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

Intolight please tell your husband that having knee replacements means I am now able to walk without considerable pain and a definite increase in mobility. I have no regrets because I was losing my ability to walk which was my chosen form of exercise. Plus it meant I was unable to garden which to me is a form of therapy. I used knee injections of Orthovisc for years to postpone the surgery but eventually they stopped working. Cortisone injections never worked so I was out of options. Plus you have to consider knees are integral to driving. It can be dangerous to drive if you can't respond quickly when braking is needed. I wanted to remain as independent as possible. It is worth it.

I went outside today and deadheaded my 2 rose bushes in the backyard. Stuffed my into thorns a few times but survived. I tried to put on a new hose splitter to the spigot and just didn’t have good balance in my Velcro shoe LOL, so it’s now my partners job.

I made it to the Dione Warwick concert! It was a lot of walking but felt good to be out. We arrived early and went directly to our seats, so I could hobble at my own slow pace and not get knocked over. She looked beautiful, my gf and I both noticed she had on a pair of heals too. As soon as she came on the stage a gentleman in the front row gave her at least a dozen of red roses, maybe 2 dozen. Her voice was strong at some songs, she could belt it out. But at softer tones, her voice just isn’t there. At 84 it’s to be expected. We got to see an icon.

We weren’t supposed to take photos, per security running around. But I could see people recording entire songs during the performance and so I took a a few photos. My phone camera isn’t great and I was going fast, so the picture is what it is. Sadly this is the best shot out of 3.

My partner took our old AC over to a friends house tonight. He ended up installing it and another one in the friends windows. With the heat wave coming it’s a good thing! I was going to put it outside on our lawn with ‘free’ on it so this was a win for our friend.

I’m getting my foot rewrapped tomorrow at 11:30. It’s a good thing because tonight after my shower, I nearly took off all the bandage getting my foot out of the cast cover.

Have a great weekend!

Intolight, one of Bob's (DH) best buddies from high school days back in Queens lives in Colorado Springs—because he had a terrible draft lottery number he went straight from RPI (physics degree) to the Air Force Academy, figuring that'd keep him Stateside. He was right, but it gave him a career as well, not only as a physics professor but retiring as a Lt. Col. He is a civilian consultant for the USAF. He is also an avid skier, even at 75. We've never visited there, but Bob did take an echo course in Vail. 40+ years living in ultra-flat Chicago (elev. 600) made Vail a challenge for him—he got altitude sickness the first day. Dunno why, but I was fine (until I strained the head of my gastrocnemius hiking; the pain was delayed till we got back home). Looking back, I realize that I must have been 50 lbs. heavier than I am now.

We missed the boat on getting mini-splits installed, since it'd have had to be done at the beginning of restoration and not included in what State Farm would cover. We priced it out at about $15K, not much cheaper than getting ductwork installed and an exterior heat pump unit—we stuck with hot water heat (radiators & baseboards) and window ACs. (Both bedrooms, the den, living room and attic guest room). We've had one running in the den this week—hope it's up to the task considering the brutal heatwave starting in the morning and lasting through Monday. I'm going over tomorrow to measure windows for treatments (hired a decorator via Angi) , so I'll plug in the other two units that aren't already plugged in and hope for the best. Our neighbor put in a heat pump and solar (both home & garage for his EV), and estimates he spent about $50K (and months of permit hassles) doing it.

Our heat wave—high 90s, perhaps 100 (and that's air temp, not "real feel") will be worse than most because Chicago is a "heat island" due to the profusion of brick bungalows, 2-and-3-flats and apt. bldgs., circa 1920. The bricks absorb the sun's short-wave radiation during the day but emit long-wave after sunset—some of it goes back out to the street (absorbed & emitted by the sidewalks & asphalt) and some back inside. When we had a similar heat wave in July 1995, it killed dozens of seniors living in dense poor neighborhoods of brick homes—they couldn't afford AC (or the wiring was too old to take it) and they feared opening their windows at night because of theft and the possibility of stray bullets from shootings. The heat retention is cumulative, and will take at least 2 days once the heat wave breaks before there's the kind of nocturnal clear-sky radiational cooling we get in colder months. And if there's cloud cover or an encore of the Canadian wildfire smoke, the heat will stay close to the ground longer.

