Almost a Do-Nothing Day

Tonight's photo shows my accomplishment of the day...I finished a tiny cross stitch piece (note size compared to a quarter) that I plan to make into a tiny Christmas ornament. It was so good to have a day that we had no appointments...days like today seem to be a rarity lately! I did go to the public library to pick up a few books for Woody. That was my only outing of the day and that only took a few minutes. Both of us have done a lot of sitting in our recliners today. Since he wasnt having to head out the door to go to an appointment, Woody found the time to come upstairs and print off his own crossword puzzles and check on status of the St. Louis Cardinals. I have done a couple of loads of wash, put away dishes, etc. But have really mostly done a lot of nothing. We have both done some reading. Woody did his daily crossword puzzles. He has watched some TV. He worked on the Sunday School lesson that he will teach on Sunday. I started looking at the Sunday School lesson that I will be teaching next week. And, I stitched. I managed to get Woody's CT scan rescheduled. We got a call from the dialysis center that they want him to come in early again tomorrow morning. That should mean that he will be home before noon leaving his afternoon and evening free. Be safe! Be well! Be careful!

Tried…Again…And…We Will Try Again Next Week!

Tonight's photo is of Rustle. He is our granddaughter Erin's dog. She says that their personalities match...not real fond of being around a lot of people! Rustle was not sure about me being on the same couch with him...note that he is watching me out of the corner of his eye. Well, today followed all the days so far this week (except for Sunday) where Woody had appointments...today all dealt with dialysis. My morning started off with a call from the dialysis center at 6:15 saying that they had a chair open and could Woody come at 7:45. He had said the night before that he would gladly take an earlier time if it was offered to him...happy to get the dialysis over with earlier in the day. The change in time meant that I had to get in touch with our PD dialysis nurse to see if it was okay to come in earlier to attempt to flush Woody's PD catheter. He said that would work. I dropped Woody off at 7:45 and headed back home to get ready to head to Kroger around 9am. I needed to go to the Credit Union first and the inside doesn't open till 9am...and I do not like the drive through. It opens earlier, but I decided that I could manage to go to the Credit Union and Kroger and manage to get home with the groceries before it was time to head back to the dialysis center. I made it and was able to put away at least the cold/frozen items before I needed to leave. He wasn't finished with dialysis as soon as he usually is. He said that he didn't get started as soon as normal. He finally came out and went to the other end of the waiting room and rang the bell to alert the PD dialysis nurse that he was ready to come over to that side. The nurse was armed with several syringes and the solution bag already had heparin in it when we got in the room. Once again the small amount that they wanted to put in went in okay, but it just wouldn't drain out. There is a chance that the solution that remained in Woody might loosen up whatever is causing the catheter not to work as a drain and then he will go back and try again on Tuesday after his hemodialysis treatment. So hopeful that it will work...but definitely looking questionable. The solution that is being left in Woody's abdomen will all be absorbed at a point. Once again we both rested after we got back from our busy morning...I know that I napped for a while...not sure about Woody but think that he probably napped at least a little. Today they gave him an injection of iron and also his other injection that helps with his anemia...hoping that he will have a little more energy! The PD nurse thought that he seemed to have more energy than he had the last couple of times that he saw him. We got a message about the estimate for the cost of supplies for building the ramp. I have attempted to call back to okay the estimate and find out how they want payment for supplies, but at this point we are playing phone tag. If I don't hear back tonight, I will call again tomorrow. This is the greatest group of men from our church...they do this out of the kindness of their hearts...no labor costs...just building materials. If the weather holds out, they hope to get going on it perhaps Tuesday of this next week. Today is the first day in many a day that we haven't had even a drop of rain. It was nice to have the sun shining! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Where Do I Begin?!?

