Fondue Friday WLS Express

Favorite food on a stick has to be the big honkin' Turkey legs that you get at fairs and other places. Don't know what unhealthy stuff they roast it in but very yummy. Plans for the weekend is RNS on Saturday morning, monthly party at apartment Sat. afternoon, baseball game Sunday so I can get some sun. ****ep being told it's not a bad thing.)

Sorry in advance for the long post. If you are wanting to see just the exciting parts they will be in red. Thanks for always being there for me to just ramble when needed.

This week has been tring. Last Friday morning GM went into 3rd degree heart block 4 seperate times for 3-6 seconds. If you aren't familiar with it, it looks sorta like a flat line with small blips called tombstones by CCU nurses (my mother could have gone my whole life without telling me that.) So anyway they admitted her to Harris CICU and started dopamine and stated that she would get a pacemaker on Monday. My mom was like great, wonderful, a pacemaker will do her well. So Saturday come and at 7:30a (we didn't get home until 2:30a) the day nurse called and said that she was all better and they would discharge her later in the day. To say the least we were rather shocked since when we left her they (my mother and the night nurse) were happy she was on the dopamine because her pulse was still only in the upper 40s. So the day nurse said they would explain when we got there. So it turns out that my GM was on a 'toxic' dose of cardiozem(sp?) being that she was on it twice a day. My mother tried to tell the PCP this in Janurary but he said that was an OK dose for her BP. (Yes a true event of the many events.) Once she was off the mediciane for 24 hours her pulse and BP are back to normal and all is well. This is the exact reason why Medicare wants hospitals to wait 72 hours before they will pay for the pacemaker to be put in. It turns out she is an example as to why this is the policy. Anyway no she wasn't discharged she was put on a step down unit so she could be monitored for the next few days. She also had a 34 WBCso she got a few days of antibiotics for a massive UTI.

Monday was my evaluation for outpatient PT program at Healthsouth on Lancaster. They told me after the evaluation that after the 12 session time I would feel confident about being on a regular cane (not even my 4 prong). I don't 100% trust them BUT will do everything I am told. They already fixed my walking with the cane by putting it in the oppisite fand from the bad leg and now my gate is regular (not fast but regular none the less). I immediatly started using the treadmill at the gym at Plaza the next day in anticipation for the 1st PT time on Thursday. I can actually walk 0.8 mph. Who would have ever thought? Anyhoo, for the 1st part of the week my mother and I were splitting 12 hour shifts at the hopital with GM as well. Wednesday at Plaza while volunteering I did not use the wheelchair ONCE while I was on the second floor. I walked up and down the floor during the day WOOT! Yes I had the wheelchair there for the just in case and to get down the hill to the gym after volunteering.
Thursday was my 1st PT time and they had me using muscles that I thought I didn't have anymore in that leg. WOOHOO I'm happy to do something with that leg. Gym after PT and then back to Plaza for Thursday afternoon volunteering. It was at this time Dr. Green sneaked up to me in the hallway and was truly excited for the wheelchair being no where close to me. I told him I was working on it.
This weekend no wheelchair while out and about is the goal, I will try my best as the knee is telling me that I am working it hard.

Have a great day everyone and sorry for the long post!

Woo hoo! Look at you walking everywhere!!

CHRIS-you made my day, bud!

 Congratulations Chris.....you will be running everywhere before long !!!!


Hugs and blessings ~~~ Vivian

Hey You Guys!

We bought a boat Wednesday night! We are taking it to the lake house tonite and having our maiden voyage on it. Sunday is Kaylee's baccalaureat (sp?) so we will come home Saturday night to be in shape to get dressed Sunday morning. It's been since last winter that we have spent any amount of time there and we didn't have a boat last summer so we are all pretty excited about the weekend. We're gonna have a cookout too. Something about the heat and the water and possibly the smell of sun screen allows me to eat more than my regular two-four bites. Dirk is out and about right now buying life jackets, tubes, skiis, ropes and food from Sam's. He's going to pick the kids up a little early from school so we can head out.

