July chit-chat

[Catdancer]

The time of the month when we most miss Peg, and especially in summer when she would tell us about all the doings on the farm, and all the stuff she was canning.....

I'm doing ok.. Weather here has been not and muggy, so I've stayed inside under air, except for numerous doctor appointments and follow up visits. I hope to return the hearing aides today before I need to make another payment on them.

Otherwise not much else happening here....And you?

[Jeanie Z]

:) Up to the bathroom at 11 PM, 2 AM, 3 AM, 5 AM and 7 AM. Not much sleep. Had difficulty only once going back to bed but did not fall.

Nice not to have the catheter around my leg and the bag. The wound care nurse says my heel is closed up now so she will just check it a few more days.

Heavy equipment is on our street. They are laying new water lines. The back up beeping is annoying. My drive way is fiber mesh concrete and about 6 inches thick. They will have a hard time cutting it.

After the wound care nurse leaves I will try to nap. Hello everyone. Thanks Cat for starting Chit Chat. Jeanie :)

[Lazarus]

I just weeded plants in the greenhouse for 2 hours. The weeds were crowding out the plants. Two guys are outside in the heat weeding the eggplant and peppers. It is easier for me to work inside the greenhouse. Then I watered the whole greenhouse....my poor plants had their tongues hanging out!

It is tricky to know how much water to put on all the different plants so it really is something no one else can do for us. Now I am sitting in the house with wet clothes and enjoying just relaxing! All our hoses leak a little so we get wet every time we water. We did put irrigation up in all the fields because every chance for rain that we have had has missed us.

Anyway, thanks Cat for starting this thread.
Linda

[agate]

Cat, thank you for starting the Chitchat thread! Yes, Peg is very much missed but you're really on the ball--as you have always been here.

You mentioned returning hearing aids. Does that mean that they don't work well for you? They do take about 6 months or more to get used to. I was lucky enough to have a very excellent audiologist who more or less held my hand every step of the way, and one of the points she stressed was that I shouldn't expect too much of hearing aids. She said they aren't like glasses, where you often get perfect vision from them. You won't ever get perfect hearing from aids but you'll get some amplification in some situations.

I've found that my aids don't work well in situations with background noise but some types of aids supposedly are better at tuning it out.

She also said that some people find it hard to get used to having all of that noise coming at them all of a sudden when they first get hearing aids. They may not realize it but they've gradually learned to live in a much quieter world, and then the aids throw this noise at them. They've forgotten how much noise people routinely have in their lives.

--I've been getting over yesterday's experience, a trip to a farmer's market. This was the first time in a couple of years when I've been out by vehicle for any purpose other than medical/dental appointments. The weather forecast was just right for this expedition (a high of 82') or so I thought but once I got in the sun, it was hard to take.

This trip is a treat my son sometimes is able to do though last year I didn't feel up to it, and he went for me. I get vouchers for use at farmer's markets, and there is a long list to choose from (about 100 of them). So he and I and the 15-month-old grandson were in the car, air conditioned.

When we got there after about 20 minutes on the road, it was very crowded, even more than the photos of the place that I'd checked out beforehand. There were long lines at most stalls offering fresh produce, and no shade. Since I have trouble sorting out sounds in a situation like that, I found this pretty daunting. So I contented myself with grabbing berries, cherries, and a few potatoes and scurrying back to the car with my rollator--grandson babbling in his stroller, son pushing the stroller.

So I still have one voucher left to use, and maybe later in the season there can be another such trip--to a less crowded market.

I spent the rest of yesterday doing nothing but rest up--and nibble on the berries, which are very flavorful indeed. I shared some with my 97-year-old neighbor who has to eat only soft food and really likes berries.

The rest of this expedition was cancelled because I was giving out. I was going to drop in at their household and meet the new cat and say hello to the other pets as well as my DIL and the young woman who lives with them. I hadn't been there in a couple of years and was really looking forward to this. I had made it clear that because I wouldn't have the wheelchair I could stay only about 15 minutes. I'd have the rollator but I can't sit in it for more than couple of minutes.

But even that little effort was more than I was up to after the farmer's market. My son has had to put up with my MS since he was 7 years old and doesn't mind last-minute changes in plans. I think my DIL was OK about it too.

I did get a chance to go by the place where my son works, and that was really nice for me to get a better idea of just where he's spending his time. Yes, he's 48 years old but moms don't stop being hens even though their kids are getting gray hair.

