IT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING

I have to admit that I am tired. Frustrated. Just too much going on right now. Obviously everything that is going on with my brother and trying to work on having a service for him in Milwaukee is exhausting. I didn't even sleep last night. 

I am paying some of the services that needed to be done through the funeral home and at his apartment. We can't touch the money in his estate at this time. His will also has to go through probate. It will all get worked out but being so far away from Milwaukee and trying to coordinate things with my sister in Florida are definitely challenging. 

The theater people from Milwaukee, where he was a director, are anxious to have a service for him. We also need to set up something for taking his ashes out into Lake Michigan. Then you have the Delta Variant out there which is kind of scary. 

We originally wanted to drive but that alone is six days there and back. Yet I am not crazy about flying. I did however find, after wearing a mask in the hospital for over six hours,  that I might be able to do that on a plane. Of course some anxiety pills would help too! 

Had my third knee gel injection on Wednesday and saw my cardiologist on Thursday. Both in the same area but couldn't coordinate them for the same day. My cardiologist put me at ease with all of the questions I had for him. He said my arteries were perfect. No other testing to be done. Also talked about the long term affects of the medications I'm on. Nothing to be concerned about. 

I was very concerned about the A-Fib attack I had a few days after the angiogram. He made me feel comfortable about that too. I hadn't had one in 4 years. The older I get the more I might have but they are nothing to run to the hospital with and with my Xarelto I don't need to worry about blood clots forming. He did prescribe a pill that I can take if I have another one and it should settle the heart quickly. 

So I'm driving home from the cardiologist and a warning light comes on in my car. I pulled over on a side street and looked in the manual. Since I was just about a mile from the dealer I decided to stop in there and see what we could do. Honestly I haven't been in for service since 2019 but also wasn't driving my car much. 

If I would have continued to drive I could have hurt the engine. It was a leak in a pipe for the coolant. Actually there was about $3,000 in work that could be done which I would have liked to do because the car is going on 13 years old in September. However, I only have 50,000 miles on the car so some things just don't need to be done. Anyway what we decided to have done was $1,700. 

Today, Sunday, as I type this we have a man in our garage putting in a new hot water heater. We have been in the house for almost 15 years and had a repair about 6 years ago. So $2,500 is going out the door today with this service. 

Hopefully things will start to settle down. Didn't get to see James this weekend and I'm trying to push myself to do some house work and step away from the Hallmark movies on TV that I recorded. 

Regardless of everything....

THANKFUL THURSDAY

You can join Rebecca Jo here!

Just a quick post to say how thankful I am that my Grandson James has arrived safe and sound. There is a story to tell about his birth and other things along the way which I will write about as soon as I can.

Soon after he was born....

Taking a nap.....

I love the shadow of his face! 

GIVE THANKS IN ALL THINGS

(This will be long, I want it for my records so don't feel obligated to read it)

My Visit To The ER

Life can throw you a curve ball from time to time and what you do with it is important. I am not happy about getting sick but I do believe that timing is everything. I could have gone into the hospital any day the week of the 15th but I didn't. I went in on Sunday the 21st. 

If the doctor in the ER hadn't noticed something odd going on we may not have known. There was a group of people around me in my room in the ER. Normal blood pressure measurements didn't show it. Showed my heart rate to be normal when actually it was beating at 180 and would go down to 137, then back up.

So I was admitted about six hours later. I hadn't felt well since getting home from New York and laid around doing breathing treatments and started my steroids. I would have a good day and then the next day was bad. I am super stubborn when it comes to going to the hospital. Not a good thing but I'm always afraid it will be for nothing and I will be embarrassed. 

So let's talk about the other doctor....I loved her! (I hope to get an appointment with her) She is way out there when it comes to sharing information. She came in saying "Your lungs are gorgeous, too bad you have COPD."  

Then she said "it's not your heart it is your lungs, I'm sending you into pulmonary rehab and if that doesn't work we will see about getting you new lungs but of course we have to hurry because they don't like to do them after 70!"

Then after I was admitted because we couldn't get my heart to stabilize she was like "If we can't get your gut down, get more space for you to breathe by getting you moving with the pulmonary rehab and a diet than we are going in and cutting it out! I'm guessing she has a thing for surgery!"

If you follow on Facebook you know most of everything that has gone on. The outcome was that I do have Atrial Fibrillation. Now keep in mind that I was in the hospital 2 years ago for chest pressure. My heart was ruled out, it was my lungs and the COPD. 

