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

wish i could type more. got totally frustrated with facebook. OT is going to help me in pain prevention with left thumb

i had surgery on weds 17th occupational therapy is yes the therapy for hand stuff and a lot more

“All life is a circle. The atom is a circle, orbits are circles, the earth, moon, and sun are circles. The seasons are circles. The cycle of life is a circle: baby, youth, adult, elder. The sun gives life to the earth who feeds life to the trees whose seeds fall to the earth to grow new trees. We need to practice seeing the cycles that the Great Spirit gave us because this will help us more in our understanding of how things operate. We need to respect these cycles and live in harmony with them.”

― Rolling Thunder

Quiet day here. It was sunny and temps in 70's, but I was keeping busy indoors. I clean the bird cages on Sunday and then have to vacuum the kitchen area because of the feathers and seed droppings. I tried my new Shark stick vacuum and love it. Took a minute to figure out how to empty the collection chamber, but finally figured it out.

Back still goes into spasm, so after vacuuming I soaked in the tub and did my knee exercises. Then I just dusted the primary bedroom and swept the stairs. So just minor housekeeping today.

Tomorrow I have pain management visit to see what they can offer for the back spasms and I am hoping for relief. It's been 3 weeks since they started and while they can quiet for an hour or 2, they still recur.

I was watching The Pitt on HBOMax and it is a great series. There are 15 episodes that cover a day, hour by hour, in an emergency room in a large city hospital in Pittsburgh. Goves you an insight and look at why ER's become backlogged. Season 2 won't be available until January 2026 and I intend to watch it then.

carole, glad you rang in and I wish you a safe trip home.

Hope everyone had a great day. Waving "hi" to everyone.

Ken has been the cook since we retired. When we both worked high pressure jobs, we planned a week's meals, shopped and then whoever got home first started diner and the other cleaned up.

I would love to have the dinners less often but I seem to be in a minority. The original friendship was between the deceased wife and me and the guys liked each other enough to enjoy being together enough that the weekly dinners happened. We also traveled together. Anne was a fascinating woman, well read with diverse interests. We'd start on discussion on Saturday night and often carry it on all week through email.

We share similar values so that isn't the problem. From my perspective, both Ken and the couple are living very restricted lives and have little to talk about. Debbie and Larry don't keep up on the news or read anything but Patterson type books. So what does one talk about week after week? They went on a sailing ship through the Panama Canal and the thing they talked about the most was discovering a way to get from their room to the dining room without having to go upstairs. So yes, I am bored and being a snob.

Chris, I'm impressed that you were able to type anything. Keep ahead of the pain.

Have a good week everyone. I see my primary tomorrow.

Taco, aka Marge

Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better.

Sydney J. Harris

Taco, it’s hard in a community of aged individuals not to notice the downside. My SO mom was in independent living. As we visited I commented an ambulance was here. She deadpanned, Cindy, there is an ambulance here everyday. It was something I hadn’t thought of, it was sad but true. Sorry for the losses you’ve endured. We too have dinner with a couple that at times I’d rather skip, but it’s out in a restaurant so I go!

Firefighter, I hope you have a treatment plan with your MO.

Chris, I’m glad the surgery is behind you. Getting OT is a good plan.

Harley, keeping you in my thoughts.

Carole, I hear you on the trek to get back south. It entails a lot! We think we’ll be heading south on 11/5.

Betrayal, I started watching The Pitt too! On the flight to Ireland I was able to watch the first 3 episodes and it hooked me. I haven’t got back to it but plan to.

Reader, busy can be good, as long as some rest gets penciled in.

Sandy, totally agree on Kimmel - extortion . I can’t wait to see the show tomorrow night. I hope you’re ok today. BM issue landed my BIL in the ER via ambulance today - fecal impaction.

We got home from DC after midnight last/Sunday night. We ran our feet off all day, up until we ate dinner and headed to the airport.

I’ll post pics on the next page.

Arlington National Cemetery

The view from a path down from Arlington House. Kennedy memorial, across the Potomac, to the Washington Memorial.

Garden path towards Arlington House. As a side note, I’ve been here at least 3 tines before, no tours ever took us to Arlington house. There are slave quarters there, north and south - the home itself was built with slave labor. The Union troops took it over . So much history.

My grandniece had wanted to see the changing of the guard. As it was her bday celebration we let her pick everything.

Cindy - excellent photos. We visited DC with our son when he was in 5th grade and really enjoyed it. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Chris - hope you are getting OT and it’s bringing relief.

Teka - strawberry shortcake? Looks yummy

Betrayal - sorry to hear there are limited options for your back spasms. I can understand the concern the impact of steroids on blood sugar levels. Last year when I took copious amounts of dexamethasone for chemo, my A1C jumped into pre-diabetes territory but fortunately went back down to normal this year.

Sandy - sounds like significant progress is being made with the boxes - you have handled this like a champ!

