We've basically had a good week! I think all of the sickness is finally leaving the house. I have 2 more doses of medicine to take and I will have taken it all (for once). And Bill has not gotten sick, which is the best thing.

It has rained most of the week and before it is over today we will have gotten between 3 and 8 inches. I'm not sure how much we have actually had here since all of the weather stations seem to forget that our area exists. Anyway, yesterday our backyard looked like a small pond and now it's just a quagmire. 

I cancelled and rescheduled our eye appointments. We neither one needed to be out in the rain. There wasn't a problem with the late cancellation since I did it 2 hours prior to the appointment time, but I didn't make the decision until the night before.

Our heat went out again Thursday morning, and of course it was one of the coldest days this week, not that it was cold, but compared to the 70s we had had, 40s seemed cold. It was also damp. Our repairman had some family problems and wasn't working but Bryan came and figured it out and got us up and running. The coolest it got in the house was 61. I did break down and light a fire. I just told our neighbor that if he saw flames shooting out of the chimney to let me know. I used all of the dry wood we had and then went to Kroger and got 3 of their bundles. But, once Bryan had us going again we let the fire die down. I did have to get on Bill twice for messing with it. He forgot that he is flammable with his oxygen! He also made a comment that he didn't think he would ever not be able to do things he used to do all the time. I know he feels bad when he can't help move heavy things or just do a lot of the little things around the house that he used to do.

We got our dates for Mayo already! We are back on track for the beginning of May. He's got appointments May 1-3. He doesn't need a heart cath this year so that's good. That means they will do a nuclear stress test instead. I've got to get our hotel reservations made, but since we are there before the TPC Sawgrass golf tournament I shouldn't have any trouble.

We're supposed to have some severe weather this afternoon and evening. It's already started raining again, which makes me really glad that I went to Walmart early this morning. Didn't need much and was there and back in about 30 minutes.

Because of the weather we weren't able to do anything special for Bill's birthday yesterday. It's supposed to be nice for the next 3 days and we need to make a run to Jonesboro so we'll have his birthday meal out then.

That's about it. Lots of little things going on and nothing major as far as health goes, so all is good! See you next week!

I'm feeling much better and so far Bill hasn't shown any signs for getting this, so I think all will be well.

I still don't have much energy or stamina so I'm still just taking it easy. I've got a roast in the crockpot so there won't be any cooking tonight to tire me out. It just about did me in last night, and it was only Hamburger Helper!

We both have eye appointments Thursday and Bill's birthday is Friday. We're planning on going to Jonesboro. It's time for a ring inspection and we're hoping to use the Olive Garden gift card got for Christmas. I also need to get a charging cable for my phone. But, it may have to wait because the first spring training baseball game is going to be televised on Friday. I can't wait! Maybe we'll go on to Jonesboro on Thursday after we see the eye dr. Hmm, have to think on that!

It's cold and rainy today and supposed to rain off and on for the entire week with wild temperature swings. By the middle of the week it's supposed to be in the mid 70s! No wonder everyone is sick.

Our 5 month old great grandson is in the hospital with the flu. He's not keeping anything down except for water. They did a procedure today to see if there was a problem with his swallowing and everything looked good. They are talking about getting a GI consult and if they do that it will have to be done in Memphis. Ryan and Amanda are exhausted from being at the hospital. And of course with one that little, he doesn't understand what is going on, which makes it that much harder on them.

That's all for today, since there were a couple of updates earlier in the week. We'll get back on schedule next week. Have a good week!

It's official, sickness has come to our house. I woke up yesterday with nausea and diarrhea. Before long my head was pounding and my sinuses were full. I started on the normal OTC meds and slept most of the day, but nothing was helping much. I wasn't running fever, although I think that our thermometer needs replaced because it was extremely low, 94.2. The highest it got was 96.5. I told Bill if I didn't feel any better today I would go to the Dr.

This morning, after sleeping on the couch, I felt even worse and started a dry cough with body aches, although that's probably from sleeping on the couch. Emily came and picked me up and snuck me in the backdoor of the clinic. The lab techs were waiting on me and did labs and a flu test. As I was in the work-up room the practitioner came in and said she thought that it was probably flu, which was my fear.

But, the flu test was negative and since my white count is elevated there's an infection somewhere. She doesn't know if it is gastric or sinus. Everything coming out of my nose is clear, but I coughed up some nasty yellow gunk, yet I'm moving air well in my lungs and not wheezing. So, 2 different antibiotics and some cough medicine if I need it and if I'm not way better by Monday she wants to see me again.

I haven't been able to eat anything without it going straight through, but I came home and had a popsicle and felt much better...for about 15 minutes. But then I slept for 2 hours. I've had another popsicle and some crackers now and feel like they will stay down. In I'm not sure of. I've taken so much Imodium and pepto bismol that under normal circumstances I wouldn't be going to the bathroom for a week!