Side note: I had spent two years with a cardiologist which started before that hospital visit. I have had every possible test for the heart including an angiogram, stress tests and echocardiogram. He eventually dropped me because there was no reason for me to see a specialist. He was a nice guy and has since retired but he said everything is perfect except for one possible little thing.....which he would never tell me! 

That was about a year ago and I can tell you now that I know something has been off for awhile. Nothing I could pinpoint except for the possibility that my COPD was getting worse. My energy level was giving out compared to what I could do prior to that and I didn't have the same drive to do things. 

So back to my current hospital visit....it took a few days to get the heart regulated. It isn't exactly regulated yet but it was in a safe place, wasn't spiking like before. I had gone in on Sunday morning and went home on Tuesday afternoon advised to continue on bed rest for a week.

Two new medications were added to my already 9 prescription that I take. (two of my other medications have since been removed) So I am on a time released calcium blocker to regulate my heartbeat and a blood thinner.

Here is what I know. My lungs are good and controlled pretty well on my medications. My latest heart echo shows a beautiful healthy heart. I had no blockages and no blood backup from the AFIB. If we can keep it all under control I should be able to live my life like I have been but with more caution for injury.

The bottom line is that they both give you shortness of breath and I have no clue when the heart is in fibrillation. I now have a oxygen pulse monitor which will help me to determine if my heart rate is spiking.  I had a very good appointment with one of the doctor's and he answered all my questions. I will see him again in two weeks.

We are working on getting me into the Pulmonary Rehab program. You have to evaluated first and the first available appointment is October 31st! I hope I pass because I would love to find ways to get my lungs stronger so I can exercise.

My new diet is the TLC (Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes) and it is rather easy to follow. You could say it is the total reverse of a Low Carb Diet. Sure there are some changes when it comes to meat and dairy but I'm okay with that.

I still won't be eating the bad carbs because I've been doing that for years. The good carbs are the oatmeal, brown rice and whole grains which I was eating in moderation. Dairy is a little different for me because I love cheese but I can work with it. Hard to find no fat or low fat cheese!!!

So I was cleared for all my normal activities including bowling. Now here is something I didn't expect. I'm not sure if I shared with you about the time I tripped back in May in the movie theater. The rubber of my Birkenstock sandal caught on the rubber of the stair edge and I fell forward. I got right up, found a seat and watched the movie. 

A few days later my right leg was all bruised which wasn't a surprise. A few weeks later my left knee started to hurt. I ended up seeing my doctor because at times it was painful and I was heading to Florida to see my Dad. 

He gave me a pain pill for sleeping and we were going to watch it for awhile with the hopes that it would just heal on its own. I did okay in Florida, it hurt but not terribly. Made it through New York too, some minor discomfort but workable. 

So for some odd reason last week it flared up. Constant throbbing. I went to bowling (I had missed the first day) and I bowled. Not well of course because I need to keep it straight so I couldn't do my normal approach. Pretty much bowled like a kid walking up to the line and throwing the ball!  

Come Friday it was even worse so I ended up going to the doctor and getting an x-ray. I ended up seeing a Nurse Practitioner who was very nice. Doctor's were not in on Friday. The anti inflammatory medication so gave me was kicked out at the pharmacy for drug interaction and they never got back to them that day. So I haven't had anything other than Tylenol which doesn't do much. 

I did get a call from the Nurse Practitioner yesterday. I have a minor alignment issue in my knee. I will be referred to a orthopedic specialist and take it from there. It hurts when I walk or with any movement. I am picking up a prescription for another pain medication and hoping that it give me some relief. 

My lungs feel good and my oxygen level has improved which is wonderful. My stamina isn't quite there but I definitely have improvement which makes me hopeful for more.....

How are you feeling???

(No Hodgepodge Today)

"CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE TONIGHT"

I certainly felt all the love on my birthday and I am here to say Thank You. It was beautiful and perfect. I had two blog friends who posted about my birthday. I had a few friends who tweeted about my birthday. I received 41 birthday wishes on Facebook and 48 comments on my blog. I received over 28 cards from family and friends not to mention the phone calls I received.(a special blogging friend and her daughter sang to me:)

At bowling on Tuesday there was a cheesecake, party hat, party necklace and decorations to celebrate my 60th birthday. (Thanks Kendra:) The outpouring of love from everyone was just what I needed. And to my immediate family I want to say thank you for the wonderful party on Sunday, I love you more then you will ever know.


Thank you for loving me.

((HUGS)) to each of you.

I will never forget this birthday.







There is a new post over at Debby's Tree with a "Giveaway" just for you. Head on over to enter!!!!!!

