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Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?

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  • betrayal
    betrayal Member Posts: 2,609

    GS's 14th birthday party yesterday was just what he wanted. He had told me in advance the menu was going to be pizza's and wings plus his special peanut butter cup and vanilla ice cream cake. All was good and the food was from a new place so one we will use again. He wanted to show me the online store he wanted to buy some school clothes from called GOAT. So he picked out one pink shirt, a baby blue hoodie and a pair of black shorts. They will ship to my house and he will pick them up or we will deliver. His stepbrother wanted money for his 22nd birthday and he bought a bathing suit for his upcoming trip to Myrtle Beach which we got to see.

    PT continues with her switching out exercises to suit how my knees feel and her focus for the day. Rode recumbent bike for 10 minutes again and am trying to increase reps except for exercises with 5 lb ankle weights. Still using 2 lb weights for leg raises in both side and supine positions. Woke really stiff this am so did take Norco before PT but have mostly been relying on Tylenol for pain relief.

    Had the young buck in the backyard today. He has 3 prongs on each rack and he was following the doe that ahs one fawn. So I took photos of all of them. The ones of the buck are really good so I will try to post.

    As much as I dislike the damage they do to my garden, I still love the deer.

    Hope everyone had a great day.

  • 1946taco
    1946taco Member Posts: 281

    Betrayal - what great pics! DD has deer in her yard but I don't think she has ever had them come that close.

    I'm plugging along. Walking unassisted in the house and with a cane for short outside excursions. Still feel as if I need too much pain medication although doc didn't blink when I asked for a refill. Third session of PT is tomorrow. Staples out Friday. I'm already getting stir crazy and I'am hoping that I can get out to my bridge games next week.

    Our 58th anniversary is Wednesday. With Ken's family's heart history, we never believed he would be here this long. I am grateful every day.

  • illinoislady
    illinoislady Member Posts: 37,966

    Suffer me never to think that I have knowledge enough to need no teaching, wisdom enough to need no correction, talents enough to need no grace, goodness enough to need no progress, humility enough to need no repentance, devotion enough to need no quickening, strength sufficient without Your spirit; lest, standing still, I fall back for evermore.     -Eric Milner-White

  • betrayal
    betrayal Member Posts: 2,609

    Today was my birthday and it had also been my DF's as well. I was lucky that we got to share 63 birthdays before he died. I still miss him especially on birthdays.

    DH and I celebrated at the Capital Grille with a delicious meal (half of which I brought home) and they give you a celebratory dessert of a small serving of a chocolate flourless cake (OMG) and a cheesecake with berries. All in all a wonderful meal. The table was decorated with Happy Birthday metallic signs, "jewel-like" sparkling pieces and red rose petals. The finale is when the waiter takes your photo and they provide you with a copy.

    Nice day with low humidity and temps in high 70's. Sunny and bright.

    Taco, take the narcotic. I was rationing mine but found it caused me to lose sleep and slowed my recovery (wouldn't move as much if I was sore). So take it as long as your MD will provide. Mine said I could have up to 3 refills and I am now working on the 3rd but only taking it once in a blue moon. I take it before PT when my knees are sore (not every time) and on occasion at night if the Tylenol hasn't worked. Trying to save a few for our trip next month. Happy 58th anniversary. Enjoy your day.

    Hope everyone had wonderful day.

  • Greatly blessed
    Greatly blessed Member Posts: 27

    @betrayal , I really enjoyed eating at the Capitol Grill. We ate at the 1 in Baltimore. It was so good. I'm glad y'all had a great time.

  • harley07
    harley07 Member Posts: 341

    Taco - Happy Anniversary! Glad to hear you are working your way through recovery. Hopefully the meds can keep you at least somewhat pain free.

    Betrayal - Happy Birthday! The pictures of the deer in your yard are wonderful - if only they wouldn’t destroy your plants

    Greatly Blessed - welcome!

