I turned 59 this past week. Just one a way from 60. We had a ward party and the theme was reunion. Everyone walked around with a tag on with the year they graduated. I felt sooooo very old.
I shouldn't complain. At least I'm still living on the green side of the lawn.
Steve brought me flowers, my son and his wife took me out to eat, and my daughter ordered me something from Amazon they quickly put on backorder. My sister is so talented. She quilts and made me a beautiful quilt and sent it with some other goodies.
I worked my last shift at the temple Saturday night. I've been volunteering for the past year but have found it too wearing on me.
Life moves on and we all face our challenges.
Life Circles
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Haiti
Their is one part of their blog when she wrote "This morning at 5, same as yesterday morning, there were Haitian worship services around the neighborhood. In the ravine behind our house- where the destruction was total and Ben saw them pulling out bodies- they were singing "Count your Blessings". " Amazing . . .
On the homefront, I've finally got all the trim painted on my cabinets and the drawers painted and in place.My home is to get the door fronts painted this week and hung. Then they will be done. Finally!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
I've Made it Another Year - and No Hospital Stays for the Past Year
After having been in the hospital so many times over the past few years, it was so cool when I realized I hadn't been in one for a year.
Also this past month I hit a major milestone. No comment from the skinny ones, but I am down to a size 14. I haven't been there for 20 plus years.
I walked around doing a dance for the better part of a week.
My daughter surprised me and showed up for Christmas. I was on my dialysis machine when she called and said that her package for me should be on the porch. I told her I'd check when I was through my treatment. She finally admitted she was the package. She was here for a few days. It was great to see her. She is an amazing woman.
I've been struggling some over the past couple of weeks with depression. Part of it is just the amount of confusion at home. The cabinets in the kitchen are still dismantled and spread out over the family room.
This morning after praying, I turned on the music and just started working at it. I actually finished the trim tonight and painted the drawers. An accomplishment. But I'm ready to get it done and over.
Also this past month I hit a major milestone. No comment from the skinny ones, but I am down to a size 14. I haven't been there for 20 plus years.
I walked around doing a dance for the better part of a week.
My daughter surprised me and showed up for Christmas. I was on my dialysis machine when she called and said that her package for me should be on the porch. I told her I'd check when I was through my treatment. She finally admitted she was the package. She was here for a few days. It was great to see her. She is an amazing woman.
I've been struggling some over the past couple of weeks with depression. Part of it is just the amount of confusion at home. The cabinets in the kitchen are still dismantled and spread out over the family room.
This morning after praying, I turned on the music and just started working at it. I actually finished the trim tonight and painted the drawers. An accomplishment. But I'm ready to get it done and over.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Swine Flu
On Yahoo today in an AP article written by By Mike Stobbe, AP Medical Writer, I read that only 1/3 of Americans are able to get the swine flu vaccine. They showed a graphic (shown below).
It appears from the graphic that Texas and California got the largest number of vaccines. Texas got 1,170,400 vaccines. If that's the case, where are they? My doctors group hasn't been able to get the vaccine. My dialysis center said they had no allocations for in center patients, and only enough for 1/3 of the patients out center (those doing home dialysis). I've seen the Dallas County Health Department has vaccine for people living in Dallas County who are uninsured. What about the rest of the population?
The craziest thing I've every seen. Really kind of ticks me off. My husband's niece (also living in Texas) and her children all had the swine flu. My nephews In Utah and their wives and children also had the swine flu. Fortunately, they all survived it. I think this administration really dropped the ball on this. Sigh.
Cool thing, not for my cholesterol, but Sister Beetso taught us how to make fried Navajo bread this week.
Today was busy, my visiting teachers were here first thing this morning and then the Relief Society president was here.
They had a missionary zone conference today at our chapel. Our ward fed them lunch. I brought potatoes over and then came back to help at the end of the conference. It was amazing. The chapel was full of young men and young women serving as missionaries. The Lord's army.
I took the dogs for a walk and then got on my machine. I like it so much better when I get on earlier. Fewer mistakes.
It appears from the graphic that Texas and California got the largest number of vaccines. Texas got 1,170,400 vaccines. If that's the case, where are they? My doctors group hasn't been able to get the vaccine. My dialysis center said they had no allocations for in center patients, and only enough for 1/3 of the patients out center (those doing home dialysis). I've seen the Dallas County Health Department has vaccine for people living in Dallas County who are uninsured. What about the rest of the population?
