Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Son on the mend

C got his sutures out on his knee, about 8 inches long.  There are steri-strips that will just fall off on their own in a week's time, but this means he can shower and not have to wear a leg bag to keep his leg dry.  He can wash off the Betadine, which was itching fiercely, and scratch (within reason).  He goes back in 4 weeks for xrays to see how it is healing.  He is doing his exercises twice a day, and has  a decent amount of movement in flexing his leg.  Funny, I always thought that after something is immobilized, it would be all floppy when the cast was removed.  But instead it is rigid, and it takes quite a regimen to get the flexibility back.  I learned this when I broke my wrist years ago.  It took ages of time  and work to get to where I could turn my hand palm up.















I have been thinking about my second cataract removal, and I think I may have to resort to a multi-focus lens ($$$$) instead of the monocular one I have in the left eye.  I can't figure how I will be able to apply eye makeup when I won't have any close vision without reading glasses.  I have to remove my glasses and stand directly, closely, in front of the mirror now, but I still have a tiny amount of vision for very close vision.  It will be gone once my lens is removed.  And the left lens is hopeless under a foot or two.

Always something.

Sunday N and I cleaned one of the stalls in the barn, it was a disaster for several reasons I won't go into.  It nearly killed us.  I think the horses will have to be left out in the pasture for the rest of the summer, something I have never done.  They have grain, hay, water, shade, shelter and we can keep our eyes on them when a storm blows up.  Most of our thunder storms last about 10 minutes; so as long as they don't go crazy and try to run through the fence they should be good.  I'll try a new fly repellant once I get to the feed store ; most of them are a waste of money, they only work for a couple of hours max.  And I'll get to see the baby duckies again.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "If we're being chased by a bear, I don't have to run faster than it ; I only have to run faster than you."


Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Bird(s) of a feather

This is a photo (from the net) of a bird we saw at the feeder yesterday.  It is a mountain bluebird and it''s on the wrong side of the continent.(Well, it could be an indigo bunting, which is found in our area.)  Their range is CA to AK, approximately, and not in WV.  By all rights this should be an eastern bluebird, but the belly was not rusty; it was blue all over.  So I am stumped, also, in that they are insect eaters and only rarely will eat peanuts, etc. and the feeder it was on was the squirrel feeder which does contain peanuts.  So I dunno, was it lost?  Or an eastern one with crop out coloring?  Only saw it the once, so far.  Maybe all the weird weather and storms out west blew it off course?

My really good news is that I have been excused from jury duty next month.  I sent a letter from my eye surgeon's office stating that I am scheduled for eye surgery July 1 and would need that day and two others off.  The circuit court clerk called me today and said that this group of jurors is for one particular trial and so I am excused totally.  Yeah!!  And I bet I know which (murder) trial it will be, and I don't want any part of it.  Especially photos.  I was dreading the entire process, and now I can impatiently wait for the surgery, so my eyes will "match".


bumper sticker for the day:  "If at first you do succeed, try not to look surprised..."

Friday, May 15, 2015

Tired

Son (C) developed a HUGE hematoma suddenly, on the back of his knee (the one he broke), a deep black and purple, the size of a hand, and a smaller one, about half that size.  I didn't  like the look of it, worried about blood clots in the leg that might travel to lungs, etc.  He tried calling the ortho doctor that did his surgery, but it went straight to voice mail.  After waiting an hour and a half, I called the hospital and they paged the on-call doctor, but no response.  So, off to the ER, and after a long wait the ortho doctor came and unwrapped his leg (bandages toe to upper thigh) and she said the bruising is within normal limits.  The good part is they removed all the bandages and we got a good look at the incisions, and they re-wrapped it lightly and without all the pinch-y and wrinkled bits, much more comfortable.  I don't care if we overreacted, I'd never get to sleep thinking about it.  He gets the sutures out next Friday.

I am scheduled to get the right eye cataract removed in July.  Everything is so confusing now, and I need the two eyes to work things out between them.  The left eye has very good far sight, but the right eye needs my glasses to read up close.  No depth perception.   I understand the reasons behind not doing both eyes at once, but dang it, I'm dropping things and misjudging where doors are (crunch).  I'll be glad when the eyes match.

I got a new fountain pen in the mail from China.  It is called "Jinhao" and is nicely weighted and writes great.  The cost was $3.89 with free shipping.  I don't see how they could clear costs, but anyway I am happy with this nice pen.  I have given up, for now, buying vintage Parkers, the cost of them is ridiculous, the price of a restored pen for one that is not restored and not useable as is.  Still keeping an eye out for pens at flea markets, etc., but even there the prices are too high, given that restoration costs around $45 for a simple fix.  I can do a very simple bag replacement myself, but that is it.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "Teach your kids about taxes:  eat 30% of their ice cream."






