What's going on?

December is always a busy month, and this December, so far, hasn't been an exception.

Alan and I have had the usual and unusual rounds of doctor's appointments.  He's still cancer free after almost 13 years, Praise God!

I had a scare after we returned from vacation.  Right after we got back I had an appointment with our GP, and after a standard urine test, she decided I needed antibiotics because I seemed to have a bladder infection.  Too much information?  Just wait!  Well after two weeks, the antibiotics hadn't cleared up the infection so she wanted me to have an ultra sound.  That showed something she didn't like, so she wanted me to have a renal CT scan.  That showed a "mass in the right kidney" and she referred me to a kidney specialist, for which it took almost two months to get an appointment.   Finally after all that waiting he told me I had watery cysts which was a common affliction among the elderly -- yes, I'm officially an elderly -- and I was fine.  No cancer or any indication of cancer. 

All that time I had put on hold having total knee replacement.  I guess my trip back home to attend my 50th high-school reunion pushed me to make that decision.  I was pretty miserable, even though I had a scooter to get around with.  And our vacation to Lancaster County, PA, while it was enjoyable was still pretty painful. 

So last week I finally got back in to see my orthopedist (I had also seen him prior to going back to Runnemede) and I will have total knee replacement on January 11th.  I can't wait.  I wish I could have both knees worked on at the same time, but then where would that leave me?  Also, I wasn't given that option.

Mixed in with all those appointments has been the hope, but not the reality of shopping in stores.  So I've ordered most things on-line.  I haven't wrapped a thing, yet, though.  And I have at least 20 gifts that need either bagging or wrapping.  However, I can't find my wrapping paper keeper that is usually stored with my Christmas stuff.  So, I need to get at least to the Dollar store and get paper and/or bags:  a sore, uncomfortable trip, but I can't let my shopper do that for me.  I'm pretty fussy about what I like for wrapping presents in. 

And, the only Christmas cards I have addressed are the ones to my grandchildren.  And I know you all love to get cards from me at Christmas time, right?  Well, not this year -- and not last year, and not the year before.  In fact, in my married life-time, I think I only sent out Christmas cards  maybe 10 Christmases.  I have to admit that.  I think if cards still cost 10 cents to mail, I might be induced into sending them, but at 44 cents (it is 44 cents, right?) I'll just write to you all:  Merry Christmas and remember what you're celebrating and why you're celebrating.

ttfn

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I shall become a grandmother again.  I told Alan (on Sunday) that Cyndi, our youngest, will have her baby on Wednesday, November 9.

Today she called me and told me that she was having her baby tomorrow, if not sooner.  Since it's now 9 p.m. on November 8th, I have no doubt that we could still have a baby today since Cyndi is one of those fortunate women who has babies very easily and very quickly.  However, I still think it will be tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 9.

I find it so amazing that these days letting a woman go at least two weeks past her due date is not common practice.  When I had my children -- all of which were late, by the way -- it wasn't even considered no matter how much one begged their ob-gyn doctor to "please, get this lump out of me."  Yes, I was one of those beggars. 

My first was a week late, my second was a week late, and Cyndi was almost a month late, or the Army doctors were way off on her due date when I tested pregnant.

Cyndi, my youngest is having another baby!  Yippee.  I can't wait.  It's a girl, by the way, and her name is Savannah.

I'm praying for another easy birthing for her and that she goes into labor before she's induced.

ttfn

It's me, again

I cannot believe it has been almost two weeks since I posted anything on my BLOG.  I have to blame it, once again, on old age aches and pains. 

Have I read any good books lately?  I know you all want to know.  Well, yes, as a matter of fact I have.  Nothing heavy, though.

It is, after all, the beginning of the Christmas reading season.  So, I had downloaded 30 or so Christmas books that were either free on Kindle or 99 cents -- this was done throughout the last year, since last Christmas. 

A couple of weeks ago I read Nicholas Sparks' newest, The Best of Me.  Very enjoyable. 

I've decided to read a Christmas book one day and a free download from one of the Christian publishers another day.  Of course, the beginning of the month gives me a plethora of new material to choose from.  It's so much fun.

Alan is getting me the Kindle Fire for Christmas and it's supposed to arrive in a couple of weeks.  He won't let me have it before Christmas, and he's going to fiddle with it.  I sure hope he doesn't break it or mess it up for me.  He hasn't had much success with working with his own Kindle and has me show him over and over and over how to order books or do some of the other things that Kindle does.   Funny thing is, he knows how it works, but can get it to work.  Same with his computer.  Except for Excel, which I can't figure out at all, and really don't want to, he asks me 'how to' questions quite often.

Well, enough rambling for three o'clock in the morning.  So I'll say:

ttfn

Another day in a hospital

Seems it's my turn to be in the hospital -- not for any overnight stays, but for tests. I had to go in for a test today, and, of course, the weather is lousy. Cold (wind chill at 30) and rainy. Last week I also went in for a test (same problem) and the weather was just plain rainy -- hard, driving rain, but at least the temperature was around 70 degrees.

I've been having kidney problems for a couple of years and when we got home from vacation there were markers that I was having more than just low functioning kidneys, so I was sent in for an ultra-sound of my kidneys. That was last week and the pictures showed that there was a mass of some sort in there, so this Thursday (seems to be the out-patient day for me) I went in for CT scan. I won't know until next week what the results are.

