At home, things have been uneventful. I tried calling our usual septic guy, but the number is no longer in service. I suspect he has retired. I’ve called another company and left a message, but they have not called back, yet. The girls have been taking care of most things, including the outside stuff, which I greatly appreciated. I ended up oddly tired this afternoon and fell asleep for a couple of hours.
My husband’s sister had called him and his brother earlier, to talk next steps.
My FIL has pneumonia and possibly sepsis. He is not expected to improve. The hospital was talking about setting up a DNR and end of life care, and she wanted to talk to her brothers about it first. My heart breaks for her. This has all been almost entirely on her shoulders, and we have no way to help her.
So, this no-longer doing daylight savings time nearly messed us up again.
While my younger daughter and I were out, the eye clinic called to conform today’s appointment. I asked my husband to verify the times, as it was a joint appointment with my older daughter and I. It had been rescheduled twice, but I never updated the note stating my daughter’s time, which was now about 5 hours later, instead of half and hour later. I also asked him to confirm the cost of my daughter’s appointment, since she does not have any insurance to cover it.
My calendar said the appointment was at 11, so my daughter’s should have been 11:30.
After we got home, my daughter asked me to cancel her appointment, because of the cost. She wanted to save the funds for something else. My husband and I intended to cover it for her, so she could pay us back later, but she refused.
So I called the clinic (because she was making supper) to cancel, starting off by saying that we had a double appointment at 11am. At the end of the call, I confirmed it was 11am.
Then the messages my husband sent through Discord came in.
The appointments were for 10 and 10:30am, and the cost for my daughter’s was $125.
So I now had two different times, with both from the clinic. I made this appointment months ago, though it was rescheduled, so the time should not have changed, like it had when I tried to make more recent appointment in my phone’s calendar.
This was all figured out too late in the day to call back, so my younger daughter and I headed out before 9am, to get there early for 10am. If it turned out to be at 11am, we could just go somewhere nearby – or wait in their waiting room. This clinic is very good about taking people in early.
We left early enough to get there shortly before 9:30, and sure enough, the appointment was at 10. The receptionist told me that a lot of people have been having the same problem.
I didn’t have long to wait before someone came in for my field of vision test. Which no longer involved a dark room and my head in a dome. It now has this spiffy new gadget.
Virtual reality goggles, with remote control clickers. Two of them available for right or left handed people. I did left handed, though I could have used either.
That was so weird.
The first weirdness was the view when it was first put on. Huge windows with a nature vista beyond a room with a glass coffee table in front of me, and my name and other information floating in the middle. When looking down to the remote clicker in my hand, it glowed a blinding white – but just the remote, not my hand holding it, hovering in space.
Then a cheery, annoying female voice gave instructions and I just about jumped out of my skin.
Then the test started, with a status bar around the green dot I was to focus on, letting me now how far along the test was – right eye first. Half way through, the cheery voice announced that I was half way there and doing great!!!
Yeah, I almost jumped out of my skin again.
The voice came back 3/4s of the way, telling me I was almost done, and doing really great!
This time, at least, I didn’t startle quite as much.
I can’t remember which time it happened, but I remember saying “that voice has got to go!!” 😂
Then there was another little information intermission and the left eye was done.
One of the issues I discovered was that, around the green dot, it wasn’t fully dark. More of a mottled dark grey. Which meant it was very hard to tell if the dimmer lights I was supposed to be hitting the trigger for every time I saw one was actually a light, or just part of the background. I’m sure I missed a lot of those little lights.
After that, I was back in the waiting room for a bit before being called back for the puff test. That one is always “fun”. Once it was done, I got the dilation drops, then back in the waiting room with my daughter for the 10 minutes or so the drops needed to do their thing. Once there was enough time for the dilation, it was back to another machine to take images of my eyes, then once again to the waiting room until the doctor came for me.
Most of this part of the appointment was going over what she saw in the images. I have been coming back every 6 months to monitor some tiny hemorrhages in my eyes. There was one spot in my right eye were fluid was visible between layers.
That pocket of fluid was noticeably bigger.
Not a concern yet, but something to monitor. If the fluid broke through the tissue, treatment would be needed, with involved an eye injection. That gave me the total heebeejeebies. I told her I knew of the treatment, as my mother had gotten it. She was an absolute trooper about it, too.