Here in Lincolnwood we have central air. Our Chicago house is stucco-over-frame (circa 1908). So the window units should do their jobs assuming they're okay (they're all 4-5 years old). I fully expect to step out the door tomorrow into a giant schvitz, saving me a trip to the gym for that purpose. It'll be a great weekend for paperwork, packing up the winter and holiday stuff, and eating leftovers inside.

We don't have a generator: after the fire I'm leery of having fuel so close to the house. Our power-outage Plan B will be the Hampton Inn a mile up the street (we can use HiltonHonors points).

Public adjuster is touching base with contractor as to how long before the house is fully ready for pack-in of appliances, furniture, and (ugh) mountains of boxes—all of which I must unpack & sort. Contractor gave me the number of a scavenger who will take the junk; I will put clothing to donate into the free ThredUp bags from the Container Store and drop them off at FedEx. DSL will take donated shes. My sis, who's lost a little weight, is interested in some of the Chico's size 3 (and looser 2s), so I'll put them aside for her (she lives in NoVA, so we'd have to ship it there or load up the car for a driving vacation—she is highly allergic to cats so she can't visit us for more than a few hours at a time).

Had a bit of an embarrassment Thursday night. Went to Wildfire for steak (we usually get a big porterhouse, share half of it and then share the other half at home). When the check came, Bob's Lettuce Entertain You club card & Amex were wrapped in the "customer copy," which I handed him after figuring out the tip & signing. As we got up to leave, he panicked: he couldn't find the Amex card. We looked in every pocket, my purse, under the seats, between the booth cushions, etc. The manager looked too, in case it hadn't been handed back to us. Bob called AmEx to report it lost or stolen, and was on hold quite awhile. I then heard him say "speak to agent," then "report stolen card," and then "no, I don't want a promotion, I want to report my card stolen." He got very agitated and began to exclaim "I don't want charges run up on a stolen card!" I kept asking him if he was talking to a human being. When the manager confirmed it wasn't retained, we began to walk back to the car—he pulled out his phone again to put on the charging pad and discovered the card was stuck to the back of the phone the whole time (one of the disadvantages of "MagSafe" capability). Only then did I also realize that the "human" voice that so exasperated him was an AI "bot." (The algorithm is not yet sophisticated enough to detect distress in a customer's voice and attempt to assuage them). I keep flashing back to an old "filk" (sci-fi folk) song "Don't Curse at Machinery."

Speaking of AI, my son's employer (a large ticket reseller) laid off most of its customer service dept. in favor of AI. He's safe for now: as a fraud mitigation specialist, he performs functions (investigations, negotiations, virtual-hand-holding) that a bot can't…yet.

Good morning. Ah, Saturday. Just like Friday only hotter. Cindy, I'm a great fan of Dionne Warwick. Had several of her albums — if I recall correctly, "Today-My Way" was my all time favorite. Glad to got there early to get your seat.

How fantastic to give your old Ac's to a friend and even put them in. So needful right now in the heat. I'm sure there is great appreciation in your friend's heart about now.

Canary — love your purchases, the ones in the top tier of your basket. If it weren't for the coffee perking in the pot in the morning I'm not sure I'd bother getting up. I started drinking coffee as a very young person. I discovered a slight laxative effect which I needed then. Waxing and waning through the years but never quitting.

Sandy, I too hope you can stay cool in your house while you are there this week. It is brutal to be surrounded by brick, concrete and other such substances and I feel for anyone in cities where those elements are the mainstay. St. Louis, Mo is a lot like that. Far enough away from us, but we use to spend summer vacations in the city. My Aunt and Uncle lived there with my aunt's mother and my cousin, the daughter. The upper part of the house could feel warm but the kitchen at the bottom of the house, in shade always seemed quite cool. You could immediately feel a difference walking down the stairs. My Aunt and Uncle were both blind so usually during vacation time my Dad would go over and do things for them they could not do — like re-roof, or do plumbing etc.

It feels oppressive this morning here when it felt pretty good yesterday. What a difference a day makes is really right. It is already 81 degrees so no wonder. I don't have much to do today. A quick trip to the bank is about it and later likely a couple of things at the store. Otherwise I intend to stay in.

