Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
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Minus, yes, the shower was a treat! Just hitting the high spots with a cold washcloth just isn't the same. Think we finally got the kitchen back in order, had been using as few things as possible but couldn't wash them without water so it was beginning to look pretty bad!
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Hi, Nola. I got my two Pfizer vaccine shots at the nearby Ochsner on the north shore. I don't know of any support groups but I would be happy to talk with you. Send me a personal message (PM) and we can talk on the phone and/or arrange to meet in person.
I painted on Saturday and Sunday. First a coat of oil based primer over the wall paper in the kitchen. Yesterday the color coat. Today I will do some touch up with a brush. I don't want to apply a complete second coat and add to the weight. Now here's hoping the wall paper doesn't protest by falling off the wall. On Wednesday the installers are supposed to come with the counter tops.
I won't go into details but replacing the formica countertops with new quartz countertops has not gone as smoothly as we had hoped. This is the second set of countertops. I am happy with my choice of white quartz with a muted gray tracery. It's amazing how the white brightens up the kitchen.
The cold weather has gone away. It's sunny today and the forecast calls for a high in the 60's. I suspect our winter is over.
Glad the Texas people are returning to normal. Apparently this winter cold will be more expensive than the most expensive hurricane that hit Texas.
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Life is a refining process. Our response to it determines whether we'll be ground down or polished up. On a piano, one person sits down and plays sonatas, while another merely bangs away at "Chopsticks." The piano is not responsible. It's how you touch the keys that makes the difference. It's how you play what life gives you that determines your joy and shine. -Barbara Johnson
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Warming up here too. I can't believe in just one day how much of the snow is already gone and what is left has a defeated and deflated look. The places where it was piled up ( taken off driveways and sidewalks etc. ) will last a bit longer, but all in all, I'm hoping that this is the worst and that if we have to deal with winter any more it is will be just cold air.
Seems like the quote that came this morning was tailor made for the above entries. Some griping and complaining is normal, but it is amazing how so many of you just keep on pushing for the good parts. I do think age has something to do with that. We have all pretty much learned long ago that impatience doesn't hurry anything and just tends to aggravate more. Also the big axiom -- the only way you will get through any of this is right squarely down the middle of it. I will be the first to admit sometimes a good attitude is hard to come by -- but slipping it in more than not has helped me to turn things around. Once you confront things head on it reduces the power of the aggravation.
We will have a couple of at least 50 degree days and that should turn us around pretty good. My car is in the shop trying to figure out what is up with it. Sure hope it is something simple. ( Thinking remember how to treat aggravation here ). Hoping we all have really good days coming and shots to all the willing arms as soon as possible.
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Opened the blinds this morning to sunshine and absolutely no snow or ice in sight. Amazing how quickly things can change, a week ago a neighbor texted that she was drinking coffee while watching the snow fall.
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The mamo is done. Hopefully no problems. I have my MO appointment on Thursday.
I did have an adventure on Saturday. I went to Mount Dora for the Antique Extravaganza. There were people from all over the country and I even spoke with a lady from Germany. Masks were required, but by afternoon, some people did not put theirs back on. I picked up a few old brooches, an old necklace, a great bracelet from Holland and some odds and ends from a guy that sells silver. (I did get ripped off on a couple of silver pieces, but if I ever go again, I will be a little more careful.) The items I bought, I will clean up and list in my ebay store. I can't repair anything any more without any dexterity. My friend had a weak clammy spell. I got her some water and an orange and she was better. We left after that. I got a little flustered and missed a turn, which took me 20 minutes out of the way, but made it home safe and sound, My friend is doing fine.
Beaverntx, glad it is getting better for you.
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TX sisters, glad you no longer have to live like "Pioneer Woman On Ice." Hope you don't get any of those unpleasant surprise four-or-even-five-figure electric bills, especially not deducted from your checking accounts.
Gonna wear a jacket with some big pockets tomorrow: my 3-month followup with the ocular onc (Bob will come along, as the onc wants to meet him because they trained at UIC about the same time). I'm hoping the little intermittent "winking crescents" at the edge of my vision I've had for about a month are only a vitreous and not a retinal detachment, and especially not a sign of the melanoma regrowing. (Best case scenario is that it's just radiation damage). I'm very, very nervous. I'm hoping I don't learn that the expiration date on my birth certificate is looming, before we can get back to normal-ish post-pandemic semi-retirement living. We're going to nearby Greektown for lunch afterwards--hope I won't need a gallon of ouzo & Rodytis or Santorini to get through it. (Bob has to drive, as my eyes will be dilated & it'll be sunny).
We've had quite a bit of melting--less than a foot of snow remaining on my front lawn, and only about 6-8" on the garage roof. (I can see the gutters)!
