Doctors, Doctors and More Doctors

Finally, they are making some decisions.  Two weeks ago I went to see my primary doctor (Dr. Miller).  He added hydrochlorothiazide to my blood pressure meds.  What a difference!  My blood pressure has leveled out and it seems we are on the right track with that.

He then added prednisone and an albuterol inhaler.  He is leaning toward the possibility of onset asthma.  No can seem to get the shortness of breath under control.  The inhaler is helping somewhat.  I do two puffs every four hours.  There is immediate relief but not long term.  I assume that is because albuterol is an emergency inhaler.  I remember that from when Jim used it.

Yesterday I had another PFT (pulmonary function test).  There wasn’t much change since the last one.  The gal that did the test also had to give me a breathing treatment of liquid albuterol and oxygen before I left.  I had a pretty rough time with the test.  I was absolutely worn out when I got home and had to take a nap. 

Today I had an appointment with my cardiologist (Dr. Bennett).  She went over all my test results that she had ordered and said everything was fine.  She also gave me the results of the PFT.  The tech did an EKG which hasn’t changed since my last one.  I have a left bundle branch blockage which I will have forever. 

I had a long talk with Dr. Bennett.  She was asking me about my headaches and dizziness.  I am also having trouble with my balance.  She decided to schedule me with a neurologist.  On the way home I received a call from his office and my appointment is for tomorrow morning at 9:30. 

Again, by the time I arrived home I was tired, and took a short nap. 

This evening I did water my plants and trees in the front yard.  One of these days I will get some weeding done.  I just have a problem with dizziness when I bend over, and I can’t kneel because it hurts my knees.

Spent several hours with the neurologist.  His name is Dr. Verson and I really like him.  From my research it seems he is one of the best around here.  It seems like I have a few problems, and he is going to have some further tests run.  He has told me that he will know something by the end of June.  All my tests are scheduled for June.  Since a big part of my problems is being dizzy and off balance he has scheduled a vertigo test and balance test. I don’t think it is vertigo.  I have had that before (many years ago) and this is different. He is also doing bloodwork, an MRI of my brain and an EEG of my brain.  He is also concerned about my blood pressure.  When they took my bp while I was laying down, it was normal.  When I stood up and they took it my bp dropped almost thirty points.  He is concerned that there may be a medicine reaction.  I feel really good about what he is doing.  He is very thorough.  I also failed the smell test and word test.  That concerns me.  I will be having these tests over the next three weeks (two a week) and then I have an appointment with Dr. Verson to get the results.

I rested a little after arriving home. 

Birds, Plants and Other Stuff

I haven’t seen “that” bird yet today, but I am still watching.  Also, I haven’t mentioned my three new tulip poplar trees that I bought last year.  All three made it thru the winter and are looking really good.  All this rain the last couple of days has really helped everything grow.  Trees, flowers, and garden all looking great.

Had another shower this afternoon.  So far we have had almost an inch of rain today.  I updated KARSAKERFARM blog today.  I have three more updates I am working on.  Kevin was working in the garden tonight so I talked to him for a while.  Kevin and Renea are taking her parents to the airport in the morning.  They have been here for a week and are now heading home. 

I am so excited about the one hydrangea bush this year.  It looks better than ever and has quite a few blooms.  There are also a lot of “buds” so I should have even more blooms.

Also, the lantanas are doing great.  They are bigger for this time of year than ever. 

Even the hummingbird bush has blooms.

Finished all of my genealogy classes.  However, I signed up for several more.  I really enjoy them and I am learning a lot.  I have also found a lot of information about my ancestors because of these classes.

The “bird” is still hanging around.  Every time I go to get my camera though he flies away.  I also saw my first hummingbird today.  And a second one.

 

Went outside to transplant some flowers that are not doing well and, of course, it started to rain.  Came in and now the sun is out.  Go figure.  I will go back out shortly.  I want to get them planted today.

Frustration – I bought a package of brand new batteries, and now that I need them I cannot find them.  I will keep looking.  I will probably buy another package.

