Part II August Chit/Chat

[Pegakafarmgirl]

way to long,, we needed a 2 parter.. am I right ?

Hi everyone,, Gary,, you are only human,, do not get depressed over someone doing better then you,,I have been down that road,, trust me,, its not fun,,,,mayb e we all want to be better,, but be greatful, for the things, we are able to do, t hings could be a whole lot worse,,

W eather is a bust,, high 90's, no rain,, for the next 10 days,,our corn,,"sigh",,lucky to get 100 bushel to the acre,,its that bad,,,,,,

come to my house, and you will leave with veggies, so much so fast..hmmmm,, no wonder no one comes over.. imagine that,,lol

later then

[Cherie]

Thanks Peg. It was getting long.

Still in Upstate with parents. More appointments with Dad today getting ready for the next phase of treatment. They are starting an autologous white cell vaccine for him using his own blood that has been treated. It is similar to the clinical trials now for MS using Tcelna.

I am tired with all of the work at my folks house and the trips to the docs and the errands and food prep that is entailed in these visits. Fortunately, I feel better since I went off Tecfidera last week (8 days now). Vision is still not what I want it to be from last relapse and there is more left sided weakness than there was before the relapse in March. Maybe I'll get it back and maybe not but for now, I feel better and am able to do what I need to.

It started raining here around 4 this afternoon, was heavy for a while and now is a gentle steady rain with a temperature drop from 79 to 71 over the past 2 hours. Dave is coming up for Saturday's wedding (niece) tomorrow with my sister Jean and her husband who live just a few miles from us. Looks like more of the family will be gathered for this than were 2 years ago for my parents' 60th wedding anniversary gathering. Babies have been born that I've not yet met. I will see all of my siblings and their SO's and most of their children and grandchildren. It'll be good to have company for the 8 hour drive home on Sunday and help with the driving.

Gary, this trip, maybe you'll get to say hi to Dave as well as me while we're on the road! Was nice talking to both you and Trish on Sunday on the way up.

[Gary]

Ugh I would have to improve to die. Probably the worst flare in well forever. I know I should have done something sooner.... I am feeling a bit better today. I would like to cut my lawn tomorrow. My little dog gets lost and howls until someone comes and gets her.

We had a storm blow through last night lasts about 30 min 60 mph winds and back to 90 deg temps. More to follow

[agate]

Gary, that's really a shame about the flare.

Peg, I'll show up there at your place, see if there's a carrot at the end of the stick. Or maybe some zucchini. People who grow anything always seem to have more zucchini than they know what to do with.

I've been really busy here lately catching up on everything I neglected in recent months while my kitty was ill. I'm slowly getting things done.

The weather here has been great so far. About once a week it gets near 90' but hasn't been over 90' at all this summer. Day after bright day with a gentle breeze, and the air in Portland tends to be clear rather than hazy. They've tried very hard to keep lots of trees in the metropolitan area here, and that might help the air quality.

[SalpalSally]

Hi ya Peg, Ann, Cherie, Gary, Jeanie and Agate. Nice to see you
all here in late August and still kicking butt. All the rest of you
need to check in, too. (((((HUGS)))))

I wish everyone who is hurting, a quicker healing and some of
Ann's chocolate stash!!

I'm doing OK...bahhhhhh...!! I'm sooooo bored.......

Invited to a big house warming pool party at my DSSons new
house. What do you think my chances are of attending? Ans.
..slim & none!! It sucks to be me. I can't be spontaneous or
have fun anymore... whine, whine, whine. Why am I still here?

Nuthatch, hope you are feeling better too.

[Jeanie Z]

:) Hi everyone. Gary I hope you have a quick recovery, I'm praying for you. Sally I am bored too but it is not because I have nothing to do. I need to sort all kinds of stuff but just do not want to. Cherie I hope your trip turns out to be easier than before. Your family are also in my prayers. All this board's posters are.

Yesterday with the humiture it was 105. I had to go to Verizon and it was hot. Here we had so much rain that Lake Okeechobee is too high and they are afraid the levee will break so they are discharging all that fresh water toward the coast. It has caused fish to die and float in the rivers and there is green algae on the rivers surfaces. A lot of businesses are affected as they have signs up no swimming, etc.

The flu warnings Abby posts upset me. I do not need to make up new things to worry about. I thought about clicking the report post thing.

I am so grateful we have had no hurricanes yet this year. I hope it stays that way but the middle of September is the peak of the season. My van AC is only putting out cool air. My neighbor was going to fix it as that used to be his business, but he said that about 3 weeks ago and after all the hot trips out I am going to find someone if he does not do it this weekend.

I hope all of you are doing ok with all the strange weather. Gary I hope you are not anywhere near the fires out there in Idaho. I feel for all the poor firemen fighting those fires. Jeanie :)

[SalpalSally]

BY JEANIE.....The flu warnings Abby posts upset me. I do not need to make up new things to worry about. I thought about clicking the report post thing

I agree, just ignore them, Jeanie.