Taco - I get what you mean about being bored talking with friends. We have a get together coming up in few weeks with our college friends. We’ve known each other for almost 50 years and a few of us are friends from high school. It does seem that conversations get repetitive. Many of my friends have grandchildren and a few are very involved in the grandkids lives as they are providing daycare or overnight care several times per week. Sometimes the grandchildren also join our get togethers. The kids are adorable but typically the grandparents are focused on the children so they can’t join the adults conversation. Beyond that it seems the talk focuses on health issues which I don’t care for as I enjoy time not thinking about getting older and frailer.

Wishing all a good week.

The present political situation was inconceivable in our teen years. i enjoyed the freedom our parents gave us in allowing us to watch the Democratic Convention. My brother and father were at such loggerheads about the war, that my brother, eligible for 4-F, claimed CO and moved to California.

Sandy, have a good festival.

I promised the PA that I would quit using my hand and she, in turn, gave me an Rx for four more. i can print my name in caps!

Why the cruise opted for a 3 plus hour stop in Victoria is beyond me. The tea was to be at 8:30 pm and the tour of Bouchart gardens was under lights with the recommendation to "enjoy the scents" since let's face it were the flowers really worth a 2 hour round trip? I'd been there during daylight hours years ago so felt no compelling need to explore them or the city after dark. We were at least a 30 minute walk from town and I saw no cabs at the docks, so we scratched it off the list

DD was disappointed because she was looking forward to getting off the ship. She had been to Victoria before as well.

I loved the period clothing for the play. I love her books so I would like the play. I hope it does well.

Quiet day with muted sun and temp in high 70's. Did some light housework and pulled some weeds in fern bed by patio.

Medicare seems to have approved prescription for Lidocaine patches since I sent email to CVS saying I would use Goodrx and pay out of pocket. Pharmacist called to say Medicare approved so I will pickup filled prescriptions tomorrow. Also need to pickup an oximter for overnight study I have to have.

Tried again unsuccessfully to access pulmonologist portal since they are not EPIC participants. Have chest CT on Thursday so I wanted to see results. Called office fir assistance for accessing only to learn their portal is used only for emails? Why bother? So receptionist told me to call office for results which I will do. I have an appointment in November, but have no desire to wait that long for results.

I hope everyone had a great day and waving "hi".

L'Shana Tova Tikatevu, for all who celebrate Rosh Hashana—and a good sweet year for everyone. Service last night was terrific, but I woke up too late to attend this morning in person, so I "attended" via YouTube livestream. (Really sore from all the walking from our garage to the temple & back; so couldn't handle a repeat of that, nor the steep stairs in the yellow school bus shuttles from St. Andrew's parking lot). Rabbi hinted that one of his sermons would be about Israel (and "will upset some of you") but said it wouldn't be during the Yom Kippur Kol Nidrei evening service. Today's sermon was more about the partnership of God & humankind, so by process of elimination it'll be one of the Yom Kippur daytime services…which one (morning, afternoon, Holocaust, memorial and concluding) he didn't say. Way to increase attendance! (Of all the rabbis we've had since joining in 1987, he's our fave—retired now, but returns for the High Holy Days and also runs a podcast).

Cindy, Canarycat—wonderful pictures. Cindy, I've also been to Arlington but never at Arlington House. The Smithsonian TV sitcom and kids' program exhibits made me smile (especially Lamb Chop—"ShariLand" was one of my favorite shows as a kid, and I can still remember the theme song). One year on vacation in NYC when Gordy was little, there was a celebration in Central Park called "You Gotta Have Park," with so many kids' show all-stars: the Speedy Delivery guy, Bob Keeshan (in full Captain Kangaroo regalia), Mr. Greenjeans, and Lady Aberlin. For the longest time Gordy thought they all lived in Central Park. Loved the "All in the Family" chairs—didn't they also have Martin Crane's duct-taped fraying recliner from "Frasier" too?

Canarycat, great sets! The Bar Show (lawyers' musical) used to have elaborate set pieces, fog machines, drops, etc. But as funding kept drying up, first the movable sets got the ax, then the full drops; now we just have projections and lighting. Back in the day it ran for a full 2 weeks, at the Hilton ballroom before a stage collapse forced it across the street to the former Blackstone Theater. When I joined the cast in 2002, it ran for 6 performances Tues-Sat. plus Sun. matinee. Now it's down to 3 (Fri. & Sat. night & Sat. matinee plus a Wed. open dress rehearsal for $10 admission. Thursday is out, because that's when NPR holds "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me").

We may not be able to do the show this year: 3 years ago the Bar Assn. pulled the plug on us because after our long-time theater bowed out due to post-pandemic staff shortages, the powers that be decided we hadn't raised enough via sponsorships for them to match in order to switch to the Studebaker Theater. (And they were ticked off that there was no Thursday. performance, because that was traditionally when they held their "President's Party" and bought up 1/3 of the house). They were unwilling to switch the run from early Dec. (the show used to be officially titled "Christmas Spirits") to Jan. We managed to eke out enough in "24 & '25 to do the show—but now we are expected to raise at least $30K via sponsorships & advance sales. As firms get smaller and more lawyers are either semi-retired or just starting out and running their own practices from home, there are fewer and fewer mega-firms to buy sponsorships, ads in the program (which used to be an actual Playbill) and to whom to sell blocks of tickets. We must each sell at least 10-15 tickets. And more and more, we must self-costume. (We used to have the DePaul U. theater students run the makeup room—now we do our own. Wigs may be the next casualty).