I am not as brave as my mother when it comes to stuff like this.
As we talked, I mentioned to her a couple of things. A couple of nights ago – my first night sleeping on my own bed instead of on the couch, away from the cats, my eyes had started to hurt. Like a headache, except in my eyeballs. That went away, however for the past while, I’ve had issues with irritation in my right eye. It felt like I was developing a sty, but I could see nothing.
I also gave her a short version of what’s happened over the past year, and of my surgery just a few weeks ago.
She immediately recognized that all of this is the most likely cause of what she was seeing in those images. Now that the surgery is done, things should settle down, but she wanted me back again earlier than 6 months, to monitor. We settled on my coming back in April. I chose April because the weather and road conditions should be past the worst of winter by then. It also puts us back on track, after my appointments being rescheduled several times. She made sure to let me know that, if I had any issues, to come back earlier.
Then she did a direct eye exam, with the bright lights.
Interestingly, that didn’t hurt anywhere near as much as it usually does.
She went through both eyes as usual, started to back off and switch gears, then went back to look at both eyes again.
She found why my right eye was bothering me.
Turns out, I’d burst a blood vessel. Nothing major, and the blood was being re-absorbed as expected. However, she felt that the physical stress of the past while easily explained why this would have happened. I got instructions on what to do – and not do – for the next while as it heals.
Oh, and that field of vision test? Where I know I missed a lot of those little lights?
It seems they take that into account by simply doing more of them all over the grid. My field of vision test came back just fine.
So with that done, I booked another appointment in April – and my calendar didn’t even try to change the time! I’d mentioned it to the doctor and she has an Android phone too, and she showed me something in the calendar that’s there when a new appointment is being made, where I could change things. I ended up not having to do it.
What I had done today was completely covered by our province’s system, but my appointment in April is going to cost me $60, as this one is going to include an actual eye test for my prescription – something that wasn’t going to be done while my eyes were dilated.
After we were done, my daughter and I made a quick stop at a small grocery store on the way out. This store tends to be a lot more expensive for most things, but there are a few things that are worth getting. I ended up picking up a rib roast that was on sale, plus also had a price reduction tag on it, so it was something that needed to be cooked right away.
It’s in the oven right now, and the house smells heavenly.
I ended up getting my daughter to pick something for her and her sister, but they were out of what she normally would have picked. She ended up choosing some fresh made submarine sandwiches and, when I saw them, asked her to pick another for my husband. We also ended up getting a couple of bags of a dozen fresh baked cookies each, to split between the four of us.
Meanwhile, doing through their British Imports section – a favourite section of mine – I decided to try a new tea.
We get Tei Fu lotion, regularly. It is exceptionally good for sore muscles and joints, and to combat Charlie Horses. Finding a tea of the same name, spelled differently, was just funny to me.
It doesn’t take much to amuse me.
I’ve since had a cup, to go with a couple of cookies, and I quite like it!
From there, we did make one more stop on the way home, this time at the feed store in the town we drive through along the way. I picked up a 40 pound bag of kibble in a different brand, so the cats have some variety, that my daughter carried to the truck for me. The woman who came out to process the sale was the same women that was trying to arrange chicks for us in the spring, splitting an order between us and others. We never did get a call about it, so that didn’t pan out. I told her, it ended up turning out for the best, because so many things happened. She totally got that!
From there, we finally headed home.
I say “finally” but, in the end, because they took me in so quickly at the eye clinic, it was just barely noon by the time we drove up our own driveway.
Once we were home and everything was put way, I started on that rib roast. For the meat, I rubbed it with olive oil, then cut slits and pushed in whole garlic cloves. The meat was surrounded by whole, peeled potatoes and quartered onions. Then the meat was seasons with a steak spice mix my SIL gave us, while the potatoes and onions were seasoned with a lemon dill seasoning mix, also given to us by my SIL. It’s almost done, and I am quite looking forward to seeing how it turned out!
Oh, the house smells so good right now!
Meanwhile, I think I’ll be making myself some more of that tea.
Today’s high was just a bit above zero, so it was pretty much a completely indoor day. I spent most of it working on a crochet experiment that, in the end, I was quite happy with, even though I had to modify my plans because I was running out of the yarn I was using.