    The weather has been wonderful - 70’s and low 80’s with low humidity. So once our patio has some shade in the afternoon I spend a few hours outside reading. I have very little energy right now but hopefully that will improve in the next few days.

  • illinoislady
    illinoislady Member Posts: 37,966

    Nature hasn’t blended your mind so completely with your body, as to deny you the power of limiting yourself and bringing under control everything that you are. Always bear that in mind and, with it, remember how little is needed to live a happy life. Just because you’ve given up on becoming a great logician or a student of physics, don’t despair of being free, modest, unselfish, and obedient to the will of God. It’s quite possible to become a great sage and yet never be recognized.    -Marcus Aurelius

  • illinoislady
    illinoislady Member Posts: 37,966

    Good afternoon. It is warmer than I like 83, but cloudy so tolerable. I took some notes so hopefully won't forget too much. First, love your wildlife pictures Betrayal. I am sooo fond of deer. Like you, they have damaged some of my plantings, but they are such beautiful animals that I'd rather have them here on occasion than not.

    I'm also wishing you a very Happy Birthday. Sounds like you chose a really fun place to celebrate. I really like that they provide you with a picture of the occasion. Doesn't sound to me like anything that happens in most restaurants. The restaurants here will usually sing to you, and some will give a small dessert cup as well, but that's it.

    Taco, if I didn't say (the last couple of days have been wild here) Happy Anniversary and I agree with Betrayal. If you need a narcotic so that you get good healing sleep and more pleasant wakeful times I would use it. Healing as soon as possible could only be a good thing.

    Harley that coming down from tx. is a bit of a bummer for your energy level but it will get you back to where you were — so a gift of a sorts so you can get a little more reading in, and books are great friends to share with while you're waiting for your boost to arrive.

    As mentioned, a couple of hectic days here but hopefully we will get back to normal pretty soon. Yesterday was 4 a.m. so we could have my BIL at his appt. for prostate surgery at 6:30 a.m. Getting home at around 10 a.m. which wasn't so bad, but it is all make-up going on after that. I didn't finish up until almost 10 p.m. last night so missing morning hours does make a big difference to me these days at my age.

    I hope you all have a beauty of a day.

  • cindyny
    cindyny Member Posts: 1,276

    ugh…typed a semi long post. Had texts so I switched over to read them and came back to blank.

    Taco, happy anniversary!

    Betrayal, belated happy birthday!

    Harley, take it easy, energy will return over time.

    Jackie, you were up way too early! I hope Thursday you’re back to normal.

    Monday I met a gf to see a movie. Fabulous Four, didn’t get great reviews but we enjoyed it.

    Tuesday I met a gf for lunch. Great weather so we sat out on the restaurant deck.

    Wednesday/today we went to a local fair that’s been around since the 1800’s. Walked our feet off, ate well, and really just enjoyed ourselves. My niece and her daughter w a bff along also went. The young girls were able to get away from us and hit the rides, while us oldies checked out booths and food. It was 82 and sunny, but as we got there a big black cloud came out. Lucky for us just a few drops of rain, but it kept the sun off of us so it was cooler walking around

    Tomorrow I’m meeting a different gf to see another movie. I can’t remember the name right now, based on a book that I haven’t read. We’re going at 1 PM. Then at 6 pm I’m meeting family at a local restaurant for a small get together of cousins, over the loss of our other cousin. Hopefully more laughter over good memories than tears.

    It seems we’re dwindling down on here. Someone said dog days of summer, folks are busy otherwise. Sandy - still concerning we’ve heard nothing.

    Our weather looks good until the weekend. As retired folks the weekend is just another day but I feel for those that work all week and get rain on both Sat & Sun. I hope they’ve got it wrong.

    Enjoy your day ladies!

  • carolehalston
    carolehalston Member Posts: 8,074

    I've been holding off on the latest on Puffin, thinking she might post or have a friend post for her. She is no longer getting treatment and is on hospice care. Today is her dad's 98th birthday. Friends picked him up at the nursing home and brought him to visit Puffin. His picture was on Facebook and he looks great.