Saturday, May 09, 2015

Everyone is OK

C had his surgery Friday (yesterday) and it went well. His knee is currently immobilized in a pressure bandage to keep the swelling down, and he has considerable pain.  But he will sleep much better at home, without the constant stream of medical staff.  Sometimes I think the night shift people enjoy waking patients up...

My cataract surgery went well, and I am currently wearing my eyeglasses with the left lens removed.  I like the distance correction, but am disappointed that the close vision is so blurry.  Ah well, that may improve as the eye heals.

The old computer is slowly turning toes up, so this is short.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "Gone to my happy place.  Be back soon!"

Monday, May 04, 2015

Surgery

Wednesday I am getting the cataract removed from my left eye.  This has been scheduled for more than a month and is really no big deal.  But Friday my son, C is getting his knee repaired.  He fell at work and broke his tibia, but the main damage he did for long term functioning of the joint concerns the "pit" in the top surface of the tibia (the tibial plateau). It was found on the CAT scan he had done this morning.  Left alone to heal, it will either fuse or erode away until a knee replacement is needed.  On Friday the surgeon will take a piece of bone from his hip and use a plate and screws to hold it in place on the top surface of the tibia.  He will be laid up the entire summer, and then rehab.  But it will give him a functional knee.  They told him that he is the ideal candidate for this surgery:  no smoking, no drinking, no drugs, no allergies, no meds, physically fit, not overweight.   I am trying to forget all the things that could go wrong with the surgery and its aftermath.  I wish I was the one having the surgery instead of him.

This is going to be a long summer.

I have been enjoying looking at "99+ creepiest WalMart customers".  Today we went to our local Wally world and I swear I saw somebody from there.  It was these two enormous women, a minimum of 450 lbs. apiece,wearing spandex and enough face makeup to paint the Golden Gate bridge, each one on one of those powered carts, sailing up and down the aisles.  Between them they blocked the entire aisle, like two semis passing one another up a steep incline.  I was trying to find a package of something and they kept coming toward me, I scurried out of the way because I had no assurance they would stop in time, or just roll on over me.  We moved on and so did they, whirrrrr.  When I had a cast on a few years back, I snagged one of those carts.  I kept getting these stink-eyes from the heavy folks who were forced to walk as  a result.  I'm overweight, but geez, each was more than two of me.  I think they need elbow exercises, i.e., pushing themselves away from the table.

They had baby ducks and chicks at the feed store where we buy horse grain.  I could watch them for ages, they are so cute.  They are only exceeded by the baby rabbits.  I would like to raise chickens, but I am sure the neighbors would object.  And of course we don't need something else to take care of.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "Despite the high cost of living it continues to be very popular."


Sunshine, Happiness

We have sunshine!  Yesterday it was a little warm (84) but in the morning it was cool and sunny, the best combination.  I am not a fan of sunshine, that is, of sun bathing.  It makes my head ache, and my face to become neon red.  As a result, a lifetime of avoiding sun on myself, and despite living in Miami for my first 20 years, I have no wrinkles and no "age spots" which are really a result of too much sun.  I have had only one sunburn, and that was enough for me for the rest of my life!  And it was before effective sunscreens, of which I am a patron.  Should have bought stock in Coppertone.

When I had my last visit with the oncologist, he did a blood test of Vitamin D3, and found that mine was way low.  Not enough sunshine or milk?  So I have been taking a D3 supplement, 4000 IU a day, plus the amount in my calcium and multivitamin (1500 IU).  I' have been told it is necessary to form bone, and I am too lazy to go to Web MD to look it up.  Right now I am taking 17 meds everyday, counting multivitamins and such.  Four antidepressants, thyroid, etc.  It's a wonder I don't rattle when I walk.

This computer is acting up these days, going wonky when I am doing nothing but reading, and then I get a blue screen of death and the whole thing reboots.  I looked online for a fix and I thought I had it nailed.  But now I am getting a different message on the blue screen  "IRQL not less than or equal"  I have no idea what that is.  I need a new computer, one with more memory and less glitches, but I am waiting for Windows 10, as I hear nothing good with Win 8.  Meanwhile I save everything as I go along (especially here). 

Bumper sticker for the day :  "I've found your problem.  You need a user upgrade."