Ida's Rain

Ida's rain did arrive and decided to stay around. I wonder how much we have gotten. it has been a steady rain. I thought a little while ago that the rain was over, but then it started up again...guess it is still "swirling" around us. I will say that Ida did not bring us wind. I took tonight's photo out the front door. It was raining at the time. It looks hazy in our across the street neighbor's yard...hazy from the rain. Since we didn't have thunderstorms from Ida, I decided that today was a good day to stitch and sew. I managed to finally finish the pillow that had been in the works for a while. Here are a couple of photos of the finished pillow:

I'm posting a little early tonight as I have a couple of things to do in the kitchen still and also need to get Woody's dialysis treatment set up. We have to get underway in an orderly fashion tonight...maybe a little earlier than usual as we have to get up and out in the morning. So have to be sure that his treatment is finished in plenty of time to have him disconnected, eat breakfast, and get out the door and on our way to Vanderbilt. Tomorrow we meet back up with Woody"s melanoma doctor, Dr. Wyman. He will make decisions about whether the malanoma tumor on Woody's arm is a candidate for an injection of immunotherapy drug/s...something that Vanderbilt is doing with some melanoma tumors these days. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Monday Rolls Around Again

Melany sent me some of the photos that the photographer took at the wedding. Tonight's blog photo shows one. They took some of their pictures down by the square in Murfreesboro. I've enjoyed looking at them remembering back two months ago to their wedding day. We have had a pretty quiet day...sort of waiting for our part of Hurricane Ida. So far we have gotten a little rain...but are due to get more. Monday Night Furnace Room Prayer meeting time managed to be in a window when there was a break in the rain so Woody got in and out without getting wet...may have gotten a little wet from dripping trees or a slight drizzle but the timing was right. I'm counting on Ida to water my gardens! We have both read some. Woody has watched some TV and did his daily crossword puzzles. I have done a little stitching. While he was at prayer meeting I got his dialysis cycler machine all set up. It is now ready to start tonight's treatment when Woody is ready. Be safe, Be well! Be cautious! I'll end with another of Alex and Brooke's wedding photos.

Slow Saturday

Simetimes I feel like we are hanging on by our toes like this little fella! Note the squirrel on the limb behind him...waiting his turn...or is he waiting for his friend to fall?!? Once again not a lot has happened around here...guess we are being a bit lazy since we don't have to be up and out of the house for any appointments. We did have a call from a scheduler at Vanderbilt...an actual person rather than a robot call! She was trying to figure out our appointments. I explained that for the moment the only appointment that we needed was with Dr. Wyman this coming week and then we would go from there after we saw Wyman. She said that she would take us off the call reminders list...we'll see! I had planned to cook today, but put it off as Woody had something else in mind for his lunch! He had been wanting a DQ Blizzard...so we headed off to run a couple of errands ending with a stop at the DQ. He hasn't had many "treats" lately so figured that this little indulgence would be okay. We stopped at the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions for both of us and I had to get a package of 3-inch qauze sponge pads that we use when setting up his dialysis and also as dressings where his catheter site enters his abdoman...that dressing is changed daily. The Fresenius distribution supply place was out of them and who knows when they may or may not ship them to us and we were close to being out. That task accomplished at the pharmacy, we headed on to the Credit Union and then on to the DQ. I wasn't going to get a Blizzrd, but then decided that I would get a small one...well, mine was very disappointing...it was no more than a Wendy's Frosty...they didn't put any of the Heath candy bar in to make a Heath Blizzard! We were home and settled into the house when I discovered the error...but didn't feel like heading out over that. I did do an email on the DQ website to let them know of the error. We will see what happens! So far just a "we're sorry" and that they have sent it to our DQ. I am in the process of getting the wash caught up...towels today. After I blog, I will fold the dish towels and that task will be done till next time! Woody's dialysis treatment for tonight is all set up so the solution can warm up. We plan to get his dialysis started a little earlier tonight since he needs to be up and away for Sunday School in the morning. It's his turn to teach the class in the morning. I have napped some this afternoon. I think that the heat has made me lazy. We are expected to get some of the rain from Ida the first of the week...maybe that will break this spell of hot weather we have been having. Woody watched some of the games of the Little League World Series today...only problem...it was all in Spanish and he was on ABC. We have no idea why...all commercials were in English. Strange. And, all other programming was and is in English...so I don't think that a wrong button on the remote was clicked...who knows! Woody has done his crossword puzzles...I even did one of the ones he does on my ipad after I printed his off while I ate breakfast. He has read some and watched TV and did drive us on our adventure to the pharmacy, credit union, and DQ. I plan to either read or cross stitch after I get his dialysis treatment going in a little while. And, that about sums up our day. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Successful Shopping Experience!

Last night I completed my Kroger pickup order...chose a time to pick up...paid...and then waited till time to go pick up our groceries. It worked great. He was out loading them into the car and I was on my way home very quickly. From leaving the house to driving back home to carrying them into the house to getting them put away took probably a little over an hour. i did take a break and sat down and rested after I got them put away...before I folded up the bags. The only mistake was a bag of what was supposed to be individually wrapped peppemints, they sent me a bag of mixed hard candies...that do have some peppermints in them...not a major mistake! The laundry detergent thwt I asked for they had to substitute and I had to reject it as I only use one kind...that was easily subtracted from my total. The other substitution was for ground beef and they substituted up a grade and charged me for what I had ordered...came out ahead in that deal! The total bill came to a little more than $10 less than the total I had last night. So all in all a very good experience and I will shop this way again. It definitely saved my back...instead of having to put groceries from shelf into the cart, then lift them out to check out, then lift them out of cart and into the trunk and then take them from the car into the house and then put them away...all I had to do was from trunk to house and put away...cut out a lot of lifting and reaching and bending! Still didnt have a lot of energy left to do much this afternoon! Even though it is very easy to pick and choose the grocery items to out into the virtual cart, it still took me a long time to finalize the order because I wanted to be sure that I hadn't left anything out. I was sure that as soon as I clicked the pay button that I wouod think of something else that we needed! I was pleased to find out that all edible items have the ingredient part of the label posted to be able to check ingredients. The main thing that I look for is sodium content...and several things didn't make it into our cart when I saw the extremely high salt content. Woody has had a restful day. We are both enjoying not having to head out of the house so often for appointments...subtracting the three hemodialysis appointments each week has really freed up a lot of time. It has also made me confused as to what day it is! Plus lately I had been grocery shopping on Saturday...so today has seemed like Saturday to me. About the time we get a routine going again and days make sense again, something else will probably be on the calendar and we will have to retrain our brains to what happens on what day! Our friends, who tested positive for Covid yesterday, had the monoclonal antibody infusion today. They are already thinking that they feel some better! Three schools in our daughter's county school district announced today that they were going to temporarily close next week tryin to get teachers and kids back from quarantining. Melany and Brooke's schools, in that county, were not part of the closings...yet. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Is It Thursday?

