Cement Patching 101

You would think that perhaps we would have patched the cement on the porch when it was nicer out. A little warmer. Some sunshine. That sort of thing. But, no. Apparently we are a bunch of cement ding dongs and we thought waiting until it is just above freezing, with glacial winds whipping around us would make the project easier. DUH!
In my defense, I kept trying to get the guys to patch the porch all summer. The edges where the wheel chair always runs over had big holes and were getting bigger. I figured that one more winter of that and the whole porch would drop off and then how the heck would we get Larry in or out?
I had been covering the major craters with outside rubber backed carpets, so, it kept major ice from forming in the holes, but still...Porch, dropping off the house...not a good idea.
So, there were Phrog and I, 3 times in the last week, filling in holes and cracks. Hopefully it will all cure and last through the winter.
I have to tell you, Larry and I are both not missing getting up at 5:30 and out the door by 6:15 am to get to dialysis 3 days a week, and now that it is starting to get cold, we are even happier.
And gas is $1.92 a gallon today!

A Long Road to Tipperary

We have been doing the PD dialysis for a little over a month now. It is a lot easier than I thought that it would be for me. It is all about establishing a routine and that makes it easier to get into a rhythm and do it every day.
I have only contaminated the end of his exchange set once and I am not sure if I really did contaminate it- I just assumed that I did and drove Larry down to Delafield to get the exchange set changed out.
We do have some issues yet. The first and main issue is...we are supposed to weigh Larry every day when he gets up to see how we are doing at managing his fluid levels. They gave us this really nice digital scale. Unfortunately, the digital scale does not stay on long enough to get a weight. By the time Larry steps on the scale and gets himself balanced enough to let go, it shuts off. We tried everything. Biz and I finally(with Phrog's assistance and sawing skill) built a wooden frame to put around the scale so Larry could walk a step or two before stepping onto the scale (not UP onto the scale). Still could not balance enough to get a weight.
I do have a regular scale- with a dial, but, again, the balance thing is an issue and he can only let go of his walker for about 1/2 second, so if I am not looking at the right place in the fraction of an instant- too bad, so sad, no weight today. I do try to have him do it again and sometimes it works, but some days, he won't even try to get on the scale at all because he is too wobbly.
The second issue is trying to adjust taking fluid off without dehydrating him. He gets dehydrated so easily and I have been tweeking the combination of solutions to try to take off some fluid and keep his weight down. To make it more difficult 1.5 % solution doesn't even do anything, so I have to use a combo of 2.5% and 4.25%-the stronger I use the more fluid comes off. BUT.... also the more deydrated he gets because it is pulling fluid from places that don't need fluid pulled instead of places that it needs to come off of.
The result is, he has been very wobbly after his afternoon exchanges since Friday. So,5 days of afternoon and into evening wobbly. How fun is that?
I think that eventually, his body will get used to the fluid coming off this way and even out, but, it is mentally wearing to have the same discussions with Larry every day.
"Yes Larry, you are a little weak and wobbly."
"No Larry, you are not worse than you have ever been."
"Yes Larry, you can stand up, we just have to keep trying."
"Calm down.....Breath through your nose Larry."
"I think that you are dehydrated Larry. So have some sips of water while you are watching tv."
And on and on, reassuring him and trying to keep him focused because he has a tendancy to sink into poor me, poor poor pitiful me. Which really does not do him one bit of good, but he does enjoy a good pity party-as do we all.
So, overall- this PD dialysis right now is a mixed bag of nuts- mostly good and hopefully, all will be well as we progress.

Finally out! YAY!

Well, it was a long road for Larry, but he got out of rehab Finally on Wednesday last week.
They would not let him out on the Friday before, because they had gotten his INR-(How thin his blood is with coumiden) up to 10!!! Therapudic is 2-3. 10 is extremely dangerous because you could bleed out from anything! I bumped his leg and he got a huge bruise. They took his blood pressure and his whole arm turned black and blue. He got hematomas all over his butt from the pressure of sitting. It was not good! And then, the doctor would not listen to me about the fact that you can not try to rush Larry's INR up to therapudic. You have to go slowly and it takes time. But, NO! She is the doctor and she knows best...and guess what? His blood started to get real thin real quick again over the weekend because she insisted on "Bolusing 5 mg into him for 2 days" Yeah right. I just can never understand why they don't listen to me. I really do know what I am talking about. I know what he takes and why he takes it. I know what happens to him when he has reactions to some stuff. I tell all the docs and nurses, yet SOME of them, just don't think that they have to listen because they have the degree and I don't.
Well, the upshot is, he got out on Wednesday and we have been driving down to Delafield several times a week to get out training for PD and we start on Thursday. I am a little nervous.
Biz is here, so at least I won't have to do it all by myself. She will be here for moral support. Wish us luck!

Getting out of Rehab on Friday

Well, it has been a long road for Larry, but, he gets released from Virgina Highlands on Friday morning. Susan and Rose have been working him pretty hard and I think that he is a lot stronger now than he was before all this started, so that is a good thing. I do hope that his appetite improves once he gets home, because he has not been eating real well for the last couple of weeks. I don't know if it is because the food is not real good there or if he is getting nauseous for other reasons. I know that he is not pregnant, so that is not the cause for his nausea. All we can do is wait and see what happens over the next few weeks.
We have been driving down to Delafield to get his catheter flushed for the pd-dialysis and it has been flushing great. John says that we can probably start dialysis at home in the next couple of weeks. Biz is coming into town on Tuesday next week, so at least she will be here to give me moral support for the first week or so that Larry is starting. It is always a help to have someone else to say-"Hmmm, what do you think?' to.

Larry got a day at home

It was such a nice day yesterday, that Biz and I brought Larry home all day and let him sit on the porch in the sun, then he came in and watched college football and then took his nap in his own bed. I think that he was a little nervous about walking around the house because the last time he was home, he fell down and got hauled away in an ambulance.
When we took him back to V.H., I think that he was a little pooped out from being out and about.
Biz and I went out to Katie's for a bonfire after dinner. It was a beautiful autumnal evening and we had a nice time. Biz had a little wine and plopped off of the stoop and twisted her ankle a little, so after a little ice on the ankle, I loaded her up and we went home.

Getting stronger every day

Well, it has been a winding road for Larry, being in the hospital, then at Virginia Highlands, back in the hospital and back to VH, but, he is WAYYYYY stronger now than he was before this whole thing started. I am so glad that he is building up some stamina and reserve strength. When he had the procedure last week Thursday, they kept him over night because they had to take out the entire catheter and replace it, so he was laying on his back for 26 hours. He was a little shakey, but could stand and by Sunday could walk to the bathroom without a wobble. THAT! is amazing!
The poor guy was all bound up again after the procedure and on Saturday, they gave him a dose of Milk of Magnesia. That got things moving again.....alot. Poor Lar. At least his bathroom breaks are back to normal.
So, they think that he can get out later next week. I will let you know.

Indian Summer

It is a beautiful day in the neighborhood! Sunny and nice- you just could not ask for a nicer day in mid-September!
I dropped Larry off at dialysis and am home doing laundry and dusting, etc. Thought I better check my emails and perhaps blog a little!
Sunday night, we were supposed to take Lar to CMH and be checked in overnight for the procedure that he was supposed to have done early on Monday morning. The general consensus was, that he could have the procedure, get dialysed and then be released back to Virginia Highlands afterwards. Should work out great.
Now, Wednesday, when they were setting this up, the woman from the hospital called me and I told her that I did not have Mr. Larson in my charge at the present time and he would be coming from VH, so she then called over there to get things set up. Never having had any procedure done from anywhere but home, or right at the hospital, I really did not know what to expect, but ASSUMED that they would have it all set and I would just have to transport Larry on Sunday night.
It will teach me to assume! On Friday, I said something to the floor nurse about Larry's procedure on Monday and she looked at me like I had 14 eyes sprouting out of my forehead.
"What procedure?" she asks.
And I explain about the PD catheter that has to be moved so it will start to flow and that they are admitting him so he can be dialysed.
"Oh..." she says.
And I didn't think too much of it, figuring they had it in his chart and she just had not seen it.
The same thing happened with the nurse on Saturday night...which kind of concerned me, especially since they usually have to hold at least his coumidin, if not a couple of other meds before the procedure, but, again...I am thinking "Well, this is their job. They must have it under control."
On Sunday, as we are getting ready to drive Biza to the airport to leave, I go out and ask if there is anything that I need later on when I take Larry to the hospital. Did they fax the meds list over or are they sending it with me. And the floor nurse said "HUH???"
They knew nothing about it. They had not received any orders for it OR...any orders to stop his coumidin, so we had to cancel and are rescheduled for Thursday.
I always think things happen for the best, so, maybe it wouldn't have been a good day for Larry to have it done. But, it does crack me up that they had no idea what was happening.