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY......

I have recently discovered that I cannot handle stress very well as I get older but I know that I have so much to be thankful for. I have had pain in my life but nothing compared to others pain. I know this yet it was my pain and it hurt. I have had experience in my life that drained me emotionally and I don't seem to have the patience to be strong.


This post isn't about pain but how I handle stress now. The littlest things get me overwhelmed and then I feel foolish for acting the way I did. I mentioned that I have felt tested lately. Life is always about tests I just don't like having them anymore. I do know that many of you would like to be in my shoes because you are drowning inside. ((HUGS))

Skye was having some issues with throwing up the last two weeks. Making this short we think we have figured it out. Either we did or what she had has passed. It really had me worried. She is never sick. She had an appointment for her shots and checked out wonderfully. (They said she has beautiful teeth and said she is a very pretty Cairn Terrier) Yes I am a proud mama. Did not show any signs of illness other then throwing up stomach acid. She played, ate, drank, peed and pooped like normal. She would vomit, collapse and then be herself for several days. She has been good for over a week now and it appears that if I put her in her kennel she is working herself into a stomach ache. So we are going to start leaving her loose or in the laundry room. She had me very worried. ~sigh~

Then we had the fires which really didn't scare me to much but it made me think how quickly you can lose everything you have. Then last Saturday afternoon my daughter and I took the dogs out. All of I sudden I saw a large swarm of bees. We grabbed the dogs and ran in the house. They flew around for about 20 minutes and then they landed on a very tiny palm tree. I didn't handle this well at all. Yelling at my husband to get rid of them, put the hose on them, call somebody to fix it, do something!!! (I apologize honey)

Click to enlarge the photo

For me it was all about Skye because that is here favorite corner of the yard. You let her out and that is where she runs to find the birds, lizards, etc. NOT BEES! So we knew at that point that Skye would have to be leashed. So we did a little research and found out that it is what they call a swarm. At Wikipedia we read "Swarm clusters, hanging off of a tree branch, will move on and find a suitable nesting location in a day or two." So I calmed down a little bit and within two days almost to the hour they were gone! My daughter forgot about the leash thing and Skye actually went up to them and barked. Two hours later they were gone, do you think she scared them away? ~sigh~

So my DH went in for a regular routine physical. All went well until they called him in to talk about his blood work results. See we have been seeing this doctor forever and he never calls you in. If your cholesterol is high they tell you over the phone, blood sugar high they tell you over the phone, hormones off balance he tells you over the phone, etc. So wanting him to come in had me very worried. So six days later we found out that his thyroid numbers are high. Like off the charts high. Nothing of real concern right now, running another test and most likely some pills to regulate it. ~sigh~

Then I banged my toe really bad and I am hurting. It has turned purple and I hope that it will feel better before I bowl in Vegas on the 5th! Actually saw the doctor, all is well just a very bad sprain. Speaking of that the day I leave they are turning our power off from 9am until 3pm so I have to get ready extra early that day. ~bummer~

I guess typing it out makes me sound kind of wimpy doesn't it! I was thinking I was living in my own little version of Revelations! (we even had a weird rain storm on Sunday) See I told you I can't handle the stress anymore and this a perfect example of "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff." But when it was happening it didn't feel small to me. I have to say thank you to God for always being there for me. I am thankful for all.

I am always thankful for all but here is something that has me pretty darn mad!!! After bowling on this league for something like 18 years, finally getting into first place and this year they are not giving out trophies :( (This is not going off without some letters from me to Bruns*ick!)

......COME BACK ANOTHER DAY!

"I AM THANKFUL FOR ALL"

That is my new favorite saying! I never got around to listing the things I am thankful for and as I was reading everyone's posts during the week of Thanksgiving I thought I should try it. So many of you had posts full of wonderful blessings and hope. I've been going over my blessings and decided that I would work on one too. Here is my list which is more of a lifetime of thankfulness:

