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A View From the Field |
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September, 2018 September 30 The end of September. Oh, sigh.
I was late last night and for no good reason except that I was too tired to move. So it was midnight before I got to bed. I slept very well, though, with only two wakeups, and I got up around 9:00. I should have gone back to bed. I've been tired and achy all day. Maybe tonight?
I knitted three rows in two hours. I have close to 300 stitches on the needle now, but the reason I was so slow is that I dropped a stitch on the first row I knitted and it took me a while to figure out how to get it properly picked up. I only hope I did. I haven't checked, but it seemed to look all right at the time.
I didn't do anything else. The nurse didn't come until nearly 3:00, but she said everything looks good. The drainage is slowing down markedly, but it's not time to remove the drain yet. And the other side is healing up nicely, apparently. There is no way I can contort myself, even with a mirror, to see it. I have accumulated a lot of fluid under the skin in my chest, and the doctor may have to drain that when I see him on Wednesday.
The weather was actually a bit nicer than they forecast. There was a bit of rain (0.02") between 1:00 and 2:00 PM, but then the sun came out and the nurse was able to see my view when it was all pretty. The high temperature was 55º for a little while, but it's dropped back again now and it's probably cloudy again.
The guys slept. Grayson slept on me for most of the afternoon, and Louie slept in the pink chair. When I got up the first time last night, I almost stepped on him. He's taken up his position on the rug again. I think it holds the heat in so it's warmer and it offers more padding than the bare floor. Occasionally Grayson will sleep in bed with me - not last night - but not often. When I'm settling down after I've gotten up, I thrash around too much for his taste.
So that was another quiet day. My sinuses are draining, leaving me with an intermittent headache and a runny nose, so I need to go and put it to bed. It's another cold, cloudy night in the field.
September 29 I got to bed around 10:30 last night, and I slept OK - not great. The first time I turned over onto my left side, it hurt, but I persisted and the pain went away. It wasn't down by the drain, it was on the front up by my shoulder. I think there is some fluid in there, and that may have been part of the problem.
Anyway, I got up about 8:30, I think, and I knitted four rows. Since I hadn't heard from anybody, I assumed the nurse who likes to come early wouldn't be the one who came. I took my bath and that felt good. I wish I could go back to taking it at night, but of course I can't until I don't have any dressings. Sitting with the wet dressings isn't exactly comfortable, but it doesn't last that long.
So my primary nurse (who had only seen me once before) was the one who came and she worked fast, but I'm all back together again. There was hardly any drainage around the drain, and the other side is looking pretty good, although since the dressing was so wet, it wasn't easy to tell. She said it looks healthy.
I just sat...and sat...and sat. There were things I should have been doing, but I just didn't. I even sat through dinner, even though I knew what I was going to eat, and I just finished eating now. I'm still tired from Wednesday, I guess.
The weather was yucky again, although it doesn't seem to have rained. The high temperature was only 43º and it was steady all day. It's down to 36º now, and the NWS says there will be frost and there may be a freeze in the interior. I guess it's time. The wind was from the north and it was light to nothing. It was quite humid - over 70% for most of the day. And it was cloudy and dull. The camera took some dramatic shots around sunset, with the dark clouds and the sun behind them.
The guys were sleepy, of course. I didn't see Louie after breakfast, but Grayson slept on my lap for as long as I'd let him. He likes all the people coming into the house, because they all admire him and some of them even pet him.
So it was a useless day and now It's a cold cloudy night in the field.
September 28 I got to bed about the same time as the night before. I went right to sleep, but I didn't sleep as well as the night before. I had too many things to think about. I don't worry about anything, but I do think about the things going on in my life.
I got up about 8:30 anyway, because I had to, and I knitted four rows. I fixed the problem I discovered yesterday, although it looks like there will be a bigger hole on one row. This isn't a hard pattern, although it's fiddly with pattern rows on both sides.
The nurse came and reported that everything looks good. There was almost no leakage around the drain, and the other side looks very healthy and it's beginning to heal over. The big hole that was there is gone.
I went to the post office, where there wasn't much mail except for flyers from candidates. The bill I'm looking for wasn't there, which is concerning. Paying that bill was one thing I was thinking about last night.
When I got home, I attacked the other problem. The nurse had been telling me they were thinking about not coming every day, and what she said today left me feeling perhaps she had misunderstood when I said there wasn't anybody around here I could ask to dress my wounds. So I called the doctor's office and yelled help, and then the home nursing people called back and assured me that I was good at least until Wednesday, when the doctor will evaluate me again. That eased my mind. I think i can explain my situation to him.
Then I called the furnace repair people again, and they assured me that I am still on the list and they do plan to come and fix my bathroom. It's been cold in there. We'll see about that, but at least they made the right noises.
I also called the gas company, because i didn't understand their bill (I never have) and found out how much I owe and how much my next year's budget amount is likely to be. That's not cast in concrete yet, though. THey told me that the reason I owed quite as much as I did was that my budget amount was calculated based on only around 2800 gallons of gas. If I'd known that last fall, I would have called them on it. I've never used that little since I've lived here fulltime! i used 4000 gallons, but last November through January were exceptionally cold, so I wasn't surprised. Hopefully, they will average the past two years when they calculate this year, but I will have to keep on top of that. They used to send me something about the budget bill, but they haven't been doing that lately, so I will have to ask them.
The task of the day was supposed to be washing dishes, but I didn't get at that, because I forgot about it with all the phone calls. I am happy that I have the cell phone to call those toll calls and I don't have to worry about being put on hold at 10¢ a minute.
The weather was cold. The high during the day was only 49º. There wasn't much wind. I didn't even notice that there was some rain between 2:00 AM and 6:00 AM this morning and a bit more between 4:00 and 5:00 this afternoon. There was a bit of sunshine at sunset, but there were dark clouds looming, too. Ah, autumn in the Copper Country!
The guys slept. Louie slept between my feet all the time I was knitting this morning, and for most of that time, he was purring. He is sweet, at least to me. I wish he liked Grayson better. Grayson wanted to sleep on my lap all afternoon, but at least he went away when I started moving around. And he was watching while I was struggling into my jacket when I went to the post office. Things have been so stirred up around here that they just don't know what's going on. And mom is clearly not completely well. It worries them.
So that was my day and I'm going to try to get to bed earlier tonight. I have to wash my hair tomorrow, and I don't know when my nurse will be coming, so I need to get a fairly early start.
Now it's a cloudy, cold, damp night in the field.
September 27 I managed to get to bed by 10:45 last night and I went to sleep like somebody had hit me over the head. I was up several times, of course, but I slept well. I got up around 8:30. I would have slept longer, but I had to pee, so I decided to knit instead.
I seem to have screwed up the increases, but in the middle, so I will have to figure that out tomorrow.
The nurse got here around noon - the same one I had on Sunday - and when I got undressed, we discovered that I did indeed overdo yesterday. The area around the drain was leaking. Possibly that's why there wasn't much in my bulb this morning. Anyway, she bandaged it to try to sop up whatever leaked. The other side looks good, but it's still open. The open area is getting a lot smaller, though, so that's good.
Anyway, it seemed clear that I had to wash my bra. I treated it with peroxide, and I think I got most of the blood out. Then I decided that rather than just washing that, I would do the whole load of white stuff, so I did that. As a result, I spent the whole afternoon without my bra. It actually felt good to get it back on and have some pressure on the left side again. And I have underwear again, which is also a good thing. When i finally got back into my bra, I didn't have a lot of problem, except that the shoulders close with heavy duty Velcro, and it attaches itself to everything, so I had to attempt it twice before I got it on. I know why they do it that way, but it sure does make it hard to get the whole thing straight!
Then I got a call from a physical therapist, who is also the owner of the Lac LaBelle Resort, and he came to evaluate me. We had a long conversation, and he watched me sit down and stand up in all the places where I do that, and stand with my eyes closed and walk around. We decided he would write his report to say that I would rather do it myself. Apparently I will also be hearing from an occupational therapist, who will tell me when I can start exercising my shoulders. I can work on my back and legs any time I can make myself do it...
Actually, it was a useful visit. He suggested a slight difference in the way I stand up that makes it much easier and should be easier on my knees. I hope so. Getting off the pot in the middle of the night sometimes gets really hard.
It was another cold, cloudy day. The high temperature was 57º late in the day, and there was a west wind with gusts up to 25 mph. It was humid. We had some rain between 2:00 and 4:00 AM and some more between 5:00 and 7:00 PM, for a total of 0.13". It looked like it might clear up at sunset, though. We'll see about that. Actually, I sometimes like it better when it's cloudy when the moon is full, because it lights the whole sky and it's as light as dawn. It's a cool effect and it enables me to see the cats better.
