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

Good morning. We have sun and it is already 80 degrees. Hoping it doesn't get too much higher. Didn't yesterday. Sounds like the possibility of some major rain. I think it may be part of the Beryl landfall causing disturbances.

Cindy, hope you can get some other good quotes on your trees. While costly for us, I have to say since we had our trees done, we have had a relatively 'clean' yard. We had to find people with bucket trucks and chipper/shredders since we have the sort of yard (2 acres of trees) we do. They also had the experience to be able to see problem areas that we didn't know were becoming issues, so it was a good thing if expensive.

Hope all is well with you med. gyn appt. Always nice to get a 'whew' afterwards and that is just what happens for you I hope. I don't have anything much going on this week . In fact just have the 18th. so far and I will have three appts. mainly all together at Marion V.A. Hope that will be it for the month.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day. Know you are thought about.

I typed a post twice and lost it yesterday - in more ways than one! Hope this one goes better.

We had Maureen, Ella and their housemate over the 4th - very simple menu - hot dogs, salads, and Village Inn triple berry pie. They leave tomorrow for her competition in Boston. I'm so excited for her. Her skating club had a send-off tonight for Ella and two others who are competing, complete with the presentation of a nice check to help with expenses.

Surgery is finally scheduled for Aug. lst. It has seemed like a bureaucratic nightmare to get it scheduled. I would have preferred the previous week but I couldn't get my primary moving fast enough. I am being diligent about the exercises, Betrayal and Chris. Rode 4 miles on the stationery bike today, up from 2 ten days ago.

Jackie, my criteria for a shelter dogs is that they have to sit on my lap on the first sitting. Sounds like Lil' Red would have done that if he could have.

Sending hugs to Puffin and Haley. Great cloud pics MM. I do miss clouds here.

Cindy, what are you reading? I'm into another Elizabeth Chadwick. Book club read "Admission" last month. Really good. I am less excited about Wednesday's book "The Last Bus to Wisdom." Really can't imagine what we will talk about.

Have a good week everyone.

I nurture a faithful heart.  When difficulties, sorrows, and trials beset
me, I consciously choose faith in the face of despair.  Like the mountain
climber who reaches the summit a step at a time, I hold an ideal in my
heart.  Despite the temptation to bitterness, despite the seduction of
rage, I choose a path of temperate endurance, grounding my daily life
in the small joys yet available to me.  Learning from the material world,
I harbor the seeds of hope against the long winter.  I count the small
stirrings of beauty and delight still present in a barren time.  My heart
is a seasoned traveler.  Moving through hostile and unfamiliar terrain
it remains alert to encounter unexpected beauty blossoming despite
the odds.  In the arms of adversity, I yet find the comfort of tenderness
to myself and others.  I refuse to harbor a hardened heart.
Decisively and deliberately, I expand rather than contract.

Julia Cameron
Transitions:  Prayers and
Declarations for a Changing Life

Betrayal, great posts and fantastic reminders. Don't leave your pets or your babies. Until you see it in black and white it may not be so wonderfully clear.

puffin, so great to hear it went well for you! Really nice that your counselor met with you at the same time. Anything to help pass the time helps so much! 🦜

Puffin - good news that your first treatment is complete. Fingers crossed for no or minimal side effects. It’s nice to hear that your friend is helping you. The lift chair is a terrific idea and I’m sure you’ll be happy to have it delivered on Saturday.

Taco - happy to hear your surgery is set for 8/1. Keep up the good work on the pre-surgical exercises and hopefully that will lead to a smoother recovery.

Cindy - oh boy, I feel you on the pool filter leak. That was me and DH two weeks ago and lacking a helpful cousin it was a pricey replacement. We are also waiting for a quote to trim one of our trees - I’m grateful to have a house, but it’s always something.

Totally agree with Reader and Cindy on the value of friendships. I’m not getting out much right now but had an hour long phone conversation with a former coworker/friend from 40 years ago. We’ve kept in touch over the years and DH worked for my friend’s BIL for the past 7 years. My friend is a new grandfather and it was enjoyable to hear his stories about the new baby.

Betrayal - hope the knee pain has subsided to at least a tolerable point.

Sandy- hope all is OK. We miss you!

Shoutout to Illinoislady, MM, Carole, Petite, Sunshine and anyone else I may have missed.