And Now...For something completely different!

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Well, all right. Maybe not completely different. The short version of the long story....
Biz was here for 7 days -Aug. 26 til Sept. 2. Larry and I had gone to Waukesha on Tuesday before we picked her up and the catheter was not working. John said..."If he is constipated, that can keep it from working". Well, yes, Larry was constipated, but I had been giving him laxatives and felt that he would probably break loose soon, but, they suggested Miralax to coax it along, so I figured, why not?
Welllllll.... We picked up Biz on Tuesday at 3:30 ish. Every time he went, he was in terrific pain from his hemorrhoids, but we started to get some loosening over the next few days, so much that we had to stay close to the bathroom because he had to run for it (Not good with one leg and difficulty walking- I did alot of wash). And we were up every 1 1/2hours every night, so all of us were pretty tired.
We went back to Waukesha on Thurs. Catheter still did not work. They had us go to X-ray and get a picture taken of his innards. And it showed a large blockage on one side. The doc prescribed Lactulose, but that was not ready to be picked up until Friday, so we bought an enema on the way home, gave him an enema and about 1 hour later, things really started to move. And move. Still painful. We put him to bed on a pad, just in case and Biz said that she would get up to take him to dialysis.
I heard her go down at 5:30 and a few minutes later, she called up the stairs that she needed me. When I got downstairs, she said that he had blood all over the pad when she got him up, and then he pooped blood. BUT.... it was no longer painful to poop, so we figured the hemmie had popped and was bleeding. I said, let's get dressed and take him to dialysis and see what Beth says.
She also thought that it was a hemorrhoid. So, we left him to be dialysed. When he got home, he had another big poop with some more blood, but the next several were totally clear and no pain. Saturday, the poop even looked like poop and no blood. YAY!
At 6:00, I give him about 1/2 tsp of the lactulose and We go to bed at 10:00 . At 3:00 the intercom goes off. He has to go potty. We get him in there and it is a HUGE movement with blood. And blood on the pad again. At 8:00 am another HUGE movement with blood. Now we are fairly concerned, but don't want to haul him to the emergency room until we see how he does in a while.
Mushy was going to come and get him up and Biz and I were going to meet Katie and John at the flee market in Cedarburg for awhile. I figured that when we got back at about 10:30, Julie would be awake and we would ask for her input.
Nope! At 9:05, my phone starts singing and it is home. I figure Mushy is just calling to say that she got there and is getting him up. No again. It is Mushy, Panicked. Yelling that I have to get home now. I immediately change directions to head towards the parking lot and ask why and she screams that Larry is on the floor.
"OK, Martha. Did he have a stroke or heart attack?"
"No, he was wobbly and he fell."
"Have you called 911?"
"No."
"Hang up. Call 911 and then you can call me back and tell me waht happened."
The upshot is, he was woozy and when they stood up, he started to freeze up (A sure sign that his blood pressure is really low) and not respond and then statred to tip over. She got him to the hamper and when she thought that he was stable went to grab his wheel chair, but, alas and alack. He was not really stable and he fell over backwards and wacked his head .
They took him to emergency. They x-rayed him to make sure that he didn't break anything with the fall and then, they tried to figure out what was bleeding- and bleeding and bleeding.
He wound up in ICU and got 4 units of blood. The butt doctor- Dr. Staff (Really nice guy who actually TALKED to us and LISTENED to us) Gave us the lowdown and said he wanted to do a colonoscopy in the am, so on top of everything else, Larry had to drink a gallon of that stuff to make him go even more. What they found is...he has no polyps, he ripped his butt open when he was pooping so much and his coumiden level shot up to 5.8 and he bled like a stuck pig.
They transfered him to a regular floor. He had a beautiful corner suite for 1 night and then had to get moved to floor 2, so they could test his PD catheter ( I will get into that story another time), then they released him to Virginia Highlands sub-acute rehab to regain his strength. That is where Biz took our picture with her new lap top. He will have to be at VH till the beginning of Sept., but I think that it will really help him to regain his strength and endurance there, instead of him pretending he is doing his stuff here and getting weaker and weaker.
And now, I must have a little dinner and then go and visit him for a while.

Catheter working-so far, so good

Well, we went to Waukesha on Friday to have John (the PD nurse) flush Larry's new PD catheter and check the incision sites. It took fluid well and drained well. We have to back on Monday and he will change out the dressings.
The only issues that Larry had were a little pain at one incision site , for which we took Tylenol in moderation and he was pretty wobbly until Saturday, so we took the pedals off his wheel chair and he used that to get from point A to point B in the house.
He of course, was full of gloom and doom..."Oh, I am so weak. I am sure that I am not going to recover and am just going to get weaker. Ohhhhh... I am so weak...Look at how weak I am. See? My arms are collapsing...my knees are collapsing. This is never going to get better . I am just too weak...." And on....and on....
I told him..."Larry, you just had anesthesia. That knocks your whole system for a loop and it may take a couple of days before the effects leave your body enough to counteract the weakness."
"No. I was fine after the cataract procedure. This is terrible. I am never going to be strong enough to get around again."
"Larry. You had a way lighter form of anesthesia for the cataract procedure. This was real surgery, where you were completely out for an hour."
"No. You are wrong. I am just getting weaker and probably won't ever be able to walk again."
So, we go to dialysis on Friday and the girls told him the same things that I did. He believed it a little more from them than from me and then yesterday, miraculously, he was able to stand up and walk to the bathroom. I said-"Wow Larry! Great job. You should be so proud of yourself that you walked so well today after being so weak for 2 days."
"Don't say anything! See! Look...you mention it and my arm collapsed."
So, we can say nothing, but, it seems that he is getting stronger again and THAT! is a good thing!

Catheter In Place-Zip-Swish

Well, we were up at 4:30 this morning and Larry had the new PD catheter placed. Other than being a little sore where they did the incisions, he is fine. We have our first appointment with John in Waukesha tomorrow afternoon and he will flush it and check it out. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly.
I had to drive to Waukesha this afternoon with Louise. She bought an entertainment unit at Steinhafels and we could only pick it up at their Waukesha super center/warehouse. That is one big place! And, the guys wedged that thing into the caravan and you should have seen us trying to get it out and then into Louise's house! But, we did it. Now she has to get it in place, but that was a whole other kettle of fish and I did not stick around for that! Louise has more furniture in her house than you can imagine! I always say the rule should be- bring in something after you get rid of something else.
Larry always had a shoe thing- rummage shoes that is. He would buy all of these shoes and stack them in corners and in his closet. It didn't matter if they weren't his size, if they were a good deal, he still bought them. Finally, we told him- you may only bring a pair home if you get rid of a pair. It worked. From then on, her always got rid of a pair after he found some great Nike's or New Balance shoes.
The irony of his shoes is...all of his rummage shoes worked great for him. He got a brand new pair of expensive tennies for Christmas and they gave him a blister, which developed into an open sore, which then became infected, so the toe had to be amputated, which was wrapped to tight after the surgery, and his foot became gangrene...and that is how he lost his leg. New shoes.

Beautification Award

Well! Hot-diggity-dawg! Yesterday, I was out in back, working in the yard and I heard Elvis going crazy barking inside the house, like someone rang the doorbell or knocked. Since I am expecting a couple of packages from UPS, I figured that perhaps, it was a replacement driver and he went onto the front porch and left the box there (even though I have signs up asking to please bring them around to the back porch, they still leave them on the front porch), so I start walking up the yard and see a couple of women getting into a car and backing out of the driveway.
"Hmmm" says I to myself- "Jehovah's Witnesses?" And I proceed to walk to the front porch to check it out. I see a piece of paper stuck in the door and go and grab it out.
"Your house has been chosen as one of the award winners of the Community Beautification Award from The Junior Women's Club of Germantown".
So, I went back around the front and sure as shoot! There was the sign in the front garden! I want to thank The Junior Women's Club! YAY!!!
But, I guess that I have to leave the garden alone for awhile, until they get a picture. I was kind of thinking about tearing it apart this weekend and moving all the plants around. This is a perfect time of year because you can see how the garden looks after everything blooms...what is getting too big or taller than you thought it would get. I have to move a bunch of my hollyhocks because they are crowding out all the other plants. And I have a patch of really cool grass that is not getting as tall as it should-which means that the sun is not hitting it enough anymore, so it has to get moved out to an edge. My irises have to get split. My yarrow is not getting enough light anymore (probably because the hollyhocks is too big) and my poppies never bloomed! So we will play rotate the plants. Just not this week.

