doydie; that is great!! I know you had almost given up hope he would ever change the bag. You have finally been relieved.

We didn't have too many trick or treaters here either. Now; unfortunately, we have tooooo much candy left over. Oh well; we'll just have to figure out what to do with it.


Gerry

I had a visit from an old friend the other day. We worked together when we were just teenagers (at K-Mart!!) and stayed in touch off and on but I had not heard from her in years. Well, she found me and called and we arranged a time to visit at my house.

I explained to her that I have MS and am limited as to where I can go and what I can (comfortably) do.

She has Lupus now and is quite ill. Although she can still drive and gets around fairly well she cannot work and deals with severe fatigue.....something I can relate to.

We had a nice visit and caught up on many years! We used to have such fun as teenagers....shopping and going to the Mall, etc. Little did either of us know how our lives would so drastically change.

We promised not to lose touch again.

Sadly I have lost friends due to inability to participate in many get togethers the invites gradually dry up and before you know it you have lost touch. I don't believe it's intentional they just think she will say no so no longer ask. Of course I'd still like the invite and option to decline, because sometimes I surprise myself and I'm well enough to go.

I am so proud of my youngest grand daughter. She is almost and very outgoing and a very, happy and confident child.Several years ago on their way to church, they were going around one of the many crazy curves that rural Kentucky has and a car slammed into them. They ended up going up and embankment and flipping over. The poor kids were hanging upside down by their seat belts. So a local radio station was doing a Thanksgiving thing and this one day they were asking for stories about how kids are thankful for seat belts. So Ellie wrote her story and sent it in. They liked it and it was one that was picked. So they took her story and wrote a 15 second and 30 second script for her to read on air. My SIL has a recording studio in their home as that is his job so they let him record her and then sent it in.

One of the other radio stations heard her on the radio and liked it and they were having the head of the department of transportation on and asked her to be on the program with her. So she had a live interview to talk about her experience. At the end the woman with the department of transportation presented her with a medallion that she was an embassador of safety. She is the only child and about 7 adults have received it. While they were recording that, another station asked her to go there.

Oh Doydie that's wonderful! Congratulations to her!!:winner_first_h4h:

It's so nice to see children acknowledged for their achievements or even overcoming a hurdle. That accident must have been very frightening for her. Thank goodness she had her seat belt on. I bet she never forgets to buckle up!

Hi Everyone!

I know I have been MIA again. It's been a little hectic for me lately and time just slipped away. Additionally, I mostly use my phone and my Kindle and both are really hard for me to type on due to tremors and sensory issues. A keyboard is much easier.

I really haven't been up to anything really exciting. I've mostly been dealing with health issues (new and old). *sigh* I wish I had more exciting things to report like I was on a cruise or something.:D That would be cool. But, it's the usual fatigue (both mental and muscle), numbness, connective tissue stuff, possible asthma (that's a new one for me), etc., etc.

The weather is finally beginning to change!!! I'm so excited. Although, yesterday was in the 90s, I believe by the end of the week it's supposed to cool down about 20 degrees. It's been a long hot summer/fall. We have had above normal temperatures and for an extended amount of time. Ninety degrees in November is NOT normal for us. The mornings are cooling off and I've been able to get out walking again. That has been nice. Some days, I can only walk a little and other days I can go farther. I use my phone as a pedometer; however, sometimes it doesn't work quite right. This morning I walked probably 1 to 1 1/2 miles. My phone showed that I only walked 222 steps!!!:mad::D

I hope you all have a great day!:hug::grouphug:

Is everyone ready for Thanksgiving. As usual, I am just doing nothing about getting ready instead of doing it. I have done the grocery shopping for it if that counts. Our is having their own dinner tomorrow evening and I have no idea what to take. I could take something I had planned on fixing Thursday but that would mean going back to get those groceries again. Yet. if I don't use one of those things, I have to stop by on my home from the grocery store so I can fix it tomorrow afternoon.

Our microwave died today so we had to go to Lowes and buy another one. After searching the internet at all the stores I found pretty much everything had to be ordered. There were 8 microwaves in stock at Lowes and some were the same model, just different colors. It is not anything like what we had so I will have to learn how to use this. There isn't the thing on the side by the door where the whole panel is. And it has a dial to do your changing level of power, length of cooking etc. Plus it is stainless steel. So we have a black dishwasher, almond refrig, old avocado stove and all counter tops.

doydie;
Your decorating is quite "eclectic". Which can also be defined as "really cool" decorating.