I hope you all have a good day, and are cautious in the heat if you have to go out.

We survived a scary storm during the night. There were gusts of strong wind. Not a lot of rain and, thankfully, no hail. Other areas in MN and ND weren't so fortunate. One of our campground community, Tamra, learned this morning that a tornado hit her parents' town and an aunt and uncle were killed. Another uncle's house was destroyed.

A couple of trees were blown down here in the campground. DH and I had to skip the farmers' market so that dh can help the owner with cutting up and removing the trees. One narrowly missed falling on a camper. I was tired this morning from having my sleep disturbed last night and was just as glad to miss the market. The forecast is for more storms tonight, thanks to the heat dome high temperatures during the day.

Sandy, good luck on moving into your house.

Happy Sunday to all.

Carole, that storm sounds scary. And horrible news your fellow camper received about family.

Chris, you might have to google a reboot of the system. But I’m no IT person. I hope it’s an easy fix.

Sandy, I hope your AC will be fine. I’d guess you have some insulation now that everything has been redone. This old house has none. I stand corrected, the bathroom was gutted to studs 25 year ago, it has insulation; nothing else has it.

Intolight, that’s a great picture of your grands.

Betrayal, oh I forgot all about the Psychic Network!!

Canarycat, the splits are the bomb. Today a friend told us we may qualify for a rebate of sorts from our energy company, National Grid. Need to research it.

During the night, 5:10 AM to be precise, I rolled over in bed and the entire cotton cushion at my toes stuck to the sheet, and I pulled off the bandage. It was dark, and I didn’t have my contacts in my eyes, so I really couldn’t see anything - which was good. I just stuffed the cotton back on my foot and had to use the ace bandage to hold it all together. Back to sleep I went, with my foot outside the covers. I got up this morning, put my foot in the shoe and all I could think of was that I had a clown foot. The big thick cotton piece stuck out 3-4” past the end of my beautiful Velcro shoe.

I made it to the appointment at 11:30 for rewrapping. By then I had dead leaves stuck on the cotton hanging off the front. The dr said the sutures looked great, healing well. I peeked, looked but didn’t look, and saw dark stitches on the top of the foot. Dr asked how long I had to keep it on; 7/2 follow-up. He then asked could I take it off sooner; I said not that I know of, maybe I need to reread the paperwork. He said he could look, came back in and said he sent a text to my drs PA to see if I could remove it. I’d still need to stay in the shoe, keeping it clean and dry. He told me I should hear back from him on Monday. It would be great to be able to put a clean sock on it and be done.

Everyone stay cool over the next few days, even if that means taking a cool bath or shower. Temperatures are going to be dangerously high. Enjoy Sunday!

Oh, and my PCP has been getting increasingly snippy about renewing my Xanax (I take 0.5 mg at bedtime). The health system that employs him has been cracking down on prescribing controlled substances—one month at a time, no auto-refills. He insists I get a psych eval before the next fill. The questionnaire they sent me had two options: counseling/therapy or “medication management.” There was a caveat for the former: the system has no available psychiatrists, and so few psychologists & MSWs that we are urged to go outside the system if we need counseling or therapy. So it’s back to trying to find an onco-shrink (out of pocket, of course). I miss our family shrink, who retired at the start of the pandemic.

It’s just as bad at Union Health (the prepaid insurance plan for which Bob is now staff cardiologist). One of Bob’s cardiology patients has widely disseminated metastatic uterine cancer, which is quite painful as she nears the palliative care phase. But neither her PCP nor GYN-onc will prescribe her anything stronger than prescription strength ibuprofen—and they’re both suggesting she go OTC on the NSAIDs & Tylenol so that the plan doesn’t have to pay for it. His hands are tied: staff docs are not allowed to prescribe drugs classified as outside their specialties.

Sandy, it’s a LOT moving back home. My back & forth FL/NY is nothing remotely close to your task. When we get ready to go, I like a list - where I can cross off completed tasks. Somehow seeing what’s done & what’s left to do allows me to be less anxious. (still anxious, just less so) For your Xanax, at this point I’d bet you absolutely need it before bed! For my oral surgery, surgeon prescribed Xanax, and gave me 4. LOL I think I still have one; I’m a hoarder on unused meds - just in case.

