Reading, shows and work

I've been on a science fiction reading kick lately and just finished 2 good ones. The first one was called Seveneves. Though really long and I'll admit I skimmed over some of the parts with too much technical detail, the story in itself was really good. The next one was called Meet Me in Another Life and I read that one really fast, in like 2 days.

I have the last episode of season 2 of Discovery of Witches to watch. Good news regarding a canceled NBC show DD and I liked called Manifest. It was such a hit with the first 3 seasons put on Netflix right after it was canceled, along with a huge push by fans to get it back, Netflix has agreed to do a final 4th season of 20 episodes to wrap up the story line. We watched it for 3 seasons, expecting at some point to find out the "why" and then it got cancelled and left us totally hanging. I will have to pay for Netflix for a month when that eventually airs.  And just like just about every single person I know, LOL, we are all waiting for Yellowstone to come back in November. There is also a spinoff called Yellowstone 1886 or something like that coming in December, starting Sam Elliot. He's always good to watch.

I'm finally starting to make headway in getting caught up at work. Typically I am 2-3 months behind in getting all our commission reconciled and the monthly financial statements done. Some of it is just a factor of our mfg's don't pay us for that month's commissions for 6-8 weeks and I need their reports for the months they are paying. So, 2 months out is normal. But, when we went through that long IRS audit, along with gradually other stuff being added to my work, I've been like 6 months behind. Finally, I am now almost done with May. That is my goal by the end of tomorrow. Then if in the next 3 weeks I can keep pushing through on completing June, I will be very caught up and very happy. Some of what has allowed me to get caught up is a change in how one of our mfg's does their orders and I don't have to be the order person anymore. I don't have to place the PO's and I don't then have to receive and pay their invoices and then turn around and bill our customers and receive their payments. It all added up to quite a bit of time on my plate. Now this mfg was bought out by another one and they do it the "right" way, LOL. I've also just made myself stay on task, giving myself goals to get so much completed each day. Some days I get none of it done, as other things come up (or it's payroll day), but having the daily goals has really helped get caught up. I'm not there yet, but seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

Another employee is leaving the company I work for. She has been with us 8 years. From the sounds of her career change (going back to what she did before) at at school (not a teacher) it certainly isn't about money. She currently makes way more than teachers make (and she's not a teacher) so obviously just wanting a lifestyle change with work and responsibilities.

I haven't done any MTurks for extra income in probably a year or more. I got burned out on it and I think about the time my side job money doubled I stopped doing it. For kicks I logged in yesterday to do a few surveys. It took me a bit to remember the how, as I used an interface with it to more easily find hits. I had to remember how it worked. I know I have emailed a couple people on how to use it and the settings I was using. I might have to find one of those emails to refresh my memory. But, within about 20 minutes, just before ending my work day yesterday, I made $10.28. This morning, in about 10 or 15 minutes of time I have $2.60. I'll probably do it awhile, until I get burned out on it again. So far, this time almost every hit I click on I get, which was rarely the case before, hence the need for the "hit catcher" program. It will keep trying them. I don't know if that means more are available now or less people are doing it now. If it continues like this, where hit are actually available during the time I have to work on them, it might work out better. If I can work on it for an hour during lunch and actually get lots of hits to do, it will make earning from it easier.

DH woke me up about an hour before I got up this morning saying he wasn't feeling very good again. Pain when he takes a deep breath again. Which they told him before was his lung bumping up against the inflamed pancreas. Ugh. He did fall back asleep and is still sleeping, so at least that is good.

Some more this and that

Weekends are too short, aren't they? I'm really looking forward to my 4 day one next weekend. I have some bananas that are just about too ripe. Weren't quite ready to make banana bread yesterday and I probably won't feel like making it during the week. I'll have to try freezing them and see if that works ok. I have never frozen a banana before.

I finally learned how to make an omelette! I've tried to make one a few times in my years, but not good results. So, I've stuck with fried and scrambled. If we ever go out for breakfast (or to one that serves breakfast all day) dh always orders a ham and cheese omelette. They are always big and fluffy. He really wanted one the other afternoon. I said I can't make those, they never turn out. He's like try again. So, I watched 2 you tube videos. Ok, I can do this. I didn't have any diced ham but just folded up a couple of pieces of ham lunch meat and broke off into pieces. DH said it was really good. Then he wanted another one for dinner last night. Actually, they are super easy to make, LOL. And I got to use up some eggs. He hasn't been having his morning "egg mcmuffin" sandwich for weeks now, so I'm not using much eggs (though I did while dd was here). I've added thick or diced ham to my grocery list. This makes for an easy dinner to make dh.

I was talking to my mom yesterday after lunch and she mentioned she heard a beeping in her phone, she must have another call. Then she mentioned it a minute or two later. Then we got cut off. Oh! her battery died, LOL. I tried to call back about 10 or 15 min later but it went straight to voicemail. Next time she mentions that is happening I'll now know to tell her to plug in her phone. She did call me several hours later, so she figured it out at some point what needed to be done.

My half sisters girls and son in law, who got Covid, are doing ok. Sounds like all 3 had it pretty mild, thankfully. More just like a cold, for them. My friend, in another state, who's daughter and her boyfriend got it, also are on the mend. Both her daughter and her bf are pretty overweight, so makes one wonder if that's a reason they had it worse/longer than my sis's family, who are same age group, but active and not over weight. I'm sure it's different for everyone, though.

DH still hasn't had a Mountain Dew. He got the lawn mowed yesterday, which if course is tiring. He's been thinking (prior to getting sick) of changing a couple of areas in the lawn/landscaping to make mowing a bit easier and I think he'll do that for next summer. Change a couple of spots where he can't get the riding mower to and take out the lawn in a couple corner areas so he can easily mow and not have to take the push mower just for those spots. It will make life simpler going forward and probably save him 20-30 minutes each mowing session.

We had a couple of deer in the backyard yesterday morning, so I made sure to get my repellent sprayed on what I don't want them to eat. Dang, that stuff smells, LOL. I'm watching my new shrubs planted last week like a hawk. DH thinks the lilac doesn't look good. Some of the leaves are turning a bit darker....I'm just hoping it's because they are getting ready for fall and to drop before winter?? I gave my rhododendrons the acid plant food with water. Said to do every 2 weeks, so I put a reminder on my phone when to do it next. Labor Day weekend is also when dh is supposed to do the fall lawn fertilizer we use, so I will pick up 3 bags of that from the feed store when I go to the city on Wednesday. As usual, every trip I make in there ends up being a bunch of stops. I also ordered a 50 bag of casoron weed killer. We buy that online once a year and dh uses it to keep weeds out of all the gravel areas. That stuff is expensive, but works really well. I decided to wait and clean the chicken coop next weekend. Lots of time to get it done then.

I've been having a bit of a pinched nerve between my neck and top of my shoulder, all week. It's getting annoying. I think I'll get out my little rice bag that heats in the microwave and see if that helps. DH was cleaning out a clog in his bathroom sink yesterday and I bent down to give him some light and it just really pinched then. It loosened back up quickly, but still just annoying me, as it was before.

I want to try to not drink milk and see how I feel. I hardly had any milk (like one small glass) the 10 days we were on our trip. I was not tired, like I usually am and you'd think with traveling, not sleeping in my own bed, long days, I would have been super tired. Since I was in jr. high I have had, almost daily, a glass of Carnation instant breakfast with milk for breakfast. I almost always have a glass with dinner (half glass). But, I've noticed the past several months that right after I have my instant breakfast in the morning I feel queasy for about 5-10 minutes. I was going to try to not drink it, after I got home, but failed. It's just too quick and easy of a breakfast.

DH's bathroom sink always seems to clog up. Sometimes when I clean his sink I can reach down with my gloved finger and pull up gunk stuck on the insides of the drain. I just assumed it was that he must shave sometimes at the sink. I've also had to use drano before. I had half a bottle left so used that and then flushed with almost boiling water and it was still clogged. So, he got underneath, figuring it was the trap clogged. It was totally clean, but the insides of the pipes to and from the trap were totally stuck with this stuff. He's like what the heck?! He said he never shaves there. He always shaves in the shower (he has a mirror on the wall in there). The only thing we can think is that one of the people doing tile work dumped their crap down the sink and it stuck to the insides of the pipes and over time, with toothpaste and soap it builds up and sticks to that stuff. He took the pipes out and really cleaned inside them, so hopefully we won't have any more problems with it.

Several weeks ago, dh sent the guy that owns lot 6 in our neighborhood a Facebook message that he had some neighborhood info and gave him our ph#. He finally called yesterday morning. Dh said he didn't know if they knew but just wanted to let them know lots 4 and 5 are for sale. He said his wife saw that. Said they'd love to buy lot 5, but not at that stupid price, LOL. DH said yes, he's asking a ridiculous amount, isn't he? Dh told him about the realtor using just about every picture in his listing of our house and that dh called and asked him to take down and we were tempted to say "do you want pics of the inside of our house, too?" He said ya, that's just not right. He said they were over here a couple weeks ago and stopped by their property. Sounds like they are still on their "5 year plan" with it. Dh told him next time they are over here to stop and say hello. 