The cats were sleepy. Grayson still wants to sleep on my lap all the time. Louie didn't have a very good day. First the nurse came and he had to run downstairs, and then the PT came and he had to run away again. Grayson liked it, though, because here were more people to admire him and maybe pet him. What a ham he is!
So that was my day. I was sorry not to get to choir, but I was really wiped out today. I also told Deanna that I won't be able to do Altar duty this weekend. She seemed to understand. I think she would probably rather do it herself anyway.
Now it's another dark, cold night in the field, but whether it's cloudy or clear now, I don't know. I'm off to bed...and soon.
September 26 I was in bed by shortly after 9:00 last night. I didn't sleep great, but pretty good, and I woke up a couple of minutes before the alarm went off. I was early enough that I got to do my surfing and let the cat sleep on my lap for a while before I left.
I should have left earlier, because there was road work, but I made it to the hospital in time to get my blood draw before my appointment with the doctor.
He seemed pleased with what he saw. Evidently most of the infection is gone, which is good, and everything else looks good. There is still a lot of fluid under the skin of my chest, which doesn't surprise me. So they bandaged me up again and they gave me a new bulb for my drain! The old one was all full of clots and it was hard to empty. The only problem I had with the new one is that when I got up to get some dinner, the plug had come out and it leaked on me a bit. Not a lot, and i think I got the plug back in properly, but for a moment I was concerned. Keeping it upright when I'm asleep is hard.
I felt good enough that after I left the hospital, I went off to Pat's and did quite some damage, but it was all stuff I needed. Then I had to get gas, and the price of gas has gone up a lot in the past couple of weeks. It was only about 5¢ more where I got it, but it was between 10¢ and 15¢ a gallon more everyplace else. We don't need that.
I got home around 1:30, maybe. The hardest part of shopping is getting the stuff out of the car and into the house, and there is still some stuff in the breezeway. I didn't move a lot of it until right before I got some dinner. I was tired and hungry when I got home, but I had some cheese and crackers, not very much, and then I wasn't hungry when it was time to get dinner, so my nice fish and my nice lamb chop are still in the fridge.
I have pretty much decided to stay home another week before I go to church. Thursday is always so late and Sunday is always so early that I think I need another week to mend.
Debbie called while I was moving groceries again, so after I made my dinner, I called her back and we talked for over an hour. Just because we're talking more often doesn't mean our conversations are shorter.
The weather was cold, but much nicer than they were predicting. I did run into a shower on my way south, but it was only around Phoenix, and then the sun came out, although it was partly cloudy for most of the day, until sunset, when it cleared up. I just discovered that the camera hung up around 2:00 again - rats! I guess I'll have to reboot tomorrow. The high temperature was 55º, and there was a strong northwest wind, strong enough that there were whitecaps on the harbor when I got home. So while it was cold, it was a much nicer day than yesterday.
Grayson wanted to sleep on me both before I left and when I got home. I haven't seen Louie since I got home, but he's not as clingy as Grayson anyway.
So that was my day, and now it's later than I like and I'll be off to the north end right away. I think it's a clear, cold night in the field, but I could be wrong about that.
September 25 I got in bed by 10:30 last night, and mostly I slept, although not as well as the night before. I got up right around 8:30 (very convenient for taking my pill) and I knitted four rows on the shawl.
It turns out there is a counting error in the instructions, but it's just two rows, so I've started on the next section, which has pattern on both sides and is a typical Shetland pattern - much more interesting. I wasn't sure how much to do because I didn't know when the nurse would be here.
Eventually, I decided to just go and take my bath and hope nobody called while I was in the shower. It was a lot easier today than the last time, I'm happy to report, and I felt stronger today, too, at least for most of the day.
The nurse didn't arrive until around 4:30 - she got dumped on - so I had some time to relax without the bra, and it felt good, even though having those wet sponges under my arms isn't very comfortable. We got all that taken care of and she said she thought my abscess looked pretty good. And the spot that hurt me where the drain tube came out under the bra strap had actually rubbed raw and it has a scab on it. No wonder it hurt! Geez!
The bulletin stuff came in during the afternoon and I got that taken care of. I would really like to go to choir on Thursday, but I guess I'll just have to see how I feel after my exertions tomorrow. And to church on Sunday, too, but that should be doable. I'll just have to wear something loose enough to hide the drain.
The weather was miserable again. The high temperature, 63º happened between 4:00 and 5:00 AM and it went down after that. It's been in the high 40s most of the afternoon. The wind has shifted around to the north, but it was very light. It was humid and foggy and we've had about 0.04" of rain, which means it's been drizzling or misting all day. Yuck. When I got up, there was a ship passing by sounding its foghorn. Oh, and the camera hung up sometime during the day, I don't know quite when. Sorry. There wasn't much to see.
The guys thought it was yucky, too. I don't know where Louie went, but Grayson spent most of the afternoon curled up on my lap, sound asleep, until I had to move. That was a good thing to do.
So that was another quiet day. Tomorrow will be busier. It's a cold, damp, nasty night in the field.
September 24 I was up to my old tricks again, so it was 11:00 when I finally got to bed, but I slept well and I got up around 8:30. That's convenient, because it's one time i have to take my antibiotic. I didn't feel like going back to sleep, so maybe I'm finally beginning to come out of it.
I did all my counting again, and I was confused yesterday. Everything is going to come out fine, with the right number of rows and stitches. I have only 4 more rows to go on this stitch pattern and then I can start something more interesting. It might take a couple of days, though, since there are over 250 stitches on the needle now, so each row is slow. And I won't have time to knit on Wednesday.
I got a really weird message from Microsoft saying that an account I didn't know I had was going to be deleted, and I spent almost an hour trying to find out how I got it and whether it was going to interfere with some things I want to do. I never did. They have an online chat function now, and even though I was trying to be as clear as possible, I don't think the person I was chatting with every really understood what I was trying to say. It was about a OneDrive account - and I have never, ever signed up for that! No wonder they noticed I hadn't used it in two years. I didn't even know I had it. I'm sure I've never used it. When I tried to track it down more closely, I ended up with about six windows open and going around in circles. Sheesh. Oh, yes, and then I discovered that my Microsoft Store account, which I had to reauthorize a month ago and was supposed to be available yesterday, isn't. That's Microsoft, for sure. Grr. All I want is some free games!
I didn't do much else. The nurse today was the same one I saw Friday, and she said she thought my abscess looked a bit better. All the nurses have been surprised by how much I'm draining, though. I guess I am, too. I thought by this time it would be slowing down, but it doesn't seem to be. Well, the doctor will see it on Wednesday.
The nice lady who took me to the hospital called to ask if she could do some shopping for me, but after considering it, I decided to try it myself. I hope it works. I'm getting low on a few things. Debbie called, too, and it was good that Jean called back when she did, because otherwise I might still be talking to Debbie. She has gotten very clingy for some reason.
The weather today was much nicer than the weekend, but I guess it's only going to be one day. The high temperature was 63º and there was a rather gusty southwest wind, up to 31 mph or so. There was a lot of sunshine, even though the camera showed the skies as cloudy. It was less humid, too, but not as much as it felt like to me. The lowest it got was 67%, but that was enough for me to be a lot less creaky.
The guys slept. They both got some lap time, although i had to ask both of them to leave. Grayson wanted to sit on me all the time, so I had to tell him no, and Louie is so huge that he eventually just about fell off. At least he got some time. He's wanted it for the past couple of days and I haven't been able to let him have it.
So it was another really, really quiet day, and now I am off to the north end to sleep long and hard.
September 23 I was trying to make myself get up and go to bed last night when the phone rang and it was the nurse who had been ask to fill in today...and she wanted to come at 9:00. Eek!! No way! I finally talked her into 10:00, and then I hurried up to the north end and got to bed about 9:45. I forgot, until it was too late, that I was supposed to fill the pill dispensers there.
I slept very well, thankfully, with the usual wakeups, and I got up around 8:30. I have to get up around then to take my antibiotic, but normally I would have gone back to bed. This time I stayed up and i got right dressed and had breakfast.
The nurse found me in the powder room, which didn't seem to embarrass her any more than it did me. She was a very nice lady and we had a nice conversation while she did my dressing changes.
After she left, I went back to the north end, knitted a couple of rows and did the pills, so it worked out all right.
The only thing that hasn't worked out so well is the stitch counts on the shawl. I do not know what the problem is, but I think it may be that the pattern is wrong. Now I have to decided whether to increase until the number of stitches specified or until the number of rows. I'm still thinking about that, and I'll look at it again tonight.
The weather was miserable and better ignored. The temperature was nearly steady between 43º and 45º, the wind was from the east with gusts up to 28 mph or so, and the humidity was over 80% all day. It drizzled all day, too, but not enough to obscure the view. It was ugly. However, I finally remembered that in a typical year, we always have equinoctial gales, and of course, the equinox was last night. This is the reason we started taking our vacations so that we went home around the equinox. It's just too unstable.