I did get outside at least a little bit, though, to get a meter reading. As I went to the pole in the outer yard, I spotted a cat toy from the isolation shelter I’d forgotten about. I’d washed it with the others on the sidewalk, but never noticed it was missing. It’s a round pink ball that lights up when it bounces. I grabbed it and tossed it back into the inner yard and Midnight, who had been following me, ran after it like a puppy playing fetch! He was quite hilarious.
I got my reading and started back to the house when I saw it in the grass and decided to toss it towards the sun room door and kibble house set up. As soon as I threw it, there was an absolute stampede of 5 cats, thundering after it! I don’t even know where they all came from. They just exploded after it! It was so funny!
On another note, I heard from my brother and SIL today. They were on their way to my mother’s with a new wheelchair for her. She has the one that was my late father’s and she wanted a new one. My brother had talked to her about what she wanted and ordered one from Amazon, and they wanted to get it to her as quickly as possible.
She hated it.
My brother, thoughtfully, took video of her trying it out and was able to send it to me after they got home – with the new wheelchair that they’ll be returning. On seeing the video, I understand why she wasn’t happy. She couldn’t use the armrests at all! It’s made for a smaller person. My mother is pretty tiny, but overweight, and it just wasn’t right for her. She needs a bariatric wheelchair. Not because of her the number on the scale – as I said, she is tiny, so “overweight” for her is still below the weight limits of non-bariatric chairs – but for the dimensions.
Then, in the video, she started talking about her current wheelchair. My late father’s wheelchair.
She is absolutely convinced it’s not the same chair. Someone “traded” it (something she accused my father of doing for as long as I can remember). She thinks someone took the chair at one of the TCUs she was in before finally getting to the nursing home and replaced it with an inferior one.
That chair had been stored here for some time. I brought it to my mother. Before I did, I cleaned it, oiled the moving parts and conditioned the vinyl. One of the foot rests had been stuck and I had to fight with it, and some WD40, to get it moving again. I recognize that chair very well. It has not been changed.
I now regret removing my late father’s name tag that had his picture on it, that the nursing home put on it while he was there.
I ended up sending a link to my brother for a bariatric chair in a style that would suit my mother better – and suggested getting anything but black (which would be hard to find), so the chances she’d believe someone switched chairs on her would be almost nil. We’ll see how it works out. He’ll have to return the chair and get his money back, and I don’t know if he’ll be able to order a bariatric one before then. Those things are not cheap!
On another note, I was rather taken aback by my mother’s appearance. Her face was quite grey, and she has dark circles around her eyes.
As I was writing this, I checked the sun room critter cam and noticed both a skunk and a raccoon in the sun room. I headed out to chase them away, and found not one, but two giant, fluffy raccoons (they have their winter fur and look massive, this time of year). As I chased them out, I noticed a cat bed had fallen off a shelf and went to put it back. Gouda and Fluffy had been snuggling in another cat bed and came out for pets. I got to give Fluffy some thorough pets.
It wasn’t fluffy. It was the one the girls call Lady Grey. She looks like Fluffy, but has a white chest. She had always been one of the more feral cats, but the girls have been working on her. She kept looking like she wanted to run away, but still let me pet her! That is just huge!
Now, we’re not 100% sure she is a she, with all that long fur hiding things, but the girls are convinced she’s female. If she is now allowing pets, even when it’s not feeding time, we should be able to finally get her spayed!
Or neutered, if Lady Grey turns out to be Lord Grey.
Anyhow…
That’s how today went. Rather quiet. We’re supposed to get a fair bit warmer over the next few days, so I hope to get more stuff down outside.
I know I’ve said this quite a few times already, but I am so appreciating this mild weather we are having this year. It’s allowing us to slowly get things done out there, as we are physically able to.
Next year, I suspect, is going to be a lot more productive in comparison!
It was another lovely day, and I was feeling well enough to finish winterizing the cat isolation shelter.
They are so happy!
My brother had been able to do a bit of leveling of the patio blocks, but they some of them are still a bit off. I had to put something under one of the front wheels of the shelter to keep it from wobbling. The weather blocking box also needed something put under the front legs, with one needing twice as much as the other.
