It’s been awhile…

June 21, 202514 Comments

This past year (April to April) has found me away from the keyboard and for the most part bummed about it. So much has happened, mostly good, but some really incapacitating and frustrating.

In April of 2024 I went to see a “Deer” friend and I really wanted to share all the fun I had with her on her ranch. But when I got back home I had hand surgery scheduled for my right hand to fix some arthritis issues in my thumb and to release the trigger finger of the same hand. The thumb issue went well! The trigger finger got stiff, would not straighten out, and left me unable to type unless using two fingers and the Columbus Method.

A second surgery was finally scheduled to release and remove the scar tissue. This left me with a cut that most looked like Zorro had been there! The cut was a big Z that started a vertical path in my mid palm, went up to the fold and across, then zigged back and up, ending just at the fold of my middle finger where it meets the palm. This total process took a whole year to complete and heal from.

GREAT, I thought! I’m finally able to type with some stiffness, but basically able to hit the right keys with that still somewhat stiff middle finger…

Meanwhile, we have been working almost non stop this spring to finally get our garden planned, cleaned, fenced, gates installed, and my seedlings into the ground…

AND THEN I TRIPPED AND FELL IN THE GARDEN.

The resulting fall had me on the ground and screaming in agony. And, yes, I did say something of the sort:

**@$#%&%%$##()(&^$#@#!!!**

You didn’t want to be there. I couldn’t even get up, but thankfully Bob was right there to help me. I had sprained my left ankle, landed on and bruised both knees, and fractured my right wrist. Bob tried to lift me, but everything hurt so much that I couldn’t assist in my own lifting.

He finally put my walking staff into one of the square steel channels that makes the corner frame supports for our compost bin. I grabbed the staff with my good left hand, and he sat on the ground and literally pushed my backside up into the air while I pulled. It took several tries but eventually I was up and onto my feet.

That was about six weeks ago. All the muscles and tendons are still stiff and sore through my whole hand, as well as into and past the wrist. But, good news, I am allowed to garden so long as I wear my splint while working!

I’m back, and I will be telling you of my trip to see my “Deer” friend soon!

PS: If you find any typos or misspellings, well, that hand is getting better day by day…

RANDOM…

October 20, 2024October 20, 202422 Comments

I have been gone so long I don’t know where to begin.

They say a journey starts with the first step… so I imagine that getting back into communicating with all of my fellow bloggers and readers must begin with the first word/post:

the word?

random

From the Oxford dictionary:

adjective

adjective: random

1.

made, done, happening, or chosen without method or conscious decision.

“a random sample of 100 households”
Statistics

governed by or involving equal chances for each item.

“a random sample of 100 households”

[EDITED for length)

noun

informal

noun: random; plural noun: randoms

an unknown, unspecified, or odd person.

“I just sat down by myself and talked to some randoms”

If you live in the USA, well, you may well understand depression. Mine has brought me to a standstill. I went to see a very “deer” friend in April, more on that later, and that began my journey out of *stasis. When I returned I had surgery on my right hand. It didn’t quite go as planned and that too has slowed me down. Slowly, slowly I have been trying to get back to my old self. My friend helped, but I have been fighting fear and depression. This past month I rediscovered my joy and motivation… my momentum is sparked by music!

Today’s spark is: Joe Bonamassa: An Acoustic Evening at The Vienna Opera

In his early teens this man played on stage with BB King! Want to know more about the artist? Click HERE

BE ADVISED: ANY POLITICAL CANDIDATE BASHING, OF EITHER PERSUASION WILL NOT BE ALLOWED THE LIGHT OF DAY HERE. lET’S KEEP IT FRIENDLY, PLEASE.

❤

*(noun. inactivity resulting from a static balance between opposing forces. inaction, inactiveness, inactivity. the state of being inactive.)

The health post, read it or skip it, your choice. ;)

February 19, 202431 Comments

It seems the easiest and most succinct way is to just list what ails me:

type two diabetes (blood sugar was rising well into the high 200s; sometimes into the 300s and I was onTW0 forms of insulin)
stage three fatty liver
advancing neuropathy

Newest treatments in order of categories above:

Insulin pump prescribed by my new Endocrinologist
Nutritionist for diet overhaul!
Balance exercises, diabetic approved footwear

Items that are a direct result of the top list and helped by first and second items in the treatments list:

Gastroparesis
Overweight
Depression and fatigue

I started the new journey to health about two to three months ago. I had just been put on the insulin pump when, the very next week, I got a cryptic email from the gastroenterologist stating I had stage three fatty liver. No explanations, no advice, no request for a follow up to discuss the results…

zip – zilch – nada

I went online and Doc Google informed me that stage three was right behind stage four which is Cirrhosis of the liver. That went over well. I called the gastro’s office and as you may guess, you can never talk to a real person anymore when calling any medical office. I was upset. In retrospect, my message was deranged and angry. I had no idea that there were ranges in stage three, or that this sort of damage to my liver could be reversed, or caused by anything other than alcohol, and in my mind they were now calling me an alcoholic! For your reference: I lost my mother to alcoholism. It was wretched at the very end.

