Penny, Mice and Jana

First, I am going to tell you a story about Penny and the mice.  For about ten days Penny would not come downstairs.  We could hear her playing in “mom’s” room, but she wouldn’t have anything to do with us.  We could not figure out why.

One night when I went upstairs to get ready for bed I found her running around mom’s room like crazy.  That’s when I saw it…..a mouse!  Penny was chasing it from one end of the room to the other.  I finally got Penny out of the room leaving the mouse in there.  So, I went downstairs and got two mouse traps from Jana and set them both in the bedroom.  I closed the door so Penny couldn’t get in there.  Sorry to say, when I checked in the morning I had not caught the mouse.  After checking around I figured out where the mouse was coming from.  I closed up the hole with duct tape and reset the traps.  Meanwhile I moved Penny’s food and litter box into my bedroom. 

The next night we set the traps downstairs in the kitchen on the windowsill where Jana has caught mice before.  The first night we caught a mouse!  The second night we caught another mouse!  We have not caught any more even though we have been setting the traps.  Penny is now acting normal – at least normal for a cat.  She is back to running around the whole house. 

Now about Jana.  This past Wednesday she had the surgery on her other eye.  We sure have learned a lot and are still learning.  This healing process if going to take a while.  When we left the Cincinnati Eye Institute she had an enormous patch on her eye.  She was told to keep looking down.  She was told to keep her nose pointing toward the floor.  When we arrived home she was to start using the head rest contraption immediately.  She has to keep her head in there for 45 to 50 minutes out of each hour.  The other ten to fifteen minutes she can use the bathroom, eat, and get up a walk.  However, even doing this she has to keep her head down.  When she went to bed that night she had to sleep on her side and keep her head pointing down. 

Thursday morning we went to see the eye surgeon.  The nurse took the patch off her eye.  Then she checked her eye, and another eye doctor checked her eye.  Finally, her surgeon came in and thoroughly checked her eye.  He also gave us all of her instructions.  As of Friday night she doesn’t have to use the head rest any longer.  However, she has three eyedrops to use.  Two of them she uses four times a day.  One of them she uses six times a day.  We are keeping a chart.  (She is still using two drops in her other eye for the next two weeks.)  The drops in her eye that had the retina repaired will need drops for at least six weeks. 

He also explained to us that he put a bubble of gas in her eye which floats around and put pressure on the hole in the retina to close it.  This will remain in her eye for four to six weeks.  Eventually, it will disappear.  Meanwhile, it will be an aggravation as far as her sight is concerned.  No pain – just aggravation. 

They did not put a new patch on her eye.  Now she just puts one on at night so she doesn’t rub her eye.  She still has to sleep on her side for two to four weeks. 

The other bit of information he told us was that it will take up to a year for her eye to completely correct itself.  We aren’t sure what that means as far as glasses are concerned, but I am sure we will find out.  For now she just has a black eye.  The last thing he told us before we left is that she is doing excellent!

She goes back to the eye surgeon next Thursday.  I am sure we will get more instructions then.

Here and There News

First, the HERE NEWS.  Jana is doing fine.  She has been to the eye doctor and he said the eye is healing just fine. She has been faithful with her eye drops, and I think that is part of the reason she is doing so good.  She cannot wear her old glasses, but he suggested she get a pair of reading glasses.  So, she bought a pair at Walgreen’s and they are working just fine.  She had to get used to them, but now she can read and do other close-up tasks.  She can see far away pretty good. 

Once she has surgery on her left eye, everything should improve.  She has that surgery next Wednesday.  Then, most everything comes to a stop for a short time.  Monday we are going to pick up her chair that she will need to use for at least a few days after surgery.  I will take a picture.  It’s a chair where she has to keep her face looking down for 45 minutes of every hour that she is awake.  This should be interesting 😊

Last Saturday Samantha graduated from UC as a Radiology Technician.  Jana and I were not able to go to her graduation.  We attended a Memorial Service for Jana’s goddaughter who passed away a short time ago.  After the service was a small reception.  We were able to attend Mass afterward.

Sunday was a party for Samantha for her graduation, and a going away party.  She is leaving this Wednesday to join Brandon in Virginia.  He is in the Navy and stationed in Norfolk.  A few weeks ago Brian and Samantha went to Norfolk and met with Brandon to find an apartment.  By the way, Brandon surprised Samantha and came home for her graduation and both parties.  This week she passed her registration test as an RT so she now plans to look for a job in Norfolk.  We wish her and Brandon the best of everything. 

Monday we made our weekly trip to Frisch’s and Barnes and Noble.   Other than that we didn’t do much except run a few errands to pick up some things so we wouldn’t have to do much running after her surgery.  We took Mattie to the vet for her checkup.  Jana is supposed to put her on a diet (LOL) because she is overweight.  We also picked up Jana’s eyedrops (prescription) for her next surgery. 

Now for the THERE NEWS.  Kevin sent me a couple of pictures this week of things happening in Alabama.   

I had a weeping cherry tree in my front yard.  It was the saddest tree I have ever seen.  It would get one or two flowers on it in the spring.  Very few branches had leaves. I tried “feeding” it, and that did not help at all.  So, we talked it over before I left and decided it should be cut down.  He did this last week and sent me a picture.

 

The three Franklin trees I planted in containers and kept them in front of my deck have survived the winter.  I am so excited.  We had so much trouble with them the first year we tried growing them.  They all died.  So, we tried to do it this way and I think we succeeded.

Kevin now has a “portable” watering tank.  He got this to collect rain water so we could water the trees, plants, etc. Of course, it hasn’t rained since he got the watering tank.  I have been told that my water bill “might” be a bit high this month. 

Kevin, Renea and a few of their friends are on a four day Disney Cruise now.  I hope they have a good time.  I think Stephanie went with them, but I’m not sure.  Rebekah (sp?) is dog sitting since I am in Ohio. 

P.S.  I finally finished my bird towels that I was embroidering.

P.P.S.  I also took my first quilting class this week.  Jana has a friend named Rose (Rose and George (her husband) and Jana and David all camped together and remained friends.  Rose and George also go to St. Al’s where we go to church.  She is an awesome quilter and has convinced me that I can do it.  We shall see. I will keep you updated.