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Sandy: Fingers crossed that your news tomorrow is all good news. Have a big drink to celebrate at lunch and do a little Zorba the Greek dance.
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Sandy, in your pocket tomorrow. Glad Bob can go with you.
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Sandy, hope all goes well.
Beaverntx, glad it is getting better out there
I had my mamo, yesterday. The tech didn't say anything, so I m guessing it is ok. Since it was a screening, the radiologist didn't read it right away. I am getting my haircut this morning.
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Sandy, In each and every pocket today. Good Bob is going with you and you can have a celebratory lunch in wonderful Greektown
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The best thing about this very minute is your ability to recognize the possibilities in it. Any fool can count the seeds in an apple. But only God can count the apples in a seed. There is something in every problem that holds potential for something better. Do you want a lifetime of happy right nows? The little choice this moment to see the beauty in what appears ugly, frustrating, or disgraceful will change everything. -Barbara Johnson
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(((((((((((Sandy ))))))))))))))) -- being a pocket buddy for you as well.
Weatherman says 67 today -- good bye snow that is left. There really isn't much anyway. Maybe and inch and a half at the highest of the non-piles areas while patches of the law already have nothing. It was such a bummer when it came for a few days, but it is leaving as if on a speeding train. You won't find me with any complaints on that.
Couldn't find anything wrong with my car at the garage -- so I'm back on the road. I do need some bearings and struts, and I still think the stable-trac is not quite right -- but I just need to be able to come and go for now which I can safely do. So we will go on Mar 2nd. for second Moderna shots and my CT which had to be put off for the snow event. Will be nice to get these things accomplished since I do feel like my social life with Dr.'s was so rudely interrupted, huh !! I'm so hoping that I can reach a spot where my Dr. dates don't have to b e so prolific. I am grateful that I really don't have any true complaints. I am blessed.
I hope you all have a wonderful day of melting snows if you have them and warmer temps. and appts. for shots and are looking ahead to Spring.
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Sandy - best of luck today.
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Sandy - best of luck today.
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Hoping for good news, Sandy. We used to love a Greek place right off the Expressway at Halsted. I'm thinking the name was Hellotis. No reservations but they gave you Ozzo while you waited.
My shot got cancelled because delivery problems. Hasn't been rescheduled. I thought I had snagged another one but when the confirmation came, they were only giving second doses. Oh well...
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The ocular onc appt. went well--tumor shrank by only .1mm, but that's because it was so small to begin with. Seems to have lost a little of its vascularity too. Chances of mets w/in the next 5 yrs is close to zero (kinahurrah).
Taylor St. looked like a ghost town--except the restaurants still open, at which parking was impossible. So we headed over to Greektown, where to our chagrin we found out that Santorini has been closed permanently. I didn't see Hellotis, but I wasn't looking for it. We ended up at old reliable Greek Islands, where we didn't have ouzo (because of capacity limits, no crowds waiting for tables so no free ouzo) but did have saganaki ("opaaa!"), tomato salad, grilled octopus, Mediterranean sea bass, dandelion greens and coffee.
Second Moderna shot tomorrow, stopping off for paczki en route home. Then back to eating dead animals & leaves till I get back down to where I was before I threw my back out. (Still 15 lbs. lighter than my pre-lockdown weight).
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Sandy - glad the appointment with occular specialist went well. Good luck with the second shot. You and me both with the weight. I've been snacking the past two nights and gained 3+ pounds - not a happy gal - snacking needs to STOP NOW and I need to get the few pounds off and at the least keep it from rising.
Snow in the forecast for tonight.
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I had my eye checkup yesterday and was amazed at all the new machines to gaze into. I left the office feeling happy because the feedback on my eye health was so good.
My current project is to buy fabric to sew a new window treatment for the kitchen window over the sink. I went to Hobby Lobby on the way to my eye appointment yesterday but didn't have time to do some serious searching.
Today is supposed to be another beautiful day with mild temperature high.
Happy Wednesday.
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Good morning, ladies. It is a bright and sunny morning at 54 degrees and heading to 73. I like my haircut and even put on a little makeup. I know why bother when your face is covered by a mask, but I wore it around the house. LOL Here is a selfie.
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Ego could be defined as whatever covers up basic goodness. From an experiential point of view, what is ego covering up? It's covering up our experience of just being here, just fully being where we are, so that we can relate with the immediacy of our experience. Egolessness is a state of mind that has complete confidence in the sacredness of the world. It is unconditional well being, unconditional joy that includes all the different qualities of our experience.
-Pema Chodron
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Sigh of relief for you Sandy. Hopefully you are most definitely out of the woods now and can relax more. Your food adventures are always fun to read.