It's a bit harder to keep days straight now that Woody doesn't have three hemodialysis treatments a week. Today I asked if he was missing his trips for hemodialysis and he looked at the clock and reaized that it was both Thursday and a little after 11am...day and time that he has been going for dialysis. Can you guess his answer? I imagine that your guess is right...his answer was "no." Our days have really calmed down quite a lot. We continue to be concerned with rapid rise of Covid cases in our area. Today we found out that the entire family across the street has Covid. I noticed that the daddy's work truck hadn't left this week so I wondered. Woody thought vacation. I thought Covid. Unfortunately I won that guessing game. Our friends that I mentioned last night went for rapid Covid tests today and both tested positive. They finally after jumping through a lot of hoops got an appointment for monoclonal antibody infusions tomorrow. And they had both of their vaccinations...in February and March. One of Melany's comtemporaries posted on Facebook this morning that two classmates of hers had died of Covid and one had checked into a hospital in Nashville yesterday due to pneumonia caused by Covid. Melany told me that her school is being hard hit...classroom size is dwindling due to sick chilcren. She only had 5 kindergarten children in one of her K- art classes today...I believe that usually there are close to 20. We have decided since it seems to be here, that I will order our groceries online and then go pick them up...a new experience for me! Being a first time and me trying to figure it out, it is almost as exhausting as going to the store! I still haven't finalized the order...will do that later or in the morning. They do make it easy to buy the items you usually buy...my often purchased items are right there in a list...that part did make it easy. I had already clipped e-coupons so it looks like those will be applied. We will see what we get when I pick them up...hope not too much substituting! I had trouble putting too much produce in my cart...as I would prefer to pick my own produce. Did add some so we will see what kind of a job they do. Sweet Abigail came by today for treats for her Grammy and Goosey. She brought me a Sonic Strawberry Limeade (she knows her Grammy loves those!) and she brought Goosey an order of tater tots and he seemed to enjoy them...anyway they disappeared...usually a good sign! Well, it is time to get Woody's dialysis going for tonight. So far things are going pretty well with him back on peritoneal dialysis. He is having some alarms, but still seems to be getting some sleep. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Wednesday

It was good that Woody didn't have his Vanderbilt appointments this afternoon. His morning time at TN Oncology ran longer than usual and we would have been hard pressed to get to his first Vandy appointment on time. I didn't go with Woody this morning as I was still waiting on the dialysis supply delivery. The delivery man called just as Woody was getting into the car. And the big truck pulled up 5 or 10 minutes after he left. It was a new delivery person and I found out that now the shipments originate out of Knoxville. Before they originated out of Alabama. It didn't take long for him tonget our supplies in the house. He was a very thorough delivery person. He scanned the boxes that were already here to check the experation dates and told me to reorder some on my next order as they will expire in October. He told me that they will pick up the expired boxes of solution. The ones that are expiring are the solutios bags for manual dialysis...thakfully we haven't had to do many manual exchanges other than the flushes prior to getting back on PD. Fresenius is a very well-oiled machine! It really is impressive. After he left, I got all the loose supplies that were delivered put away. And, I vacuumed the family room. Then i was ready to plop in my recliner for a while! When Woody got home he felt pretty tired so I got the wheelchair and wheeled him back into the house. It is really nice to have the transport chair...so much easier to maneuver. This afternoon I learned that a dear friend and her husband have breaktrough Covid. She started getting her symptoms last night and was feeling pretty rough. Her husband isn't, or wasn't when we messaged each other, feeling as badly as she. Feel better quickly, dear friends! I also learned that one of Kathy's nieces has tested positive for Covid. We are just seeing more and more cases. I am ready to cut out the back for the pillow that I have been working on slowly...there is a chance that it will be finished yet! Not really in a hurry. i'm enjoying the process. I made a fabric order last week. it got shipped in two shipments. The last shipment arrived today. I have quite a lot of sewing ahead of me. Should keep me out of trouble for a while! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious! Those Covid germs are out where you least expect them! Now, to end on a happy note...as in HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our oldest grandchild, Erin Elizabeth!

Confusion Simplifies!

Tomorrow's schedule suddenly got simplified today due to confusion on a Vanderbilt doctor's confusion! Now to explain! A little after noon, we recived a call from Woody's "former" Vanderbilt oncologist. I say former as right now since Woody is getting Keytruda in Tullahoma that his "main" oncologist is Dr. Eze. Dr. Wyman said when we left that whenever we needed to see him again to just call back. Well, Dr. Wyman got a call from the new, to us, oncologist that we were supposed to see tomorrow afternoon. She just knew that she had an appointment with Woody tomorrow and had no idea why and was wondering if Dr. Wyman knew. Dr. Wyman said that he didn't have any idea either, but said that he would call us and find out. Of course we really didn't know much about this appointment as it just showed up on our Vandy appointment calendar. I told Dr. Wyman what "we thought" the reason for the appointment was: to make a decision about having the melanoma tumor on Woody's arm injected with an immunotherapy drug. I asked him if that made sense as to why we had an appointment with the other oncologist. In this discussion, he mentioned that they do this treatment in their clinic and it would seem like a better idea for him to treat Woody instead of someone new since he knew Woody's history. Made sense to me! He said that the problem was that he doesn't have clinic hours at Vandy tomorrow, but that he would have them there next Wednesday. We also had an appointment with Dr. Kelley, the surgeon who removed the place on his arm last January and when it came back in another place suggested having it injected with immunotherapy drug. The way we left it was that we should cancel tomorrow's two appointments and then make one with him for next Wednesday and also with Dr. Kelley, if Dr. Kelley had clinic hours there that day. Dr. Wyman also didn't think that Woody needed to come to Vanderbilt immediately, or at least almost immediately, after he receives his Keytruda tomorrow morning. Again, sounded good to us! So I cancelled tomorrow's two Vandy appointments. Woody and I talked before trying to make the new appointments and Woody decided that he really didn't need to see Dr. Kelley that day and to just make an appointment with Dr. Wyman. I easily made that appointment by going into the Vandy portal and messaging Dr. Wyman's office. I explained to him our decision to just see hin and let him make the decision as to whether this treatment would work in Woody's situation. if, per chance, he doesn't think that it will work and that surgery is the answer then we can get back with Dr. Kelley. Dr. Wyman can correspond with Dr. Kelley if he needs to know more about his thoughts. We will see! But I will say that the Vandy portal works very well. I had an email back in fifteen minutes or less with an appointment time next Wednesday! And, with those clicks of the computer's keys our live got much simpler. Now we only have a Fresenius Dialysis supplies delivery and Woody's appointments all under one roof for labs, see Dr. Eze, and have his Keytruda infusion. Last night's peritoneal dialysis went quite well..."only" one alarm with each cycle...so four alarms. Woody still claims to have not slept...but I know that he slept at least an hour at the beginning of his treatment. I stayed up till he went through the first cycle to see how it went. Then I went to sleep and didn't wake up till Woody used Alexa to "page" me this morning around 6:20 that it was finished. Before I came upstairs to blog tonight, I got everything set up so the solution could warm and we could be ready to begin tonight's treatment when Woody is ready to start. My main accomplishment today was to get my hair cut. Oh, I guess I did do some cleaning today. I vacuumed the living room really well...especially where the boxes will be put as it won't be vacuumed again till the solution in those boxes are used up. I knocked down a lot of boxes to take out to the curb to be recycled. The amount of boxes has piled up since last week's recycle time since we got several packages in the mail and also have started to use up the solution again. It took several trips out to the curb to get them all out there. Some are awkward sizes and they slip around if I try to carry too many at once. I did find out that it was hot out there! I swept all the debris off our walkway that accumulated due to all the rain that we got...and due to the squirrels and birds going through our mulch looking for seeds on the ground. I needed to get a clear path for the delivery man to be able to dolly all the supply boxes in tomorrow morning. He is supposed to be here between 8 and noon. I had been told before to expect them at the earliest time when they were delivering before, but things could have changed since we broke that delivery routine...may be different three months later! But at least I can be here for the delivery now. I had a sweet friend on stand-by in case I couldn't be here. I got to let her off the hook for this time! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

