Sunday

This was a strange week.

J got his second shingles vax and his flu shot last Sunday. I had no idea he was going to do this, otherwise I would have advised against both of them in one day.  However, he did, and on Monday he woke up in a lot of discomfort: pain in his arm, headache, nauseated, flu-like symptoms. I knew immediately it was a reaction to the vaccinations, and he was basically in bed all day, sleeping, or drinking water or juice. Poor guy.

Also Monday I'd emailed Halifax HS for Willow's shot record, and as of today (a week later) they have not responded; on their website they practically guarantee a quicker response via email compared to sitting on hold on their phone. Oh well. It took me all week to text and hear back from the former owner; she re-sent the records so I could just make out the types and dates. I ended up printing those pages out, and then spent two more days with the 24petwatch/chip registration people trying to get Willow registered as belonging to us. Again, I'd had to contact the former owner and have her contact the chip place to release her ownership... it was a complicated mess, but it's done now.

Tuesday morning we drove to J's cardiologist. Other than a longer than usual wait time, absolutely nothing was wrong. His doc was thrilled with his labs, and also with his US results, and the Holter monitor had just showed his usual AF a few times. Other than commenting on the weight gain (10 pounds) he said, "See you in 6 months, buddy--great job!"   So J was very relieved, and  was incredibly happy he didn't need a pacemaker!

On Tuesday afternoon, a man suddenly stopped at our driveway while J was outside watering the plants. Fifteen minutes and a test drive later he had handed J $1400 cash, and taken the title with him, saying he'd be back in the morning to pick up the car.  

He walked off without a bill of sale, so J spent some time with the DMV on Wednesday afternoon making sure the car wasn't registered to him anymore, surrendering the license plate, etc. 

The guy came by at noon on Wednesday: his wife got out of their big truck and got in the Honda, and he had her drive it, following him as they drove away. Not a word to us! J had a bill of sale all written up, but he wasn't there 3 minutes, and never came to the door.

Fortunately he ended up calling J about something else that day and did end up coming back, signed the bill of sale twice, and took a copy without waiting for J to sign. Very strange. In any case we're not dealing with the Mob or anything.  Very weird.  It appears to be real money, and that's all that matters. 

I had said my private goodbyes to the Honda the night before, and will miss it, although I haven't driven it for a long, long time. I'd had an almost identical Honda in OR before we left, and so being the recipient of this Honda, my sister's, was a Godsend. I loved it so much. I really missed that Honda, although it became too difficult to get in and out with my back issues. I hated giving it up to instead drive my SUV, but my back is very appreciative.

Thursday we didn't do much-- that I remember. J made a bad mistake after his morning walk with Missy: he went back out and ran/walked another half mile. He was a little sore afterwards but the pain really kicked in on Friday. He could hardly move without a lot of pain. He took some pain relievers, and rested, and moved slowly that day and the next.

Today he seems the same, still hurting, with the added stress of stomach issues, as a result of forgetting to take his Creon at the appropriate time while eating. He's really struggling. He has an appt with a therapist this week, and hopefully he can get some help.

We went to the Meeting Saturday, and although about half the members were gone to the conference, it was still a very nice group with lots of important sharing.  

At home later we did some cleaning, and J rearranged the kitchen rug and table; and I tackled some paperwork/filing that I'd been putting off.  I started a folder for Willow, and sorted out all the medical receipts and papers. I'm actually running out of room in the file cabinet, so it's time to go through older files to see what I really need to keep.

That was actually what we (me and my two closest friends) were discussing after the meeting. Each of us is the Organizer, while the Partner is the one who'd be lost if we all dropped dead suddenly. We don't want to leave the Partner adrift at such a horrible time, so we shared tips on how we set things up. It was very helpful.

Other than that Life goes on. 

Willow is slowly adjusting to living in a house, with other cats, and with the dogs (who ignore her) and with us. It's a quiet household generally, but she is still spooked by the big black cats who are so curious about her.  She is so much smaller, despite being three years old, born March 10 of 2020. (Wasn't that mom's birthday?? Spooky.) 

I do my stretching/yoga every morning, but this week I've been quite tired afterwards. I've had the ongoing headache, and have tried all my usual remedies. J seems convinced it's tension -- I have heard that all my life. 