The guys still seem to think there's something wrong with me and they're still worried. When the nurse came, Louie, amazingly enough, stopped on his way downstairs, sniffed her and even let her scratch his head! The only reason I can think is that she has two dogs, and of course, so does Mary Ann, so maybe he is attracted to the smell of dog. Grayson, of course, was also around and got scratched. And he wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon on my lap, to the extent that I finally had to tell him to go away. Geez, guys, I'm not all that sick anymore!
So it was a very quiet day and I will be off to the north end very soon and see if I can get another good night's sleep. It's a dark, cold, drizzly night in the field.
September 22 - Fall Equinox Well, I went to bed around 10:30, but I had a horrible night. Everything hurt, from my wounds to my knees. It may have been because I thought I could do without my bed socks, but I'm not sure about that. Finally, around 4:00, I put on my bed socks, and then I slept hard, with one wake-up, until about 8:30. I did not want to get up, but I thought the nurse was coming at noon and I wanted to make sure I had my bath.
The bath went well and felt good, although the sponges under my arms were sopping wet. I just put on my robe, and that worked. I had just gotten dried off and I didn't have any clothes on when there was a knocking at the door, so I tottered down the hallway and the person was gone by the time I got to the door. It was the AT&T guy, I found later. So I had to totter back to the bedroom and finish putting on my bottoms.
I was extremely tired already, and all the walking around just about did me in, but I made my breakfast and ate it. The AT&T guy called - on the phone that had been dead - to tell me it was working, and I forgot to ask him what the problem was. I think something came loose on the pole, and I remembered that a couple of times over the past month or so people reported to me that they tried to call me and got a busy signal for quite a while. So of course, besides the nurse, I immediately got two spam calls. Sigh...
Then I did my surfing and waited to hear from the nurse - or for her to come. Well, nobody called until after 1:30, and it was someone different, and it was nearly an hour before she got here. The good thing was that I got to enjoy not wearing that bra, but my drain bulb was pinned to my waistband, so every time I had to pee, I had to unpin it and hold it...
Anyway, finally the nurse came and we got that taken care of. I'm not sure what happened last night, because mostly both places are pretty comfortable. We'll see how things are tonight, but I think it would take a lot to keep me awake. I'm exhausted.
The weather was variable. The high temperature was 61º and there was hardly any wind. The humidity was low for a while this afternoon, too, although it's on its way back up now. Sometimes the skies were nearly clear and sometimes they were dark and gloomy. Gloom prevailed at sunset. There was a report of northern lights last night, and I thought the northern horizon looked quite bright after moonset, but the trees are so high now I can't see close to the horizon.
The guys were frustrated. They both wanted to sit on me, and every time Louie came, Grayson was already there, until I finally shooed them both away. I don't know what brought that on. Of course Grayson had to greet the nurse, who clearly wasn't a cat person.
I have been having trouble getting off the toilet in the middle of the night lately, and I think I may have figured out why. I've found that if I keep my knees together when I'm using my arms to stand up, it works much better. I figured it out while getting out of bed, and I've been practicing. I hope that solves my problem, because there were a few times when I wasn't sure I would be able to get up. I don't know what the mechanism is, but it does seem to work and it doesn't hurt like however I was doing it before. We'll see.
Oh, I did finally get the load of towels and sheets washed and dried, so I can have one of my thick rugs in the bathroom. It won't slide as much as the one I've been using.
So that was another very quiet day. I am going to be so happy to resume normal activities, whenever that happens!
It's a dark, cloudy and possibly rainy night in the field, a good one to sleep long and hard.
September 21 I didn't get to bed until a bit after 11:00, but I slept as well as I have in a couple of weeks. I even was able to sleep on my left side, which is far more comfortable than half on my back, and I was only up three times. I got up around 10:00. I could have gotten up at 8:30, but I didn't think that was necessary and I need the sleep.
It was an interesting day. I knitted, and I was about to gather my breakfast when there was a knock at the door and there was the nurse - who informed me that when she tried to call me, my land line was busy. So I checked it - and it was an open line. I was curious, because we had a couple of power failures because the wind was gale-force. I tried a couple of things, but the line was clearly open, so we went on with our business.
She is a cute young blonde with big blue eyes, but she knows what she's doing, and she was able to get things arranged around the exit of the drain so that I was in far less pain today. She will be back tomorrow, and I will have to get up early, because I want to get a bath before she gets here at noon.
Then I went back to the phone, which was dead. So I disconnected both other phones that are corded, and that didn't do anything, and I called AT&T a second time (the first time, I just reported the outage to the automated system) and the person I talked to (a real person!) said I had done everything I could. Evidently the power failures have caused a lot of phone problems, because she said they couldn't get to me until Monday unless it was a medical emergency, so I said, "Well, I'm recovering from surgery and I need to be able to talk to the nurse," and she said that probably qualified. Later, I got a call-back saying they will be here tomorrow - between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM. I hate that. So I will go about my business and hope I'm available when they come.
I called Ron, because I wanted him to bring my mail, and I wanted him to disconnect the phone that is upstairs - why is it plugged in at all, after all? So he came, and did that, and then I asked him to do something that screwed everything up. I have two jacks under the computer desk, left over from when I had two phone lines, before I had wi-fi. I'd forgotten which jack was which, though, and I had him disconnect the one that is my phone line! Eek! I didn't find that out until later, when I was trying to untangle the wires (I have braided cables again). So I called him and Mary Ann and said, "Help!"
Mary Ann called back and bless her, she came out and plugged in the right cable, disconnected the other cable, which, it turns out, was coiled on the floor, and labeled the two jacks. Part of the problem is that my flashlight wasn't working and Ron couldn't see that the one he didn't disconnect said "comp." Oh. I changed the batteries in the flashlight, and it's fine now.
The phone line is not fine. It's still open, but now I'm sure the wiring is right on the inside. So something has happened on the outside and it happened overnight, because it was all fine yesterday. Maybe some critter chewing? Most of the wire is buried, but it goes down the pole and up the house. Well, maybe we'll see tomorrow.
That was all I did. It was nice to see both Ron and Mary Ann. I find that even though I'm content to be alone, I like to see a friendly face every so often...
One of the problems was the weather. Oh, was it windy! We had a couple of power failures, one around 9:15 and another sometime later (I don't remember when - I heard the UPS sound off). We had wind gusts from the north up to 52 mph around noon. The weather station has been down since 6:00, but the wind has dropped almost completely since then. The temperature dropped, too, down to about 45º now. It was a hairy day. There was a little rain, but not much. When I left the bathroom around 11:00, it was raining, but that went away. It even got nearly clear for a while this afternoon before there were more clouds. Mary Ann was entranced by the beautiful sunset - but I've seen that so much! I always try to look, though, because I never know what I might see.
The guys were their sleepy selves. Grayson was not pleased that the nurse ignored him, so he went off and ate some of his breakfast. When Ron came, for some reason we had the door open and he zoomed out, but Ron is faster than I am and he grabbed Grayson before he could go under the steps and threw him in the house. I'm sure he was put out, but maybe he learned a lesson. Louie hid for most of the day, but he likes Mary Ann, so he came to see her. Both of them got some lap time this afternoon.
There was a nice donation in my mail today, and I hope to get that in the mail this week. I know I hate it when people don't cash my checks. You, my readers are so generous! There were also some nice "get well" cards. I will get well, it will probably just take more time than I planned.
So now i must go and put the old bod to bed so it can heal. I have to get up at a reasonable hour tomorrow, so I can take a bath before the nurse gets here...oh, yeah, and there's that AT&T guy, too...
It's a cold, cloudy night in the field, but the wind storm is over.
September 20 Quiet day. I didn't get to bed until about 10:45 last night, and I probably won't tonight, either. I got up around 10:00, but I was wakeful in the middle of the night for some reason. I can sleep on my right side just fine but I can't sleep fully on the drain anymore, why I don't know.
Anyway, I knitted, and I am finally back to where I was when I ripped everything out, so now I can do the last 24 rows. They're getting long, though, so I won't be able to do so many. I still don't like this thing very well, but not enough to rip it out again.
The home nurse got here around 1:00, and it was a long session. Between Medicare and the hospital, I have now lost any privacy I might still have had. And it's all the same questions I've answered more times than I can remember. If they're going to take away my privacy, the least they could do is digitize it so they don't have to ask over and over. She changed the dressings and inspected everything. I did have a problem with the drain side, but I think I've fixed it - the band at the bottom of the bra got too close to the drain site. I doubt I'll be able to sleep on it, though.
That was all I did.
