July chitchat

[Virginia]

Why Ikoiko, I got at least a third of that conversation. Lol

[Virginia]

I was very tired today. However I changed linens, did 3 loads of wash, some light vacuuming and dusted my office which I don't let my cleaning ladies do. Why was I more tired than usual? Well, now that I hear all of you saying we can hardly wait to find out, I will tell you.

Yesterday was hair day, so of course I went to that. I got out about 4PM and the sky was dark and I could hear thunder. So,not wanting to get stuck in a big storm I rushed home. About 6 the skies were clear and it looked like it wasn't going to rain anymore and I thought I do not want to go out today. So, I went to batteries plus to get some batteries for my alarm system. Took awhile because I had to put in a call to the company where I have service, wait on hold and then wait again while the lady looked up the information. All the while I was standing on my feet. Then I went to the grocery store. I got home about 8 last night. I really was tired.

I don't know why I did any work in the house today other than the fact that I did want to change bed linens and after that I just kind of kept going, doing the other things.

This evening I got a call from a man I use to work with. He calls me periodically to see how I am doing. We were talking while he was on the way home. He says the last several years he calls me when life is getting dull, because there has been so much family drama in my family and he knows all of us. I was telling him about my Nephew. We still don't know the cause of death, but we are all grieving harder probably because we don't know.

Anyway, I got off track, we were still talking when he got home and walked in the door. All of a sudden he said Grayson is on television right now. I quickly turned to the golf channel and saw him play the last 3 holes for the day. It was so funny that he was talking to me and his wife had the television on the golf channel and Grayson was on right when he walked in the door. It was nice to see him, but golf just goes on forever. I didn't use to feel that way, but I think there were fewer golfers. So that took up my night.

[flatcap]

Wow! That's impressive, Virginia. Three loads of wash on a day you were very tired? I can hardly do one most of the time. If you add the rest of what you got done that day, you're farther up the "I can do it" ladder than me, that's for sure. You're in a different league altogether. It's hard to believe you could pull that off when, on the day before, you were working just as hard (if not harder). Congrats, and I really mean it.

Family drama. I'm sorry to hear about that, especially when it's over the death of your nephew. I hope that part at least settles down a bit when you learn what happened to him. My father died in 1968, and the drama that caused in my family still hasn't gone away. All us know what caused his death — Hodgkin's Disease — but that never made things go any better, at least not for me. I still grieve for him, but no one else can help me with that because all the other relationships in my family are toxic. I am sure my youngest brother still suffers as well; he was always a very sensitive person, too. Unfortunately, we are estranged.

Regarding golf, I used to think it was the dumbest game on earth. Now, I am almost happy when it's golf on the TV when I go to a restaurant. Compared to other games, it's not that boring after all....I guess. lol

[flatcap]

Today's Quote of the Day


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[flatcap]

OK, no one is saying much today, so I will give you an update on what's going on around here. In two words, not much.

I just weighed myself on my bathroom scale, and I'm down to 132 lbs (on a 5-foot, 10-inch frame). This weight loss business is really starting to worry me. It seems like every time I turn around, I have lost another pound.

I reported this to my PCP a while ago via their messaging service, and I have an upcoming appointment with him on 8/7. He ordered a CBC W/DIFFERENTIAL blood test and another for my IRON PROFILE that I will be having done the week before. We'll see what's up after that — I hope.

Meantime, I can't figure out what's going on. I feel like I'm eating as I always have, plus a lot of it seems to never leave my body. Maybe 2 or 3 bowel movements a week, and those are nothing to write home about. My doc has me on Miralax which helps sometimes but not always.

So, other than the usual MS/Parkinson's stuff, that's about it.

My Parkinson's tremor keeps getting worse. Strangers are starting to ask/comment about it. I have been taking my Sinemet, but I do miss doses sometimes due my erratic sleep pattern. Maybe that's it, but I don't know. I was on 2 doses/day before — I take 3 doses/day now — and things were better than they are now.

Assuming I don't cancel it, I have an upcoming appointment with my neurologist on 8/9. If I wind up going, maybe he'll have something to say about it. I doubt it, though. The last time I saw him, he was perfectly OK with my PCP ordering Sinemet, saying there was nothing but that for my Parkinson's. He suggested that I take 3 doses/day instead of the 2 doses/day I was on at the time. Soon after that, my PCP gave me a new prescription for 3 doses/day, but here we are.

So, that's about all the news that's fit to print. How about ya'll? (I hate that contraction....)



