In the Front Yard I have Built a Snowman

Christmas is gone. How sad. We had snow again this weekend- a pretty big storm that dropped 7 inches of wet and heavy white stuff. It was perfect for snowman building! It is just beautiful and still coating all the trees and wires! I took pictures . Some were at night-it was so pretty, but didn't translate into photos standing on the porch!
Mushy came down with her little snow blower and cleaned the walks and driveway. It was a heck of a lot faster than shoveling. Then Phrog showed up and roof raked. So, we are good to go until it starts to melt later this week when it hits 40 degrees. First we have to get through the cold snap- It is supposed to get down to 7 degrees tomorrow night! Brrrr!!!
I am leaving the tree up until the weekend for Lar- then it has to come down. It is drier than a popcorn fart. Even looking at it causes needles to fall of at an alarming rate. I'll leave alot of the other stuff up for a while 'cuz Lar loves it so much. And let's face it...it's a lot of work to put it all away, so why not procrastinate a bit??
Got a call the other day that Betty Schaetzel- who was one of Mom's best friends and always a good friend to the whole family- passed away. It is weird that I had not talked to her for months and then called her the other day to wish them a happy holiday. She said that they were going to try to come down for New Year's. Mom's friends are dwindling down.
Some day I will tell Betty stories. There are a lot of them- some involving mice (which she was deathly afraid of and you should never, ever let kids know your weaknesses if you are that scared). OK-I'll tell one quick Betty story. Katie snuck a white mouse home once. Finally, Mom found out and said- OK, just make sure that you take care of it. Well, the cats could get the poor thing no matter what we put him in- they would knock it over and chase him around. So we put him in a cage in the bathroom and kept the door shut tight so the cats couldn't get in. Enter Betty and Ruben (her hubby ) who were down in the basement antique shop one afternoon (Mom had a really nice antique shop in the basement and barn for 25 years). I am sure that there was beer or cocktails involved-it was the 1960s after all and everything involved having cocktails. Betty came upstairs to use the bathroom. In the bathroom was an antique bird cage. Betty goes in and you can hear her in there "Well, what did Mary Ann let those kids get now? I can't believe she would let them get a bird". She stuck her nose closer to the cage to check it out, just about the same time the white mouse stuck his nose out of the shredded paper on the bottom of the cage. All of a sudden therre was a blood curdling scream and Betty went running by waving her arms and screaming! The poor woman did not stop until she ran the full 3 blocks home.
Betty and Shirley and Mom were quite the 3 some and went to auctions and antiquing all the time. What stories they would tell!
Anyhow, the funeral is 3 hours away on Wednesday, so I won't be able to take Larry to it. I sent flowers and will send a card.
It is New Year's Eve. The last day of 2007. We are just making pizza and watching Fred and Ginger all night. Larry still has the c-diff and will start a 3rd course of antibiotics this evening. I had called the Dr. this am to tell her that it was not gone yet, so she had us do another poop sample and wanted to start a new antibiotic. She said to just go to Walmart and pick it up. So, I get Larry home from dialysis and head over to the Falls. The parking lot was a zoo at Walmart, but, the drive through was not open, so I finally found a parking spot and hoofed into the store to join the line at the pharmacy, where everyone is coughing and sneezing and snarffling. OK, my turn finally. "Oh, the med has to be pre approved by your insurance. We sent the form to your MD and you should be able to get that in 4 or 5 days." Okkkkkkk.....this is for an infection and she wanted to have him start now. "oh! well- you can pay cash" and how much would that be? She walks away to the computer behind the wall and comes back a few seconds later "Six hundred and thirty four dollars." WHAT???? Are you crazy?????That's not happening. "Well, I suggest you call your MD and find out what she suggests."
So, I call the doc's office and leave the message to get a call back. Heide the nurse calls after I get home and tells me that the doc just called the insurance co. and they OKed a one time over ride, so, now, I can go back and pick up the prescription.
Well, when I got Larry up from his nap, I loaded him in the car and we went over there again. I checked the drive through and Hallalujah! It was open! They only had 12 pills ($212 worth) no cost- and I have to go back on Wednesday to pick up the rest- hopefully, also at no co-pay.
We did get cheescake nuggets at Arby's on the way home- so it was worth it!

Fa-la-la-la-la,Christmas Cheer

Well, it has been a long week and I am glad it is over.
I love Christmas and look forward to it all year, but this year, with all the stuff going on with Larry, I was one emotional wreck by Christmas Eve.
He went to the Doctor for a follow-up on Friday and everything seemed pretty good. It was his last dose of the antibiotic- everything seemed OK.
On Saturday, he started to get the diarrhea again and Sunday, when he had dialysis, he wound up having to go on a bedpan in the middle of his session. He was totally wiped out afterward and progressively worse as the day went on. He could hardly stand up much less walk and had to keep going to the bathroom. I would have taken him to the emergency room, but he would have been very, very, very depressed to spend Christmas in the hospital.
I finally pulled his lift chair into his bedroom so that he could at least sit up in a chair and then I drove through the blowing snow to get Gatorade because I figured he was dehydrated again. I also made the executive decision to give him another dose of the antibiotic (I had extras because he was in the hospital and didn't use the full course that I had at home).
So, he woke up at 3:00 am and pooped all over because he just couldn't get to the john in time. OK- I can deal with it. I get him up at 8:30 and he is walking a little better, but still not quite right. He goes to the john and then we go to have breakfast- which he barely touches. I in the meantime have calls out to the Doctors office to get a new script for the Flagil and she calls back-YUP! we'll do another 10 day course. Good- that is taken care of. Coumidin clinic called and we got that all straightened out.
Well Lar, you want to go lay down? Yes! So he stands up and poop gushes out everywhere- down both legs- into his shoes- into his prostesis- even into the liner IN his prostesis. It is everywhere. We get to the bathroom and get his clothes stripped off and his leg stripped off and washed up- shoes changed out so I could clean the pooped ones- I have disinfectant spray and paper towels and am running around trying to clean up. We get him washed up and back to bed and it takes me an hour to get everything cleaned up. Now I am weeping- Not because I am angry at Larry- or even angry at all. I am just weeping because it seems like my whole life for the last year- especially at holidays (Is what it seems like to me)revolves around cleaning up poop. And I was just feeling a little bit sorry for myself and cried all morning. At home, I cried- As I drove to the grocery to get the salad stuff (I was going to go at 8:00 am but had to wait for the Dr. call back)and could find no parking and had to circle the parking lot for 15 minutes, I cried. When Phrog called to see if I needed him to do anything- I cried. Brother David called to check on if I needed anything- I cried. I was pretty much a basket case all day, but finally stopped weeping around 2:00 when Travis and Jake got there (Katie's Sons) and went out to help them shovel the sidewalks.
When I got Larry up from his nap, he was feeling much better and we had no more real poop emergencies for the rest of the day. Everyone showed up and we had a lovely time. It was a very nice Christmas.
Then, on Christmas day, Larry and I decided to go for a drive because it was fairly warm (30 degrees) and sunny. We went to Katie's and I dropped off nuts and candy that were left over from the night before and had baked a monkey bread for the boys (That stuff is really Yummy!) She wanted us to stay and join the group -everyone goes to her house on Christmas Day and plays games. It is just too hard to get Larry in when it is as snowy as it is now, so we declined and left to continue our leisurely drive. When we got into West Bend, John called and said we should come back to Slinger and he would take us on a tour of the new Fire Station. WOW! They did a great job on the fire station, let me tell you! And, they got a fire call while we were getting ready to leave, so we got to watch the guys race in and get gear on and jump in the trucks and GO!
All in all a very nice day! We both enjoyed it- and so did Elvis because he got to come along in the car.
Today, Larry had dialysis and I had a talk with the girls and told him how bad he was on Sunday, so they aren't going to take him to his dry weight for the next couple of sessions. Hopefully, the Flagil will have a chance to get this C-Diff out of his system and we won't have to deal with it and dialysis can go back to doing what they feel is best . Until then- Nope! He has to keep some fluid on so he doesn't dehydrate.
We are going to go drive and look at lights with Travis and Jake this evening, so, I guess better get Lar up and fed.
Merry Christmas!