All Set Up

Look what arrived in the mail yesterday, yes, on Sunday. I can't get used to mail coming on Sunday. My sister, Cheryl, is Johnny on the spot with a Fall gift! Love my three new pumpkins! Good addition to the zinnia bouquet. I'm still deciding on her Fall gift...not as quick on the draw as she is! This morning Woody and I headed off to Fresenius Kidney Center to give them lots of signatures. The appointment didnt take long. After we got home, I turned on Woody's cycler machine and called the nurse and he had me change some of the settings. After that the machine was good to go for his first home dialysis in about three months. While he was gone for the Monday Night Furnace Room Prayer Meeting, I did the set-up portion for tonight's treatment. Setting up all came back to me easily. Guess it is a little like riding a bike!?! I put the scale in the kitchen door so when he came in from prayer meeting he could weigh on his way to the recliner. He had his shake and relaxed a little after his trip to and from the church. He has taken his blood pressure (have to take it before and after each treatment. The only other vital is his temperature and I was waiting just a bit after his shake to take that. I have recorded everything in our notebook. The solution is heated so when I go back downstairs I will get him connected and get the first of four cycles started. Here's to hoping that the alarms are few to far between...hopefully nonexistent! The only "blooper" that happened was when I opened up the protective covering on the first bag of solution...solution came pouring out! Guess there was a hole in the bag somewhere...I didn't take the time to find it! What a mess to have sugar water pour all over the place! Hoping that is tonight's only glitch! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious! We are hearing of more and more folk here in town who have tested positive for Covid. Oh, and, Wade and Melany and Wade's siblings and spouses were able to go back to the burial site on their farm and bury Wade's mother yesterday (Sunday). Melany said that they saw a lot of washed out bridges and at least one vehicle that had washed into the creek along the farm road. She said that the bridges were private bridges into properties, but that some of them were very substantial and were just picked up and washed away. Such a tragedy in that area.

The Day Woody Has Been Awaiting

The day that Woody has looked forward to for some time (really 3 months) finally arrived today...he had his last hemodialysis treatment at least for the time being. He has been pretty wiped out since getting home...but at least those three-times-a-week trips are behind for him for the moment. The nurses told him that he will feel better when he is on peritoneal dialysis. Now if the PD treatments will just go as well as the flushes have gone. We will find out Monday night. It has been a very rainy, stormy day. This is the first time that we needed an umbrella to get Woody to the car during these three months. There was a big boom of thunder just as he was standing up from the transport chair to transfer into the car. I think that he may have moved a little faster than usual to get himself seated. The storms didn't bode well for Wade, Melany and family for the funeral and burial. The area of TN that they were heading to happened to get a huge amount of rain overnight...9-12 inches! There was a lot of flooding in the McEwen/Dickson area. The funeral was in Dickson and the burial was to be on the family farm. The farm road was under water so the burial had to be postponed. Melany said that there weren't many at the funeral due to the weather conditions. She said that just prior to getting to the funeral home they were getting messages on their phones about flooding conditions and to stay home and not be out and about! After the funeral, the families of the three brothers all went to Wade's brother's house in Spring Hill and visited this afternoon. Melany texted me after they got back home saying that the burial will take place tomorrow. We are getting reports that lives have been lost due to the devastating flooding. I hope that things have calmed down by tomorrow...I'm sure that if they haven't that the funeral home will let them know. Our area of TN didn't get the immense amount of rain that they did in that area. I'm sure that our rivers and streams are up because we have certainly gotten rain over the last few days. My plants are happy and I am happy that I don't have to go out to water them. Just got an alert that there are more storms entering our area. So I guess it isn't over yet. Next week is supposed to be drier and along with it being drier, the temperatures are supposed to be on the rise. I got a few things done around the house while Woody was at dialysis today...All three bathrooms have mopped floors as well as the kitchen. I was planning to wash towels today, but that hasn't gotten done and I think I will wait till tomorrow to throw them in the washer. Rain just starting...again. I worked a little on the pillow top that I am making. I cut a long strip of the next fabric that I'm planning to use...so slowly but surely it is getting made. I'm not in a rush...so guess I have given myself permission to take my time! Well, it is 8pm...time to go down and flush the PD catheter line...only one more night to do that and then we will be back to nightly connecting to the PD cycler machine...another change in routine...but at least a routine that we know pretty well...just vered off the path of that routine for the last three months. I think that it will all come back to me pretty quickly! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Next Week’s Appointments are Stacking Up