ETA: I sent this to my PCP today:

"I wanted to let you [know] that my weight loss is still going on: I am down to 132 lbs on my bathroom scale. From my appointment with Dr. ****** on 5/24, it seems there is an offset compared to your scale of about minus 6 lbs. Mine showed 138 lbs at the time, yours showed 144 lbs. That would mean I am down to 138 lbs (actual). I am trying to keep my weight up, but it obviously isn't going very well. I will see you on 8/7 and have the blood work you ordered done the week before. We can talk about it then. I just wanted to give you a heads-up. We'll see how little I weigh when I get there."

I guess I'll have to wait until 8/7 to find out what's next.

[agate]

Virginia, I don't know how you managed to do all that. I too feel I've accomplished something really great if I do one load of laundry in a day.

But it cheered me mightily to come here and read your post and realize that other people are finding some days to be just too much. Today has been one of those days for me. I hope to spend the rest of the day getting over the first part.

I began the day with a toilet backup, which I fixed only after repeated plunger applications and finally the snake. Of course this had to happen early in the morning on a day when I had to race around getting ready for a van ride to a medical appointment.

The podiatrist followup visit was today, and I hopefully took along my right shoe, hoping I could go back home in it. No such luck. It seems that this was a "bad" fracture, one that takes a minimum of 12 weeks to heal, and sometimes it doesn't heal, but that would be all right so long as it didn't cause any health problems.

So I'm continuing with this walking shoe for another month and then back again for another Xray. Ah well. At least it's not a cast. I hate wearing a cast.

On the ride home they sent a taxi, and it was very stifling hot inside it for the half-hour ride.

But I'm home now with windows open and a cool breeze still available here on the shady side of this building.

flatcap, it's too bad about the tremor. Are you still able to do things you need to do with your hands?

My Parkinson's tremor just keeps getting worse. Strangers are starting to ask/comment about it.

The strangers you're encountering who are asking are pretty rude, it seems to me. Can you think of some snappy replies, like "Why are you asking?"

I drop things a lot. Sometimes my hands shake. I'm slow. I'm awkward. My speech goes blotto sometimes. My eyes are often out of sync, and one side of my face might droop very noticeably. I've found that it helps to develop mental calluses when it comes to other people and the things they say. They're just going to have to put up with me as I am. Yes, I probably seem like an oddball but there are a lot of us oddballs around. And the people making the comments might find that they're oddballs too some day.

[flatcap]

I am so naive, Agate, that when I hear questions like that, I blurt out a truthful answer thinking they have my interests in mind when, in fact, they don't. I need to work on that, but I have been doing so for 30+ years now, and I'm still a dope when it comes to those situations.

You were right about the critics: Someday, they might find themselves at the other end of the table, and what will happen to their air of superiority then? Eating crow is what's going to happen.

ETA: I should have replied to the rest of what you said, so I will now. I don't know how you do it, agate. I couldn't. As for your walking shoe, I hope that gets straightened out ASAP. I wouldn't want to walk on one either (or even sit wearing one, for that matter). As for my tremor, yes, I can still do things with my hands, but it's becoming a challenge. I shake like a leaf when trying to get a fork with food on it into my mouth. Same goes for a sandwich: shake, rattle, and roll. Handwriting is pretty much out of the question. Typing isn't so bad: it just takes me a while. Large-scale stuff such as sweeping the floor is still pretty much normal, I think. Maybe I've just gotten used to it.


Shake, Rattle And Roll · Bill Haley & His Comets

[Virginia]

Flatcap, you have another month to go before seeing your Doctors. Could you try to have at least some cereal with a banana (or fruit you like) and milk. Just to see if you gain just a few pounds. You had said you do not normally eat but about once a day. I choose to have a small breakfast and lunch and my larger meal in the evening. But I always have something 3 times a day. I am not overweight, but neither do I want to be under weight. I have read several times that it is not good to be too small as we get older. If we get sick we have nothing to fall back on, plus it is not good for our bones.

I am sorry you have a tremor. I can relate to that because I have a bad one, which has caused me a lot of embarrassment in the past several years. Like you, I am always conscious of things when people comment about it. I have even wondered if possibly I have Parkinsons, but I do know I have an MS tremor so I have let it go at that.

Agate, I am sorry you have to stay in your boot, but I do hope your foot heals properly. I have a neighbor who dropped a potato on her foot and it is fractured. She was told to wear a boot but will just not do it. This has been going on for a very long time, at least 4 to 6 months, but still she will not wear a boot. I don't know why she doesn't just do it

It sounds like you have had quite a day, with the plumbing problems and I know it is a hassle to get good rides to your appointments. I am glad you are safely home and maybe can get some rest.

