Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
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Finished all of the blinds & windows. Need to wash the curtains next.
I was at a friend's yesterday and looked at her windows. She has no curtains or drapes and I love the look. She just has blinds and double solar screens to keep out the heat. We already have the screens. I would just have to buy different blinds. She has blinds that let in the light when cranked open and darken a room significantly when closed. I think I'm going to look into this. She also has a built in desk in her kitchen that I like. Like me, she used to have a standard desk, but had a custom one built when she updated her house a few years ago. New projects...Yep.
Taking H out for dinner to celebrate his 62nd birthday. Tomorrow is actually his b'day, but S has to work tomorrow night & is going to a ball game Friday (Astros or Skeeters...not sure which) & H won't go into town on Saturdays. Doesn't like the "crowds" - people who work during the week & shop on weekends.
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I'm leaving tomorrow for my 60th high school reunion in Oklahoma. Our high today is predicted to be 59; their high for tomorrow is predicted to be 92. I'm hoping they air condition everything like they do in Texas. At least there will be a breeze. I think we only had 2-3 days in the 90's here. Very rare event.
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~Wren~
Have fun.
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It's better to be known by six people for something you're proud of
than to be known by sixty million for something you're not.
Albert Brooks0 -
Today is H's 62nd birthday. We went out to dinner last night and to the grocery store this morning. I just baked him a blueberry pie that he can have for dessert tonight. We seem to have stopped doing the birthdays 'up big'. We are both content to acknowledge with a nice dinner out & quiet time at home. He is looking forward to his first SS check, though.
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Poppy, hope your Dh has a wonderful birthday. I think it is nice when we get to "quiet" things down a lot more. They can be extra meaningful.
Hope you both have many, many more together.
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Hi, all,
All I can say about the ride home yesterday is that it was long and tough on my back. We got home about 9 and had to be up at 6:30 this morning for the appraiser from the insurance company. Unfortunately, he never showed up. My claim manager is in Denver, so she doesn't start her day till 11:00 east coast time. When I'm reached her, she had no explanation for why "Jeffrey" didn't show. She told me she would probably have to send him an email as he didn't have a phone #. I asked, "Really?, I don't know any professional that doesn't have a cell phone nowadays." I said "maybe he just didn't give a number to you, but I am sure he has to check in every do often with his office staff". She agreed and said she would call me back. I told her she would probably have to leave a message, because I was going to take a much needed nap. At noon, Brett showed up at the door, asking if he could do the appraisal then. My brother explained that neither me (the owner of the house), nor my daughter (who has the best idea of the problems) were available at that time. They scheduled for him to come back Sat at 11:00. This guy works for my insurance company, where the other one was a private contractor, and this one gave my brother his full name andI phone number.
I took a 3 1/2 hr nap and I am still worn out. My brother, bless his heart, stayed awake to answer my phone while I napped. He is napping now.
Will keep you updated. Hope your week is going a little better than mine. I was complaining to my daughter TG his morning, and her reply was to tell me to think of Puerto Rico, and all the people who have lost everything, in the islands and in Texas and Fl. I do think about them, but I just finished a big remodel in March. I just want my home back 😞
Anne
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Yeah, Anne, I hear you. I was seething over tech problems (especially nervousness over whether the iPhone 8 Plus I ordered online last week will be available for in-store pickup & setup tomorrow at my appointed time, and the first backup of my new MacBook Pro to my TimeCapsule taking almost a week), the heat (92F), the mold action alert (stuck indoors with the A/C on) and the big fat wasps' nest on the side of my house my next-door neighbor's gutter-install crew discovered when hundreds began swarming at them when they began working. My sister called to ask me what I knew about polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), which her orthopedist believes she has (shoulder & hip pain, worsening eyesight, fatigue) and referred her to a rheumatologist. Turns out her symptoms are strikingly similar to what our mom had (which nobody thought back then to diagnose as anything other than aging)--and it's hereditary. Average age of onset is 72, but any time over 50 is possible. And it's most prevalent in white women of Northern European (including Ashkenazi) descent. Then there's my mystery anemia (though I feel fine but my sis is exhausted and losing weight w/o dieting). But we both said simultaneously: "At least we're not in Puerto Rico." (Or Mexico City).
Turns out she & my BIL didn't suffer any damage to their property on Big Pine Key--they sold it 6 months ago. And they'd already lost the boat due to Hurricane George. Not their circus, not their monkeys.
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Anne, I think it is sort of hard to think of anyone when you are physically ( and maybe a bit mentally as well ) wiped out from a long trip to get home only to have things start working out poorly. Most of us I know ( including you when you can even think that long and far ) are horrified at what people are having to go through -- not only from the three recent hurricanes, but that devastating earthquake in Mexico. I have no words but can only pray.
Those of us in-affected so to speak can pray and hope for the best while you I hope will get as rested as you can and in the meantime -- be able to see some progress on getting your appraisal and shortly then to be able to start on your house.
Thinking of you and all those who have been hurt by these storms and earth shattering events.
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"Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy."