One of the things I would normally want to do is put rigid insulation under the roof for the winter again. Unfortunately, the cats REALLY love that insulation. They love to scratch it, more than they like to scratch the hemp rope scratching board that serves as a ramp between the levels. Before cleaning up, I had pieces of insulation I’d been cutting from nearby, including a fairly large piece. The cats were all over it – and trying to burrow under it, too!
So while I’d love to put insulation under the roof to create a ceiling, nothing lasts the winter. It gets destroyed.
We need to figure something else out, because it really does make a difference to have an insulated ceiling. Thankfully, it’s still warm enough to not be an issue yet.
Other than that, it was a mostly quite day. My daughter and I did run into town this evening for a quick little grocery run. When we got to town, we found gas prices as dropped to $1.599 at two stations, and the Shell station I normally go to was $1.539
I filled the tank. With my CAA card discount, I paid the equivalent of $1.509
It was full dark before we even finished shopping. It’s been a long time since my daughter has driven at night. She had forgotten how much she enjoyed it. Except for oncoming vehicles forgetting to turn off their brights.😕
I’m feeling really good about getting at least one major thing finished today!
Today was overcast and rainy all day, as predicted.
Which meant I was feeling sleepy all day.
This is on top of already getting tired quickly and sleeping a lot more than usual since the surgery. A double whammy of sleepy. I didn’t even make it outside to do any cat feeding, or even doing my usual walkabout.
I did get a couple of things done. We had taken one of the turkeys out of the freezer and my older daughter roasted it last night, for us to enjoy today. She set aside the neck and bag of innards for me. Last night, when I found myself awake and ended up writing a blog post, I stayed up until past 6am. Before going back to bed, I got out the meat grinder my younger daughter and I had picked up at the second hand store earlier this summer and used it to grind the set aside turkey bits. It came out to quite a decent amount, which I packed up in a take out container and set in the old kitchen (which is uninsulated and currently refrigerator cold, even in this mild fall) for my daughters to use to make cat soup with. That seemed to work out rather well.
No one has succeeded in getting close to Sweetie to treat that horrible ear of hers. It’s probably the worst case of ear mites I’ve seen – or the worst damage from scratching. Yet none of us can get close to her, even while she is eating. We used to be able to pet her! Sending her to the rescue for spay and trying to adopt her out has really set her back. It’s been months, and still no progress.
I didn’t even get any crochet done today. Instead, I’ve been trying to catch up on my desktop. I haven’t been keeping up on visiting my blogs as regularly. I don’t do it on my phone, as I find it so much harder to read anything on there, never mind constant issue with tapping on a screen. I haven’t been keeping up on my emails, either, which is mostly newsletters and subscribed stuff, including bloggers I now follow on Substack. Personal communications are more often through text or Messenger, not email, these days. It’s remarkable, how quickly those emails build up. I won’t be able to catch up on them all today, that’s for sure.
Tomorrow is supposed to be chillier, but we should be getting some sunshine. I look forward to getting outside, even if it’s just for a little while!
I got a call from my mother today. I have to say, her calls have been wildly difference since I got my cancer diagnosis and surgery. She actually sounds cheerful. When I ask how she’s doing, she just says “the usual” in referring to her long list of maladies she likes to blame on some food or other, or on the staff for trying to kill her by giving the wrong meds, but doesn’t actually talk about them with me anymore. She saves that for my brother and sometimes my sister.
She has been refusing to dress for the day, staying in one of three long, thick nightgowns she has. She has suddenly decided that she needs more of them, but my sister has not been able to find any that my mother will like. She tried going at my brother about getting her clothes, because she has soooo much money (she doesn’t), and she’s entitled to new things. My brother, meanwhile, knows nothing about her clothing. That’s my sister’s specialty. She knows my mother’s measurements and will usually tailor store purchases to fit my mother. So when she started telling me about talking to my brother about clothes, I told her he’s not the one to talk to about that! That’s when she mentioned that my sister had said she would buy fabric and sew something for her. My sister used to sew all her own clothes, for many years, including clothing of her own design, so she is definitely the right person for that. In hearing some of what my mother was saying she needed, I told her that there are places that specialize in clothes for people with mobility issues. I’m sure there’s one such place in the city where the nearest Walmart is. My sister works at that Walmart, as lives just a 15 minute or so drive away. My mother liked that idea and I promised to pass the message on to my sister.