The craziest thing I've every seen. Really kind of ticks me off. My husband's niece (also living in Texas) and her children all had the swine flu. My nephews In Utah and their wives and children also had the swine flu. Fortunately, they all survived it. I think this administration really dropped the ball on this. Sigh.
Cool thing, not for my cholesterol, but Sister Beetso taught us how to make fried Navajo bread this week.
Today was busy, my visiting teachers were here first thing this morning and then the Relief Society president was here.
They had a missionary zone conference today at our chapel. Our ward fed them lunch. I brought potatoes over and then came back to help at the end of the conference. It was amazing. The chapel was full of young men and young women serving as missionaries. The Lord's army.
I took the dogs for a walk and then got on my machine. I like it so much better when I get on earlier. Fewer mistakes.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Another new month - don't forget to change your clocks!
I can't believe its the end of October and that November is tomorrow. It feels like its been a long 10 months and yet it seems to have flown by quickly as well. They say the older you get the faster the days go by and they're right.
Since I last wrote many changes have taken place in my life. The sister missionaries from our church have moved into the spare room here at home. They are wonderful. They bring alot of energy into my life and are good company when Steve is at work. Last night was great. They had bought miniature candy bars and attached pass along cards to them and handed them out to the kids when they came ringing on the door for halloween. It was so cute, one little boy was so excited and said to his Mom "It's God Candy!"
When they moved in we had Sister Richardson and Sister Finnell. They did transfers last week and so now we have Sister Richardson and Sister Beetso. Sister Richardson is from Utah and Sister Beetso is from Arizona. Sister Finnell was from California.
We had the garage sale of all garage sales. We cleaned alot of extras out of the house and over two weekends sold made about $2000.
I have become more comfortable with dialysis at home. I'm not near as anxious when I get on any more.
They called me to be a family history consultant. I work at the Family History Library on Tuesday afternoons. So far its been fairly quiet while I am there. I ordered two tapes of information on Independence County Arkansas and went through them and don't find any records on my family there. What was interesting was that they were court records and I found alot of the same people on the court records. Unfortunately, none were mine.
Daylight savings time. I forgot to change my clocks last night. Its an hour earlier than I thought when I got up.
Since I last wrote many changes have taken place in my life. The sister missionaries from our church have moved into the spare room here at home. They are wonderful. They bring alot of energy into my life and are good company when Steve is at work. Last night was great. They had bought miniature candy bars and attached pass along cards to them and handed them out to the kids when they came ringing on the door for halloween. It was so cute, one little boy was so excited and said to his Mom "It's God Candy!"
When they moved in we had Sister Richardson and Sister Finnell. They did transfers last week and so now we have Sister Richardson and Sister Beetso. Sister Richardson is from Utah and Sister Beetso is from Arizona. Sister Finnell was from California.
We had the garage sale of all garage sales. We cleaned alot of extras out of the house and over two weekends sold made about $2000.
I have become more comfortable with dialysis at home. I'm not near as anxious when I get on any more.
They called me to be a family history consultant. I work at the Family History Library on Tuesday afternoons. So far its been fairly quiet while I am there. I ordered two tapes of information on Independence County Arkansas and went through them and don't find any records on my family there. What was interesting was that they were court records and I found alot of the same people on the court records. Unfortunately, none were mine.
Daylight savings time. I forgot to change my clocks last night. Its an hour earlier than I thought when I got up.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Updates
Wow . . . its been about a month since I last posted. Its been "the best of times and the worst of times."
Getting home after spending a month of training in Grapevine to learn how to do dialysis at home was joyful for me. I was soooooo glad to be home.
However, once here, it was trying. I must have made nearly every mistake on the book. The staff at Davita in Grapevine was most helpful and patient with me. I found a new group of friends on the NxStage Users forum. I found I wasn't the only one who had to learn the hard way and that even after being comfortable with the process, you still can make mistakes. They have been very supportive.
At one point I was ready to throw my hands in the air and one of the ladies on the forum wrote back "take a breath and know it will get better" . . .
Financially we are still struggling. Steve went to work for WalMart and we are most greatful for his job, but last year he was making $18 an hour and now, less than half of that. Fortunately for us, I still draw disability from my church job and social security. It would be devastating without that. Its interesting how its supposed to be illegal to discriminate based on age, but they do . . . and we have found many others facing the same issue. Its wrong to be at this point in life and find this happening, but greatfully we have been blessed with help from our church.
We are having a "clutter to cash" garage sale in two weeks, hoping to bring in enough to pay off the IRS and maybe a credit card. Instead of purchasing needs versus wants at this point, we will be selling the wants we already possess. One of the men from church is coming over on Friday to help post things on Craigslist for me.