My favorite food on a stick....   Mickey Head ice cream bars!!! I miss Mickey!

Love you guys!
Tracey

TRACEY-I'm thinking seriously about heading to the lake after RNS tomorrow-will need directions to where y'all are, etc. I forget...which one of us is Thelma and which is Louise?..or is it Laverne and Shirley?....Cagney and Lacey?...Betty and Veronica?

Please do! It would be good for both of us...lol

Ben and Jerry? Tom and jerry? Beavis and....   nevermind! lol

I'll text directions.

Good morning all! I've been working 12 hr nights all week, so have had very limited computer time--sorry for being MIA.

Food on a stick? That's a no brainer..Sf Blue Bell popsicles. Last year I saved boxes and nearly all the Christmas presents were wrapped in the boxes. It got to be a big joke as everyone unwrapped their gifts. I'm pretty sure I'm addicted.

My plan today is to STAY HOME. I have the stuff to paint the boys' bathroom-but have to deep clen it first...crap...and yuck....or I may just sit right here, in the recliner, with the laptop, chihuahuas and TV remote....Tomorrow is RNS (I miss y'all SOOOOO much), then thinking seriously about heading out to the lake and checking out TRACEY's new boat. Sunday they are having "Senior Sunday" at church, then Sunday afternoon is Chris's baccelauraete ceremony. I'm planning to not go back to  a work case until Sunday night.

I hope everyone has a FABULOUS Friday!

Gina AKA Nurse Diva

Favorite food on a stick? Pre-op, no doubt...corn dogs! Smeared with mayo or ranch dressing. Now, post-op, it's shrimp shewers on the pit. One of these days I'll try another corn dog but if it's like all the other favorites I've tried it won't be the same, not nearly as good as I remember. Maybe I'll just keep that old memory in place and leave it alone!

I haven't journaled food most of the week. It's so easy to get out of the habit! It started because I couldn't find a food and didn't have time at the moment to look everything up and enter it and it went downhill from there! Good thing is I'm eating on plan, haven't gone nuts or anything. Well...nuts is the operative word so I have exceeded limits there....I can't stay out of the almonds! I found the Buttered Toffee almonds at the store...OMG! And even worse is the last couple of nights I've taken a handful to bed to munch while I read! So todays goal is to get that under control.

Another food chore today is to clean out the 'fridge. In my efforts to change up our menu I made too much food, thinking Beast would take some of it to work for lunches. Well, he's afraid to eat too much of 'my food' so he's left it. Now I've got chicken salad, sliced ham rollups, SW chicken and pintos that are all past and need to be thrown out! So much for saving money by fixing his lunches! But Bless him...he's thinking of me first, as he's always done. Guess it's hard to break a 40+yr old habit!

We only have 15 days until we leave on our trip, I'm really starting to get excited! Even though this is my 16th trip to this same resort, every trip I get more excited to get back. The staff have all become a second family, we've watched some of them grow up from kids working as yard boys to being boat captains with children of their own. Some of the staff have been there 20+ years. So even though we do alot of diving while there, and that's our main goal, the relationships with the people while there is priceless. And this year I'm taking alot of my fat clothes to be shard with anyone who can use them, staff or other locals. To say Roatan, Honduras is a poor island is a huge understatement. I feel they need my things much more that anyone here. So even though I wear very few clothes while there, (don't get THAT visual in your mind!) I'll be packing clothe to the hilt this trip. My only fear this trip is having my protein chai tea mix and vitamins confiscated! I've heard everything from it's OK to have lose pills in zip lock bags to everything needs to be in the original bottles. I'll try to call TSA and get something in writing, I've also discovered it all depends who the monkey behind the counter and how they interpret anything rule! Oh well...whatever they do to me can't deminish my excitement at being 100+ lbs smaller than I was last year and fitting in those airline seats without extentions this year!!!! I can almost say I'm looking forward to it! LOL!

OK...guess I better get busy. I have a lot of sewing and embroidery I need/want to get done before we leave.

Prayers for all who need them.