My mother has been at the personal care home for 5 months now, and has been basically living in those thick nightgowns the whole time. From how she was talking to me, I get the impression that she is seeing how other people living there are always dressed so nicely, and she would like to do that, too. If that’s what it takes for her to stop insisting on not dressing for the day, I’m good with that!
Hopefully, my sister will find – or can sew – things that my mother will like. She is very hard to please, but also doesn’t give much information about what she actually wants!!
It’s coming up on time for me to take my evening med and supplements.
I don’t think I’m going to finish going through the tabs of things I’m trying to catch up on tonight. I might just grab some supper to go with my meds, then go to bed!
I can’t remember the last time I went to bed before midnight so often – and actually slept! Even with waking during the night, I’ve been sleeping for about 10-12 hours a day.
We can’t leave her with me. Partly becayse there us no place for a litter box and partly because she’s one of the cats that likes to jump on my abdomen when I’m in bed. A big no-no right now.
I think bringing her in with me will become a daily thing, though. She needs the break!
Beyond that, it’s been a good day. It was gorgeous outside. My younger daughter and I were able to do a dump run, though I was banned from handling anything. After, we made a trip to the general store and post office. My husband had something in he thought would fit in the mail box, but there was just a card. We will have to come back on Monday.
My older daughter gave me her wallet to pick something up, then both my younger daughter and I got a couple more things. I was not “allowed” to carry the bag of combined purchases but I was happy to at least go into the store.
Tonight, however, I just got hit with a wave of fatigue. Sleepiness enough that I’m having to be careful not to drop my phone as I tap this post.
Today has been a day of quiet rest and recovery for most of us.
The girls took care of the usual outside cat stuff. The yard cats are unhappy with their cat soup. We are out of the donated cat milk and canned cat food we’d been using, so it’s basically just softened kibble. We aren’t in a position to buy more right now.
My older daughter is pushing hard on commissions with end of month deadlines. My younger daughter has been dealing with pain issues after pushing to get things done outside, yesterday. My husband’s pain levels have been pretty bad lately, too.
I discovered the cats had done much destruction in my bedroom during the night. By the time I got it fixed up, I was pretty drained. Besides getting tired fast, though, I’m doing well. The last of the medical tape and stitches at the incisions on my abdomen have come off. I have been taking painkillers only before bed, and it’s been for my ridiculous shoulder pain, not anything surgery related.
My younger daughter accompanied me when I did my walkabout before things got too dark. She was caning it and having more pain issues while walking than I was.
We are coming up on 9 years, here. This blog just had its 9th anniversary. My younger daughter and my husband were already here, while my older daughter and I finished getting ready for the movers before driving out.
I have to admit, things have not panned out as expected, but then, who could gave expected all 4 of us ending up having serious health challenges?
Today, my daughters got some progress outside. The last 4 haskaps have been planted, and all 144 of them got a deep watering.
The garlic bed also got a deep watering, before a straw mulch was added. If all goes well, the garlic should start growing under there, before the ground freezes.
Over time, the haskaps need to be mulched, too, but with so many, that will be done slowly, over time.
I was able to head outside for my daily walkabout, before things got dark. Of course, I checked on things and did what little I could. I even remembered to move the trail cam and it’s stand away from our sign at the corner of the property, since we no longer have to worry about the sign being vandalized. I’m hoping to find a way to use the stand to hold the solar critter cam to monitor the isolation shelter, once it’s set up under the kitchen window for the winter.
While looking at where my daughter planted the last haskaps, I noticed the spade was forgotten, so I took it to the sun room.
Where I promptly startled four skunks
!!!
I left the sun room, since the cats and I were blocking the exit. Three left.
One stayed and looked like it was settling down for the night. 😆
There’s really no way to persuade it to leave from there. Too many things between it, and the door. Namely me and swirling cats, wanting their evening feeding!
So I took care of that and left the skunk alone.
Aside from that, I’ve spent most of my day in the cat free zone, doing little crochet projects. I’m trying to use up two colours of mill end cotton I’ve had for quite some time. We now have more dish cloths and coasters, and I’m working on another bowl.
I’m hoping to have a better night tonight. Last night, I went to bed early, and promptly became wide awake. At one point, I gave up trying to sleep, got up and made another pot holder in Tunisian stitch, because why the heck not? I’d love to do more than drift off and wake up, over and over, all night again, though. Not something surgery or recovery related, as far as I can tell. In that respect, things are going quite well.
