OT May Chit Chat

[Pegakafarmgirl]

Goats ??,, we had fainting goats,, talk about freaking city people out !,, I know,, we need, to quit being so,,,, country ? naah, not going to happen
we also raised sheep.. I was out pulling lambs, out from mama, at 3 am,, loved bringing in new life,, a story >>>>

One time we bought some sheep, and a big buck {male sheep}, he was ornery, mean,, Joe was out sawing wood, in our timber, basically, the sheep left us alone, when we did wood,, well Mr Buck, decided enough is enough,, he rammed Joe from behind, the chain saw was running,, this could have been nasty,, well, Joe got ticked off, and was chasing, the buck with his chain saw,, I giggled, knew I should'nt, so me and our trusty farmdog, sat and watched,,, finally, Joe got tired,, the buck hid from us,,


gots to go,, later then

[Cherie]

Biopsy was fine, but now need an MRI of the breast. Don't know what an MRI will tell them that a biopsy wouldn't...but oh well, I just do what I'm told...lol
Lorraine :)

MRI of the breast (My breast surgeon at Yale told me this but I have never had one) shows areas of high fluid content. Very good at picking up cysts. I was told that they can target a suspicious area and do a needle aspiration of it while you are in the machine. This is NOT my area of expertise but thought that little bit might help.

[Cherie]

We got home from the MS Cruise late last evening. Literally it took me from 8:30 this morning till 6:30 this afternoon to get through all of the emails, snail mail, bill paying and laundry from the past week. More on the cruise in a bit...

Renee,
Neuro-psych wants to see you when you're not at your best. It is really helpful diagnostically so don't worry. I had two 6 hour days with him and then a 90 minute session to explain all of the findings. It was so helpful in getting accommodations at work and getting me some help with cognitive retraining and identifying the fact that this was neurological and not psychological (treated quite differently sometimes).

Gary,
The doc on the MS Cruise had just come from the AAN conference in New Orleans. When someone asked him about tapers, he said it has been determined that they , in general, should not be used. That small doses of oral steroids, especially in a schedule like a Medrol Dose Pack, have been shown to actually worsen MS symptoms. It's now considered protocol to do a gram of IVSM daily for 3-5 days or 1250 mg of oral daily for 3-5 days with no taper given with either. (That storm sounded scary)

Now the cruise:
Our first day, while we cruised to our first Port of Call, we had classes on exercise, communicating with your health care team, legal rights for the person with MS and support groups for both the care partners and the persons with MS who were cruising with us.

Our final day at sea (Saturday) saw us learning how to choose appropriate equipment when that is needed, prevention of falls, maintaining employment or going back into the work place with a Chronic illness, and there was an overview of treatments that we may see in the near future and how they differ from those currently available.

Thursday, since we were tendered (not docked) in Grand Cayman and those in Wheel chairs and scooters could not safely get off the ship, I was asked to teach so those who wished had something to do on board for the day. I taught my "Rehab My Way" and "Exercise My Way" programs (an overview) then took those who were interested up to the Spa pool and demonstrated various exercises that I do in the water . In the afternoon, thanks to Polar Products and the SteeleVest people, I had several cooling products to demonstrate and we were fortunate to have some to use in raffles on our final evening and folks got to take some of these home with them.

In Labadie, Haiti, I got to snorkel in the coral reefs for the first time. Falmouth Jamaica saw us taking a very interesting "Heartland Tour" where we spent about 4 hours away from the commercialism of the port and visited a government run kindergarten, the oldest Anglican Church (1795) on the Island and spent the bulk of our time on a sugar cane and Papaya farm and learned considerable information on the growing, harvesting and processing of each plant. Then it was on to an open air kitchen at the farm to sample fresh papaya, oranges, pineapple, taste sugar cane and jerked chicken. After that we got to sample island produced coffee, jams, jellies and compotes, and there was the mandatory selection of Island produced rums for sampling.

Cozumel , Mexico had two 12 Meter sailing Yachts in the harbor...Dennis Connor's "Stars and Stripes" and Canada's "True North". So on Friday David and I spent a good part of the day with about 20 others from the ship learning what it takes to sail a 12 meter yacht as crew and that culminated in an actual race between the two boats. "True North" won by almost 8 feet (our sloop) and then we had the opportunity to leave our specific tasks on the lines and winches and take the wheel. What an exhilarating day!

