Venting

I'm so sick of seeing people whining and crying about NYC not cleaning out their streets or their flights being delayed.. I wonder what's going to happen when a real crisis strikes. People are so used to the powers that be taking care of them that they can't do anything on their own anymore. Feed me, feed me, feed me. Grow up people and stop your dang whining..life could be alot worse. On a brighter note..I've gotten 3 seed catalogs already !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I'll be dreaming and drooling. Today is Ken's last day of work for 3 days !!! I can't wait until he gets home..We have to get the old treadmill out of the basement and a few more things moved around in anticipation of the new one arriving Wednesday.. I can't wait..Hubby and I both need to lose a few pounds and get in better shape. With gas prices headed up again I think I'll be riding my bike a lot more..or only making bi-weekly grocery runs. And probably combining Doctor visits with shopping visits. Can't wait until I can start hanging clothes out again and working in my grow beds.. Oh speaking of doctor's visits...Mom's appointment went really well yesterday. Doctor said her lungs sound a thousand times better but she has thrush from the triple whammy of antibiotics,prednisone and advair. So a mouth rinse for that and potassium to replace that taken out by the Lasix. She's still kind of weak but we'll be working on that now that she can breath again. So on to do something...

Addition to December at a glance

Almost forgot....the Wednesday before Christmas Nicole was coming home from work..stopped in front of the house to make a left turn into the driveway and some nincompoop passed her on the left. She was looking for oncoming traffic not behind and she started making the left and they collided. He said he saw her stopped but thought she was going to make a right..Only 2 problems...she had her left turn signal on, he passed on a solid yellow line and if she was turning right she would have been turning into a ditch. At least he admitted he was in the wrong. They ended up transporting her to the hospital..she was complaining of a head ache but once in the ambulance they discovered she'd whacked her knee pretty good...we had probably the shortest ER visit in history..she was out in less then an hour with a knee immobilizer on. She's doing good...she took the next day off work but has been back at it ever since.

December at a glance

Mom ended up in the hospital again in the middle of the month..she was coughing up blood..coumadin levels were to high. Came out of the hospital feeling worse then she went in. She was having trouble with her breathing. When we went back to her primary care physician she said Mom's lungs still sounded really "wet" so she gave her water pills..there was almost an immediate improvement in her breathing. She's still struggling but getting alittle better every day. We had a fantastic Christmas week end...Christmas Day Ken,Jen,Mom,Jim,Nicole and I opened presents and then we (minus Jim and Nicole) had Prime Rib and scalloped potatoes for lunch. In the mean time Shaun came in with the grandkids. I left and drove to Warsaw to get my sister and brought her back to the house. Sunday morning was church...Jim and Nicole came as well as Shaun, Jen, Taylor and the grandkids. Then back to the house for dinner...Ham, mashed potatoes / gravy, corn, green bean casserole, celery/creamcheese and olives,deviled eggs, a pickle and olive tray and biscuits. Then we opened presents. I keep telling everybody I need to find a hotel for sale in the area for holidays...LOL. Carie and my niece Tina's girls came over for a little while...it was great having every body here. Monday I took my sister home and Shaun and the kids left...it was so quiet. Apparently I was really tired because I fell asleep in the chair and Ken had to wake me up to tell me somebody was texting me...pretty bad coz my phone beeps SMS in morse code really load and the phone was inches away from my head..LOL.Today Mom has a doctor appointment and then this afternoon I've got to do laundry...Next week is Mom to the cardiologist on Monday, New treadmill delivery on Wednesday and I go to the cardiologist on Thursday...Never a dull minute around here but I'm telling you I'm enjoying the time I'm getting to spend with my Mommy. At 75 I'm not holding out any hope that she's going to be around forever..so we take it one day at a time and love on her every chance we get. And Ken is really glad he has someone to eat seafood with him...they've had crab legs and lobster tail so far...LOL. Well off to get ready to go...till later

There's no way I'll be able to catch up this time....

