We haven't had a real good week, or at least I haven't. The changing of the seasons cold got me the first part of the week. Felt really miserable Monday, but it's been off and on the rest of the week, feeling good one day and not so hot the next. I think it's been a combination of the weather changing plus smoke all around from the fields being burned.

I noticed Tuesday night that my right calf was very tender just below and to the side of my left knee. It didn't feel feverish, but I could tell it was swollen. It still hurt Wednesday so I got in to the the nurse practitioner. She said she could feel good pulses everywhere along the leg, but was concerned that my foot was cold...until she felt the other one. It was freezing in the waiting room and I had worn sandals. Since there is a family history of blood clots, plus being overweight and a mostly sedentary lifestyle, she sent me to the hospital for an ultrasound of the vein. She also told me to then go home and put my leg up with heat on it. The technician said she didn't see any clots, just that it looked like a varicose vein. I followed Connie's instructions and sat with my leg up with heat, but that seemed to make it hurt more. When the nurse called the next day she said that there were no clots, but there was no plan of action. So I guess I'll just watch it and try to move some more and sit differently. I do tend to sit with my legs curled most of the time, and I know that I shouldn't, but it is what it is.

I haven't slept well most of the week. Part of it was because of the baseball play-offs, with one game going until 2 am. I think it's more stress than anything since I've been worried about my leg, getting ready to go to Florida and just general worries.

Bill's cough has gotten worse, or so it seems to me. He's also been stuffy and then runny so it may be the same thing I've had. He's been doing better with keeping his O2 on when he's moving around and I can tell there's a difference in his cognition. He seems to be more aware of things. 

I've got to figure out all of the logistics with the oxygen again for traveling. I know I can have some delivered while we are there but it's for all of the down time we will have at Bill's sister's house. We could take the small concentrator to her house from the hotel, but her house is very cluttered and I don't know that we could find a place to put it and plug it in. I could also have one of those delivered to her house, too. Something else to work on before we leave Thursday. I also need to find a rolling tote that opens at the top to carry a couple of the small tanks while we are at Mayo. I looked here in town and couldn't find anything so will probably have to make a trip to Jonesboro in the next few days. Need to start making my list.

We tried an automatic feeder for the cat this week and Thursday night I think we fed every nocturnal animal around. We were afraid that the cat was gone or dead since she didn't come out when I took her some wet food. It stayed in her dish all day, but when I checked about dark it was gone. I went out with some dry food and she finally came to the opening of the crawl space, and then came out after I went in to eat, so she's OK. She didn't look injured anywhere. So now we have to figure out something about getting her fed while we're gone, but I think we have a plan for that.

We do leave Thursday for Florida and will be in Jacksonville for the week-end, then to Clearwater for a week to visit family and then back to Jacksonville for Bill's check-up and then back home. We'll be gone a full 2 weeks this time, the longest in a quite a while. I was hoping that early voting would start before we leave but it doesn't start until the 24th. But, we'll be back in time to vote. I just don't want to have to stand in line on election day.

I guess this is it for this week. I'm not sure when I'll get this updated while we're gone. I'll try to keep on the same schedule of sometime Saturday, so don't worry if it's not updated until later in the day or evening. Until next time...

 

We have a cat! Well, we kind of have a cat. When my sister was here we went out the backdoor to sit on the patio and there was a tortoise shell cat sunning on the wood box. As we came out, she ran under the house and then sat there looking at us. The next day when we went out, she was "hunting" and we watched as she caught and devoured a lizard, completely! She's not skin and bones so she's been eating. My sister put out a left over piece of pizza and some parmesan bread bites that night and the next morning there was only crust left, and that was gone later in the day. I've been feeding it here and there and she's getting better at not running away, but we are not going to try to tame her. She can stay an outside cat that just gets fed and watered. She's had something wrong with her tail, whether she was in a fight, or it was diseased, but it has steadily falling off. Thursday night more had come off and I could see that the end was raw, but last night it was black, whether it was covered with fleas or dirt I couldn't tell. 

The cat was really the highlight of the week. Bill did do some walking this week, more than he had been doing. I'm starting to get a little concerned about his memory. He's always had trouble with word recall since the stroke, but now he's forgetting what things are. He asked what carrots were on the veggie tray the other night and I told him to take his pills and he picked up an inhaler and asked if that was what I meant. I'm going to say something to Stephanie when we go to Mayo. Before the transplant he was on Aricept and Namenda, even though the Dr. said that he didn't have any signs of Alzheimers or dementia. They were finding that using them enhanced the regular memory of older patients. Dr. Yip took him off of those after testing with Mayo psych also showed no signs, so I don't know if he will want him back on them. They may also interact with his transplant meds, so I don't know.

Harvest is going right along, but with that comes the dreaded field burning. This is the only place I've seen where the fields are burnt off after harvest. Not only does it affect people with breathing problems, but it affects driving by obscuring visibility. There was a fatality last year just shortly after we had driven through the same area. Farmers say they can't afford the extra fuel or wages it would take to plow the stubble under. There have been attempts to get the practice outlawed but nothing yet. They are supposed to have a tank of water at the site and be on-site themselves, but that usually doesn't happen. They are also not supposed to burn when the wind speed is above a certain mph, but that usually doesn't happen either. So, we're trying to stay in when we see smoke in the area.