Hot Damn! We're building ice dams!

And that is not a GOOD thing- ice dams are bad! I had to call Phrog last week and have him come over and chip on the ice over the back porch because it was starting to leak into the house around a couple of windows. NOT GOOD!
He worked out there for 6 hours- raking snow, throwing salt up and hitting the ice with his hammer. Don't do this at home folks- he is a professional. Well, sort of. And it worked and the ice has been melting, melting! What a world! What a world- oh- sorry, started to channel the wicked witch. Anyhow, the weather has been warmer with rain and fog, so almost all of the ice is gone. Just in time for another storm tonight.
Mushy and Jim took Larry out to look at Christmas lights last night. He had a good time, although they couldn't see much through the fog. He loves to go see Christmas lights and wanted me to take him tonight, but, it is just as foggy and rainy to boot. Maybe we can go drive around on Christmas day night.
I also went out last night and man oh man! You could hardly see anything. Cars headlights coming at you were not visible until you were almost on top of them. And then ,when we were on this back country road, all of a sudden this teenage boy came running at the car waving his arms- have you ever had anyone appear like that, out of the fog in front of your car???? It scared the heck out of me and Louise! Aiiiiiiiiii!!!!! Turns out he was chasing his little dog around on the road, but he is just darn lucky that we were going slow enough to stop without killing him!
Larry has dialysis tomorrow so he doesn't have to go in on Christmas Eve. That is nice, to have Christmas off, but, I am going to have a heck of a time keeping the days straight for the rest of the week. You wind up being off a day for everything. I'll make notes and put them on the fridge to try to keep track of what day is what!
And speaking of Christmas, I have to make my Tirimasu torte tomorrow. I made 3 batches of carmel corn today. It makes a great little something to give to people. Everyone is coming here. I have the house pretty well cleaned and am just finishing up the last of the wash before Christmas. I even did all of out blankets with the sheets this week, so everything is clean and fresh!
I also have to find an ugly Christmas sweater for myself to wear. We always have a gimmick -hats, socks, vests- one year we made everyone cat-in the hat hats- and one year we made Grinch teeshirts for everyone. You get the drift. I will try to find some photos of Christmas pasts. It is always fun. And we always would go out caroling. Caroling ended when Kurt died- we tried that first year, but, it just wasn't the same. He always led the charge and decided what we were singing. He had a great voice and loved to harmonize. I wanted to start caroling again, but, I really doubt that the rest of the crew wants to do it. We'll see.

Hi-ho! Hi-ho! Back to the Hospital We Go!

Wednesday morning, Larry was feeling OK- still had loose stools, but, not feeling too bad. So, we go to dialysis. I tell them what new antibiotic he is on and for what. I leave and return at 10:00 as I usually do and Larry is jusy getting off the machine. The poor guy is shivering, he is so cold! And then when they weigh him, Oops! he is 84.7 k- a little under his dry weight. Oh well. He can have a little extra fluid today.
Right..... So, we go home and he can barely keep his protein drink down. Solid food is a no go, he is shivering like he has palsy. We finally get him under his electric blanket and it takes 2 hours to get even fairly warm.
Larry, you have to get up and try to eat and drink something. You are feeling so terrible because you are dehydrated.
"Noooo! I can't eat...I don't even want to try. So, it goes like this all day. He is nauseous and flemmy and cold. No making him feel better. And he is moaning and groaning and generally miserable, but at the same time-DRIVING ME NUTS! Phrog stopped by and even visiting with him did nothing to boost Larry's mood. I kept saying- "Do you want me to take you to the emergency room?" "NO". O.K....
We go to bed at 9:30. And Larry is still just miserable. At 12:30 am on Thursday (or Wednesday nite if you prefer) Larry paged me. Down I go and he had not made it to the bathroom with the diarrhea. We get cleaned up, clean up everything else, tuck him back into bed.
Now, I am awake and tossing and turning. I don't know why I couldn't get back to sleep, I just know that it is very frustrating when you are so tired and just laying there staring at the clock.
Well, at 3:00 am on Thursday morning, my intercom goes off again. So, I fly out of bed, run down the steps and there is Larry, laying on the floor next to his bed. Now, he must have woken up enough to turn on the bedside light, because that was on, but he said he passed out as he was sitting up and just slid off the bed (you know, when you only have one leg to stand on, you got nothing on that side to break your slide)He cut his shoulder and his foot on something, so there was blood and I knew that there was no way on God's green earth that I was getting him off of that floor by myself, especially since we didn't know why he fell or if he was hurt.
911
"Hello- I have an 81 year old male on the floor, bleeding from 2 areas that I can see. He says that he just must have fainted when he tried to sit up."
Ambulance is on the way. Great!
I have to mention here, that we live about 1 mile from the fire station and have several rescue squad people in our neighborhood, including Nikki, who lives across the street with her husband and 2 kids and her father next door. So, I was very glad to hear- "Hey Sarah! What's up with Larry?" coming through the door. I have to say that I am always impressed by the Germantown Rescue Squad people! They are always so great! Which really helps when you are in a stressful situation like that.
They get him off of the floor and onto the stretcher and haul him away, while I change from my jammies to clothes, take the dog out and get in the van to follow. I got to see the baker guy making bread at the bakery in the Falls. Not something you normally see because who in their right mind is driving around at 4:00am???
In the emergency room they do all the tests and xrays and a cat-scan of his head (To make sure he didn't have a stroke) Looks like he's pretty dehydrated. Well, that is a Duh- but, OK- now what? Well, he gets admitted and put in isolation (for the C-diff) and given fluids. And on Friday, no fluids get taken off at dialysis, just clean his blood and all weekend he got to rest up in the hospital while they try to get rid of the C-Diff and keep him hydrated. So, he wasn't too happy to be stuck in the hospital all weekend, but, at least they are letting him out tomorrow after dialysis. And that's the way the ball bounces.
I myself personally, also got some rest. I went to bed at 9:00 pm for the last few nights. Tonight I am going to get Chinese take-out for dinner and watch something other that a football game! Last chance I'll get for that for awhile, so I plan to enjoy it!
And did I mention that we had another 6 inches of snow last night? Yeah baby! I have no idea where the heck I am going to go with any more snow. I had to shovel around the ramp before I could shovel the ramp. Oh well, it could be worse! We could have gotten that ice storm that they got south of here! That would NOT have been fun, so I am grateful. And I really don't mind the snow. I just wish a little would melt before piling more on.
2 years ago, I made these ice luminarias- Martha Stewart had them in her magazine. They were beautiful in Martha's magazine. So, I got my 5 gallon buckets and my smaller buckets and over 2 weeks time made 15 ice luminarias-Very time consuming to make, but well worth the effort. They were beautiful! They will look so spiffy lining the front porch, all aglow on Christmas Eve.
As Christmas approached, the weather got warmer and warmer. By 2 days before Christmas, I had only 2 half luminarias left. I was very sad. I guess maybe I could have made those dang things again and that would have guaranteed a warm up!
Time to call my order in.

Ho-Ho-Ho! C-Diff for Christmas

Well, we got the results back from the stool sample we had to take in and Larry has C-diff. Caused by all of the antibiotics that he has been on in the last 10 days for the "unknown"infection- which turned out to be -a cold.
The poor guy was pooping like a goose for the last 4 days! I would think that at the hospital, they would automatically give these elderly people who they load down with antibiotics the c-diff poop test, because apparently, it is quite common. And not entirely easy to get rid of once it really takes hold. Well, I am just intending that we caught it early and this course of antibiotics (Which really is counter-intuitive to me to give someone an antibiotic for an ailment caused by an antibiotic) will take care of it and Lar will feel better!
We had yet more snow yesterday. It is beautiful outside- all white and pretty. But, I wish some would melt because I don't know where to go with the stuff along the ramp and porch! I am going to have to shovel the stuff that I shoveled-not fun : ( I also had to get the roof rake going and try to clear snow from the eaves. We have major icicles going on and I don't want the ice to damn up under the shingles. That is bad!!! We don't like that! We really try to keep the ice from building up whenever we can! The good news is, it is sunny right now, so maybe some will melt. From the roof- from the walks- from the driveway- from the car.
I hope Larry is feeling a little better! I think they took too much fluid off of him at dialysis today, so he was very nauseous and cold when I got him home. We will have to talk to them on Friday when he goes in.

