It's Only Stuff- second try

Not being an experienced blogger, I have no idea what happened with that previous post. When I first started it, a few days ago, it just hung- so I went to bed & tonight thought I'd try again. Same problem. So I just published what I had written and decided to start anew. We'll see what happens.

So Stratton and Brian came on Friday and left Sunday. Stratton had a great video that he took of Lucy at the animal hospital. I'll ask him to post it sometime. She has on one of those Elizabethan collars, and amazingly, she isn't fighting it. Of course it is necessary to prevent her from licking her paw which is lacerated to the point that there isn't enough skin left to cover it. But she is getting excellent care, and when they returned to Dallas, they were pleased with her progress.

This week, I have to make 2 trips to Houston. Today, Steve & I went over at noon in order for him to see John for his issues: his weight (joining Weight Watchers tomorrow- they finally found a class that he can make), and his terribly deteriorated right hip. He truly needs a hip replacement as badly as I need a set of lungs, but it sets him off for me to say that. Bless his heart, he is so good- all of you who know him well will agree. The heartbreaking thing is that it is just as hard for Steve to walk as it is for me. So as the song that sort of "brought us together" goes- "Aren't we a pair? Don't you agree?" I am so loquacious that my cousin/doctor John says that I was vaccinated with a Victrola needle, and he claims to have been here to witness it! And then there is Steve- who has made a number of trips at the wheel of our van while the other 3 people in the car talked up a storm, and he hasn't said a word. But if you ask him, he isn't depressed, or angry or anything else- he is just quiet.

OK- I wanted to write about the title of this installation: you know what Stratton has come down for most recently is to finally get the rest of our boxes unpacked. They have beenin the carport, stacked on either side of my car, lending the house the unfortunate appearance of a bunch of Gypsy pack rats. Much of it was memorabilia, and things I had collected over the years, and no one wanted to start throwing away things that I was keeping for a certain reason. So at some point Saturday, Stratton came into the kitchen and said "I have some very bad news. My baby book is ruined." Well, that was a bad blow. There were many other things that could have been sacrificed easily that were fine- but no, I had to lose really "good" stuff. As an aside, Stratton added, "And it gets worse- Trilby's book was below mine in the box!" As I stopped what I was doing to look over the two items, I realize that they were not entirely ruined- just damaged, and then I got to thinking about all the things other people had lost from those three hurricanes, and when I ask myself what it is that constitutes true value. And I come up with lots of non-tangibles, along with things like the baby books.

The next time I write, I will try to describe what is going on with me physically right now- basically, it's not real good. But I also have a wonderful blessing to report in my serendipitous visit tonight with Chaplain Sandy Londa. Til then- all my best- which includes no stuff!

It's Only Stuff

Once again, it has been over a week. I used to love to "hop on" the Internet and check my mail, respond, then other browsing, etc. kept me online about an hour per day- I consider this a healthy amount of time for a retired person. But with this illness, doing anything is a real chore. I'm up at this ungodly hour only because we were sort of waiting for Stratton & Brian, who we knew to be en route, but whose ETA was unknown. I finally became able to snip the apron string on that, saying to myself & to anyone else- he is nearly 40 years old, and if he chooses to drive all night long, so be it. Just now he posted an ETA of 4:00 AM, so I replied for him to drive safely, stop when sleepy, and not ding my phone with a text again unless he had trouble, because I wanted to try & sleep. Then I took my meds, & when I begin to nod off at the keyboard, I will close up shop.

Poor Stratton has been trying to get away from Dallas since Wednesday. The big delay was caused by the fact that their dog Lucy was hit by a car that day. Lots of drama & traumatic emotions, but when they took her to their own vet, it turns out that she had bad lacerations on one front paw but no fractures whatsoever. So she is in the hospital until Monday because of the fact that she is missing a lot of skin. But she is a young dog and healthy, and from all indications, she will recover with time. I'm just so glad that their vet is keeping her- the last thing we need around here is an injured dog. Anyway, Stratton seems consitutionally incapable of staying away from Beaumont for more than 2 weeks at a time. While I love having him visit, it is hard on him to drive so much- we are getting 2 new tires put on his Jetta in the morning that were supposed to be installed before he left Dallas. When I think back to the fact that when this 40-year-old man was a baby, a person could fly from here to Dallas, or to Tyler, or to Austin- and several other places. I can't understand what happened- I know the answer- "It's the economy, Stupid", but it is still hard to understand.