    It's shocking that she was living an active life, doing birding travel and looking after her father and then suddenly wasn't able to do any of it. On Facebook she thanked everyone for their prayers.

  • illinoislady
    illinoislady Member Posts: 37,966

    I truly believe we can either see the connections, celebrate them, and express gratitude for our blessings, or we can see life as a string of coincidences that have no meaning or connection. As for me, I’m going to believe in miracles, celebrate life, rejoice in the views of eternity and hope my choices will create a positive ripple effect in the lives of others. This is my choice.

    Mike Ericksen

  • illinoislady
    illinoislady Member Posts: 37,966

    Going to Dr.'s appt. Be back later to post.

  • cindyny
    cindyny Member Posts: 1,276

    Carole, thank you for the update on Puffin. It is unsettling how fast her life turned, it brings tears to my eyes. So thankful her dad was able to get over to see her on his birthday.

  • illinoislady
    illinoislady Member Posts: 37,966

    Appt. reprieve. Ofc. called and I did not have my CT scan so that has to be done beforehand. They will call me.

    Cindy it is such pits when you lose a post. Not sure why, but I haven't done it in a long time. I hope I don't start again either. I do think internet connections are better here where we live than use to be, and I'm not as likely to forget to hit the post comment button — mainly because it is right there to see all the time now.

    I too, found he news of Puffin very sad. Seemed she went from everything okay to very ill almost at once. I am glad her Dad got to see her. Just amazing that he is doing ok and she spent such a long time caring for and with him. She is deep within my thoughts and cares.

    Woke up to thunder rumbling and shortly after I got up it started to rain, so I really was dreading having to go out in it and now I don't have too. Seems to be just a mild drizzle now and not full-blown rain, but still messy to be out. So, I hopefully won't be back-logged on things from a later start than usual.

    Hope you are all going to have a good day. Prayers for our very wonderful friend Puffin.

  • betrayal
    betrayal Member Posts: 2,609

    Dear Puffin: I hope that you will be able to read how much I admired your stoicism in the face of adversity and how much I have enjoyed your postings about your birding trips. I am glad that your last trip brought you so much joy and that you traveled with a friend. Your presence here will be missed and I am so glad I had the opportunity to meet you on this forum. Thank you.

  • betrayal
    betrayal Member Posts: 2,609

    I was really hoping for a better outcome for Puffin and am really saddened by this news. For her Dad to have to deal with this at his age is just so difficult for me to comprehend. Parents aren't supposed to bury their children (yes, I do understand it happens but is dreadful) so I am devastated for him. I am hoping that hospice will offer her the care and comfort she needs at this time.

    It's a beautiful sunny day here in the low 80's with lower than normal humidity. I need to catch up on some household chores and planned to do some ironing which I will get to but later than I wanted.

    We spent this morning booking some excursions for our Amazon cruise in February. Not all are posted yet so we did pick those that we could. Many of the days are at sea which means we can just relax, read and pick some onboard activities that we like to do. I'm hoping they will have onboard movies in the theater on this ship. Loved the popcorn. We book a room with a veranda so we have access to the outdoors and it is private rather than fighting over deck chairs.

    Hope everyone has a wonderful day.

  • harley07
    harley07 Member Posts: 341

    Carole - thank you for the update on Puffin. I am saddened to hear of how quickly the brain tumor progressed. I’m at a loss for words however I will keep her in my thoughts and hope that hospice keeps her comfortable.

  • harley07
    harley07 Member Posts: 341

    Betrayal - sounds like you have some amazing trips planned. If you are willing to share I’d love to hear all about it once your cruises are complete.

  • illinoislady
    illinoislady Member Posts: 37,966

    The wealth of the soul is the only true wealth.

    Lucian

  • sunshine99
    sunshine99 Member Posts: 2,723

    Oh, sweet puffin. So glad her suffering is over. May her family find peace. It's so crazy how we can go from "fine" or "OK" to dying within such a short time.