I did get back outside.  Transplanted the flowers.  The only thing I didn’t get done was planting a few marigolds I had purchased.  They should last for another day.  Came back inside and ate supper and took a shower.  I planned to watch the All Star NASCAR race this evening.  However, it started so late I only saw the first fifty laps.  I just couldn’t stay awake any longer so Penny and I went to bed.  She is so used to me going to bed at a certain time that she was pestering me.  So, I gave her a treat and we went to bed.

Woke up this morning to a beautiful day.  I ended up mowing all the grass in my front yard while Kevin mowed the back yard.  Now I am worn out.  I have had my shower and will be joining Kevin and Renea for supper.

By the way, I never did find my batteries so I borrowed some from Renea.

Birds,Trees and Other Stuff

I am sitting here working on my blog and watching two very pretty Eastern Bluebirds sitting on top of my backyard birdfeeder.

Today is Sunday and it is a quiet day.  Kevin took Bruce, Jennifer and Bethany to the Atlanta airport so they could head for home.  While they were here they found a house that they liked and would probably be buying.  They will be moving from Colorado this summer.

I basically took the day off.  Didn’t do much of anything.  I did watch the NASCAR race this afternoon.  Had supper with Kevin, Renea, and Renea’s parents.  They will be here until Friday.  Wasn’t anything good on television so I did some reading and went to bed early.

This morning I woke to a pretty, sunny day.  The temperature is supposed to be around 80 degrees.  I went outside and watered my plants and new trees.  Sure hope we get the rain they are forecasting for this week.  We really need it.  Some of my plants are looking really sad even though I am watering them. 

Watched DWTS tonight.  It was sad to see those two couple leave.  It had reached a point where everyone was really good and well liked.  Have no idea who will win next week. 

This was kind of a sad day.  Jana returned her dog to the SPCA.  Paddy had just become too much for her to handle.  Even though she loved her there were problems.  She had reached a point where she would not listen.  Jana would have to go out to get her when it was time to come in, and several times she caused Jana to almost fall.  She barked non-stop.  However, the final problem came when she started jumping the fence.  Luckily she went into the yard next door to Jana which was also fenced, but Jana was afraid she would jump the fence on the other side and run away.  She also worried that she would get hit by a car.  I think she made the right decision and so does she.  Jana said she will eventually get another dog, but it will be smaller and not have any hound mix. 

Tuesday morning I woke up to rain.  I decided to go to the store anyway.  When I left here it was raining really hard.  By the time I arrived at Lowe’s it was not raining at all.  So I was able to get my potting soil and a few new plants without getting wet.  I then went to Kroger and when I got out of the car there was another downpour.  Upon leaving the rain had stopped.  By the time I arrived home it was raining again.  I won’t complain because we really need it.  I took out the items to go in the refrigerator and freezer and left everything else in the car.  I waited for the rain to stop then got the rest of the items out.

I plan on transplanting some of the plants that look sad in hopes that I can save them.  I also bought some new ones that I hope will grow okay in the cement planters.  Hopefully I will get lucky and be able to do some of this tonight or tomorrow.

Since I have started taking the prednisone and using the inhaler I have been feeling better.  I am getting a little bit of ambition back.  I sure hope these medications do the trick. 

Wednesday is being kind of a rough day.  I guess it’s because of the weather.  I am short of breath and not feeling my best.  However, when I took the mail to the mailbox I did check my new trees since we have had this rain.  Of course, I had to include Jim's tree.

Jim’s tree, the Dawn Redwood, has grown quite a bit.  It sure looks great.

The Hardy Pansy Redbud also looks healthy.

The Chaste tree has a lot of flower buds on it.  I am really excited about when it blooms.  I will definitely post pictures. 

Four of the six Franklin trees also look really good.  The leaves on two of them not so good.  Hopefully, the rain will revive them.  This is just one of the trees.

The golden rain tree looks really good.

I just looked out my front window and saw a bird that I have no idea what it is.  It was sitting on top of the hook with my hummingbird feeder.  By the time I got my camera it was gone.  I just finished going thru three bird books that I have.  I think it is an Eastern Kingbird which is from the flycatcher family. 

I finished the first half of my next genealogy class.  Making progress.

That bird was back after supper.  Sitting in the same place.  Still no picture.  Maybe tomorrow.  I will be watching.