Catch and Release

Yesterday-Saturday was a gorgeous day. I went for a 3 1/2 mile walk with my friend Sharon and then Julie asked me if I would walk down to the antique mall with her to check out a roll top desk that she wants to buy. On our way home, Marv and Yvonne were out on their deck having an evening libation, so we stopped in to say hi.
Marv, has been having problems with the chipmunks and squirrels, so he set a small live trap and has been catching them and then driving out about 5 miles into a wooded area and dropping them off. He has dropped off 1 red squirrel (I hate those nasty little buggers!), 2 gray squirrels and 5 chippies.
Several years ago, Biz and I decided that we would trap the dang squirrels and release them in the woods about 2 miles from here. It was a home made trap that Larry got at a rummage sale, and real easy to set. So we baited it with a cob of corn and went inside and BAM! in about 10 minutes we had us a pissed off squirrel!
We put on big leather gloves (So he couldn't bite at us) and carried the trap to the big (We had a Dodge extended van then) van, loaded it in the back door and off we went. Now, as we are driving, the squirrel is not happy and he is screaming and rattling the doors trying to get out. This is making us a little nervous and we are going over our plan on what to do if he escapes in the van (the plan very simply was to JUMP!!!)(Trying to remember to put the van in park first, of course). We get him out of the cage at the drop site and zip back to the house. About 1 hour later-BAM!- another squirrel. Off we go, but this one is making the last one seem like a real wimp and he is really, seriously tearing at the cage trying to escape. When we released this one, we also dumped a bushel basket of black walnuts so they would have some food until they figured out where they were.
We are feeling pretty, darn good about ourselves! We are getting rid of a bunch of my over population of squirrels and not having to start a mini graveyard to do it.
On the third one, we are very nervous when we put him in and really try to block the cage so he can't push his way out and Biz rode in back next to the trap-what we thought she could do back there, I don't know, but, we got him to the drop off site and came back home.
It was amazing me that we were catching those buggers so fast, but, hey, what do I know about squirrels. We set the trap and went in to cook dinner and I see another squirrel go into it and it SNAPS shut! Well, he is just going to have to wait a few minutes. About 15 minutes later, we went out to take him away. Hmmmm....the trap is empty. Maybe the door didn't snap shut all the way and he got out. We set it again and I watch the squirrel go in....and push at the door until...he got out.
That was the end of the squirrel trapping. I could have just seen one of them getting out and running towards the front as we are screaming and leaping into the ditch, with the van still going!!!! And the squirrel would be standing behind the wheel, eyes glinting, heading for home.
Phrog was laughing so hard at us. He said "You have to take them farther away than that! They probably beat you home!" Sigh....

Larry's Catheter-Cancelled for this Week

Well, Wednesday when Larry went to dialysis, Beth noticed that there was some funky discharge, so they drew labs and gave him 1000 grams of Vanco. We called the surgeon who is going to implant his PD catheter and never heard back from him on Wednesday, but, the consensus was, He probably would not cancel. OK.
Now, They also gave us a little notice on Monday saying that because the state had never done an inspection when they opened, that Medicare was not paying for anyones treatments and they were going to close the Germantown clinic until it got inspected. It has been open for 18 months and no inspector? What on earth is wrong with the department in charge of this? They told the person in charge of Purity (Who apparently has been calling them non-stop for many, many months) that they have to inspect the clinics that have problems first, recheck existing clinics next and if there is any time left in their schedules, they will check new clinics! I know that all of these departments have had major cuts, but, they should figure out how to make it work.
So, we go home and I spend the day writing letters to my senators, congressmen and state reps about the fact that the state still has not surveyed Purity Dialysis and as of August 20, if no survey is performed, we will be transferred back to the Falls and have to be there at 5:30 am Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays. This does not make me happy to have us shunted back there and my schedule messed with! I have everything set up with him going to dialysis Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays! Don't be messing with my schedule!
And, of course, I sent out all of the emails and apparently, the inspector was there on Thursday morning. I did get a reply yesterday from Sue Jeskewitz and she called Purity to find out what was going on, so I was pretty happy to know that at least one of the people that I wrote to tried to do something!
But, back to the catheter....so...it is 6:20 am on Thursday Aug. 14- we have to be to the hospital at 7:30, but since Larry can have nothing to eat or drink, I am waiting until 6:45 to get him up and we will just leave after he gets dressed goes to the bathroom. I get up and make my coffee, take Elvis out, get the paper and go get dressed. Then I come down and tell Larry that it is time to "Rise and shine!" As we are putting on his leg, the phone rings. Hmmm...the caller id says Purity Dialysis. "Hello?" "Oh Sarah! I am glad that I caught you! I just talked to Brodish and he is cancelling the surgery because of the chance that Larry has that infection."
Well, at least we didn't make it to the hospital and find out that it was cancelled! I let Lar go back to bed and then we went rummaging for a little while after he woke up and ate breakfast. But, all day long, I had the feeling that I was supposed to be somewhere else- I suppose because I knew that Larry was supposed to be at the hospital until after lunch.
And Larry is in Sports heaven this weekend! He has football, baseball and the Olympics! Woo-hoo!

Jake's Senior Pictures

Biz flew into town on an over night last Wednesday. She got to G't own at 1:15 am and slept till about 7:30. After we got Larry up and fed, we drove out to Slinger and Biza took pictures of Katie's son Jake. He is going to be a senior this year and did not want to spend $300.00(At least) on photos, so he asked Biz if she would come and take pics. And of course, she wanted to!
We had a lot of fun posing him in all different locations and doing different things. Biz had to be back at the airport by 3:30 because the flight she was working out on left at 5:00pm, so we did not have a lot of time to dilly-dally and retake some of the ones that wound up being the neatest ones. If we had had some more time to readjust the lighting and change angles a little, some of the pictures would have really been neat! But, she took enough shots that we got many pictures to choose from that are very nice! It does help that Jacob David is a nice looking young man. And he is such a sweetheart! And he is going to graduate high school this year! YIKES! Where has the time gone?
Larry is in Olympic heaven. The TV has been non-stop Olympics since Friday. He is in heaven! He switches back and forth between Olympic coverage, baseball, football and golf. It is also a relief from the Brett Favre drama that was dominating the Milwaukee TV stations. I don't have any idea what the Packer's are thinking, but I think that they made a HUGE mistake. But, unlike everyone else in the universe, I realise that the Packer's do not give a hoot about my opinion, so, I will leave it alone at that!
First pre-season Packer game tonight though. I bet that they all said a whole bunch of football related prayers "God, please don't let Aaron Rodgers get injured in this first pre-season game" "Dear God, please don't let Aaron throw a whole bunch of interceptions" "Sweet Lord, PLEASE don't let Aaron turn out to be a flop"...you know the prayers they are saying. Time will tell.
Jake is going up to Green Bay for the game and will let us know how it was up there! I just know that I have to go and find a Jets t-shirt before the season starts. Go Brett!

Bathroom Roulette

When you are Larry's age, many things upset your digestive process. It probably does not help that he had c-diff for so long this winter. But, now we are playing bathroom roulette.
He gets constipated. Then we give him a laxative. One a day. If that does not work, we do am and bedtime for 1-2 days and that usually gets things moving again. However....you always run the risk that-hmmmm...that last laxative pushed it a little too far and then the poor guy spends the next 8 hours running for the toilet.
That is how we spent our night last night. 13 times he ran. 10 times he made it there. I feel so bad for him, but, shit happens and that is why God created paper towel and sponges with anti-bacterial Mr. Clean! But, neither one of us got much sleep because he was constantly putting on his leg and running for the toilet. Call me on the intercom to help him clean up. Back to bed. And repeat- sometimes every 20 minutes!
Well, no laxative today. Hopefully things will even out one of these days soon!