Anyway, we were blessed this month to have a pair of sister missionaries move into our home. They are working with the spanish in our community. They are delightful and great company when they are here.
The other HUGE blessing was that my dialysis at home is now going without error. No blood spills or error messages at this point.
All in all, I fell blessed. I think the negatives won't be so bad when I get my Zoloft refilled :)
Mark Mabry has come up with another picture slide slow on the Savior and I am adding it below.
Getting home after spending a month of training in Grapevine to learn how to do dialysis at home was joyful for me. I was soooooo glad to be home.
However, once here, it was trying. I must have made nearly every mistake on the book. The staff at Davita in Grapevine was most helpful and patient with me. I found a new group of friends on the NxStage Users forum. I found I wasn't the only one who had to learn the hard way and that even after being comfortable with the process, you still can make mistakes. They have been very supportive.
At one point I was ready to throw my hands in the air and one of the ladies on the forum wrote back "take a breath and know it will get better" . . .
Financially we are still struggling. Steve went to work for WalMart and we are most greatful for his job, but last year he was making $18 an hour and now, less than half of that. Fortunately for us, I still draw disability from my church job and social security. It would be devastating without that. Its interesting how its supposed to be illegal to discriminate based on age, but they do . . . and we have found many others facing the same issue. Its wrong to be at this point in life and find this happening, but greatfully we have been blessed with help from our church.
We are having a "clutter to cash" garage sale in two weeks, hoping to bring in enough to pay off the IRS and maybe a credit card. Instead of purchasing needs versus wants at this point, we will be selling the wants we already possess. One of the men from church is coming over on Friday to help post things on Craigslist for me.
Anyway, we were blessed this month to have a pair of sister missionaries move into our home. They are working with the spanish in our community. They are delightful and great company when they are here.
The other HUGE blessing was that my dialysis at home is now going without error. No blood spills or error messages at this point.
All in all, I fell blessed. I think the negatives won't be so bad when I get my Zoloft refilled :)
Mark Mabry has come up with another picture slide slow on the Savior and I am adding it below.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Surviving
The past couple of weeks have been challenging. Using NxStage at home by myself has been hard. There have been days when I just wanted to give up, but I've kept going. I have finally got the procedure with the machine down pat now; my challenge now is keeping my arterial pressures in range.
There's a user group for NxStage. They have been a wonderful help for me. Very supportive.
I have finally decided I need someone here with me when I get on my machine. Yesterday my son came over, the day before, Linda S. came over, and the day before that I had Steve here. Getting off is no problem,I just need someone here when I get on. Yesterday I had to adjust my needles and so it was good to have my son here to help.
Woke up this morning to find it raining and my sprinklers were going like crazy. We really need to get a sensor on our water line.
There's a user group for NxStage. They have been a wonderful help for me. Very supportive.
I have finally decided I need someone here with me when I get on my machine. Yesterday my son came over, the day before, Linda S. came over, and the day before that I had Steve here. Getting off is no problem,I just need someone here when I get on. Yesterday I had to adjust my needles and so it was good to have my son here to help.
Woke up this morning to find it raining and my sprinklers were going like crazy. We really need to get a sensor on our water line.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
I'm Home, I'm Free!
I finished my month long training at the Grapevine Davita Center for in home dialysis. They were wonderful and so knowledgeable.
I did my first treatment Friday at home! The nurse from the center came over and assisted me and then she will be back tomorrow.
My energy level is so much better than I can remember having in years. SO MUCH BETTER than in center dialysis. I am so greatful.
When I did my hemodialysis on Friday I felt so much better being in my own home.
My blood pressure has gone way down too. Its all good!
Here's a picture of my new lifeline.
I've read that some of those using this machine have given them names. So I thought "thumper". With my renewed energy, I thought of the energizer bunny, but thats too long of a name, so bunny - thumper - also the machine kind of makes a thumping noise when its priming. What do you think? Any other suggestions?
I did my first treatment Friday at home! The nurse from the center came over and assisted me and then she will be back tomorrow.
My energy level is so much better than I can remember having in years. SO MUCH BETTER than in center dialysis. I am so greatful.
When I did my hemodialysis on Friday I felt so much better being in my own home.
My blood pressure has gone way down too. Its all good!
Here's a picture of my new lifeline.
I've read that some of those using this machine have given them names. So I thought "thumper". With my renewed energy, I thought of the energizer bunny, but thats too long of a name, so bunny - thumper - also the machine kind of makes a thumping noise when its priming. What do you think? Any other suggestions?