Our state governor was out in our county recently, speaking to a group. Our county is 90% federal and state lands. I guess he made a statement that he'll see what he can do to get the feds to sell some land and bring more property tax revenue to our county. Then he told the local newspaper reporter "but don't put that in print". Oh...if it's such a great idea, then why does it need to be a secret? Politicians, no matter what side they are on, just plain suck.

A little weekend update

DH took it easy yesterday. Neighbor boy did bring 2 loads of pine cones in his little red wagon. He's so cute. A couple years ago he was so afraid of dogs and didn't say a word. Now he loves dogs and talks up a storm, haha. He started school this past week. I can't remember if it's pre-k or kindergarten he's in now.

We've been watching to see if the listing for one of the lots changes to pending, after that couple spent that hour or so looking at it, but nothing yet. Gosh houses are being listed for insane amounts around here. Stuff that 5 years ago, when we were looking, was half what they are asking now. We are very glad we got over here when we did. We couldn't have afforded what the prices are now. Even our little house in town, we bought for $161,000. Zillow now has it at $352,000. Housing double in the last 5 years, but my salary sure hasn't! 

From being at the hospital we also saw that the lot next to our old house, on the corner, got sold and someone is starting to build. Looks like right now they are building a small shop in the back and living in an rv. They are all just very small 9000 sf lots. Someone told dh that the people who built a house on the other side of that awful renter we had also now bought the 4 lots on the other side of the street and plan to build homes to sell. It's going to get crowded there, now, LOL.

DH is still feeling really tired and can't figure out why he keeps getting sweats and chills during the nights. We mentioned it to the provider on Friday, too. Again (just like the specialist) no suggestion as to what could be the cause. He was saying last night he's so tired feeling. I joked "welcome to my life with no caffeine" . He says is this what it's like? I said pretty much.

I got the guest bedroom bedding washed yesterday. Got my grocery list started, for picking up when I'm in the city on Wednesday afternoon. I don't feel like I really did anything yesterday, but I kept busy, LOL. I did text with my half sister awhile in the afternoon. Her 2 daughters and her son in law have Covid. They all went to an outdoor wedding last weekend. Sis said she only went to the ceremony and then took her grandson home to spend the night with her. She also briefly saw her 2 daughters earlier in the week. So far sis doesn't have any symptoms. My Facebook feed seems to be filled with people having weddings and showers this summer.

We are having mild nice weather now. It was actually pleasant to sit on the front patio last evening for a bit. We took a little walk partway down our street (dr told dh to walk a bit) and some car drove by on the main road super slow and the lady practically had her head hanging out the window looking back at our house, LOL. People do that all the time. The speed limit is 60 on that road and they either practically come to a stop or drive by super slow.

DH will most likely mow the lawn today. It's been since Tuesday and ready to be mowed again. I need to get my flowers and shrubs that the deer like sprayed with repellent. I just had some more delivered and also use the Miracle Gro I bought for the rhododendrons. I should probably get the chicken coop cleaned out, too.

I just remembered I'm also taking the Tuesday after Labor Day off, so it will be a nice long weekend next weekend. I should probably have my mom out here for a couple days.....but I'm so dang tired. I guess I have a week to decide. Also, with dh so so tired, I just think having her here might be too much right now. She's exhausting to spend a lot of time with. He's really good about chatting with her and listening to her ask the same thing over and over, but right now I'm sure that's the last thing he feels like doing.

Still no hospital claims showing up on dh's insurance yet. His new insurance starts on the 1st, so that will be better going forward, even though so much more money in premiums each month. Like I keep telling myself, I was able to save $24k the past 4 years, when he didn't need any medical care, rather than putting that all to premiums for care he didn't need. Now, we're in the phase of his life he's going to need to use it, so time for the better insurance.

Wait and see

The follow up with one of the hospital providers at the clinic,yesterday, wasn't too much info. She explained the ultrasound sludge results. Said best to follow up with a specialist and I said we are, he had an appointment with the GI specialist on Wednesday. She didn't realize he had already gotten in to see one. Basically, the specialist will get the ultrasound results and do the endoscopy and see what he thinks. The endoscopy got scheduled for 9/23. Just down the corridor from where he had the ultrasound. He told her he is still very tired and no energy. She said that they say it takes 3-4 days for each day of hospital stay to recover all the way, once out, so she would expect him to be tired for awhile. She suggested a multi vitamin and a 2000 iu Vitamin D daily.

She did say that the blood work they did while he was in the hospital showed his cholesterol was good. We both at the same time were like REALLY?!! that was a huge surprise. At one time 6 or so years ago his was up over 300. His dr put him on simvastatin and that totally made his muscles ache even more. Then tried Crestor and ended up reducing the Crestor to like 5 mg or something very low. He took that very expensive med for a year or two. After we moved here and he went for a checkup with a town doctor she said it was still somewhat high and wanted to increase the dose. He explained to her why he wouldn't/couldn't, that he had already tried that. She still put the prescription in at full dose. I called and talked to her nurse and both were just being turds about it. Said she wouldn't prescribe it for the dose he had been taking it, so he told her then he's not taking it. The pills are too tiny to cut in half. So, I guess all these past few years of no fast food (rarely now) has helped, along with he did lose some weight compared to what he was before we built our house.

We've been trying to fill in our island area with pine cones, around the trees and plants. DH sent neighbors down the street a text last night that said will pay top dollar and otter pops for a wheelbarrow of pinecones (they are everywhere on the 3 vacant lots) delivery by a smiling kid, haha. I think he will be finding pincecones and delivering a load today :) I'm sure he will be tickled to have a paying job.

DH thought that maybe the reason we didn't get the toll road bills in the mail was because his truck permanent license plate still had our old PO Box from a few years ago. We stopped in the court house yesterday to check and she said no, when he renewed his drivers license a few months ago those registrations updated in their system, too. There are 2 ladies that work in the vehicle licensing/title part. One was helping a couple, who from the sounds of it, had recently moved to the area from Oregon. As we were leaving dh said to me have you ever noticed that people from WA and OR always want/need to give your their resume? haha. ya, it is true. Almost everyone we meet from there, that are now here, are like that. After that couple left, the other lady came over and chatted with us. (DH is also friends with her husband). When we left I said well I guess we are "locals" now when we know the people and can stand there and chat/catch up with them, haha.

I finally got my annual check up scheduled for next Wednesday afternoon. Let's hope I can keep it this time.

 

Rainy Friday

Even going to the ultrasound appointment, which is part of the hospital facility in the city was a breeze. It's not a huge city, so therefore not a huge hospital. It's manageable LOL. The section of the building where the imaging dept is, is easy to get to and ample free parking lot right next to it. Up to the 2nd floor and easy to find. No stress. Back out to the car, a short 1/2 mile drive to get back on the freeway and back home in 40 minutes.

The online company meeting was for one of our company owners to announce that he is retiring at the end of this year. A bit earlier than expected, beings he's only 60. He came on as a 3rd owner just a couple of months before I started working there. Then several years ago it became just him and one of the other owners as the 2 owners. They have been working towards grooming and transferring some of the ownership to the exec mgmt team, so that is still the plan going forward. We also got news that our 401k matching and profit sharing (for 2020) is going to get deposited to our 401k accounts next week. I was literally just thinking about that the other day, as usually by now they have made the deposit. With the departure of 4 long time employees the past few months, we have lots of new people on board now. So many new names and faces out of the 55 or so employees we have. We do have a consistent core of a good 50% of the employees who, like me, have been with the company a long time, so that part is good.

DD and I often play cribbage when she is visiting. For some reason she can never win. I mean like never. It's not like she doesn't know how to play, she just always gets terrible hands and I'm always getting these huge ones. I don't get it, LOL. Even if she gets ahead I end up winning. As we finished up our final game her last night I said I wonder if there is an online version we can play together and we found one, so we tried it out on our phones. She won both games, LOL. It will be fun to play in the evenings every so often.

She was having a longer drive home yesterday afternoon/evening. Her dh decided to trade in their Mustang for a different one and he found one mid state where they live, so dd had to drive about an hour or so farther south then her normal route home to meet up with her dh, because when he went over to look at it, they wouldn't let dd sign the paperwork like via docusign, she had to be there to sign for the car loan. Then she followed her dh as they drove back home the 4 hours or so to their house. The whole trip took her 9 hours instead of 7. Hopefully her dh will like this Mustang better. The one they had had a leak issue they constantly were taking in to get fixed and her dh just decided it's best to get rid of it. I think it was a 2014 and this one they just got is a 2016. Her dh changes vehicles often, but always buys used ones. They have kept their used pick up quite a few years now.