They called me right back and had me in the next morning to see the doctor. I tell you the following in all seriousness: I walked into the office and every one of the staff up front seemed to be looking at me strangely. They must have all heard about my call?

That was then, this is now.

Long and short of it, my blood sugar ranges are great. I won’t lie, learning how to use the insulin pump caused a few emotional breakdowns, but the Medtronic people were and are on call 24/7 to help. It is wonderful to not have to stick myself so many times a day and to actually see a difference in my sugar levels. I do have to stick and attach a new port and a sensor each week, but that, once you get used to it, is much nicer than injections several times a day.

Now, the fatty liver was something else, as I said. It was the culmination of my trying to eat more protein and less carb laden food choices to keep my sugar down. And one of my go-to snacks was cheese. Further, I have never in my life worried about fatty meats. Those are off the menu forever. Well, I do get a one inch square cube of cheese a couple of times a week with my snacks. I am a cheese head and this part is really getting to me, ya know!? Some days I just leave the cheese out to avoid the torture of a one inch cube.

This is getting long and I will stop for now. Next up, I will tell you what I do to lean out my meat choices and prevent getting gluten poisoned from processed food products from the market.

…and the readers said: OH BOY! I can hardly wait. 😉

But seriously, if you have the time, there is a lot to be said for making your own sausage and prepping your own meats. Because, these days, when you do it yourself you know exactly what went into it. And a bonus: It is a lot less expensive to buy a larger cut, and process it into portions you can freeze for use later.

NOW: I really need to hear from you. Will these posts bother you here? I don’t intend to put them up often, but when there is a change, good or bad, I will post it. OR, if you would rather, I can make another WordPress blog and post all this there. I know there are plenty of people out there with similar problems and this will help me to connect with others who share my issues. As stated; I will make notation in the title that the post is regarding heath.

An unpublished post written in antiquity to help me get going… With current events added just for fun.

September 15, 2023September 15, 202314 Comments

“What if the joke comes to life and nobody gets it?”

I was at CT Garven’s the other day buying feed and seed for my chickens and geese. To say that the cost of feed has gone up would be an understatement. About fourteen years ago, when I first began keeping chickens and geese, the cost of a 50 lb. bag of feed was only about $8.00 and scratch was a bit less. At the time of the post, the cost of feed was just under $19.00 (currently 26.00), and the scratch was about $16.00 Amazingly, the current price on scratch has dropped to $14.00 per 50 lb bag!

It used to be that when one referred to the cost of something being negligible, or the wages of a job being too low, you would refer to them as being “Chicken Scratch” or alternately “Chicken Feed.” Apparently, this statement has become outdated.

Anyway, back to the feed store. When the lady behind the counter rang up the total of my purchase, $35.00 and some change, I was in shock to say the least! But chickens and geese gotta eat.

So I opened my purse to pay the clerk and out flew a moth!

I began to laugh, which garnered strange looks from her and the other clerk behind the counter, which meant I had some explaining to do.

I proceeded to tell them about the joke of the moth flying out of your wallet, or purse in my case, symbolizing being poor or broke. They just stared. I looked at the lady in front of me and thought, “She must be my age, how come she doesn’t remember that one?” So I payed and left.

I guessed I was showing my age. Still, being curious I went searching to find out if the symbol was regional, or perhaps tied to the depression era. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find that not only is the joke alive and well, but you can even purchase wallets with moth designs on them!

So why didn’t they get it?

~*~

And now for the quasi-updated, but mostly almost a year old news…

Since you last heard from me I’ve had a total knee replacement. On October 3rd of last year.

Please be advised, that if the surgeon tells you it will take about a year to fully heal; believe him.

Things I did not expect with the surgery? That the straining of moving/hobbling along, in the early days would, put stress on my lower back, hips and my (sorta) good R. knee. That my hip bursitis from 30 years ago is BACK. My other doc informed me during that time, that my spine has “a bit of” stenosis. Now I know the surgery hasn’t caused this, but it surely hasn’t helped. Oh yes, and it is possible for your newly repaired L. knee to leave you one quarter inch taller on your left side which, bizarrely, you really can feel. I now have a 1/4 inch heel lift in the shoe of the R. foot. It’s made a significant improvement in my pain level.

Another surprise was not being able to sit in a chair at my computer for even fifteen to twenty minutes, and forget about the sewing machine. What! No quilting?

Once about four or five months back; I sat at the computer trying to get through the email tsunami in my inbox and lost track of time… An hour later I tried to get up and couldn’t. Sitting here on the office chair, I hadn’t realized that the wheels allowed me to push forward bending my knees, with the air conditioning blowing on them. They were locked into a frozen bend. I hollered and Bob came in to ~~assist~~ rescue me to a standing position, then helped me to the other room to sit in the recliner. It was bad.

It remains that my (sorta) good knee needs replacing too.

Hell may freeze before that comes to pass.