I knew that we had several appointments next week and they were pretty well spread out. BUT today I received a confirmation call from Vanderbilt about two appointments that we knew nothing about. Well, we did know that we were seeing Woody's melanoma surgeon who is affiliated with Vanderbilt. But according to the appointment that I stood with the appointment maker when she made it, it was to be next Friday and at his Franklin office instead of Vanderbilt since Franklin is easier to get to than Nashville. Well the confirmation call today was about two appointments at Vanderbilt this coming Wednesday...not Friday. I'm thinking that the doctor took it into his own hands...he is very proactive about all Woody's conditions...and decided after communicating with Dr. Eze, Woody's Tullahoma oncologist, that they would be injecting the melanoma on Woody's arm with immunotherapy drugs. That treatment has to happen at Vanderbilt so he set it up to see himself first and then the doctor who will be doing the injection therapy on the same day. We decided to leave the new appointments as they are set up. About appointments stacking up: Wednesday morning, Woody goes to TN Oncology for labs, to see Dr. Eze, and get his next Keytruda infusion. A lot to happen on one day! But it looks like they are spaced out enough that it will be doable. So next week's appointments that had been spread out are now all on two days of the week. We will probably need the no appointment days to recooperate! Today has been a nice stay-at-home day. We'll gladly take more of those! I had been waiting for a package that I ordered last week and it kept being moved off a day for its delivery. It finally got here today. It had a couple of cushions...one for Woody's new wheels and one for my sewing chair. It also had water filters for our refrigerator. That was one of my accomplishments today...changing the water filter. I've also done a couple of loads of wash...one which needs to be taken out of the drier when I go back downstairs. I have even done a little sewing today. One of the items that I got in my package today was a new rotary cutter as the one I had like this one broke. I am working on making a pillow out of a cross stitch piece...slow but sure. I had started it a while back and didn't like the way it looked so I began back at square one (not the cross stitch)...making it into a pillow top. I am in the mood to do a little sewing. I have several projects that I need to get motivated to work on. A friend stopped by today with the flowers in tonight's blog photo and also brought us a jar of local blueberry jam that she bought at the farmer's market. Thanks, Glynda! Melany just called. They are on the way back home after the visitation for Wade's mom. Her funeral and burial is tomorrow. We hate that we can't go to support them at this time, but it just isn't feasable for us to go the distance or take a risk of getting exposed to covid (even with Woody having both his vaccines and me one of mine)..which is rearing its ugly head around here at a higher level once again. I am hearing of more and more cases. On that note: Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

One Down, One to Go

Woody can really see the light at the end of the tunnel now! When I picked him up two hours ago, that meant that he just has one hemodialysis treatment to go until he goes back on peritoneal dialysis at home. I asked if the nurses knew his timetable and he said that they did and they also told him that he would feel a lot better on PD. PD is much easier on the system than hemodialysis. Well...think about it...hemo takes his blood out of his body runs it through a machine and puts it back in. With peritoneal a dextrose solution is put in the peritoneal cavity in his body. Through osmosis and other amazing things God designed the body to do...that solution in some miraculous way cleanses his blood. The certain amount of that solution is put into his body four times during the cycles of the machine. Each of the four times it dwells for a certain amount of time that the machine is programmed for and then pumped out each time till the four cycles are complete. The shortest time that all this can take is 8 hours and it usually was between 9 and 10 hours when we were doing it before. This is done daily, but can be done while he sleeps (hopefully). He does wish that the machine didn't make so much noise. We are hoping with the catheter working so well with manual drains and fills that it will work better than it did before. And, we are hoping for many less alarms than he was getting before. Once again, time will tell! But he is very ready to be back doing dialysis at home once again for as long as this new placement of the catheter allows him to do it! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Green Light and PD Anniversary

This morning Dr. Thomason gave the green light for Woody to return to peritoneal dialysis. I came home and called Fresenius Kidney center and talked to one of Woody's nurses. He said that he would have to get approval from Dr. O, Woody's nephrologist. We also discussed getting back on the supply ordering and delivery schedule. It wasn't long after I hung up from talking to the nurse that a Fresenius supply representative phoned me and I got our first order made in over three months. They will be delivering the supplies next week. We still have supplies left from the last order...we are never left with no supplies...always have enough to get us through a reason that a delivery might not get made (snow, ice, etc.). After the supply rep called, I got a return call from the nurse with our start-back schedule. Woody will finish this week of hemodialysis and then on Monday we will go into the PD part of the kidney center and do necessary paperwork to get him back into the schedule. He has been off PD long enough that he has turned into a full-time hemo patient so we have to get him back on record as a peritoneal patient. Even the protein supplements that I use as the basis for his shakes that he qualified for prior too this, have to be reapplied for...red tape! The plan is that he will begin peritoneal dialysis at home that evening, if all goes according to plan! Interesting that today is the day that we are getting the ball rolling to get him back on PD, as it was one year abo this date that we began our PD training at the center and the day that Woody had his first PD treatment. The day he had the last surgery to correct the positioning of his PD catheter was 1 year and six days after he had the PD catheter placed for the first time. So we are starting to experience anniversaries for PD...Woody is very glad that he will be able to go back on it and be able to count more days on PD. I imagine that he is a bit disappointed that he has to wait till Monday as he was hoping to be able to begin right away, but at least he can see the last day, for the moment, of hemodialysis. He is ready to not have to spend those 4+ hours three days a week at the dialysis center and ready to not feel so wiped out after each of his treatments. So if all goes as we see it now, he will have hemodialysis tomorrow and then again Saturday and then be able to put that experience behind him till it becomes necessary on down the road. Dr. Thomason was very pleased to hear how well the flushes have been going. The transport chair worked well. Today all we used it for was to get him to and from the car here at the house. He used his walker at the doctor's office. I do like having the handbrakes when going down the ramp. There is still a little problem with thresholds and other like bumps...but in time I will probably learn how to transverse them more easily. Tomorrow I have a cushion arriving to place in the seat of the chair to give him an even more comfortable ride. I also really like being able to control the brakes on the back wheels with my hands. I spread the "grips" and they lock the wheels and then just have to push them back together to get rolling again. I am still learnig where the buttons are to move parts of the chair...again time and repetition will get the "how" fixed into my brain. At the moment my brain feels muddled...all the changing over and keeping things straight has me a bit befuddled..but given time...maybe brain activity will settle in and I won't be so confused...or is this "my age?!" Oh, well...we will muddle on one way or another! I cleaned up the kitchen before blogging tonight and got things ready to set up for Woody's PD line flushing. We will flush the line every night untul he gets back to his regular routine of home dialysis and it begins...then that will flush the line nightly! I hope that we are ready to get back into the routine of nightly PD routine. It will be good to free up our days. Now I'm heading back downstairs to do tonight's line flushing and also the nightly dressing change where the PD catheter enters his abdoman. The latter we have been doing even when he hasn't been on PD...something that has to be done as long as he has that catheter. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

New Wheels!