but I'll try. October saw Mom in the hospital again for a few days with pneumonia/broncitis and Atrial Fibrillations. Then the 29th of October I ended up in the hospital with chest pressure..it ended up being nothing. Or at least nothing they could pin down. The following Thursday I had an appointment with my new cardiologist..well my first cardiologist. He wanted me to have an angiogram because of the family history. I went for that the following Monday. It was an experience. Mom says she was awake through hers...I don't think I was. I remember bits and pieces of it..for example the doctor saying he was going to have to go in through the groin because he couldn't get the catheter in through my wrist. I think I woke up once and the nurse was pushing on my groin to get the bleeding to stop. oh and my nurse is dating Beck of Kimberly and Beck..not impressed. She was a bit of an old teen ager if you understand what I'm saying. So...angiogram showed 20% blockage in one artery. I'm happy about that. Monday night I started having pain in my upper lungs when I swallowed water or took deep breaths. Ended up going back to the Cath Lab Tuesday but they said my lungs sounded ok so take some tylenol. Wednesday or Thursday I called my cardioloigst office at 7:10..they're website said they opened at 7:00. The phone was answered by an answering service who said they'd have the doctor on call give me a ring back. Within 10 minutes he called. I explained to him what I was experiencing...pain in my lungs and pain in the upper arm that they couldn't cath. He told me to call the office at 8:00 when they started taking calls in the office and tell them to get me in. I hung up feeling good that they were taking it seriously. 10 minutes later the phone rang and it was the office asking me if I could be there at 8. Rush rush and we were there...on time. EKG,Echo cardiogram...back at 1:30 for a carotid artery scan. Echo showed a thin layer of fluid around the heart..but they don't know that it wasn't there already and superficial inflammation in a blood vessel in my arm. Got permission to take Ibuprofen. Mom was having a lot of A Fibs so her visiting nurse called her cardioloigst office and got her an appointment for the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. That day we found out that her cardiologist died. He was hit by an airport shuttle about a month ago. She'd been seeing his assistant so we could keep the appointment. He told her he wanted to do a cardio-something or other..where they shock the heart and try to get it into a normal rhythm. That was scheduled for the next day. I'm thinking ...oh great...the day before Thanksgiving. So we were at RGH at 6:15..at 6:30 they called her back and got her ready. I was with her until they got ready to do the procedure then I went out to the waiting room..with in a half an hour the doctor came out and told me they'd tried twice and had failed to get it into rhythm . Great..now what? I'll try to give her a medicine..do you feel confident enough to make sure her blood pressure doesn't fall to low? Other wise I'll put her in the hospital for 5 days..ummmm NO way ..she's been looking to forward to this Thanksgiving with Shaun being home. We had a good Thanksgiving..Ken,Me, Mom,Jen 2, Nicole ,James,Shaun,Jen1 and Ken's dad. We ate early coz Shaun and Jen had to go to her families for supper and Nicole and James went to his brothers for supper. Today Shaun went and got the grandkids..so I have a house full again..and I love it. Next week is Raymour and Flanigan supposedly coming to fix the couch and getting Mom's blood work done on Monday. I have an echo cardiogram and cardiologist appointment on Tuesday..Wednesday is pay the bills day...other then that I don't know what's going on.The week after is 2 doctor appointments for Mom. Cardiologist and Primary Care Physician. And Ken has an appointment that week also. Busy Busy Busy....till next time

Mommy Update

Mom's doing so much better...Thursday we went to the cardiologist and he said to expect good days and bad days because that's just how recovery from heart surgery goes. So now that we know its normal it won't be quite as scary. Friday we went and got the Auntie and went to Aladdins for lunch. We were down stairs out on the deck which this time of year is wrapped in heavy plastic with gas heaters going. We could watch people walking by on the canal and watch the ducks swimming. It was a good time of family time. Eating, laughing and spending time together. Hubby was off most of last week as he's having problems with his back again so he went with us. Saturday was Jen's soccer game at church and Mom went to that also for the championship game. Our team came in second but hey they can't win every year.And besides its character building. Sunday was her down day..she didn't even get dressed..just sat around on the couch and made an awesome batch of homemade chicken tortillini soup. Yesterday we did a Wegmans run. Today its raining and its going to be hard getting her out of the house but I'm going to try. Now to figure out what to do......

