Fast forward a year

Or fast forward a year and a half.....

Will share pictures , but In the next post, I get distracted if I stop to find the photos...

Ok, will pick up from last post.....

We had just bought our lot here in Hernando Beach, Florida.  And were living in our rv...  tried to stay on the lot, but there are ordinances that we could not until we were under construction....  so we had to find a rv park for the winter....  not easy to do, because that is the full time....  snowbirds come in, but we found one, Topics RV Park, had to move 3 times in park, but they were vey nice.

Found our home....  we bought a modular home... it is NOT a mobile home, modular means it was built in a factory....  it is stronger than a stick built home but was not out in the rain while being built.

Our lot had a concrete slab on it, which we had hoped to reuse, but nope even though the dimensions worked, county said it had sat too long.... so had to get that removed....

Then they were finally able to build the concrete blocks that the house would be set on... they are 14 feet in the air....  so the house had to be brought in on 3 huge trucks and 2 cranes lifted it up in the air to the pilings....   we met a lot of our neighbors during this process because it is such a rare happening.....  

But at least then we were able to move our rv back to the lot, and it was fun watching it.....
got to move in April...   so we had sold most of our furniture, so I enjoyed buying new....

Then came cleaning up the ground....  Larry had found a great new product of plastic grids, and since we were trying to be low future upkeep, we ordered it, but first laid down ground cover.... I am talking about on 80% of our lot... and since Larry cant do much work... i am getting really fit....

Finally sold the house in Little Rock... sold too cheap, but at that point we just wanted to be done..

Then got 2 huge dump truck loads of limestone rock, some small, some boulders....  and finally got them all placed.....

Then came plants, yep I did all but the 2 trees....

In July, Larry slipped and fell, ended up in hospital for 5 nights, and a month of iv antibiotics.... yes, I learned to do those...  3 each day, 2 were by iv push, one was a bag....but all is ok. Very scary but I did it.

Settled in, learning to relax, but then last week he had to have the cord changed between his driveline And his controller, he had gotten a split in it....

Enjoying each day in our vacation retirement home...  Larry is doing ok, tires easy, but we work around it....  he usually goes shopping with me, and we go out each day to sit in the yard.
he is not heart transplant eligible because he would also need kidneys transplanted... Dr Mackie said he just did not think he could survive,  but he has 1 year of age eligibility if his kidneys miraculously get better....

Still have the rv, but are beginning to get It all emptied out so we can sell it.  We would like to get a small one but that will be seen....  we just know we cannot do the 40’ anymore....  i dont want to drive, Larry should not be driving, and we will never do long distances again anyway.  Need to stay closer to lvad hospitals...  but as another test in this process, I sold my jeep wrangler... that was tough because I so loved my jeep, but i bought a big girl car, Mazda cx5....  love it, sporty but nice ride... NOT towable by rv... so that was a huge step in our future.

I cannot say enough great things about our new LVAD team... they are awesome.  We are pleased with receiving such a great new team as we were missing our other team in Arkansas...

Life is still good for me, after 3 years of heart LVAD I hope it is for Larry...

changes, adjustments, flexibility, missing the 2 grands in Arkansas, but getting to know the 3 grands here... downsizing, simplifying, finding I had out strength to go with inner strength...  meeting new people, Buying new things that I had just sold...  lol yep sold some of what I should have kept.

I would do it all again to get to where we are....  together with my love, my best friend, my husband, Larry Ziemski, for another day, another week, or hopefully many more years....

why have I been so quiet...   lots of reasons.......

1.  We decided after a trip back to Tampa in May, that thus was the area we wanted to retire to.   LOL really.... yes we have been retired, but traveling the way we did, it seemed like travel was work....  I am still awed at exactly how much we did travel....   but now we have decided to slow that down and watch the water....

2. Moving was not the hardest part....  but that did involve packing up....  we decided to sell most of what we had accumulated, so that involved an estate sale.  I really thought that wouldbe easy, but the first company we contacted turned us down, but they gave us a name, and we found Deena, who has continyed her mothers business, Estate Sales by Bettye Bogart.

3. Next was looking for a realtor.  Our last realtor had retired, so went on the search.... Johnny McKay, with Crye-Leike was who we hired.  Turns out his mother was a hometown friend of my older cousin....  unfortunately for us.  THE HOUSE HAS NOT YET SOLD.   Even though it is listed at a price way below the apraused amount.

4. we have an RV, so we have temporary housing, just didnt want to live in it indefinitely.  Chose to rent a pod for the stuff we didnt sell....  that pod is still in storage until we get to a point where we need it...  great option....

5. Bought a lot, love the lot, peaceful area, on a canal just a short distance from the Gulf.  Remember Larry has a LVAD, so he is not allowed to swim, etc.  water and electricity do not mix....