Last week I ordered a transport chair and it arrived today. I am hoping that it will be much easier to get Woody to and from the car and in and out of other places too. It is much lighter than the big wheelchair. I "think" that I will be able to get it in and out of the car's trunk. I haven't tested that aspect out yet...I managed to get the footrests and the anti-tippers installed...the rest of the chair was already together. It has some neat features. The arms are such that you can be pushed up to a table or desk and the arms also swing up and out of the way so you can just slide from chair to car seat if you push the chair up parallel to the car seat. The way Woody gets in now requires him to stand and move forward and then turn to sit down...not the easiest maneuver! I got handbrakes for my benefit...I think it will be easier to slow down the chair's progression down the ramp...I have found that with the old one the speed picks up as we go down. I think this will make me more in control of driving the chair! The hand brakes can also be lock the wheels when you open them the opposite way...that way I don't have to lean over and lock them at wheel level. The smaller wheel at the back will help us go over bumps...hopefully. Woody has only seen it folded up. I ended up putting it together where I had more room. When I got it finished, he didn't feel like looking. He has his head covered with his throw...the way he has been since getting home today around 5pm from hemodialysis and from a PD flush at the center. He is wiped out again. He is very much hoping that he has had his last hemodialysis treatment for the time being. We will find out tomorrow if Dr. Thomasson, his surgeon, is ready for him to start back peritoneal dialysis at home. We don't have to do the flush at home tonight since they did it at the center today. They were pleased with how quickly he filled and drained. We are all very hopeful that this is indicative that PD will be successful when he starts again. If he doesn't start tomorrow night then I will do flushes till he does start. Nathan stopped by shortly after I got home from taking Woody to dialysis this morning. He took our white car for an oil change and also filled up the car with gas. I was going to do that on our way home from dialysis today, but since Nathan was out doing things for our car, I decided to take advantage and asked him to "fill her up!" I will report to the PD nurses after Woody has his appointment in the morning and then they will get the ball rolling again and take the hold off our supply orders, etc. We may be getting back into PD routine tomorrow night...time...or rather the surgeon...will tell! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Monday Turned Up Again!

Sure enough...I opened my eyes this morning and it was Monday...again! Seems like it was Monday just yesterday! Time flies when you are having fun...and, even if you aren't! We had another low-key day...no appointments. We did get a call confirming an appointment later in the week with his surgeon. The rest of his appointments are with hemodialysis and the peritoneal dialysis nurse...he has both of those tomorrow. The PD nurse wanted to do the flush the day before Woody goes to see the surgeon. Then we don't know what kind of dialysis he will be having after seeing his surgeon. We don't know how quickly he will want Woody to start back on PD. Woody is hoping that he will get to start on PD immediatley after his appointment. We will see what the doctor says. But the PD flushes continue to go well. I have the solution warming right now and will do the flush shortly after I finish blogging. Joy came over today to work on making a label for a T-shirt quilt/blanket that Kathy has made for Abigail for graduation. Kathy brought her and came in and visited with for a while. Then she left to go get Esther and their two barn cats to get their shots, etc. Joy kept sewing and Nathan stopped by to pick her up. Nathan replaced one of the skis on the back legs of Woody's walker. After Joy finished and she and Nathan headed back home, I headed off to the library to pick up a book that I had put on hold for Woody. Timing worked out pretty well as Woody finished with the book he had been reading just shortly before I went to the library. This evening Woody went to the Monday Night Furnace Room Prayer Meeting. He is back and we are both settled in for another quiet evening. Woody is watching TV and probably reading and I still have a little cleaning in the kitchen. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Sad News to Share

An hour or two after I blogged last night, Melany called to let us know that Wade's mom was being taken back to the hospital for what they thought at the time was low oxygen levels. Her assisted living expected them to give her oxygen at the hospital and then when her levels were better she would go back to them and that she would probably come home on oxygen. Well, that wasn't what happened. She lost consciousness while on the way to the hospital in the ambulance. Wade and Melany met them at the hospital. After the doctor examined her, he determine that it was septis and that it was very bad and he didn't give Wade and Melany much hope. As far as I know she never regained consciousness. Melany texted me a little before 5am that she had passed away a short time before. So sad and so unexpected. Wade had talked to his mother at 6pm and had no idea that she was sick...just that her broken arm was hurting her. Just goes to show that we just don't know from one moment to the next what is going to happen in our lives. After getting the text from Melany, I did doze back off until my alamr went off about 45 minutes later. Woody had dialysis this morning and they asked him to be there by 7:15. I dropped him off and then came home and fixed myself a cup of tea and headed out to the front porch with my camera. I sat for quite a while out there...it was very pleasant...the temperature was quite cool and since it was cool the humidity wasn't bad...or at least didn't feel bad. I sat there and watched the birds and also the antics of the rescally squirrels. I had two different kinds of hummingbirds visit and I managed to capture several pictures. It was a nice peaceful morning...and hinted a bit that Fall is around the corner. I continued to pick up things around the house...this time worked at clearing off my sewing cutting table...again...it never stays clear very long. It seems to be the place that I place things that don't have a home...then it takes me a while to find a home so they stay there longer than they should. I have couple of projects that I want to work on so would like to have it clear so I can do them...and I can say that it is in much better shape and that I can actually work on it now. I have read a little and I napped this afternoon. Woody said that he napped this afternoon, too. He ended up doing his crossword puzzles at dialysis this morning. Hopefully they helped him pass the long four hours. I have the dialysis solution warming so I can do the PD flush in a little while. The flushes are going great. It definitely looks promising that the PD dialysis will be starting up at home again as soon as the surgeon and PD dialysis folk say the word. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Rare Occurrence of Late