We're making sure that Bill doesn't get this. I've stayed away as much as possible. He's done well on his own. He's fixed his own breakfast the last 2 mornings and yesterday he fixed a "mock" grilled cheese sandwich for lunch (2 pieces of toast with cheese stuffed between them and then put in the microwave). Emily brought him some chicken strips when she brought me some more ginger ale and she's bringing him spaghetti tonight. I may try scrambled eggs if the crackers settle.

So, keep us in your thoughts. I'll let you know Saturday how things have gone the next few days.

Bill's appointment today was just so-so, but that was what I had expected. She has raised his oxygen flow to 3 continuous while resting and 4 when walking. His O2 sat is dropping to the low 80s when he is moving and sometimes even standing. She said as long as he can stay above 90 he's good.

Because the area of pneumonia was in the very bottom of the lung, she agreed that it may never clear. She also said that with the type of emphysema he has that it has pockets that can keep infection. She said just to watch any sputum output and if it is yellow or green to give them a call.

He does have some congestion and wants him to use his nebulizer twice a day for awhile to see if that will clear out. But, she's not too concerned about it.

We discussed using a mask vs the nasal cannula. Since he is more of a mouth breather, we've decided that we will try that while he is walking to see if that helps with the drop in O2. His nose is either stuffy or runny it seems, so he and I talked about him seeing either an allergist or and ENT to see if we can pinpoint a cause and find something that will help. He's on Zyrtek and Flonase already so I don't know what else we can do on our own.

That's it. As it goes, he's holding his own, but deteriorating, as expected. I was not surprised, but pleased that it wasn't worse.

I seem to be extremely tired tonight. I tweaked my back/hip, probably getting the concentrator in/out of the car. Plus, there was no valet parking available when we got there so had to park in the garage. Going from the garage to the clinic is down a ramp, which isn't too bad, but getting back was up the ramp. And, after we got home and had some lunch, I bought groceries and carried them in. Luckily I have no plans tomorrow and I'm hoping that just relaxing my body when I go to bed will help. I'll take my medicine tonight that should help and if it's still sore in the morning I'll do the ole heat/ice. 

I'll be back Saturday!

If I thought that the past few weeks had nothing going on, they were busy compared to this week. We did nothing, absolutely nothing. I did go to the store a couple of times but that is it. Looking on the bright side, at least there were no medical concerns!

Bill's coughing has eased up. He's been using Flonase in addition to all of his other meds. He did have to use his rescue inhaler one night. He started coughing and just couldn't get it to move, but the albuterol did the trick.

We've had all kinds of crazy weather...very warm with rain that ends with freezing rain as the temps bottom out. And that pattern is supposed to continue this week-end. It was 51 and raining when I got up and the temp has already started to fall. I'm not going anywhere that I know of, so it won't matter to me.

Bill sees the pulmonologist Tuesday so maybe we'll have some answers to his O2 dropping so low at night when he walks 25 steps to the bedroom. We're already planning on wearing masks to protect from the flu. The waiting room is not generally full, but we're not taking any chances. I'm not sure if I will post after the visit or just wait until our normal time. If you want, take a peek Tuesday evening just to be sure.

I'm all stuffy this morning from this newest front coming through. They have been coming in about every 3 days and some affect me more than others. This one is a bad one as far as breathing goes. I wish the weather would settle down one way or the other!

That's about it. The alarm on my phone for Bill's meds just went off so I'd better get them pulled. Have a good week, enjoy the Olympics, we'll be here same time next week. 

Another week of nothing much happening. Sometimes those are a good thing and other times they just make something seem to drag on. That's what these are doing with me, keeping winter alive instead of spring arriving to freshen everything.

Brianna was diagnosed with Type B flu Monday and now has bronchitis on top of it. We're not sure if her dad also had it. He had some of the same symptoms, but he said it was from a migraine. The whole family was treated for it and they were banned from the house. Hopefully they are all on the mend now and Emily and McKenna did not get it.

We took a ride again this week, this time heading south for a bit and then west and then back home. We were gone about 2 1/2 hours. It was a pretty day and the traffic was light. We took a road that I hadn't taken before. I knew where it would come out, but didn't know what was on it in between. And the answer to that is...not much! It will be a better drive in the spring and summer when there are crops in the fields. Now, the scenery wasn't that great.

 

Bill is still about the same, except that one day this week, he was more like the "old" Bill. He got up earlier and said that the coffee tasted really good and he sucked that cup down. He drank 4 complete cups of coffee and 2 bottles throughout the entire day! That's a new record I think. He ate well and his mind was clearer. I don't know what triggered the change but it was a nice change. His cough is coming and going, some days more than others. The only concern is that when he walks, especially in the evening, his O2 drops into the mid-low 80s. He is still using his inhalers and we've done a couple of breathing treatments and those seem to help. Chris, our delivery driver for LIncare asked about a nebulizer and said that he could hear him breathing hard. But, he also does that when he needs to do something, like sign paperwork. I usually do it, but I was busy in the kitchen. He sees Dr. Burbeck (pulmonologist) in a couple of weeks so I'll ask her what we need to do.

That's it for now. See you next week!