6. thought changing doctors would be no problem.....  wasnt thinking about the LVAD programs releasing and then another accepting Larry.  For us it has been easy, we had a super vad team in Little Rick, and we have found another super vad team at Tampa General Hospital.....  the main adjustment has been in changing the dressing supply company, but that has worked too....

7.  Getting acclimated into the new state has been fairly easy, it just takes time.  

New license, tags, banks, voting registration, mail changes, and endless address change forms. 

New stores, groceries, so glad there is internet to help.

8. New home....  still working on this one... taking longer than we had planned, but are negotiating on a great modular home.  It is already built, have to get the piers done on the kot, then they will yse cranes to lift the home onto the piers...   

9. Then we will have the pod delivered, unpack it, then begin replacing the furniture we will need....   

we are still enjoying the process and looking forward to many years sitting on the deck together...  

So...  while we are both now 67 years old, we are taking charge and trying to get more life....  Larry is feeling better than he has in years, me too.  I am embracing the older better me...  and liking the person that I am....  to include my gray again hair..  used to be BAG, blonde after gray, now I am GABAG....  gray after blonde after gray......   

More to come....  

LVAD Shirt, new product

my last sentence of my last post said I will try to post more often....  but I havent...  until the other day, I really thought no one but my mother read these......

Now I know that others do.....  I received an email the other day from a guy in Poland who awked if I would like to try his shirt.....  I say me, cause I am the verbal one, Larry is quieter.   I responded that if that was a hoax, I wasnt interested....   he responded back, now we have one of his shirts... Larry put it on this morning....  after talking with Larry about it, he has seen it online as well.... and had thought about ordering one.....   SMILE, he will order another one.

Larry has had back pain which has limited his willingness to move about. He tried every product he has found, and still switches them around....  I am a seamstress, so I have made vests, modified vests, and deconstructed backpacks.  He has bought vests, cargo pants, and recently been wearing football girdles....

So here is my review of this product. LVAD SHIRT   https://www.lvadshirt.com

*When Larry was putting it on, he immediately looked back into the package for instructions.  There were none.  We pulled up the website to make sure there was no secret way to do those wires.  My suggestion is simple, put a photo of the shirt in the package.

*Larry then placed it on and said.....  it is very true to size, European sizing is not always the same as herein USA, but this shirt was.  He did get the XXL, and we have not washed it, but it wont shrink because of the fiber content.  

* It was easy to put on, and once on, Larry said the battery pickets were in a really good place, not too high, nor too low, and he liked them being more under his arms.

*Even though we were gifted this shirt, he got to choose color, black, and he chose sleeveless.  The underarms come down low enough to comfortably wear as an undershirt, the neckline is low, and the hem/tail is plenty long enough to stay down.

The price of this shirt is cheaper than any of the other shirts he has ordered.  And even though it was mailed from Poland, we received it in less than a week.....  this is the first time Larry has gotten a product to try,  but I would give it an honest evaluation either way.  I only put the products on my blog that I feel are worth it.

The only negative Larry has, is that there is no pocket for the controller...  he has the controller in his pants pocket right now.  We are in transition, so his belt control holders are packed up somewhere.

I found your website searching on the internet for LVAD (I am a patient who has had Heartmate
implanted since 2014). It’s great, that you want to do something for others! I am trying to help
patients in Poland myself, i.a. by VAD Poland Association, which was established together with
other patients. In order to thank you for your commitment I wanted to offer you LVADshirt
(www.lvadshirt.com) that I created for LVAD patients. If you agree to accept it please give me
the type (t-shirt / tank top), color (black / white) and the size of the shirt. Please provide me your
address and I will send it to you. I will be glad if you review this shirt on your blog.

Regards,
Michal Jakubowski

Thank you Michal,  ok now some photos....br />

  

Making quick decisions

Wow.... it was such a short time that I made the last post... but we have done so much. House is now listed on the market, have 98% of the packing done.... that was a task, sorting through what to keep, what to store and what to sell...... The pod is being delivered one week from today, movers the next day To pack it up... August 1 we will begin living in the RV, finishing up our life here in Little Rock... August 17-19 is the estate sale, just about all of our furniture is to be sold. Then plans are to head to Florida about the 23rd of August.... We are excited to begin this new adventure... hopefully our house will sell quickly so we can move out of the rv.... Will try to update more often....

Setting goals for our future....

How often do you sit down, talk, and then reevaluate your path in life and your goals? Until Larry and I married, I can say probably never, I let life just happen.... and I think he did as well.

 We had very little when we met, I had just gone into debt on a small condo and was struggling with working 2 jobs to keep it... he was recovering from his first heart attack and 5 by-passes... we had failed marriages in our pasts.