And then off to the Hospital

Well........ we wound up at the emergency room and at the hospital for 3 days. Larry went to the Dr. on Wednesday and she looked at him and said-"To the hospital you go!" You really can't take chances when an elderly person has as many medical issues as Larry does. They were worried that it was pneumonia, or some other type of infection. So they ran tests and drew blood and took xrays- 6 1/2 hours worth in the emergency room. And then they admitted him FINALLY at 8:15 Pm and pretty much did nothing except keep an eye on him. On Thurs, the hospitalist,Dr. Choitani finally came in at 5:00 pm (I had been waiting since 9:00am, but you just never know when they will show up, so you just have to wait). He said that he thought that Larry just had a viral infection- a cold- and that was it. But they were having the pulmonologist check him out also, just to make sure. The pulmanologist agreed- Viral- probably a cold. OK.
So Friday, they do dialysis at the hospital and when he gets back to the room at 1:00, I ask the nurse if he is being discharged.
"Well, No, he isn't" she says.
Why on earth not? says I.
"Well, we didn't get any orders."
Well......do we think that perhaps we could contact the Doctor and check?
So, she calls Dr. C. and he says that he will be down in 15 minutes. When he gets there, he agrees- we are not treating anything here, he is feeling OK, eating OK, walking OK, so off we can go...eventually.
As anyone who has ever been in the hospital knows, gets discharged is not always quick and/or easy. But finally at 4:15, we got out.
Last night he was just happy to be home, but today, he is feeling not so hot. Lots of phlem again, which makes him nauseous, so he puked up his breakfast and didn't want to eat lunch, but I made him eat a little soup and some crackers. He also has diarrhea, so was running to the john all night and all am. That is probably from all of the antibiotics that they had been giving him before they figured out that antibiotics wouldn't help what he has. So, we are getting lots of moans and groans and I feel like banging my head on the wall. He was doing so much better at the hospital.
I did put up the tree, so that should cheer him up a little bit.
And we are getting more snow! Oy-vey! I am already tired from the shoveling! This will be the 4th storm in a week! Oh-well!
Maybe I can build a snowman!

More Snow and to the Doctor We Go!

Well, We got 6 more inches of snow last night. Very pretty, fluffy snow....that I had to get up at 5:00am to shovel.
Larry has had a cold for the last few days and is really feeling bad today. He is coughing and sniffly, nose running, fever. I took him to the Dr. yesterday and she started him on an antibiotic because of his lung having fluid in it, she does not want it to turn to pneumonia. I have to agree- we don't want pneumonia. The antibiotics were $74.00 and that was just the co-pay part that I had to pay! Good thing it isn't something he is going to need a refill on.
We are heading back to the Dr. in an hour so she can recheck that lung and make sure that it is not filling up. At least it is sunny!!!

It's a HEAVY snow!!!

Man oh man! This is some HEAVY snow!!!! Biz never got out last night. She must have gotten out early this morning though because she has not called yet. I got up and started shoveling and I have to tell you..... wet, heavy snow is not fun to shovel! Very pretty, but a bugger to lift off the walkways! I am also kind of effectively stranded for the time being because the snow is so heavy and deep at the ends of the driveways that it is impossible to drive through. So, I am waiting for the guy to plow out the grade school so I can get the van out. He just started to plow a little while ago so- it will be about 3:00pm before I can get through. Phrog was going to call Jeff (who plows the driveways for us) and see if he was coming today. He does it as a favor to Phrog , that started when Mom was alive. He would come and plow and shovel...I swear that he would have come in and done the dishes if I had needed help with that too! He is just a very nice young man and every year, when it snows, he comes and plows both driveways and does such a neat and tidy job, that it is amazing! And quick! I never take it for granted that he will show up, but he always does.
It does not appear that I am making it to Slinger for the baby shower for my nephew, Matt's girlfriend. Shucks! I will just have to drop off the gifts from Biz and myself later this week.
Larry is in heaven watching football today. I guess that I will start listing stuff on ebay.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!!

It has been awhile since I have been on the Blog. Last time I wrote, Jimmy was just getting home from rehab and Tuesday night, he passed away. 6 weeks. It is a blessing that he went so quick because he was in a whole lot of pain most of the time. The hospice people never seemed to really get a handle on how fast he was worsening and definitely did not control his pain anywhere NEAR sufficiently until the very end. Monday afternoon they finally put him on a morphine drip where he could give himself morphine as often as every 15 minutes. FINALLY!!! He was not in writhing agony.
Evie took to her bed and would hardly get up or eat or drink while Jim was in such excruciating pain out in the living room. The poor lady! She did not know what to do to help her husband. So, she decided that maybe she could could beat him to heaven and just stopped eating or getting up.
I have no idea what the heck was going on with the hospice, but- I wouldn't pick that group-HORIZON- to care for a dog, much less a person. They had 24 hour care and while the CNAs were all nice, they really had no clue what to do to help Jim. And it isn't really their fault, it is the fault of the training that they are given-or to be precise-NOT GIVEN! The girl who was on duty when Jim passed was terrified of being in the room with a dead person (Do you think she chose the wrong vocation perhaps?) and had no idea what to do when he passed away. Jim's grand daughter was there and made the calls that needed to be made. And she is not a health care professional- she is a real estate agent! Yet, she seemed to be able to handle the details that should have been handled by the aide.
I just know that when we had Horizon for Mom, they did a good job, but all they had to do was make sure that we had the meds and stuff and I did not even need anyone to come out and help us. We had been caring for her for so long, that I certainly could handle helping her stay comfortable while she was getting ready to make her transition. We even painted the living room and dining room after we brought her home. She had been bugging me to paint the living room chartreuse (Yeah, I know and that's why I wouldn't do it before) because she really was into flashy color schemes. (I can tell you stories about colors rooms have been in my life time!) So, we asked if the painting would affect anything adversely, told the nurse what we were doing and painted the living room chartreuse and red and the dining room red and royal blue. Mom always loved a project, so I am sure that even though she was on the bed, she was in her glory, that she finally got the living room painted the way she had wanted!
I really like it-Mushy hates it and gets all bucky about it, but, hey, she doesn't live here.
Anyhow, Jim is gone and they are going to move Evie up to Manitowoc so that she is closer to the 2 daughters. We all thought that she was going to will herself to die right after Jim, but apparently, she is perking up and getting dressed, eating, etc. So, perhaps with Jim at peace, she has regained a little bit of a will to live. She is a sweetheart and I am glad that she is doing a little better. I just want her to be as happy as she can be while she is still here on this earth.
We had Thanksgiving at Katie's house. It was quiet and uneventful. Biz flew in on the 11:30 pm flight on the Wednesday and then had to stay up late on Thursday nite to try to auto out of the rest of her trip so that she could stay up for the week on a FMLA. It worked and she got to stay through until today. We put up Christmas decorations, bought the tree, got an electric "fire" insert for the fireplace so it looks like we have a fire going, but without the real logs and flames (Which I love but Phrog says Ix nay on the logs-ay. No fire for you! Because he is worried that the chimney is not working correctly or something. I don't know- I just know that he blows a gasket every time I mention "Fire in the fireplace".) She took Larry to dialysis so I could sleep in and sat with him when I went to see a movie and went out for dinner and several other little things that I normally can't just do without planning how long I will be gone and how will Larry get food, etc. So, it was really, really nice. I feel so much better-almost as if I went on a little vacation. BUT....This is the let it snow part.....Biz is down at the airport and thinks that her flight is probably getting out ,even though we are having the first storm of the year. With snow and wind and rain and sleet. It is pretty ucky out. But she says they are plowing the runways and they are going!
I walked down to see the Germantown Christmas parade with my friend Sharon before. Also very snowy and wet there! Winter in Wisconsin! And, we get to shovel yet! Happy day!

