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

Looking good, Keywestfan. And the young man is handsome youth.

I went flower shopping yesterday and bought dh his required large red geranium. Also a gorgeous purple petunia hanging basket and a variety of small bedding plants for a pot or two. Before I arrange plants on the deck I want to clean it with the small power washer we brought up with us.

Today I plan to drive the golf cart to Eagle View golf course and play with any women who show up for the women's 9 hole league. It's sunny now but rain is forecast for the afternoon. I haven't played golf since March when I had my breast surgery. I hope it's not too soon. If I feel any discomfort, I'll limit myself to chipping and putting.

Happy Thursday.

Good early afternoon. Good to be here. Yesterday was a real wasted day for the most part. We did NOT go to Marion after all. Dh and I discussed it and decided 3 hrs. of driving just to sit in front of a live person and tell her there were no changes in our living wills was too much to ask. In addition to not getting any travel allowance either. As well, the wear, tear, and mileage on my old car. This can be done on the phone and I'm just not going to give in on it.

Betrayal, so good to hear you were cleared from the Cardiologist for your surgery. I hope this is the beginning of a lot of TKR smooth sailing now. You sound like you will really be physically ready for this and I commend you for doing such a huge amt. of advance work. I bet it really pays off for you too.

I have kitties who like to open doors. My cabinets were all built by the Amish so most of them are not amiable to the prodding's of the cats save for the doors under the sink. The magnets are old and don't hold well so now and then they open the doors. Fortunately, they don't seem to want to go in or knock anything out so we get off okay there.

One of our bruisers (the orange and white little kittens we brought home a few yrs. ago) Dilly is quite fond of knocking coffee cups off the end table when we are watching news in the mornings. Happens mainly to Dh who is not as watchful as I am. He often has to mop up spilled coffee. Not sure why Dilly derives so much pleasure from it, but he has done it since he became a bruiser and could.

We went this morning to Skin care. As for me, I had another whole-body inspection which I passed with flying colors. There was a small, tiny spot on my nose she froze. One of those just in casers type spots. Dh did well to although she did take a small biopsy of something she had not seen before. She got him in a couple of places needing freezing as well.

I hope you all will have a good day, good weather, and good everything.

Great pic, Keywestern. I've been wondering about you too.

Betrayal, you are amazing! Hope all goes well with your surgery.

Saw orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday. Says I only need a partial replacement on the left knee which makes me more inclined to think seriously about it. When I can't sleep and I can't golf, I'll call him back. Really liked him - a very no nonsense guy.

Over 100 degrees most days now - it will be a long summer. Lots of reading, genealogy and too much computer bridge.

Have a good weekend, everyone.

Marge

Wren, thank you for posting that. I've seen some cats get pretty ill after eating dog food as well. I inadvertently caused it once myself. A friend who raised championship bloodhounds had someone dumped two cats on his property. They likely mistook the huge kennels he kept for animal barns and most farmers happily keep cats.

When he called me and asked me if I would take the cats (he figured some of the bloodhounds would not react well, but I think he really just didn't want the cats around) I said yes and told him to feed them something so they would stay put till I could come and get them. Not realizing he could give them table scraps he gave them his good dog food.

Picked them up and only had them a day and the one cat was ailing already. Rushed her to the vet who kept her for 3 days and did everything for her he could think of and finally called and told me to be prepared as he wasn't sure she'd get through the night. Next day he told me I could come get her. She made a miraculous recovery and likely due to her very young age and having begun treatment really quickly. So, if you have dogs don't let the cat eat their food. Different formulations and best for the dogs to stick to their 'formulated' food as well.

We had a cat and a dog. There was no problem with the cat eating dogfood, because he had plenty available. The dog preferred catfood. I put the cat's dish on top of the drier, where he could get to it, and the problem was solved.

Good for you Chris. We still put the cat dishes up as a long-time habit after having multiple dogs in the household along with the multiple cats. Mainly easier not to worry what may go on when we were not here. Bill, our big black Retriever loved cat food and garbage too. We had to keep cat food up and use a Bungee on the bi-fold pantry door which Bill learned early on to open. We learned after a couple off stinky garbage tip-overs strewn all over the kitchen and living room.

A little muted sun today so we will see. Yesterday was dry and so has been the last two evenings. The heat has not increased noticeably yet. In fact, since we turned on our A/C it only ran on the first night and has not come on since. Then again, the weather was not good enough, so we did not open the doors and windows so not much for humidity in the house. It was so chilly night before last I turned off the fan in my room. It just made it too cool.

Nothing special for today. Could get a couple bills that just came. Will play it by ear.

Hope you all have a really nice day.

Just finished PT today and feel like I am in good shape for Monday's right TKR. Will resume PT with them once cleared post-op to do so since they will have vacation coverage for my PT who will go on vacation during my recovery. Did not want to start and find out I would have to miss a week. She encouraged me to do home exercises and I will attempt to walk up and down driveway at least twice a day over the weekend. It is a real challenge for legs and a cardiac workout.