Hope all comes together with shopping/Thanksgiving.
Enjoy!!!!!!!


Gerry

Hi Everyone!

Doydie - What a colorful kitchen you have! :D Thankfully, your microwave broke before Thanksgiving, not on Thanksgiving. That would not have been good. Although, after Thanksgiving would have been okay with all the sales coming up. I'm glad you were able to find a new one and hope it works well for you.

I am not up to much today. I am just relaxing and enjoying some cooler weather. It's cloudy and in the 60s. It's only temporary, but I'm going to soak it all in before it heats up again.

I feel like a won a lottery of sorts. I got to spend time with each of my daughters this weekend. It was the 2nd weekend in a row that it has happened. Last weekend I got to spend time with both of them at DD26's house. I sure do miss the fun we had when they both lived at home. It made me very nostalgic to be around them both at the same time. This weekend I spent the day with DD25 and GS on Saturday and the day with DD26 yesterday.

I hope you all have a great day and a Happy Thanksgiving (if I don't log in before then)!:hug::grouphug:

Isn't daughter time the best! I don't get them together very often. We go down to Kentucky area every 3 months or so but when she is here in town our other daughter tries to be here all the time. Maybe it is so that the conversation stays away from politics which is pretty hot with my husband. At Thanksgiving both my daughter and I talked to our husbands and have them not talk politics but it didn't work out. My SIL is tactful enough that he was able to move on pretty quickly but I think my husband wants to talk politics all the time.

We are getting out tiny master bath done!!!!!!!!! :D I mean it is tiny. Very small shower with commode and vanity. We aren't doing anything with the shower since it is so small and we really don't like it. But it is so hard for Charlie to open up the pocket book. Well with his Parkinson's it is really hard for him to get into his billfold. Anyway, it was going to remove commode and vanity, put new floor in and then put commode and vanity back in. The compromise I did, pretty much everything.:mad: But in really looking into what the vanity he decided in buying a new one. So today the commode and vanity was removed,new flooring put in. He placed the vanity in the bathroom but it isn't hooked into the wall yet. Tomorrow they will finish and baseboards put down. Then I will have the hall bathroom back! Charlie can move his ileostomy supplies back to that bathroom I love him, I love the fact that he is so much healthier with the ileostomy but when he empties the back it stinks. AndI mean really S T I N K S. Got that??? Yep, it's that bad. All that aroma is removed as it goes through the lower intestine which he has had removed. But would I ever tell him he really stinks, no!

the floor and vanity are really close in color, didn't realize it would be that close until we got it all home. So although Charlie says he doesn't need a new shower curtain, curtain on the window (GASP) nice dish for soap and tooth brush, my youngest daughter and I will do all that. Oh, and another gast....paint on the wall. I have convinced him that it is my bathroom also even though I rarely use it. And now if we have company and the regular bathroom is in use, we have another one we can proudly direct them to. If we can just now keep his fists out of the wall.

Hope you all had the Thanksgiving you had planned on.Mine was wonderful, exhausting, made me realize that my frustrations of never hosting Christmas in my house would be impossible anyway. So I guess needed that message, just needed to experience it for myself. I think it wouldn't have been as bad as it was if I was not on the special medicine after a stent placed in the heart artery. I want my arthritis medicine back!!!!! And my Aleve or Advil.

Well doydie; it would appear Charlie must have pried open the wallet just enough for a few bathroom necessities. I didn't realize the lower intestine having been removed would create something even worse than the "usual" aroma. I remember someone previously mentioned there are special deodorizer tablets to add to the bag. (Maybe might be a good present to add to his Christmas stocking.)

Do you permanently have to be off the arthritis meds? Entertaining is difficult under the best circumstances. Glad your Thanksgiving turned out to be enjoyable in spite of being exhausted.


Gerry

Well shoot, I had a big reply and my internet went out. I had pushed reply after I wrote it all out but it didn't go through.

Geri, there are products they are expensive. He can't smell it because of his long time Afrin use and Parkinson's. I tolerate it because I am his wife and being a former nurse helps to.

Next August 23rd I can start my medicine again. You have to be off of it for 365 days after a stent where you are put on Effiant to help that stent stay open. It also makes you open you pocket book to pay for it.