We've checked in with our friends in Jacksonville and they have all made it through the storm. I saw this morning that Bill's beloved pier has been damaged and I think the hotel we have stayed in on the beach was flooded. Our family members are all located on the gulf side of the state and they were not affected except by a little rain.

It's gotten cooler today, was in the 40s last night. I've got a crockpot full of ham and corn chowder going. It's a new recipe and looked and sounded really good. I've also got laundry going. And now I have to work on getting my printer re-installed. The windows 10 update this week knocked it out and even though the system can find it, it won't install it. So, that's on my agenda today. Or maybe not. I don't need the cowl pattern I was trying to print that bad...or do I?!? See you next week!

It's cotton-picking time! Last week-end when we went to Hardy with my sister, we saw several fields that were already defoliated and ready for picking. Yesterday we drove up to see Ryan and some of those fields were picked and others that still had foliage on them were now ready for picking. I could smell the defoliant even in the car and it wasn't long before I could feel my throat closing up. So, I won't spend much time outdoors for a couple of weeks.

We had such a good visit with my sister. She's heading to Niagra Falls tomorrow with her sister-in-law. She said they've never traveled this far together before and may be home Tuesday! I don't think that will happen, though, and they will have a good time.

We haven't done much this week. Bill did use his treadmill a couple of times. He's really going to have to get back into it before we go to his check-up, although I think they will be able to tell that he has deteriorated some. I don't think he has ever fully recovered from when he had pneumonia. He's not complaining as much about using oxygen 24/7, so we'll see what happens when we travel.

Our weather has been lovely, only in the 70s for most of the week. It's supposed to get a little warmer this coming week, but the 90s are gone!

That's really about it. Today is laundry and maybe getting a few groceries. But, I do have some things in the freezer that I can get creative with so who knows, groceries may wait! 

Happy October!

Sorry for no post yesterday. There is nothing wrong, we were just very busy.

Our week started out with a bang, the dishwasher overflowed through the washer drain so we had a flooded laundry/computer room again. I called Roto Rooter but they couldn't get here until Tuesday. So, sopped up water again, although this was much worse than just from the laundry because it also washed out debris from the garbage disposal as I had been cleaning out the refrigerator. It took the technician a little longer than he thought it would but he got it running free. Then, it was washing up the towels again and getting it all cleaned up again. I had to wash the towels twice and use a laundry boost to get the smell out but it got done.

I've also had a secret that pertained to this week...my sister came to visit Thursday! We didn't tell anyone she was coming so that we could have just sister time, with Bill of course. She actually came to have me do her taxes. She's a partner in a business that always files an extension for the business taxes so it makes her taxes late, too. We haven't even done the taxes yet! We've just visited, and yesterday we went to Hardy, Arkansas to go to the antique and craft stores. It was also a good trial for Bill and his little tanks. It's also a little hilly and of course walking in and out of the shops. We had lunch in a little diner and then started out. Bill sat on the benches outside most of the time, but it was really hot again so he couldn't stay out long. We all got pretty tired and headed home and got in about 5, just in time to order pizza and just sit again.

Bill did fine and we had to change his tank while we were there, but we managed just fine.

Today is going to be for taxes and a little insurance research and more visiting. She's leaving tomorrow, she thinks. She says as long as she gets home in time to go to work Weds. afternoon, but I think now she's leaning toward tomorrow.

It's supposed to cool down tomorrow and I am really ready. The temperature on the bank in Hardy said that it was 100 yesterday afternoon, and Hardy is in the foothills of the ozarks. It's been just as hot here in the flatlands. But, tomorrow the high is only supposed to be 79 and a little rainy...nice fall weather.

So, that's why this is late, our week was adventurous but nice with family around. Until next time, and it should be on time!

This week has been trying at times. If you remember, I've told you about the problem with our washer drain. We've not gotten anyone to look at it, I just stop the washer while it's draining. Since it only does it when the wash cycle is over, I just have to look at the time when I start it, and about 20 minutes later, give or take a minute, it's time. Well, I decided to wash a couple of our little throws that were looking a little dingy. After I got them started, I got a box of paperwork to look through to shred and...you guessed it, I missed the time by 5 minutes. There was water everywhere! So, mopped and sopped and then had to wash a load of towels. We still haven't gotten anyone to look at it yet, but it's going to have to happen.

I noticed on Thursday that Bill was getting very winded, or so it seemed, whenever he walked. We are also still dealing with these colds and he's coughing more than usual and it sounds productive but I don't think he's actually coughing anything up enough to get it out, or if he is, he's just swallowing it. Anyway, he had walked through the house looking for me and was breathing very hard when he sat down, so I checked his O2 sat and it was 86. It did come up to 90 but didn't go any further. So, got him back on the O2 and that's when the battle really started. He says he's doing fine without it and he doesn't notice that he sounds like a freight train without it. It could also all be due to the cold restricting him, but I don't think so. I'm thinking that the emphysema is progressing faster than we thought it would.