Got the call to report to admissions at the hospital at 8 AM which means I am not the first patient of the day. That's okay but it does mean we will be in the midst of rush hour so will have to leave home earlier to account for this. Will pack an overnight bag but expect they will try to push me out as same day. Do have an issue with post-op pain management since there are only 2 opioids I can take without dire side effects and OTC's are not going to cut it. That is one of my concerns as is the spinal anesthesia.

Cleared my mail box and now need to file the papers I have been stuffing in it. The mailbox is a long wooden hanger that has 4 separate bins on it which we use to sort mail, etc for each of us including my children who no longer reside here but it is a catchall for things we need to give them. DH empties his daily but since steps have been a challenge I wait until it is full before I descend and then file.

Doing some household chores so maybe I can take one of the weekend days as a slacker/me day since weather is supposed to be lovely. Still have hibiscus to plant but it is just sprouting and DD said she would dig hole once I decided on a site. Deer have already chewed on oak leaf hydrangeas so we put chicken wire cages over them.

Have a pile of magazines I will put in magazine rack in family room to flip through next week while I am chair bound.

Lovely sunny day with temps in low 70's, a light breeze and no humidity. So outdoor weather for sure.

Trying to decide what's for dinner. Tomorrow I will make a slew of blueberry pancakes and put some in the freezer for later use.

Hope everyone has had a lovely day.

The tops I have made from sari fabric. I have gotten rid of some others because the neckholes were too large. I have some wide-leg pants, too.

Chris, I love the tops and your hair! I agree with Sandy, your hair is very flattering and youthful! I especially love the colors of the tops! You are so talented!

Love the look, Chris. Your sewing skills are amazing and it is hard to decide which top I liked the best.

You rock the long hair and believe me, I love the pony tail I have been wearing since I grew my hair out in 2020. Wore it for years in a bob which took time, product and effort to get it to look good. I just get it trimmed now and then when I think the ends are too thin. They are so much cooler in the summer as you said.

Chris - the blouses are beautiful as are your sewing skills. I love the colors found in a sari and they look terrific on you.

Sandy - sorry to hear about the skin cancer but it’s good you saw the doctor quickly because as you know finding the cancer early is a good thing and will hopefully require less invasive treatment.

Betrayal - you are rocking the PT. I’ll be thinking of you on Monday and hoping for a smooth recovery.

Puffin - you remain in my thoughts. I hope you are still headache free.

Carole - you are certainly busy at the campground. I hope you are enjoying cooler weather.

DH started PT today for his right shoulder issue. The cortisone shot a month ago has helped so now they are working on restoring range of motion.

‘I had my “welcome to Medicare’ visit with my PCP this week. It went well. We mostly talked about side effects from chemo and how I was handling them. My cholesterol is still borderline high but it dropped almost 30 points from a year ago. She did put me on potassium chloride as it is dangerously low and I’ll go back for a blood test on Monday. I get my chemo bloodwork on Tuesday and I know they will also be watching it.

Tonight we went to Baconfest in Lake Geneva. Bacon inspired food and live music. Weather was clear and in the low 70’s. A perfect summer evening to be outside. For a few hours we felt like our life was somewhat normal and brushed aside the dark thoughts of what our future may look like. Chemo round 3 is next Wednesday and I feel like the time is going by quickly.

Enjoy the weekend!

I wrote a long post…must have gotten side tracked and never hit “post.” But I could see it was there as I open this tab on my phone, UGH. Recreate…partially.

Chris, I love the blouses! Colorful and cool looking.

Carole, I keep forgetting to ask you to post some pictures of your dh bowls. You never know, you/he could get some sales through this gang.

Jackie, I never did get the AC put in the bedroom window. But we put a big fan facing out in the kids old bedroom across the hall, facing out. It pulls in air from our bedroom window. It was so cold the other night, I clicked on the electric blanket - my legs were frozen! So I get turning the fan off. Warm days & cool nights for great sleeping weather. Last couple of nights I’ve been getting a Charlie horse in my left calf. From the cold or lack of magnesium, who knows.

Now that’s all I remember from last nights post. Apologies to those I missed, I do read them all.

Grandniece had surgery Thursday on her ankle. I was awake at 4, 5, and at 6 AM got up. She did well, the tendon wasn’t frayed, so thankfully back in a walking boot. I was out of whack all day from lack of sleep.

We’re heading to the Norman Rockwell museum today. It’s not that far away, under an hour, but it’s our first time visiting. Weather looks great too. It’s 66 now, heading up to a high of 83. Enjoy your Saturday!

The big challenge is to become all that you have the possibility of becoming.  You cannot believe what it does to the human spirit to maximize your human potential and stretch yourself to the limit.      -Jim Rohn