I took a picture yesterday out in the garden. When I was out weeding, I felt something small and cool jump onto me and then off right away. When I looked, it was a tiny green frog! He was so cute- but hard to get in a photo because he was trying to hop away as I was trying to get a picture. And he wouldn't smile! But I caught a cute pose on one of the rudbeckias.

So When the Cat is Laying on the Keyboard...

I am hiding inside for awhile because it is pretty hot and humid out and
thought that I would check my emails ,etc. So, I crank the computer on and Max comes and lays down on the desk-as he always does when I am working on the computer. I really don't even pay attention to him. Anyhow, I went to Iwon to check emails and the screen started to flash and move up and down and all kinds of weird stuff.

I figured that it was just the iwon site because pop-ups and flashing ads somehow still come on even with all the blockers.
Ok... I decide to switch to email 2. Still doing weird stuff! Wow! I hope I don't have some terrible virus that got in somehow. I'll shut down the internet and see what happens. Hmmmm....still flashing and doing weird stuff! Well, I'll shut it down and reboot and see what happens. And as it is shutting down, I feel Max shift his head closer to the middle of the board. He must have had his head on the left side of the board the whole time.
I moved the cat down 6 inches and turned it back on and -voila! Perfect Solly!
You would think that I would have that figured out because he does it all the time. But no. I blame the computer first. I think that it is because I listen to all of my friends who have pcs complain about all the weird stuff that happens to their computers on a regular basis. I have a Mac. Very little weird stuff occurs. And when it does, if you shut it down and turn it back on, it is almost always fine! I love my Mac. Love it, love it, love it! And I loved the Mac that I had before this one.
We had a busy day yesterday. It was Larry's last day of therapy. It is only the last day because Medicare has therapy capped if you go out patient and it isn't at a hospital. He could use at least another month's worth to try to rebuild his endurance and strength a little more, but, I figure with all the stuff that we are going to be doing to start the PD dialysis, I can always restart him at the clinic after Jan. 1.
And just in case I haven't mentioned it before- I am a firm believer in therapy for just about anyone! I think that Medicare should make it mandatory that you have to have your balance and strength checked, etc- at least every 3 years. I know that all of Larry's friends poo-poo therapy or the classes that they can take for strength and balance. Yet every single one of them has fallen at least once in the past year. They are all just darn lucky that they didn't break something.
Speaking of Larry's friends, we had lunch with everyone yesterday after therapy. We were supposed to go to the Colonial House in Menomonee Falls, but they closed their doors right after July 4th. He had expanded the place and it must have been a little too much money wise and he declared bankruptcy.Very sad. We really liked that place. So, we went to the Oasis instead and had a very nice lunch, then went over to Jim and Elaine's for dessert (Which Elaine made). Larry had a wonderful time. I always enjoy seeing everyone too. Jim is in the green and his wife Elaine is in the black and white. Bob has the striped white shirt and Grace has the light colored print top. I am the youngster in black! They all always crack me up! Bob can hardly ever get a word in edge wise with Grace. If he starts to tell us something , Grace will take over the story. He usually just lets her. After 60 years of marriage, I figure you know which battles to pick! Elaine does it to Jim too, but Jim usually stops- looks at her and says "Do you want to tell this story for me?" and Elaine generally shuts up and lets him continue. Maybe we will see Bob and Grace again before they go back to Az.

Still Humid-Just Not so Hot!

Well, the humidity level is still up there. But, it is cloudy, and therefore, cooler. All weekend long, Lar kept saying that his catheter hurt and this am when he got to dialysis, they said that it was pink around it, so they drew cultures to see if it is an infection. He also feels like crap, but I think that it is because he went in heavy and then they try to pull that extra weight off. So, he ate his after dialysis snack, had a protein drink, his pills, his shot and read his paper all on his bed while reclining. If he still fells so crappy at 2:00 when I get him up to feed him a light lunch, I will just have him sit on the side of the bed and then lay right back down.
Travis came home on Friday and Katie had a small party/bonfire on Saturday night for him. We were sitting and talking and passing around the bug spray. The spray had little effect in deterring the mosquitoes from biting, in fact, I think that it was attracting them Trav said that it is interesting living down south, but you have to be careful of using some terms. Like "Coon". Travis was talking about going coon hunting to some of his friends one night and they all were looking at him aghast- "Travis, do you know that coon is a racial slur down here?"
"Uhhhh...no. I didn't. So I guess the guys went hunting raccoons?" I love Travis! He has always been a great guy!
We left at 9:00 and had a nice drive home, watched a little T.V. and then tried to sleep in the incinerator upstairs! It has not been below 80 degrees up there in about a week, but, I just crank the fans on and do the best that I can. The humidity is supposed to end by tomorrow, so there is an end in sight!

A Day to Hide Inside

I am really not complaining. Heat and humidity is part of summer and we have been very lucky that the weather thus far has been so pleasant. And any day that it is not snowing, is a good day!
If it was just me that I had to think about, it would be one thing. I flip on a few fans and move a little slower- try to avoid going upstairs (THAT is just an inferno up there!)But, Larry, because his one lung is compromised with the fluid that is always in it, has a difficult time breathing when it is this humid. And, since breathing is kind of important....His energy level also goes right down the poop shoot. I would imagine it is because his body can not oxygenate enough. I know that my own energy level is way lower in the heat and humidity.
Yesterday, I cancelled an afternoon appointment because I just didn't feel comfortable taking him out in this. What is the point? You can always reschedule and that is what I did!

I'm Melting!!!!!

It is pretty darn hot and humid today! It feels like about 100 degrees outside and when I just went upstairs, it is about 110 up there! I almost passed out! It is 79 out in the living room, but not humid, so it is not too terrible for Larry. But, if we had had an appointment this afternoon, I may have called to cancel because it is a little tricky with the heavy air, dialysis and breathing. Right now, he is laying in his 72 degree bedroom watching Fred and Ginger.
The other thing is- what about the mosquitoes? I have never seen them this nasty! They are everywhere! And mosquito spray does not even slow them down! Maybe they are a super species- stronger- more vicious- able to withstand any poison thrown at them! And soon they will take over the world!!!!
The picture at the top is of a calla lily growing in my garden. 2 of them came up orange this year! Very pretty! I love them and don't mind the extra work every year when I have to pull them out before winter. The best part is, I started with 4 little tubers that I got at a rummage sale about 4 years ago and now have about 16. All for $1.00. Not too bad!
Heard from John today about the PD. He had me schedule a consult with Dr. Brodish (Who has done Larry's surgery in the past) and so, we have the ball rolling.
The girls at dialysis today were talking about PD and how I need a sterile room. They suggested that perhaps I will have to make one room cat free..... They obviously don't have cats. Because what is a cat going to do if you try to keep them out of a room? They are going to think-"Hmmm.... she must have something great in there. I must find out!" and then they dash at the door when you least expect it. Causing you to loose your balance because as you try to stop them. They run nimbly by as you crash to the ground, spilling whatever you were carrying, breaking 3 finger nails and darn lucky you broke nothing else. There is no way you can catch the darn thing unless you have 3 other people in each corner. So...no. No cat free room. A room with less cat presence, especially when we are connecting is doable. We will figure it out I am sure.
Right now, Max is laying almost on top of my key board, helping me type and relaxing. Got to love him!

We have lettuce!