– Abraham Joshua Heschel0 -
Carole and I met for lunch this week and shopped the mall at Detroit Lakes before she heads back to Louisiana. Such a treat to be able to talk in person.
I just got back from a week in Plymouth, Massachusetts where I attended the Mayflower Society Congress (I'm a descendant of John Alden and Priscilla). One of the activities was a Pilgrim Parade. We could check out our attire, and here's what I wore.
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God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today.
Have you used one to say "thank you?"
- William Arthur Ward0 -
What fun to meet up with Carole. Hope her trip the rest of the way home is in-eventful. Don't know why, but my computer changes my u to an I all the time. Grrra!!!By the way --- you look great as a Pilgrim, Puffin. Looks and sounds like you had a marvelous week. Wow on being Alden and Priscilla decendant.
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Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. -Epictetus
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It's a beautiful Sunday. Will be hot again today -- it has been now for over a week I think. Coolness is coning though. Wednesday or so we will go into the 70's and stay there. Don't know how long. I am so amazed that Fall is here already. It will soon be time to gather leaves and think about the last wiener roast ( if we have one ) of the year. I do love the colors of Fall and seeing the changes of all the seasons, but it seems no matter which one I am never quite ready. Trick question??? Is this age where you don't like change, or is it really feeling like you started out wanting to accomplish so much during Spring and Summer and you didn't get to all of it?? I think I'll take the last answer.
I hope you are all going to have a good day, hopefully a slow restful one so you can start out Monday in great form.
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Last wiener roast? We grill out on the deck all year long unless it's raining, snowing, or there is so much snow on the grill lid to clean it off. (And we prefer to steam hot dogs atop seasoned sauerkraut, bratwurst, & kielbasa for a choucroute garnie. Or on a bun from the hot dog stand--either with kraut & brown mustard or "dragged through the garden" Chicago-style.
It's cooled off considerably--only 87 outside. Still watering my tomatoes--have 29 remaining on the vine and one plant is still flowering.
Trying to do this new MBPro's first Time Machine backup to the Time Capsule (which is also our wi-fi router). Tried advice to put it in the same room as the router. The furthest it got was 56 out of 255 GB before burping & aborting the backup when I picked it up and placed it atop the router. Will have to get a USB-C-to-Ethernet adapter to try it hardwired to either the Time Capsule or the AirPort Extreme signal extender. Fortunately, after my old Seagate 1TB USB hard drive (connected via USB-A-to-C adapter) croaked after making a backup, I was able to back up to a new G-Force USB-C drive. So at least I have that one. Trying again--and once again, it's spending eternity "Preparing backup..."
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"A smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside."
-- Denis Waitley0 -
Yes, we do a last hot dog roast here often. Make a big bon fire with hay bales all around --- with the smoke drifting around everyone. We talk and laugh and use the time to just feel grateful for a good reason to have a ( mainly family ) last outdoor get-together before winter and its issues ( sometimes very cold and snowy ) cause us to stay indoors and sometimes away from each other.
I love the smell of hot dogs searing on the end of those sticks and going to the table to fill a plate and put condiments on -- some hot mulled cider to drink, and of course, it isn't right until the makings for S'mores is brought out. People are reluctant to leave but finally there is little left but quiet embers. It is like this on almost everyone that we do -- the lingering, knowing that the next family outdoor outing will have to wait for late Spring or early Summer.
Yesterday was quite hot, but I'm wondering if it was the little breeze that kept me from feeling the full brunt of it. I think 72 is too young to NOT feel exactly what is happening -- be it hot or cold. I was thankful though to come and go as needed. Took a friend out to get some supplies she needed. Her a/c has not worked all year and since there was a nice breeze I hoped she would come outside and sit for a while. I'm sure her house was warmer 'feeling' inside than out. She said she would.
Still looking forward to the cooler temps coming. I can get back to washing the house outside. Hope you all are going to have a good day.
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It was very enjoyable to meet up with Puffin again this summer and catch up. I didn't intend to buy anything when we went for a walk in the small indoor mall in Detroit Lakes, but I found a vase and artificial sunflowers that inspired me to pull out my credit card! They'll look nice in my house and provide some fall color.
Today is chilly and overcast. The high is supposed to linger in the 50's. I went outside briefly to move the truck to another parking spot and to do a quick chore.
I'm looking forward to heading home next Sunday. If it were up to me, I would already be heading home, but dh has his schedule. Our rv (5th wheel camper) is comfortable but it will be nice to move back into roomier quarters.
The change from green leaves to colored leaves has taken place amazingly fast.
Happy Monday to all.
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~IllinoisLady~
You make me long for my childhood home in northern Michigan. We did the bonfire & hotdogs on the beach at the lake. I have never had s'mores though. We would sit on washed up logs (trees) and wrap up in blankets to keep the wind from the lake off. The air was crisp and you could almost feel the snow that was coming. I loved it! I don't miss the long winters we had, but I start thinking about it around Halloween. That's when we often got a first snow that actually would stick.