 Then it was like finding my soul mate and best friend.... we talked, we shared, we just were right for each other... I was content to just be, but Larry is old fashioned and said marriage... so we began planning but then he went into the hospital with gall stone induced pancreatitis and after 22 days which he almost didn't survive, he got out of the hospital, we got married and began setting goals.....

 Sold the condo, bought a house, remodeled every room in it, took 3 cruises, Alaska and 2 Caribbean, I began watercolor painting and signed up to be guest artist on 3 cruises, 2 in Mediterranean Sea and 1 thru Panama Canal for free, bought a motorhome, sold it because it was crap, bought a new one, traveled to about 45 states..........

 Why this long intro......
 because in February 2017 we were on a 2 month trip to Florida and Larry began having heart attacks. I was told to arrange hospice, that he would not live.... but he rallied, we got to Little Rock, our home, he received a LVAD heart pump, and began a year of recuperation... so we are AGAIN looking at our goals. Actually we were seriously thinking about moving before this health issue and had been looking at Appalachicola Florida area... but there is no LVAD hospital there, so that is no longer a consideration.

 We no longer feel like we will be traveling long distances, Too hard on Larry and I am not comfortable driving this 40’ too much, and we are too upside down $ to downsize it right now.... but it is going to serve another purpose. Lol fulltime, our backup, but just for a short time....then it will be great for trips between Arkansas and Florida,

 We have made the decision to DOWNSIZE permanently and go warmer, yes Florida.... we are doing all of the brain work and leg work to make a move to Hudson, Florida area... north of Tampa.. (Tampa has a LVAD hospital) we have looked at homes, lots, 55+ communities, park models, and modular homes....

 while we have not made a decision, we are closer, and have a better understanding of what we need to do.

 Our goal is to return home the end of next week, and begin the downsizing process..... to include selling our home... we can live in the rv if needed.. I want to sell or donate as much as we can, less to move... the house is too big and I just cant do the maintenance anymore... so I will be having furniture postings and estate sale.... and lots of donations...

 We will be cancelling our reservation to the GC in Macinaw City in September... hate to cancel, but it is just not feasible at this point.

 If things go well, we can maybe make our move in 6 months or so... at least we hope so... but if it takes longer, then it takes longer... and if this doesnt work out, then when can set new goals.... And this is the light at the end of the tunnel..... Mobile, AL tunnel....

Getting out

Sometimes the easiest thing to do is to stay tucked into our cave and just let the days go by, However I truly think that Larry was given this opportunity to get out again...... possibly it is my desire and not his, but whatever the cause, we are traveling again. We discussed this and with Nurse Tori as our text companion we decuded to go..... where? Well why not back to the beginning, Tampa Florida.... after all my son and daughter in law are both MD’s there, we have been in the Medical system there, they have a LVAD hospital, we still have our FMCA coverage, and there are 3 grands that I need to see.... Cut back on the amount of hours we travel each day, altered routes so we are closer to major medical systems, and stopping to and back to visit with dear friends...... should arrive today for a month stay.... even returning will be anticipation that the other 2 grands will be able to come spend time, since school will be out for summer... I am not brave, just take things one day at a time... the only way I know how to deal... making grandiose plans for the future are fun, a trait my oldest son also does, but whther the happen or not, so be it, the plans are a learning tool too..... last tear we talked about buying a home in old Florida, once before we discussed moving to Ecuador... i like where we live, Most important is my best friend in life, Larry, is still by my side......

Larry officially got his drivers license renewed today. He also got a new shirt in from LVADgear.com, wore it today and seemed to be more comfortable To him than even the vest is....

Ruzich LVAD vest

Larry received his new Ruzich LVAD vest on Friday. Wore it yesterday for the first time. Right now it seems like this will be the best option of anything he has yet tried. Wore it all day with no extra strain on his back... he was also able to just get up and go without having to grab his bag.... has tried other vests, but they were not as well thought out as this vest was.... I am so grateful for the Ruzich’s for creating this vest and then creating for others... the link is on my list to the left.... Ordering another right now.

No power....

This morning, at 5am, we were awakened by a loud screaming alarm.... power outage..Larrys controller was telling us it needed power.... By the time we jumped up to start the cord to battery change over, the Generac generator kicked in... Within 2 minutes our power was back on..... there was no storm, no winds, but this morning we realized that our decision to spend that money was a good decision... Met 2 new VADers today on Facebook... I have always thought that information is powerful.... I like FACEBOOK, it empowers me to meet others..... prayers to my new friends...

Vad vest

Like every other LVAD patient, Larry has tried many different ways to carry his equipment.  It is the equivalent if carrying a heavy purse ALL of the time, when he is on battery and not connected via his direct power line.

At the LVAD Support group here a few weeks ago, aman had some of these that he really liked, so Larry has ordered on to see if maybe that will help him.  His back hurts constantly....

Here is the link to their website.

Ruzich Vad Vest

https://vadvest.com