April chitchat

[agate]

No April Fool's jokes today but here we are in April, and I'm not sure how March went by so fast but I'm glad to see flowers blooming again and to think that it probably won't snow much again for a few months.

This will be short because I have to race around early tomorrow to go to another dental appointment. I was called this morning and told that I need to go back to have more impressions done because the lab was having problems with the impressions that were already sent to them. I didn't know if I could get a ride on such short notice but I got lucky and was able to line one up. Unfortunately it's with the system I dislike using because they have a way of leaving you on the van for a couple of hours while they do other pickups and dropoffs all over the place. It may be a while before I'm back home tomorrow.

Sometimes I get lucky and get taken straight home. I'm hoping.

What has everyone been doing? Any plans for spring?

People who garden are probably making plans about now. I have 4 hosta plants on my patio, and they're all coming up again even though several pots got overturned and dumped out by some animal or other (squirrel, raccoon?) during the winter. There are also a mum and a geranium as well as hakone grass out there but I'm not sure any of them will have made it through the winter.

Please post about what you've been doing. This is a place where you can talk about what's on your mind.

[Prot]

It's hard to believe that it's April already. The day started off warm here, but has now turned quite cold. I'm hoping to go outside more for a walk with my daughter or granddaughters when the weather is consistently warmer.

[Virginia]

I hope all went well for Agate today and the ride there and back were on time.

Not much going on around me except a lot of pollen. If some of you have never lived in a high pollen area I can't tell you what it is like. I read on Nextdoor Neighbor that one man had guest from Vermont who opened the door and started out and thought there was an Anthrax attack. Another person said they thought there was some kind of factory near by.

As for me I am staying in. My middle brother was in bed for two days because it affects him so bad. I asked my youngest brother tonight how long this goes on. He said it would be really bad for awhile then will get better and then will get really bad again. It is hazy in the daytime and everyone hopes for rain to wash some of it away. If I was a gardener I would have to give it up.

I hope everyone stays safe and healthy this month.

[agate]

I probably shouldn't get started about yesterday's trip to the dentist. It could be very tiresome reading.

I was very lucky with the transportation even though I was having to use the service that is usually far more of a problem than my preferred way. The only problem was that this building was pressure washing its parking lot, a process that takes several days, and the van had to park in a more remote location on account of the work being done. But we worked that out, and I got to the dentist's office.

But the receptionist came out to greet the van driver and me with the news that she'd been trying to reach me by phone (less than half an hour before my appointment was when she tried) to let me know I didn't need to come in after all. She seems to have expected the driver to leave me on the van and just take me home but of course paratransit vans can't do that. It's about 20 minutes away. They stick to their schedules.

So they had to put up with me at the dentist's office, and the tiny waiting room was quite crowded. The dentist did see me for a few seconds to explain that they'd decided they didn't need to make more impressions after all. He had just had an "Aha!" moment about this the night before, according to him.

At least he and the lab have been giving considerable thought to the matter of the dental work that has to be done on me.

They probably weren't overjoyed when I told them they'd be stuck with me having to wait there for an hour and a half. I had arranged for a return ride at 12:15-12:45, assuming I'd be done with my 11 o'clock appointment by then. They were willing to call the transit people, who were able to turn up 15 minutes later. This must have been a miracle of some kind because often they deny requests for a change in the pickup time.

The driver for the return trip was a Russian man who was quite outspoken, to put it mildly. I've been to this clinic many times, and there is always a problem getting in and out of the place because the only wheelchair access is via the clinic's back door, which is kept locked. So the van driver has to get out of the vehicle, knock on that back door and wait for it to be opened, and then he has to get me out of the vehicle and into that narrow doorway, which has two steps up to it. The steps are wide enough so that it actually is possible for someone pushing a wheelchair to get in or out but it's very tricky because it's such a narrow space. I often end up getting out of the chair long enough to tilt the wheelchair up or down one or both of those steps.

Getting in and out of the wheelchair isn't so easy for me because we're outdoors, and the weather sometimes makes me stiffer than usual. Arthritis and MS get in the way as well. So I'm slow.

I'm sure the dentist would prefer for me to go to another dentist. I once suggested a portable ramp but that didn't happen.

Yesterday's driver knew about those ramps too and launched into a lecture to the dental clinic staff about how they should get one, and how it would only cost $400, etc. He was sounding angry and a bit loud.

I wish he hadn't said anything. No other driver has ever said anything like that. When I was on the van, I told him that I thought this clinic was exempt from any law about ramps because they are a business with fewer than 25 employees. But he was still carrying on about it during the ride.

However, after a while I was able to change the subject and he was telling me about how he was originally from Novosibirsk and about how many Russians there are in Ukraine.

So it all ended well enough though it will be a while longer before I get my chewing teeth back. Maybe next week. The bad news about the bill has yet to reach me because the insurance people are taking their time.

I'm eating omelets, scrambled eggs, and packaged red beans and rice as well as packaged lentil or split pea soup.

Virginia, I get e-mails from Nextdoor too, about my neighborhood. I'm surprised at the kind of thing that people write about there. A high pollen count in an area is the kind of concern neighbors probably benefit from sharing, though. Pollen can affect some people really badly and make them quite miserable.