I wasn't too much aware of it, but it began dripping rain around 3:00 and we've had about a quarter inch. The temperature has been nearly steady between 56º and 59º and the humidity is over 90%. The wind is from the south and it is now gusting up to 29 mph. It was dark and gloomy all day. Not nice at all.
The guys still want to sit on me. When the nurse came, Louie ran away, of course, and Grayson made a spectacle of himself as he usually does. He wants people to admire him. They both got to sit on me and Grayson got a long tummy rub. Louie left a lot of fur on me.
So that was a nothing day. I'm so late because I couldn't decide what to eat, and when I did, I had to cook it. Now it's a dark, rainy night in the field and I'm almost gone to bed.
September 19 Most of the news is good.
I was a lot later than I wanted to be last night. I didn't turn out the light until 10:30 and I didn't sleep well. No surprise there. I just moved a lot slower than even I am used to. Nancy's suggestion for handling the bulb worked great and I got a real bath, with both hands, which is nice. By the time I got finished washing my hair I was a bit rocky, but I did the rest fast I managed to do most of the rest of the stuff about the way I usually do.
I wasn't thinking about what the doctor would say, or I wasn't thinking much about it. I did decide for certain that I wasn't coming home without a bigger bra, and i was a bit concerned when I looked under my right arm. It looked all red and angry. Well, I was going to the right place.
I did not want to get up when I did and I moved slowly then, too, but I managed to get away sort of when I wanted to. It was good that I did because there were a lot of slow drivers out there, including a pack of six motorcyclists who were all spread out and going exactly 55 mph down by Phoenix. I had to pass a couple of very slow people on the covered road, too.
Anyway, I made it to the hospital sort of on time. I had to walk more than I wanted to, but in the future, they told me that if I call them on my cell phone, they will come and get me from my car, which is a wonderful thing to do. Oh, and I found out that the message I'd been hearing actually said "staff member," not "fax number" and you have to let it ring for as long as four minutes (!) before it will pick up. Yes, they are having trouble with their phone system. Humph.
The doctor was running late, more so after he saw me. When I got undressed, with the help of the nurse, she was horrified by the red mark around my ribs and by the nasty condition under my right arm. So right away she got me a bigger bra. It's too big, but maybe it will shrink when I wash it. The doctor was not pleased when he saw what was under my arm. Evidently the strain from the overly-tight bra had opened up part of his neat incision, which is why it was draining, and it is infected. So now I am taking an antibiotic and a home health nurse will be here tomorrow and every day until the opening closes up. She will also help me with my drain, which had a lot of clots in it. That's a good thing, too. There is a lot of fluid collecting in my chest on the left side (outside my ribs, of course), but he said that is normal for someone taking blood thinners. It just makes the healing take longer. So it could be three or more weeks before the drain comes out.
And then he told me the results of the biopsies. There was the tumor itself, of course, which had probably grown some since they found it, and there was cancer in the one lymph node that showed up on the ultrasound. But all the other nodes they took out were clean. Yea-ha!! So everything is good there, and as he said, the troubles I have are all fixable. While I thought that would be the result, it's nice to have it confirmed. I do not believe that the oncologist will talk about chemo.
So i will go back to the surgeon next week and I won't see the oncologist until the middle of November. He wants me to be healed up and over the infection before we talk about other things.
I think I got home around 1:00 or 1:30, and I had something to eat. The new bra is much more comfortable, even though I'm pretty sure it's too big and it isn't chafing my skin anymore, so that's good. We'll see how everything feels when I lie down, but so far, it's good.
The weather was cloudy and dull. The temperature was nearly steady between 57º and 59º all afternoon and there wasn't any wind. It is quite humid, though, which means I'm moving slowly.
The guys are still worried. They both sat on me after I got home, and Louie got to sit twice, once while I was talking to Debbie. They are just not sure something awful isn't happening that they don't understand. I guess the only way to convince them is for nothing to happen.
So that was my day. Debbie didn't seem to want to let me hang up on her, so I ate late and it's later than I wanted to be now, but I will go right up to the north end and maybe get enough sleep before the nurse calls tomorrow.
It's a dark, cloudy, cold night in the field, but I'm OK, and that's what matters.
September 18 I turned out the light at 9:00 last night and I didn't get up until about 10:00 this morning. Of course, I wasn't asleep all that time - I was up about every 2 to 2½ hours - but I did get a lot more sleep than I have lately, and I felt much better today, although I wasn't sure about it until lately. I am draining a whole lot less, though, and I think the right side has pretty much stopped leaking. Or at least I hope so.
I knitted four rows, but they're beginning to get long now. I had to sit down in the middle of making my breakfast, but afterwards, I was better. I had hoped to get started on my evening's tasks earlier, but no such luck. I just sat when I should have been making and eating dinner. Sigh.
I didn't do much, but I did get the bulletin out, and so far, I haven't heard any negative feedback on it. The rest will have to wait until I get home tomorrow - or later.
The weather was miserable. The temperature went between 50º and 52º all day, the lowest the humidity got was 74%, and it was cloudy. While there was wind overnight, it died down to nothing today. Yuck.
The guys slept, of course. They both got some lap time, and they both left on their own accord.
So that was a nothing day. I found some webbing to use to hold my bulb, and I have to wash my bra - it smells - but I think maybe I have a better handle on how to get a decent bath. It will be slow, though.
Now it's a dark, cold, humid night in the field and I will be doing my thing as fast as I can.
September 17 I still don't feel at all good. I got to bed by 11:30 last night, and I got up about 10:30, so I should have had enough sleep, but I felt like I could have slept all day.
I knitted, but that was all I did. I must say, I had a bit less trouble sitting down and getting up, so that's good. And it looks like I'm draining less than 100 ml a day. The right side seems to be almost, if not completely, healed up. I don't know about that, because I can't reach it to feel it.
I had to close all the windows. The high temperature was 76º, but that was sometime between 8:00 and 10:00 AM. and then it started down. It's now 55º. The wind is gusting up to 30 mph from the northeast. It was mostly cloudy and humid. Not a nice day at all, and it's supposed to be cold for the next few days, too. This frequently happens at this time of year. It was why we always brought everything from shorts to down jackets when we vacationed in September. You just never know.
The guys were sleepy, but they seem to know something isn't right with mommy. Even Louie got on my lap for a while, but since I'm wearing shorts (it was warm when I got up) I had to boot him off, because he was scratching me. Grayson got a lot of lap time. They act worried.
I'm not, at least not yet. I would have expected more to feel like this last week, but after all, my body is pumping all its energy into healing, so there isn't much left over for me. So I'm not even going to wait for Beethoven's "Moonlight." I'm going to bed as soon as I can get ready and I'm going to sleep as long as I can without getting sore.
It's a cold, cloudy night in the field and all of a sudden it feels very autmnal.
September 16 Ugh, what a day!
I apparently can't get to bed before 11;00, and it may be later tonight. I have decided not to take a bath; I'm just too tired. I'll be nasty by Tuesday, but that's just too bad.
Apparently the pain from my incisions was more than I thought, because I had a terrible time sleeping, at least until around 3:00 or so. Then we had a short shower and after that I slept, but I got up at 9:00 because I had to pee. I should have gone back to bed. I was having a hard time walking around, and every time I sat down, I got dizzy. Still do. I don't like that feeling one little bit. So I had an accident - not a bad one - and I sort of overflowed my incontinent pad. I didn't do anything not on the computer and now I'm really tired. I just finished eating something at 10:30. I had shrimp scampi, and while I ate some of the rice and veggies, I didn't eat a lot. Of course, it's quite rich, but I'm having a problem: my body tells me I'm hungry, but I don't want to eat. I do feel marginally better now that I have some fuel in me.
The one thing I did was to finish the cuff of the second sock, so now I can knit around and around for a long time before I have to worry about shaping or anything.
The weather was summery. The high temperature was actually 82º, briefly, and it was in the high 70s for most of the afternoon, with no wind and relative humidity over 60%. As I mentioned, we had a short shower - 0.02" - around 4:00 AM, and it was cloudy this morning, but the clouds went away quickly and the afternoon and evening were lovely. i just noticed that I can reset the start - stop times of the camera by about an hour.
I was a bit worried about Grayson, because he was really interested in the alastromeria leaves and they are probably toxic to cats, but I think he just smells them to get me to notice him. I didn't see him all night, though. I don't know where he was. Louie slept beside my pillow, of course. And when I went to get dinner, he was on one of the dining chairs. He apparently found the flowers yet, although I'm not sure he's that interested in them anyway.
So it was a bad day and now I need to crash as soon as possible. It's a clear, warm night in the field.
September 15 Well, that was a nasty night. I went up to the north end around 10:00 and I'd hoped to be in bed at a sort of reasonable hour. Not so.