Stephanie Graduates And I Go To The Doctor

Had a really nice Mother’s Day.  Brian called this morning and I received messages on facebook from Samantha, Steven and Brianna.  Kevin came over and visited this morning.  Renea, Stephanie and Ryan came over this afternoon.  Later in the afternoon I had supper with Kevin, Renea and grandkids.  They also had a friend over who is stationed at Ft. Benning for a class.  Ryan and Stephanie were friends with him in New York.  We had a great meal.  I was then given a gift card for Barnes and Noble.  It was from Brian and family and Kevin and family.  I also received cards from Penny, Stephanie, and Brian and Tracy.  It was a good day.

 

Monday was laundry and get stuff done around the house kind of day.  Also watched DWTS.  Now it is down to those I like.  It will be interesting to see who wins.

 

Miss Penny gave me a bit of a scare tonight.  I had just about fallen asleep when I heard this awful noise.  I got out of bed, turned on the light, and Penny was hiding under the table.  I knew she had done something.  What she did was flip one of the living room blinds so that it went up and rolled around the roller.  The little plastic handle went flying across the room.  She does keep me on my toes (so to speak).

 

Tuesday was grocery day and just being lazy.  Bruce, Jennifer and their youngest daughter, Bethany, flew in from Colorado for Stephanie’s graduation.  They will also be house hunting as they plan to move here this summer.  Bruce has taken a job on Ft. Benning.  It was good to see them.

 

Wednesday was doctor day.  The shortness of breath has been getting worse.  Dr. Miller has decided to do another breathing test before sending me to a pulmonologist.  He is also putting me on a water pill for my high blood pressure (it was 160 over 100 when I went to see him this morning), an inhaler and prednisone.  I am waiting for Walgreens to call and say my prescriptions are ready.  I sure hope this helps.

 

Thursday I checked on my prescriptions and was told that there was a problem with one of them.  Seems the insurance company would not approve the inhaler.  So, I drove to Walgreens and picked up the other three prescriptions, and talked to the druggist about the inhaler.  Apparently, Dr. Miller prescribed one that the insurance company would not pay for.  The druggist called the doctor’s office, and, of course, a message had to be left for the nurse who would then have to check with Dr. Miller.  Still no inhaler. 

 

In between all of this I have been working on family genealogy.  I have been finding all types of information, and printing copies.  I have decided this is going to be an ongoing project which I probably will never finish.  That’s okay.  I enjoy working on it.

 

Today Renea’s mom and dad came into town for Stephanie’s graduation.  This time they flew into Atlanta rather than drive.  Kevin picked them up from the airport.  They will be here for a week.

 

It is now Friday.  This morning I started on my new blood pressure pill (water pill) and the prednisone.  I still don’t have the inhaler.  I called the doctor’s office and was told that Dr. Miller was out of the office until Monday.  The nurse cannot change the prescription.  Therefore, I will have to wait until Monday for the inhaler.  Meanwhile, I am still short of breath!

 

While sitting here working on the computer (I have been working on my blog, Kevin’s blog and genealogy) I noticed the birds carrying on something fierce.  They were flying away from the purple martin houses, bird feeders, and trees.  They were making a very loud commotion.  Well, lo and behold, here comes the big beautiful hawk that lives in the woods behind our houses.  The birds were protecting their young.  He flew around and then went into the woods.  He is absolutely beautiful.  I wish I knew what kind of hawk he is, but I have only seen him in flight.

 

Today is Saturday, and it is an absolutely beautiful day.  I received a phone call late yesterday and was told that one of the other doctors called in a new prescription for an inhaler. So first thing this morning I drove in to pick it up.  I used it the first time today.  I immediately had a headache and felt jittery.  I have been told that is normal.  We will see how it goes.

 

Stephanie graduated from college today.  She has a Bachelor of Science degree.  It is in Exercise Science.  We are all so proud of her.  After graduation everyone came back to Kevin and Renea’s for a party.  Many of her friends also attended.  We all had a really nice time.  Of course, I didn’t make it through the whole party.  I finally fizzled out about 9:30.  It was a long day for me.

