It's not quite 5:30 and I'm getting ready to get my 2nd cup of coffee. The cats started stirring at 4:30 and I could barely move then, so got up. Now why would I get up if I can hardly move? To move more! I'll explain more of this later.

We've had a decent week, no illnesses or viruses or crises of any kind (at least that I can remember!). Bill is doing much better, although I've had to bump his oxygen up a little. He has finished all of his antibiotics and extra steroids and I thought that Connie would want to repeat his CBC to check his white count to see how far down it had come, but she as long as he was feeling better she didn't need to. Now, when we first saw her this time, she said that if I thought he wasn't better in a couple of days, to get him back in. Now, she doesn't want to see him? I think she now has too many irons in the fire. Not only is she a nurse practitioner, she runs an animal rescue, she and her husband own an indoor batting cage facility, she runs the free clinic in town (open only 1 or 2 evenings a month), and now she's started to teach yoga classes at one of the gyms. That is the newest venture and I think it's consuming most of her thoughts lately.

But, I can tell that Bill is feeling better. He's not coughing as much and with the extra oxygen, he's not getting as winded walking. That is probably due to the emphysema and increasing the oxygen was probably going to happen anyway. We can still keep it lower when he's just sitting, like in the car, but in the house it's not really feasible to keep walking back and forth to the concentrator to adjust it for him to walk to the bathroom.

He's also expressed an interest in his trumpet, so I got them (he has 2) out for him and while I was running errands, he got them out and cleaned them and oiled the valves. I don't know if he tried to play them while I was gone. He hasn't tried while I'm here. But, that would be good exercise for his lungs. I'm just glad he wanted to do something other than sit and watch TV!

I saw my cardiologist Monday and everything was good. I've lost another pound, down 5 pounds since I first saw her 18 months ago. Of course, during that time I've also gained and lost, but she was pleased. I told her I had had the stomach virus and she said she didn't care how it was lost, slow was fine with her. My EKG looked the same as last time and I sounded good. The only thing that concerned her is my bottom blood pressure is still a little higher than she would like. It's not high consistently, but stays on the upper side or normal. So, no med changes and return in 6 months. We did talk about the different side effects I seem to have developed and she told me she wants me to have my potassium checked before long again to make sure it has come up and to have them check for both psoriatic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. I have suspected the psoriatic for awhile now. My skin is extremely dry and itchy most of the time. And this type of arthritis affects the feet, making it painful to walk. So, as soon as Connie gets back into town (she's on vacation this week) I'll get that done.

My appointment was for 2:45 and since it was in Memphis (actually the southeast side so we have to go all the way around the city) we had to leave about 12:30. The dr. came into the room at 4:15! We left just about 5 and since that is a terrible time to try to get on the interstate and over 2 lanes, unless I want to go to Nashville, we decided to eat an early dinner. There is a Perkins close to the office so we went there. It was free pie Monday, so we came home with dessert and enough leftover chicken strips for another meal! I didn't give Bill a change on the pie, he got sugar free apple. He didn't complain about it and didn't say how it tasted so I guess it was OK. Traffic had thinned nicely by then and we got home about 7:15. The cats were not happy that their dinner was delayed so long but they got over it as soon as the food bowls hit the floor. We were tired and made an early night of it and we were both tired most of the day Tuesday so didn't do much.

(I just decided that I hate computers. I had an additional paragraph here and it all just went away). I don't know if I can recreate it or not, but I'll try.

I think I've given myself an ulcer, not a bleeding one, just the beginnings of one. For years I have taken Aleve morning and night and when my foot was hurting so badly, I switched to Ibuprofen which works better on me anyway. Well, I took so much of that that I've noticed that after eating certain things I have terrible heartburn and stomach cramps. So, the only thing I have taken this week it Tylenol and only for a headache if necessary. That's the only thing Tylenol does for me, so I've been hurting more. Once I start moving around it gets a little better, but getting out of bed is a slower process. I noticed this morning that my hands were in fists which is odd for me. Usually I sleep with them open. I must have been cold or something. Anyway, I've moved around enough now that the pain is acceptable. Hopefully it will stay that way long enough for me to get some laundry done!

That's all I've got this morning. It's now a little after 6, I'm almost finished with the 2nd cup of coffee and as soon as it gets a little lighter I'll feed the outside cats. Then my Bible study and write in my personal journal and see what other quiet time activity I have before Bill gets up. So, see you all next week!