1. I am thankful for being born to two of the kindest people I have ever know.
2. I am thankful that my parents were amazing Christians.
3. I am thankful that my father loved my mother unconditionally.
4. I am thankful to have an older brother and sister whom I love.
5. I am thankful for my grandparents who spoiled me and for all the members of my family.
6. I am thankful to have been my fathers "peanut" and that he still calls me that.
7. I am thankful that I never had to be without food or shelter.
8. I am thankful that my parents went above & beyond at Christmas giving me a deep love for it.
9. I am thankful that I got to experience a summer home and they joys of being there with family.
10. I am thankful for my teachers who really had to have patience with me.
11. I am thankful for having lots of friends and never being teased in school.
12. I am thankful for having the experience of losing a dear friend as a child because even though I didn't fully understand it then I do understand now the deep loss his mother felt and the gift that God had given to her when he left the house that day saying to his mother for the first time "I love you mom."
13. I am thankful for the teenage accidents/happenings where God had kept me safe.
14. I am thankful for falling in love with my high school sweetheart, marrying him, having a sweet wedding and the town home we were able to buy.
15. I am thankful for having two beautiful healthy children, the seven years we enjoyed together before having them and the beautiful home we were able to buy before they were born.
16. I am thankful that my husband has provided everything we needed to live comfortably always.
17. I am thankful that when my mother passed away I knew that she would be whole again and happy in heaven.
18. I am thankful that I have been strong enough not to follow in the family history of alcoholism.
19. I am thankful that I learned a huge lesson when my husband walked out on me, making me the person I am today.
20. I am thankful that I was able to experience being a single mother giving me a greater appreciation for the strength within a woman.
21. I am thankful for the jobs I had that gave me great confidence in myself and the day care centers that watched my children, loving them as if they were their own.
22. I am thankful that my children had the opportunity to enjoy a summer cottage during their youth giving them wonderful family memories.
23. I am thankful to have my high school sweetheart back in my life for the last 20 years.
24. I am thankful that when the wheel was repaired incorrectly on my sons car that the tire flew off the car very late at night on an empty side street and he was safe.
25. I am thankful that my son got caught the night he lied to us about staying at a friends house when they went to one of those midnight illegal races. Thankful that he was safe and that appearing in front of a judge taught him a lesson.
26. I am thankful that when my daughter fell asleep on her way home from LAX, dropping off her marine boyfriend, that the tire rode up the divider bringing her back down to safety.
27. I am thankful the morning my daughter came home safe after we tried to reach her all night when she wasn't answering her phone.
28. I am thankful that all the horrible fears that have run through my mind when it comes to the safety of my children have all been blessings from God and pray that His protection will always surround my children keeping evil out of their way.
29. I am thankful to God for His protection at all times and especially during the scary times.
30. I am thankful for the day when the results were negative, the day I couldn't even speak, nothing would come out of my mouth as the tears flowed down my face. Happiness at its fullest.
31. I am thankful that my children have experienced more good than bad and that they were able to move forward after the storms.
32. I am thankful for the love of all our dogs who loved us unconditionally and taught me just how short life can be giving me the understanding of making sure we love to the fullest each day.
33. I am thankful that we were able to put our son through college and that he graduated with honor from U.C. Santa Cruz and that he has been blessed with wonderful jobs.
34. I am thankful that we were able to give our daughter a wedding at the beautiful Mission Inn in Riverside, CA.
35. I am thankful for our son-in-law whom we love deeply.
36. I am thankful that our son-in-law came home safe from the war in Iraq. We are extremely proud of him and his service to our country.
37. I am thankful that our son-in-law loves our daughter through thick and thin.
38. I am thankful that our son has the most wonderful girl to share his life with.
39. I am thankful for all the company we had this summer, even though I stressed, it turned out better than I could ever have imagined and taught me a lesson that all that matters is that we have each other to love.
40. I am thankful for all the family and friends we have living near and far.
41. I am thankful that my father is 86 and still doing well on his own.
42. I am thankful for an aunt and uncle who left their life savings to my father, brother, sister and I.
43. I am thankful to have had the experience of being a mother because I saw an emptiness in my aunts heart because she was never able to have them.
44. I am thankful for the experiences in my life that have given me compassion and understanding.
45. I am thankful that I am able to give donations to those in need and the feeling it gives within my heart to help where I can.
46. I am thankful that even though I can no longer do things that I use to be able to do (because of my asthma) that I am still here on earth.
47. I am thankful for the movies that bring me joy and take me away from real life. (that goes for books too)
48. I am thankful for my computer and what I have experienced here in the blog world for the last 8 months. Especially all the friends I have made, the women who have touched my heart and the hearts I have touched because of God hands in my life.
49. I am thankful for all the wonderful meals we have been blessed to receive.
50. I am thankful for my husband who continues to love me through it all, for our puppy Skye who brings me joy, the happiness of our children, the beautiful house we live in and the life that God has so graciously given to me.

I AM THANKFUL FOR ALL

I want you to know that without God forming me in the womb and knowing me before I was born that none of this would have been possible. Also that many of the above mentioned situations were extremely painful for me and it is only through the years of time that I am now able to be thankful for them.