The New Medtronic Pace/Defibulator

Well, Larry went last Tuesday for the procedure. They took out the old defibulator and put in the new Medtronic when they added the third wire. It took the Doctor over 2 hours to get the wire in place, but he said that it is placed in the best possible location to help Larry out. We won't really be able to tell for about 2 weeks if it is helping or not because your heart has to get used to the extra help that it is getting.
It was a really long day for Larry,the Doctor and for me. We got to Froedert at 7:20 and he didn't out of recovery to his room until 4:00 and then he couldn't move or sit up until 5:30. By the time he did try to stand, he was pretty wobbly and the nurses sat him back down again.
The, I talked to the Drs. and they said that they would get him all set to discharge by 10:00 am at the latest, so we could get to dialysis. They had thought that they would just do dialysis there, but since no one from nephrology came down to talk to us, they said that we should just go to his regular dialysis.
So, on Wednesday, I get up and go down to the hospital by 9:00 am- I know that if you are not on top of the situation, you sit there. Walk into Larry room and he is not there- he is down at x-ray. So a nurse sees me looking very befuddled that Larry is A. not there and B. I can see no evidence of them getting him ready to be discharged.
"Oh" she says "Judy Fox (The nurse practitioner who is supposed to do his exit check over) is at a dentist appointment until 11:30- Larry won't get out of here until at least 2:30."
Well....... this IS a problem because if we are not at Germantown at the very latest of 11:30, he does not receive dialysis. Now what?"
"Oh, well, we'll just dialyze him here." And nephrology sends someone down, they check him over, get his records faxed over and say he is good to go. They will pick him up at 11:00 ish and he should be done and ready to get out of here at 2:30 or 3:00."
GREAT!
So, I go to Menomonee Falls, because Jimmy Rother was getting sent home from rehab and his daughter Scottie was trying to get furniture out of the way because hospice was getting the hospital bed, etc delivered.
When I get to the Falls, no hospice- no equipment- no nothing. Scottie is fit to be tied. We took Jim's bed out and his chair out. There was nothing there to accommodate him and he was going to be transported any minute. When I left, Jim was there, sitting in Evie's chair (Because the wheelchair he was in was the transport companies)- no bed, no wheelchair, no potty chair. He was exhausted and no where to go. ( They eventually got the stuff there by 4:30-not very good)
At 1:30, I head back to Milwaukee and get to the hospital at 2:30.
No Larry. OK- no problem.
3:00- no Larry. The nurse walks by and says that he should be back any minute. OK- no problem.
3:30- no Larry. Nurse walks by again and says she will call up and see what is going on. She comes back a little while later and tells me that he is done, they just have to wait for transport. OK.
4:00- still no Larry.
4:15- they come to the room next to Larry's to take the woman up to dialysis. And Larry is still up there waiting to come down. NOW, I have a problem. So, I go out and the nurse sees me and says "Is something wrong?"
"Yes, something is wrong. An 81 year old man, who is weak to begin with and has been flat on his back for over 5 hours, is still up there laying outside of dialysis, flat on his back. This woman just got admitted and it took klless that an hour to get everything set and transport to take her up. HOW COME THEY CAN'T GET ONE OLD MAN DOWN HERE??? You saw how weak he was this morning, and now he has been laying there all day, even longer than he has to and I-MYSELF ALONE!- have to take him home and try to deal with it! I am getting pretty pissed off!"
And she says-"And what can I do to help the situation?"
"You can get him down here so I can see if he can even stand!"
"Well, it isn't as simple as that, the orders for transfers are entered in the computer and you have to wait your turn."
This statement really pissed me off because, I saw all these blue uniformed transfer guys standing around all afternoon! So, I said, well- I really don't care how you do it, but he better be down here soon.
She went up and got him herself.
Poor Larry! He was so thirsty and hungry! They gave him none of his pills. I just don't understand about this staying overnight for observation thing. You are supposed to bring your meds or they charge you, but they wouldn't let him take his pills!
Anyhow, back to Larry. So, I sit him up and he is really, really wobbly, but we get his clothes on and FINALLY she comes in and says that we can go at 5:30. I pushed him down (Yeah right! Like I am going to wait for transport again???) and we took off and stopped for Culver's on the way home. The Walmart Pharmacy was closed by the time we got there, so no pain meds and when we got home, I had to wheel him to his chair, then wheel him to the bathroom and finally, wheel him to bed. He was pretty darned weak. I asked him if he could now comprehend how quickly his strength and stamina go away if he doesn't use his arms and legs and he still does not get it. Thinks that I am exaggerating and that he is just getting weaker and weaker- no correlation to anything.
The next morning, we had therapy and he walked a little before and more as the day went on and by Friday night when we went for a fish fry with Jim and Elaine, he was doing pretty good, except his shoulder really hurt.
Then on Saturday, he threw up 2 times. Sunday, he REALLY threw up- like from his toes. Today, he is still feeling pretty putrid and weak and I really think he has the flu, but they took some blood and gave him a dose of an antibiotic just in case it is an infection.
I also don't feel real red hot and had a not so great day myself (A story for another day) and just feel like curling up and having a good cry. Just a little bit of mental stress on top of not feeling too great. I'll be fine later.
And the Packers won again! YAY! And Indianapolis got beat again! YAY!

Therapy Today

Well, I have to say that I can notice a difference in Larry since he started therapy. His arms, shoulders and legs were all pretty weak and after just 4 sessions with the therapist and doing 10 minutes 1 to 2 times a day, his right shoulder has a little more flexibility. Shana ,his therapist ( who I really think is doing a wonderful job) does not think that he will ever get a lot of flexibility back in it, because she thinks that he has a tear in his rotator cuff and that is why it has been so weak and unable to maintain strength. But she has been doing a fabulous job of listening to Larry (and me for that matter) and doing stuff specifically for him instead of just giving him the same bunch of exercises that everyone else gets for Y problem. It is pretty funny because Larry will be dipped if he is going to admit that he is feeling any stronger, so when we praise him on doing a great job with a movement, he can't look really pleased with himself because he is still trying to prove that IT IS NOT HELPING HIM!
I don't think that I have talked about my search for protein for Larry. Who would think that it would be so difficult to find alternate sources of easy protein for elderly people. I mean, you can certainly find Ensure everywhere. And that is good. Ensure is OK- it tastes kind of gaggy, but it is drinkable and we use it. I also have him on Nepro, which is more for a dialysis patient's needs. Then we have Proteinex- that you add 2 ozs to another liquid (Such as juice). Last week I found a bunch of protein powders that you mix with water and ice cubes and blend and it makes a shake kind of drink. They are not too bad. The dietitian also suggested protein bars, but all of the bars that we have tried are way too chewy and when you have false teeth, chewy is not a good thing. I just got a box on line the other day that said they were creamy. Wouldn't creamy indicate soft to you? Apparently not. They are stiff as a board. SO, to use them, I have been shaving thin slices off and then he puts them in his mouth and they kind of melt after a few seconds. They taste pretty good- they are not really sweet and gaggy- it's just that they are really tough to eat.
At the health food store, I got a protein cake thingee that I really liked. It was like eating a scone. Larry liked it too, but that store is not in town and so I have not gotten anymore of them. I would really like to figure out a recipe to make some protein cake things. I think that he would eat them. I just have to experiment with the few recipes that I did find.
I think that what would be a great help to anyone who is caring for an elderly person would be a resource site- that tells you where to get stuff. Things that worked for you. Things that really worked terribly. Ways to keep as healthy as you can. I suppose there is probably a site that does have at least some of that stuff, but it needs to be found easily. I love doing searches, and I still have not come up with a single site that I use as a reference. And I am on the internet a lot.
Time to change the wash over and maybe stroll around the house. Oh yeah!!! The Packer's won last night in Denver! Go Brett!