  • teka
    teka Member Posts: 31

    Puffin,

    May you feel pain free and at peace!

  • illinoislady
    illinoislady Member Posts: 37,966

    Good afternoon. I'm late checking in. We had rain overnight, but it seems dry enough now. Not sure if more rain will come but it did say we would have cooler weather the next few days. That will be nice. Balloon Fest is on here, but the Balloons don't set up and fly when it is too wet. We likely won't go this yr. Didn't last yr. Got out of the habit with the Covid upset and now it just doesn't seem the same. Dh and I are quite frankly slower and far less energetic that a few yrs. ago and so walking on un-even ground plus a rather long walk is not something we want to do.

    I too, hope Betrayal will share with us on her return from her trips. That is how Dh and I get to travel now, vicariously.

    Hope all are having a good Friday. Success with all treatments or coming down from them.

  • betrayal
    betrayal Member Posts: 2,609

    Two new exercises today since bridges have been causing neck pain. One doing butt kicks with 5 lb ankle weights but could only do 15 before I had to stop. The other required stepping over an obstacle one foot at a time so she is addressing balance plus load on one hip at a time. She will give me a print out of exercises to perform while I am on vacation that require no equipment.

    Went to TJMaxx to replace suitcase since the one I bought recently was dented and cracked by baggage handlers on last trip. They do not handle them with care! I don't want a suitcase failure on our next trip. So decided to purchase a cloth sided one for a change and plan on spraying it with a water seal-proof spray to keep it cleaner and from getting wet. Hoping this one lasts more than 2 trips. I will gladly share experiences from our trips and phots as I can since I don't take my phone to Europe and have to rely on DH's camera shots.

    Took DH to Smashburgers for late lunch and then to Giant for some grocery items I needed and of course, you end up picking up a few more. Got a watermelon so we can have salad with it, goat cheese crumbles and balsamic glaze drizzle.

    DGS's GOAT items arrived today so I will be able to give them to him on Sunday. He will be pleased.

    Hot and humid so not a pleasant day to be outside even with the sunshine. Have to water plants tonight and have been enjoying the birds using a small sundial basin as a birdbath/watering hole. I can see it from the family room and make sure the water is refreshed daily. Just gave Bumble Bee his daily "green" lettuce and he chomped it down. I alternate between basil, lettuce and celery leaves; all of which he seems to enjoy.

    Didn't get to ironing yesterday due to having 3 loads of laundry to do instead. May try to do some today and finish tomorrow. Legs are tired from PT and all the walking I did today.

    Hope everyone has a great day. Waving hi to Taco, harley, Ilinoislady, Carole, cindyny and anyone else I have overlooked.

  • carolehalston
    carolehalston Member Posts: 8,074

    Puffin is receiving hospice care. Her friend posted on Facebook that Puffin's short term memory is not good.

    It's overcast and gloomy outside this morning. DH and I will soon be heading off to the farmers market to set up our booth. There aren't a lot of Saturday farmers markets left in the summer since Labor Day is usually the stopping date for the vendors selling art and crafts. Last year we did one extra Saturday.

    Happy Saturday to all.

  • illinoislady
    illinoislady Member Posts: 37,966

    If wrinkles must be written upon our brows, let them not be written upon the heart.  The spirit should not grow old.       -James A. Garfield

  • cindyny
    cindyny Member Posts: 1,276

    It was a beautiful day yesterday. I ran a few errands early, puttered in the yard - bird baths daily attention plus fertilized pots. Then enjoyed the pool, it was at 86 and felt heavenly.

    In the evening we picked up my niece & grandniece and headed to Music Haven. It’s an outdoor venue that had a BBQ & Blues event. Weather was perfect, music and food was great too.

    We were home by a little after 10. I bought some raffle tickets and won an autographed CD, which partner loved. Me & gn teased him, we ran the tickets across his head- because he always wins.