Peeking out the curtain

Man oh man...its been a very long time since I've written...Its 7:25 AM on September 27, 2010 and here's what's on my mind..I'm so thankful for the time I'm spending with my Mommy. She's 75 years old and I still have her here to look at and hug and kiss. On August 23rd she went to Rochester General Hospital for an angiogram..As my son and 2 daughters sat in the waiting room I got a call from the Doctor doing the angiogram..."we found blockages...I'm going to send them to...whoever it was...I don't think its anything serious that will have to be dealt with immediately..? 15 minutes later my phone rings again..."This is so and so..I'm a Nurse Practioner with Dr Split your chest open..we're admitting your Mom and doing a triple by pass tomorrow". I'm so glad the kids were there with me. So I called my aunt..and my sister...and my Mom's boyfriend to let them know what was going on. The surgeon came in that afternoon and said he was available to do the surgery that evening. Mom said no and I was kind of glad because I hadn't gotten to get my sister yet from Warsaw. Surgery was scheduled for 10:00 AM. He told us to be there by 8:30 if we wanted to see Mom before she went down. Later on that afternoon we had her side of the room packed..Me, my hubby, my 3 kids, my aunt, my cousin and her husband and my sister. Family...being there for each other because that's what families are supposed to do. We all went home..at 6:45 AM the 24th my phone rang..it was Mom..they were taking her down in half an hour. I was angry and scared. You've probably never seen so crazy as my sister, 3 kids and I running around that house trying to get dressed and out the door to make it to the hospital and up to the 4th floor in under a half hour. We didn't make it. Just thinking about that morning makes me nauseated which is pretty much how I felt after they told us she was out of surgery..nauseated to the point that shortly there after I lost the contents of my meager breakfast in the bathroom or the CTICU waiting room. Its been a very slow climb from that day...there was another stay in the hospital..originally pain in her left lung that turned into a slight kidney malfunction. She's here with me now..trying to get better..we have to remember she's 75 years old. Yes I'm thankful for this time I have with her. Time to love her and be what daughter's are supposed to be a caregiver...doing for her what she did for me the first 18 years of my life. So this week is 2 doctor's appointments..maybe getting her hair cut...and trying to get her to eat and drink and walk so she gets her strength back. Yep its work...but so was feeding me and changing my diapers and making sure I had all that I needed. That's what I'm trying to do for her..well minus changing the diapers I hope coz that's what families do. I love you Mommy

playing catch up ....AGAIN

On the mouth front.... bottom left tooth had an infection so went to the dentist and got an antibiotic for it..went back a couple of days later and he splinted 4 teeth together and tried to numb me and laser off some of the infected tissue...I say tried because it didn't numb and it hurt so he quit. A couple days later I was flossing and a tooth I'd had a root canal on over 25 years ago broke off at the gum..didn't hurt because the roots were already dead. So yesterday I had the roots pulled. It didn't hurt a whole lot but I couldn't get it to stop bleeding. Guess I should have stopped taking my daily low dose aspirin when I found out he was going to pull my tooth. Had the grandkids last week for VBS at church. We had a blast..VBS in the morning and dirt bike riding and swimming in the afternoon. They didn't give me a whole lot of problems about going to bed at night. Monday Ken, Jen 1 and I went golfing and got rained on..we sucked. I hit one ball and the club was wet..the club flew farther then the ball and ended up in the sand trap. Monday night Shaun got back from Missouri..oh man it seems good to have him home again. Tuesday He,Ken,Jen1 and I went golfing and AGAIN got rained on..but it was a much shorter rain and I sucked again. OH lets see....Nicole is working at Kay Jewelers in Webster and Jim has his name in lots of places but nothing yet.