Today was 80 and overcast so I spent some time floating in the pool. It’s such a guilty pleasure to be able to do this on a weekday. We are both very happy to be retired. Some chemo side effects are more noticeable this time - neuropathy in feet and hands, stomach issues etc. On the other hand, for today at least, I wasn’t as exhausted as usual and that’s a good thing. Four treatments down and two more to go.

Good to hear from you, Petite. I'm wondering how Sandy is doing. Hope she is well. Also thinking about Minus who lives in Houston. I fear she has lost power thanks to Beryl.

Hope the new treatment works well for you, Puffin. Glad you're enjoying your pool, Harley.

We're looking forward to a picture of your new puppy, Jackie. There isn't anything cuter than a baby animal.

Our weather continues to be comfortable but this week will be hotter. I suspect a/c is in our future.

Hello to everyone else. Hope today is a good day for all.

To find something you can enjoy is far better than finding something you can possess.

Glen Holm

Lil' Red in the middle. He hasn't all the silver (I think partly due to his actually being much smaller) and his paws don't look gigantic like his littermates. In he picture he doesn't look so much different in size and it is in the coloring and paw size that its most noticeable.

These are miniatures, so likely maybe 12 lbs. or a bit less. The parents look to be closer to 16 to 20 #'s.

Pool - My cousin called to say he had extra parts in his garage from his pool and he’d drop them off before he went to work. Then he text he was stopping at Home Depot for parts. By time he got to my house I only had to go to the pool place for the flex PCV. About $50 in parts, $100 to him. Family! I had to drop the water level, so the inlet wouldn’t have the pressure of water as he replaced it. I took off the clamps and hoses so he didn’t have to. He replaced it all in about 30 minutes. It’s filled back up and running well. I’ll put some shock in it tomorrow.

While I was out I got rid of 2 paint cans, recycled at Sherwin Williams.

I showed my cousin where my chain link gate across the driveway was hard to get open, it had dropped. He said I could adjust the attachment to the post. So once I was home from the pool place I got out a wrench and did what he explained. First attempt raised it nice and high, but then the gate latch barely touched the other side (2 pieces that latch in the middle). I had to play with it but success! Mind you it’s about 38+ years old originally installed by Montgomery Wards.

And that was my day. Awake at 6:30 AM, I hope to be asleep by 2 AM. Hoping your day was less crazy running around than my day. Nite!

Good morning, sweet ladies.

I hope everyone is doing OK in the heat. Illinoislady, my heart just did a flip when I saw those precious pups!

Puffin, thinking of you and hope you can get comfortable.

Cindyny, I’m glad the pool situation is getting resolved. Family can be the best.

Stay cool, safe and comfortable, everyone.

Carol

Puffin, the changes all sound practical for improving your comfort and ability to do that you want to do. You have such a great attitude.

Jackie, the puppies are cute enough to entice a person like me to become a dog owner. I have never owned a dog. Only cats. I suspect that dh might like to adopt a dog if we lived in one place and didn't travel. He occasionally comments that walking a dog can get older people out of the house.

I played golf at 9 am and was soon perspiring a lot. I came home afterwards without playing any extra holes. It will get up in the 80's this afternoon. I will be turning on the two a/c units. Right now there are three fans whirring away. One in the hatch in the ceiling, the ceiling fan and a small electric fan.

Tomorrow is our 55th wedding anniversary. I made a dinner reservation at an upscale restaurant that we like a lot.

Happy Thursday to everyone.