It was a relief to get my bra off, and I found, as I thought, that there are some bright red abrasion marks where the bottom band is. I hope to get the thing off before my skin starts to break down. I washed it by hand, and it was really horrible under my right arm, where the incision has been leaking and it still is, but not quite as much. I threw it into the dryer to dry while I took my bath, completely forgetting that I'd reset the temperature to low to dry the comforter.
Then there was the bath. Oh, dear. I thought I could tape the drain tube and bulb to me with waterproof tape, but I'd hardly gotten into the shower when I realized that wasn't going to work. The bulb was too heavy. So I sort of washed myself with one hand while holding the bulb in the other, and I didn't get the best bath. My hair is clean, though, and the bath certainly felt good. I noticed that both sides were sorer than they had been, and after a while, I realized that the pain killer they had given me in the hospital had finally worn off.
I managed to get dried off and I sat down to comb out my hair. I put my underpants back on, and I was able to pin the bulb to them, so that helped. The dryer had stopped but when I went to get the bra, it was still damp - my dryer doesn't do very well on small loads. I tried to get it on, but between the dampness and the fact that it is extremely small, I couldn't do it, so i put it back in the dryer on cotton and sat down to relax - I was sweating copiously. While I was waiting for the dryer, I knitted three rows on the shawl. I decided I might as well be doing something. All this was around 1:00 AM, and I was exhausted.
When the dryer finally quit, I got the bra out. It still wasn't completely dry, but it was only damp around the Velcro shoulder straps, so I started trying to get into it again. Well, i finally managed it, but by the time I did, I was so totally exhausted I just barely made it to bed and because I was so tired and hot, I couldn't even move around very much. That was around 2:00 AM.
The places where the draining is taking place were really sore, but I found I could lie on them, as long as I didn't move very much. So I tried to go to sleep, and then I had an abdominal cramp. Oh, dear. Fortunately, I'd recovered enough that I could make it into the bathroom and take care of that. It was 2:30 before I finally settled down enough to go to sleep, and I was so overtired it took a while. I didn't wake up again until 6:30, and I only did because I had to pee. The next time I woke up was 10:30. That's not nearly enough sleep, but I wanted to get up so that I would be through with the morning stuff when the ladies arrived.
I knitted another 5 rows, I think, then I got dressed and had my breakfast. Unfortunately, I'm still leaking on the right side, so I'm ruining another tee, but the other one was too dirty to wear, People seem to think peroxide will take out the stains. i'll be interested to see if that's true.
The ladies arrived while I was in the powder room, and they brought with them a gorgeous bouquet, with sunflowers, alastromeria and lots of gorgeous roses. It is so beautiful! I took pictures with my phone but I haven't moved them to the computer yet. We had a nice conversation and I think they were here for a couple of hours. Grayson was in his glory, because Barb is a cat person and she knows just where to scratch. Nancy saw Louie as he beat it downstairs, but he never did come up, even though we were sitting quietly and talking quietly. I suspect he got down there and went to sleep, because that is his his siesta time.
Anyway, that took up most of the day. It was so nice of them to come. I only wish I was a better host, but we won't go into that.
The weather wasn't so good. The high temperature was 68º, briefly, but it quickly went down and it was in the low 60s for most of the day. There wasn't any wind and the humidity was 90% or higher. It was cloudy and dull all day, and around 7:30 PM the fog moved in. It apparently moved out again by 8:30, but it's still damp and chilly. Yuck.
Grayson was a gracious host. He loves people and he made a spectacle of himself, even chewing on some of the leaves in the bouquet. I hope he didn't eat anything toxic, but I don't know what those leaves are. Louie finally came upstairs around 9:00, I think, so I guess he was asleep. I'm sorry the ladies didn't get to see him, and he really is a nice cat, just timid.
So that was my day. The humidity has made my back extremely sore, so walking and standing are nearly impossible. It's time to totter up to the north end and sleep long and hard. The drain is draining a lot more slowly, although it's very bloody today. A big clot has formed in the bottom of the bulb that I can't get out and that makes it hard to empty. I will press on, though, and see what happens by Wednesday. I'm encouraged that the drainage has gone down a lot. Now if the right side will only stop...
It's a cool, dark, humid night in the field and bed sounds really good to me.
September 14 i read for too long last night - I'm reading Special Forces again and I like it - and I was tired so I didn't take a bath. Tonight, it doesn't matter how late I am. I am so icky that I have to do it. Besides, Nancy and Barb are coming to see me tomorrow and I don't let anybody see me with my hair the way it is now.
I didn't get to bed until midnight, but I didn't get up until almost 10:00, so I got enough sleep. I'm tired again, though. Obviously, I'm still healing. I do seem to be draining much less, though, although I'm afraid one reason there wasn't much in my bulb today is that there was a clot in the tubing. I milked it a bit tonight and it seemed to start drain a lot more. The other side is still leaking a bit, but not as much as it was. So I'm making progress. One problem I have is that it seems like the elastic on the bottom of the corset goes almost over where the drain comes out under my arm and at intervals, it gets really sore. Maybe when I put it back on tonight, I can do something about that. I think it's up a bit higher than it needs to be. We'll see.
Otherwise, I was so late that I didn't do much at all, but that's normal.
The weather was not only warm, it was humid, which is no doubt part of the reason I'm not comfortable. The high temperature was 79º, and the humidity was over 60% all day - mostly over 70%. There was some west wind this morning, and some north wind early this afternoon, but it died down early. It was partly to mostly cloudy all day. Not my favorite kind of weather. The NWS thinks it might rain, but the Weather Underground doesn't, so take your pick. I thought weather forecasts were supposed to be helpful.
The guys didn't like it, either, and I didn't see much of them. Grayson got up when I did, but he soon went back to sleep, and Louie was someplace else, and he didn't come to until I was on my way out of the bathroom, so he didn't get his usual loving.
And that was it. I am tired, and I will have to wash my corset when I take it off, so I need to start for the north end soon. It's a warm, cloudy (I think) night in the field.
September 13 I don't know why I was so late last night, but it was midnight before I got to bed. I slept well again and I got up around 9:30, I think. Maybe earlier tonight. I had to empty my bulb when I got up and again around noon, but the next time was after 8:00 PM, so the drainage is beginning to go down nicely, which is encouraging.
I knitted...well, sort of. I was knitting away and I decided it would be good to count the number of stitches on either side of the center (this is a triangular shawl, sort of) and when I did, I had two more stitches on one side than on the other. I couldn't see where I might have screwed up the increases, so I ripped the whole thing out. Oh, how I hate to do that! However, it enabled me to make some changes to the stitch pattern. I have thought for a long time that I liked the wrong side of the pattern better than the right side, but I couldn't just turn it over because there are some other right side stitches that have to be knitted. So I did some things different, and while it's not as nice as the wrong side of the original pattern, it's much better than the old right side. The only thing is, I keep thinking maybe I should just abort this whole thing and use the yarn for something else. I have another pattern in mind, and we'll see about that. I still like the yarn, even though it tangles so badly.
I didn't do a lot else, except for my surfing. I'm still tired. I was thinking about washing my hair tonight, but I think I will just stay unwashed until tomorrow or Saturday. I don't feel like hassling the corset or what to do with the drain tube when I'm not wearing it. I guess I'll have to tape it to me, but we'll see what I find when I take the corset off.
Debbie called, and as usual I screwed up the cell phone so she had to call my land line. I don't know why she doesn't just do that. We had a nice conversation, but I don't have much to report, except that I seem to be recovering as well as can be expected. I wish there was a way I could tell her I don't need a mother anymore...
The weather was really nice. The high temperature was 77º and it was about that for the entire afternoon. There was a nice breeze from the south to southwest, with gusts up to 26 mph. It was clear and blue all day. Nice.
The guys slept, mostly. Grayson got some lap time. Louie slept with me for part of the night last night, but I didn't see him much today. Tomorrow they get canned food, so I suppose I'll see him then. When I went up to empty the drain bulb, they both came, because I don't usually do that, so anything different is of interest,
So now it's a warmish, clear night in the field, and the moon is over the mountain lodge. I'm off to bed.
September 12 I tried to be early, but I just couldn't manage it. It was 10:45 before I got to bed. I slept very well, although with the usual wakeups. When I was up around 1:30, I thought my drain bulb was full, but it wasn't when I emptied it - in the dark. The next time it needed emptying was around 9:00 or so. Apparently when I'm asleep - and I sleep extremely quietly - it doesn't drain as much. When I'm up, it seems to drain around 30ml an hour, so I've had to empty it several times today and the other end was leaking, so I have a very dirty tee and corset. Maybe I will take a bath tomorrow, and If I do, I will wash and dry the corset before I put it back on. The good news is, even though it's draining a whole lot, it's beginning to turn pink and there have been several clots, so clearly, it's trying to heal. What a mess1
I knitted, of course. I've usually balanced my food tray on my left hip, but the morning one, with the big cup of tea and other stuff, is heavy, and I wasn't sure i could carry it, so I got out the little cart that I was planning to put in the powder room. I have to put the tray on it sideways, but there is a bar I can slip it under, so it's in no danger of tipping. Works good, too. I may just keep using it, especially since the pile in the powder room seems unlikely to ever go away.