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92 here today. Leaves mostly green. No rain in the picture, and I saw new blossoms on one of my tomato plants, so I've been watering them. (28 tomatoes still on the vine). Basil, thyme, mint, and rosemary doing well, but parsley is getting pale & leggy. Chives are pretty much pooped out as well. Birds & squirrels got all the Concord grapes. Rabbits ate the few strawberries before they could even ripen.
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Our summer garden has been gone for several weeks. We harvested tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, onions,beans. H was able to get about a dozen jars of picante sauce put up. He didn't get many jars of pickles this year because it was so dry. Carrots didn't do well either. He has the garden tilled & ready for the fall planting. I like the broccoli & Brussels sprouts. We have tried Mustang grapes and strawberries, but the rabbits always got them..even with netting. I have tried herbs here, but they don't do well for me.
Getting my paperwork together for my visit with the MO next week. He is going to be disappointed this time. I have no labs, or mammogram results. Those come in November. I will have to fax them to him. I am thinking he may put me on bi-annual visits now. I have been seeing him every 3 months for a year so far. He said it would stay that way until he is 'satisfied that the side effects have leveled off & I am tolerating the med'. The joint & muscle pain in my hands & legs haven't gotten any worse over the last several months and I am managing it. We shall see.
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Those of you whose SEs (specifically: joint pain, dizziness, muscle pain, severe fatigue, vision problems, headaches, finger issues) from your AIs have gotten more severe with age (especially after age 65), even after a few years on the drug, should ask your doctors if your next blood tests ought to include an ESR (red cell sedimentation rate) and a CR-P (C-reactive protein). My sister experienced worsening migraines, exhaustion, and bilateral shoulder and hip pain despite normal imaging--and then got two trigger fingers. She never had breast cancer, and is not on anything remotely hormonal or anti-hormonal. But our mom had the same symptoms--but migraine auras (which she called "the shimmering") instead of the headaches. Because Mom was 80 at the time, had heart failure, COPD and Type 2 diabetes, her doctors dismissed her shoulder pain as OA of "old age" and the "shimmering" as "emotional." All they'd give her for the pain--because they were afraid of further depressing her breathing--was Arthritis Tylenol. (She finally got Vicoprofen a month before she died, and marvelled at how it stopped the pain).
My sister's ESR and CR-P (both indications of inflammation) were sky-high. She has been given a diagnosis of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), an autoimmune disease that is far commoner than once believed. (Some women who complain of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, and whose doctors dismiss them as hypochondriacs and say those diseases are "fads," might have PMR instead). The average age at diagnosis is 72, but it can occur at any time after menopause. It is commonest in white women of Northern European (including Ashkenazi Jewish) ancestry--occurs twice to three times as often in women than in men.
It is still unlikely that if you are suffering severe AI SEs, you have PMR. But those blood tests can make the differential diagnosis between "AI intolerance" or even "low pain threshhold" (or even "chronic complainer") and PMR. The only treatment is prednisone--but even small-to-moderate doses can eliminate the symptoms. If you do have PMR, you should also keep tabs on your cardiovascular (especially the blood vessels surrounding the brain and neck) health, because temporal and giant cell arteritis is often a comorbidity.
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Chisandy, would you know if an RF test might detect PMR? Thanks for the post
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According to this an RF test would be negative. Answered my own question.
How Are Polymyalgia Rheumatica and Temporal Arteritis Diagnosed?
Under the new criteria developed by the American College of Rheumatology and The European League Against Rheumatism, patients ages 50 years and older can be classified as having PMR if they meet the conditions below:
- Shoulder pain on both sides
- Morning stiffness that lasts at least 45 minutes
- High levels of inflammation measured by blood tests
- Reported new hip pain
- Absence of swelling in the small joints of the hands and feet, and absence of positive blood tests for rheumatoid arthritis
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Start doing the things you think should be done, and start being what you think society should become. Do you believe in free speech? Then speak freely. Do you love the truth? Then tell it. Do you believe in an open society? Then act in the open. Do you believe in a decent and humane society? Then behave decently and humanely.
Adam Michnik0 -
~ChiSandy~
I am copying what you said in your post and talking to my MO about it next week. My PCP orders my labs & will run whatever tests he requests. Thanks for the information.
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Gratitude is one of the great positive emotions because it creates magnetism. A magnet is that which draws things to itself; therefore, by giving heartfelt thanks for all the good we now have, through the magnetism that gratitude creates, we will start attracting more good into our daily life. -Elaine Hibbard
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What a fantastic day here. It is cloudy and cool and I envision being able to come and go and do lots of things today. I hope that vision comes true. We went to Marion yesterday. Dh had a problem with one of his fingers healing up from an injury but other than aching a bit now and then, it will just take patience on his part to wait it out. Quite a drive and time spent for something it would have been nice to hear from the local office. Sigh !!!! We are thankful we have the V.A. but now and then the protocol is odd for some of the more simple things.\
I hope you are all having a wonderful day.
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Be the first to forgive, to smile and take the first step, and you will see happiness bloom. Be always the first. Do not wait for others to forgive, for by forgiving, you become the master of fate, the fashioner of life, the doer of miracles. To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return you will receive untold peace and happiness. -Robert Muller
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