I was going to pick up my mom's will "binder" they put together with her will and healthcare directives but ended up not being able to this week. Someone from the law office called and said they can drop it off to my mom, no problem (they are only 2 blocks away) so I gave her my mom's ph#. Thankfully she called and then dropped it off within an hour or so, so my mom didn't completely forget that she was! mom called me after she dropped it off and we decided we'll keep it here in my safe at home.

Today is dh's appointment at the clinic here at the local hospital. He will be seeing one of the providers who saw him in the hospital. I was texting our friend in Texas to update her. She has lots of stomach issues and said she was told she has sludge too and is having another ultrasound today to check on it, and she said it sounds like they will also be giving her the medication that dissolves it. 

I'm trying to make a little grocery list to stop in the store after the dr appointment today.  It's rainy and a bit windy this morning. I'm definitely enjoying this cooler weather. 

I don't know why all of a sudden a bunch of spam is slipping through to my mom's email in box. Not that it matters a whole lot anymore. She rarely gets on her email now. She has 3 unread emails and the oldest is Aug 12th. Her investment guy's office sends out a weekly newsletter type email, so that is all that is in her inbox.

Ultrasound finally done

DH had his ultrasound this morning. While, of course, the radiologist still has to read it, the tech was able to tell him she could see sludge in his gallbladder (but no stones). She said this is typically treatable with medication. I looked it up on the way home and the information said this can be a cause of acute panreatitis. So, hoping this is the answer they've been looking for. We follow up with one of the hospital/clinic providers tomorrow and will see what they say.  

I have payroll processing to get done today. I pre-did most of the questions yesterday. Still working on it now that I am back home, but shouldn't have any big issues with it. We have an online company meeting at noon that should take about an hour. DD will be leaving about an hour after that. My company had an employee who's at the office get Covid positive yesterday, so now everyone who was working in the office has to work from home for a week or so. This company meeting was planned before this, but everyone will just have to access the meeting remote now.

Dh had to go all night w/o eating or drinking before this ultrasound at 9. We stopped at McDonalds on the way home. Geez. 3 egg mcmuffins and 2 small oj's is $17 now.

There was a couple who looked at the lots for sale next to us yesterday afternoon for probably like an hour. The agent was there too, for most of their time there looking. They looked like a quite a bit older couple. DH took a peak from the bonus room window with the binoculars as they were on the lot next to us and said they looked in their 70's. All 3 of us said hmmm....doesn't seem like people in their 70's would want to go through the hassle of building a house! So, then dh came up with this scenario (he always does this) that they are snowbirds and plan to just park their travel trailer for 6 months a year...because the covenants say you can park one for 6 months...BUT that is in reference to while you build a home, you are allowed to live in a camper for 6 months while building. Not park it every year for 6 months at a time. Then, in his typical doomsday attitude he's like "who's going to enforce the covenants?". Well, geez....same way we knew when we bought this property how any covenant violations would have to be enforced - since there isn't an HOA. The other property owners would have get together and get an attorney to send a letter about the violation, if the other owner won't cooperate. He gets himself all riled up for nothing.

Well, almost time for my company meeting. Hoping for a plan of action from the dr. tomorrow.

First follow up appointment

DH had his appointment with the GI specialist this morning. He wants to see what the ultrasound tomorrow might show. He also wants to do an endoscopy, but not for 4-5 weeks. He said he wants to wait because the longer the pancreas has to settle down (if it's going to and sounds like it is) the better he can see with the endoscopy. Something about the endoscopy also includes an ultrasound type of endoscopy, he said.

Even though it was a 45 min drive to the city, apparently both of us were thinking how much nicer and easier going to the doctor here is compared to living in big metropolitan area. God, I hated when he had to go see specialists and what not, back when we were trying to figure out his muscle problem. Awful traffic, 2 hours to get to an appointment that was 40 miles away, trying to find the places, trying to figure out where to park, etc. So stressful before you even get there. Then do it again with a follow up appointment. Today we were there and back (with over an hour appointment) in 3 hours and zero traffic, a huge empty parking lot to park in, LOL.

While we were gone dd did all the carpet vacuuming for me, which was really nice. 

Not much else newsworthy going on. We had spaghetti for dinner last night and instead of adding ground beef to the sauce, like usual, I used ground turkey. We all thought it tasted fine and not much difference in taste. I don't know what to have tonight for dinner. So far, not much is sounding good. 

DD's dog is stressing out the chickens. If we let him get into the back of yard he rushes the coop and freaks them all out and then they all sit inside up on their roost or one of the hens will come down and be lookout while the rest sit up there. 

I'm feeling the afternoon sleepiness from getting up an hour early to go to the dr appt first thing this morning. The ultrasound tomorrow he doesn't need to be there until 8:45 so I can get up my normal time to get ready. Maybe we'll get "lucky" and something will show on the ultrasound to let them know what is going on and what they need to do and wouldn't need to do the endoscopy.

This dr we saw today also said that if they had done that mobile MRI on dh it most likely wouldn't have been very informative at all. So, glad it didn't get done and we don't have to pay for that.

Tackling Tuesday

DH is still not feeling the greatest. Still having some pain. Hopefully between the 2 doctors appointments and now an ultrasound added, something will get figured out. The hospital clinic person called yesterday and said the dr he is following up with on Friday (here in town) would like the ultrasound done to double check for gallstones, so that is good. But, that of course, got scheduled for Thursday morning, at the same time I had rescheduled my annual check up for. So, I had to call my dr office back and cancel yet again. I decided I will wait and schedule my appointment once I know more from his appointments this week if there will be more and when. Sure as shootin' if I make myself another appointment something will come up.

So, we have to drive into the city for an 8am appointment Wednesday. Then back to another place in the city on Thursday morning for a 9am appointment for the ultrasound. The ultrasound is at the same place I had mine done a few years ago for my small breast lump, so at least we know where to go. Friday is here in town at the hospital clinic.

We've been expecting some toll fee invoices from Texas and Colorado for using toll lanes while on our trip. Both dh's pickup and trailer license plates were purchased as permanent plates, so it's possible those still have our old PO box address. Not sure if we ever updated those. And we weren't sure if the cameras would pick up the truck plate or the trailer plate. Finally, I figured out where to look online and enter our license plate number and state. We owed Texas $30 and Colorado $40. $40 just for going through Denver one time, for 15 minutes or so. The Texas tolls were both ways. What a ripoff.

When I got up this morning the temperature outside was 37. Last night dh said it might get frosty (I figured they meant a bit higher up than we are), should he somehow cover the new plants we just planted? I said no, if they were still in their pots at the garden center, outside, no one is going to cover up all the plants, LOL.

DH is planning to mow the lawn today. He keeps saying he can do it all. DD keeps saying she can help. I keep saying that's what she came over here for. He is so stubborn. We've been under a stage 2 for fire, which means no lawn mowing after 1pm. Well, with the rain we've had the past couple of weeks. the temps in the morning and the dew on the grass, plus we (and neighbors) water our lawns regularly so they are nice and green. Well, it's still too wet to mow in the morning. Mr Neighbor was getting annoyed. He's like all's I'm doing trying to mow in the morning (and our lawns need mowed) is flattening the grass down! Sunday he said screw it, he's mowing in the early afternoon. Even dh said there is no way to mow now in the morning. It's not like our green (ie not dry) lawns are going to catch on fire from the lawn mowers. I can understand the rule for mowing dry hay fields, etc.

Here's another picture I took of the little bridge from a different angle.

Here's a picture I took while walking back from the mailbox this morning. Our neighbors right side of fence) had planted grass seed later last summer and this summer it's come in nicely. I think it looks so much better than just the natural grass they had there before. I think having the nice green lawn on both sides compliment each side nicely.

I told dd the other day I was taking bets on how soon dh would start drinking Mtn Dew again. I said Tuesday (today). Last night he says "maybe a Mtn. Dew will give me a little more energy". I just rolled my eyes. He didn't have one, but I'm sure it will be soon......

Yard work

We got all the new plants planted. DH was cooperative and let dd shovel some rock into the wheel barrow to put in the bottoms of the whiskey barrel planters. He also let her dig out the dead plants with the shovel while he pulled them out. We got the barrels filled up with excess dirt from pulling out the dead shrubs and then filled up the rest of the way with potting soil and I planted some mum's in them. We set these on each side of our front door. I'm not going to like having them there (and too heavy to move) when there is nothing to plant in them! They will look ugly. My plan is annuals in summer, mums in fall. Some fake poinsettias during holiday decor time. Not sure about later winter/early spring yet. Maybe I'll get like a fake boxwood to set on them until it's time to plan annual flowers again. Or maybe the fake boxwoods would just look fine all year long. 