Well, the garden is doing great! And the lettuce is ready to pick. I have been using it for about a week and probably will have a bout 10 more days of lettuce harvesting after today. I love fresh lettuce and stand at the sink and eat it as I rinse it! Who needs salad dressing?
We are supposed to have the hottest day of the summer today. I had the doors open until about 1 hour ago, and now have everything shut down, the air in the breakfast room on and the fans all blowing. We also have the upstairs door open and fans going up there, so it creates a wind tunnel like effect and sucks that hot air up and out. It works really well for short spells...2 or 3 days. I don't know how well it would do in a prolonged heat wave!
We had therapy this am and Larry did great! I think in part because I told him that he can only do 4 more sessions. $1800 worth of therapy- That is all Medicare will pay for at a therapy place that is not a hospital. Now, if I wanted to take him to the hospital, we could continue. And if I think he needs another push, I would certainly do that. But, for now, I will let him get through this round and see how he does after. What ridiculous rules they come up with at medicare for some of this stuff.And the thing that cracks me up is therapy at a clinic, is cheaper than therapy at the hospital- so, why the limits at a clinic instead of at a hospital?
You would think that medicare would be tickled pink to have people going to therapy- especially at 75 years and above. It helps people maintain their stability, balance and core strength, which keeps them from falling down, which is one of the most common reasons that elderly people are admitted to emergency rooms. But nooooo....we don't want to PREVENT people from hurting themselves. We would rather spend thousands and thousands replacing hips and shoulders and paying for intense therapy at a rehab place like Linden Grove.
And then having these people with reduced mobility placed back into their homes, where, because they are weaker and have less mobility, they are more than likely going to fall again! Aaaaannnnnd.... if they started out this whole cycle already physically compromised because, they were not really active before they fell, they are even more likely to get weaker and weaker.
And, the sad part is, they don't know it. Larry still thinks that he is going to wake up some morning and miraculously be back to how he was before all this started 4 years ago. And that is why he feels it is unnecessary to go to therapy. He thinks that somehow-poof! he is going to be just how he was before, and...if he can't be that way, he don't want to work towards anything else. Thanks for asking...NO.
One of the things that I have learned as I have gotten older is that everything changes. Sometimes we like the changes and sometimes we don't. Doesn't matter...change is where it is at and if you don't roll with the flow and figure out how to work with the changes, you are going to be one sad panda, always trying to recapture the past.
I know that I can not do all the things that I could do when I was younger- and would not want to do, anyhow! With age comes a little bit of wisdom and I enjoy working smart instead of working hard all the time. I worked hard and played hard when I was younger. And really enjoyed it. Don't want to do it that way anymore. Thanks.

P.D. Dialysis

Last week, Linnea, Dr. Korker's assistant pulled me aside and said "You know, we have been having trouble trying to get the weight off of Larry each time because his blood pressure keeps bottoming out and we have to stop. I talked to Beth (the nurse) and we think that Larry would be a good candidate for P.D. dialysis at home."
She then proceeded to tell me a little about it and the pros and cons. The best pro is that it would be way easier on Larry and his blood pressure. The biggest con is you have to do it every night and it would be my ball game.
I figured, "What the heck? Set up an appointment for me to get the spiel and we will decide."
Kelly calls John at Waukesha where we would go as our base (another drawback because it is 25 miles away). We set the appointment. Larry is kind of jazzed because this means he won't have to get up at 5:30 3 times a week and sit in that too small chair for 4 hours each time.
Thursday, we head over towards Waukesha. John had said that it is right next to the hospital in the professional building.
Have you ever driven in Waukesha? Who planned this city? And they do not have hospital signs out on Mooreland Rd., where most people are coming from since it kind of circles around the entire hospital. Anyhow, we finally get there and they have valet parking, so we don't have to park-YAY! We get in there, right at 3:00- exactly on time.
We stand in the lobby of the office that we are told to go to and hear people talking, but no one is around. A few minutes later, a guy comes around the corner. It turns out to be John, the nurse we are meeting. He thought the meeting was at 3:30.
So, he walks us through the procedure- the pros, the cons, he asks questions, he answers questions that I have. It was a very good explanation and after discussing everything, we are going to give her a go.
He has to call Dr. Korker this week to get the go-ahead, then we have to schedule the procedure to have the catheter placed in his stomach. After that is done, we have to drive to Waukesha 2 times a week to have the catheter checked and to train to do the procedure. We'll see how it goes.
On another note, it was Travis Cody Fischer's 23rd birthday yesterday!!! Happy birthday Travis! He is coming home this week for about 10 days and I am looking forward to seeing him. He does like graduate school and Atlanta is OK, but, there is no place like home!

Cats on the Porch

When Larry and I were watching TV last night, the wind shifted and the breeze coming in was making Larry cold, so I closed the side porch door. As I did it, I thought to myself-"Remember to check to make sure that there are no cats out there before you go to bed."
Well, I went down to the basement to get the last batch of laundry and when I came back up, Larry had switched off the last 5 minutes of Burn Notice. I said-"Larry- I was watching that show" and then he turned the tv off, because he wasn't paying attention to me. So, I yelled- "Larry! I was watching that!"(I think that most of the time he hears like a mosquito noise when I talk to him and he just nods and says ok) Then he was all twitter-pated because"You yelled at me", so I didn't get the wash folded or get to watch the last 5 minutes of Burn Notice, because I had to try to sooth his ruffled feathers.
I got him into bed, then went and folded wash, took Elvis out, shut down the windows and doors and went to bed. At 12:30 I was awakened by a pretty big storm that lasted for a good hour. Wind- rain- thunder- lightening.
At 5:30, when I came downstairs, I remembered- "Crud! I forgot to check the side porch!" I went and opened the door and Max comes rushing out meowing like crazy, probably telling me that he is going to have to have therapy after being trapped out there, in the storm, with Peaches! It took him a couple of hours to calm down. But, I bet that he won't go hide on the porch anymore!

Wow! It is July 9th already!

Wow! Can you believe that it is into July already? It is amazing how fast time goes!
roads were already blocked for the 4th of July parade! We drove to Pilgrim. Couldn't turn. I suppose that was justified because there were fire engines and trucks backed up all the way to the intersection. So, I flipped around and figured that we would cut down Main Street to 145 and over to Pilgrim. Wrong. And the traffic on Squire was backed up and not going anywhere because some car was trying to turn down Main Street and arguing with the cop. So, finally, we got to turn and go back out to Mequon Rd., over to Maple, to Friestadt and back over toWe had a nice 4th. The weather was perfect. Not real hot- about 78, sunny, with a light breeze. Larry had to go to dialysis and when he got out, the Pilgrim from the other direction. 40 minutes to get home. It is 2 miles from here to dialysis, so, it was quite a ride with an 82 year old man who just wants to get into his bed and sleep!
Later that day, we drove over to the Piggly Wiggly to get corn on the cob for dinner and just drove for a little bit to get Larry out.
We watched the fireworks from the front porch with Julie and her friend Annette. Good fireworks and a great finale, but, we were in bed 20 minutes later! So much for rabble rousers!
Today, is gorgeous! It is cool- about 76 and breezy and no humidity! Which I am so happy about! The past 2 days were terribly humid. It is really nice to just have the doors and windows open and the house is cool.(I can tell that Pewter is not outside. It is quiet!)
I Picked lettuce from the garden today and ate my first radish. Everything except my tomatoes are doing really well! I don't know what is up with that, but, I went to Menard's and got some little tomato plants and will set them in different spots to see if I can get any tomatoes at all! I love tomatoes. Maybe they were too wet or the wet and the cold nights is what is doing them in. Sigh...
John and Deb and Mickey are heading back from seeing Biza in California. They were there from July 3rd and had a good time apparently. If I get pics, I will post some.
Larry and I have to go to Waukesha tomorrow to meet John. He is the nurse in charge of PD- home dialysis. He tells us what it is and sees if we would be good candidates for it. I will let you know about what it entails when we get back.
I am reading a book titled-"How Doctors Think". It is excellent! It tells you how doctors think about patients, how they diagnose what is wrong with you(Very interesting) and all sorts of insights into how patients are treated by physicians. I think that when I am done reading, I will start a blog or post about "How to visit a doctor". I tell you, from talking to all my friends and Larry's friends, it amazes me how people go to the doctor. Almost everyone that I talk to, just goes in. They don't really think about what their symptoms are. Most people do not write anything down, and so they go in and forget to ask anything (I learned to do that right away when we were going in with Mom)Almost across the board...people go in and expect the doctor to miraculously figure out what is wrong with them (Usually while the fudge the truth about questions that the doctor asks about habits, exercise, diet, etc. Then, they head out of the office, clutching their miracle prescription in their hot little hand,( which, by the way, most people have no idea what the prescription does or what its side effects are...)and hope like crazy that they are cured.
I am not saying that this is wrong. If that is what you want to do, more power to you. But, most people, complain that they are not miraculously cured after 2 days of taking their miracle pills!
I think that if people went to the doctor and had an idea of what the doctors think about as they listen to you give your spiel, it would help a lot. And what questions you should ask. I am canoodling it in my head. We'll talk.
Hey! When I went outside a few minutes ago, mama wren is out and I could see baby mouths inside the bird house. I don't know how many! But, I am an aunty!