[Howie]

You know, it's a wonder my hearing still seems normal. I've been listening to loud music since I was a teen. I played in a rock band and we practiced at full volume. I grew up shooting guns with my dad, and we never wore earplugs. Plus, all my cars had killer sound systems. But I hear just fine.

I was worried that my power company hadn't emailed me a new bill. And I couldn't get to their web site which shows me my bill. Then it came to me that I had never given them my new email address. DUH!

So, I have a call in to them waiting on a callback, and I'll get it all straightened out. I'm a little shlow!!!

[Catdancer]

I have hearing aides that I've had for a few years, now These ones that I'm wanting to return cost $6,000 and aren't any better for me than the old ones. So I don't feel like spending the 6,000 for them! I'm supposed to be making payment on that bill, but I don't want to send any money but instead just return the aides. I was given until next Monday to do that, but I worked over the weekend to go to all the venues where I normally spend time..and they just aren't any better in any of those places. So I'm sending them back.

[agate]

I'm glad you're not giving up on the aids. I know so many people who have hearing aids sitting in a drawer because they just never use them and see no point in them.

I was surprised to find out that aids typically last only about 5 years. Given their cost, I fail to see why they don't last a lifetime but a person's hearing changes and the aids have very delicate insides that wear out, I guess.

Howie, I'm guessing you never had your hearing tested. Quite often people are astonished when they have a hearing test and it turns out that their hearing is in the range where they need aids. They usually tell you if you "would benefit" from aids or if things are worse, they say you absolutely ought to have them. Most people have some hearing loss as the years go by. You might enjoy taking a hearing test anyway. You can usually find places that do them for free though they're not as accurate as a test done by a qualified audiologist or ENT doctor. Your doctor can recommend you to an ENT doctor who would do the test.

No, I'm not in the hearing aid business, and I suspect it of being fraught with corruption and overcharging. But hearing is far more important than many people realize, and I'm all for getting any help that is available if hearing is impaired.

[Howie]

My hearing is just fine. I can even hear Sam talking.

[Catdancer]

SO, TC and I have just spent a good bit of the morning trying to find someone at US Cellular who will take our new credit card information and update our account....and we cant find anyone to do that! They have a ton of excuses, everything from "What is you PIN?"===dam if I know! Never used it for anything, never accessed my account, just had it set up at a US Cellular place, and they've just charged my credit card.... to "Your card has not been activated!" which is wrong..we've used it for a week now, everthing else, from restaurants to gas stations, stores, etc., have accepted it.

I want to give them money...they don't seem able to take it!!

[Lazarus]

I have hearing aides that I've had for a few years, now These ones that I'm wanting to return cost $6,000 and aren't any better for me than the old ones. So I don't feel like spending the 6,000 for them! I'm supposed to be making payment on that bill, but I don't want to send any money but instead just return the aides. I was given until next Monday to do that, but I worked over the weekend to go to all the venues where I normally spend time..and they just aren't any better in any of those places. So I'm sending them back.

Some time ago I posted that I heard a news report that the best place to get hearing aids was Costco. And the price was good too. I was surprised but it seems worth checking out.

[Catdancer]

I will have to see if there is a Costco anywhere near where I live.... I haven't seen one, but maybe. I'd seen your post, Lazarus, but passed by it, as there aren't any Costco stores in my immediate area, I don't think...

[agate]

Personal sound-amplification products (PSAPs) have been getting better and better according to everything I've seen but they're not so useful if your hearing loss is more severe.

Bose is coming out with something that might be good:

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

Costco:

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

[Jeanie Z]

:) Hi everyone. The farmer's market sounds nice. I too would not do well in the Sun. Andy has been doing my grocery shopping and everything he buys is the top brand. A few items I wish I had tried the top brand earlier as they are good.

I just figured up what I paid for the aide $7147.50. My insurance says I need to pay $6700. I am going to send them copies of the aide bills and hope this qualifies.

I am using my small uncomfortable scooter because it gets in the bathroom easier. I am headed to the bed to rest. Take care everyone. Jeanie :)

[nuthatch]

My husband has a pair of Costco hearing aides. They are about 6 years old now and he is due for a new pair. The service has been really good. Unlike most things, they have come down in price. I think they were around $1,000 a piece when he got them, but I see they're $1,599 a pair now and are probably a new, improved version. His union insurance paid for them when he got them, but I don't think they are covered anymore since he retired and the insurance has changed to United Health Care. I'll have to look into that!