My dad had severe allergies and I saw how much he suffered. My daughter's allergies would get worse every time she and I would be raking leaves. In spring some cottonwood trees in the area seemed to cause problems too.

[agate]

For people who were here years ago, there is an article in the Winter MS Focus magazine that gives some information and a photo about a former frequent participant here, Deann Walter. It is on page 13 of the magazine. She was in the original alpha-integrin trial that led to the development of Tysabri. I'm not sure that this link will work but it's worth a try.

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

[Prot]

agate,The link works fine. How are you coping with your restricted diet?

virginia, I don't have hay fever, but I've known people who've had it rather severely. I think they used something called piriton.


Nothing much of interest going on here. Received feedback re the phone assessment + questionnaires I'd answered and posted to the psychologist. To put it mildly- I don't like questionnaires for official purposes. When so much can depend on them. I struggle to answer as to whether something happens a little/quite a lot/ a lot or severely/moderately/mildly etc.


Have got revised appointment for endoscopy , 8.15 am next Wednesday. Will have to go to bed early the night before.

[agate]

Tim, I know what you mean about questionnaires. For some years I had to fill them out regularly for Social Security so they could re-establish that I was disabled. The questionnaire was always several pages, and I never knew what to say--how much or how little.

I'm looking forward to the end of the restricted diet but it's possible that this dental fix isn't going to work, and the restricted diet will be permanent. I'm hoping that that won't be the way it goes but for now I'm still on that diet until I hear from the dentist and set up another appointment. Some of my old standbys in food for these occasions are no longer available in the stores. There was a line of packaged soups I've relied on for years (lentil soup, split pea soup) that I can't get any more, and there were some frozen meatless dinners that I also used--but they've been dropped.

Virginia, how is your face wound doing? I hope there's no more talk of surgery?

[Virginia]

My goodness Agate, what a trip you had. That would be enough to wear me out for the next couple of days. It is a shame that they were unable to contact you ahead of you going in.

I was surprised to hear that you might be without dentures or a way to eat solid food permanently. That would be enough to really worry me. It's enough to have to deal with MS and arthritis without having to change your regular diet. I hope that doesn't happen.

Tim, I really dislike the kind of questionnaire you are talking about. I never know where on the scale to rate something. To me things are usually good or bad with not much in between.

I hope all goes well when you go for your endoscopy and they are able to give you a clean bill of health and tell you that you don't need another one.

Agate, my face is about the same. I just haven't felt like getting an appointment for an x-ray. I hope I will feel better next week. They will have to find out what is in there and then we think I will have to go to a surgeon to have it taken care of.

[agate]

Virginia, a while back you mentioned that the doctor thought you might have a bit of gravel embedded in your skin where you fell. Would the surgery be done so that can be found and removed? Somehow that makes sense to me.

[Virginia]

Agate, yes that is the reason the surgery would be done. I want x-ray done before anyone starts to cut on my face. I just have been feeling too bad to call and try to get it done.

By the way I do remember Deann. I was able to pull the article up that you referenced and was glad to see that she is apparently doing well.

[Prot]

Virginia, I hope you can avoid having to have surgery. After the endoscopy if all is clear there shouldn't be another one for several years.

agate, it beggars belief that you might be permanently deprived of having dentures.

[Prot]

Am I a culinary philistine for believing there's nothing special about sourdough bread? Nothing that justifies how much it costs.

[agate]

I wasn't aware that sourdough bread costs more than other bread. I've just never tried to buy it--probably never had it. For years I was making my own bread but didn't try the sourdough type.

Part of the reason for the high price might just be that there seems to be a fascination lately with the way things were done in the Good Old Days, and there is this legend of how pioneers venturing out west in the US often carried a piece of starter dough with them, which they treasured highly--and could share with others as they came along wanting to start their own loaves of bread. Isn't it often known as San Francisco sourdough?

There's a whole cult of sourdough fans out there.

It is said to be one of the more nutritious types of bread, though.

[Prot]

I was told that supermarket sourdough bread is low quality. You have to get it from an artisan bakery if you want good quality sourdough bread.

[agate]

<sup>Somehow that doesn't surprise me. Back when I was making my own bread, one reason for doing that was that it was difficult to find a decent loaf of bread of any kind in the supermarket. Things have changed considerably since then but there's nothing like bread that is fresher.
I read up on staling of bread at that time and found out how tricky it is to keep bread from getting stale. The supermarket brands usually have various chemicals/preservatives added to keep the bread fresher but it's just not the same.

Virginia, how is your face wound??? I've been so wrapped up in this dental problem of mine that I'm no longer up on what's going on with that worrisome wound you've had--is surgery still a possibility?

The dental saga here isn't over yet though I thought today would be the end of it. The dentist's office called and postponed the appointment until next week. Another week of a soft diet. This is the third or fourth time that this dentist has cancelled due to illness. As it happened, this time I was almost glad to postpone it because the transportation arrangements for today would have been really terrible.</sup>

--OK, I've been tinkering with the fonts for this post because it just wasn't looking very readable. I don't know what anyone reading this is seeing but hope it's readable.

[agate]

Happy birthday to houghchrst (Chris) today--and many more happy birthdays!