The Wren and Pewter

Here, in the top photo, sitting on the weathervane, is the pissed off little wren.


This next series of photos shows Pewter investigating the wren's house, and now...I will begin the story.

A couple of years ago, I bought a red,white and blue bird house at a rummage sale and I hung it on these ladders that I configured to be a trellis/bird feeder holder. It has never had a resident until about 1 month ago. A pair of wrens decided to make it home, and busily set about making their nest in it and getting ready to start a family.
All was well the first couple of weeks. The pair flitted in and out with nary a notice from anyone, especially Pewter. Pewter would lay on the porch and never even noticed the little guys going back and forth. She is not a major hunter anyhow, and birds are not of great interest to her.
So, for the past week or so, I think that just the male has been flying in and out. The female must be sitting on the eggs. The one that is going in and out, has decided that Pewter is a threat. And the thing sits right above her and scolds her whenever she is outside. This has led Pewter to pay attention to it..... And she has figured out where it is.... And decided to investigate. "Hmmm....."says Pewter, "I must check this out!"
And now, several times a day, Pewter jumps up onto the trellis/ladder and shimmies down to the bird house to try to see what is going on. I don't know if you know this, but for an itty-bitty bird, wrens can make A LOT of noise!
The wren freaks every time Pewter comes out, and hops around hollering at the cat. This just makes Pewter more interested. The poor little thing does not realize that he is attracting attention instead of diverting it. I can always tell just where she is by where the little bird is hollering from! The good news is Pewter can not reach around to the front of the birdhouse. So, unless the little wren is totally daft and flies right into her, they will be safe. I have also been chasing Pewter off when I see her. I will keep you posted.
This bottom picture is Pewter relaxing on the chair. The wren is probably 4 feet to the right hopping up and down and screeching! You can see Pewter cares.

Maybe We Will Have Chicken for Dinner

So, yesterday.... Larry had therapy in the morning and then we came home and Larry napped after lunch for a couple of hours. When I was getting him up, I said to him in conversation-
"Hey, I think that I am going to go to Pick and Save and get one of those cooked chickens that they make and we will have that and some Rice-a-Roni and beans for dinner."
As I say this, he gets that look on his face that little kids do when you are making them eat something they don't like. Sort of like Mr. Poison's face on those poison stickers. I started to laugh-it was so funny to see an 82 year old man get that look on his face. I wish that I had had my camera!
"What's wrong Larry?"
And he mutters under his breath-"I don't want any chicken."
" I wouldn't give you half of the chicken Larry- I would just give you a little with the rice. Wouldn't that be good?"
"I don't WANT chicken."
He was twitter-pated about it for the next half-hour, so...we did not have chicken.
I miss chicken. I love to eat chicken. It is very sad that he does not like it at all any more. I don't know what it is about chicken that makes him nauseous, but, I can tell you that it surely does. Makes him puke. Almost every time. And sometimes, just smelling it, makes him puke. So, I do not get much chicken any more. But, my feeling is,you have to give it a shot once in awhile to see if it is any better. Then, you can give me that look.

I need some sleep!

Well, that male grey cat was back again. He comes anywhere from 10:30 to 3:30. And my cats go berserk! Last night I closed down all the doors and just left the window in the breakfast room open about 4 inches. At 1:30, I hear the low growl from cats at the window- Oh-oh! Then I hear the screeching and the hissing and yowling- indicating the male is next to one of the windows and one of my 4 legged angels is at said window having a hissy fit!
I jump out of bed, pry the screen off the window and toss a bunch of water (That I put there for that reason) down at the cat. He takes off running into Julie's yard. Whew! Catastrophe averted!
I crawl back into my nice soft bed and start top snuggle in and I hear whining and hissing and yowling from downstairs. What the heck??? Finally, I go down to check it out and Peaches is just having a fit. She is hissing and yeowling at Sassy and poor Shaggy and Max! Both ran for cover from her! When I went to pick her up, she swatted at me hissing and tried to bite me. We don't bite the Mama. Ever. She was so upset, that I tucked her under my arm (careful to avoid claws and teeth) and shut her into Biza's room upstairs. There are windows, but none that look out towards Julie's where I am sure that little stinker was going to start causing trouble next.
She calmed down after that and the rest of them seemed to be a little calmer, but no one came to sleep on the bed or in the bedroom, which is totally abnormal.
I did not sleep well after that- and when I did sleep, had weird dreams.
Then this morning, at 5:20, when I came downstairs, I smell cat poop. What the heck? I look around and here, on one of the oak built in bookcases, between the dining room and living room, is a pile of cat-doo. I am sure that Peaches was sitting there and saw the male cat outside and pooped to mark her spot. Like he could get in through the window. But, what do I know, I am not a cat. I just know that I have to get that cat to stop coming to my house and causing a ruckus. I have the live trap set up. I am going to put some wet cat food in there again tonight and see if I can lure him in. Of course, then, if I do catch him, what the heck do I do with him? Maybe I can get Debbie Jean to talk to the cat lady and see if she will take him.
On a Larry note- He had dialysis today. I dropped him off and went off to rummage. Finally hit a couple of good ones and even found a high chair for Matt (John and Deb's son)and Kim's little girl Denalli. So, at 10:00 am, I am cruising down Stonewood Dr. towards the dialysis clinic and I look ahead at the parking lot and there is the rescue squad sitting in front of the doors. That is never good. I check my cell phone while I am parking to see if I missed a call from the clinic while I am speed walking up to the broken (Long story) door and back through the waiting room to the treatment area. Relief floods through me as I see Mr. Larson's size 12s loom into view as I round the corner. Whew! At least it was not Larry that is getting hauled away....but, who? I look around and the guys that are teching today say-It's Sarah. Crap! Sarah is such a little sweetheart. She wasn't feeling good when she got there this morning and said that she really felt backed up with fluid and just did not feel right. So if you read this, send a little love and light to Sarah. Hopefully she will be back Monday.

We got Through Therapy-YAY!

Larry, was not too happy with me for resigning him for therapy, but, he needs help and won't listen to me. Then, before we left this morning, he was almost in tears because his neck hurt so much. There is nothing I can do or say, because he won't listen to a word I say about it. He just says-"You don't know how bad it hurts". Not true, I probably do know, but, none the less...he will not be consoled, and no one knows how bad he has it. Period.
So, when we went to our appointment today, Shanna asked how it was going and We told her about the neck thing and he says "I don't know why it comes or why it goes. It just does. There is no reason for it." Well, this is not true...and I know it, so Shanna is looking at me around his head and mouthing what do you think? And I quietly say that it happens in certain chairs, where he is more likely to lean forward and as he sits and gets tired, his head starts to droop and then we start the neck pain.
"WELL!" he huffs- "I am moving my head so that I am more comfortable and it has NOTHING to do with the pain that starts in my NECK! You don't know ANYTHING!"
Alright.... Then Shanna does some work with him on his legs and when she sits him up she tests his back and neck strength and guess what??? Hmmm...they are pretty weak. No wonder it hurts his neck to sit for any length of time when he does not have support behind his head. She did some isometric exercises with his back and neck that we can do at home and the rest of the session went really well.
When we left, I asked him how his neck and back were and then I said,"Well, does it make sense to you that Shanna found out that your back and neck are weak and that is why it is hard to hold your head up for any length of time. And that is why your neck hurts so bad- your muscles won't hold your head up."
And he said...."Yes, it makes sense."
Now this is what I have been telling him for weeks, but apparently(As we all know) My opinion counts for zilch when we are talking about therapy. That is OK- just so long as he finally gets it and starts to work to fix it.
It is a very pretty day. Sunny and blue skies. Breezy. Just beautiful. I am going to clean bird baths, but not for too long because the mosquitoes are vicious! They would eat the skin right off you in the last couple of days! That is not right!

Amazing, but True- Larry is Feeling Much Better!