There were about 30-50 people with MS and some care partners in each of the classes on board ( a slightly smaller group than on other cruises we had taken) but the group is going to Alaska in June of 2013 and that is always a larger attendance than some of the warmer climate routes.

I have not put a digital album together yet but should have a link to one posted in a day or two. I have nearly 300 photos to whittle down from.

[SalpalSally]

I'm here every day to read and enjoy your posts evy1. I'm doing pretty well but very bored at the moment. I want to play but noones's in the sandbox and I'm too pooped anyway.

Love you all, be well.

[Gabriella7]

If anyone has missed me, I have been caregiver to my husband. I had to take him to the ER about 2 weeks ago where we spent 6 hours getting the water works and poop factory back in operation. Not a happy camper and neither was he. A catheter got the waterworks going again and he filled up the bag with 800cc. A x-ray was taken which showed nothing of major concern. A nurse tried to get an enema started but it just came back out. They were just going to discharge us but... after insisting that the doctor do something... other than just sending us on our way as he did not see anything that needed an admission to the hospital...the doctor did the finger up the rectum to get the poop dislodged.

Then the Miralax got everything flowing for 3 days and my husband was wearing my peach colored Depends. I had to clean him up in the shower about 4-5 times a day until I said enough is enough and gave him Imodium. We have changed his diet and he is eating lots of fiber....Fiber One, Uncle Sam's cereal, shreaded wheat. It is hard to get him to eat his vegetables and fruit but he is trying. I am exhausted!

He is going to play golf tomorrow and I am overjoyed! My youngest son and family plus 2 doggies who are inside dogs and barkers will be coming on Wednesday. I'm trying to get the house back in order before they get here. Stanley Steemer was out on Thursday last week to clean the carpets. I had my IVIG infusion on Wednesday and I am still getting over the side effects from that. Maybe one day things will settle......Hope everyone is doing better...sorry I can't remember enough to answer each one's post....cognitive brain function is not working well at the moment.

Gabriella

[Cherie]

Oh, Gabriella....Glad he's back in action but this is not fun for either of you.

Click on the link below to see photos of our cruise last week (the 11th annual MS Foundation Cruise for a Cause to Labadie, Haiti, Falmouth Jamaica, Georgetown , Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico.

We snorkeled in Haiti, toured a church, school and plantation in Jamaica, David did 7 Mile Beach in Grand Cayman while I stayed onboard to teach, and we sailed 12 meter yachts (America's Cup) in Cozumel, Mexico.

I will try to also post these in Kodak Gallery if you are unable to open Facebook link. Please let me know.

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

[agate]

It's great to be able to travel by looking at Cherie's photos! No fatigue involved--just restful scenes to look at. I particularly like the heron on Grand Cayman.

Gabriella, you're going through such a trying time. Good luck with the visit from your son and his family. (Might they be able to lend a hand?)

Sally, if you're bored, have you tried the Arcade that has been added to this place?

Cat Dancer, it was nice to see your post recently. How has life been treating you? And the cats?

And Cherie, when you wrote

The doc on the MS Cruise had just come from the AAN conference in New Orleans. When someone asked him about tapers, he said it has been determined that they , in general, should not be used. That small doses of oral steroids, especially in a schedule like a Medrol Dose Pack, have been shown to actually worsen MS symptoms.

I sat up and took notice. A couple of years ago my doctor prescribed one of those Medrol dose packs, and I got the rx filled but never worked up the courage to take it. I'm glad now that I didn't.

[Cherie]

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

This is a video slide show on KodakGallery if anyone cannot get into face book.

This doc on the cruise gave a lot of definite yes and no answers when I think sometimes there may be gray areas. But he's young and he will learn more about us as we teach him and it won't be all book and conference learning. He has been in practice for 6 years as an MS doc and has a lot of good ideas and tools in his back pocket. For instance...he says that AMPYRA (for walking) and Neudexta (for pseudobulbar syndrome ...uncontrollable or inappropriate laughing and crying) work quickly and if someone does not notice improvement with them within a month on the med, it should be stopped and $ saved. If it hasn't worked by 4 weeks, he says it will not work for that individual.

[Gabriella7]

Beautiful photos Cherie! Yes, every year I think a cruise would be a fun thing to do but as always I am hesitant to make plans to go on one. Was that cruise the one the MS Foundation sponsors every year?