The 3 shrubs I bought were all good sized and look nice. Just hoping they live! We also replaced the small plant in our island in dog's memory and replaced one of our little grassy shrubs on the side of the house that didn't make it.

The big rope dh had ordered to finish off the little bridge arrived just before he went into the hospital. DD helped him get those attached. I like the rope look. The original plan was some wagon wheels on each side, but I'm still trying to deal with Tractor Supply to get the replacement order.......what a joke. I should have brought the old ones with me on Saturday and dd and I took the extra 15 minutes to drive to the little town Tractor Supply is in and returned them and got my money back and just told them to cancel the replacement order that has never arrived.

Today dd and I are just sharing my office and working. She will help dh if/when needed, if he decides to do anything outside, though we are thinking the yard will not need to be mowed until tomorrow or Wednesday. Maybe even Thursday. The plan is he can do the riding part, she will do the push mower part and help him empty the bags on the rider. She also told me that while we are gone to dh's dr appointment Wednesday morning she will mop or vacuum or anything I might need done.
 

Re planting

I don't know why yesterday was so exhausting, but it was. Maybe just the week catching up to me. DD and I left about 11am to go to the city. First stop was Home Depot to look at their shrubs/plants. Not a whole lot left and nothing in the size I was looking for. DH and I decided to go big as possible, in the hopes that the plant is very established by now and maybe a better chance to survive. We seem to have about a 75% success rate with whatever we plant LOL.

But, Home Depot did have a bunch of the dark stained wood planter barrels I had tried to go back to that garden center store months ago and get and then they were out. I also picked out some fall mums to plant in them. These will go by our front door.

I figured Lowe's was probably same as Home Depot with what's left. Ok, so lets drive over to that garden center store. That's all they have is garden plants and will probably have good luck there. Yes, they had everything I was looking for and in large sizes. I needed to replace 2 boxwoods that died. I decided to try to replace with rhododendrons. I didn't think rhody's grew here! They are very abundant in WA, but I had looked them up awhile back and read they don't grow in MT. Well, whatever variety this one is, does. I'm so excited. I love how they leaves stay green year round and get the flowers in spring. I read it's best to have acidic soil for them so I am going to get some additive, like Miracle grow has for acid.

I also got a large lilac to replace the one dh killed by accidentally spraying with weed killer (and not bug killer). DD found another small perennial to replace the one we planted for our dog (with most of his ashes), called Stairway to Heaven. An apt name.

They had buy one get one free rose bushes (and already at a good price each) and dd has been wanting some for her yard, so she got 2 of those.

When we left there we were starving. Still needing to go see my mom, go get some groceries (in store shopping I didn't do an order, since we didn't know time and didn't need that much) still needing lunch, still needing to stop at feed store to pick up an order.

We got to Wendy's (it was like 1:20) and the line was clear out the parking lot. With how late it was getting and still shopping to do, we decided to not go see my mom (I hadn't called to tell her we were coming). I just didn't want to leave dh alone all day. I will be seeing my mom on Thursday when I go in for a dr appt. We went to the grocery store, which was super crowded, got our stuff and a couple of candy bars to tide us until we got home, which wasn't until 2:45.

At 3:30 we all ended up taking a nap. Even dd's cute little dog came in my bedroom and slept with me for a bit. 

DH is starting to eat more regular food. Says he just feels achey all over still. But, he's always like that and I'm trying to get him to take his ibuprofen again. He said he didn't want to mask pancreas pain if he's having that. I said ibuprofen isn't going to touch pancreas pain, if it comes back.

I think today we will plant all these new plants. Should be too hard since we'll just be pulling up dead plants and the holes already there. DH is also going to have dd do his weed spraying around the yard/fence line, etc.

Saturday activities

I had enough with phone calls yesterday that I didn't end up making one yet on my to do list. It can wait until Monday. 

I had emailed the agent who I've been using for my homeowner's insurance to let him know I am cancelling my policy through them and to let me know if there is anything else I need to do to cancel. He called and said I needed to call Safeco direct and cancel and gave me the #. I then called Safeco who then literally transferred me to the agent office! I ended up needing to speak to some other lady, who now apparently handles my account, but she's on maternity leave (everywhere is maternity leave LOL) so I had to leave a message for another lady. She called me back and then emailed me a document to sign online. Ok done. 

I had called my mom at 10:30, thinking I'd catch her in between wii bowling at 9:30 and exercise at 11. She was still bowling but we chatted for a quick minute until it was her turn again. Later, just before lunch she called me, asking if I tried calling her earlier? She didn't remember we chatted. Still no memory of dh being sick. She also didn't mention her tooth bothering her either time, so I'm just going to hold off on that problem for now. Unless it's an emergency, I've got too much else going on next week.

DH slept most of the day, which is good. He did get up around mid afternoon, took a shower and got dressed. Then he went outside for maybe about 20 minutes and did a bit of weed whacking. I told him to just wait and let dd do it tomorrow, but he said he wanted to walk around a bit and move around some. Fair enough since he slept all night and most of the day.

He tried a ham and turkey on wheat bread sandwich for lunch but a few hours later said probably not a good idea. Going to have to stick to soup and bland foods. I'll just do soup for dinner then. 

DD arrived about 9:40 last night. Hit a bit of traffic congestion in her area and then mid state. Today it's rainy and wet, so can't do much yard work, so we are going to take her truck into the city and see if I can find replacement shrubs for the ones we have that didn't make it. Pick up a few groceries. DH is liking the blue gatorade zero and needs more. And we'll stop in to see my mom for a quick visit. Check on her meds/pill box for this past week and see how she did and I can get her filled up for next week. I'm also going to stop and check on her next Thursday when I have dr appointment and see how she is doing with remembering take her meds.

Whatever replacement shrubs we can find, she and dh can get those planted tomorrow (sunny and 75) or sometime during the week. I'm glad it's rainy - makes dh stay inside and rest some more.

TGIF

The dumb part of all this with dh is that it's mostly his hands/wrists that are really hurting him! They really did a number on him with those IV's and the right hand is quite a bit worse then the left. You could see his wrist swollen yesterday. He took a long nap for 2-3 hours after mowing. Then of course he decided he would need to use one of those pain pills they sent home with him.

The GI specialist office called me back about an hour later and said they can get him in next Wednesday now. Not sure if one of the hospital dr's had called them yet, or they figured out something on their own, but she was like "a time just came open". His discharge paperwork had said come for a follow up in the hospital clinic in a week and follow up with the GI specialist. I'm guessing they (like me) were thinking it was going to be 2-3 weeks before he could get in, so they wanted him to get checked out next week to make sure he's still doing ok. Well, that clinic appt got set for next Friday. I really don't see any point in going to that now that he'll be seeing the specialist about the same thing on Wednesday. There is certainly nothing the clinic doctor is going to know/do, if they didn't know while he was in the hospital for 9 days with it, so I'm going to call back today and cancel that appt. And no reason to spend that extra money.

And of course next Wednesday was my appointment for my annual check up. It had taken me like a month to get that, so I figured I'm going to get pushed out another month for it, but she said they can get me in the next day, no problem.

DD will be driving over this afternoon and should be here around 9pm. Hopefully it's not going to rain too much tomorrow and she can do the push mowing part for dh. Otherwise Sunday looks to be no rain. She plans to stay until next Thursday early afternoon. Figuring the lawn will need mowed again and she can do it Thursday morning before she leaves. She is bringing one of her dogs with her. He's kind of he buddy and active, so she hated to leave him all day, while her dh is at work. Their other dog is kind of old and grumpy so he will probably enjoy being by himself all day. LOL.

I've started an "EMERGENCY" folder on my computer desktop she can access should the need ever arise, with all our info. We are also going to get her a house key made while she's here.

In another example of male stupidness, I needed to fill up our dog food bin. It's a 40 lb bag that is on a shelf above our big chest freezer. While he was napping I went out in the garage and got it down. I was able to just slide it down from the shelf to land on top of the freezer, so I wasn't lifting it. Then I slid it off the chest freezer to the floor. Then slid it in to the laundry room. When dh got up (I waited until he got up so the noise of all the food being dumped in the bin wouldn't wake him) I went and got my big plastic pitcher I use in the chicken feed bin and opened the dog food bag up and started dipping the pitcher in the food and dumping in the bin. Easy and no lifting of the 40lb bag. I got about 3 or 4 scoops into it and dh comes out into the laundry room and moves me out of the way and picks up the bag to dump in. Before it even got all the way emptied he realized it was too heavy for him and had me grab it. I got mad and said you know what? There's more than one way to get something done. It would have taken me probably 3 whole minutes to scoop the food with the pitcher until the bag got light enough for me to dump the rest in. And neither of us would have had to lift it. Just stupid.