Windy Weather and Allergies

Today was a busy day.  First on the agenda was going to the lab to have blood drawn.  I have a doctor appointment next Wednesday.  I then headed to Barnes and Noble and bought a couple of books that I have been waiting for.  Then on to Walmart to get a few necessities.  Next was home for lunch.  Boy, was I hungry since I didn’t have breakfast.  Lab work was fasting.

After lunch I started mowing the third section (as you know I mow grass in sections since my yard is so big) and when I was about half finished I ran out of gas.  Of course, the mower was in the front of the yard.  Kevin has these really big gas cans and I cannot lift them, so the mower had to sit where it was until Kevin got home.  He filled the mower for me, and I finished all of my grass.  He is mowing the backyard.

That’s it for tonight.  I am pooped!

Another windy day.  Both yesterday and today we have been under a wind advisory.  It can stop now.  It is so miserable I don’t even want to go outside.  However, I did go out in the back yard and take some pictures of the garden and orchard.  The garden is doing great and so is the orchard.  In fact, we have apples, peaches and lemons on the trees in the orchard.  The garden is producing all kinds of veggies.  If you check karsakerfarm.com you will see some pictures.  Our pecan trees are not doing well.  One has leaves, two have buds and the other three have nothing. 

I have spent the rest of the day doing inside fun work – dishes, etc.  I did make a couple of phone calls.  I have been researching a few genealogy classes that I am interested in taking.  There are four that I will probably take this month. 

Good Morning!  The wind is blowing again.  I have had enough of this.  I have a lot of work to do in the yard, but I can’t breathe with the wind blowing like it is.  However, I did water my plants and new trees in the front yard this morning.  Everything is looking good except the one potted plant on my deck.  I have moved it so it is out of the wind and I hope it will recover.

It was mostly an indoor kind of day which means I did my laundry.  I also did some reading and basically took it easy.  This evening I started watching the truck race.  I like that race because it is usually exciting.  They were racing in Kansas City so they started later than normal.  I lasted until about 10:15. By that time they still had over a hundred laps to go because of seven cautions.  I decided to go to bed since I was lucky to keep my eyes open.

Another warm and sunny day.  The wind is not blowing as hard so I decided to do some weeding after I did my morning chores.  I finished one area and then decided to call it quits for a while.  Kevin is out back weeding his garden.  Renea is shopping with Stephanie.  I plan on watching the Kentucky Derby later this afternoon.  I don’t know a thing about any of the horses, I just like watching them run.  Tonight I will watch the Sprint race.  Hopefully, I will be able to stay awake.

Made it to the end of the race!

A Bit of a Shock!

Thursday I went to the bank, stopped at Companion Animal Hospital with Penny’s stool (received a call that everything was okay), and then on to Walgreen’s to pick up my prescriptions.  One of the prescriptions was a shocker.  Before OPERS changed insurance I was paying $75 for a 90 day supply.  Now with the new insurance it is $350 for a 90 day supply.  That was a shocker as I said before.  The gal at Walgreens tried to get it lower, but no such luck and there is no generic.  I paid it, but I will be checking with my doctor to see if he can put me on something else.

 

Visited with Kevin and Renea for a while in the afternoon.  Talked to Jana. And just did some odds and ends.  I did receive the bedspread and pillow shams I had ordered.  I will put them on the bed tomorrow.

 

It has been a really busy day today.  I started house cleaning.  Since it is going to be around 90 degrees today and tomorrow I thought this would be a good time.  I have finished the living room, dining room, kitchen and laundry area.  Tomorrow I plan to do the bathroom and bedroom.

I took the other set of curtains and curtain rod down in the living room.  Penny was starting to reach for them and I was concerned that she might try to jump on them like she did the others.  I will be doing some research to find something for those windows.  Right now I just have plain white shades.  Looks kind of weird.  Besides Penny has figured out how to pull on them so they go all the way up.  Apparently she doesn’t like them even half way down.  Thinking back, Jim and I didn’t kid proof our house when the boys were growing up, but I sure am cat proofing my house now.  We didn’t even cat proof it when we had Rodney.  Miss Penny just thinks everything is hers, and she is in charge.  I think she is in charge also. 