I'm just lazing around wondering what's in there. Is it a large blot clot? Is it a large kidney stone? I've had small ones before. Is it a tumor (Yikes, I hope not!). Is it perhaps a hair ball? Just kidding on that one. I don't eat my hair like some people on TV do. Yuck.

Oh, yeah, I am NOT in pain, nor do I have any other complaints, other than the usual. To you young folks, don't get old. I said that to the nurse today and she said, "Do you know how many times a week I get told that?" I guess I'm not alone in the aches and pains department. My PT specialist says its the weather. Okay, I can buy that. We've had crummy weather for four days, and my pain levels have been at about 7 in all joints for that many days.

So, when I find out what's happening I'll post it here on the Fat Lady BLOG for all the world that is interested to know.


ttfn

Prayer works

Anyone reading this, please pray for me. I have had a bad bout of fibromyalgia. Alan has prayed for me several times, and I get relief for several hours after that, mostly. But the symptoms are driving me up a wall. Not only the hurt, but the creepy/crawlies that sometimes accompanies these attacks. It's been four days now. Not fun.

On the bright side: My porch is lovely and I'm enjoying the sun, at short intervals. My next grandchild is due in about five weeks. I'm looking forward to welcoming a new baby into our ever-growing family.

I think I had the most grandchildren born to my birthed children (not step-children) of anyone at the reunion. People kept commenting on what a wonderful gift it was for me to have that many "grands". And it is. I love them all. Wish I could see them all more often.

Thinking about Christmas. Lots of shopping is already completed. Just a few more gifts to get, then the wrapping begins.

Thanksgiving? Not sure what we're doing yet, whether we're going to go down to Tennessee for the week, or stay home alone (not wanting to do that).

So, I've updated my BLOG so my sister knows I'm alive and almost well for this week.

ttfn

No pain, no gain

Well, the physical therapist has upped the ante. Today we started working on the knees in addition to the back, in preparation for surgery in January. I asked for it. I asked that they do what they normally do for a patient who has bad knees. I need to have the surrounding muscles doing a good job before they slice me open :).

Am I worried? Scared? Not really. I guess I just got tired of the constant pain, except when I sit down, and then the painlessness is not a given any more.

It seems that when we were in Lancaster County I did too much walking. I didn't think I was hurting anything, even though my body was trying to tell me something, I suppose of the total-muscle-cramp days.

At least the doctor visits are over for at least a week, then they start up again. Yippee!

ttfn

Another day, another doctor visit

Tomorrow, hopefully, is the last one for a while.

Alan's oncologist called yesterday (well, not the doctor, but his head nurse) and told me, because Alan wasn't here, that Alan's creatin level was high, and that his kidney function was lower than last time. So I wrote all that down, and was telling this to Alan.

Low and behold, this a.m. my doctor's nurse called to tell me that I had a bladder infection and she was prescribing Cipro for me, and that I should make a date with her for 10 days from now. Okay, done! Then the nurse preceded to tell me that there were a couple of other "issues". My kidney function was down (again) and I should drink more water. I told her I was drowning now, but I'd drink more water, then she tells me that my creatin levels were a bit high. Sound familiar. My creatin level was the same as Alan's, and my kidney function wasn't much better.

Golly it's fun getting old.

Then she told me that my cholesterol was high and I should cut out red meat. I told her I eat red meat, maybe, twice a month. And she asked if I was taking my Rx for cholesterol. I told her, "No. I've read too much about the bad effects of Lipator and Crestor, and I'm going to die someday anyway. Does it matter which way I go, or when I go?" She laughed, and said, "You think just like I do."

We're both about the same age (the nurse being about 5 years younger than I am), and about the same weight, only she has diabetes.

The good news is: my blood sugar levels are good and there is no evidence that I'm on my way to diabetes, and my BP is really good.

So thankful for good news!

Alan's gets to see our GP tomorrow and gets to find out about a few matters that his oncologist wanted him to check with our GP, including his ability to faint dead away at any time of the day or night, at the most inconvenient times, and for which even his neurologist cannot find a reason. Hmmm. Maybe it's because he, too, is getting older?

Next time I go to my favorite doctor, that being my GP, I'm going to ask her to refer us to a gerontologist and cry as I wave goodbye to her. I really do like Dr. Caoili (pronounced ko-wheel-lee) and she always spends as much time as I want or need to just listen to me.

Finally, I've been crying a lot lately. I cry when I see a 55 MPH sign on the highway (just kidding, but you criers know what I mean). Well, I had forgotten that the fibromyalgia medicine that I cut out because of the charley horse problem I had on vacation where my whole body locked up, and charley horses was a side effect of this particular medicine. Well, I should have backed out of it slowly instead of cold-turkeying out of it. That aside. The medication is also an antidepressant, which I had forgotten about, because it wasn't prescribed because I have a problem of being depressed. Well, the crying, she said, is probably because I cut myself off from that medicine.

So, as I'm weeping here, trying to finish today's epistle, I just want to say that I feel good. I had a good physical therapy session in which I actually rode a bicycle for several minutes before my knees quit on me (that fact makes me cry -- the fact that I could ride a bike for a couple of minutes) and I got my weights increased that I have to lift with my legs and arms, so it was a good session.

And I'm crying because my personal assistant came today and got my house back in order, all the laundry from our trip put away, the house now smells clean, and a new slew of groceries was purchased. I really missed her while I was away, but she kept my house clear of unwanted visitors while I was away and I always enjoy her company.


And that's all I have to say about all this stuff written mostly for the benefit of my family.

ttfn