Not sure how he's feeling yet today. He's still asleep and I'm sure when he first wakes/gets up he's going to act like he usually does, only worse. Once he gets up and moving he always starts to feel more normal. 

So, the tiny little egg I found on the patio last week, that I thought was a bird egg, but how in the world could that get there? there's no nest nearby. Well, after some online research dh is pretty dang sure it was a snake egg!!  EWWWW! It looks just like and the size of pictures he showed me online. And somewhere nearby is probably a nest of the eggs.....

Not taking it easy

I guess dh has decided he's back to normal. He mowed the dang lawn! He only did the riding lawn mower part, but still!!! I was so mad. He also wasn't listening to me on anything else of taking care of himself, so I finally just said "ok then, let me know if you need anything, I'll be upstairs working" and walked out of the room.

Then the GI specialist office dh has been referred to called to set up his appointment. First off, you'd think they'd have already picked a day/time before they called, but no, she has to ask me half the same questions some other lady from her office asked me yesterday. Then says well....our next available appointment isn't until Nov 4th! I'm like well, that's probably not going to be much help with any of this by then! So, I called back the lady at the hospital who was trying to coordinate these referrals and she said oh my! She will tell the doctor about it when she is back in tomorrow morning and see what she wants to do. Said the dr will probably have to call the specialist and tell them this is urgent, at least more urgent than almost 3 months.

I have an iphone 6 so it's a pretty small screen. With my old eyes I'm finding that to read stuff on it I keep taking off my glasses and read it close to my face, LOL. Last night I was looking through the settings (for something else) and came across a zoom view setting. Everything is bigger now and I don't have to take off my glasses now, haha. 

DD is coming over tomorrow so should be here later evening. She's working until 1:30 and leaving then, plus loses an hour with time zone change. She's planning to stay until next Thursday.

Trying to get back to normal

Not a whole lot to update, which is good news, I guess, LOL. DH rested for a few hours after he got settled in at home in bed. He got up for awhile and had some strength back, at least his voice didn't sound so weak. He managed to eat a little. Some toast and watermelon. Later a banana. He got up for awhile in the evening and we took a little walk outside the front driveway. While sleeping during the night he kept having sweats and chills, which he said he was having in hospital all the time, too. Not sure what that's about. I just heard him up to use the bathroom and went down to check on him. oh yay, I get the grumpy, uncooperative patient.

Linda - the birdie lamp is finally lit!

I'm rarely ever one to unfriend someone on Facebook - unless it's just someone I barely knew in the first place and accepted their friend request and then as time went on realized they never ever interacted with anything I posted, so then I just take them off. But, in this case it's someone I've known for over 30 years when we worked for the same company for many years. She's very liberal, I'm not. No biggie. We have many other things in common. She doesn't post a whole bunch herself on FB (maybe once a week or less) but over the past 10 years she's always been very interactive with my posts, whether it's just a "like" or a comment. Until I made a post last Jan or Feb, after my state's mask mandate was lifted, and I commented that it was good again to see the smiling faces at our town grocery store. She had to disagree pretty adamantly with me, basically saying I was spreading covid. I very very politely disagreed with her and offered some statistics comparing my state to hers. She came back with another retort and I left it at that. After that she has never once liked or commented on any of my posts (I post often). My posts are not political. They are about funny stuff, my animals, teasing my dh, etc. Just to see, sometime at least once (twice I think) I clicked like on 1 or 2 of her posts about her dog. Just to see if that would break the ice. 

Well, if person can't even click a "like" on any of my posts the last 10 days updating our friends how dh was doing in the hospital, then she obviously is no longer a friend. My guess is she had unfollowed me, so she's not even seeing my posts. Either way, not a friend, so I unfriended her this morning. If someone's political/medical beliefs are so strong that they can't be friendly with someone who has a different view then good riddance. The funny part is her 30 year old son is WAY more conservative, anti-vax, etc then me, yet she's going to judge and ignore me for one comment that I was happy to see smiles again? 

ok, now that dh is home, pray for me being his home nurse, LOL. He's going to be a terrible patient and I'm a terrible nurse. I should be getting a call today to schedule his follow up with a gastroenterologist. Someone from his office called yesterday. She got the referral from our hospital, but couldn't find him in their "system". Well....probably because he's never had to be seen before?!?. I gave her his general info so she could set him up. Then she said she had to call the lady back at the hospital about the referral. Should she call me back to schedule or call the hospital lady. Call me seems more logical, wouldn't it? I said yes, call me since I'm the one bringing him in and can make sure it's not conflicting with another appointment he has to see a urologist (they want his prostate checked out, due to his PSA they saw from his lab work, not related to the pancreatitis)

Good update

DH finally got to come home today! I got to pick him up around 11:45 this morning. We had to stop at the pharmacy and get a 4 prescriptions picked up, but it wasn't more than a 10 minute wait. They had already called in 3 of them and the 4th they us to take in. I didn't ask but it now looked like maybe they were allowing visitors (of course) as they didn't have the door kept shut and didn't have the table set up to check people in, like they had. He needs to follow up in a week at the hospital clinic and then has an appointment with a specialist to follow up on the pancreatitis.

He's very tired and worn out. He did take a shower after he got home, put on fresh clothes and crawled in bed. I think he's asleep now, finally. I'm sure it feels so good to be in his own comfy bed and pillows. Pup is by his side, of course.

Back and forth

My goodness, this is such a roller coaster, up and down with dh. For some reason all day yesterday (might have even started during the night before) his hands are all swollen and ache, especially right hand. He says they've been icing it all day, but no change at all. He was feeling miserable. I've hardly much heard from him. Yesterday morning he had asked that sometime yesterday I drop him off him another pair of pj pants and a couple pair of underwear. I dropped that off about noon, but after texting with him a bit before I left I didn't hear from him for a few hours. Then he texts that he's miserable. He's sick of all this. He sent me a picture of his hand and you can hardly even see his knuckles. Of course I'm texting back replies and try to ask questions...has he gotten any more pain meds today? what do they say they think is the reason for the swelling? he says he can't breathe let alone text me back. Ok......well if you can't breathe you need to tell them that!!

So, I put a call into the nurse and she is busy and they will have her call me back. She must have been in with him, as he then texted that they just gave him some pain meds. Then a bit later he just texted that they are taking him back for images again. I said xray and ct? and he said he thought so. He later said it was just an xray (I'm thinking chest, because he said it was hard to breathe) and that they got some more pain meds in him and he was feeling more comfortable. I had asked him twice since lunch if they gave him any solid food (like dr had told me they were going to do in the morning) but he never answered that question. Just kept telling me how miserable he was.

Finally around 8:30 last night the dr called me back. The xray was of his hand. He said they think it's just fluid and not an infection. They think something to do with his viens and the iv's. The vein "infiltrated and broke" or something like that. I don't know how all that works, but I know the iv failed in his right hand the other day and they had to move to left, then had to move to his arm.

Our neighbor down the street had texted me to ask how he was doing. Even though I text daily with Mr. Neighbor, I had only texted her last Thursday that he was in the hospital. (Mr. Neighbor texts to ask, so I update him, but I'm not just keeping people updated unless they ask) She asked if he was able to use his phone and would like some well wishes. I said he was and would love a pic of his little buddy (her 4 year old). She texted him a pic of him and little baby (who is now 8 mos old) and also a cute little video of the boy saying hi and he hopes he feels better soon. DH thought it was great and forwarded me the pics and video. It was very sweet.

At 11:15 he texted that they gave him some more toradol and also some benadryl to help him sleep. Must have worked as I didn't get any more texts during the night. I'm still waiting to hear from him this morning. Since it's almost 8:30 and I haven't heard from him yet, that's probably a bad sign. I have been texting him in the morning after I wait a bit to see if he'll text and the last 2 prior mornings he was dealing with nasuea and diarrhea.

Well, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can have a better day today. We are now on day 9. Ugh.

Morning update - after I posted this I heard from dh, so might as well add it now. His hand is doing better but still sore. They have given him some more Toradol for it, but other than last evening, when they gave him pain meds for his hand, he hasn't needed any of the strong pain meds. He's been eating solid foods since lunch yesterday. He wasn't able to eat it all yesterday (probably because he was feeling miserable again) but for breakfast this morning he ate all his eggs and biscuit and did get a few bites of his cereal down. I'm hoping the solid foods and no pain meds means he will be able to come home soon.

 

Moving in the right direction

There was no MRI done yesterday. I finally heard from yesterday's provider (I don't want to always say doctor because half or more of them are PA-C's and one was an NP). I can't even remember what time it was she called, sometimes after dinner, as I was watching some news. They had decided to do another CT scan later that afternoon.