But what the hell!  Tension??  my life is pretty darn good overall. I have a couple of health issues which have a varying affect on my energy level every single damn day.  Aside from that, I am pretty lucky.  I have time and desire to watch old movies, and read, and do all the organizing stuff I wanted to do. I'm very grateful for that.

I'd thought I would try to sell some books, but after I'd spent almost an hour on one site, entering ISBN numbers, I was offered less than $12 for all 26 of them. That's BS. Not at all worth it.

Then I read about ebay, and spent some time looking at the site, which I haven't been on in easily 15 years. It's much different. I might try that... although I got sidetracked and ended up buying a book for my own collection. Oops. It's a book I've been looking for  specifically to add to this collection for almost 40 years, and although it was listed at $13, I just marked it as "watching". Two hours later the seller offered it to me for $8. I snapped it up.  I'm very excited.

But that sure doesn't solve the problem of what to do about these books I want to sell.  

Our neighbor Chris is due this week to come and mow, which he does as a favor to us. 

J got paid Wednesday so we paid all our bills, and fainted with shock at the FPL bill--it keeps getting higher and higher.  

Apparently there is  a tropical storm out there, which is due to become a hurricane heading close to us...J hasn't boarded up the storm windows yet, and I hope he doesn't. Not yet.

We look intermittently for a new stove, but holy COW they are expensive. The one we saw and liked at the scratch and dent store was $750. Good God. We'll keep looking.

MissS and Kit are vacationing for a long weekend at Amelia Island, so although I miss her, it's good for her to get away.  

One of my former co-workers/friends I had in OR texted me this week. She is coming to Orlando in 2 weeks and wanted to know if we could get together, having no idea where I was in FL in relation to Orlando. I seriously thought about it, but then wrote her a lengthy text explaining my unreliable health issues, and why I just couldn't do it.

 She wrote back the most heartfelt declaration of empathy, love, friendship , and understanding. She'd not realized how difficult this cancer battle was for me, and totally understood; her grandmother, MIL, and best friend have all died from some form of cancer in the last 2 years. She just expressed so much sympathy, and that felt so nice. I reminded her I had two sons and a granddaughter still in Eugene, and if we ever did go for a visit, we could make plans for a visit then. What a sweetheart. She has a full-time job, and two littles, and a husband who also works full-time, and I totally remember how stressful life can be at her stage in life. 

Well, I've been writing for an hour, and need to stop. My neuropathy in my hands is slowly improving, thank the gods. Still, I don't want to piss those gods off...

TYG

 

Sunday

 Well, it's almost 4:30. I didn't wake up in time to write this morning, so since MissS has just left I can try to now. 

I am feeling so sleepy. This is day 5 of the Continuing Headache. I don't know if it's weather related or what. I'm trying not to take so many pills and therefore I don't run to grab something at the first sign. Still, after a while I just get so frustrated with the ever-present pressure. I took a generic Excedrin a half hour ago, and will probably try a muscle relaxer tonight.

Last Monday was J's final rehab appt, yay! It ended up running longer than normal, so we barely had time for J to pick up the carrier cage with Willow in it, and we hurried out the door to the vet. (Fortunately she had easily walked into the carrier first thing that morning, and her oh-boy-canned!  kitty food contained some sedative medication. She was asleep within 20 minutes, and slept most of the day; we'd brought her inside and kept her in the guest room with the door shut. Every time we checked on her she'd sleepily chirp back at us, and then go back to sleep. So cute.)

At the vet we discovered she was not only chipped, but spayed! The vet said she was probably 1 year old, maybe 2. He commented on her pretty green eyes, and her sweet nature. The staff tried to reach the owner but had to leave a message. They gave us the chip's phone number too, so I tried calling the next day, saying that I would not be calling again, and that I'd assume she no longer wanted the cat if she didn't return the call.

Four hours after leaving that msg, she called back. The short story is she no longer wants the cat. She had bought her at Halifax in April of this year where she was listed as a 3-year-old Female, named Bertha. (Bertha!! UGH) J and I  were both so shocked--there is no way she is 3 years old. The former owner is a single mom with a daughter, and works full-time.  She said this cat didn't get along with her original cat. (A likely story.)  