Got our bathroom finished today. We needed a new floor, vanity and commode. Charlie denied that he said we could buy a new vanity and commode. The new floor was really needed. But we found out that the back of the cabinet was warped so we did buy that along with a new floor. But when the guy was putting the commode back down, he found out that the new o-ring wasn't the whole problem. So we now have a new commode.

Now to get the walls done. Charlie has a bad habit of letting his fists show his anger on walls. He puts new putty and 'sands' down to dry wall level but it isn't sanded right. You can really tell when it is painted that it wasn't sanded down all the way. So I don't know when he will finish so that daughter and I can paint. Plus new vanity and commode is virgin white and we need to make that room pop with accessories.

I hate when that happens....... I sometimes loose responses/emails, etc. when my finger happens to hit a key that just takes it all away. I sit at the kitchen table with my laptop which is a bit high for me so unfortunately I sometimes (all too often) hit keys I don't intend to.

Gerry

How have you all been? I was in the hospital and thought 'whoops, I haven't checked in for a while and here I am in the hospital. Yes, I was in the hospital. Monday of LAST week I started a wicked cough. I had an appointment with my CPAP doctor on Wednesday so that Medicare would pay for a new CPAP. He said it was just a cold. I did get a prescription from my family doc for some cough medicine. On Friday I was feeling awful and saw doctor and got a chest xray which didn't show anything but they went ahead and ordered an antibiotic. Saturday I started having a nose bleed. Yes, I pick my nose and since I don't use a humidifier on CPAP there is a lot in there.

Well I got a whopper of a nose bleed. After 3.5 hours of nose bleed non stop I went to the ER. Got my nose packed which is one of the most terrible things to have done. But my B/P was sky high which isn't good if you have a nose bleed. Plus they addressed my coughing. It took a cat scan on my chest to find pneumonia. So I needed an IV drip of a medicine to try to get the B/P down. Because of that I was in ICU for 3 days.

Nasal packing came out on Monday and I thought I would finally be able to breathe out of my nose and sleep not sitting up. With the packing in the left nares, it also occluded the right nares. I was miserable with all the coughing, high blood pressure, just everything.

Finally they moved me out to a telemetry room but still couldn't breathe out of my nose therefore had to sleep with head of bed up. When you are violently coughing, your B/P will show a high reading. It seems like they never took my B/P when I wasn't coughing.

Because of all the bleeding when I went in, my blood count was 8.2 Normal is 12 but my normal is around 10. Well it kept going down and on the day he was to discharge me it was 6.9. So 2 units of blood. Since I hadn't hardly eaten for several days before I went in and then when in hospital, I was dehydrated. But with my B/P being as high as it was they didn't want to give me a lot of IV fluids. So my veins were awful.

Finally home, husband had done nothing to take care of the house, there was nothing to eat. He actually had the gall to aks me when I got home what I wanted on a grocery list to cook and he would go out and get it. I am sitting here coughing my head off, still hard to breath and he wants me to cook. I ended up throwing away all the fresh fruit and veggies in the house away and ate a stale bread sandwich. We will have to go out to the store today.

I slept almost 12 hours last night! Got up once to go potty, take my inhaler and use more nasal spray. Oh, the scab, crust, whatever you want to call the thing in my nose after the packing came out finally came out yesterday. I actually called it a dead slug. Now with my CPAP last night, there is a lot of dried stuff in the nose again this morning. I have to get a humidifier on my CPAP. Must call today, OK, I'll do that now.

doydie,
Sorry you have been thru a really nasty ordeal. A humidifier is not a luxury; hopefully you can get hubby to realize this. (I don't know if you tried putting vaseline in your nostrils ; especially when very dry. I have been doing this for years; especially in the winter.) Also, would be good if you could possibly stay in another day. Maybe you can give him a grocery list that has some frozen pizza or t.v. dinners on it . He will learn to appreciate when you are feeling up to cooking again.

Take care,

Gerry

I got my humidifier on my CPAP the day after I got out of hospital. I really can't tell a difference but yet my nose is so stopped up that I don't know what is going on. Before I went into the hospital the CPAP doc said I had a head cold. I think I still do. No, I haven't used Vaseline in my nose. I have used Neosporin and I also use my Carmex chap stick. I guess I use it because it is right beside me.