Ding-Dong the Squirrel is dead

Well....since last week. I got tired of the dang squirrel so I hammered a board over the hole that it made. Then as I watched from the kitchen window, I could see that it was still going by with nuts in its mouth and then coming back with out them. I knew the bugger was getting in somewhere. So, Phrog came over and we found another small hole that the bugger chewed up under the roof line. Down to the greenhouse he goes and pound, pound, pound. Bang, bang, bang. NO squirrel movement , so the squirrel must be outside. Now (In the rain, mind you) here we are sawing and nailing and screwing boards up and caulking. We checked every inch along the top and bottom edge and closed it up tight. Good job! One day goes by....I don't see any red squirrel. Two days...three days...still no squirrel. Well, either he is dead (From perhaps noshing on a poisoned nut or two?) or trapped in the greenhouse.
The weather was good this week, so Phrog decided we should clean up the mess that the squirrel made (He totally shredded and wrecked the insulation between the ceiling beams, so it all had to come out) in the greenhouse and he asks his buddy Jeff (Who is off of work right now) if he would come over and help me. "Sureeeee" says Jeff. So we start hauling empty garbage cans down and are getting ready to start when...scrabble, scrabble. EEEK! IT'S THE SQUIRREL!!!! We both scream like girls (Well I mainly scream like a girl 'cuz I am)and go flying out the door and slam it behind us! OK...OK....we call Phrog and he starts laughing his head off, but suggests that we uncover one of the windows and open it so he has an escape route. Good idea. We do that and Jeff goes back in and pounds around...no squirrel. Eventually we start to relax again and figure that the bugger must have had another hole somewhere that we didn't see. We get to the end of the insulation in the room. No squirrel- no nuts. Hmmmm.... where are the nuts??? All of a sudden, we hear scrabble, scrabble and here is the squirrel headed for the door, which is standing wide open out into the basement! EKKKK!!!! Jeff flies for the door and jumps out, slamming it behind him...unfortunately, leaving me trapped in the greenhouse with a panicked squirrel.
"Hey Dude! I am supposed to be out there and you are supposed to be in here!"
We trade places and he starts to chase it around and around. The thing is running behind the pegboards, so Jeff is poking at it to try to get it to go out and all of a sudden it jumps out at him-just like in National Lampoons Christmas when the squirrel lands on Chevy Chase's face! Fortunately, he turned his head and it hit the floor instead of him. He finally trapped it and eradicated the threat.
What a day!
Larry had therapy twice this week and I can really see a difference. He thinks I am cookoo, but if you have an elderly parent who just does minimal stuff around the house, they are loosing strength without even knowing it. Therapy helps rebuild those muscles that you don't even think about. The ones that help you stand upright without slumping over. The ones that stabilize your torso, help you bend over without falling on your nose and keep your knees from buckling. Every elderly person that I have talked to (And I talk to alot, believe me) insists that they are fine- that therapy is stupid and only for really sick OLD people. Never for them. NEVER...It's sad that they think that way because therapy probably would help them stay flexible and mobile a lot longer.
And speaking of Therapy. Jim Rother is over at a rehab place in Elm Grove. He is not doing really great. He is in a whole lot of pain and very weak and feeling pretty hopeless and lost. He doesn't know if the cancer has spread that much and THAT is the reason for all the pain, or if it is just a cumulative effect of everything that all has just wiped him out. It is so hard to see someone you care for, who has been relatively healthy and totally independent at 91 years old- to be so sick and not at all like himself. You never, ever would have guessed that Jim was 91 before-maybe in his 70s, but certainly not 91. Now, with all the pain, he is looking more and more like 100. If you see this say a prayer for him. Thanks!
Time to make dinner. Home-made beef pot pie tonight. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?

Another week come and gone....

Well, it has been an eventful week.
We went down for the echo and it took forever! Then we had to go down to get blood work done- as per the Dr.s request and they couldn't find the order in the computer, so we had to sit and wait for that. I have become a professional waiter after all the appointments that I have sat through with Larry. So, now we wait until the procedure on the 6th, then we see what happens from there.
Larry started therapy on Wednesday. I really like the girl who is giving him therapy. She has a great sense of humor and really has a feel for what she is going after, result wise. We decided to move all the rest of his appointments to Tues. and Thurs. because she saw how tired he is after dialysis and figured he would get more out of alternate days (This is what I had suggested when we scheduled, but the scheduler kind of blew me off) He was supposed to have a session yet today before we switched over but Shana called in sick this am, so Larry got a reprieve. So , even though it is cold, windy and rainy today,I loaded him in the car and we drove out to West Bend, picked up Martha, my older sister and drove to Cty hwy A for an estate sale. It advertised "All priced to sell! You will not be disappointed!" and indicated that it was a barn full! I can never resist a barn! So we're driving and we're driving...no sign....we keep driving...now we are in Waubeka- way too far from where we should be, but neither of us remembered to grab the ad to bring along. Into a gas station and .50 cents later we own another Milwaukee Journal Sentinal and have the ad. OK! We passed that road, we just must have missed the sign. We get back there-no sign on the corner....no sign on the driveway....no sign telling us where on the property it is, but, we finally find the open part of the barn and with great anticipation, enter. Very sad. And, I don't know where it was priced to sell at but-HOLY COW!-it wasn't priced to sell to me! Very expensive- retail shop prices on the antiques (and that is pretty much all she had)and they weren't great things. They were broken and or missing pieces and in need of repair- dirty- need I go on? Very, very sad ; ( But, Larry loves the drive, so what the hey! We hit another estate sale on the way home and it was probably her sister because again- very expensive on everything! Oh well! I'll just have more money to spend somewhere else!
On a sadder note-Jimmy R. (the one who went in for the procedure earlier this week) was told that he has cancer in several places, including his bladder and pelvis and it is totally inoperable (Although he wouldn't have wanted that because in his eyes, he is 91 and has lived a pretty good life) When they release him he and Evie are going to have to move into the Nursing Home section of the place they live because he is going to need way more care and they are setting up hospice service. He is very worried about what will happen to Evie, but, he is going to have to trust his daughters to take care of her because he isn't going to able to. Keep them in your prayers. I am going to see him this weekend.I did not see the blasted red squirrel today, but have not been home too much. I can only hope that he ate a little of the rat bait we put out for him and perhaps he won't be back.
It is supposed to be another beautiful weekend and Katie and I are going to a craft show tomorrow. And tomorrow night I am going to see a play put on by the Patio Players. I don't remember which one they are doing, but they always do a really great job and we get season tickets every year so we make sure to see them all! Hot dog!

The Battle is on- More RED SQUIRRELS!

Well, the little bugger is still going around all the traps we set. I have snap traps, live traps, glue traps, bait chunks, bait bags, rat poison on a lovely tray of walnuts- nothing! He jumps over everything and how he can get over all the stuff I have at the hole that he enters is beyond me, but he does. He even went into the live trap and got the nuts out and actually sat in the trap and ate a couple! I feel like Bill Murray in Caddyshack! Next thing you know, I'll have dynamite and blow off that part of the basement as he sits there looking at me wondering what that crazy human is doing!I think we are just going to have to go into the green house and pound on the ceiling and all other hiding places to make sure that none of the squirrels get trapped in the house and then cover all of the vulnerable spots with metal. When they were getting into the barn a couple of years ago, Phrog sealed it up and you should have seen the chew marks where they kept trying to get back in! YIKES!

I had my 2nd cousin Jimmy's wife Evie here yesterday. Evie is 90 and has the beginning stages of alzheimers. Jimmy is in the hospital for prostrate surgery and Evie gets really confused if she is alone for long periods of time, so I just brought her home with me after we dropped Jim off at the hospital. Then I took Evie back after lunch, when he was out of recovery and she got to sit with him until their daughter Diane came to visit and then take Evie home. Diane is staying at their apartment until Jim gets out probably tomorrow. Evie is such a sweety. She was entertained for almost the whole time she was here with watching the bird feeders and petting all the cats.
I am taking Larry down to Froedert today for his echocardiogram. We go for his procedure on Nov. 6th where they are going to put the extra line in the lower chamber of his heart from his defib/pacemaker. They think that this will help keep his blood pressure up, give him a little more energy and help keep the fluid from backing up into his lungs, among many other benefits. We think that it is worth a little risk if you can get so many positive benefits.
And tomorrow he starts with physical therapy. YAY!!!I will let everyone know how every thing shakes out on both of those fronts and also what happens with the squirrel. Time for Larry to get up from his post breakfast nap.

This is really October in Wisconsin????