And she said she would normally leave the back door open after she got home from work and started dinner so the cats could go in and out, and one night about 6 weeks later this cat didn't come home. She was absolutely thrilled that we wanted her, and that she had shown up at our house, although the story gets stranger when you think that she, the owner, lives in S Daytona. Miles from here. How did the cat get here?? We'll never know.

Anyway, that was all Tuesday. I also had had my infusion that morning, which always makes me sleepy afterwards.I saw DrA also, and he said the toenail thing was related to the chemo effects on my body. Huh.  

I called and spoke with Sponsee, and that was wonderful too.  She is really getting into her writing. She and her husband are starting the remodeling of their new kitchen,  and she plans to come down here alone in the middle of Winter. It'll be nice to see her again.

Wednesday Willow's former owner texted me the shot records, but they arrived blurry, and unable to be read. I'll need to call Halifax and get the records and the name of the chip registry to update the information.

Wednesday also I had my echocardiogram, which I do every 3 months. J and I looked at electric stoves afterwards, at the scratch-and-dent store, but didn't see anything we thought was worthwhile. Tomorrow we'll go to Lowe's, and order the one we like which is on sale for a few more days. (EDIT:  we did not do this. Too expensive.)

Thursday J had his follow up with the ENT doc. The doc pulled a clump of wax out of J's ear, but said he still needed a month more of antibiotics orally, and some continued ear drops twice a day. He  had had the previous visits' earwax cultured, and it showed a fungal infection, candida something. J is still struggling to hear, of course. So we'll go back in a month.

Friday was J's appt with his dermatologist, his every 4 month's skin exam, at which she took another pre-cancerous sample from his head, this time. 

Saturday morning we headed to the Meeting. The big difference was that I didn't wear a scarf or anything on my head. It was my first time in public with just me and my new hair growth. Of course, my dearest friends there were thrilled to see me, and excited to tell me how wonderful it was to see me with my "new hair". I have amazing support from both my family and my friends... I feel pretty comfortable now. Not much I can actually do with the hair, but I have some mousse which gives it some shape for a few hours.

Afterwards we drove up to Sis' house, where she provided us with ham and cheese sandwiches, and wonderful vegan hummingbird cupcakes as a special treat.  Then Dad and J played a couple of games of chess, while Sis and I talked and got caught up.

We left a bit after 2, and got home around 4, planning to stop at a different Lowe's on the way home but got lost... so by the time we got home I was so stressed. We'd seen a turtle crossing the road on the other lane, and decided very quickly we would not stop to help, despite seeing a lot of oncoming cars. I've felt so guilty since then. We should have stopped. I hope the turtle is okay.  At home we jumped in the pool almost right away. My monster headache continues, and it was there this morning, too.

Saturday was also my youngest grand-daughter's birthday. She turned 7years old, and will be starting 2nd grade in a few weeks. Crimson also decided to cut her stunningly long dark blonde hair. It was down to her butt, and she had it cut to just below chin length. What a difference!  She looks older for sure. She is so little, though; her shoe size is 1, and her clothes size is 7. Amber sent me several photos of Crimson opening her gifts, so that was nice, and I was very happy to see them. 

MissS came today for a few hours, and we talked, and then watched the first two episodes of Men In Kilts; fortunately they were as funny as the first season, which was set in Scotland. This time they are in New Zealand, and lord, what a beautiful country it seems! I would love to visit there someday. When I win the lottery, you know.

She and Kit will be going to Amelia Island next weekend for a long 4-day, one-year anniversary of their meeting. I will miss her, but I know she'll have a wonderful time. I've seen some gorgeous photos of that place, Amelia Island; Kit's mom lives there.

This week we basically spent adjusting to and monitoring Willow's presence in the house. She spends most of her time so far in the guest room, stretched out along the window sill. She's very talkative,  very affectionate, and is slowly getting more comfortable coming out of that room to explore. The boys are very curious about her, but the dogs could care less. She's not used to dogs so she's a bit of a hiss-er at them but mostly she runs. She doesn't sit on the sofa with us yet, but we can tell she wants to.

Meanwhile the raccoon, and the ducks, and one other stray? outdoor kitty? still visit, and expect to find food.

This week J has a cardiology appt, at which for some reason he is expecting to be told he needs a pacemaker. I'm not sure why he thinks this, except for the fact that the cardiology office staff called to verify who his PCP is... J seems to think the two of them discussed what will happen next, but how he arrived at "pacemaker" is beyond me. The appt is at 10am on Tuesday, and of course I will be going.