Today being the 13th...just realized a little while ago that it was Friday the 13th...but note that the square of the calendar for the 13th is empty! That hasn't occured in quite a few weeks. Sundays don't show anything, but we do go to Sunday School and then come home to watch the service on FaceBook Live...so we have someplace to go on Sunday, but it isn't necessary to "pencil" that in since it is an every week occurance except under rare circumstances that would keep us away. So today we took advantage of the date having no scheduled appointments, etc. and just stayed home. I decided that it was a good day to conquer some of the things that hadn't found their way back to where they belong! It seems to happen when we are on tight schedules of going hither and yon that I tend to place things in the most convenient or closest spot when I am unloading what is in my arms when I get back inside...and those places are often not the place where that item belongs. So starting at the beginning of the day, each time I went through a room, I picked up something that was out of place and got it put away properly. It didn't take long at all to have the kitchen, dining room and living room back to having just what was supposed to be there. The dining room table, part of the counter near the door into the dining room tend to be where I dump things. I also cleared up some of the surfaces in our bedroom and did a little in the family room aka Woody's room these days. At least I did some straightening withhout much effort. This afternoon became rainy/stormy and thus a good day to take a nap or two! I did finish a book this morning and Woody is about to finish one. So all in all it has been a relaxing stay at home day. Nathan and Isaac stopped by to share some of their fresh produce. We visited for a little while. Isaac looks like a little brown bear. It is obvious that he has spent a lot of time outdoors this summer...and looks like he has been to Florida...which he has. They went on a gig to Florida and Georgia and got to spend time in between gigs at a beach. Last night I meant to report on Wade's mom. She did break her arm when she fell. She will have to have surgery...eventually...they don't see the surgeon for quite a few days down the road. At the moment she has it in a sling. She will just need bit more help at her assisted living till it is healed. Bad enough that she broke her arm, but she is right handed and it is her right arm. I will end on a cute story about Melany's first week back in school. Melany teaches art at a K-5 school. A little first grader was talking to her and trying to figure out if he knew her. She told him that he was in her art class last year (there are 2 art teachers). He said, "But you don't look like I remember you." Melany thought for a minute and then realized that last year was the first time that he had been in her class since he was in kindergarten...and that they had worn masks the whole time...thus he had never seen her without a mask before...so she DIDN'T look like she did last year! Fresenius Kidney Center called today and moved his dialysis treatment to early in the morning. So we will be up and out of the house early tomorrow. He doesn't mind them moving it early in the morning, that way he gets through earlier in the day! Now it is time to go flush his line...so far so good with the flushing. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious! (We got notification that Vanderbilt is recommending vaccines...that they have no beds due to all the current cases of Covid. We need this to be behind us for good!)

21 Years Ago!

I always say that Nathan (or maybe Kathy) made a very good choice of the year to get married...2000...Nathan will always be able to remember how many years he has been married by the the year's number...good thinking...or perhaps it was chance...but it works in his favor however the year 2000 was chosen! Happy Anniversary! The only thing that took us out of the house today was Woody's dialysis. He was once again very spent when he came out from hus treatment. The only thing left that we have to do is flush his line. He finall had enough energy to eat supper perhapshe willbe ready to haveme flush his line in the next hour or so. It took a little over an hour yesterday...so there are still several hours before bedtime so we should be able to fit it into our evening! We just had a storm blow through. It has been another vrry hot day...feels-like temperature over 100 at times. A good afternoon to stay in! This morning I watered our gardens and then filled birdfeeders. The squirrels were out in full force thanking me! I thinknthe birdies were happy too. I saw a hummingbird so decided to clean and fill its feeder too. I sat on the porch for a while in the morning...reading and taking several pictures. My camera seems to be fixed...thankfully! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

And…More Good News

First good news was that Woody didn't have anywhere to go today. The fact that there wasn't anywhere to early...I could go to bed last night and not set an alarm. Today, being Wednesday and considering it has been a while since I didn't need to be somewhere else, Donna and I could work at the church library...together. The good news from the library is that perseverance won out...a printer was found that is compatible with our computer and that they talked together as soon as they were connected! Donna and I were told the good news on Sunday so today we went to check things out and see if it wouod print our labels. And, it did! So labels await our next work day. After I left the library I made a quick trip to WalMart before I went home. Our birds will be happy that I made that stop! I went home to get the dialysis solution warming up using a heating pad...not the most effective way to heat it...so glad that most of the time we will be back to having the machine do the heating. But with manual flushes/exchanges the way we are told to heat the solution is with the heating pad they provided. The next good news was that we were successful in doing our first at home flushing of Woody's peritoneal dialysis catheter...went very well Awe are so glad that it is working so well. we will do this every day till the surgeon says that he can start back on peritoneal dialysis. We see him next week and I think that it won't be long after that that we will be back to doing dialysis daily right here in our own home. Now we may have one piece of news that isn't great...I just got a message from Melany saying that Wade was on the way to the hospital to be with his mom. She fell at her assisted living and she is being checked to see if she has broken anything. I'll close and check in with Melany to see if she has an update. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

More Good News!

We hardly know what to do with good news two days in a row! Woody went to hemoialysis a little after 7 this morning. I headed back to the dialysis center a little after 11 to wait for him to be finished so we could then go into the peritoneal dialysis part of the center. Today was the first scheduled peritoneal line flush after his surgery last Thursday. Much to everyone's joy the dialysis solution went in and then came out the way it is supposed to do. After this I will do a flush daily until the surgeon says that Woody can start back on peritoneal dialysis. It was so good to have it work the way it was supposed to...we were all so happy to see it work...both of us and the PD nurse (and later the other PD nurse when we told him). The surgeon said that he could start PD again about two weeks after the surgery as long as all the surgical sites were healing well. The surgeon will make that decision next Wednesday when Woody sees him for his two-week-post surgery appointment. But at the moment it looks like we will be back to doing dialysis at home once again...looks like last week's surgery was successful at getting the line to both fill and drain. Now we will see how tomorrow goes with me doing the flush here at the house on my own! It all seemed very straight forward...plus I have written directions from our training time. Next week it will be the year anniversary of when we started training at the dialysis center...so the year anniversary of Woody being on dialysis. Last week when Woody had surgery to reposition and get the line working was exactly 1 year and 6 days after his surgery to place the peritoneal catheter line the first time. One of the things that we were all especially happy about today...the fill and drain went very quickly...and, Woody has almost always drained slowly...so maybe this surgery solved a slow drain problem and hopefully it will stay fixed for a while! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Woody's Pathology Report Surprised the Doctor

Woody decided that he was feeling well enough to drive himself to his urologist appointment this morning. I asked him if he needed my ears to hear what all the doctor said. Woody said that he didn't. He said that the doctor was just going to say that the biopsies showed cancer and then refer him to another doctor. I wheeled him down to the car in the wheelchair to help reserve some energy for him to get himself in and out of the doctor office. Woody told the doctor what he had told me and the doctor agreed with him that is what he WOULD HAVE SAID IF the biopsies had shown cancer, but that none of the biopsies that he took showed any cancer! A definite answer to prayers! The doctor did say that he was expecting to give a diagnosis of cancer and was very surprised that he didn't have to! We like doctors to be thusly surprised!!!! The conclusion at the moment is that Woody's is experiencing inflamation. Inflamation is treated with antibiotics...the specific antibiotic is the one that Woody is prescribed to take for the rest of his life and has been taking it for almost two years. I'm wondering if having taken it for so long makes it still effective. The doctor wants him to have an MRI in four months and also have TN Oncology include a PSA test in their November labs. But at the moment we have a four month reprieve...and this particular problem can be set on the back burner and melanoma and kidney dialyisis can be concentrated on currently! Next month we will pull in another doctor to check out his thyroid...again...that is more than a month away. The melanoma on his arm will be addressed toward the end of this month and we are in the midst of getting him back on peritoneal dialysis. Hemodialysis called this afternoon and asked if he could come early tomorrow. I told her that he could IF peritonealy nurses were okay with it as Woody was supposed to go to PD to have his line flushed prior to his HD time. She called and arranged with them for Woody to have his PD flush after his hemo treatment. Always rearranging times!!! But this will work. I really think that this flush will work...will be surprised and disappointmed if it doesn't! If it works then we will continue to do flushes until he can start on a full peritoneal dialysis after he has healed sufficiently. I'm guessiing that it works then we will be back to ordering supplies. We have enough supplies for a couple of weeks of home dialysis but will have to get back on the ordering and delivering schedule. And, I have to get all the details of setting up, connecting and disconnecting...back into that routine again. A routine that will free up three days of our week...of Woody not having to "go" to dialysis. We will just have get back to being used to "doing" dialysis every night...but it will be good not to have "to go" to dialysis. Woody drive himeself to and from Monday night Furnace Room Prayer Meeting tonight. He must be feeling better...out and about by himself twice today! I'm glad to share good news tonight! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

It's Back!