I told her that the provider I talked to on Friday evening said she was putting him on the schedule for the MRI to be done on Monday, when the mobile unit would be there. If by Monday he was doing better and didn't need the MRI, they could just cancel it. She said well, there wasn't one on the schedule, so she didn't know what happened there.....someone dropped the ball. And if down the road it turns out he does have a gallstone in his pancreas and should have had this test I'm going to be really mad.

His CT scan was still showing some inflammation, but negative for necrosis, abscess or cysts, which is what she also wanted to check for. His labs for yesterday were better than Sunday. As they keep saying, this is just going to take time to clear up.

At 7:30 last night she decided to try giving him an oral pain med (oxycodone) and see how he did with that for 2 hours. If pain then they will go back to the dilaludid via iv. I'm not sure, but at 9:30 he must have gotten some more LOL. His texts weren't making a whole lot of sense, but he was happy, LOL.

I just texted him to see if he's awake and how he's doing, what is going on, but he must be sleeping. And another different provider today. Today it is the doctor (yes a real one) who admitted him last Tuesday. Guess we've made full circle. Must be nice to have to only work one 24 hour shift in a week, eh? Makes you wonder if these providers work at the other small hospitals in the area to fill in. I just looked at the provider directory of the small (though bigger than ours) hospital in the county  north of us and the provider who was on Saturday and Sunday (an ARNP) was on their list, but he actually isn't on our hospital staff directory on the website, so he must "moonlight" at our hospital on weekends.

Ok he just texted me. Doing ok, a little upset stomach/bowels this morning, like yesterday morning. He's still on the oral pain med and he thinks it's every 4 hours now instead of 2 so that is heading in the right direction. His BP was good all night. Let's hope for a continued improving day.

I received a delivery of a couple of decor items I ordered. Some pillows for the church pew. I think they are pretty cute (and easy to change if I want something different later on) and the dried pampas grass for the tall vase I got to put on the fireplace hearth. The pampas grass is supposed to fluff out more in a few days, as it gets all squished in shipping. I had read in the comments to set in sun 2 hours to fluff out, which seemed to help a little, but of course still nothing like their picture, but I still like it.

 

Waiting to hear

And another frustrating day dealing with these inconsistent/poor communication staff. The doctor on Friday evening told me she was putting him on the schedule for the MRI on Monday. It is a mobile unit that is only there on Mondays. She said if he improves a bunch over the weekend and it's not needed we can always cancel the test.

So, at 10:45, yet another dr who has never seen dh, comes in. Says his bloodwork from this morning looks better than yesterday. DH asks her about having the MRI done today. She says something about she doesn't know if one can be scheduled today. Well, apparently dh didn't say to her that he was told it was supposed to be scheduled! God! I am so frustrated. And again,  he had to ask her to call me to update. Hellllloooo....the patients not allowed visitors or to have their "person" there to also talk to the doctor when they come in....call the damn person and update them daily! I told dh the only f'ing time I get an update is because he asked them to call me or I called and asked.

So, I wait about 30 minutes and decide I'm not waiting longer. If he was supposed to have the MRI still, then it needs to get figured out. But, of course I'm told everyone's busy and she can't grab the nurse or anyone that would know to the phone right now, they will have to call me back. DH says ER is slammed and they are all in there now.

I am going to be livid if he was supposed to/should have had an MRI today and it didn't get scheduled like it was supposed to. And if they had decided he's better and it wasn't needed, then wouldn't today's doctor have just said that, instead of saying she doesn't know if they can get one scheduled now for today.

I've kind of had it. They did decide to give dh something for his stomach, settle it, protect the insides and he said that helped a lot. He felt much better after that. Has had broth, jello and apple juice and is up and walking around quite a bit right now. But, he's still on the every 2 hour pain med. I don't know what the procedure/plan is to start weaning him down to see if he's still in pain or not? Again, a question for the doctor.

I did get a reply to on of my ancestry.com messages where I am trying to find out about one of my dad's wives/possible child, but not from the person who I really wanted to hear from. I honestly don't even know why this lady would have my dad on her tree! She's not related to him in no way whatsoever! Weird. Anyway, she had shown my dad having 5 children on her tree (but of course all showing as Private, since all living). I had asked her who she has listed for his children. She had myself and my half sister (listed with his last name) and then one other female listed with his last name. She also had another male and female with a different shared last name.  I told her all 3 of those other children she has shown belonged to a girlfriend he had in later life (me and sis were grown) and he never married her and they weren't his biological children, so that was no help. And that's why all these supposed relatives that go way back for all my ancestors I take with a grain of salt....I have no idea how this lady could have gotten those the children of his girlfriend listed as his kids! There would be no record of that anywhere to find on ancestry. This lady is older, like my dad's age. She said she remembers visiting my grandparents on their ranch, with her parents. Her half sister was in same grade as my dad. Ok....why is he on your tree?? LOL. (I didn't ask that).

The other person I messaged is (I think) the actual son of his 4th wife, who had a baby while married to my dad. Apparently ancestry does not email the person to the email address on the account letting them know they have a message. The only way I knew she replied back to me was because I had put the app on my phone and it notified me. The only other way I would have known is if I logged in to check and if someone hasn't logged in in awhile they wouldn't know there's a new message there.

Another week ahead

DH didn't have a great night. The pain started up again. He tried to hold off, but at some point during the night they had to give him the fentanyl (which he hadn't had since Friday afternoon). They put the iv fluids back on this morning. He said he's not in pain this morning, like he was, just uncomfortable. Since I had that long talk with the doctor Friday evening, they have not been late with his scheduled pain meds every 2 hours. I'm assuming they are going to do the MRI today. Maybe that will show something, so they can know what is still causing this to not get much better yet.

I log into work this morning. Going to attach another email to an email, like I often do with the "attach item" in outlook and it's not there anymore. What the heck. I am not in the mood for this! The Outlook we use has always had where you can attach a file/document, but you can also attach an "item" and pick another email to attach.

I haven't been watching the news, so only getting bits and pieces of what's going on in Afghanistan. Awful. 

This lily I planted last summer has bloomed for the first time. So pretty!

That's all I know this morning, so far.

Sunday eve update

Late this afternoon dh messaged me he broke his phone charger. I said ok, when I bring you another one, what else do you want/need, as he was mentioning wanting some fresh clothes. He asked if he could take a shower, finally, and the nurse said yes, so I gathered up a change of clothes, clean pj pants, and his toiletries bag. He's like the nurse said to get here asap! I'm like why? LOL. I guess because it was getting close to shift change and she wanted to get this done and done before dinner. I dropped the stuff off at the door and dh had asked me to wait the 20 min or so and he's put his dirty stuff in the plastic bag I included and have the nurse give it back to me. 

It was 101 degrees outside per my car! Good lord, this never ending heat is ridiculous. I had taken our dog with me for the ride. When I left him to go to the city earlier to today to see Mom and pick up groceries I shut the door as I went into the garage. He was in the laundry room and just started letting out the saddest song you ever heard. It broke my heart! But he did stop before I left. I wasn't going to leave him home again. So, while waiting for dh to shower, I drove back over to the gas station and filled up my tank and then went back to wait. A/C running full blast. He finally texted me that he was done and the nurse would bring the bag out to the door. When she did, she said "do you want to come in and see him?" I can? Yes! But I can't stay too long...I didn't know I could come in and I have the dog sitting in the car with the car and a/c running. Dh didn't know I was coming in to see him either, so it was a nice surprise. I think she just snuck me in as they knew it had been so long now, since last Tuesday.

He looks very pale and worn completely out, but he's still doing ok. Got a bit of a "lunch" of jello, lemon ice drink, and chicken broth. When I left he got to eat a Popsicle. I'm sure getting a shower and a shave and some clean clothes felt really good.

Of course he's stressing about the lawn getting mowed. I mentioned dd said she could come over for a stay and she could give it a shot and between her and I we could get it done. He said he would totally trust her and be able to explain to her how to do it. He said he really didn't want to ask anyone else because his mowers would probably just end up messed up. We have at least a few more days it can go w/o mowing (we went 12 days while gone) and then Tues and Wed it's supposed to blessedly rain, so can't be done then, but sounds like she might come next Friday and stay a week. She can work from here. Hopefully he'll be home by then and spend some time with him, too.

Keeping steady

As I was pulling out our driveway yesterday morning to run into town for groceries, our retired friend pulled up. DH had texted him he was in the hospital. He was driving by and saw me pulling out of the garage, so stopped in to see how it was going and get more details. As with most people's response (mine included) they really don't know what pancreatitis is.

DH had a good day yesterday with some small improvement. He got to start (slowly) eating some ice chips. He said they were the best tasting thing ever, LOL. They took him off the iv fluids while he was doing that. Later in the day, his bp was up (an indication the ice chips are too much for him) so they stopped and put iv back in. But, they are doing a good job administering his meds and he's comfortable. He only had the additional fentanyl in the morning yesterday and none since, that I know of. 