I was due to go to a birthday party for my Nieces little one who turned two Wednesday. They are having his party tomorrow. He came down with something that he got in daycare. It is something like throat, hands and feet and little blisters come up. Her Doctor said it is contagious, but very unlikely that an adult would catch it. She can't call it off because her MIL is flying in from Kentucky and her husband's brother and wife are flying in from Ohio. Tickets were already bought and I think they were coming today. I have elected not to go. While the Doctor says the odds of adults getting it are extremely low I don't feel I can take that risk. Besides the doctor did tell her the adults shouldn't be kissing or hugging around on him, so if I can't get a hug from him then I don't mind not going. None of the adults already around him have shown any signs of getting it.

My middle brother and his wife stopped by and brought me some home grown tomatoes and corn on the cob. So I will have a tomato sandwich and corn on the cob for dinner. You can tell I am from the South. Since they were here anyway I sent my presents by them.

[flatcap]

Virginia, I'm sorry you also suffer from a tremor. I have wondered ever since Day 1 if my tremor is due to MS, not Parkinson's, but I guess there's a difference. The thing is, I don't know how they tell. I sure can't.

Your food ideas sound good to me, particularly the bananas. I love bananas!!! I'll have to get some, along with some cereal and milk. I just need to get to the store to do it.

Speaking of which, can I have one of those tomato sammies? They don't have them around here. Never heard of them, actually, but they sound yummy. You can have my corn on the cob if you want. lol

[agate]

flatcap and Virginia, many people find that eating a few small meals a day works better for them than 1, 2, or 3. I seem to be eating what amounts to 4 meals a day because the bedtime snack is fairly substantial--a banana and a couple of cookies. The cookies wouldn't be advised for most diabetics but since I don't eat meat, I figure I can get away with it, since meat has a lot of fat in it as a rule.

Virginia, I think you're smart to pass up the birthday party. It was really nice of you to send presents anyway.

Tremor: I believe that the typical Parkinson's tremor is a resting tremor (your hand is at rest but still shakes) and the MS tremor is an intention tremor (your hand shakes when you go to reach for something). But there are many types of tremors and people with MS can have a Parkinsonian tremor just because apparently people with MS can have just about anything. I'm not sure if people with Parkinson's ever have other types of tremors but my guess is that it does happen. These neurological problems are so very weird and unpredictable.

[flatcap]

Agate, with respect to resting tremor and Parkinson's, that's what nailed it for my PCP. My neuro seems to be just along for the ride.

As for intention tremor, I have that, too. In fact, that's what I first noticed. From what little I have read about Parkinson's, intention tremor can come from Parkinson's, too, but I could be wrong about that. I'd look into it, but like you, I am uninterested in the subject. If in fact I have Parkinson's, so be it. There isn't much that can be done about it.

[flatcap]

<snip>

[flatcap]

Agate, this was supposed to be for Virginia. I'm sure you're interested. Sorry for the mixup.

[flatcap]

Today's Conundrum of the Day

[agate]

Not sure what is happening here, flatcap. However, if you want to say something to someone in particular without others chiming in, there is the PM feature you can use--though apparently PMs aren't being saved for very long here any more. I'm still trying to find out what happened to most of my PMs.

[Virginia]

Well, this morning I felt that I was treating myself. I usually have oatmeal, the kind that comes in the packages that you just add water and microwave, with a little banana or frozen blueberries. If I have cereal I have the plain cherrios cereal with skim milk. Last time I went to the store I decided to get a small box of Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds. It has a little more sodium than the Cheerios and that is the reason I don't usually buy them. I was glad I did because when my brother came yesterday he also bought a few fresh blueberries and 2 peaches. So I had a little of the Honey Nut w Almonds cereal with some blueberries and skim milk. Then I had a cup of instant decaf coffee. It made for a good breakfast. I don't drink caffeine due to my tremor. After I have lunch which will consist of yogurt I will have one piece of chocolate nugget w almond, never more than one. Even one piece makes my tremor worse due to the caffeine. I am a firm believer that when we live alone we have to treat ourselves.

Flatcap are you getting any ideas? If I don't eat yogurt I will have a package of peanut butter crackers, or I will make my own peanut butter crackers. Either way I will have my very small piece of chocolate.

WHATT!!!!! You've never had a tomato sandwich made with good homegrown tomatoes?? You haven't lived yet! I have fresh lettuce and some turkey and I didn't bother with putting them on my sandwich. If the tomatoes had been bought in the store I would have had the lettuce and turkey. I don't need it when the tomatoes are this good.

[flatcap]

Not sure what is happening here, flatcap. However, if you want to say something to someone in particular without others chiming in, there is the PM feature you can use--though apparently PMs aren't being saved for very long here any more. I'm still trying to find out what happened to most of my PMs.

I'm not sure, either.

I have noticed that whenever I look at Who's Online, I see there is no envelope icon next to my screen name. Yours all have it.

Is that the PM feature? Did I turn it off somehow? If so, how do I get it back?

[flatcap]

I posted a question on this topic in the Moderator Forum. We'll see what they say.