Friday, August 7, 2009
A Little More Confident
I've just completed week two on my training on NxStage to do home dialysis. Feeling a bit more confident, for some reason having a little problem getting off the machine, but I am able to set up ok. Troubleshooting seems a little scary to me, glad we have a manual.
They are sending a plumber out on Tuesday to put a line and drain in and will be sending home the Pureflow part of the equipment on Monday.
Steve is so cute. He's been trying to figure out how to lay out the furniture. I've seen him and his measuring tape checking on things.
Took the dogs for a short walk when we got back this afternoon. Went with one of my friends over to prepare for the clothing exchange tomorrow morning at church.
Tired, signing off, and going to bed. Gotta get up early (while its still cool) so I can pull weeds out of the front bed.
They are sending a plumber out on Tuesday to put a line and drain in and will be sending home the Pureflow part of the equipment on Monday.
Steve is so cute. He's been trying to figure out how to lay out the furniture. I've seen him and his measuring tape checking on things.
Took the dogs for a short walk when we got back this afternoon. Went with one of my friends over to prepare for the clothing exchange tomorrow morning at church.
Tired, signing off, and going to bed. Gotta get up early (while its still cool) so I can pull weeds out of the front bed.
Monday, August 3, 2009
NxStage
I'm learning just how awkward and clumsy I can be. Last week I started NxStage training. NxStage is a dialyzer that will allow me to do dialysis from home. I had been driving over there all last week and on Friday I got lost. Go figure.
I am really sold on NxStage. This is the start of my second week and I can already tell I have more energy. I'd like to make my way through just one time without making a mistake.
Today when I went I did something that caused the bags to leak all over the floor.
On the way back today ................. I really freaked. I didn't see the HOV sticks coming up on 635 and over compensated. I whipped to the right and lost total control of my car. Scared myself. At one point, I nearly went off the overpass. Praise Heavenly Father, he didn't let me and somehow kept me from hitting anyone else.
I am still a little shaken but very greatful.
I am really sold on NxStage. This is the start of my second week and I can already tell I have more energy. I'd like to make my way through just one time without making a mistake.
Today when I went I did something that caused the bags to leak all over the floor.
On the way back today ................. I really freaked. I didn't see the HOV sticks coming up on 635 and over compensated. I whipped to the right and lost total control of my car. Scared myself. At one point, I nearly went off the overpass. Praise Heavenly Father, he didn't let me and somehow kept me from hitting anyone else.
I am still a little shaken but very greatful.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Normal Lives
Its been a great week. A week with lots of change in my life and growth.
Walking the dogs tonight, I glanced over to my right and saw a family through their dining room window, eating their dinner. I was reminded at that moment, most of us live very normal lives, in normal homes. Not the homes you see on tv on HGTV, but normal living; with laundry to do, dishes to wash, floors to clean, and toilets to scrub. The lives we see on tv are just lives on a stage, not the reality. We need to be grateful for our simple lives.
This past Monday I got a call from DaVita in Grapevine. They wanted to come over and do an inspection on the house to see if it would be viable for home dialysis. She came over the next afternoon and when she was leaving asked if I was ready to start this coming Monday for training on NxStage. It floored me because I wasn't expecting it until the end of August. What a surprise, a good surprise. I said goodbye to all of my friends at the center in Plano this morning.
I'm not sure why this was advanced up a month, but it will be interesting to see why down the road. Its kind of in wonderment. I'm anxious to see the Lord's purpose in all of this.
On another bright note, Steve got paid today from the contractor he's been doing work for.
Walking the dogs tonight, I glanced over to my right and saw a family through their dining room window, eating their dinner. I was reminded at that moment, most of us live very normal lives, in normal homes. Not the homes you see on tv on HGTV, but normal living; with laundry to do, dishes to wash, floors to clean, and toilets to scrub. The lives we see on tv are just lives on a stage, not the reality. We need to be grateful for our simple lives.
This past Monday I got a call from DaVita in Grapevine. They wanted to come over and do an inspection on the house to see if it would be viable for home dialysis. She came over the next afternoon and when she was leaving asked if I was ready to start this coming Monday for training on NxStage. It floored me because I wasn't expecting it until the end of August. What a surprise, a good surprise. I said goodbye to all of my friends at the center in Plano this morning.
I'm not sure why this was advanced up a month, but it will be interesting to see why down the road. Its kind of in wonderment. I'm anxious to see the Lord's purpose in all of this.
On another bright note, Steve got paid today from the contractor he's been doing work for.
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