I'll start with the pretty flowers in tonight's blog photo. After a very long morning of appointments, it was so nice to hear from a friend and have her drop by with these lovely sunflowers to brighten up our day...along with some freshly picked blueberries and an inspirational book. How thoughtful and what perfect timing to give us a boost after the busy day. I wasnt sure if Woody wanted me to go with him to his surgeon appointment. But since the Peratoneal dyalysis catheter had to be addressed and I had what the dialysis nurse told us yesterday written downin my iPad notes, he decided that he wantedme to go to at least be another pair of ears. The surgeonwas pleased with the way Woody was healing. Next he addressed the problem of the peratoneal catheter. He isnt ready to call uncle yet. He wants the nurses at dialysis continue to attempt to get the catheter flowing more freely by using heparin. He wants Woody to get back on PD at home as soon as possible. He told us he would call and talk to Woody's dialysis nurse. The other thing that Woody wanted the surgeon to address was whether he could have a prostate biopsy that his urologist has scheduled. I was hoping the surgeon would nix it so soon after this surgery...but...nooooooo..he said that it would be perfectly fine. Woody is to go back to the surgeon in two weeks...we had to make that visit a little after the two-week time since two weeks from today is the biopsy. The one good thing about today's back-to-back appointments is that the offices are right next to each other so we just walked next door and got signed in for his oncology appointment. He decided that he wanted me there to be extra ears when he talked to his oncologist. We got there a bit early...but things proceded right along. They called him in for labs, then he saw the medical assistant who asked questions and pumped answers into the computer. The doctor came in and addressed questions that Woody had. This was the first time that I had met Dr. Eze. He asked about Woody's surgery to repair the tear in his peratoneum. Then he wanted to know about what Woody had found out at the endocronologist. We had to tell him that that appointment had never been made. He said that he would see that it was made before we left today. Next he addressed the melanoma on Woody's arm. He agrees that it is much larger. He was hoping that the Keytruda would have made it go away. He said Keytruda needs to continue as it treats his whole system. Removing or injecting the melanoma on his arm wouldn't do anything for the rest of his system. He didn't seem too anxious to do anything with the place on Woody's arm unless it became extremely painful. Then he addressed having the PET scan to see what was going on in the rest of his body. He had them schedule that appointment also before we left. At that point Woody headed into the treatment room andI went out to sit in the very cold waiting room. When Woody came out, he already had the appointments. But since I hadnt been there when they were making them, there is a conflict on the day they scheduled the PET scan...conflicts with the biopsy. I will have to call and get that appointment changed. We got home around 12:30...hard, long morning for Woody. He decided that he wanted his protein shake for lunch. I got that fixed for him and started getting something for me and the phone rang. It was a friend who was having inner ear problems and her doctor had told her to take dramamine and would I get her some. Before I fixed his lunch, I had called the pharmacy to fill some prescriptions for us...so I managed to kill two birds with one stone by getting her dramamine while I was getting our medicine. I took her medicine to her, talked to her for a few minutes, and headed home to rest! When I sat down I called our Fresenius nurse. He asked me yesterday to call and report on our visit to the surgeon. He had to call me back so I rested while I waited! When he called back, I asked if the surgeon had called him and he had. I think ouf nurse is questioning the doctor a bit, but he is willing to give it a try. So Woody will go back in for another flush with heparin. Time will tell, if the doctor is right or not! I didn't mention that the surgeon said that if this doesn't work then he will have to go in like he did when placing the catheter and attempt to clear the catheter laproscopically. Another surgery! Certainly hoping that we can get the catheter cleared from this side! I don't think the nurse is very optomistic. Again, time will tell! It has been quite a day! I heard a few minutes ago that one of our Sunday School member's sister and brother-in-law both have Covid and one is in the hospital. Covid hasn't left us yet! So...continue to be safe...be well...be cautious!

Why Can’t Things Be Simple?

Got up today thinking that that the morning was free till around 11 when I would take Woody to the dialysis center. He thought about going by himself but since he wa going to go to the peritoneal dyalysis side of the building after his hemodialysis, I needed to be there for the flushing of the PD line so I could learn how to do it. While I was making his pancakes, we got a phone call asking if he would come in at 8:45 instead of 11:30 so that changed my plans of the day. I had planned to go to the grocery store after I dropped Woody off, but since I didn't have my list ready when it was time for him to go, I ended just coming on home...planning to work on the list and then go later in the afternoon or tomorrow...or sometime in the near future! In the end I was glad that I did come home as two of the gentlemen who are going to build our ramp came by to make some final measurements and ended up changing the original plan a bit and needed my apprval. I did get the list going...always a work in progress...but at least it has some items on it now. I used the time to clean out the refrigerator and start preparation for a recipe that I won't be able to finish till I go to the store as I need more celery. I headed back a little before 1pm to get Woody and move to the other end of the dialysis center. And, at this point of the day things didn't go so great. Today the fluid went in but very slowly and he couldn't get much of any that went in to come out. So...that problem will have to be discussed with the surgeon tomorrow. It will probably mean a surgical procedure to relocate the datheter for the peritoneal dialysis...like the title of tonight's blog says...why can't things be simple? I guess we will see tomorrow what the surgeon wants to do about the latest problem. The PD nurses are dealing with something that they have never dealt with before...a leak in the peratoneum. Woody looked it up on the internet and found out that only 2% of PD patients develop leaks. "Lucky" him to fall into that small percentage! Oh, well, I guess we just keep on keeping on. I'll let you know what the surgeon plans to do about this latest hiccup tomorrow night! We have had more rain today...the flowers continue to be happy. I guess my herb garden will have to be shifted around a bit to accomodate the ramp. Well, I have a few dishes that need to be tucked into the dishwasher before I run the dishwasher tonight. Guess I should go do that and then retire to my recliner. I'm ready to either read or stitch. I just ran off Woody's daily crosword puzzles so he is happily working those and watching the All-Star Baseball game. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious! This is one of our rascally squirrels...seems to be simple for him to get seed from the feeders...even those that are supposed to be squirrel-proof...tnis one isn't squirrel-proof and he looks like he is sucking the seeds out of the little holes and then leisurely holding on with his back feet while he enjoys his seed feast.

