, La

 VOTE like your vote never mattered before!

 You know that saying, "If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all."  Well, that's how my entire year has felt.  There has been one crisis after another, and I'm horrified to think it could get worse.  My niece, who cleans my brother's condo each week, fell and broke her right leg in two places requiring a rod to be placed in her leg.  She also broke her left ankle, so she is in a wheelchair for an unspecified amount of time.  She lives in an upstairs apartment so that is requiring a move to a new apartment.  Thank goodness, her daughters have really stepped up to the plate and are taking excellent care of their mom.

We are still dealing with Ron's bad knees waiting as patiently as possible for his knee replacement in September.  He is using a walker full time, and his legs are just so weak he is barely getting around at all.  He is unable to drive so I'm doing all the driving now.

All of these issues are impacting my brother, and he has had a couple of episodes that really worried me.  He called telling us he was going to Heaven, and he was on his way.  We didn't know if he was talking about self-harm or not.  He was incoherent and completely spaced out.  Fortunately, we got past both episodes with no harm, but I immediately took him back to see his psychiatrist.  Increased his Resperidol and added another drug as needed for anxiety.  He is doing better.

My daughter and her two dogs are in the process of moving in with us.  She moved into a house that unfortunately she didn't get the chance to really see before she moved.  When she saw it the first time there was a lot of furniture even in front of the windows.  On the move in day the woman living there didn't even have her stuff out.  She had left animals and trash everywhere.  The windows were now exposed, and they were all broken.  The windowpanes had holes all the way to the outside.  It was honestly not habitable.  So long story short, my daughter is moving her stuff into storage next Friday and staying with us until she finds a new house.  Since school will be starting soon, I expect she will be with us the entire school year.  It will be a tight squeeze in our little house, but we'll make it. 

I'm also looking for someone to clean my brother's condo.  I've been doing it for the past two months but it's just too much with doing his meals, helping my daughter move, and trying to keep up with my own house. I'm meeting myself coming and going!

Hopefully, things will settle down soon.

 

The Bees Knees

 My sweet husband had arthroscopic surgery on his knee the first of November.  The surgery failed to relieve his pain.  So after weeks of therapy and another MRI it was determined he needs a knee replacement.  We decided to get a second opinion from my orthopedist, and he agreed that is what is needed.  He also said they would never have done the arthroscopic surgery in the first place because on patients over 50 with arthritis it fails 90% of the time.  Wish Ron's doctor had told him that bit of information.  But it is what it is.  Ron has decided to have my doctor do the surgery but unfortunately, he is booked up through September, so he has a wait ahead of him.  It will be a year since he injured his knee in June.

I have to have surgery for a hernia but I'm trying to get my lungs clear before I do it.  I saw a new pulmonologist yesterday and had a pulmonary function test done.  Surprisingly the results were normal.  This doctor said I don't have COPD!  I left totally confused!  Of course, when he listened to my lungs, they were clear as a bell.  Go figure!  He has ordered a CT scan and some allergy testing so maybe I can get some clarification from those results. 

I guess we are like many seniors, spending our time going to doctor appointments leave little time for anything else.

Happy Easter to All!

Slicing and Dicing

 Between Ron and I we have spent the past three months recovering from knee surgery.  I'm doing great with my recovery, but Ron still has a way to go.  He got a cortisone injection that seems to have helped the reduce the inflammation and swelling.  He sees his orthopedist next week and will probably resume outpatient therapy.

My daughter had surgery last Friday to remove her gallbladder and to get a liver biopsy.  Still waiting on the results.  She has been in and out of the hospital over the past two years and no one has been able to figure out the cause of her sudden episodes of vomiting and diarrhea.  It comes on so suddenly and gets so severe she becomes dehydrated.  Twice she had to be transported by ambulance and one time it was so bad she ended up in ICU for two days.  Removing her gallbladder was kind of a hail Mary attempt to see it if helps.  She was in the hospital this time for 5 days.  She's home now recovering.

I have been having episodes of tachycardia and have been referred to a cardiologist.  In addition, the weight loss has resulted in discovery of a hernia.  Will be seeing a surgeon about repairing it.   Oh, the joys of aging!

I have big plans for this summer.  We have to get ourselves healthy so we can do a family trip when school is out.  We are hoping to take a trip with my daughters to Tennessee or N. Carolina to meet Ron's daughter and her family.  It will be the first time for our daughters to meet.  I said I wanted them to meet while we are alive and not at one of our funerals.

My brother is doing very well.  His psychiatrist has reduced a lot of his medication, and it has improved his cognitive function.  Couldn't have come at a better time.  He is just generally doing a lot better.   He still requires a lot of support, but the "emergency" calls have lessened.  

So, all things considered we are in pretty good shape I'd say.  Just a little fine tuning needed.