Carole I glad to hear about your eye health as well. Always good when we get good news about our senses -- makes you feel really in tune a bit more all over no matter what is going on.
petite -- yay !! That is a great haircut and I'm so glad you shared a picture of it. There again -- it is fantastic when you feel like the things you have done for yourself have made a positive difference. With the covid and other issues it is nice to have the positive inputs going on now -- a bit of a confidence builder for what I hope is a much better and brighter future all around.
Sunny and warm enough it will be here today. Other than a couple of quite small piles all the snow is gone from our yard. I have my car back although it does need some 'fixing' but no problem going about my everyday life. They are things that don't have to be done immediately. Our weather sounds like it will stay decent now ( but one never knows for sure ) although it won't likely get as warm as yesterday's high of 67 for some time to come. I can live with that. Just give me more sun than anything else and I can find a way to manage.
Hoping you all have a most wonderful day.
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Sandy, so happy for you and for all of us!!! The last time I was at Santorini was about 25 years ago with late husband, Howard. He ordered a big fish; it overlapped the plate, took a bite right into a giant fish hook. Santorini provided paper towels for the blood but that was it. After that we would go to one down the street a few blocks to the south and I would have the most delicious yogurt and rice. Next Wednesday , Gil and I are going to Avli inWinnetka for our 19th anniversary. The owner grew up working at Greek Islands which his uncle owned..
It will be such a relief for you to get the second shot today.
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I have been hard at work taking the wallpaper off of the inside of the trunk intended as a wedding present for my daughter. My friend brought up the old tradition of a hope chest, and I said "exactly".
Sandy, congratulations that the eye problem is now manageable. Fifteen pounds lost in a year is great achievement given the conditions. It looks like my Lent will be a fast from meat, entirely. The soreness in my mouth and inability to chew are reasons for gratitude, given that I will soon be able to chew steak and salad. I bought some six cans of dry Ensure from Amazon. Plenty of milk and eggs, though. I need to get some bananas for my Ensure smoothies.
Petite, you are looking great! My chemocurls are now gone, I have gotten over the grief of losing the curls I have always had. It is also much finer, I think, and greyer, of course. Decided that an earlobe-length or even a chin-length bob would be the best option. Have an appointment on Saturday to get bangs, and a trim in back. It will take a while, but patience is a virtue worth cultivating.
There is still about a foot of snow on the ground, but it is diminishing day by day. Daytime temps consistently above freezing now. Glad I have my hiking poles, too much frozen flow on the sidewalks. I should have put my ice-grips on my shoes.
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Sandy, Glad your eye appointment went well and you'll soon have your 2nd shot.
Petite, I have almost the same haircut; just had it done Sun. I hope mine looks as good as yours.
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Petite, you look great with that haircut and makeup and even earrings. I always wore earrings wherever I went but this last year I don't bother. The only makeup I apply is a bit of mascara.
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The true measure of a man is how he treats someone
who can do him absolutely no good. - Samuel Johnson
To measure the man, measure his heart.- Malcolm S. Forbes
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Our temps will reman fine, but on and on coolish a bit -- nothing like the what we had that brought on the foot of snow that is now all but gone. The only places with more than minimal amts. are in parking lots where excessive mounds were made.
Good for you MC and getting used to what we have become, hair and all. I decided to let my grow out -- first time in many yrs. I mainly did it for some extra warmth, but more so for the fact that due to a sort of pocket from an old lg. goiter as well as my face dropping from a stroke several yrs. ago I thought the lower area chin and below might be less pronounced with longer hair. I still will have to get color ( which I really don't need yet ) or perms which will provide the body I need with thin, fine hair. That unfortunately is really noticeable when I let my hair grow. I'm not good at styling my own hair -- so I almost always need some sort of perm that allows something of a casual look - whether long or short.
Looking forward to today with its sunshine. I'm starting to get anxious for Spring which is not unusual for me. The sun and warming up and slightly longer days just start to tempt me with the hope and promise of the new beginning that is on the way.
I hope you all have a grand day.
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Good morning. It is bright and sunny. I got my walk in early and feel energized. Thank you, ladies. I like my hair cut. I have been wearing it short for probably 10 years. Sometimes it turns out better than others. DH says the same thing. One time he told the barber he wanted it short and tight and they shaved his head. He wore a hat for a couple of weeks. LOL
This afternoon I have my MO appointment. Hopefully they can do a referral to an ortho doc or a therapist for some relief with my hands.
Carole, I was afraid the ear piercing would close up, so, I wear them most days.
MC, I think the trunk would make a great hope chest.
Sandy, keeping the 15 pounds off in these times is great!