Fed Ex came through for me this afternoon and delivered my camera back to me. It is my original camera that has been fixed...there was a white mark at the base of the LCD screen that makes it identifiable. They said that it was an electronic problem. I don't know what was wrong with it, but I do know that it now works and focuses very easily. Here are three of the first pictures that I took...from the front door, the front of the house and the waiting room at Fresenius Kidney Center. I am a happy camper and feel like I have a new camera all over again. I am working on getting it set up the way that I like it. Today hasn't been the best day for Woody...trying to figure if this is considered the third day...it is if you count the surgery day and if not then the third day is tomorrow...He woke up with a stiff neck which didn't help and he was a bit nauseated before he went to dialysis. He didn't want to attempt to walk with his walker today so he went to the car in the wheelchair. We used one of the wheelchairs at Fresenius to get him into the dialysis center and then back into the car after his treatment. Then used our wheelchair to get him back into the house. He wasn't moving as easily today and I was very thankful that a private ambulance pulled up behind us at the kidney center. Woody was having a hard time getting into the car and almost went down, but the timing of the ambulance driver was perfect! He helped get him into the front seat and even took the wheelchair back inside the center for me. He gave us his card in case we needed his services to get Woody transported in the future. (That sort of shows you how bad it was at the moment that he pulled up! But he is back inside and in his recliner for the rest of the night! I'm hoping that tomorrow is a better day as we have to be up and out fairly early as Woody is the only teacher who will be there tomorrow for the middle school boys. We'll make it one way or another! Today was a good day for mail for me. My friend, Connie, who used to live in Tullahoma but now lives in Alabama, sent me two needlework project bags that she had pieced, quilted and made into zippered bags to hold stitching projects. Happy mail! They will be put to good use...one is made from Christmas fabric. I will gather up the ornaments that I want to stitch and place the charts, linens, flosses, etc. so they will all be there when I get the urge to stitch Christmas. My oven was kept busy slow roasting a Boston Butt Pork Roast most of the day. Just before I came up to blog I pulled it all away from the bone and separated the fat from the meat and now we have a nice large container of pulled pork. I had planned to make potato salad that Woody has requested, but that didn't get done...except for washing the potatoes that I will use. I guess that will be a cooking job for tomorrow after church. We had a storm pass through this morning and got a nice rain from it. It let up before we had to head to dialysis so we didn't get wet. I was happy not to have to water this morning! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Good Day After Surgery

Woody has had quite a good day after surgery. He is hurting some, of course, but he is doing very well. He slept pretty well last night and has taken it easy except when he had to go to dialysis today. I was surprised, but he decided to walk down the ramp to the car using his walker. They did put him in a wheelchair at the dialysis center to take him to his chair and brought him to the car in the wheelchair. And, since it is easier to go down the ramp than go up it, he chose to use the wheelchair to get back in the house. Our thoughtful neighbor came over to spot him as he got into the chair and made sure that I got him going up the ramp okay...I backed him up the ramp again. Worked very well. He is back in his recliner and ready to stay there for the evening! He had a special treat awaiting him when he got home...a peach cobbler! Yum! Thanks, Jo! Jo came over this afternoon the bearer of goodness, the peach cobbler. We had a nice visit. I was glad to sit and visit after my busy morning. First thing...after breakfast...was to go out and water my flowers. I also got the grocery list ready which included downloading lots of e-coupons. I love using e-coupons...love not having to keep up with the paper ones! I made a stop at the public library to pick up a book that I had ordered for Woody...in the end it is for me as I didn't get it finished as an e-book before it was whisked off into cyberspace! I read about half of it on my iPad and now I will finish it as "book in hand!" My next stop was the Credit Union and then I headed off to the grocery store. I hadn't been in about three weeks thanks to my "barn crew." Thanks to Marie and Carolyn, I haven't had to cook this whole week...nice break! I have plans to get some cooking going in the morning. Woody's request of the week is "Jo's Potato Salad" made by me...so Jo will be well represented in our menu this week...her recipe for potato salad and her made-by-her peach cobbler! I have to look up what you are supposed to do to potatoes to deplete the of some of their potassium. What I remember is that you bring them to a boil...boil a short time...then pour off the water and then add more water and boil them till desired doneness. I'll look it up to be sure. We pretty much took potatoes out of his diet when we were trying to avoid dialysis, but lately potatoes are something that he wants...so I will try to make them "better" for him! I am patiently, or to be truthful, impatiently for my camera to arrive back. I got word via email yesterday while I was at the hospital that they had shipped it back and it is supposed to be here tomorrow...sometime. The tracking shows that it is in Georgia...so it is making its way closer to us. It started in Florida...I guess you could say that it has been on a vacation! I just hope that its time away will make it behave better. I'm looking forward to trying it and having it focus correctly. Maybe I will post a photo with my "new/old" camera tomorrow! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Another Surgery Over—Healing Can Commence!

