and William is in pre-k, so we're going to take it. We also have seen the baby since she was about 2 months old and she'll be 2 in January. We're both tired of travelling so it will be a quick trip.
I think this is it for now. Hopefully I get it posted before it goes away again. Have a great week-end!
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
This trip seems to have had a little bit of everything! We had no problems getting to Jacksonville for the Celebration of Life tribute. We did not go to the Friday evening ceremony, by the time it started I was wearing out. We found a new little diner for dinner and the food was fantastic and enough to feed 2 people. Bill had a huge open face roast beef sandwich and ate every bit of it, even after saying he wouldn't be able to eat it all. I think he left a couple of bites of mashed potatoes. I had some pretty good ribs and of course ate all of them.
The ceremony on Saturday was very nice and we saw some people we knew from before. But, at lunch, which was catered by a bbq place that has really good food, my esophagus decided to do it's little spasm thing 3 bites in. This time I couldn't get it stop and we ended up leaving before the closing ceremony and butterfly release. I coughed and gagged stuff up (I know TMI) for 2 hours before it finally stopped. When it does this it seems like the food doesn't make it passed the base of my throat. So when I say I gag stuff up, it's not like vomit, it's actual bits of food that have just been laying around in my throat. For that matter, it's anything that I take in, including iced tea and diet coke. Usually the carbonation will help with moving some air, but not this time. I did some research on this and it basically said to avoid what triggers it, but since I don't know what is going to trigger it that's hard to do. It also said to suck on a peppermint candy so I did that and by the time it was dissolved, the spasms had stopped. The peppermint is a natural smooth muscle relaxer. I was able to eat that evening although I took it easy with scrambled eggs and my throat was pretty sore for a few days, but all seems well now.
It took forever to get to Bill's sister's house in Clearwater. There was a traffic jam outside Orlando so we let the navigator take over and got off the highway. We ended up going through downtown Tampa, but I knew the road we were on would take us to our hotel at the beach.
When I called our oxygen supplier to get some replacement tanks, I was told we were supposed to give 2 weeks notice. We were not told that, we were told to just call our regular number and they would set it up for us. We did get some replacements and we free to sightsee, but our brother-in-law is not in good health right now and none of us really felt like doing a lot. Of course Bill still can't do a lot of walking as he does get tired easily and now so does Don. But, we enjoyed just visiting with them.
The trip back to Jacksonville was pretty uneventful. I got off the interstate at St. Augustine and we came in the coast road. We could see piles of debris from Hurricane Matthew and there were still piles of sand on both sides of the road, whether that was from beach erosion or piled there for people to fill sandbags, I don't know. We also noticed that some homes had been marked and we've wondered what that meant. They are still cutting out downed trees and foliage and the cleanup is going to take quite a while yet. We have not gone to the beach here, I don't think Bill wants to see his pier missing the last 1/3.
All of his appointments were today and he got good reports. All of his labs were good, and even though they were a little dismayed about the oxygen, they didn't try to tell him that exercise would help him get off it. Yes, exercise will strengthen the lungs, but emphysema has destroyed some lung tissue, so he will always have diminished capacity now.
So, that's been our 2 weeks. We are ready to get home and plan on leaving pretty early in the morning. But, I know I won't get to bed early since the 6th game of the World Series is tonight and it can be won tonight. I hope it isn't because that will mean that the Cubs have lost, but I have to watch it.
I don't think I will update this again this week, but will have another update on the 11th. Happy November everyone!
The ceremony on Saturday was very nice and we saw some people we knew from before. But, at lunch, which was catered by a bbq place that has really good food, my esophagus decided to do it's little spasm thing 3 bites in. This time I couldn't get it stop and we ended up leaving before the closing ceremony and butterfly release. I coughed and gagged stuff up (I know TMI) for 2 hours before it finally stopped. When it does this it seems like the food doesn't make it passed the base of my throat. So when I say I gag stuff up, it's not like vomit, it's actual bits of food that have just been laying around in my throat. For that matter, it's anything that I take in, including iced tea and diet coke. Usually the carbonation will help with moving some air, but not this time. I did some research on this and it basically said to avoid what triggers it, but since I don't know what is going to trigger it that's hard to do. It also said to suck on a peppermint candy so I did that and by the time it was dissolved, the spasms had stopped. The peppermint is a natural smooth muscle relaxer. I was able to eat that evening although I took it easy with scrambled eggs and my throat was pretty sore for a few days, but all seems well now.
It took forever to get to Bill's sister's house in Clearwater. There was a traffic jam outside Orlando so we let the navigator take over and got off the highway. We ended up going through downtown Tampa, but I knew the road we were on would take us to our hotel at the beach.
When I called our oxygen supplier to get some replacement tanks, I was told we were supposed to give 2 weeks notice. We were not told that, we were told to just call our regular number and they would set it up for us. We did get some replacements and we free to sightsee, but our brother-in-law is not in good health right now and none of us really felt like doing a lot. Of course Bill still can't do a lot of walking as he does get tired easily and now so does Don. But, we enjoyed just visiting with them.
The trip back to Jacksonville was pretty uneventful. I got off the interstate at St. Augustine and we came in the coast road. We could see piles of debris from Hurricane Matthew and there were still piles of sand on both sides of the road, whether that was from beach erosion or piled there for people to fill sandbags, I don't know. We also noticed that some homes had been marked and we've wondered what that meant. They are still cutting out downed trees and foliage and the cleanup is going to take quite a while yet. We have not gone to the beach here, I don't think Bill wants to see his pier missing the last 1/3.
All of his appointments were today and he got good reports. All of his labs were good, and even though they were a little dismayed about the oxygen, they didn't try to tell him that exercise would help him get off it. Yes, exercise will strengthen the lungs, but emphysema has destroyed some lung tissue, so he will always have diminished capacity now.
So, that's been our 2 weeks. We are ready to get home and plan on leaving pretty early in the morning. But, I know I won't get to bed early since the 6th game of the World Series is tonight and it can be won tonight. I hope it isn't because that will mean that the Cubs have lost, but I have to watch it.
I don't think I will update this again this week, but will have another update on the 11th. Happy November everyone!
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