April chit-chat

[Virginia]

I like to sleep under lots of cover, so at night I have my thermostat usually about 65 to 66. In the daytime I first turn it on 72. Then if I am still chilly I turn it up a degree or two. I had a new heat pump put in a year and a half ago and I can't keep my thermostat as high in the winter as I use to. This one gets hotter, but it also gets colder in the summer. I am surprised you can keep your place as warm as you do. When my house gets to 75 I have to turn things down. The MS really kicks in.

I have had this problem of being cold for a long time. I used to sit on the side of the tub and soak my feet in hot water before I went to bed. Now I can't because I can't step over the side of the tub. I miss doing that. If my feet get warm then the rest of me does when I go to bed. This was the worse time I have had in a long time and I knew I had to get up because my niece was coming, which just added to the problem. The cold I have with my feet feels like it is bone deep.

[agate]

Getting over the side of the tub is a challenge, to put it mildly. Have you thought about one of those foot baths? They are often made so you don't have to fill them with hot water because they will heat the water up to any temperature you want.

[Virginia]

Agate, I have thought of the foot baths. I may try one if this keeps up.

I thought about you today. I was very thankful when my brother came and got me to take me to the dentist. I was laying back in the dental chair for an hour and 15 minutes maybe a little longer. When they were going to help me out of the chair I couldn't stand. They handed my cane to me and told me to take my time. I did but I was struggling to walk. The dentist made me take his arm. He took me to the front desk and personally ran through the waiting room and out to my brothers car and got him. He was very kind throughout the entire time I was there. He wanted to finish all he could today because he knows how hard it is for me to get there. I have been going to this office for several decades, and though he is young and taking over the practice from his father in law he has seen me several times when I was in a little better shape.

I was going to drive myself if Eric couldn't come. I am so thankful he did. I am not sure what I would have done if I had taken a car. I thought about you having to wait for a ride. Depending on the condition you are in that could be a bad situation to be in.

[agate]

Virginia, an hour and a half in a dentist's chair would have been miserable! I always have to be helped out of those types of chairs. In fact, the dentist-chair problem got to the point where I insisted on having my wheelchair nearby--sometimes they wanted to park it out in the corridor--just so I could duck into it if I couldn't sit in that dental chair any longer, such as at times when the dentist puts you in the chair and sets you up but then leaves for ages and you have to just stay right there. I tell them when I get there that I might need a break if I have to sit in that chair too long, and they're understanding about it.

Did the dentist at least improve your tooth situation? Do you have to go back again soon?

[Virginia]

He did improve my tooth situation. I don't have an appointment to go back at this time. He worked on me the entire time I was in the chair and was kind the whole time. He didn't want me to leave and need to come back anytime soon, because that to is very hard on me. I am just glad Eric came and took me and I didn't try to drive. I would have driven if he had not come and taken me. Then I would have been in a bad situation because I would not have wanted to leave my car there.

[agate]

How nice that the dentist could spare you more trips for a while. So often they want you to keep coming back for this or that followup.

I've noticed that if I've had several fillings to be done, they're usually scheduled for separate visits each time, and I guess they prefer to do them that way.

I've probably mentioned the dentist (new to me) who found 5 cavities and wanted to fill all of them at once. I was relieved to think I'd be spared a lot of appointments that way. BUT he gave several shots of lidocaine in order to do this, and I almost passed out. I blacked out briefly and had to have some special attention from the assistant. Those fillings did all get done that day but I wouldn't want to try that again.