I think the pneumonia is all gone, I had lab today to see what my blood count is. I see the doctor tomorrow about that.

My biggest problem right now is that Saturday I got this terrible back spasm and it's still going on. Charlie started out reluctantly but he has really stepped up in taking care of me. He has had to do all meals, sometimes get me to the bathroom, get me to the car in my wheel chair. He offered to bath me since I hadn't washed my hair in 2 weeks. But he set a chair, I don't have a shower chair, in the bath tub and I got a pretty good bath. My hair is just air dried but it's clean. I wore my knitted ear muff to the lab and I'll do the same tomorrow. While we were out today we did stop at Wendy's and he enjoyed having a nice carry out meal. Yesterday our dearest daughter brought over KFC full meal. I have had back spasms before but none like this.

I hadn't done any Christmas shopping yet so tonight I did a couple of things. For some reason I couldn't order any clothes from Walmart. My oldest grand daughter loves this one store on the mall. I can see their clothes on line but I need to actually see them, see how low or how short they are. Our Christmas isn't until Dec 31st so I hope next week I can get out to the mall.

Well had another nasal bleed episode and back to ER. I did stop without having to have my nose packed again but had another unit of blood. Had some pretty severe dizziness this time. I have found out if you don't have a bad back before you go into the hospital, you will come out with one.

Georgia weather is certainly throwing my body for a loop too :p. It's been going from almost unbearably hot one afternoon to cold and damp the next day. My poor old kitty still wants to go outside, but only wants to spend about 10 minutes out there then it's back inside and claiming a lap, preferably one that has a blanket on it he can snuggle under.

Other than that, the DSD just might be growing up a wee bit... I kicked her out of the house, but DH came home from work and let her come back, I said I would leave then because I refused to be put in the hospital over stressing about her, and as luck would have it, I ended up in the hospital, scared the crap out of her it seems, and she has been quite attentive since I've been back home. And very forth coming about where she is going and when she'll be back. Granted it's only been for a day, but she seems to be improving some and is starting to learn her father's A/C trade, which she started going over the online courses he has through his job yesterday while I was in the hospital. :D

I might be half blind and even more of a cripple then I was before, but hey, some good still came out of it if the DSD can continue in her current behavior trend. Would almost say that it was worth it, so long as you don't ask me when I need to get up to use the bathroom :D. I feel as though the vision will return as it likes to run away on occasion and is my biggest "complaint" at the moment, as far as the weakness in the legs goes... we were already making plans to make the house more handicap friendly and this has just put a bit more of a rush job on that. If it doesn't improve by the 16th when the GB is supposed to return, well... it'll be time for a few ramps to go in place over a couple of thresholds so I can continue to watch her. At least we live in a single story ranch so, it's really just a few minor things.

Just so happy about the 180 in the DSD right now to care about the why's and wherefores that brought about the change :D

Starz, sorry you had to be back in the hospital. Sometimes that's what it takes to make some one sit up and see who they are and the effect they are making on others in the house hold.

I am doing OK as far as my blood count. Well I think I am, I feel good as far as that is concerned. But my back is still feeling real bad. Finally got an MRI and it showed continued degeneration of my low back. I have my Mom's back. But I also have a herniated disc which I guess is causing the most pain and difficulty in walking. But with the stent I had done back in August, it prevents me from getting any surgery. Well, I haven't even asked the cardiologist about going off the medicine for time enough to have surgery. When my doctor's office called after the MRI, they asked if I wanted to see a neurosurgeon or a pain clinic.I asked about physical therapy also. My physical is scheduled for Thursday and I will discuss it all then.

My daughters bought me the Aleve TENS unit for Christmas and it does give me temporary relief.

Hi everyone...been AWOL for quite some time. Kitty, I remember all of the friends who would post daily. It WOULD take a while to read through them all!

We have been very busy the last few months. Went to Cancun in early December and had a nice time. DH's sister & BIL were there with us. It it beautiful in Mexico.

The kids were all in for the holidays. Two of the grand babies had bad colds, which I got after they left. Ugh...it seems to finally be letting up after a round of ABs.

Our DD is halfway through her 3rd pregnancy...they decided to move to get more room, and bought a 28 yr old house with lots of bedrooms. SIL will be in Heaven with all of the remodeling to be done. We are going to help with the move.