There was a lady working there (not a nurse) and dh realized his tshirt wasn't in his room (remember they changed rooms due to the a/c issue a few days ago). He asked her if she could see if his t-shirt was still in the other room. Long story short, he and she ended up having a hilarious laugh upon realizing that his plain white tshirt left 2 hours ago with a patient discharged and on his way home to Washington! She said she was so sorry, she had asked around and the guy said it was his. DH said that's ok, it's just a white shirt, but if it had been one of my favorite racing tshirts you and I would have been on a road trip to WA to get it back! haha.

He had a good night last night and said he slept more than he has been. The dr had now (after Friday) had ordered them to administer his pain med on time and every 2 hours, no matter what. He said he didn't even hear her come in a couple of times. At 2:30 am he woke me up with a text that said he just got to have a lemon ice drink and in chatting with him first thing this morning he did good with it. Apparently the ice and drink can cause pain and bp to go up, so if it does, then he can't have it again for awhile.

He was quite chatty yesterday and apparently figured out how to type with an iv in his hand because he was busy texting and messaging me and a couple others. His good sense of humor is returning. He's envisioning all the food he wants to eat when he gets home, haha. Sounds like we'll be having lots of chicken, instead of red meat. 

I just keep hoping that at some point soon they can start reducing the pain meds...start taking in more liquid orally, rather than IV. Then I'll know he's for sure getting better. The plan is still to do the MRI to check for gallstones, tomorrow, if he's still the same.

I've been watching this cute couple who does funny videos. OMG. They make me laugh so hard I have tears running down my face. I had to stop watching for awhile, I was laughing/crying too hard. Check out "Team Balmert" if you'd like a good laugh........or ten!

One more day of hot weather. *only 90 today. got to 97 yesterday. 70 degrees tomorrow and all week. Thank god. 

additional update - they are now letting him try some jello and maybe diluted apple juice.

A stable night and morning

I finally got the call from the doctor last night about 8pm. She is the same one who called me Wednesday night to update me. We had a good long conversation. She updated me. I asked my (written down) list of questions and she was also very good to listen to all my concerns. She agreed with me and said she was also going to be working last night and through 5pm today and she would make sure the nurse stays on top of his care and pain meds and follows the orders. She said the nurse yesterday should have given him the extra med, it was on the order and definitely should have checked with her when dh kept questioning why he wasn't getting it, if there was any question the nurse had.

She also explained to me what the dr on Thursday meant by the necrosis, which eased my mind considerably. She said there is a type of necrosis that is associated with acute pancreatitis and it's temporary and heals when the pancreas returns to normal. She was the one who talked to the specialist yesterday. All of dh's markers are showing improvement or are good (WBC, etc) and since his fever yesterday was extremely short lived they aren't concerned about that. She explained why he would be hurting to take a deep breath. It's from the pancreas still being inflamed in an area and when he takes a deep breath his lung will bump into it. It's kind of all part of the healing process with it, from the sounds of it. Like his body is going through different symptoms with it as it tries to heal.

She said the nurse on duty last night is a good one (not a traveling nurse) and then dh told me who his nurse is. He's met her before. She's a friend of that wood worker guy. She was on the ball with it all last night and he had a decent night with it all. Today's nurse is same one from yesterday, but this morning dh said she seems to have gotten the message that she needs to pay attention to what she's told to do. The doctor told me she is going to make sure she emphasizes to these nurses that his meds have to be given consistently and on time. She also does not want them skipping any doses, even if he says he doesn't need it. She doesn't want him to not have any pain meds in his system if his pain increased a bunch at some point (as it seems to do).

The doctor was very good to spend so much time talking with me and she told me do not worry about having to speak up if I have concerns, that's what I'm supposed to do and she needs me to do for him. Mr Neighbor also said she is really good, and I agree.

He had a much more comfortable night than his day yesterday and still feeling ok this morning. No turn for the worse, like yesterday morning, so that is good. He's also apparently figured out how to text better with his left hand LOL. He's back at it, haha.

She also told me that the specialist said that they are doing everything for his current condition that they would be doing in the city hospital, so that made me feel good that he doesn't need to be moved (unless he got really bad). His first CT scan was with contrast (I didn't realize that) so that gave them the best view of the pancreas. The second scan was w/o, but she just wanted it as a follow up to make sure it didn't look worse, but didn't want to do the dye scan again, as that is not good to have unless really necessary. She said the only thing that might be good, if this doesn't clear up soon, is an ultrasound, which they don't have. But, she said on Monday the mobile unit will be there with the MRI and she will put him on the schedule for it, just in case. What they would be looking for is a gallstone in the pancreas, but she said there is usually blood test markers that indicate there is a gallstone there and he has none of those, so she really doesn't think that is causing this.

I need to run into town and get a few groceries. I'm out of milk and bread. I had originally planned this my day to go into the city, visit my mom and pick up groceries, but I don't want to be that far away right now, so I'll just run into our little grocery store and get what I need for now. The nurse that he's talked to that had pancreatitis before has been giving him tips on good foods to eat while at home healing, when he can come home. She said chicken broth is good to have. It's supposed to be almost 100 today, so I'd better get out this morning before it heats up too much. Plus the store is usually pretty empty if you go early.

Frustrating day

It's been a very frustrating day. With dh texting me this morning that he wasn't doing well again, to his not texting me for hours, to unanswered questions, and to not understanding what they are doing with his meds today.

Once he started feeling bad early this morning, he needed to start having the pain meds again, of course. Yesterdays treatment, which seemed to work very well, was a half dose of the dilaudid as well as a very small dose of fentanyl at the same time. He said it was explained to him that the small dose of fentanyl was so that is quickly takes the edge off, so the half dose of the dilaudid isn't having to work so hard.

So, a whole new day crew on shift today. The nurse is not giving him the fentanyl with the pain med, like yesterday. He asked why and she said she couldn't give it to him with the dilaudid still in his system. He's like ? that's how they did it yesterday all day. So, so far today, he has had no fentanyl.

While this is going on, I'm at home waiting and waiting for him to text me an update! A couple hours go by. Then the lab calls to tell me his Covid test was negative. I text him this info, see he reads it, but he doesn't text me back. What the heck. I wait like a half hour and send him a text "what is happening?"  Finally he reads it like 45 min later and still no response. I wait 5 minutes and call the hospital to ask for an update. They tell me a nurse will have to call me back. So, while I'm waiting I text dh again that he is freaking me out, not answering me, and that I'm waiting for a call back to find out what is going on.

I ask if he's on same pain meds/schedule as yesterday and she says yes, she has fentanyl on the orders, too (but at this time I didn't know she wasn't giving it to him, because he wasn't communicating with me). He finally starts texting me. He's totally fed up with this nurse/day shift and says just screw it, I'll wait until night shift comes back on and figure my meds out (I'm assuming he's expecting the good nurse he got again last night). I ask for the doctor to also call me and she said yes, the dr said she is going to call you today, but she's busy working in the clinic right now, so it won't be until like 5pm. I ask if the phone consult with the specialist got done. Yes. It sound like when that happened he was starting to do better so it was just "ok, watch his vitals". I asked why, after feeling so good all night, he would have a fever, aches, and hurts to breathe? She said it's just part of the pancreatitis.

Just a new update from dh. He's miserable. When they give him the pain med every 2 hours he asks for the fentanyl too. He said he's asked them several times why change from yesterday and he wants an explanation and they just keep saying they will ask and then don't tell him anything. It's after 4pm so I just called and talked to same nurse and asked if his meds order got changed from what they were doing yesterday. No..ok, why isn't he getting the fentanyl? well, it's for breakthrough pain. I said yes, and he's been asking for it all day and it totally worked for him yesterday. He was very comfortable all day. She said she'll have to ask the provider....OMG. She just told me earlier that fentanyl was still on the med order. and if it wasn't and he's asking for it then ask the damn doctor why and tell him why or why not.

More of the same/then progress/then not

Here is what I had typed out last evening to post this morning, for yesterday's activity

Still no improvement for dh. The pain meds every 2 hours at a lower dose seem to be working better. He was even able to go an extra 30 minutes between doses last time. I'm not sure if he misunderstood the doctor or what. But he texts me in the afternoon and says the doctor said she doesn't know why his pancreas is necrotizing, whatever that means. I look it right up and it means it's dying!! I'm freaking out, not wanting to tell him what it means. He did end up looking it up on his phone. Dr did tell him she put in a consult request with a specialist.

So, I'm on the verge of freak out mode. Something like that is so serious and probably would be surgery, at a minimum transfer to a bigger hospital. DD is telling me if he has to have surgery she will fly over to be here. She can bring her laptop and work from that/here if need be.