Totally off subject - anyone have immunotherapy? My gf who had uterine cancer finished her chemo and is starting immunotherapy tomorrow. Our group of gf have no experience with it so I thought I’d put out feelers to this group.

Storm rolled thru last night about 5 AM. Thunder thunder and more thunder. It felt like my house shook me awake. It’s 77 now, and overcast. House seems fine with everything shut, no AC on yet. High is supposed to hit 89 around 4 pm.

Carole, it sounds like an awful storm and so sad to hear about your fellow camper’s relatives.

Cindy, here’s hoping your adventures with the foot bandaging are over soon. Is there any concern that when the bandaging comes loose it could pull on the stitches? No experience with immunotherapy but wishing the best for your friend. If my ovarian cancer recurs, immunotherapy or targeted therapy could be on the table for me.

Sandy, I can feel your stress through the keyboard and totally understand. Our water restoration escapade earlier this year was only a fraction of what you are going through and I was overwhelmed at times. We were only in a hotel for 2.5 weeks so that was minimal but the cleanup when we moved back home was quite the chore. We were finding drywall dust and wood shavings for weeks. I think it took several cleaning before the house really felt clean. We just had our ductwork cleaned this past week to get rid of (hopefully) the last of the dirt.

In the 90’s here and no rain in sight. I think I’ll head to the gym for a workout and then come home and float in the pool. Fortunately our A/C is keeping the house very comfortable.

Hydrangeas bushes this year are small.

Purple, pink and blue. All get the same treatment. Last year’s were a show, so far not so much this year.

cindyny, my hydrangeas have not yet flowered and I haven't really seen any buds. I am hoping they will since they were spectacular last year. White one in backyard is in full bloom. Pretty pictures. Hope you can keep foot dry.

Yesterday I cleaned the laundry room, powder room, kitchen and eat in area, and diningroom. Today I mopped the floors in these areas but had far less steam today than yesterday. I decided to soak in tub and was reading a book when I nodded off and I now own a thoroughly soaked hardback book I doubt I will get to dry out so I can read it. I now know if I am sleepless I am going to take a warm bath with the tub jets on. I'll start a new book tonight. Wish it had been a paper back I could easily replace. Lesson learned, if starting to nod off, exit tub.

Was overcast for most of the morning, only in high 70's and bearable. Thunder rumbles happened but no rain, just noise and now sky is clear and sun is out. It's now 82.

Sandy, you have my sympathies for all you have to do, but I am sure you will find some assistance. There will be some items you have totally forgotten about and may no longer need or want. It will be somewhat like when you moved into your home for the first time.

When the dry cleaners wanted to return drapes, clothing and shoes after being cleaned and stored with them for over 2 years, they were threatening to discard it. Problem was house was not finished enough for them to return it since I had no space that wasn't occupied by other household contents. I had to call insurance company to get them to intervene and restoration company as well since they had all my living room furniture. I wasn't able to control their pace. Considering they dragged restoration out from January of 2020 to January of 2023, when they finally went out the door for the last time, my house could finally evolve from some rooms functioning as storage facilities (like dining room, guest bedroom, and garage) back to a liveable home. Not fun.

harley07, enjoy your pool. It sounds inviting in this type of weather.

Chris, hope you can get a fix for laptop soon.

I don't physically go to Walmart but do order online and have an annual subscription which offers free deliveries. What I don't buy at Costco, I find at Walmart.

Hope everyone had a great day.

Relief from the heat and humidity this morning!!! Yay!!! Temperature in the low 60's. And no storms last night. I heard a patter of rain at some time but no thunder or roaring wind. DH plans to play men's golf league and I will go to the gym. It will be wonderful to open up the camper.

This morning I saw videos on Facebook of the weather-caused damage in nearby areas. We were fortunate.

Good morning. Only 94 degrees today rather than yesterday's 96. Well who really knows, huh. Just saying good morning right now. I will be back a little later.

I have been in a bad place emotionally lately. I have that appointment with the ortho tomorrow!! Called the nurseline yesterday, she went immediately into triage mode, I stopped her and gave her the details, I just needed some encouragement and medical advice for getting through the next 38 hours. Feeling a lot better now.

As you can see, I solved the double letter problem.

I have the lung scan later today, but it is likely to show no change.