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Petite, you look great! (I wear eye makeup--fill in the brows, liner, one coat of mascara--but that's about it because when I'm out & about for anyone to see, my face is covered from the bottoms of my eyeglass frames on down. And when going out to eat (tent, patio or now indoors), I can't stand the look of lipstick on my wine glass. As for earrings, I just keep my diamond studs in all the time: back in the day when I'd coordinate my jewelry with my outfits, if I was late going out the door I'd find myself going to work (even to court) with holes in my earlobes. Same with my pendants. They come off only for scans & surgeries.
Carole, wonderful eye news!
Judy, do tell how dinner at Avli goes--and an early Happy Anniversary! We have Barbi Yianni in Lincoln Sq. (around the corner from my old law office, so we lunched there often before I retired), and Psistaria on Touhy just e. of the Edens. (I think the original was in Greektown). Do you remember the old Second City/Nat'l Lampoon Radio Hour song by John Belushi, "The Halsted St. Blues?" (Pre-SNL, pre-"cheeborger, cheeborger"). He played a Greek restaurateur miffed at his kids who took their UIC (then called Circle Campus) degrees and refused to join him in the family business. ("I got da blues...I got dose g*dd*mn Greek Halsted St. Blues! G'ddammit, g'ddammit, g'ddammit, g'ddammit..."). I still can't drive through Greektown without hearing it as an earworm that makes me giggle uncontrollably. But I think back on all the Greektown restaurants we've lost: Parthenon, Santorini, Pegasus, Rodytis, Diana's Opaa, etc. Most ofhose closed down long before the pandemic, but I still miss them. They (and most of Little Italy) have fallen victim to the profusion of restaurants along Randolph St.'s Restaurant Row and Fulton Market...but even some of the latter have closed or are on hiatus.
How are you feeling after your second Moderna shot, Judy? Usual sore & stiff arm for me; but then felt chilly, followed by a rather plesant warm flash. I went to bed with a temp of 95.1 (it was the middle of the night--was up for hours online trying to track down a primary care doc.see below). Overnight I began getting some mild chills and muscle spasms, and woke up this morning (more precisely, my cats woke me up, nagging to be fed) with "warm feet" and a temp. of 99, but it's a bit lower now--but still almost as high as the first day I fell ill a week after returning from London Dec. 2019. I've actually forgotten what a real fever feels like. I won't take anything till it becomes really, really uncomfortable and my temp goes >99.6. (Bob was over 100.4 before he took the Tylenol I gave him, which knocked his temp down to 98). I'm feeling mildly crummy--but I can still smell & taste and my O2 sats are 99%.
On to my late-night online odyssey: my new primary at N.Shore Med. Grp. Lincolnwood has disappeared from both the "Care Team" in my patient portal and the list of staff at the Lincolnwood office. Did some sleuthing and found she left the NorthShore system entirely--and never gave me a heads-up. Have messages in to my two oncologists at Kellogg, as well as my GYN at the Lincolnwood ofc. who'd referred me to her--whom it took 4 months to contact and exactly 1 initial visit, back in Nov. My Amita St. Joseph PCP died of COVID in June; and his daughter, a DNP (who got her MSN & DNP from Columbia U. and trained at Columbia-Presbyterian), is the sole practitioner in her office. There are two sister MD physicians (not the "bad-listener" male on-call doc who botched my phone consult for a cat bite last fall) across the hall as part of the Presence Medical Group, but no credentials listed for either of them--not even in what country they trained. I'm not comfy with her prof. bldg., as it has no self-park lot (valet-only), no available street parking, and its one working elevator is tiny and not patrolled to assure social distancing. (I can't help but think that's how her dad caught COVID). I'm also not crazy about the Amita system in general or St. Joseph in particular. But I did find out that my second primary (who dropped me in 2006, back when her office left my HMO and stopped taking my insurance) now has privileges at (reasonably nearby) Swedish Covenant, which is now part of the NorthShore system.
So my options are to pick another internist/family practitioner at the Lincolnwood group, get other referrals w/in the system, contact my second primary (who began treating me at the now-defunct Rush-Anchor HMO system in 1989 after my first Chicago primary retired to NC's Outer Banks to start a charity clinic), or stick with my current DNP (whom I haven't yet officially dropped, and cc her on every test & shot). There's also one of Bob's fellow UIC residents from back in the day (and who was my late primary's partner for a decade before switching systems), but she's with Northwestern and her office is down in the Loop, a couple of blocks from the nearest garage (or CTA station, if public transit ever becomes safe again). We'd FB-Messaged a couple of times right after my primary died, but she never got back to me after that.
I'll have to have a heart-to-heart with Bob tonight about what to do about getting a primary.
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