He will sit with it on with no problem, but he takes it off to walk to the bathroom or kitchen, which defeats the purpose! I showed him how far he could go with it on (it's 47 feet of tubing), so he's pretty independent with it. He can go into the computer/laundry room to his chair, he can get coffee and put it in the microwave if necessary and use the toaster. Of course he can go to the bathroom with no problem. But, he's still fighting me every step of the way! Not only do we have the concentrator, and an extra one in his mancave to use while he's on the treadmill, we have 6 small ones to use when we are out and about and 2 4 ft. tanks that have a wheeled cart. I told him we could put one of those tanks, with a separate length of tubing in the kitchen so he could take the trash out. He can also use a small tank in his backpack to take the trash to the curb on pick-up day. Yes, it's inconvenient but it's doable. So, we shall see what happens in the coming week. 

We haven't gotten the paper itinerary yet, but Mayo called this week with his appointment schedule and it will work perfectly with what we were planning. So, I have all of our hotels booked and, including the visit with his sister, we will be gone exactly 2 weeks.

Well, better get started with my chores. I'm going to put the laundry room back together since I know that everything has dried out by now. It's almost time to start changing out clothes. We are both so ready for fall. It's supposed to be in the 90s all next week again, and has been this week. It's also been more humid again. It did rain most of the night after we went to bed and a little this morning. It looks like it could rain again and it is supposed to rain at different points throughout the day. But, I have no real plans to go anywhere so it can rain all it wants.

Hope everyone has had a good week and will have a good one ahead. We're planning another little day trip next week-end so that will be something to look forward to. Have a good week-end!

The day is getting away from me. I guess because we slept later this morning, although by sleeping in standards, we still got up pretty early. But it was later for me than usual.

We both gave in and let the cold that's going around get the best of us. I caught it Tuesday and felt horrible until Thursday. I still don't feel great, but much better than I did. Emily told me it lasts about 8 days before feeling really good so I'm about halfway there. Bill started getting "snotty" Thursday and felt bad yesterday. He feels and looks better today so maybe because of his daily antibiotic he didn't get a full dose.

We received some very sad news Wednesday. Our transplant friend Paul passed away Wednesday morning after a short but painful battle with lung cancer that moved to several other organs. He was a sweetheart of a man and will be missed by a lot of people. As one member of the support group said, he was truly grateful every day for his heart and the extra time he was given.

Our weather is supposed to start cooling down this coming week and we've been told that the lows will start in the 50s and drop to the 40s by later in the week. I don't know if I'm ready to turn the heat on yet, but I am ready for the 90s to be gone.

We went to Applebees for our anniversary dinner Saturday night. We like their 2 for $20 and 2 for $25 menu. And for those who don't frequent them much, you can get 1 meal from the $20 and 1 from the $25 for $22.50. Isn't that fun to know? We really don't care about the cost that much, we just like the food and they do a good steak.

Those are the highlights of our week. We're finally getting the hedges trimmed today. The young man gave us a quote of $30 for 7 bushes/hedges and I told him that was way too low. He said he hates giving estimates and he's always too low. So, until next week...have a good one!

Another normal week. I don't even really know what to put here. We had no problems with health, although Bill is coughing more lately and doesn't seem to want to do anything. He's done this before so I'm not sure what's going on. The weather has changed and a lot of people around have head colds. But, his cough is just his normal cough and all of his vital signs are good, so it's puzzling.

We did make an impromptu trip to Dyersburg, TN to JoAnn Fabrics. We were gone exactly 2 hours and it's a 45 minute trip each way. We went for one specific thing and it was in stock. Since the drive is through the country, and a lot of our trips are through the country even when it's not by choice, we, or at least I, noticed that farmers have started harvesting the corn. That means that defoliating the cotton will begin soon and I will want to hibernate.

We've heard from our Florida friends and family and they have all weathered the storm. Most had mainly rain. I've seen that our South Carolina ones have been online, so they must be OK too.

I felt the big Oklahoma earthquake this morning. By the time the wave got here, it just felt like I was laying in a hammock gently swaying instead of my bed that shouldn't be moving. I didn't hear any rattling of glassware or anything and Bill felt nothing at all. And, our OK people are fine.

Looking at our calendar for September, there is nothing on it except for today. It is our 26th anniversary, and Bill's daughter Aimee and husband Lee's anniversary, and I think for them it is #10. We're probably going out to eat tonight, although I told Bill even if we ordered pizza that would be OK too since our first "date" was pizza. One of the effects of the stroke is that Bill doesn't have much concept of time. He asked me how many years this would be and when I told him he just said "Damn, has it been that long?"! I don't know if he was meaning that's a long time or it doesn't seem like it's been that long, and I don't think I want to find out! I'll just take it as time flies when you're having fun!

All for now. For those of you who watch college football, enjoy the games today. As for us, we'll stick to watching baseball!