Signs of the Day (Taken Another Day!)

We left the house around 7 this morning. Woody had an appointment with his dermatologist in Murfreesboro. Woody drove there (first time that he has driven since his surgery), but by the time he walked to his appointment from the car, had his appointment, and walked back to the car, he decided that I could ride home. He said that it wasn't because he felt weak, but that he just felt so sleepy. So I drove home, me who says that I no longer drive out of Tullahoma! I only drove on Interstate 24 for a short distance and then got off to take the back roads back to Tullahoma...not straight roads by any means! But I have driven this route before so I was fairly familiar with it. There was a possibility of rain and I didn't want to have to deal with all the trucks passing on the interstate in the rain! It only rained a little so that was good. We made it home...thankfully. We both rested a good portion of the afternoon! Woody went to the Monday Night Furnace Room Prayer Meeting this evening. I have come out on the front porch to wait for him so I can "help" in the house...or at least spot him when he is going up the front steps. The fireflies are out and it is rather pleasant on the front porch. It has been breezy today and a bit cooler so the humidity was bearable. I killed a mosquito on my arm a few minutes ago...but that was when I was still inside. So far this year the mosquitos haven't been too bad. We really got the rain yesterday...major downpours at times...haven't had to water the gardens for several days now and they continue to look good. I picked a tomato yesterday...needs to ripen a bit more, but it can do that on our kitchen counter where its redness won't tempt any birds! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious! And, no, I did not take these signs today, but on another trip with Woody was driving...but I did see these signs today along with a lot of others warning of curves, etc.

Blueberry Pickin’

Nathan, Kathy, Joy, Esther, Elijah, Isaac, and Joeph came over to pick blueberries late this morning. Their blueberry bushes get bigger every year...so tall that Nathan even has trouble getting the ones at the very top. Isaac was attempting to eat more than he picked...but once they were in the colander, he was supposed to leave them alone! I caught him when his daddy's back was turned! The really big juicy ones are very hard to resist! So far the netting has kept the birds out. The blueberry picking trip was Nathan's second trip to our house today. He showed up earlier in the morning with a friend from church who is a part of a team of men who help out folk who need something done around their house...in our instance it is getting a ramp built from our back door and over to our driveway. He took measurements and said they would build it in the near future. Sounds like they have a plan in mind as to how to do it. These same men will be doing some work for Nathan at the Baptist Collegiate Center at Motlow. Woody was going to drive himself to dialysis today, but changed his mind when he decided he hadn't given himself enough time to get there and in at a leisurely pace. His big accomplishment was he did manage to get back in the house after dialysis without Nathan or any neighborly assistance. I spent quite a bit of time in the dark this afternoon after dropping Woody off at dialysis. The electricity went off and stayed off for about 1-1/2 hours. Woody heard at dialysis that the outage was due to an accident on Jackson Street (main drag in Tullahoma). Kathy was running errands in town and she saw two ambulances heading somewhere. It involved a motorcycle and another vehicle. I had no idea why the electricity went out nor how much of an area the outage involved. Kathy did text me that the grocery store where Abigail works was without power...and that is a ways away from our house. When I went upstairs my cell phone was beeping and one of the messages was from our internet provider saying that there was an outage and that electricity would be off for several hours. Shortly after the power came back on...in a shorter time than the internet provider estimated...I got another message from the internet folk saying that power was restored and if we still didn't have the internet to call a certain number. I appreciated the information from them...getting that text let me know that it wasn't just our house! I took advantage of the outage and just rested during that time...read a little and then just rested my eyes till I felt the overhead fan come on and knew that power was back. Woody said that he wouldn't have known about the outage, except that the nurses said something about it. I'm sure that they have a back-up generator at the dialysis center. But I am pretty sure that they must have been affected because they are located on Jackson Street. Oh, and, about the drama from his last dialysis session, Woody found out that the lady is in the hospital. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Lazy-Rainy Day

It has just been "one of those" days...We had a thunderstorm roll through that gave us quite a heavy rain for a while. It was really dark in the house for a while...a good time to sleep in late...or as I did go back to sleep after I got our breakfast. I think that Woody slept in later than he thought he had because it was so dark. Then late this morning the phone rang...I saw that it was an unknown number so I didn't answer. In a few minutes after it rang, Woody was "dropping in on me" via Alexa saying that he thought that was probably dialysis calling because he was late. I guess he had fallen asleep and thought it was Saturday. He was glad that he hadn't forgotten and that he still had the day off from dialysis! I have read and stitched today. Yesterday I requested a book from the public library for Woody. They called this morning saying that they had it for us to pick up. After lunch, I headed off to the library to get the book for Woody and found another one. Then I headed to a nearby grocery store and got some ice cream for Woody's shakes. I have taken several naps. Woody started reading one of the books that I got him and probably did a little napping, too...as I said...just one of those days! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!