Debbie was panicking because she started texting and emailing me around noon and I didn't reply, so she called me. Sheesh! I thought I got over having mothers some time ago.
Mary Ann came over and we got the trash out of the house, thankfully. She also found the stuff that had rolled under the bed when Grayson kicked the basket off the nightstand. She also opened the windows on the east side. It's hot around here.
I am still not in any pain except for where the corset is rubbing on me, so that's a good thing. Getting out of a chair is not quite as painful as it was yesterday, which is also good. I still have problems, but it's because of my knees, mostly.
The weather has turned hot. This occasionally happens in September, and Mary Ann and I agree that it bodes well for winter starting late. I hope so. The high temperature today was 79º, which might be tolerable, except that the humidity was over 60% - a lot over - all day and there was no wind. It was an uncomfortable day, to say the least. I think I will have to try to take a bath tomorrow.
The guys are still not sure everything is back to normal. Louie slept with me and Grayson got some lap time this morning. The nurse would have me keep them far away from me, which is impossible anyway. People who don't have pets have a hard time understanding. Besides, i think my cats are probably cleaner than I am.
So that was a quiet day, and I'm very encouraged by how I feel.
The camera caught the little moon setting over the Mountain lodge, so it's a clear, warm, humid night in the field.
September 11 - Remember So I'm fine and I'm home. It went well, although it took a bit longer than they estimated.
I didn't get to bed until 11:00 last night, and i didn't sleep well, of course. i was awake about 5 minutes before the alarm went off, so I didn't have to hear it. I fed the cats and even got to read my funnies before Ron and Jean arrived. I was glad we left sort of early, because they had closed the road already, and even though Jean drives faster than I do, it was 8:20 before we got to the hospital, and there was Nancy! Sweet Nancy!
They got me undressed, but they had a horrible time finding a vein for the IV. I don't know why, unless I'm shriveling up in my old age. There was never any problem before, even though I do have rather small veins.
Then Nancy and Pastor came and we had what amounted to a little prayer service - confession & absolution, a mini-sermon, the creed and the Lord's Prayer. It was lovely. We had a few minutes to visit before they wheeled me off to the OR.
Shortly, I went out, and I didn't wake up until I was back in my little mini-room - when they redid things a few years ago, they went for everything new and modern and it's nice. And Nancy was still there! Sweet Nancy! I came out of the anesthesia the way I always do - all there, thankfully. I also had the sorest shoulders I have ever had. They had to stretch out my arms to get to the places they needed to get, and it was clearly a whole lot more than my shoulders want to stretch. I sat up, and the pain went away, like it always does when my shoulders bother me in bed. Now my worst problem is that the edges of the garment they zipped me into are rubbing on my sensitive skin, but that may be better when i get into bed.
Thankfully, they had opened the road when we came home, and we got here about 4:30. I am walking very slowly and the drain is draining much faster than they said it would - I've emptied the bulb twice and it needs it again - but that may stop once I'm not sitting down and getting up as much.
So it was a successful procedure and now all I have to do is wait for the results. I'm glad it's over with.
The weather has turned warm. The high temperature was 77º. It's very warm in the house, but I don't think I should be trying to open the windows. The wind was from the southwest and it's gusting up to 16 mph now. It was nearly calm all day. I'm sure it was even warmer in town.
The guys are still confused, and they will probably stay that way, because I'm supposed to keep my distance from them for a while. We'll see how that works. I think they were glad to see me come home, and Grayson got a good chunk of my turkey.
So that was all there was. Now it's a clear, warmish night in the field. Maybe there will still be a northern light to see?
September 10 This will be short, I hope. I just got home from Harbor Haus and got word that we are leaving at 7:10 or so instead of 7:30, so I have to get up at 6:00 to make sure I'm ready. Ugh.
Well, to bed around 11:00 last night and up at 9:00. I knitted. After breakfast, I had one of the most horrible accidents I've ever had. Once I got over that, I started on the kitchen, by filling and running the dishwasher. I managed to get all the dishes in, but barely. I hope they got clean. I didn't have time to check. Then it was the recyclables and then the trash. It took a long time because I had to stop about every half hour and sit down to rest my back. It's done, and the full trash bag is actually in the garage, although the other bags are still in the kitchen. At least it isn't completely unsanitary anymore. Oh, and in between I finished the sock and cast on the second one, although not without difficulty. I wanted both of them to have the stripes in the same places, which made it more difficult. I think I did it, though.
I met Johanna - and her 5 year old son - at Harbor Haus and we had a lovely dinner, as usual, but it took a long time. I've packed my bag and now I can go wash my hair and try to get to bed as early as possible. I'm also going to take another Imodium, for sure. Stopping it is clearly not an option.
The weather was nice again. It was clear this morning and partly cloudy this afternoon, although it seems to have cleared up, as it often does at sunset. I hope so; there's an aurora alert out for the next two nights, and I want to see them. The high temperature was 67º, and there was some wind from the southwest that also died down at sunset.
The guys seem to know something is going on, and they are a bit confused. Grayson wants to sit on me and Louie goes around talking.
So that's it, and I'm off to the north end. I do expect to write tomorrow, because I expect to be home. It's a clear, cool night in the field.
September 9 So I made it into bed a couple of minutes before 9:30 for once. I slept fairly well, except for a period in the middle of the night when I was a bit wakeful. I was almost asleep when the alarm went off, and I didn't want to get up, but oh, well. I even got out of the house when I wanted to and I got to church before 10:00. We practiced the song we were really supposed to sing, and it went well.
The only thing that didn't go very well was that the people who were on altar duty apparently didn't fill two whole trays, and we had 64 people go to communion - at least 20 more than last week. So Pastor and Mary Ann's Bill, who was deaconing, had to do some scrambling to serve everyone. I know it's a pain to save all that consecrated wine, but we should fill two whole trays every week. Period. No exceptions, and maybe three if there have been a lot of people for several weeks.
After church, I stopped at Pat's and got my turkey, as well as a couple of other things to have for lunch today, and another bottle of JD, just in case I don't feel like going out or shopping.
I really wanted to do some more work, but I'm always tired on Sundays, so I was procrastinating and about to get up and do something (anything!) when Debbie called and we had our usual 2-hour talk. So nothing got done and the fruit flies are taking over my kitchen, and I'll be busy tomorrow. It's nasty out there. I don't think it will take me long to get things under control, but I have to do it. Debbie is more worried about Tuesday than I am.
The weather was nice, but cold again. It got down to 44º overnight and the high today was only 63º. It was breezy in Pat's parking lot, but there was almost no wind here. It was just about clear all day long, but there may be a few clouds on the way tomorrow. It was nice.
The guys were sleepy. They got a good breakfast this morning - something they really like - and they both got lap time. Louie came and got a tummy rub...well, it's actually a rib rub. He likes to be rubbed from the bottom of his ribcage up underneath his arms. Grayson thought he wanted some of my tuna salad, of course, but he didn't get any. He did get his lap time.
So that was my day, and I will be rushing around tomorrow, as I suspected. It's always the way. Besides the trash in the kitchen, I'm running out of dishes. And I need to get the bulletin out and choose and begin a new sock to take with me on Tuesday. Tomorrow night, I have a dinner date at Harbor Haus. It's always this way. I've always been a procrastinator and I always will be.
Now it's a cool, clear (I think) night in the field. It will be dark, because the new moon is tonight. I'll be on my way north as soon as the Vaughn-Williams finishes.
September 8 I actually got to bed at a reasonable hour last night - 10:30 or so! Wow! I slept fairly well, although I was up a lot. It was nice to look out and see stars again. I got up around 8:30, and I knitted on my new shawl, although I'm toying with the idea of not doing that pattern at all. At least this part of it is boring, and I have other things that might be more fun. Later in the day, I also knitted on the sock, and I am getting done with the toe. I think I will put that aside for the winter, though, since it's a summer sock, and try something in wool.
Wow, I did more today than I have in a long time, and I'm not done yet. I changed - or I am in the process of changing - the bed. That is a horrible job for someone with arthritis like I have, and I don't do it nearly as often as I should. I started by washing the sheet blanket and summer blanket and drying them, and then, while I was making up that part of it, I washed the comforter. I think it is still drying. I put it through the delicate cycle and it still felt a bit dampish, so I ran it through again. That means I have to finish before I take my bath. I confess i didn't change the bottom sheet, which is under the sheepskin pad. I should wash the sheepskin, too, but that takes so long to dry, I need a whole day for just it. The hardest part is actually putting on the pillowcases, especially on the body pillow, although I think I've figured out how to do that. And since I actually put three cases on my pillow - pillow cover, cotton case and satin case, that takes some doing, too.