I've been doing pretty well...the usual winter spasticity has reared it's ugly head, but otherwise it's all good:)

Hope all are getting through another crazy winter...:hug:

Debbie, sounds like you have a lot of excitement coming up!

Saw doctor today, will be trying physical therapy for herniated disc, evaluation is Monday. As far as anemia, will be checking to see if it is B12 or folic acid deficiency, will have blood rechecked in 6 weeks and see him again. In the meantime will use my TENS and take pain medicine.

Hang in there, Doydie, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that they can do something soon

Remember how active this thread was in the past??
Where are all of you and what's going on>

We just got back from 3 weeks in Hawaii...we just vegged. The first week we caught a cold from a passenger on the flight over who coughed up a lung. the vegging continued, only taking walks or swimming when we got warm.
One of the best vacations ever, even though I gained 5.5 lbs:o

We have been busy grand baby sitting and DD came down for a few days with her girls while DH went up with her hubby to paint and update lighting & electricity in their new home (new being a 28 yr old house). DD is 30 weeks pregnant so getting out of the house and away from fumes was an opportune time for me to have time with her:D

MS has been quiet, except for sleeping at dangerous times like driving. I can watch TV sitting straight up and sleep. I lie down in bed at night and am awake for hours. I am going to have to call the neuro to get nuvigil again:(

So I hope we get some updates on all of you here!!

Aww gotta love pets sometimes, especially very special kitties... the epic battle between cat and dog (stuffed) ended in a draw

Hello MS friends!
 

Glad to see you're all still kicking! All's well with me. Just said goodbye to my family visiting from AZ; parents + kids = 7! :rolleyes: Now the house is empty b/c DH went on a group motorcycle ride to Durango, CO. Just me and the doggies here till Sunday.

Been sewing quite a bit. Have collected a few dozen vintage sewing machines over the past couple of years. Some even work, lol!!! Unfortunately, none of my grandkids (we have 10) seems to be interested in learning how to sew. *sigh*

Spent 2 months early this year practicing and learning 194 pages of piano music to accompany HS production of Beauty and the Beast. It def was a Beast!!! The finished product was farrrr from perfect (had to skip some parts and be creative with others--good thing they weren't paying me to do it, or I'd have gotten fired!) Next time I'll just say No, thankyouverymuch.

I just keep eating and getting fatter, and I've let my hair go gray/white. Some people don't recognize me, lol!

Guess that's all. Life is good. Love you guys and keep you in my prayers! :grouphug:

Nice to hear from you, Rochelle!

I'm not very active here but certainly did recognize your name and wanted to say Hi.

Congratulations on your projects. I've had to play piano now and then for group events, and people don't notice the mistakes nearly as much as you think they will.

I envy your ability to sew. I just crochet hats.:Good-Luck:

I love sewing! Hopefully your grandkids will get the sewing bug at some point, don't give up all hope just yet :D.

As a lefty, weird though it may sound, it actually took me a long time to get to where I love to sew, I even have an 1800's trendle machine that my DH got for me :D And it still works, though we had to replace the belts on it, I don't use it for anything but I still adore simply having it, and one day I'll think of a good project to make with it and hopefully not catch my poor fingers with it.

But I still remember when I was young my mom trying to teach me how to sew, and all I succeeded in doing was jamming up the machine every single time. If it hadn't been for my cousin wanting to make up a very complicated dress when we were teenagers (16/17) I don't think I ever would have braved a sewing machine again. But after helping my mom with the pattern since my cousin bought the wrong size and wanted to alter the shape of the dress some, I decided I would give it one last go. I already knew how to alter patterns but feared the sewing machine.

My mom was patient with us both and since I taught my cousin with some help from mom, how to alter her dress, my cousin in turn helped me with figuring out the sewing machine with a ton of guidance to both of us from my mom since my cousin had never sewn before either. But between the two of us we got it down and I've been sewing ever since, even my cousin still sews a little bit when she has the time (5 kids and 3 jobs!:eek:)

Maybe you just need to find a project that will inspire them, a nice rockabilly Halloween costume that would otherwise have cost a fortune... or making their own designer bags! Little purses are usually quite easy to sew up and you get something totally unique to yourself in a single day for very little money (certainly not the $30 and wayyyyy up that they charge for purses now a days)

Hey Twink!!!! It's so good to see you posting again. I'm sure you were a lot better playing the piano than you think you were. You are very talented. What cool sewing projects are you working on now?