Saturday

I hate not having Internet because posting from my iPhone, because it is a pain in my anatomy my sister got a laptop for her 60th birthday a month ago.

Anyway, I've been frustrated by not having certain belongings here at my sister's. plus, I can't even get myself a cup of coffee, because it takes two hands to drive my scooter. Of course, I'm awake while Mom and Sis sleep. Did I mention I'm getting cabin fever?

Anyway, I might ask my sis-in-law to take my scooter and me to church tomorrow. Depends on how I feel, and if she's willing to put my scooter in her car.

Anywho, I'm considering trying to take Utley for a walk, depending on the weather. I can slip his leash onto my handlebars. My scooter does have handbrakes.

Must get going.

Hugs,
Trish

Good morning Trish and all my OFF sistas!

OMGoodness, Trish.  I can hear the frustration in your post.  I feel for ya, sista!  When I broke my ankle I was in a similar situation, except that I had Butch with me instead of my mom.  Even so, it's very frustrating to have to depend on everyone else for your personal needs.  Suggestion: can you get one of those insulated coffee mugs with a tight fitting lid?  You could hold it between your knees while you drive the scooter.

It's cold and wet here.  Sigh.  I guess winter finally arrived.  I know I shouldn't complain.  We got all the way to Christmas before the first freeze.  I'm just not a winter person at all.  And it's not even dipping down to freezing most nights, but it's not warming up much during the day either.  But mostly I just miss the sunshine!  I hate gray dreary days.

We rented another storage unit yesterday.  If the rain stops today, we will start moving some of these damn boxes out of this house!  I tell you, we can barely move in here.  I have little pig trails leading through most of the rooms.  Enough already.  Butch won't be able to do much of the moving with his knees, but he can keep Benny occupied while I load up the trailer.  I'm so ready to re-establish order in here.  The mess is driving me crazy.

We went to eat at a little Italian restaurant out here by the lake last night.  First time to try it.  We created our own pizza and it was fantastic!  The crust was very obviously made from scratch and so delicious.  I could only eat one piece, plus my salad, but it was so good!

I hope everyone is feeling and doing well.  Thoughts and prayers for Connie as she travels with Nic this week.  Judy, sweetie, hang in there.  Things will get better.  Is Carolyn gone for her surgery right now?  I can't remember when she posted last.  Piney, I hope you are feeling better today. 

Love you all!

Hi Vickie,
A thermal travel mug sounds like a great idea.

I also hate the grey skies of winter. That, plus the cold weather, really get me depressed.

I'm so grateful I haven't needed a storage unit since I moved to my old apartment. I won't need one in Michigan either, because I'll have a basement there.

Hugs to you,
Trish

It is hard to have to ASK others for help and hard to NEED help. Hang in there Trish.

I haven't been writing much lately; hardly have time to read what's happening.

A couple of months ago I began having trouble eating. My bariatric surgeon and the gastro doctor couldn't find anything wrong. The suggestions were to "try harder" - gee thanks fellas - and double the dose of Omeprazole.

With the stress of my younger sister in the hospital, in the nursing home and back in the hospital, my belly was/is having fits.  

Tom's BP has been out of control despite 10 medications, yuppers - that's been a worry. On December 23rd he called me from work to take him to the ER. He was having chest pains which radiated down his right arm. Those of you with husbands know that if they ask to go to the ER it is serious.

They did a tons of testing then decided to go through the groin and into the heart. Tom had a heart attack and severely blocked arteries. He was airlifted to Robert Packer hospital in Pennsylvania and had emergency triple by-pass. The Cardiac Surgeon said without the surgery he wouldn't have lasted a week.

They had to give him blood because the legs wouldn't stop bleeding. Then his lung collapsed and he spiked a fever. It was hard to see him hooked up to the ventilator and tubes coming out all over him.

He is home now and very weak but he is ALIVE!!!!

He has no appetite so I try to make something he will eat. About the only thing he has eaten entirely was a baked potato, small, but he ate it. OJ or diet ginger ale is appealing too.

It feels like we are in competition to see who can lose or keep on pounds each day. Today for the first time he didn't lose any weight. That's good.

I am almost at my all time low. That's not so good. I was too thin and got sick often.

That's what has been happening in my world.

Annette

 

 

 

Oh, Annette!  Hugs and prayers, sweetie!  So sorry for all the turmoil and scares!  I will pray that things improve for all of you in 2013!

Annette,
I'm so sorry you've been through so much. Will be praying for you and your hubby.

Hugs,
Trish

Annette, sorry for all your troubles, but happy that Tom is alive. Maybe you could try Boost or Ensure to get some calories in him? Or protein shakes or bars of some kind? They can be kind of tasty ... just a thought ...

Same goes for you. Don't get too low. Get some food and protein in you. When I'm stressed, I eat too much ... you seem to go the opposite way. 

Hi Trish and my OFF family:

Trish, I like the idea of a travel mug ... but does your scooter have a basket? You can get them. I saw a woman with a scooter that had a basket on it. I know my therapist suggested I get a basket for my walker so I could carry things. Maybe that would work for your coffee. I'm always forced to be self-sufficient when I'm post-op because I live alone so I have to come up with solutions for these things.

Well, yesterday my Internet provider deactivated my email account for some unknown reason, so I had to start up a new account and I thought I might have lost all my email addresses. When I got home, I saw that I still had my mail open, so I was able to print out all those addresses and can add them to my new account. Unfortunately, I inadvertently closed it before I could print out some important emails I had saved. Oh well. I guess I can just email those folks and ask for their snail mail addresses again. 

Not much going on here. It's warmer but gloomy. Not supposed to rain but my body's hurting. Back to work again tonight. No update on Mom but I guess I'll talk to her tomorrow as usual on Skype. I'm sure she's driving my brother and her caregiver(s) crazy  ... she has one woman five days a week and a relief person two days a week. The regular woman is a gem, my brother says ... I saw her, she's a small woman, but Gary says she's a whirlwind. Hope this will help my Mom thrive, being at home.

Anyway, I need to get in the shower. Have a good day.