A young man with the surname of Garrett died tonight after playing in a football game. He was the Quarterback for the West Orange-Stark team, and he had thrown 2 TD passes before he collapsed. nn. Quarterack

So Much To Say - So Little Energy

Well guys, I just feel terrible. I've wanted to write every night for the past 3, but I just don't have any energy when the time comes. Suffice it to say that this week has entailed 3 trips to Houston, two of which have been completed, and one of which (today) was very difficult for me physically. Stratton came for the week- and it was such a disappointment (to me, not to him) that he had to spend so much time driving, when we had several projects around here that he was planning to do. However, when your doctor says "jump", you ask "how high" if you are dependent on him for getting new lungs. About a year & a half ago, I had a pair of tests that are done through the endoscopy department at the hospital in which a probe is inserted into my stomach via my nostril. Yes, it feels like what you are thinking- ewwww! and Owwww! It wouldn't be so bad if it were just done once, but because of the way they have to take measurements, etc., it calls for a catheter to be inserted, removed, and inserted & removed a second time, followed by the probe which is inserted to STAY for 24 hours. The free end of the probe is taped to your face & nose- it looks so lovely- and then it connects to a small computer. The one thing that has changed for the better since I had this test run not once but twice in 2009: they have reduced the size of the computer- just like everything else that is computer-based, it has gotten smaller. That is carried with you, of course, & you sleep with it. You also have to tell it every time you lie down, get up, eat, quit eating, have heartburn, have pain, cough, etc. Not only do you have to push buttons on the computer, you are supposed to manually create a log that they check against the readings. All of this is to determine the extent of your reflux. Now when I had this done before, #1, I was not nearly so sick and I didn't have any lung pain. #2, I was allowed to take my medication that controls the reflux- i.e., my Nexium & Zegerid. So even though it was a pain to haul around and impossible to sleep normally, it was just for 24 hours, and I didn't have any bad effects from what I ate since I was on the meds. This time, they made me stop my medication that is controlling my GERD, which at this time is 40mg omeprazole morning & night. That is a double dose of Prilosec, in case anyone is wondering. But it had it completely controlled, and I had no more ulcers on my vocal cords, no more hiatal hernia, and the esophagram that I had done in January 2010 was clear. This time, I have been pretty miserable since about Tuesday morning- it takes 3 or 4 days for the drug to clear your system, and after mine was all gone, my body began letting me know. Even though I wasn't allowed to take the big guns, I did take Tums and good old pink Pepto, and that was something at least. Now, until tomorrow morning, I can't have anything. I can drink water but it isn't supposed to be cold, and the same for food. I had to fudge on that- all I can tolerate is vanilla ice cream or milk, and neither of them can I tolerate at room temp. But I'm letting the water get about half-way there, and I let the ice cream melt. Anyway, our frist trip was the Class on Death & Dying which we attended (Steve, Stratton & me) on Tuesday night- that was trip #1. We did have a neat visit with Stratton's friend Suzanne Wheat who is a Physician's Assistant at Texas Children's Hospital. That was the second time we had done that- last week she treated us to a down-home dinner at Barnaby's. Then it was time to head home, as the oxygen was getting low & my heartburn was killing me- I sat there staring at a $26 red snapper dish but couldn't eat it. Today was our second, and tomorrow, Stratton takes me right back to that same office & they will remove the probe. That trip will be quite quick by comparison, and just as soon as the probe is removed, my omeprazole goes in! We will return to Beaumont, and then sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening, whenever he is ready, Stratton will hit the road for Dallas. Right after we got home today, I called Suzanne Ryan, and she came over- we celebrated one month of becoming "reacquainted" since her return to Beaumont, because on her first trip to see me, she brought in the mail, and it included my Vanity Fair magazine. Today the new one arrived. She is getting very excited as she & David leave for Australia to see their daughter & family in less than 2 weeks.

I promise to post more about these very difficult days soon. Right now, I am going to see if I can do anything resembling sleep.