Not much else going on. It's a grey day here, although not as hot as it has been, thank the gods. I heard from my former SIL that the fires are severe around Spokane, and she is particularly bothered by the smoke. Medical Lake especially is hard hit; we used to drive through there on the way up to mom's; it's not that far from her. Glad she is not here to be as worried as she used to get. 

Today the almost unbelievable hurricane Hilary is hitting the SouthWest, CA and AZ. Those poor people. Meanwhile we have 5 "tropical disturbances" in the Atlantic...J is planning on putting up the window coverings this week!! I must try to talk him out of it...if I can.

Well. TYG. Prayers for all of us...

 

Sunday

 I only have an hour, to write. MissS will be here at 11-ish so we can watch Outlander's final episode, because the next 8 episodes won't be on until 2024. Arghh!!

Last week was fairly quiet. Monday we were under an Excessive Heat Warning for this part of FL, so we stayed inside.  We did a thorough cleaning of the bedroom--moving furniture, dusting mopping, washing windows, changing sheets and bedspreads. J had a rehab appt, also, so I finished everything myself. When J came back we both collapsed.

Tuesday the Warning continued--in fact it continued all week. So despite this I did run outside for 30 minutes or so in the mid-morning. I desperately needed to trim the sweet almond and the ginger and the tall shrubs next to it. I worked as quickly as I could, and just left everything on the lawn.

Later J came out and picked all of it up in the wheelbarrow to drag out to the curb. Just that small amount of being outside was draining. 

I felt so guilty, feeding little Willow and yet not allowing her inside out of the heat. She greets us at the door, literally at the door frame when we bring her food and fresh water; she wants to come in. I want to remind her that if she had just come with us last week, we could allow her inside... poor little thing.

Wednesday J had another rehab appt, and tomorrow is the last one. He says they have been helpful. He's doing the antibiotics, and also doing the antibiotic ear drops twice a day as instructed, but still is having major difficulty hearing.

Using the white board is a huge pain. It makes me really consider whether what I have to say  write is really necessary. I take a minute or two to write what I want to share, and he reads it briefly and nods, or says "you're right". It's a very poor substitute for actual conversation.

And yesterday I really lost it in the store. We'd gone to the Meeting and I left feeling wonderful.  J hadn't heard anything, but he still chose to accompany me.  I really needed that meeting. 

Then in the store: I was so stressed by having to be in there in the first place when we only needed about 5 things.  I don't know what was going on, but the place was mobbed with families with their kids. What a madhouse. 

J had the list of things, but they were in 3 separate areas in that giant store. When I would try to clarify with him what we wanted, he couldn't hear me, so we'd stand there blocking the lane or the aisle as I tried not to shout. He'd shake his head and lean closer, saying "what?" I'd have to repeat it, and when he still couldn't hear me I'd think to myself, the hell with this. So I'd just grab the list back, and head off with the cart, and J would follow. I could feel my stress level going off the chart. I was trying to be polite, but this was clearly not working.

For example, he really wanted a simple coffee maker. HE knew what he wanted but in an entire aisle filled with coffee makers, he couldn't find it, and just kept getting angrier and more frustrated. I finally said, let's look online... and he agreed. But we must have spent 10 minutes searching up and down the whole aisle. Meanwhile people are manhandling their carts to get past us, and we're moving out of the way... it was crazy. 

At one point a very nice woman and her husband were in the same aisle, and she and I were both looking for Kleenex. Meanwhile our husbands were moving on, with the carts. J said to that husband, "TY for your service!"  The guy didn't hear him so J turned back to me, shrugging it off, and the wife said "Honey!! He's trying to thank you for your service".   Meanwhile J was looking at me expectantly, ready to move on; so I looked at the Wife and said,  "He can't hear you", pointing to my ears. 

She then poked her husband, "Honey, he can't hear you, say it again."  Then to me, "My grammy couldn't hear at thing either, we're used to leaning down and shouting-- it's okay!" Then J caught on to what the Husband was saying, and they had to exchange info on which branch of the service... etc.  If it hadn't seem to drag on forever, it might have seemed funny. Maybe we'll laugh later.