Once all the bedding was washed, I put the towels and sheets in to soak. It will take them at least four or five days to soak before I can wash them, so I hope I don't run out of bottoms before then. I should have done some more, but I was tired and sore when I finished all that, and I don't have the bed completely together yet.
I've been getting a spate of spam calls again. They run in cycles. There are two numbers, both toll-free. One supposedly belongs to some debt collection company and the other to DirectTV, of all people, but when I checked one of the websites that keeps track of those things, both have clearly been hijacked by spammers. My calls never leave a message or anything; when they go to my answering machine, they hang up, leaving me with "If you'd like to make a call..." It annoys the hell out of me, but based upon what I was reading, I'm not about to call either number back. Either I would get some CSR who doesn't know anything or I'd get somebody in India. This is just another reason I don't ever answer any calls that say "no name" or "toll free call" or something like it, and I don't jump up off the pot or out of bed and answer when I don't have caller ID at hand. I can't believe those people ever get enough response by naive people to make it worth their while, so I wonder what they think they're doing? Grr.
The weather was nice but cold again. The high temperature was only 61º. There wasn't any wind and the humidity was under 60%. The skies were clear and blue, so it was nice, but it was cold enough that I shut all the windows.
The guys slept. Grayson slept on me and he discovered my cheese crisps and loves them. I should have known. Louie got up on my lap for a while, too, but mostly he slept in the sun.
So that was my day. Now I have to scuttle up to the north end and finish making my bed before I take my bath. It's a clear, cool night in the field.
September 7 I got to bed around 1:00, I think, which wasn't bad, considering how late I got home, but for some reason I was freezing and I couldn't get to sleep. I finally put on my winter bed socks, and that seemed to warm me up enough that I was able to fall asleep, and I did well for the rest of the night. That was interesting, too. I had been standing for quite a while at church, and while I didn't have much trouble getting up the steps into the house, the first time I tried to get up from the bed, I almost couldn't. The second time was a bit easier, and by morning, I was back at the same place I usually am. Geez, what happens if I can't get out of bed?
I knitted on the next project - the one I abandoned when I got the yarn for the big shawl. By the way, I'm calling that the "Seven Shawl" because all the patterns are based upon some multiple of seven. The new one uses the yarn I originally bought for the Seven Shawl and didn't like how it looked, but it's really nice yarn, Merino wool and silk, and besides an unfortunate tendency to tangle, it's lovely to work with. If you read this regularly, you may remember when I wound the ball from the skein I'd been working with and spent hours untangling the rats' nests. I had some similar problems with the first 20 yards or so I pulled from the center of the ball, but now everything seems to be working much better. I'm not too sure about this pattern, though. I wish I had started it with the other side being the right side, but I can't just turn it over now, because there are some stitches that have to be knit stitches. This pattern is only up by the neck, though, so probably nobody but me will ever know about it. It's a curious pattern, but the results are nice.
I didn't do much else, unfortunately, at least about getting my house under control. i had a conversation with the doctor's office, and I went to the post office, where there was a box and some other things, and then I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to scope out my spending for the next six weeks. It's appalling. This is the time of year when, besides my usual outlays, there is summer taxes, my internet connection and three insurance policies (including the long term care policy I pay all at once) all between now and the middle of October. Not to mention my new cell phone bill (yikes!) and the other usual things. It didn't help that I used a whole lot more propane than they projected (remember how cold December and January were? I do), so I've had to pay about double what they said my monthly payment should be in order to come out even. Then I called the people who hold my IRA and withdrew a whole lot of money from it. What I will do when that's all gone, I do not know, but I refuse to worry about it. Something will come up. Anyway, then I got my Schwan's order and then it was time to listen to the talking and eat. Maybe tomorrow I can do something.
The weather was cold. The high temperature was 65º, but that was between 9:00 and 10:00 AM, and it went down slowly after that. It's now 54º and it may well get down below 50º tonight. There was a light wind mostly from the east. The humidity wasn't bad, though - under 70% for most of the day. It was clear and blue, which was nice.
The guys slept. They got some loving, and Grayson got to sit on me twice.
So that was my day, and it's not very late now, so maybe I can get to bed sort of early and have time to do something tomorrow. It's a clear, cool night in the field.
September 6 I wasn't too late last night, but I don't remember exactly when I went to bed. I slept fairly well. I was awake at 7:30 and I decided that was too early, so I slept another two hours. I knitted, and I finished the shawl. Finally!!! I'm a bit disturbed by how the end worked, because a couple of stitches pulled badly and there is a big hole at the corner. I didn't do much with it. I hope it will relax when I wash it, and if it doesn't I will work on it when I block it. It's a pretty thing, but it's huge. So that project is done. It only took me 7 months. i will work on the next one tomorrow. I started it while I was waiting for the yarn for the last one, but I didn't get very far. It will be nice to have something smaller - at least for a while - to work on. It's blue, too, but a different shade.
It seems like I spent the entire day talking. The hospital called me with my surgery time - 9:30 - and the usual long list of questions. That was probably good, because there were some gaps and some incorrect information in what she had for my medical record and we were able to correct it, or I think we did. i like that hospital, but I am very doubtful about their medical records department - remember the osteoporosis thing? Anyway, that took over half an hour, and then a while later Debbie called and we had a long conversation, of course. I discovered that my bluetooth headset doesn't seem to work with the phone, although it used to and it does work with streaming music. Weird and annoying. Then Mary Ann called. There was choir, where we are singing a piece or two that is higher than we've been singing, and after Bible study, I had a long conversation with Pastor. Whew! I was hoarse by the time we started home. I didn't get home until 10:30.
Needless to say, I didn't do anything else.
The weather was nice but cool. The high temperature was only 63º and the wind got up to 12 mph from the north before it switched around to the southwest. It was clear all night and all day. I saw the ends of the Little Dipper last night and early this morning, I had a little crescent moon shining in the bathroom windows. Clouds may be more interesting, but I love clear skies. Of course, they're not completely clear, because of the fires, but they're better.
I think the guys slept. They both got some loving. Grayson has been around since I got home, but I haven't seen Louie yet.
So that was my day, and now I know almost everything I need to know about Tuesday. I have a couple of questions that I will try to get answered tomorrow, but mostly I had to try to talk Debbie out of acting like my mother. I guess there must be something vulnerable or naive about me, because I have had any number of people in my life who have tried to mother me, besides my real mother. It doesn't matter that I'm 15 years older than she is. I appreciate the sentiment, but the act annoys me.
Now it's a cool (under 50º) clear night in the field and I'm tired...
September 5 Oh, I was late last night and for no good reason. It wasn't nearly an all-nighter, but it was later than I wanted to be. So I didn't get up until around 10:00 and that meant I didn't have time to knit. In fact, I didn't have much time to do anything but eat and read my devotion and my funnies.
So I left at noon, which I thought was plenty of time to get to my appointment, but when I turned left at the blinker, there was a barricade and a sign that said "US-41 closed - Use M-26." Oh, dear. not only is that route at least twice as long, M-26 follows the coastline and it's even windier than the covered road. So it was clear that I was going to be late.
I was shocked by all the "For Sale" signs all the way from Copper Harbor to Eagle Harbor. It seemed like every other house and a lot of open land had a sign on it. That's too bad, but considering the way things are now, I guess it was to be expected.
I followed a guy who turned out of a house down a way, but we got behind two other guys who were clearly tourists, so it was a slow drive. However, the guy I was following knew, apparently, that the road closure was north of the Eagle Harbor Cutoff road, so we went that way, and while it was long, it was much faster than following some tourists all the way to Eagle River.
I made it to the clinic just when my appointment was supposed to be, but as usual, the doctor was late, so I at least had time to pee. I think the surgeon will be fine. He seems to know what he's doing. He's young and he has red hair, but he was able to tell me what I needed to know.
The surgery is next Tuesday, although I don't have a time yet, and it's outpatient! I could hardly believe it! He said I could stay overnight if I wanted to - but I sure don't want to! They will take out all the lymph nodes in my armpit, like they did with the other one, and biopsy them, and I won't know until we get the results of that what, if any, follow-up treatment there will be. Now all I have to do is get my transportation set up and maybe get some things done around here, and I'm good to go. Johanna and I will have dinner at Harbor Haus Monday. I figure I can treat myself to that.
I didn't get out of the clinic as early as I wanted, because they wanted an EKG - for what, I don't know. So I had to wait for that. That's changed markedly since the last one I had. All I had to do was lift up my shirt, and the tech pasted about ten patches around my heart, and a minute or so later, it was done! Since I'd requested a wheelchair when I found I was going all over the hospital, I didn't even have to get up. And the nice person at the help desk wheeled me right out to my car. This hospital is a nice place. As hospitals go...