Well folks....amazingly, Lar is feeling way better after dialysis for the last week. He has not but hacking and bringing up tons of flem (That was always so enjoyable, not only for him, but for everyone in the vicinity), he has not been cramping.His breathing is much better, he has more energy and his legs are not buckling under him when he stands up. I am tickled pink! I think after he has been back at therapy for a few weeks, his endurance will go up and maybe, we can drive up to Door County or something. That will make both of us very happy. I can't tell you how difficult it is for him to not be able to do the things that he used to do. It is very discouraging when he felt so crappy all the time. We could never plan anything on a dialysis day. The few times we did, it was short and then he is wiped for the rest of the day and into the next day. So this is a HUGE thing for us. Even his blood pressure has improved a little bit lately. We will take it.
The other day, Katie called and said that they were going to sell off all of their sample rugs at the Home Depot. Ten bucks a piece, do you want any?They all have a black tag that says SAMPLE- but some are just stickers and even the ones that are cut in- just stick a chair over it!
" Sure, I would love an area rug for my room and for Biza's guest room upstairs. "
Great! She would look through them and put a couple aside and then call me when I could come and get them.
Saturday- "The boss has decided we are not going to sell them."
Then she comes in on Sunday and one of the managers had taken at least 5 rugs. She wanted to know what was up with that???
And why did he get to TAKE them and no one else can?
Alright, after the reset, they can be sold. They will be $10.00 each.
So, then, on Monday, she calls me and says "Well, we can't put them out because we have to figure out which ones get reset, after we figure that out, they will go out, when I get in on Wednesday, but the boss says $20.00." That is still OK by me, give me a call when you need me to get them.
Tuesday am she calls and is a-twitter-pated!"I took Sam to work and just thought maybe I should stop in at the Depot to see what was happening and when I walked in the door, there was a cart full of rugs! Those buggers put all the rugs out and took all the ones that everyone had marked and put them out too. Without calling me and telling me" (She is the head of that department- you would think that she would get a courtesy call). So, I finish feeding Larry his breakfast and we zoom out to West Bend.
Katie and I look through the rugs and I pick out one I like for my room. The one she picked out for the other room was perfect, so we let that one be and then she had rugs for herself and Claire and Collen- We had 14 rugs total. And...guess how much they were??? Five dollars EACH! Five bucks! I paid more than that for a scatter rug at a rummage sale! So, a few people are listening and hear- $5.00. For what? For these rugs! And then it was like the locusts arrived! People were just pulling rugs off the cart and stacking them onto their carts. Katie had called Mushy and Debbie Lynn (David's wife) to get over there and get their rugs! They got there just as the frenzy started and Mush got 2 and Debbie got 3. They said that it was getting a little tense there for a while! But, no fisticuffs erupted, so all was well!
And my rug looks beautiful! I put it down and Max threw himself onto his back in the middle of it and just lay there, spread eagle. I do believe that he loves it!
In the first picture- he is on the rug in my room (Sorry- I did not make the bed before the picture) The second picture is the one that Katie picked out for Biza's room-and the third pic is the solid rug that I figured for $5.00, 2 rugs in that room is good! All the cats were in helping me, so I took a pic of Max watching from the bed. Sassy would not hold still for a pic and I forgot to transfer Peaches picture, so I will put her up later!

Father's Day-And it Was Dry!

Well, at last, it is going to be dry for a few days so that some of the flooding around the state can go down. We went for a drive on Friday afternoon and there were a lot of areas where we could not get through because the roads were flooded. And, the flooding around here is nothing compared to how much water they have in other areas. Fortunately, we did not have any problems. We lost one tree branch, and had no water back-up into the basement.
The houses behind us had some problems with back-up. Billy and Carl always have problems if there is too much rain and the village guys worked like dogs trying to get the water out. There was a reason that Grandpa built the house up here on this rise. A lot of the area that the subdivision is built on was swampy. Grandpa Schlaefer did not use the land for grazing his cows because it was too wet. And now a-days, it always amazes me how many houses they build in lowlands and swamps and then the people who buy these houses wonder why they keep flooding. But, I digress.
It was Father's Day yesterday and I took Larry out to Slinger. John and Debbie had a barbecue. The weather was perfect and for some reason, the skeeters were not around. We all had a nice time and I had Larry home by 7:30. Poor Katie- had to work until 7:30 at the Home Depot. I told her that she should come after work- I did not think that Lar and I would still be there, but figured that everyone else would still be around. I was wrong. Everyone else left shortly after we did, so when Katie got there, she and Dave (Her hubby) sat and had a couple of beers with John and Deb and then headed her home. Katie said-"I told you no one would stay past 7:00!"
Jake and Dave (Katie's Youngest and Hub)came at about 5:00, but Dave was all twitter-pated because Sam was being a pooper-head (As Sam is want to be)and I think that Dave likes to be twitter-pated about stuff.
Westill have the OTHER grey cat wandering around. I set out the live trap and we will see if I can catch him. He keeps making a fuss with Julie's cats at 3:00 am and waking me up! They yeowl and moan and hiss for 1/2 hour. It has to stop. If I can catch him, maybe Deb and John's neighbor will take him to find a home. She is a cat person and has a shelter and LOTS of cats and kittens. We will see.
I signed up on facebook at Biza's urging. I doubt that I will use it, but she said that I should sign up, because it will be a great networking tool and she promised that I wouldn't regret it. I am sure that I will not regret it. It is just something that does not interest me- it feels very teenagerish. It reminds me of those notebooks that we used to have in middle school where you said what you liked and who you liked and what music you listened to- your favorite bands- and then you had your friends sign in and write stuff. Just like facebook, but in 1969 and no computers involved.
Well, maybe I'll surprise myself and really enjoy the Facebook experience.

Ooopsy-Daisy!

I went to pick Larry up at dialysis before and he was just miserable, but they couldn't let him go until his blood pressure came up- 72/37 is a bit low even for him. So, he is huffing and puffing and moaning and squirming and finally Dave, the guy who was taking care of Larry today, got a decent pressure, so he wheeled Larry over in the treatment chair and stood him from there.
Larry does not do well with changes and different ways of doing things, so it was hard for him to stand and then he was really confused and kept letting go of the bars (He NEVER lets go of the bars) and when we told him to just swing his butt towards his wheelchair, he got really flustered and collapsed. Dave and I grabbed him so he did not hit the ground, but then Larry had himself REALLY worked up and was almost hyperventilating! The other guy (I think his name is Aaron) came over to help us get him situated in the chair to calm down and then to help transfer to the wheelchair. He looks at me and says-I felt a little pee shoot out of me when Larry started to go down! Yes indeedy folks. Excitement all the time. The important thing is, he did not hit the ground-we caught him. He did not hurt himself. A couple of deep breathes and you have to move on. I am sure that he will tell everyone we meet for the next 2 days that he almost fell and how scared he was.
The weather man is saying that we get another day of no rain today. It is beautiful out. Sunny and cool and just delightful. I love this weather!The other day, it was so hot and humid, I put the screens on by myself and put the air conditioner in the breakfast room window, all by myself. I made sure that I had my cell phone on my belt with the screens, because I had to climb up to the top of the ladder to get them on- not exactly a job meant for a single person, but, what are you going to do?
And the air conditioner thing is not something that I will repeat by myself any time soon. I put it in the window-no big deal. But, it tilts too much and has to be shimmed. So, outside, up the ladder, weasel it around so the lip is against the frame and then start to place boards under it. Crap! It moved forward, pull it back, boards all fall out, start to slide them under again and it slides forward. Again. With sweat pouring off of me and I can't see because I am growing my ras-a- frassing hair out and it is always where it should not be and sweat is running into my eyes. Down the ladder, back into the house. Prop the front so it won't slide. Back outside. Up the ladder. Well, you get the picture. If I was a guy, I would have lost about 15 pounds just from sweating. Being a woman, I think I GAINED 5 pounds and broke a dang nail! But as daddy used to say-Good Voman! Strong like Ox!
I am waiting for a phone call from KMAWF. She says that Home Depot is putting all of their sample area rugs on sale today. $5.00 each- they just say Sample on them somewhere. For $5.00.... I can certainly live with it saying sample.