Making headway with the boxes, though we still have a huge problem of where to fit everything. Our house was not built with a separate pantry room or closet (even most 1920s-40s Chicago apartments have them). We don't have floor space in the kitchen or dining room for a freestanding cabinet (though we could sacrifice a bar cart from the dining room and put a tall metal one next to the sideboard. Today, we noticed the semicircular pot rack the contractor installed on the framing above the kitchen window is buckling (before the fire, there was a fascia where it was mounted, but they eliminated the fascia; now the sink is by that window—the sink used to be in the corner but the inspector said it was against city code). It was so high I couldn't reach it to hang the hooks, so we had to suspend an oval one (originally designed for suspension from the ceiling) below it. The weight of the pots & pans was threatening to pull the winfow framing from the wall. One more thing to hire another contractor for (though our landscaper/handyman has done ceiling pot-rack installations the right way and I trust him to do it). We're already going to have to hire a painter for the kitchen and bathrooms, and bring our usual electrician in to add a switch to connect to the downstairs bath fan (which does vent to the outside, per city code—but the contractor's electrician turned the switch for it into a light switch instead—he could have installed a double switch plate, but that would have made too much sense). We did without an exterior vent in the main (2d fl) bath for 38 years, so I guess running a duct from the fan to the exterior will have to wait.

Had a minor mishap today: found an empty humidor and decided to put it on the shelf below the windowsill behind Bob's armchair. But the chair has boxes on it so I had to reach around and stretch…and my elbow caught one of the wineglasses on the breakfront surface…oopsie. I think it may have been one of the pair of little Riedel crystal riesling glasses—not cheap. So before we allow the cats back in, we'll have to move that chair and sweep and vacuum thoroughly, We are loaded with stemware, so will give away any of it that's either not crystal nor acrylic in good shape (for dining al fresco). We located about half our Kirk Stieff heavy silverplate, as well as the pre-war silverplate from my mom, and the chest in which to put it; but we have so much stainless that we will give away all but the best formal stainless stuff. That alone will take up a kitchen drawer and two in the living room breakfront. At our age, we've decided it's time to use the good china & silver (or at least the good stainless), Much of the cheaper stainless came from Safeway in Seattle during our grad student days—one place setting per week with a minimum purchase. Amazing how much I'm finding. With the boxes mislabeled as to room & contents, it's like opening a surprise package every time. Spent much of today going through CDs (giving away the freebies traded for at gigs & folk conferences, isolating the empty jewel boxes and "orphaned" discs for Gordy to put back properly).

Titrated my Zepbound up to 7.5mg last night. Already noticing a difference, with earlier satiety and no cravings (harkening back to when I first started on 2.5). We went to L. Woods for their annual Rosh Hashana menu, and I wisely paced myself with the family-style appetizers, knowing how huge and carb-loaded the entree portions would be. Apps were: apples, honey & challah rolls, regular and vegan chopped liver (pretty good, almost a mousse), gefilte fish, and matzo ball soup. I was right—entree portions of brisket in gravy, glazed carrots, green beans, potato latkes, and kasha varnishkes (shells instead of the usual bowties) were enough to feed four people. Even with early satiety I may have eaten enough to be in caloric equilibrium. Waiter saw all the boxes we requested and wisely packed our desserts to go. It's five hours later and I have no desire to snack. (Though I did need some grated-ginger "tea" to settle things down a bit). We have enough leftovers to take us through Friday.

Sandy, my 1920’s house has no closets on the first floor. Years ago I put up a wardrobe in the dining room. That’s gone and we set up an area between the closed door to the dining room, the closed basement door, and a wall - I call it my fake closet, it’s covered by a curtain. I do have a pantry, which is where we put our clothes washer. Old houses, you do what you can. You’re taking the mixed up boxes in stride! It’s nice you can let go of so much to donate.

I’ve dyed my roots this morning In anticipation of dinner and a play tonight. A gf & I are seeing “A Beautiful Noise” after dinner at a nice Italian restaurant.

I’ve got to pick up my script for 1 Xanax at CVS. Oral surgeon appointment is tomorrow for the extraction and bone graft, and I’m nervous. I had to call the surgeons office because they hadn’t called that script in. I’m hoping the surgeon is better than his office staff.

Raining here on & off since yesterday, and looks like it will continue thru Friday. It’s been humid, and damp. So I feel cold inside, and sweaty outside. Weird stuff.

Hoping you all have a good day.

PS - Kimmel was blocked here, upstate NY, but at FL house it was broadcast. It’s on my FL DVR. Also, I was sent a YouTube of the first 15 minutes, anyone can view it.