I am going to start a notebook for my husband and keep up with his medical information so in case of a trip to the ER all I have to do is grab it on the way out! He is having memory issues and looking back on the episode I believe he might have had a small stroke. He could not remember when he had his last BM, his speech was slurred and he was really weak. During the next few days, he required help in getting around and actually fell off the bed a couple of times. I tried to help him get up and still have sore muscles in my back.

I think the cruise next year in Alaska would be better for me as I am very heat sensitive. Hopefully, I will not progress any more and we can go one day.

Gabriella

[Cherie]

Yes Gabriella, it is the annual MS Foundation Cruise for a Cause (11th). I think I've been on 8 now and the education offered on each one I've attended is good and I always learn something new that can make my life (or others with whom I share) easier. We went on their first Alaska Cruise in 2008 with my parents. Here is a link to photos taken on that cruise. Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

When we were in ports in Alaska (in June) it was generally 50s and 60s but at the Fjord it was near the freezing mark with the glacier in front of the chip and chunks of iceberg floating around us. It was other worldly. That first Alaska Cruise we had 450 in our group with all the families that accompanied the PWMS but we had 170 scooters and power chairs aboard as well in our group. Many accessible shore excursions as well.

[Jeanie Z]

:) Hi everyone. I read all 3 pages and I cannot remember who said what so I apologize for not responding to all of you. I guess I'm more stressed than I know.

Cherie I saw the photos on the email you sent me, thanks. I could not view them here.

David saw the doctor on Monday and he had no news from the liver transplant board yet. He will schedule David for another CT scan and another chemoembolization to keep trying to shrink the tumors. This is only palliative treatment. (Helpful until transplant possible.)

David left yesterday to go camp in the Ocala National Forest on his sister's suggestion to get his mind off of his condition. Only trouble is he takes himself with him so I doubt it will be off his mind much.

I went to bed last night at 11 and stayed in the bed until 1:30 today. I did not sleep the whole time but I rested and tried relaxation breathing, etc. I do feel slightly less stressed today than yesterday.

Thanks everyone for your prayers. Jeanie :)

[Cat Dancer]

Hi, Agate (and everyone).....I'm hangin' in there! :) Dealing with a slow but steady decline of ability. Legs progressivly weaker, getting harder to stand long enough to transfer. Have had to do some adaptations with stuff in the kitchen (so I can better reach it from my chair) and installed another handrail in the bathroom. Getting old doesn't help. But then I consider the alternative...


All this talk about cruising -- we're heading to Alaska at the end of the month, round-trip from Seattle. Probably our last big hurrah...husband is slippinging into dementia, I'm getting too old/weak, so I hope that all goes well on this trip and we can enjoy every minute that we're out there, freezing our butts off, watching whales.. :)

The four furkids are fine, thanks for asking. Fat, sassy, lazy, underfoot. At least I don't have to put them through college...

[Cherie]

Cat,
Enjoy your cruise.I found on ours in June to Alaska it was warm enough for a sweater most of the time. I did take a fleece to go over the sweater as well as a down vest and gloves and a hat. It was sufficient for any cold we encountered. May all go smoothly and you come back renewed.

Jeanie,
Glad you got some rest and happy that David is getting in some R&R. Waiting is so hard.

Soaking rain here all day today. Started during supper last evening and has been steady for almost the past 24 hours. We need it. It's heavy enough that there is some mild street flooding.

[Howie]

Hi all!
A strange day today. A doctor's "visit'' to see about my numb toes. I myself know there's nothing can be done.

My sister and I got there on time, only to be told my appointment was on the 14th. So we left, and had a meal. Stromboli, mmmmmm I love Stromboli.

We got back here, and I looked at my appointmant card, and it was for the 9th. That's my last visit to that "doctor".

So I'm waiting on Dish which shows up tomorrow. I have antenna, and get 14 channels, and they will stay. Dish will be on a different channel number.

It's been raining, but is due to clear off for at least a week. All my cats are doing well, just spoiled rotten. How does that happen?

I hope everyone is doing well, and your toes aren't numb. :)


.
................................
I want to die in my sleep like my grandpa, not screaming like his passengers
in the backseat.

[agate]

Cat, I hope you'll have a great time on the Alaskan cruise!

It's too bad your husband has dementia. That is surely difficult for all concerned.

Are you still making dollhouses?

Jeanie, I hope your husband will be able to de-stress a bit on the camping trip.

Nice to see Howie back here, even though the cats are all over this board now. I think one of your cats walked off with the Thanks option for posts because I can't find it anywhere.

Actually, they're doing some tinkering around here. Anyone tried the Arcade games yet?