After that, I had to stop at Pat's, mostly because I was running out of JD, and that was a frustrating experience. I wanted some deli turkey for sandwiches and they had a couple of salads I would have gotten, but they couldn't give me any of that because there was something wrong with the scales and they were waiting for someone to fix them. Grr. I did some damage anyway, but I did get my bread. I also got a lamb chop which I will have tomorrow. I didn't eat it tonight, because I ate too many nuts when I got home.
I got home around 5:00. I had texted Debbie, so she knows, and I texted Johanna to set up dinner. I knew I'd love being able to text, and now I know I do. I had to call Ron three times, because I've forgotten I have to set up my caller ID on the cell phone. Tomorrow, maybe. I want to see if I can get the trash out of the kitchen, too. And there's choir and Bible Study tomorrow, too...Have I said I like it better when nothing is happening?
The weather got better and better as the day went along. It was dull and gray this morning, but at sunset, it was clear. There was even a little rain between 10:00 and 11:00. The high temperature was actually overnight. The high during the day was only 63º. There was a gusty northwest wind, with gusts up to 25 mph. Most of the day was cloudy, but when I got out of Pat's I had to put on my sunglasses. The humidity has been dropping a bit, too.
I guess the guys slept. They both got some loving this morning, and Grayson sat on me when I got home. Have I mentioned that there are mouse parts all over? There seems to be a tail in the middle of the kitchen, as well as some indefinable lumps scattered around. I'm glad they dispatch them, but I wish they wouldn't eat them - or parts of them.
So that was my day, and I'm tired. Now it's a clear, cool night in the field and I'm off to bed. Now.
September 4 I wasn't early last night - that pesky phone again - but I slept very well, at least until early in the morning, and I got up around 8:30. I knitted the last four repeats, and If I get up early enough tomorrow, I will be able to do the corner and the graft, and then I will be DONE with that thing! After just about 7 months! Of course, it needs to be washed and blocked - you can't knit on something for that long without it getting pretty grungy - but I can do that sometime. It is going to be a pretty thing, and it's been an interesting knit, because all the patterns are based on multiples of 7, which is very unusual even for Shetland shawls.
I didn't do much else, I guess. Oh, I did get the bulletin put together and sent out, so that's done. While the talking was going on, I embroidered, and I'm making progress. I stopped in the middle of a deer, but after that, I have to do the urn that the flowers are in and then I can go on to the next urn, and I will have finished one whole page of the chart. This is a big project, too, but I seem to be attracted to them.
The weather was good for ignoring. The fog came and went all day, and the humidity was over 90%. There was 0.03" of rain this morning, but that was all. The high temperature reached 70º briefly and there was no wind. A very yucky day.
When i came down the hall from the bedroom this morning, there was the hind end of a very small field mouse on the floor, so the fall influx has begun. I think there are some remains in the kitchen, too, so somebody is eating mice. No wonder Louie urped. And somebody kicked a box of 3" x 5" notes onto the floor after I left last night, so we had an active night. It seems to me it's a little early for mice, I wish the field mice wouldn't come into the house. They are so cute, I hate to see them in pieces. This one couldn't have been much more than an inch long, minus the tail, so I suppose it was this year's crop and totally unaware of the horrible monsters in the house.
So that was a very quiet day. I have to wash my hair tonight so I'm pretty for the doctor tomorrow and I hope to get to bed at a reasonable hour so I can knit in the morning. Now it's a warmish, very humid, foggy night in the field.
September 3 - Labor Day I hope all you who work enjoyed your three-day weekend.
I was later than I hoped getting to bed last night, but it was before midnight, and I slept very well, with only one wakeup. I woke up the second time around 8:30 and I got up, so that I could knit. Now I have only four more repeats plus the corner (which amount to two repeats) and I will be done with this thing!!!! I've only been working on it for seven months...
I didn't do a whole lot else. I had a massage scheduled, and I was almost late, because I had an accident, but I managed to make it almost on time, and I feel much better. As I think I've mentioned before, my arthritis causes my muscles to contract to attempt to make up for the pain, and after two or three weeks, my whole body is tied up in knots. Johanna is very good at releasing all that tightness. Particularly my lower back and my neck feel much better. She also gave me a very pretty lapis heart, which I am going to try to wire wrap, and if it works, she has its mate, which I will do for her. We'll see what happens with that. I feel so much better that i should sleep well tonight.
The weather was much nicer than it has been for the past few days. The high temperature was only 69º, but the humidity was at or below 70% for most of the day and while it was partly cloudy, there was a lot of sunshine. There wasn't much wind. By the way, I finally noticed that the camera hung up sometime yesterday. Sorry about that, but you didn't miss much. I had to unplug the USB cable to get it back, but it seems to be all right now.
The guys were sleepy. They got some of their favorite food, which is almost all gone now, but apparently Louie had a tummy ache for a while, so he didn't get into it until this afternoon. Grayson got some lap time, but not as much as he wanted, for reasons I don't remember.
So it was another very quiet day, and now I'm off to the north end (for real). It's a partly cloudy, warmish night in the field.
September 2 Oh, I am tired, but that's typical for a Sunday. I got to bed by 10:00 last night and mostly I slept well, but I did not want to get up when the alarm went off. Ugh. I was moving slowly.
I made it out in time to get to church by 10:00, but "we" decided not to sing. I was just as glad. I don't like that tune; it's too much like a dirge. There weren't very many people there this morning, I suppose because of the holiday. I hope that as September goes on there will be more.
Anyway, communion didn't take very long, so we were all done before 11:45, which was nice. I got home around 12:45, I guess, and that was mostly because I got behind some very slow drivers. I was happy to see that the bicyclists didn't cause too much of a disruption, although I passed a bunch of them on my way into town on my way south. The real problem was the 25-30 teenage runners who were on US-41 right after I turned onto it. Runners? I thought it was supposed to be mountain bikes!
I didn't do much else. I spent most of the afternoon trying to get iTunes to work with my phone. No luck. Every time I plugged it into the PC, iTunes hung up. I even downloaded it again. It also loads excruciatingly slowly when I want to run it. I loaded it on the laptop, too, and it seems to load and run better there, although I still couldn't get it to connect with the phone. Then I plugged the phone back into the desktop and discovered that Windows will download any pictures on an iPhone! That wasn't all I wanted to do, but after looking at it a lot, I decided I probably don't want to use my favorite picture as my wallpaper on the phone anyway. It's this one. It doesn't look good unless it's in landscape mode. Anyway, that took up the rest of the afternoon. I would like to resolve the problem with iTunes, but it's not vital.
The weather was humid, a bit rainy and warmish. The high temperature was 74º, and the lowest the humidity got was 76%. Yuck. Between 3:00 and 4:00, we had a short, sharp thunderstorm and 0.13" of rain. It was mostly cloudy. Not a very nice day.
The guys didn't think so either, but they both got some lap time and they both left of their own accord. Right before I left for church, Louie went after Grayson, and I had to do some shouting and waving of heavy things to get him to stop. They were both running around, though. I don't know why Louie gets so grumpy.
So that was my day, and now I am going to bed early. It's a sort of warm, very humid, cloudy night in the field.
September 1 Oh, how I hate to type that!
It was a dark and stormy night...in fact, it stormed all night long, and about every hour from midnight through 4:00 there was a new cell every hour with lots of lightning and thunder. So I didn't sleep well. It didn't help that my feet were cold. Sigh.
I got up around 8:30 anyway and knitted. Oh, boy - only 8 more repeats plus the corner! I may actually finish this thing!
Of course, I didn't do much; I was too tired, and I'm exhausted now, so this won't be too long. I finally got the August system updates done, though, on both systems. Then I tried to log in using LogMeIn, which I've just renewed, and I seem to have screwed up the password...I finally got it fixed, but wow! I want passwords that are secure, but it would also be nice to have ones that i can type... It does work, so I will have remote access when I'm in the hospital...whenever that is.
The weather overnight was hairy, as I said. We had another 0.7" of rain on top of the 0.94" we had before midnight, for a total of 1.64". I guess there was more down south. The high temperature today was 76º, briefly, and it was extremely humid. It was partly to mostly cloudy, with a bit of sunshine at intervals, and it was clear at sunset, although when I went to get my dinner, a bit of fog had crept into the harbor.
The guys slept. I don't think they got much more sleep than I did last night. When I got my dinner, they were both laid out on the table. They both got some loving.
So that's about all there is. Now it's a clear, warmish, very humid night in the field and I'm off to bed.
Last updated 10/01/18 10:09 PM Copyright S. I. Smith, 2000-2018
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