The other Grey Cat

Lately, there has been a young male cat that has been hanging around. He comes at about 7:00 and drives the other cats nuts when they see him. Pewter runs for the basement and hides and everyone else yowls at the top of their lungs. Then he usually goes over to Julie's and riles up her cats and wanders back and forth between the houses.
He looks like a sweetie pie- maybe 7 or 8 months old and definitely not fixed yet. He is grey with white stockings.
For the past few days, Pewter has been mad at me (Anyone who has a cat KNOWS when they have done something that offends their feline friend) I assumed that it was because Sassy got into the basement the other night and wouldn't come up. The next morning when I let Pewter out, she huffed off without even stopping for a scratch and I didn't see her all day, even when I called to her, she would not come in and sit with me. So, when I went into the basement to put fresh food out for Pewter, there was some rather large poop in the litter box. I did not think too much of it, since Sassy had been down there, maybe she had a big poop (Pewter saves her big poops for outside in the summer). So I changed the water, put out new kibble and a new can of some of the stuff Pewter likes and went upstairs.
Finally, at 4:00, Pewter deigns to show up and allows me to pet her a bit, but then I have to put her in the basement because we are going to get a storm. In she goes, I see her enter the basement and then I go back upstairs and get Elvis to do a quick potty before the storm and think "I better block the door shut so it can't blow open in the storm".
I don't have a doggy door for her, I just have a brick that holds it open a couple of inches and she squeezes in and out when she wants. It has worked thus for 3 years.
So, last night, after the real major part of the storm, I decide to check on Pewter and open the basement door. What the??? I see a grey cat running down the steps-A. Pewter never runs away from me and B. the cat had white feet! YIKES! Outside I go and as I am walking to the basement door, Pewter strolls up to be let in! How on earth? I opened the door wide and don't have any idea if he is in or out. He looks like a cute cat, but I do not need another cat! And especially an unfixed male!
Right now, I have Pewter on the side porch (She is not real happy with me) and I am waiting to see if he comes out to eat something. That explains why Pewter was eating her food so fast!
We have been having huge storms and tons of rain- over 6 inches since yesterday. The humidity is awful! The whole inside of the house feels like it is wet. We only have the air conditioner in Larry's bedroom window, so we can't get the dampness out! I have all the fans going.
My vegetable garden was pretty flooded for a long time yesterday and today, so I don't know if all the seeds washed away or what! I feel we are pretty lucky not to have been in the tornadoes or major flooding!
I do love a good storm! Nothing like having the wind whip around the house and the leaves are all a-shaking while you are tucked all warm inside, looking safely out the window.
We were supposed to go and see Mickey play fast-pitch at Uhlien Field down next to County Stadium in Milwaukee, but they cancelled that tournament. We watched her play yesterday in Cedarburg. Her team won 15-5. She has a bunch more games over the next month or 2 and she is also playing in a basketball league, so we will have plenty of opportunities to go and watch her play.
Tommy's son Ryan also should be playing a bunch more soon. He plays Little League and those games are fun to watch too, but hose kids are so serious about the game! Holy Cow! I tried not to be too serious about anything when I was that age! We played baseball, but only a neighborhood game and I don't think there were too many cut-throat players out there! We also played all the regular games, especially at this time of year...hide and seek...tackle pom-pom...red light,green light. God we had fun!

Both eyes are done! Now he can see!

Well Larry had the cataract removed from his right eye yesterday and he notices the difference already. In fact he told me this morning when he was reading the paper that he would not need the strong reading glasses any more. I had found him 5 + glasses at a specialty store online and that is the only way he could read for the past year (And then he wanted to argue with me that he could see just fine?)
We got to the hospital at 10:30, going directly from dialysis, do not pass go, do not collect $200. They rushed us in and started to dilate his eye while we were still rolling back to the room where they would prep him. Apparently, Dr. Veere was already running ahead and they wanted him asap. He was out of there on on his way to surgery by 11:30! And if his blood pressure had not been so low afterwards, we could have been home by 1:00 pm. As it was, we were home by 2:00, and we stopped for a burger and to pick up his insulin at Walmart.
He did pretty good considering how long a day it was for him. In fact his only issue was, the instructions said not to sleep on the side that the surgery was done on. Well... he can only sleep on his right side, so he tossed and turned trying to get comfortable and just did not sleep well. So today, when we went for the follow-up, we asked the Dr. and he said- as long as he has the shield on so he doesn't poke the eye, go ahead and sleep on your side! Larry was very happy!
We also rummaged a little on the way home today and I have to tell you, I don't think that I have ever gotten so little at rummages as I have all spring. I have found virtually NOTHING! Most days, I spend $0, and that is just wrong! You should not get skunked when you rummage! I should find books or something! But, no. I think for April and May, if I have spent $50.00 on stuff at rummages, that is a lot. And $23.00 of that was all at one sale where I found a gate leg table and a lamp full of glass prisms, so, that, at least was a good one. But overall, I have not seen too much to buy. Very sad....

My Own Little Patch of Garden

It took me 4 long, hard days, but, I finally got the new patch of garden done. I dug it all by hand, with my trusty spade, into a screen sifter, to sift out rocks, roots, etc. then, I added manure, mulch and peat moss when I returned it to the hole. I just went out and planted my zucchini and sweet corn and will go out in a few minutes to put the rest of the seeds in the soil, where, they will get lots of sun and flourish all summer long! And we will have lots of fresh veggies to eat and to share.
I have tried vegetable gardening in several spots in the yard and none of them get enough sun. Then, this spring, I thought to myself..."Hmmmm.... Look yonder at the ramp. Is it not in sun almost all day?" And, yes indeed, it does get quite a bit of sun all day long on the south side of the ramp. And it is mostly protected from wind and cold because it is kind of in a nook. So, I am giving it a shot! That is all I can do, right?
My flower gardens are doing great, although, I did loose a bunch of perennials to the long, hard winter, I just moved some stuff around to fill in the holes. I just won't have as wide a variety of perennials- no foxgloves or canterbury bells. All of the bells of Ireland look like they went away- at least half of my pestemon (?). I can't tell about some of my butterfly bushes- 1 of them is still not showing any signs of life, so, I must wait and see.
I do love this time of year. Watching to see what springs up. My tulips were awesome this spring. I had put in a bunch of new bulbs last fall and they all came up and looked fabulous! And the lilies of the valley are blooming now, so you can smell them any time you go outside!
Larry goes tomorrow to have his right cataract done. The last one went pretty easily, so I intend that this one also goes smoothly and easily.
Then next week, we start therapy again. He still argues with me that therapy will not make him stronger- I don't care what he thinks, I know that it does make a difference and I need someone other than myself to bug him about it for awhile. He is to the point where he can barely make it from the living room to the bedroom without getting totally wobbly and out of breath. He is walking totally lopsided- leaning hard to the right, with the old vulture head pulling forward- and then he wonders why his neck and shoulders hurt. He will argue that it has nothing to do with how he is walking...or sitting...or standing. He thinks that it is his arthritis- that AMAZINGLY goes away once he lays down and takes the pressure off his poor neck stretching forward.
I called Medical Associates and Tiffiny and I set up all the appointments for the next month, so...he is going. Period.

Test 2 is Clear! Let us All Give a Cheer!!! YAY!!!

Well, it was a long haul, but, we got the results back for the second stool sample that Larry had to send in and he is clear of c-diff!Good grief! Who would think that it would be that difficult to get rid of????
The important things we learned were...
A. the Doctors really don't know too much about c-diff. They are treating it by formulary. If you test positive for c-diff 98% of doctors will prescribe Flagil. And if that doesn't work they go to plan B, then to plan C and plan D. If they all fail, THEN, they send you to the infectious diseases doctor. Most don't recommend a probiotic and when you mention tapering dose they say,"Huh?"
B. TAKE A GOOD PROBIOTIC! It is important! And they infectious disease guy said-eat the good yogurt and any of the other stuff with the good probiotic stuff in it...like Activia and Danactive.
C. The tapering dose was what did it...and it makes sense because, apparently the c-diff spores hide in the folds of your intestines and bloom later on- weeks later, sometimes. The infectious diseases guy said that the spores can pop out for months after!
D. He prescribed a powdered cholesterol medicine that apparently binds with any remaining spores and takes them away without letting them blossom.
You can tell that Larry is feeling much better, and now we get to focus on other stuff again! Like going back to therapy. You can not believe what flack he gives me about doing therapy. He says that "Therapy does not help anything. I don't get stronger or feel better when I do therapy. I don't need it. It doesn't work."For an intelligent man, he sure can be bull-headed and not very smart at times. I say- "So, walking for longer distances and not getting tired so fast. Being able to lift your arm better. Being able to stand without felling like you are falling over...these are all just figments of my imagination and you never really got those benefits from therapy?"
And he looks at me with that look and I can tell he is mad at me.
I am signing him up for therapy again next week. After we get his right eye done. So there. And let him argue with Shanna!