• Finally had my squamous excision Tuesday, awaiting path results for margins. Twice-daily dressing changes are a PITA, and I can't lift anything over 8 lbs with that arm till the sutures are removed 7/22—so Bob has to help with bringing in large heavy packages and even laundry bags. Not allowed to do exercise, even cardio, till then lest it raise my heart rate and lead to bleeding at the incision. Not that it's easy to do so, since we have no fitness equipment here, the gyms are not nearby, and having to wear socks & shoes hurts my L toes (3rd toe callus and ingrowns on both big toes—the pedicurist gets only the barbs). Bob, OTOH, is obsessed with getting his steps—he walks the 2/3 mi. to the North Shore trail and takes it 2 mi. in either direction.I have 5 pr of Hokas (amassed since 2015) currently in smoke-amelioration storage). First thing we did here was buy new ones (Bondi 8 in black nylon). The Bondi 7s have too narrow toe boxes but Hoka heeded complaints and made the 8s' toe boxes roomy again. They look like clown shoes in monochrome, though—much cooler in contrasting colors. Bob got Rockports for dress and new NBs to replace his beloved ones that were getting ratty even before the fire.
• Kitties rule the roost—seems my days are filled with feeding them, keeping them amused (and out of mischief) and scooping litter. Been unable to get them to sit still to administer the flea preventative, much less get a visiting vet in here (no way can I subject them to carriers yet again—was too traumatic 3 times in a row, from home to Niles hotel to downtown hotel to here). Still have to unbox & set up printer, Dustbuster and DirecTV Genies & remotes—home company tech helped walk me through downloading the app and porting my plan over from the satellite at the house to streaming here, with the DTV on the phone. As I fear screwing up the Hulu & Roku subscription that the home company installed, I don't want to do this hardware install unassisted.
• Semiannual checkup with onc this coming Monday 7/15. Suture removal in Lake Bluff Tues morning, then endocrinologist in Skokie at 1pm. (Refilled my Mounjaro yesterday—with SingleCare it's $100 cheaper at Walgreen's than at CVS, and >$200 cheaper than the identical tirzepatide drug Zepbound. Not covered by Medicare, but I can afford it. (They'll now cover Wegovy, but only for heart-risk patients with other comorbidities and BMI>27; for weight loss and a1c control it's inferior to tirzepatide). Then ocular onc 7/30 (scans & refraction) and nephrologist 7/31. Must wait till after that to go to Warby Parker for prescription & new frames. 
• Next door neighbors are sweet, but quirky about the driveway—the mom hates backing out of the driveway so we must leave enough space between my & Bob's cars (over a car-length) so she can maneuver her Mercedes to front out after her husband leaves at 4am. I must get home before Bob because he has to park behind me to pull out to go to work in the mornings. And the dad next door gets home at 2 pm and parks his Tesla in such a way that backing out is difficult for us lest the nose of our car graze the rear of his. (We can back out only one way, as this is the southbound side of a divided arterial). Meanwhile, nothing has been done at our house since the furniture & appliances were moved—not even the city inspection for code compliance work—so we could be here for a year. Not looking forward to Driveway Wars in the snow.

Sandy, prepare for the long haul. Our restoration was to take 6-9 months maximum however it was shortly before the Covid closedown when they provided that quote. So in January 2023, we finally signed off on this "6-9 month project". Coordination of the project and providers was poor, the supply chain created havoc and fortunately we did not have to leave the house. Not sure if SF would have covered a rental for that long but also due to a dog, cats and parakeets it would have been hard to find a rental. A rental without a basement would mean DH would not have had his favorite "retreat" space and we probably would have had to have separate quarters. Fingers crossed but bureaucracy does slowdown the process as well since everything has to be inspected by them before the next stage or restoration, i.e., electric before drywall, etc.

Puffin, glad you have such great care providers. They can do so much for you.

Harley, glad you are doing the countdown on chemo.

Illinoislady, welcome to that handsome new member of your family. I think they have to be plucked rather than clipped for grooming? Nothing wrong with a crate since it does provide them a release from the hubbub of the household and a place to "chill". I don't think Regan will ever give up her crate since she spent 2 years in it prior to us rescuing her and she enters on her own many times.

Got a canary today. It's male, a red factor which is a misnomer because he's actually black with a yellow abdomen, some in his wings and tail. I met the breeder at the store which acts as an adoption center. For those of us old enough to remember, my GM played the Hartz Mountain canary song show every Sunday to encourage her canary to sing. I was able to pull it up on my phone and of the 3 available, he was the only one interested when I played it. Breeder said he may take a week or more before he resumes singing due to change in environment but he is already making some chirpy peep sounds. She named him Bumble Bee but not sure if that will stick. He's young as well and after I picked him, she expressed regret that she hadn't decided to keep him for breeding. Brings back fond memories of my GM.

Still heat advisories in this area but somewhat cooler today after rain last night. It wasn't much of a storm and we seriously need more. I think rain might be predicted for weekend.

Hope everyone had a wonderful day.