Normally, tomorrow would be our second stock up trip to Costco in the city. That will be delayed. If we need anything over the next week or so, we can make a short trip into town.
You know, for a day where we did “nothing”, we actually accomplished some important things.
Today was chilly and damp, so only the essentials got done outside. The girls did the morning cat feeding, as usual, and the Shrine Lady was very loud about her displeasure that warm cat soup comes AFTER the dry kibble. It always does, and she always complains. Then they get to pet her while she has her soup.
We should look into getting a heated water bowl, just for cat soup in the winter, so it doesn’t freeze before they all get to eat some.
It was a sleepy, not even getting dressed, day for me. I ended up making little crochet projects with my cheap cotton mill end yarn, starting and undoing projects several times before settling on things.
Meanwhile, on top of taking care of all the household stuff, my daughters were able to reschedule their medical appointments to December. My older daughter could only get a new time on December 30 and already expects it will be canceled due to weather. Hopefully, we will not get snowed in, this year. My younger daughter got hers rescheduled for earlier in December.
I got my letter for my follow up appointment today. It’s in the middle of November, and past my driving restrictions. It’s not at the cancer clinic, which is not what I was expecting, given what I’ve been told until now. I’ve been to this other clinic before with my mother. It’s at the sane hospital, but the clinic is a separate building built in a parking lot next to the hospital. It’s early enough in the day that I hope we will find a parking spot in what’s left of the lot around it. I really don’t want to park blocks away and have to walk back, with still under recovery restrictions.
After going over the letter about our doctor leaving the area, my daughter looked up the clinic she is moving to. It’s in the city. She had thought our doctor was leaving the province or something.
The letter had numbers and instructions on how to follow her to the new clinic, which my daughter wants to do. I would rather find a doctor that’s closer, but she is a lot more selective than I am and wants to keep seeing this doctor. After talking about it, I told her if she’s going to stay with that doctor, then I will, too. It’s more convenient to share a doctor and we can book consecutive appointments to save trips. She offered to pay for the gas and do the driving. Cost if gas was another major factor.
So that got taken care of, too, with her making the calls for both of us, then bringing the phone to me only when the receptionist needed to talk to me in person. It’s not officially done, since the doctor isn’t officially there for another week or two. We will have to pay a fee to have our files transferred, but that can be paid when we come in to sign the appropriate consent forms. We’ll combine that with making new appointments, again just to save trips. She didn’t know what the fee was. Every time we’ve had to transfer files, the fee has been different.
So that is taken care of, too, as far as possible right now.
Tomorrow will be a test for me, as we do our first stock up shop since my surgery. At the closer Walmart. My daughter will be doing all the driving and lifting and bagging and unloading. As good as I’m feeling, we will still bring the walker. I was needing that for bad arthritis pain days before the surgery, anyhow. Aside from that, my biggest issue has been my injured left rotator cuff. I am having difficulties lifting it past a certain point, and the range of motion has become more limited. Likely because of the temperature fluctuations. My husband is having similar issues with his back injury being worse lately. He’s been using his TENS machine a lot more often. What a great investment that was!
The good thing about heading into winter with all these issues. We are getting into “hibernation” season, and slowing down in general, anyways. It will give all of us a forced rest and recovery time.
As long as we don’t end up having to shovel driveways.
I am having another good recovery day today. Finished off a crochet bowl, but haven’t started anything else, yet.
It was warmer today, so when I headed outside to walk around, I decided to stay out and give the haskaps a deep watering.
About 5 minutes in, there was a sudden clap of thunder. No rain. No lightning. Just thunder.
As I was working on the very last row, there was more thunder, and it started to rain.
There had been no rain in the forecast for today.
It was just a light right, but I headed inside, anyhow. Which is when my younger daughter told me her sister had just gone out to look for me. We used different doors and missed each other. 😆
I went to the door to get her, and it was pouring rain. My daughter came in, completely soaked!
The rain stopped as abruptly as it started. Then did it again.
All I can say is, it’s better than snow. Which might be happening to the north of us, this weekend. We have rain in the forecast, but the northern communities might be getting a blizzard. !!!
Oh, and we’re also looking at a high of over 20C in a cooler of days.
