I promised I would post something in this blog every Sunday.  That didn't last very long.  It is hard to post when I am just angry at everything.  I have noticed that my lips are pressed together most of the day.  When I see myself in the mirror, I look like a grouchy, old woman--I guess mirrors don't lie.

I had an appointment with an electrical physiologist--to discuss the results of my heart monitor test and talk about Pace Makers. My daughter Karen wasn't home so my sister and BIL offered to drive 25 miles down here to take me and my sister would go in the room with me and take notes.

The appointment was at 2:40.  It started icing up at 2:00 and snowing by 2:30.  BIL brought his truck for the bad weather and I had a deuce of a time trying to get up on the seat.

We got there, the electrical guy came in, told me my heart monitor test was fine...that I didn't need a Pace Maker--probably never would and come back to the Cardiologist in six months.

COULDN'T HE HAVE DONE THAT THROUGH A PHONE CALL???

It took sister and BIL over an hour to get home!

==========

The next week Tuesday, I had an appointment for a CT scan with contrast on my left Kidney.  Karen took me.

I had an ultra sound on my Kidney's end of October. everything was fine.  .  I had a CT scan on my abdomen early November when I was in hospital, everything, including Kidney's was fine.  The second time I was in hospital, end of November because of my fall, I had a contrast CT scan on my innards and they found a teeny something on my left Kidney.  So I had to have this new scan.

I was told to be there an hour early, because I had to drink Barium.  Why would I have to drink that for a Kidney scan.  We got there an hour early and finally at 10 after 3:00--the appointment was for 3:30, Karen asked the nurse when I was going to get the "drink".

"Oh--your Mom doesn't have to drink anything.  You only needed to be here 15 minutes before your appointment."

ARGGH!

So in I went.  They popped an IV line in my arm--OUCH--I hate those things.  They took 3 passes without the contrast, then warned me I would feel warm all over and think I had to pee, and did 3 pases with the contrast.  I love the contrast--like how it makes me all warm inside.

The Tech came in, removed the IV, asked me how I felt and because I was feeling relief because it was over, I smart mouth replied, "That's the closet I've come to an orgasm in 20 years!"

She looked at me...old, skinny, wrinkled up woman and then she burst into laughter.  Every thing had been very professional until my comment.  I probably won't be able to go back there again.

The test results revealed, a 1cc cyst--BENIGN--get it scanned again in 4 years.

=======================

So there is nothing seriously  wrong with me.  All my innards are working just fine.  I should be happy and relieved, but I fell again the other day...landed on the cat food station which sent water and dry cat food up into the air and down onto me.  I had to butt-walk across the kitchen floor, with hard, dry cat food embedding itself into my bare hind end--as I only had my nightie on--to get to my recliner where I could get on my knees and pull myself up onto the seat.

All because of this dang dead-foot.  

 

I am not a spontaneous person.  I like to know who, what, where and when and make a plan for that time frame..  I love schedules.  I suppose, growing up on a dairy farm, where schedules were kept—no matter what, has caused me to be like this.  Cows had to be milked 12 hours apart.  I don’t care if it was the birth of your first child or the deathbed vigil for your father.  When it was milking time—you were in the barn, milking cows.

The first year of the pandemic didn’t throw me off too much, I was still mobile.  I still had my schedule of chores around the house to do.  Certain jobs on certain days and I could do 2 or 3 chores in a day—dusting, vacuuming, washing down counter tops, working in the garden.

Then I got this dang drop-foot, along with balance issues, and there are some chores I just can’t do anymore.  I am an independent person, I could take care of myself—until the drop-foot. This has rattled me and made me feel very unsettled

So, over the weekend, I decided which chore I could adapt to fit my condition and make a schedule.  I knew that I could only do one major chore a day, so I made an Excel spreadsheet (that’s part of the OCD I have) and made a schedule for each day with one chore.  I call it my BIG CHORE Day.

Today, I dusted.  I can do quite a lot of it sitting on the seat of the Rollator.  The higher shelves and stuff, I rest one hand on the Rollator for balance and use my right hand to work with.  Then I wiped down the kitchen counters, using my legs braced against the lower cupboards.

I can still bend over to feed the cats and clean up their litter box and put dirty dishes in the dishwasher for a future wash and I have no problem emptying the dishwasher—I haul the dishes from the dishwasher, resting on the Rollator seat, to the varying cupboards where they belong.

The same way with laundry…I load a load of dirty clothes into the bag under the seat of the Rollator and wheel them out to the washer.  When they are done drying, I sit on the seat of the Rollator, easily reach in to the very back of the dryer, and fold them or put them on hangers and then wheel them back into the bedroom.

I feel a lot better emotionally, working from the schedule and knowing there are still things I CAN do.  I have to stay as independent for as long as I can.