As I've probably mentioned before, my mother had glaucoma which was shockingly discovered at a "health fair" that was held at the local hospital when she was in her 50s. She had extremely high pressure that could not be controlled with eyedrops alone, so she had to have eye surgery to create a "flap" so that fluid could escape, to reduce the pressure. She also applied two different eyedrops several times a day for the rest of her life. She always had a timer next to her to remind her when she needed to apply drops. Over time her vision deteriorated and to add insult to injury, she acquired macular degeneration too. She was part of a study for a new drug that is injected directly into the eyeball every six weeks for the macular degeneration.

My mother passed away at 94, just little more than a year ago. She was blind the last several years of her life. There is not a day I don't think of her and miss our daily conversations.
Since she passed, two of my four brothers have been diagnosed with glaucoma. Yesterday, my younger brother called. He has suddenly lost 25% of his vision in one eye, even though he has the pressures checked frequently by a top notch doctor who specializes in glaucoma and he applies the prescribed drops faithfully. He is frightened. He noticed when he could not read the "menu" on his TV one day. He said that when he closes the good eye, everything looks smokey or hazy. There is no pain with glaucoma and it is hereditary. My brother said the doctor could "see" by looking at the optic nerve. ???

I know that many here have had episodes with optic neuritis. Did your vision go slowly or suddenly? Partially, fully, one eye or both? Was there pain? If it came back, was it partial or full vision? Sudden or slowly restored? Steroids?
I have not (that I'm aware of) had problems with optic neuritis. I do have problems with my eyes tracking together which causes double vision. My eyes are sensitive to light and have more trouble tracking in bright light and when looking a something from a distance. I also remember one time when I was having a solumedrol treatment at home, it seemed very bright and hazy. I recall telling the nurse, but she wasn't concerned. Makes me wonder . . .
All I need is glaucoma on top of everything else! Why all the questions? I guess I need to know which is which, in case glaucoma is in my future.

[Virginia]

Cat, thanks for getting us started this month. You are really on the ball. I hope you get the hearing aids straightened out. At $6000.00 I would take them back too if they were no better than the old ones. I don't know about my hearing and should get it checked, but just don't feel up to doing all this stuff.

Linda, you had done more work before lunch today than I have done in a month. You need to put that under Sunshine's Keep Moving thread.

Jeanie, I was going to the bathroom that often several months ago. I could not get any sleep for the life of me. Finally, I started hurting in my back and feeling bad and I went to the Doctor and found that I had not just a UTI as I had thought, but a kidney infection. I know you have had the catheter in, so I am hoping yours is not the same problem. Glad you had some insurance to help with the aid. As far as I know I do not.

Agate, sorry the weather turned out to be hotter than you thought it would be. I just love the farmer's market, and use to go almost every week-end. That was where I bought my fresh vegetables, fruit, berries everything. Then it got too hot for me to take it anymore and also the walking was more than I could take. There were always a lot of cars and I was lucky if I got a decent parking space. I have not been in at least 5 years now. I miss it so much. The one thing I miss the most I think are the tomatoes. Actually I miss all of it. Sorry you did not get to your son's place to spend time with his wife, however I am glad William was with your son and you did at least get to see him.

Nuthatch, I have had optic neuritis. I was still working and had not been diagnosed with MS. That is where I noticed it the most. Everything would look kind of dim and brownish for me. I kept asking if the light bulbs needed changing and I had other people come into my office and they would say no. I would go into other offices and it would still be brown. I can't remember how long this went on, but it was six to nine months before my diagnosis. Then very early one morning I was hurrying into the hospital to see my youngest brother before he had surgery and I was having a hard time walking (again before a diagnosis). After I got into see him I was standing along side my other two brothers and the pastor who was there. Everything really looked so dim and brown looking that I kept thinking how do these nurses work in this light. I went to breakfast with the two brothers as we waited and when I got the cafeteria in the hospital things looked brighter. I kept telling my PCP that I was so weak that my vision was dim. I didn't know. When I found out what was wrong and saw my Opthamologist he was able tell by my optic nerve. It is atrophied. Last year he asked me when was the last time I had had optic neuritis. I told him I couldn't remember. I could tell he had seen something, but he did not say anything else.

Really sorry to hear about your brother.