When we were ready to leave, the damn management had closed off half the self-serve registers, and  opened only four of the cashier-run registers; the lines were ridiculous. We finally got through, and were we done? No, we still had to hit Dollar General. 

When I parked the car, I misjudged where the bumper on the space was and parked almost out of the space and certainly not close enough to the bumper. So when J got out, very carefully because of the car next to him, he did accidentally touch the rim on that car (which made no dent or scratch).

However! The lady driving it panicked! She leapt out of the car, accusing him  of scratching it when he opened the door. J was trying to be polite but sounded a bit impatient to me. He turned around and carefully showed her where he had touched that bumper rim, and I called out that we were so sorry, and she then realized I was embarrassed and apologetic. Which calmed her down, but she kept talking!  She finally said she was going to move her car so this didn't happen again when we left. Oy.

In the store we were only looking for a new kitty box, and some birthday cards for my grandkids. J stood there patiently while I tried to hurry through my selection-- which made me more nervous.  I started to ask him to go look for the pet section for a kitty box--but he couldn't hear me. 

In the midst of trying to explain again, the car lady came bustling down the aisle towards me and again tried to explain why she'd been so freaked out (new car, just paid off, under 50K miles, etc) and I apologized again, and then J heard her, and started to share his experience with a new car he had been paranoid about... she didn't care, she wanted to just talk herself. Arghh!! 

Finally got my birthday cards, and started looking for the pet section, J following me. We ended up getting more kitty litter too, and a new water bowl. (The plan is to catch her in the morning, tomorrow, and store her in guest room until the time of the appt at 3. We hope.)

At home at last, he took a 3-hour nap, and I did my needle work, and tried to calm myself.  I watched a couple of movies, and played with the kitties, and Missy. (Murphy was asleep.)

I started a ratatouille for dinner, and then J woke up and we both got into the pool which was 93 degrees. That really helped a lot. It was a nice peaceful evening. 

I still am struggling with his hearing loss. So is he. He had woken up astonished that he'd slept so long. He finally admitted he might be dealing with some depression over Zeke and over the hearing loss. So he'll call his insurance Monday and see about speaking to a hearing professional for any options. Clearly the el cheapo hearing aids are not satisfactory at this point. And maybe he can get an appt with his counselor too.

MissS is on her way...

TYG

Sunday

 Interesting week. 

Monday I ordered a new collar for the new cat; we decided her name should be Willow, instead of Cheetah. While I love the new name because of her coloring, I also liked the name Cheetah--it described her legs perfectly.

J called and made appts for both she and Murphy at the vet for Wednesday. I was quite anxious about how we were going to capture the new kitty, but J was convinced all we had to do was pick her up and plop her in the carrier.

Tuesday I really don't remember--that might have been the day I asked J if he wanted me to make up a schedule kind of thing for his days, allowing for his writing and chores. To my surprise he agreed enthusiastically.  I found some templates on Google and made up a very simple daily schedule, encompassing the chores he felt badly about forgetting, and enough time for relaxing, napping, outside maintenance, etc. 

Then I made up a simple budget for us, now that we are switching to a credit union. I think I did it right, but I haven't shown J yet, because he is so overwhelmed with health issues right now.

But once I emailed "work" schedule, he was amazed at what I'd laid out for him and honestly has been going by it most days.  He seems very grateful.

Wednesday was Hell of a Day. J had an appt at the ENT office. We arrived at 10am, and after filling out new patient paperwork we waited until about 11:10 to be seen. Arghh. They finally called him back,  and apologized for the wait, saying there had been an emergency. This doc was very nice, quite efficient, and actually cleaned out some wax from both ears, saying both ears were infected. He was given an oral antibiotic and some antibiotic ear drops, and he is to go back in two weeks.

We were already exhausted after that! But he had a rehab appt at one, so he dropped me off at home, we had a quick lunch,  and then he left. I tried to nap because I'd not slept well, but couldn't manage more than 5 minutes before J called me to say he was on his way home. Sigh.

While he was gone, I thought I'd better catch the cat, so out I went. She let me pick her up and pet her, and she talked to me but the minute I tried sliding her into the carrier, she went wild.  She actually tried to bite me. No blood was drawn, but it scared me. I put her down and we got friendly again; she allowed me to stroke her, etc.  I didn't even try to catch her again. 

