Reese Cup....

Larry went with me today to Kroger.  He knew he needed to get out....  all was fine, he used his cane from the jeep to get a cart/buggy.... and we were doing great...  I buy more when he is with me, because I go slower, and I see more.....

About 2/3 of the way done, I looked around and he was eyeing a candy display... reese peanut butter cups.......  next thing, he ripped it open and began eating...  he had a sugar drop....  thank goodness he ate it, when we got home it had come up to 85....  had trouble scanning the wrapper, as he had torn the bar code....

Our visit with the new endocrine doctor was not satusfactory to either of us...  not at all pleased with his manner, his trying to sell his book, his tests with only 7 results from 13 vials....  still have no idea what they did with half of them....  and he totally changed Larrys insulin with very poor results, more highs and lows in a werk than in the last month.   So told our LVAD coordinator we were not going back to him....

Anyway, I took a good nap after a little episode of my own, offering no details,  but yes I am ok...

Oh.....  one more thing.... got a letter in the mail from our neighborhood association asking us to please finish our landscaping project before the end of July........   ha....  the house next door to me has been empty and abandoned for 3 years, had squatters for 3 years, and I get the letter...
NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.......  not yet....

Yesterdays fall fallout.....

Patriotic toe.......  falls are scary when you are on coumadin....   brain bleeds can be fatal.... much worse than a GI bleed....  and yes he needs a pedicure.....   it's on my to do list....  not sure about his elbow, it is bandaged up.....  little things can so easily become big things.....

July 4th...

quiet... nope even in the city limits, where it Is illegal, there are fireworks going off.....  My dogs hate them, but arent afraid of them.....  just wondering what the noise is.....

Quiet....  no activity much... just spending time not doing anything.....

Quiet....  went out to eat last night... lol  went at 5;15 like the senior citizens because it is quieter....

Quiet....  decided to go up and turn on that laptop that hasnt been on it 2 years, will probaby take all day for updates...


BOOM....   Larry fell coming out of the bedroom, hit elbow, head, and ankle....  think he is ok... watching him...  had too much in his hands and said he miscalculated the step...

QTπ has an ear infection and is on drops

LitaBit has a skin allergy and has to wear a tshirt to keep her from pulling all of her hair out...

And it is only 1 pm.....  think I will go take a nap..    please no more fireworks....  even though these are tiny ones, they make me dread the bigger ones.....

The sash bag....

https://www.thesashbag.com

Saw it online....  Larry ordered it, and while not the perfect bag...  it does distribute the weight of the batteries.....

Barb is coming to visit us in November, so she and I decided to open this to all of our RVMutant friends.

We are still hoping that we will get to rv more and farther away from home.....  

What are RVMutants.....  that will be a whole post in itself, but simply put, it is our rv family.  This group formed on an rv forum, we met a few years ago, about 20 rigs.... and had instant bonding....  made some of the best friends that I have ever had....  we are from all over the US and Canada.....

Larry is still having some issues that are keeping us close to home.... no long trips are being planned yet, because his driveline is not healed yet, still seeping, 2 cultures have been negative, but I am still changing the dressing daily and keeping a close watch on it.

Larry has never seen an Endocrine Dr. for his insulin dependent diabetes.  Saw one on Wed and he changed his insulin and amounts, so that is another adjustment, but now he has numbers to work with and a new app to help him.

His red blood numbers are still not where they should be.  He was back in the hospital week before last with a gI bleed, received 3 bags of blood. Numbers are increasing, but slowly.... at least they are not dropping.

So bottom line, Barb said if we couldnt come to see her, the she would come see us.....  thank you so very much Barb....  

but we welcome healthy visitors to visit us now...  just check with us... i try to get him to get out as much as I can....  so if we dont answer the phone.... LEAVE A MESSAGE

Can I slow down yet?

today I feel like the world is spinning just too fast.....   nothing is wrong, I just feel too busy.


Doctor appointment on Monday, hair cut yesterday, doctor appointment today, then a trip by clinic for a rpm adjustment,  then dentist today for me, early am labs for Larry tomorrow morning (fasting)..........  oh vet appointment on Friday

This morning Larry saw a new doctor, an Endocrinologist....  trying to get his diabetes under control...  he is an insulin dependent diabetic because of gallstones blocking his pancreatic duct....  that was 2001......  4 insulin shots a day....    Dr S. Bao.... yes he did write a book.....


Dr. Bao's book.

But Larry is feeling pretty good, we did make a trip yesterday to WalMart, too.....