[nuthatch]

As that old song goes . . . "If I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all" . . . that seems to be my life lately!
Ever since I broke both ankles over a year and half ago, I have been unable to stand and have had to be hoisted around with a hoyer lift.
Friday night the power hoyer lift decided not to work, even though the batteries were replaced two weeks ago, leaving me stuck, sitting in an . . . . uh . . . awkward place! After much struggling on both my husband's and my part, I finally manage to land in bed , where I stayed until my husband could get to the medical supply place in the morning and purchase a manual hoyer lift.

Another $800 down the drain, but now I have an emergency backup! My question is why don't power lifts work manually too.

As I said, we had replaced the batteries two weeks ago. My husband had called the manufacturer of the lift since it uses two odd size rechargeable batteries and was told that they could ship two new batteries for a cost of $175! WHAT???
Instead hubby went to a local battery store and sure enough they carried the same batteries for less than $13 each! He bought two, and everything was fine until Friday. Apparently it's not a battery problem, they have lots of charge, but rather some silly switch in the lift. A friend down the street, whose a fix-it type of guy, is going to take a look at it to see if he can fix it. Meantime, the manual lift is getting a workout.

It's sinful how companies prey on the weak or disabled. gggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

As Peg says, be thankful, things could be much worse!
Sorry for the whine, but sometimes ya just gotta.

Thinking of all of you who are struggling with your own challenges right now. Hugs.

Joan

[agate]

nuthatch/Joan, we often don't know what people are putting up with when they post here--thanks for telling about your ordeals. I appreciate that you make the effort to post, even with Webcam links to birds' nests for the rest of us to enjoy, in spite of the difficulties you're facing.

Is there any chance of getting your walking back, with physical therapy maybe? You've probably tried that already, right?

You definitely don't need the stress of being literally up in the air while worrying about the hoyer lift malfunction. Scary.

[SuzE-Q]

nuthatch, what a horrible ordeal! I agree, it's criminal that they would plump the cost of the batteries so much! You would think there should be a maximum cap on "necessary" health expenses or something.

Gary, hope you start to feel better soon. When you say you're in a "flare", what does that mean for you, besides high bp? Do you have new MS symptoms?

I just found a pubmed article saying the fampyra may have a higher seizure risk than first thought. That's the drug I am about to take! Unfortunately, there's not even an abstract available, so I don't know what it says. Great...I guess better to hear about it now than a day from now after I've taken my first dose...

Have a good week everyone. Stay cool, those still in hot, humid temps...

[Frog42]

There are several references for Ampyra at Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

[SalpalSally]

Aww darn it Joan/Nut, it doesn't rain, it pours!! I also wanted to ask
if some professional PT/OT, would, at least, help you to stand and
transfer? That is really, all my PT/OT did and does, every day, for me.

How is your rash? Any better?

[Cherie]

Sally,
As I was reading your post above, the skies opened and what had been a gentle rain here is now a steady downpour. sounds and smells lovely with the windows open. Temps hovering around 70 and with the fans on, it is actually comfortable in the house.

After 8 days with Mom and Dad, I am back home. Lots of catch up. Dave came up Friday and we rode home together. Nice catching up with him. AND we both had a good long talk with Gary while we traveled. Delightful. He did get the lawn mowed and David gave him some "manly " views on his activities so he's not just listening to Missy and Trish and all of us girls!

Wedding on Saturday and the reception following were a really good time of catching up with family that we see all too rarely.

Back in the office today for the first time since August 16 and even though I've been online and answering emails and tending to stuff from afar, it was as if everybody wanted me all at the same time and felt their needs were most urgent when it came to my time. 7 hour day there plus catching up on a week's plus worth of snail mail and bills and several loads of laundry. David (bless his heart) did the vacuuming and kept the house neat as a pin while I was gone and even ate the food I had left for him! I think he sees the writing on the wall with potentially more trips in the future as Dad declines and Mom struggles to deal with his illness and loss of mental ability in addition to the cancer.

[renee]

Gary, thank you for the first line of your last post.
Should I give you writers credit when using the line... royalties, perhaps?

Lot of malfunction in the world.

HUD inspections tomorrow and wednesday.
I just hope I am not here when the intruders come.
What are they going to do, break my legs? I wouldn't even know.

The garden is sharing its fruits.
I think my nasturtiums are producing seeds for next year.
Anyone had experience w/saving nasturtium seeds?

Chow and out.

[Pegakafarmgirl]

ahhh summertime,, excessive heat wave in Iowa,,temps were 101, heat index,105,, this is continueing all the way through Labor Day,,

there goes the crops..<sigh>

been busy is all, canning, freezing,,they say, here in the Midwest,, this winter is going to be colder, snowy, and high winds,,yeah,, they said that before,,lol

As of August 1st, my husband retired, well actually,,he was forced out,,long story,, union is fighting this, this place doesn't want to pay, the older workers, so they either fired them, or walk them out,,,,sad,, 10 workers got the ax,,

well better go,,keep on keeping on