Tonight's photo provided by Nathan says a lot...I think that you can see that one of us had surgery and that the other one spent a long day sitting in a chair by his bedside! So another surgery is down in the record books. We got there around 9:30am and got home around 4:30pm. Woody's surgeon was behind schedule due to his first surgery of the day taking longer than expected...so all his other surgeries were behind for the rest of the day by an hour or two. Nurses and the surgeon kept applolgizing to the patients and thanking them for their patience! Woody's nurse said that Dr. Thomason is known for keeping on schedule...so this was a rare day...lucky us! He was still doing surgeries when we left. I think he said that his first started at 7:45am. The nurses say that Thursday is his day for surgery and that the day is usually full. Woody is hurting more than he did his last surgery...but then this is laproscopic surgery. Melany says that laproscopic surgery hurts worse at the start than old fashioned surgery...but that the pain goes away sooner...Woody is hoping that is true...about the going away part. The surgeon said that he found that adhesions from former surgeries are what blocked is catheter...he cleaned up the catheter and then attempted to place it in "a fold" that would keep it away from adhesions. They tried the catheter line and it did flow once again. Time will tell for how long! He did say that if it gets blocked again that Woody would have to become a hemodilysis patient permanently. Again, time will tell! When we got home we had a message from Woody's PD nurse wanting to make an appointment to start flushing the line. It was too late to call them this afternoon, I will call in the morning. Flushing the line will begin right away and full time PD will begin in a couple of weeks...once he has healed enough to not have any leaks from the surgery places! We also got a call a few minutes ago from the hemodialysis nurse/scheduler saying that there was an opening at 6:30 in the morning and would he like it. He said "no." We were glad that his appointment was at 3pm so he would have a little more recovery time. After one of his last surgeries he had to be at dialysis at 5am...just too early the day after surgery! And, he didn't even hesitate to say no to the 6:30 time. Hopefully he will have a good night. He hasn't moved much since getting back in his recliner except to pull his throw over him. He said that his eyes don't want to open. He's watching Wheel of Fortune...sort of. Nathan did come to help us get in the house, but I wanted to give it a try since I will have to do it tomorrow. I managed to get it him up the ramp fairly easily by backing him up. I need the big wheels to get over bumps...like at the start of the ramp and into the house over the threshold into the house. I find it too hard to tip the wheel chair to get the little front wheels up and over bumps. But I did it so I know I can do it tomorrow when he goes to dialysis. I also wanted Nathan here in case Woody was wobbly when he transferred from car to wheelchair and from wheelchair to recliner. Woody did great with the transfer part...he wasn't any more wobbly than usual!! He was awake when he came back to the room and didn't keep telling us that he wanted to go back to sleep...so he woke up easier this time. Really the main problem with this surgery was the extra wait time prior to the surgery...and that couldn't be helped so all in all it has been a pretty positive day of surgery. Now to have positive recovery time! Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. I am sure that is what got us through another surgery day! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Monday's Scan Results

Woody's oncologist quickly told us today that the scan looked good. He feels like the Keytruda is doing what it should...at least inside Woody's body. There is one lymph node that showed up...but thankfully not multitudes! He wants Woody to continue the Keytruda. The next scan will be a full body PET scan...that will show extremities of Woody's body including bones. Using this scan Dr. Eze says that he thinks that it is time to have something done to the melanoma growth on his arm near his elbow since it is not responding to the Keytruda. He has referred Woody back to his Vanderbilt melanoma surgeon...but not for surgery...unless Dr. Kelley has changed his recomendation...but so Dr. Kelley can get the ball rolling to have the melanoma on Woody's arm injected with immunotherapy drug/s...something that Vanderbilt has developed. We go to see Dr. Kelley towards the end of August. Woody had labs, saw Dr. Eze, and had another Keytruda infusion today...that took up most of the morning. When we got home there was a message that Harton Hospital had called to set things up for Woody's surgery tomorrow. They asked him a million questions and finally told him what time to show up tomorrow...mid morning...at least we don't have to head out darkand early...but he will have to go hungry and thirsty a bit longer than if it was first thing! Yesterday dialysis moved his tomorrow's appointment to Friday afternoon. Once I had his surgery time, I called his urologist and moved tomorrow's appointment to Monday! So in the end instead of multiple appointments on one day this week he ended up with one every day from Monday thru Saturday with some spilling over into next week. Dr. O., kidney doctor, told Woody yesterday that they won't attempt PD dialysis until he has healed for two weeks. We are so hopeful that tomorrow's surgery will have his catheter working properly once again. The pretty flowers in tonight's photo were given to us by a friend who stopped by yesterday morning. Aren't they pretty! They look so pretty in the kitchen. Another friend dropped by after lunch yesterday and we sat on the front porch and visited for a while. Their visits were breaths of fresh air in a week that at times has seemed to be closing in around us. I'll report tomorrow on how his surgery goes. Nathan will be here at the house when we get home after surgery to help get Woody in the house and back in his recliner. It will be so much easier thanks to the ramp! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Happy 14th Birthday, Esther!

One Down!

Well, one of Woody's appointments for this week is behind us. The travel time took up most of our time away today. We left the house around 11:15 and headed Murfreesboro way. He signed in for his appointment at 12:25 and we were back in the car heading home by 12:45...which was five minutes before the scheduled time for his appointment for his CT scan. His is a quick scan as he can't have contrast due to being on dialysis. We were home by a little before 2:00. So most of the time was away today was taken up driving in the car. We were both ready to rest when we got home. Woody did drive both to and from the appointment today. He has appointments every day through Saturday, but all of them are in Tullahoma...so at ir is easy to get to and from the rest of the appointments this week...no interstate driving1 There still hasn't been any communication with the hospital telling us what time he is to be at the hospital on Thursday. Tomorrow's appointment is four hours on dialysis...so I will be home to receive any calls from the hospital. Wednesday he will be at TN Oncology for approximately 2 hours. I figure that I am going with him so I can be an extra pair of ears to hear what his oncologist has to say about today's scan. Then I will sit in the waiting room while he has his Keytruda treatment. If at that point I haven't heard from the hospital, I will walk over to his surgeon's office which is right next door and see if they know anything. A lot of times these days you don't hear what time your surgery is till the day before. That is not exactly to my liking/planning/scheduling but will have to take how and when we get told! Tomorrow Woody should find out what time his rescheduled hemodialysis appointment will be on Friday (this is the appointment that will take the place of his scheduled dialysis on Thursday that he can't have because of his surgery). I'm curious if he will have back to back dialysis (Friday and then Saturday or if he will be put into a Monday, Wednesday, Friday rotation). Hopefully these hemodialysis appointments will soon not enter into our appointment scheduling...IF his surgery is successful on Thursday. I don't know how soon he will be able to get back on peritoneal dialysis after this surgery. I will be sure to ask the doctor on Thursday if he doesn't give me that information. This is the surgeon who I taught at Montessori...I'm who intorduced him to reading skills...always fun to see and interact with my students so many years and see them in a successful career! Woody came home and rested and has now gone to Monday night Furnace Room prayer meeting. The ramp is really helpful in him getting to the car from the house and vice versa...definitely a blessing that we were handed by some very thoughtful and skilled men in our church. We can't thank them enough! Nathan stopped by a little while ago to pick up Esther's birthday gift. Her 14th birthday is tomorrow. Nathan is out of quarentine as of today and none of the rest of the family ever had any symptoms. This is the first time that I have seen him in over a month...since they went to Texas because he was in quarantine once they got back. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!