Who would think that it would be so darn hot in October in the state of Wisconsin? It is 88 degrees and HUMID. I am not complaining- I mean, any day that it isn't snowing is a good day in my book! It just is a little hot to get much of the normal fall grunt work done. I worked outside on Friday and Saturday and sweat up a storm, but decided to hide inside this afternoon after we returned from watching Mickey's Fast Pitch softball game in Grafton (They got killed, but in all fairness, they played a group of senior/junior highschool girls and Mick's team is 7th, 8th and 9th graders) It was a beat of a day for a drive and the trees are wonderful!
I got my Halloween decorations out last week and still need to get pumpkins to put out front. I love Halloween! We had so much fun when we were kids! Our house always had the whole front porch lined with carved pumpkins and all the neighborhood kids would try to figure out how to steal them and smash them. We would hide in the bushes and give chase and Dad would come running out when we gave the signal to chase after them too. Needless to say, it was a quite a coop if you got any of the pumpkins off of our porch!
About a month ago, I noticed that there was a red squirrel around again. I don't like squirrels, but red ones are just plain nasty little critters and extremely destructive to boot. Imagine my surprise and delight (NOT!) when I opened up the door to the workshop in the basement (I try to never go out there-YUCK!-, so probably have only been in it a few times since June)and saw a red thing running down the wall . At first I thought that it was a chippy, so I got a Chipmunk swimming pool made up-3/4 bucket of water with birdseed floating on the surface and a ramp leading up over the edge with seeds leading to the edge. I should have had a clue what was going on when I kept seeing the red squirrel dashing across the bird feeder trellis in front of the kitchen window. He would go by one way and a bit later come past again with a nut in his mouth- disappear- back up- across- disappear- nut in mouth, run across- disappear- well, you get the picture. So I went down later to see if any one took the plunge. I opened the door and the red squirrel was standing on the edge of a pile of wood and scolding me. I shrieked and slammed the door. Now what???? Well, I know where he is going in, so Phrog is going to have to plug the hole when we are sure he is out. You really don't want to trap a red squirrel in your house if you can help it because they are really, really nasty and extremely destructive and will chew through just about anything that they put their minds to chew through. I will let you know how it goes.
PAackers vs da Bears tonight- Go Brett!

Wisconsin in Autumn!

I have to tell you-this is my favorite time of year! Autumn! The weather is gorgeous with crisp mornings and sunny, warm days. I have been trying to figure out my Halloween decorations because I like to change it up every year. Last year, I didn't even decorate because we were so discomboberated with Larry starting dialysis and feeling so awful. I didn't even carve any pumpkins last year! How sad is that?
So, this year, I want to decorate. I put up orange and purple lights in the kitchen and some other decorations so that looks fun. I have a scarecrow started for outside and 1 skeleton up. I will put up cobwebs and spiders and bats and make a couple of sheet ghosts over the weekend and maybe get a spooky spotlight. It is a big house and can look pretty spooky if you work at it. Martha Stewart has those silhouettes that you put in your windows and light from behind so it looks like shadows of cats or ravens or witches. I just think Elvis would be freaked out and bark every night-but, if I have time, I may give it a go.
I took Larry to Froedert last week to see his electrophysiologist and they are going to do a new echo cardiogram to check his heart function and maybe add a third line to a lower chamber on his pace maker/defibrillator. The Doctor thinks that it will help Larry with all sorts of issues-the first being his low blood pressure. It should help keep the fluid from gathering in his lung, give him a little more umph and generally just make him feel better. I am all for it- anything that helps him feel better with minimal risk is a good thing. I also really like the Doctors that he has had down at Froedert. Almost all of the time, they do a really good job and try to answer your questions, and believe me- I usually have a bunch of them. I get the feeling when I am at these appointments with Larry, that most people don't ask questions. They just accept what the Doctor says and blindly go fill 14 prescriptions without knowing what they are taking for what. I always ask what things are for. Why are we doing this instead of this. Will it react with anything. What are the side effects. Do they have any concerns about the medicine and Larry's condition- any particular red flags to watch for. It has saved me from filling prescriptions that he can't take because they react with other things he was on. And a couple of times they have prescribed stuff that I know he has had not so great reactions to. I always tell people- the Doctor works for you. If he does not want to take the time to talk to you and let you know what is going on with your condition, CHANGE DOCTORS! There are lots of really good Doctors out there, so keep looking till you find a good fit.
I changed Doctors for Larry after he had his foot amputated because we needed a doctor close to home. We were going to West Bend for everything-all his doctors, his therapy, everything. It was just getting to be too much- plus that Doctor could not come to the hospital that Larry would be in when we call an ambulance. So, I got a recommendation from a friend for a Dr. here in Germantown. Larry likes her and I think she is fine-very young, but she does a pretty good job and is thorough and easy to get in to see, so, that is where we go for his G.P. He also has the kidney Dr. who we see at Dialysis, the heart Dr. at Froedert, his Pulminologist and surgeon at the clinic in Menomonee Falls and his Podiatrist here in Germantown. We also get his coumidin levels checked in Menomonee Falls. We do a lot of running around. But, at least we can- he can still get in and out of the van and away we go! When Mom was alive, she couldn't walk, so we had to get a wheel chair lift installed in the big Ram van and we hauled he around like that. She never liked it and always insisted that she could get into the passenger seat if we gave her a chance (She could barely get in when she was healthy, before the stroke-there was no way she could climb up into that van after) I think she felt a little sea sick riding along in her wheel chair without the seat around her. But- I was so glad we had the van and the lift and we could take her out and do stuff. We took her rummaging all the time and could take her to all her appointments. We went for ice cream and other drive thru food (Her favorite!) It was so hard after she had the stroke because she could not tolerate things that she used to thrive with! Going to a restaurant was impossible- she would get all disoriented and agitated-couldn't stand the noise and movement around her. We tried a couple of times, but it just wasn't worth the stress that she went through. When we had family over, we tried to make sure that people came at her in manageable groups and noise was in the kitchen. When she started to get tired, we had her take a nap to get out of the stress of dealing with everyone.
Poor Mama- She never thought that a stroke could change how you react to people or situations. Boy, did we find out differently!
I have to go check my chicken! BRUCKKKK!!! Have a nice night!

Biza's Visit

Biza was here last week visiting. I have to tell, you...it is great to have someone else around to take even a little bit of the responsibility. You really never know how much responsibility you have, until you have a chance to relinquish some of it.
The weather last week was kind of cool, so we got stuff done in the house- the major project was cleaning in the basement. YIKES! Phrog is not a real organized guy and neither is Larry. I love to know where stuff is so when I want something, I know just where to look. So, we went down and cleaned and sorted and arranged and- guess what? This weekend when I needed a tool, I didn't have to search- I just went down and grabbed it. Then it goes back where it belongs when I am done. Life is good:- )
We also went volleyballing -2 different times and fast pitch soft ball. AND we went to Cedarburg shopping. That was fun- we didn't buy much but just wandered with Katie and our friend Claire.
The picture at the beginning of the post is one of Biza's water colors. She really does a nice job and I love them. I will link her blog to this blog so you can check it out when she gets it up and running.
We had the rummage sale Thurs. and Fri. this week. Got rid of some stuff, but it wasn't real busy because the village keeps taking down rummage signs. What is up with that? I think they should keep their cotton picking hands off and go do their jobs. Fix a few streets. Do a little work-which is what they are paid for. If they are pulling signs then ALL signs should come down. All those little real estate signs- open house signs- political signs- advertising signs. Every one of them should come down. Buggers!
The walnut tree is being really nasty this year and almost knocked Katie unconscious while she was running the rummage. A huge clump of nuts came whipping down on her head. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but, really- they are not fun when you get pelted on the head with them. And then you have the squirrels to contend with, because they will also throw nuts at you! It is dangerous out there at this time of year!
I took Lar for a drive this afternoon. The colors are changing and it is very colorful to drive through. I love fall. And if we would just get rid of the mosquitoes, it would be wonderful! I could go get a little work done in my garden. I have to dig up bulbs that can't over winter and then I want to move a whole section around. Maybe this week.