    Trees - the contractor we chose has been a no show & no call backs either. Today will be our third estimate and if he’s close in $$ to the first guy, the job is his.

    Weather should hit 80 today but total overcast, not a peep of sun. Not a lot of plans, I need to pick up some items at Aldi’s and that’s about it.

    Hoping your day isn’t as gray as mine.

  • reader425
    reader425 Member Posts: 924

    Another beautiful day here also. Got up early so DH could take me pre- birthday shopping, had brunch, now on to the pool also. Spoken as a retiree, a nap is also in my future as I'm not used to getting up this early.

    Hope everyone has a good weekend.

  • illinoislady
    illinoislady Member Posts: 37,966

    Gorgeous out today. Not too hot, about 86 with a small breeze. A little humidity so a/c kicks in a time or two extra, but if you're not running or doing lots of exertion with your activities it is okay. Keep thinking we will have more rain. but so far it has held off. It is due to be cooler weatherman said. I hope he is right.

    I'm not a real "Blues" fan but do enjoy even what I don't listen too much when out of doors. Just something about spreading the sound around outside rather than building. I also like when I get home early for my bedtime.

    In case I forget, I'll say Happy Birthday in advance Reader. Since I consider it a just a number, I usually forget many things, family bd's anniversaries etc. All days are holidays to me. If I wake up and chest moves in and out, I figure its a good time to celebrate. I hope you have a wonderful day today and on your Birth date as well.

    Carole, thanks for the further update on Puffin. She is truly missed here. I'm glad there is hospice for her so that her days can be gentle.

    I hope you all have a nice day.

  • betrayal
    betrayal Member Posts: 2,609

    Rain this am and now clearing but overcast. Listening to music on Youtube and Bumble Bee has expressed a preference to Sinead O'Connor, Maria Callas and Pavarotti. Singing along now to Sinead singing Nothing Compares to You which he really loves. Funny how selective he is to singing along since I played 35 minutes of Opera arias and he loved Callas singing Bel Di from Madame Butterfly and O Mio Babbino Caro from Gianni Schiacchi . Doesn't take much to make him happy.

    Doing regular household chores today to clean the house. Misty is a fur shedding machine and you can run the dust mop thinking you got all the fur balls and another appears out of nowhere. It's a good thing she is so beautiful and this is in spite of my brushing her every day to remove her excess loose fur.

    Found the herbal neck pack that I can microwave to provide heat to my neck. Last night I awakened several times due to my neck and had difficulty finding a comfortable position. Going to avoid any more bridges at PT even though I do them on a flat surface and try not to engage my neck. Knee still responds to Tylenol but it doesn't touch the neck. Will use this again at bedtime and maybe leave it in position while I try to sleep.

    Leftovers for dinner so it's just reheat and eat. Easy tonight but need to put some pork chops I bought into freezer bags. I have a seal a meal machine for this purpose and love it.

    Hope everyone has a great day and that anyone suffering from pain, SE's of drugs, life in general can find some peace.

  • 1946taco
    1946taco Member Posts: 281

    Carole - thanks so much for the update on Puffin, sad though it is. She certainly has a special place in my heart.

    Saw both ortho PA and had PT on Friday. Both think I'am doing very well although I really hurt today from the PT. Ankle is still sore from the sprain and she gave me a light brace which I think is helping. Also said I could get rid of the thigh high "white stockings" on both legs to a knee high one on just the surgical knee. Ken was really happy about that as they are a challenge to get on.

    Quiet anniversary celebration. I wasn't ready to go to dinner. Probably celebrate next weekend. At one point I thought. we would go out tonight and told my BFF that. About 4:00 this afternoon she called to see if she could drop something off. She had made a lovely small bouquet that she had planned to deliver to the restaurant to be on our table. Not only had we decided not to go, but when she went to make the drop-off, she discovered the place is closed until after Labor Day. I'm sure glad we hadn't taken off without reservations. But touched by her thoughfulness and It is lovely sitting on our coffee table.

    Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Thanks for your support and encouragement.