June 2021 Chit Chat

[stillstANNding]

We have made it to June! Welcome some warmer weather and longer days.

Peter and I are in Pennsylvania with Mom. It was a shock to see her with her long gray hair. She has gotten tinier but still weighs ten pounds more than me.

We got dinner from our favorite Italian restaurant the first night: Eggplant parm for Mom & Peter and Chicken Marsala for me. Yum.

We fixed things and did errand at three stores yesterday and I did weeding. Today, Mom has a hair appointment she can’t wait for.

Best to all,
ANN

[agate]

Thank you for starting this thread, ANN!

Seems like a perfect time of year to be traveling--I hope you're escaping any hot weather. I'm sure your mother is very glad to have your help. Running errands, fixing things, and weeding too! Hope you can pace yourself so as not to run down or whatever it is that happens when we give out.

Getting just a bit too tired does it to me every time. Last night I may not have realized I was running down but I very nearly had a fire.

When it's a shot day, I heat up a pan of water on the stove so as to warm up a gelpack in it. I've done 80 of these shots by now and am quite used to this procedure, and maybe I was getting careless. I thought I'd turned on the burner and I went away for about 5 minutes. When I came back to see if the water was hot enough, I saw a flaming red circle on the back of the stove.

I have the burners covered with metal burner covers, to provide more space and keep the stove a bit cleaner. Also, they cut down on the heat from the burners, which heats up the whole place. Poorly insulated stove, I think. I had turned on the wrong burner, and the water wasn't warm at all but the metal burner cover on top of the wrong burner was flaming hot.

I turned it off at once and tried to lift the burner cover with my potholders, thinking it would be cool it off as fast as possible. But it was so hot that it immediately burned up one potholder and singed the other. For a brief moment I thought the potholder might go up in flames.

Well, that was a wakeup call. I get a lot of these wakeup calls. I should pay more attention to them. Hot weather has come here. Time to slow down.

I'll be spending part of today attacking the damaged burner cover with a view toward rescuing it.

[Parsi]

Been there, done that (or nearly so).

[Lazarus]

Yum. A good Italian restaurant sounds just perfect. Ann, did you guys drive to Pennsylvania?

agate, I also have to be very careful using the stove. I have trained myself to turn off the burner before I take the pot off the stove. Too many close calls.

[Virginia]

Ann, thanks for getting us started for the month. Glad you and Peter are there with your Mom. I know she was mighty glad to see you. It will help her so much to get her hair done and just to have you around to help with the womanly things. It was really cool almost cold here over the week-end, but has turned back hot again. I hope you do not run into any really hot weather. I am not sure how long y'all plan to be there, but I am sure there will be plenty to do.

Agate, that sounds like something that would have scared me to death. I am not sure what you are doing with your shot that you have to heat a gel pack, but sounds like you didn't just heat it but almost boiled it. I am sure the cleaning of the stove is not your favorite thing to do. It would not be mine. I am always amazed at how fast something can boil over on my stove. It seems if I just step aside for a minute this can happen so easily.

Well, I think it has started with Laura. She DID come today, but not until 1:30 and she stayed only until 3:00. It was a little bit of help. She came and told me that her daughter had called and was not feeling well and could she go home. Naturally, I said yes....what else can a person do? She is supposed to come back next Tuesday. We'll see. I think she was tired when she got here. In fact I know she must have been because she had already cleaned one house.

[stillstANNding]

Linda, we flew. My MS Specialist said that she had flown and to follow the usual precautions - especially keeping a mask on in the airport and during the flight and no eating or drinking.

Everyone behaved on the short flight.

Friday, I had a PT evaluation. I got two for the price of one - an advanced PT student and a seasoned veteran PT. I’m very happy with them. They indicated that I might have bursitis of the ischial tuberosities. (Sad face here). I start two months of PT when we are back.

The hospital required pre-screening and a mask change as usual but is still keeping most non-patients out. Peter thought he’d get some work done in the lobby but had to stay in the car. What did people do who came in the winter or without a car? Any way, hospitals are still being very careful.