Mickey, Jenny and the Packers

Well, Mickey's V'ball team lost their tournament. They gave it a good try, but, did not advance. It was such a beautiful day for the drive to and from West Allis, that we didn't care. We still had a good time. And the parents on Mick's team have figured out how to embarrass their daughters....after each point they start a slow loud clap and build in speed and volume. Even the girls on the other teams were looking with sympathy at Mickey's team- Probably thinking-"You poor girls! What are your parents thinking? Don't they know that they are embarrassing you?" But, as any adult will tell you, a little humility is good for these kids. It keeps them on their toes!
My brother David regularly embarrasses his kids. Katlyn, several times has stretched the truth about homework or other dopey little things and when she gets caught and has to face the consequences, she will try the old sneak out a different door with her friends and what can Dad do about it? Well, Dad, can come into the hallway and start calling her name (A MAJOR no-no in High School if you want your friends to not be totally appalled and not talk to you)So, the deal is, she tells the truth and faces the consequences when she screws up or Dad escorts her into and out of school. I tell you, Dave has his hands full with this one! And after the general ease with which Molly has gotten into her 20s, it is a very different story with Kate. I am sure they will all get through it. And, Dave has the old Payback to look forward to. The -"I hope your kids act just the way you act so you will see where I have been coming from". Mom said that to Dave and POOF! Katlyn! And Mom said it to Katie and POOF! Sam, who I love dearly, but, boy oh boy! A definite payback for both Katie and Dave!
So, today Larry and I went to the Paul Auction House for the auction that Jenny and her family had to disperse Poppa Joe and Peggy's belongings. Joe and Peggy are both in Cedar Lake Home. Jenny and her Uncle Tom and his wife Annie, have been taking care of Joe and Peggy for years and when their Alzheimer's got too bad for them to be safely at home, they had to get them somewhere safe and now they have to dispose of all of their belongings for them to stay where they are.The state apparently gets the $$ and if they pass away before it is all used, the family gets the remainder back. But anyhow, it has been a long haul and not easy to get all of this stuff done. Jenny has 2 young children, 4 dogs and a husband and house AND is going to school to become a yoga instructor. Plus getting all the paper work taken care of, plus, they bought Peggy and Joe's house to restore and keep it in the family. Now she has to get all the workers lined up and scheduled and not all coming at the same time. The house is in pretty rough shape and has had nothing done to it for way too long. But when you live on a fixed income-as they did- you do not have extra for fixing the roof or the well or any of the other multitudes of things that needed to be done. So, now it is getting done and it is a great house for Jenny and John to raise their 2 kids.
The auction was hard for her. She hated to watch all of Peggy's things get sold and she tried to buy a couple of things back and the auctioneer wouldn't let her. He thought it was a conflict of interest and had told the family they couldn't bid to drive the price up- but all Jen wanted was a few of the things that were Peggy's. Obviously, a miscommunication, and after he wouldn't let her bid, Jenny went up and talked to him, so then he said-oh- well, I just don't want a reputation for selling all the good stuff back to the family. I just don't understand what the auctioneer was thinking. The subject should have been thoroughly discussed with the family. The guy should have asked if there were items that they were planning to0 bid on and told them what the scoop was, instead of winding up with an interruption and Jenny being upset because she didn't get the China- Limoges, by the way-which went for dirt cheap!
Well, it is over and done and a big chunk of the stuff is gone! That is good. However, they still have a ton left at the house to get rid of, so they are probably having an estate sale in a few weeks. We will see what happens.
And last, but certainly not least....The Packer's won!!! YAY!!! It certainly wasn't a beautiful, resounding victory, but-A win none the less! GO BRETT!

Skeeters-Skeeters everywhere!

There are Skeeters everywhere! It feels like they cover you from head to toe when you walk out the door! I sprayed myself with about a whole container of mosquito spray last night and went to water my potted plants...... I didn't make it. I only lasted about 5 minutes before I had to retreat, beating myself about the head and shoulders-slapping my legs! We get mosquitos in the summer, but THIS-this is the worst I have ever seen it. You can hear them buzzing outside the windows-trying to figure out how to get in.
When we pull up in the driveway, I can see that I have a whole bunch of tomatoes that I have to pick, but you can't get near the tomato plants. I'll have to figure out a way to do it though or I will have a whole bunch of rotten tomatoes!
We are off to see Mickey play volleyball inside tonight. That is good because it gets Larry out of the house for awhile. She is on the Freshman team and they are all just learning how to play as a team. Mickey is a very good athlete and plays softball, soccer, basketball and volleyball. She will also be starting Fast pitch softball soon. John and Deb spend a lot of time in gyms and driving to and from gyms, I'll tell you that! But, It is worth it because Mickey will definitely be able to get a scholarship to college.
I also am going to go to Indian Summer Festival down in Milwaukee at the Lake front tomorrow. It is my favorite festival to go to and we try to make it every year. Katie and I used to take the boys every summer when it first started too. It is just a really nice place to go to on a beautiful fall day.

It's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Well, what a beautiful day! It is sunny and warm, a slight breeze and not a lot of humidity! And it's Labor Day-It ALWAYS rains on Labor Day! But not this year. Sun and nice.
Larry had dialysis this morning and I think we are going to go for a drive this afternoon and take advantage of the nice day! As autumn approaches, you just never know how many more really nice days you'll have. I think I'll get some more mums and replace of of my sadder potted plants with some happy little mums.
What is really nice is, Lar has been feeling so much better for the last week or so. Overall better-He's not feeling great every minute, but the amount of time he is feeling more upbeat and steady and alert has risen quite a bit this week. I don't think that he has even moaned much. Of course maybe I am not noticing his moaning because I have been whining myself!
I kicked the cement stair with the big toe on my right foot (not on purpose) and Baby! Oh Baby! It really, really hurts! I don't think that I broke it, but it is swelled up and black and blue and was pretty hard to put any weight on the front of my foot. It is much better today, but still hurts pretty much. I will be way more careful coming up from the basement in the future!

Almost brought home a puppy!

I need that like a hole in the head, but we saw these absolutely adorable mixed breed puppies when we were rummaging yesterday. They were supposed to be some kind of toy size dogs and were so soft and cute and I KNOW that Elvis would love a playmate-Don't you think? But, I didn't do it-They were $300.00 (Which is pretty outrageous for a mistake puppy) and I just don't have the time to do a puppy right now- it is so much work to make sure they get enough attention and don't chew everything in sight and don't pee and poop everywhere. So....sadly, I did not bring one home.
They cut the big willow down today. It was across the street from us and was measured last year as one of the largest weeping willows in Wisconsin. But, alas and alack-it has had too much storm damage this year. 3 times big branches fell off-the last time, it fell all the way across the road and would not have been good if someone were driving by at that time. It looks very strange without that tree.
We are not doing anything special for the holiday weekend. I will probably take Larry and Elvis for a drive on one of the days. We all love to do that-so, that is the tentative plan. That and brats and corn on the cob and watermelon.

Five, Six -Pick up Sticks

And that is what we are doing today. I have to pick up branches and sticks after the rain and wind yesterday. It got really windy-real fast. Katie said that the wind blew a whole bunch of piers down on the lake and that there were pier sections and boats floating everywhere after the storm passed.
We are then going over to help Jim and Evie pick up branches and sticks at their house. We'll meet them at 9:30 and hopefully be done by 11:00 because the weatherman (Who, by the way is not right a lot) said very hot and humid today. It should be a nice morning for Larry and Evie to sit out under the trees with Elvis while Jim and I do the raking and whatever else needs to be cleaned up.
You can tell that I live a life of excitement and danger, can't you?
Oh and another storm is supposed to come through tonight.

The Cat's in the Bag

Max is my handsome boy- the lone male cat amongst all the females. He is a sweetheart, but likes to get into stuff. He knows how to get into my kitchen cupboards and will search the shelves for his toy mice and knock them out of the cupboard to play with. He doesn't take all of them- just one.
Today, I hung a monster tote on the door handle to put packages in to go to the post office. Max thinks this is a toy and has been trying to get into the bag all day. I bet that when I come out to the kitchen later on, he will be snuggled into the bag. None of the cats like expensive toys-I've spent lots of money on cat items and find that their favorites are boxes and bags. Go figure.
Lar had a good day at dialysis today. No puking, no nausea. He's awake and alert. He is even eating dinner.
The turkeys were strutting across the parking lot when we got there. They have 5 babies and are hilarious to watch. I wonder where they live? Do they have a turkey house around there somewhere? Hmmmm.....