I went back inside to make sure Murphy was awake, and take him outside before getting into the car. Just then J came home, and he had stopped off at Walmart to pick up the new meds ($65 worth), so he went right outside to get the cat. And discovered she was gone. No sign of her, the brat. 

We ended up calling the vet to cancel her appt, and just took the dogs; Murphy is doing well for a 15 year old small dog. His murmur isn't worse, so that's good. The vet (another new one to us) clipped his toenails and he cried (of course!), but wow, what a difference. She cut way back farther than anyone has before, and he was noticeably happier.  He was given a shampoo for a suspected staph infection on his back, and we are to shampoo him 2-3 times a week. It is already clearing up after just one bath. 

Back at home we collapsed. Too much stuff happened that day!

Thursday we both rested: J started on his antibiotics and ear drops, but had forgotten he needed to eat something first so he was very uncomfortable for most of the day.   He slept a lot that day. I rested after doing my stretching, and watched a couple of movies, doing my needlework. We did get in the pool before the rain, but it was a false alarm: lots of thunder and dark threatening clouds, but no actual rain.

Friday morning was my pulmonology appt. DrReba hadn't sent the chart notes or the CT scan, so those had to be tracked down. But once that was done, and more PFTs for me, Dr Z agreed that I didn't need to be seen until February, 6 months out. Unless of course I develop new or worsening symptoms. 

So that is fabulous and shocking news-- another doc saying I just need every-6-month visits. I'm in stable health, and will be dealing with the lung condition as a chronic infection, rather than a new acute development. In other words, he doesn't expect it will go away.

That was a blow. But it was actually something I was sort of prepared to hear.  It's been almost 2 years now since I got so sick, and other than the fatigue and the memory issues and the occasional shortness of breath,  I'm feeling pretty normal. It's my new normal. 

Saturday was my meeting, and by then J was beginning to feel better--although once at the meeting his hearing failed again, and he told me later he only got to hear about 20% of the shares. Poor guy. 

I got to catch up with some of my friends, and  that's always reassuring.

On the way home I stopped into the used book store  I've been curious about for years. I walked in, and was immediately distracted by the bright cheerful displays, and all the books!  I finally remembered to ask the owner if they bought books, and was told yes, but hardcovers were only given fifty cents as store credit! So that's that. 

Then I got distracted again by some more books, and ended up buying two to add to my JD Robb collection. (I'm pretty sure I don't have these already...) I got back in the car where J was waiting for me, and sheepishly told him not only was this a bust for possibly buying my books, but I actually bought two more...and he burst out laughing. 

Oh well. I now know where I can go for more books, in a clean, and well-lit store. It was very welcoming, too. A win.

At home J said he was going to take a nap, but meanwhile I'd started weeding the  displays in the front of the house... and he got inspired too. So he trimmed the holly and the giant plant-things in front of the bedroom window, and then helped me sweep up the trimmings and weeds, and an hour later we were just Done. We both got in the pool and that helped so much. 

Then  he took a nap. I watched a couple of movies (some Westerns I'd recorded off TCM)  and finished the laundry, and started dinner. I think I can manage dinner more nights these days, but my damn back just  really hurts. Standing more than 15 minutes or so just makes it ache so much. With dinner I brought my heating pad, and J did the rest of the evening chores. 

We also began using a white board for communication. One for each of us. We are beginning the transition to aid in conversation. It's annoying, honestly. But if he can't wear the hearing aid due to pain from the infections, we need some way to "talk". It's definitely not ideal, but we have no choice. He is getting deafer and deafer quite quickly, and lots of times he seems to prefer not hearing. Not when we have people here, of course, or when he talks to the neighbors or his doctors, etc. But just in general. He doesn't seem to miss hearing music, or the wind in the trees, or the birds.

What's more frustrating is that --and maybe this is just because we are not used to communicating this way-- having to write things down makes each of us use fewer words. It's handy, yes, for brief spurts of time, or to clarify what we need at the store for instance; but the delight of conversation is rapidly fading. 

I now have a better idea of what my co-grandparent is going through, being unable to speak. Dondi had a stroke several years ago which has left him unable to use his voice. J is losing his hearing. The big difference is J is 85, and I don't think Dondi is even 50 yet.  Poor guy. 

Well. This was a busy week. And my computer has just given me a warning to plug in.

TYG