ANN

[stillstANNding]

Mike, just for your research, I just had another post labeled “unapproved.” Nothing unusual about it and no editing.

ANN

[agate]

Agate, that sounds like something that would have scared me to death. I am not sure what you are doing with your shot that you have to heat a gel pack, but sounds like you didn't just heat it but almost boiled it. I am sure the cleaning of the stove is not your favorite thing to do. It would not be mine. I am always amazed at how fast something can boil over on my stove. It seems if I just step aside for a minute this can happen so easily.

The instructions are to heat a gelpack in boiling water for 10 minutes, then apply it to the injection site for 5 minutes. After the shot there's a frozen gelpack for a short time. So the water did need to be heated to the boiling point but this muddleheaded individual somehow turned the wrong knob on the stove, The stove isn't messed up badly at all. The big damage was to the burner cover (ruined) and a couple of potholders (one ruined, one can still be used if I don't mind it's charred look).

Too bad that Laura is so overworked apparently that she's running down. I hope she'll get her ducks in a row soon so she can be more helpful!

ANN, congratulations on making the flight! Since COVID came along, I've been wondering if airports could handle the added restrictions but it sounds as if you survived the airport experience.

I hope ssusan can log in soon. She's been trying but so far it looks as if she's not here.

[Virginia]

Agate, now I understand what you were doing. I have been skipping that step with the cold, hot thing for so many years I had forgotten. I should do it just in case it would help the site reactions which I have.

Ann, congratulations on making the flight. Bet it felt good to be back in the air on the way to your Mom's after so long.

[stillstANNding]

Virginia, at first it felt very surreal but once up and out of the weather and into blue skies we almost forgot about CoVID. Wearing a mask is just so normal for us now. Peter took my hand as we looked out the plane window and I told him it was a great date.

Today we bought Mom a new mattress to be delivered Friday.

Agate, glad there wasn’t a more serious problem in the kitchen. I don’t do the heat/ice w my Copaxone injections.

ANN

[Virginia]

Ann, tell your Mom we have missed her. We don't hear quite as much about her when you are not going back and forth. I know you two talk on the phone daily, but it seems we get more info on her when you go. Does she want nail polish.....maybe that sparkles?

[Sunshine 2]

We are all so busy!
Agate, I have a gel pack that you can put in the microwave for up to 60” It gets very hot. Bet it is less anxiety arousing than boiling it on the stove Minei s very large, I used it on my back. YOu can freeze it or heat it, your choice. I bet you can get it in a smaller size. This is about 8x10”also, I read the back of the pack and it says if you dont want to microwave it, you can put in a large bowl and then pour boiling water over it. Keep pack submerged in the water at least two minutes. Use rubber coated or wooden tongs to remove it to reduce risk of puncture. Personally, microwaving is much safer and cumbersome. It is hot enough at first when you microwave it, that I usually put a thin tea towel between it and my skin, and remove it as the pad cools down a bit. You pull it out of the microwave gingerly with your finger by the corner: YOu could use oven mitts though of course.
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[Sunshine 2]

Found these at amazon:
Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

It is the same product, in different sizes. They are inexpensive.

[Sunshine 2]

On another note,tomorrow I am having my Baclofen Pump surgery. I may be offline until I feel better, no way of knowing if that would be a day or two, or 3 or 4 days.
No swimming for 2 weeks though.

[Lazarus]

My fingers are crossed for you! Really hopes this helps tremendously!

[Virginia]

Oh Sunshine, I am so excited for you. I just hope everything goes just the way it should with the procedure and I also am praying that this will do you so much good that your walking will be normal. I have to admit that it appears normal from your step count already. But hoping it will be easier and that you will be able to get off some of your medication.

The first gel pack shown on Amazon, the smallest one, looks like a good size to hold on an injection site. That is good to know.

[stillstANNding]

Good luck, Sunshine! Those gel pads are exactly the brand I use on various aches and pains but I just use them cold. For hot, I use a heating pad that has an auto-off.

Virginia, Mom is wearing a very light pink with silver sparkles this week.

ANN