The Need For Physical Therapy

We have had problems with Larry's balance and muscle tone for the last couple of years. After his heart attack, he was pretty weak and even though he went to cardiac rehab, he wasn't nearly as strong as he was before. And this is to be expected....you are sick to the point of almost dying, and in the hospital for 18 days flat on your back, you are going to be physically compromised for quite a while. Larry has never understood this- he felt that he should have been able to get back to where he was before without a problem, so therefore, his health problems are alot more serious than anyone is telling him and he will just sit and feel sorry for himself. And when he feels sorry for himself.........he moans....LOUDLY......frequently. OHHHHH!!!!WOOOEEEEE!!! OHHH!!!! I do not like the moaning, because how can I tell when he really has a problem if he moans all the time? And besides, after awhile, it really gets on your nerves. HE had heard somewhere that a good moan makes you feel better and ever since reading that has implemented the theory frequently. But, I digress.
That spring after he was done with Cardiac rehab, all of a sudden (it seemed) he knees started buckling and he was falling down. So off to the Dr. and we do rehab for 4 weeks at the hospital to regain balance, etc. They never figure out why he was falling down.
We finish rehab and it starts to happen again! I myself personally think it was because he was not continuing doing his exercises and when you don't have any muscle tone, you can't afford to slack off- but, hey, that was just my opinion. So back to the Dr. who now refers us to an orthopedic specialist. We go in and they have no idea why his knee is giving out. So she gives him a brace and stars therapy again, this time not only working his legs, but also his shoulder (Which had gotten screwed up by a home therapist when he first came home). We went to therapy 2 times a week for 2 months and he really made progress and was walking really well. Had good balance again. Knee seemed to hold him. But, Those girls worked him hard and guilted him into doing his work at home every day.
Well, then, we had the leg amputated a couple of months latter. That means more therapy. First he had therapy to learn how to move around and hop on the one foot. It really is way different than hopping with both feet because you have to center that leg under your body. Then, he had therapy to learn how to walk with his prosthesis and did fantastic! He really does walk well for an 81 year old guy with a fake leg.
He has been done with therapy for exactly a year and I think he has to go back in and work on the leg muscles and shoulders again. He has been going to dialysis and felt so crappy for so long and I didn't have the heart to make him do his exercises on top of everything else. So he has definitely gotten weaker. And his protein levels are really low, which means muscle loss.
He won't listen to me at all and just gets angry when I ask him if he did his exercises. And gets angry and defensive if I tell him that he is not walking correctly and is going to wind up nose first on the floor (Which almost happened the other day-You can't push the walker way out in front of you) He needs to get some safety reminders and strengthening, so, I am going to call the Dr. and see if she can write a prescription for it. I got the evil eye when I told him that that was what I was going to do. Then I asked him-" OK, so you don't want to go for therapy. Do you just want to sit and get weaker and move less and less? Do you want to give up? That is OK if you do. You have worked hard and I know that you get tired and discouraged. But, do you really want to just stop trying? " I think that he just gets discouraged and it seems like he goes forward a step and then back a step. Life is like that . He was so fortunate all of his life. He was never really sick before and his life was always pretty easy. It has given him a skewed picture of how easy everything should be and if it isn't he doesn't want to do it. Sometimes, we all have to do things that we would rather not. They can turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to us. They make us look at ourselves and how we interact with others.
I think that if you are alive, then you should live- experience- have fun- love- laugh-if you can't do what you were able to do before, do something else! Life is a gift- a precious gift. Too precious to waste with moaning and groaning and complaining. To precious to stop living just because everything isn't perfectly the way you envisioned it.
And by the way, the sun is out and it is gorgeous! I just came in a while ago to get Larry up from his nap and I think that I'll walk after dinner!

I need the Sun!

It seems like the rain will never end, so I just had to put in a couple of pictures of my gardens. It was sunny and nice the day that I took the pictures......not grey.....and gloooomy. Sigh....It is good for the garden and the trees. But, I am really ready for some sun and a day to have Larry sit outside. The weatherman says tomorrow, and I am holding him to it!

Elder Care- For Me and my Friends

My friend Fran is about 10 years older than me and has been planning for when we all get old. No nursing home for us! She is changing her place over, little by little to accommodate a bunch of old ladies. She is putting in a chair lift, a handicap bathtub (With the wall that opens so you don't have to step over the edge and sit in a yawning hole and try to get out of said hole whilest you are slippery and nekked). Then we just have to hire a few people to come in and check on us and we should be good to go. Hopefully this is all a long time in the future- but what got us thinking about it is our own parents.
None of them had any plans except-we are not going into a nursing home and we are staying in the house until they pry our cold, dead bodies out.
This is all well and good and you really, really try to help them stay independent, but sometimes- as with Fran's Dad- there is nothing that you can do. His Alzheimer's got so bad after their Mom died that they couldn't leave him in the family home. He was adamant that he was not going to any of their houses, and really, how could he? He needed alot more care than any of them could give at the time with full-time jobs. So they had to get him into an assisted living place and in not too long a time span, had to move him to the Alzheimer's wing.
No one wants to think about getting old and loosing your independence, but, if you don't do it yourself, someone will have to do it for you- Then your choices are limited. They may not do things the way you want them done. The family has to rush with getting you placed and into somewhere....
Mom's cousin Jim and his wife Evie are 91 and 90 years young. They have lived independently at their home all this time. This spring, Evie had a slight stroke, that she recovered from beautifully, but her heart is not so good and her Alzheimers has gotten worse-especially sometimes at night- and the doctors and their daughters decided-"No More Living at Home Alone!" PERIOD-End of Story- No arguments- No discussion- You are going into an assisted living home.
Evie went right from the rehab center to an interim apartment. Their daughter took off of work for several weeks and came down and got everything set up- got the house cleaned out- then got them moved over. She did a yoeman's job in a short period of time, that is for sure. But, my point is, if they had thought ahead and talked about it and started to decide what was what, it would have been so much less traumatic for them. Their plan was- Hopefully both of us will die together in our sleep. Not too much of a plan.
I think that too many people tie their independence to their house, when really, a house as you get older becomes so much work. You have to clean it and maintain it and pay taxes and insurance. When you are in great health and feeling good, sometimes it seems overwhelming. Add a little financial stress because you are on a fixed income and the roof needs to be replaced and the yard needs to be mowed again and you have multiple health issues now, so you don't have the energy to do the small things, much less any larger projects....
Larry's friends who have made the change, by themselves before they had too, are so much happier than the ones who are struggling to keep the house maintained and have no money left over to do anything else.
So, Fran's plan seems like a winner! If I'm still blogging at that way in the future point, I'll let you know how it works out!

We're Not in Kansas Anymore!

Holy Moly! We are having some wild weather tonight! Wind and rain and thunder and lightening. The huge tree across the street came down across the road. Fortunately, no one was under it! I am going to go dig out flash lights and candles just in case. Whee-Hah! I had to take Elvis out for a potty break and I felt like we were in a tornado! Hold on El! I don't think we are in Kansas anymore! We just needed a witch flying by on her broomstick. No leisurely strolls around the yard tonight before bedtime.

Door County to Travis

Well, we made it to Door. Katie, Jake, Larry, Elvis and myself. It was pretty cool up there-64 degrees and very windy, but, at least it wasn't raining. The booth was a mess, which is good because that means we were selling stuff! Larry was pretty pooped by the time we got home and could barely walk from the kitchen to his bedroom to lay down.
At least it isn't raining at the moment and if I wasn't so burnt out from driving all day, I'd go out and mow because the grass has grown about 6 inches in the past few days! Hopefully it will still be dry tomorrow and I can git 'er done...
A big hello to Travis down in Atlanta, sweating his buns off at school. As you may remember, if you have been reading along, Travis is my sister Katie's oldest son and he is off at graduate school in Atlanta. School started for him yesterday and it is definitely a different campus than Whitewater. Quite an adventure! I think that he will have a blast! We are very proud of him!
Time for Jammies.