 

I tried to train her using a squirt bottle of water, but she thinks that is a game.  She wants to play with the water.  She tries catching it.  Oh well, life is short so why worry.  She is special to me.

 

Finished my house cleaning today.  I am doing several loads of laundry; the curtains I took down, bedclothes, towels, etc.  I put the new bedspread and pillow shams on the bed.  I am really happy with them.  They brighten up the room. 

When I took the trash out I noticed that I have a dark purple iris blooming.  It is in the same pot as the yellow ones.  I need to figure out when to separate the bulbs.  They are getting pretty tight.

Also, my star jasmine is blooming.  The flowers are really small but pretty.

It’s been threatening to rain the past few days so I haven’t been out to mow the grass.  So, this I finally decided to mow the grass this afternoon since the rain never arrived.  And guess what, it’s raining.  I even watered my plants this morning.  That’s probably why it is raining.  Guess I will read for a while J
 

Ok, that was just a quick shower.  So, after supper I mowed the grass (circle and north side), watered two of the new trees, filled the birdfeeders and hung the hummingbird feeder.  That’s it for tonight!

A quick check of my new trees.  This is the golden raintree.  It is doing quite well.  Looks healthy.

This is the Forest Pansy Redbud.  Sure is different, but is doing well. 

I love the leaves.  They are so unique.

You can hardly see the Chase tree.  It blends with the grass.  Looks like a bush now, but they call it a tree.  It looks like it is getting buds at the tips of each branch.  Supposed to have purple flowers.  Good for the bees.

Shopping and Planting (never ends)

This morning Renea and I went to SAM’S.  She bought a lot more than I did J  When we left there we drove to Opelika Ford so Renea could pick up Kevin’s truck.  He had taken it there for an oil change.  Then we headed home.

 

After lunch I planted a couple of the plants I bought last week.  I planted the clematis and mandevilla.  I had bought a trellis for each of them.  Neither have any blooms on them, but they look healthy.  I wound the vines around the trellis and the deck railing.  I added a couple of orange celosia for color.  My yellow irises are blooming.  The iris in the rectangular box have no buds as yet.

I am a little disappointed in the cement containers.  The flowers/dirt seem to dry out really fast and the plants are not doing well.  My next door neighbor (Lanora) told me I should have lined them with plastic. 
 

Watched DWTS tonight.  I was not surprised at who got cut.  Now it is going to be tough.  I like all of the rest of the dancers.

 

Now it’s Tuesday.  Another sunny WARM day.  We are getting close to summer temps.  This morning I went to Tigertown.  First stop was Books A Million.  Only bought one book.  I didn’t even look around much.  They had about two dozen people taking inventory.  They were sitting on the floor in the aisles, usually two per aisle, and their counters were beeping non-stop.  I left.  Next stop was a haircut; then on to Kroger.  After shopping I filled the gas tank and headed home.

 

After putting the groceries away, I had lunch.  Then I went outside and planted a few more flowers.  I’m still not finished.  It was hot and I had to stop.  Came in and laid on the couch for a while.  After supper I sat on my swing on the deck for a while.  The deck is in the shade in the late afternoon and evening.  It was really peaceful.  The neighborhood was quiet.

 

Wednesday – I finished planting the flowers in their containers.  I even added a few more of the large marigolds to the bed of marigolds.  The front of the house and deck is coming along.  I have a lot of weeding to do along with spraying some roundup. 

I filled out the paperwork for medical and prescription reimbursements.  Also, I received a form and some information from the Atlanta Dead Letter Post Office informing me that they had found a piece of paper with my address and Jana’s address just laying around.  They wanted to know if I could give them information about this and if it had been attached to a box and what was in the box.  To make a long story short, it was actually on the box of books that Jana sent me.  She used the same box that I had used to send her some books.  Needless to say the brown paper wrapping had to be ripped off to get to those pieces of paper.  I returned the form with a letter.  We will see what happens next. 

 

P.S.  Jana received the same form from them on Thursday with her brown wrapping paper with the addresses.  They had to have torn that off the box. 

 

Something strange is going on.  I have a feeling we will never see that box of books!