After leftovers for dinner, I will put my legs up and chill....  while my mind tells me to start painting again, my body says to rest when I need to......   dilemma...  i will rest.
Was gonna make a peach cobbler, but that will be tomorrow...

Oh and am still ordering HomeChef meals...  still love it... gonna continue for a bit.....

****** 🐌
NOTHING PLANNED FOR THIS WEEK.......  might spend the entire week in my jammies.....
  🛌  💤

Visit to Doctor

Well, today was the follow up visit with my doctor 👨‍⚕️ since leaving the hospital, a week ago.  All blood test and X-rays were good 😊.  Good enough that I don't need to return for one month.

So, to wrap up the past few weeks:
    -Internal bleeding;
    -hospitalized for a week for blood transfusion [3 bags], internal scoping from the top entrance and
       bottom entrance [Esophagogastroduodenosopy & Colonoscopy]

          ALL RESULTS WERE NEGATIVE & NO MORE BLEEDING

     -Had my first shower since February.  Had to get the bandage 🤕 and wiring- wrapped & water 💦 proofed.  But sure felt good!!  

     -Good doctor's report!

Doctor appointment

Todays visit was better news.  His numbers were better...  havent seen them all,
 but the bleed has stopped and his blood h/h are still climbing.....

However he is still having some seepage and so are going back to the occlusive every day dressing.... Its ok, have supplies plenty....  they did take a culture just to be sure and started him on antibiotic.

Next appointment is in a month....
Dr Ranson asked Larry how he felt on June 13, Larry said a 4 or 5
Then he asked how he felt today. Larry said an 8 or 9.....

While we were in the lab, we began talking to the couple next to us, they live in Hot Spring Village and suggested we go on the LVAD Friends facebook page......  did...  Thank you G&D

So today we tried a new restaurant, JJGrill....  will return.. was good...

New author

Since Larry is now reading and commenting on this blog, I went in to figure out how to add him as an author....   success.   Now if he wants to ge can create a post, not just comment.  I hope it will be as therapeutic for him as for me....  my hope is that he can share his feelings, after all he is the one who has the LVAD...  I can only imagine......

But he was very proud that he managed his first shower and was able to do all of the prep by himself.... i was nearby in case I was needed.....

-Shower-Bag-Instruction sheet

Laughter

laughter is good medicine, childrens laughter is better, GRANDCHILDRENS laughter is the best.

Two of the grands left today, even though I tried my best to get them to stay for 2 weeks, not just 3 nights, they went home.... they are 8 and 6 years old, and this was their longest stay without parents....  makes me miss the other three even more.

We laughed, played games, made lots of art projects, shopped, ate out, cooked, watched movies, snuggled,  just too much to even describe....  Anna sewed her first dress, Hayes sewed a pillow...
Toured the Air Force Base, observed the driveline dressing changes....

But when Larry and I took them to meet their mom, we asked what their most favorite project was.....   without hesitation they both said it was "scraping the carrots"......

Sorry, forgot to update....

Larry was doing great Friday after the colonscopy, his hematacrit had come up another point and was stable, but we were surprised that he got to go home.... we were expecting not until Saturday.  In fact we had ordered his lunch, they came in with his discharge papers and said ok you can go whenever you want....  so we waited fir lunch...  he had been only on clear liquids, for 2 days, so he was hungry.....  

Anyway got home about 1 on Friday, just in time for naps...  


Ok....  an explanation here.....

His h/h had dropped too much, had to give him 3 bags of blood.

his surgery...
One day was endoscopy

Another day was colonscopy with 2 polyps removed

While it is not "surgery" for most of us, for an LVAD patient it is....

Take them into actual surgery suite.... but no preop, go straight from the LVAD floor to surgery,

They have to drop his INR to do it, so it is kinda critical because of danger of blood clots in his pump.

Did NOT find any internal bleeding, which is good/bad

Good because it us just good, but dont know what did cause it, 
They cannot do small intestine by scope, have to use a swallowed pill camera for that, so for now, he is back home.   Right now there are no plans to do this. Hopefully it was just a random bleed possibly caused by the warfarin... and will never happen again, but it might. They will try to keep his dosage a little bit lower, and watch his numbers...

Larry and I had both thought that the way he was feeling was caused by the LVAD itself.  Neither of us had considered that ge was anemic.....  ironic, I just finished my iron infusion series on Tuesday for my Iron Deficiency Anemia.

He is feeling good, much stronger, 
this morning (Sunday) he walked all over Sams Club.

Another blood count tomorrow. Then will see the doctor again next Monday..

We appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers...  i appreciate more time with Larry....