2014-05-30 Friday

Late this morning I was going through stuff in the bedroom. I keep telling myself that when I find the energy, or, Veterans Affairs allows me to have a housekeeper again, I’m going to organize all of that stuff. That is not going to happen so I must continue to do things in 10 to 15 minute blocks of time with resting and having my leg elevated higher than my heart.

Anyway, I found a huge wad of all sorts of electrical cords and connections. Coming out of the wad I saw my long missing heating pad. “Ah,” I say to me self, “I can apply warmth with that the next time my back feels as it did the other day!”

There was, however, one rub: the long cord attached to the heating pad was buried throughout that huge ball of electrical stuff. So, I spent about 75 minutes this afternoon untangling the cord of the heating pad from all of the other cords. I am proud of my success.

Now, when I have the time, I shall work on separating the rest of the stuff from its entanglement. Some day. Maybe.

I published my Friday Funnies on Nick’s Bytes today. Here are the few of my favorites:

Ya'll have a grand weekend! 

I'll be back tomorrow, God willing and the electric company doesn't turn off my power.

2014-05-28 Wednesday

Midnight, our 11-month-old Kitty Kid, has developed a rather unique habit. She follows me into the bathroom, which is a frequent trip that I take that make, and, when I am sitting on the commode she leaps onto a stool that sits before the washbasin. Then she begins chattering nonstop. She leans toward me from the edge of the stool and initially placed her front paws on my thigh, still chattering.

I have learned that when the kitten does this, she wants me to scratch her head, ruffle her ears and stroke the sides of her face and her neck. As I do this Midnight continues to talk to me.

In the last two days our kitten Kitty Kid has added a new action to her routine. Now she not only places her front paws on my thigh, but all four paws are there and she balances on my thigh, turning around so that my hand is stroking her exactly where she wants to be stroked. And, of course, Midnight continues to chatter. I have no idea what she is saying, but her manner and tone indicate to me that she is a very happy kitten.

If I remember correctly, often when I wrote this Journal of the past, I would include a comment on my health. I can happily say that although I am not the man I was 30 years ago, I am doing better that I have been in quite a while.

As you may know, for about a year I have been taking and recording in the Veterans Affairs website, MyHealtheVet, my vital signs. I usually do this three times a day: when I awakened and before breakfast; about mid-afternoon; and before I begin my preparations for sleep. I share the data and graphs that the website maintains and creates with the relevant VA physicians and my nurse practitioner at MD2U.

I am unsure how much of this data is useful—I limit my sharing to the 2 weeks immediately preceding the day of my appointment—but the health professionals all review the data closely, making comments and asking questions about it.

Now, the reason I have told you all of that is to tell you this: over the last month most of my vital signs have been excellent. I still experience pain, but for the most part, my prescription strength ibuprofen reduces the pain enough that it is tolerable. When it doesn’t, as has been the case with the earache in my right ear over the past six weeks or so, I seek help.

Recently I have been following a routine based upon suggestions I have received from Facebook friends. First I irrigate my ear with warm water, then with hydrogen peroxide, then place an over-the-counter earwax softner in my ear and plug it with a small piece of cotton. I go through this procedure three times each day. I cannot say I have noticed much earwax coming out of my ear, but the pain has been reduced about 40%.

That’s it for now, folks. I'll be back tomorrow evening.

Please

Day Forty-one

My left thigh and knee are still weak and painful. This has happened several times in the past forty years, ever since my leg was injured when I was an army officer stationed in Germany. Besides the  injury to my leg below my knee, the muscles in my thigh were torn and my knee wrenched. In time it will heal; meanwhile, I have difficulty walking and cannot drive because I can't lift my leg to engage the clutch in my car.

If you are interested in the story of how my leg was injured, it's published here: The Rogue's Tale.

My sister, Debbie, must be visiting my mother. I always end my daily phone calls to Mom by saying, "I love you." Unless my sister is in earshot, Mom responds, "I love you, too." Today she didn't say those words. I wonder why she does that?

My caregiver and I hung all but one of the remaing pictures that made it to my apartment. We also moved the location of my large dream-catcher. 

Actually, my caregiver did all of the work because I'm in lots of pain when I stand; however, I did tell her where I wanted them to be placed.

When I can stand and walk again, I'll share them with you in this blog.

I'm still reading Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums. Being unable to move around means I should be finished with it by this evening.

I don’t know if I’ve accidently taken a double dose of Furodemide, but for the past hour I have been urinating about once every 12 to 15 minutes. With this inflamed thigh, my movement is very slow, so about the time I return to my chair, I have get up and head back to the bathroom. Maybe I need to just stay in the bathroom until all of kidneys have emptied themselves?

Two of the three kitty kids are taking afternoon siestas: Alex and Little Girl. Meanwhile, Sugar is grooming herself.