I'm still waiting for a call from the dr, but a nurse did call to update me. She said the CT scan they did this morning was w/o contrast and that doesn't let them see if there might be necrosis (I had not brought up the necrosis yet). His enzymes are still good, his lipase is good, so that's about the only thing that is good. The scan still shows his pancreas is inflamed. He's still in a bunch of pain. They are going to continue to treat as acute pancreatitis with continued IV fluids, antibiotics and of course pain meds. She said the pain med management was a chief concern. I then told her about what is happening at night. I said now that he's on 2 hours in between, with half dose, they cannot let him go 6 1/2 hours between doses!! She said she will make sure the night staff is made aware of the change to every 2 hours and that he needs it done every 2 hours.

I then rounded back to the necrosis question. I said so he doesn't have necrosis? She said that is not diagnosed at this time, and the no contrast scan won't show that well enough. I said well whatever the doctor said to him made him think that is what is going on, so she freaked him out. She then said the dr does have a consult request in with a GI specialist and I asked if the dr could call me after she has that to update me.

So, at least I'm in a little less freakout mode after this call, but I'll feel better once I talk to the dr too.

Longtime readers may remember that I've had dh on 6 mo short term health insurance policies since they became available again. I figure I have probably saved at least $24,000 in premiums over the past 4 years or so (I forget how long I've been using that for his insurance. I think it was towards end of 2017. The coverage is high deductible, but covers up to $2 million. BUT, this 6 month policy ends on Sept 4....and getting a new 6 month policy won't cover pre-existing...you see where I'm going with this. I had remembered hearing something about the ACA plans now being available , not having to wait until the end of the year for open enrollment, due to covid, so I went online to check and put in all his info and he is eligible for their plans and able to start him on a new plan on Sept 1. I signed right up for it and paid. Of course the ACA plans do cover pre existing. Then I noticed on the gov't website that this open enrollment time during covid expires in 3 more days! I got that done in just the nick of time, didn't I? I'm so glad I decided to look into it when I did and not put it off for a week or so. Saving the $24k I have saved in premiums (and he has never needed to go to the dr since this week) I of course don't mind having to spend the premium $ now.  I knew I would, at some point. I'm going to guess he's going to have lots more medical expenses in the coming weeks/months, if not life long now.

In the meantime of all this dh has been telling me the past 2 days there is no ac. I'm like how in the world can a hospital not have ac?? So, I'm texting Mr. neighbor with an update on dh. Mr. Neighbor used to be an administrator at the hospital, until a couple years ago. I said "is there ac at the hospital? asking for a friend :)"  He says yes, for sure. They have to have it for patient comfort and each room is on it's own control. A little while later dh texts me that the nurse is looking for a fan for his room. I say Mr. Neighbor says there is ac there! wth?! Then he says this nurse (a traveling nurse) just caused a ruckus because she is complaining about how hot dh's room is. I text Mr Neighbor back ...no ac. Then dh texts me back that they are moving  him to a different room, where the ac works. I text Mr. back and he says that's because he just called and complained to the HR lady, who's 3rd in charge at the hospital and she took care of it immediately. Geez Louise! Thank you Mr. Neighbor!!

Now for the better update:  By evening I could tell dh was starting to feel a little better. He was chatty (via text) and said his stomach was growling and he was saying different foods that sounded good to him. That sounded like he was feeling better. Then, after I went to bed, he texted and said he was able to skip that 2 hour dosage of pain meds. Throughout the night last night he continued to feel better and never needed any pain meds! He did have a slight fever in the evening and they gave him some liquid ibuprofen. About 5:30  he texted that he still had slight fever but doing good. At 7 he texted that his fever was up to 102 and his body ached. I asked him a question back, almost an hour ago and no reply, so I have no idea right now. I'm guessing he fell back asleep or maybe the decided to do another scan to look at the pancreas to compare to yesterday.

So, I think he's definitely heading in the right direction now and having that awful pain go away is huge progress. It was a different night nurse than previous night and sounds like this nurse was very good and she had set her phone alarm for every 2 hours to check on him to see if he needed pain meds. Now we just need to figure out why he's got a fever. He just texted that pretty much since about 5am he's been going downhill, after feeling so much better. Fever, aches, and hard to breathe now. UGH!! They did do blood draw again this morning.

Little progress

DH started to make a small improvement yesterday, but not much. His enzyme levels got back to normal in his pancreas, but he is still inflamed and in much pain. His oxygen still drops too low, when he's not on it. His BP is high. They did finally, later in the afternoon, let him start having some ice chips and some ice type lemon flavored drink, but apparently that was a mistake because it added to his pain and caused a fever? at least that's what they are telling him now.

The doctor for that day (we actually met her once, when we lived across the street from the hospital. She used to bring her dog to work on the weekends and take him outside on the big yard and sometimes her sweet dog would come over to our yard if dh was outside LOL.) called me about 8:30 last night, but for the most part updated me on everything dh had managed to update me on. She said the oxygen issue was due to the opioids. She said he should have his high BP monitored/treated. I said he doesn't usually have high BP. Later I read online that low oxygen can cause high BP, so it's probably just from that. All cause and effect.

Then the night shift came on and another bad night. He can have the pain med every 4 hours, but it's only lasting him about 2 hours, so he's in pain for almost 2 hours by the  time he can have more. The day shift is good about getting it to him at 4 hours or shortly after. He texted me at 1:30 last night just miserable with pain. Said he'd asked 3 times in the last 2 hours. I said what do they say?? He said they say ok and walk out and don't come back.  I said push that call button and tell them you need some NOW, that you can't even go 4 hours without pain, let alone over 6. Finally at almost 2 am they gave him some. At 6am he asked for his next dosage. At 7:30 am he texted me that he still didn't have it. What the hell?! He needs 2 doses of pain meds, on time, each night. How hard is that to take care of? Give it to him and the rest of the night he sleeps or waits until the next dose. 

Then the day shift nurse arrived and gave it to him right away. Blamed it on shift change. Then blamed the middle of the night on there being only one nurse. I told dh make sure to tell the dr what is going on at night. She'll just look at his chart and think oh good, he's not needing as much pain meds now, when that is not the case. 

The doctor last night told me she wouldn't need to do another CT scan, but dh just texted me that they are taking him back for one (that nurse, who's in xray is a friend of ours). He doesn't know why, and the doctor told me last night she had no plans to do another CT scan. This day nurse also thinks his heart is acting strange, might be from electrolytes, so she is telling dr. about it. They are also going to change his pain meds to a half dose every 2 hours to see if that helps even him out a bit on the pain, rather than a roller coaster type thing where he's good for 2 hours, miserable for 2 hours. I said that is great (I actually suggested it to dh yesterday they should try that) except how is that going to work with the night shift? They can't even get it to him every 4 hours (let alone 6) how are they going to be able to do it every 2 hours? and so he'll have a half dose in him and then have to go 6 hours?? I'll probably have to make a call in the middle of the night to complain.

The dr yesterday also did another Covid test, the deep swab type. He had a rapid test the first day, but she wanted to make sure and that one takes 2 days for results. She also told me that while he doesn't need to be transferred to the city hospital now, even if she wanted to they are all full up. She said she had another patient she needed to transfer and every bigger hospital within a couple of hours here is full capacity. I'm finding that hard to believe. Our state has a website for covid cases that is updated daily. It says there are currently 164 people in the hospital due to Covid. Our state has at least 2245 beds. The site that lists how many beds each hospital has only lists the bigger hospitals in the state, doesn't list our little hospital or the small one in the county to the north of us. I get that they can be full, but it's not due to Covid.  

They also did a chest xray, I guess because of the low oxygen, but it came back all good.

It seems odd to me that these doctors only seem to work one day, LOL. This hospital has like 7 doctors on staff and each day it's a different one. The doctor I talked to last night said she wouldn't be in today, so it will be another one, but she will be back on Friday. I suppose that first doctor I talked to the first day was the ER doctor, though. Thankfully he's had the same day nurse and she is really good, but I'm sure it will be someone different, if he's still in this weekend.

Maybe this will get him to finally get off drinking so much Mountain Dew, now that he's had to go cold turkey with it.

In other news I am so confused by those 2 luggage rack holders I ordered! Remember the undecipherable email? from the Walmart 3rd party seller. Then I got an email that they were shipping FedEx, with tracking and would be here yesterday. I get a notification yesterday your packages have been delivered. No, they haven't LOL. Nothing out front and FedEx didn't come. I look up the tracking history and it was delivered somewhere in the middle of the state like 3 hours from me, LOL. How do they do that? Like how did they deliver it to somewhere that isn't even the town on the address? Then UPS shows up with 2 big boxes from Amazon. What? I haven't ordered anything lately from Amazon. It's the two luggage racks? Huh? There is this little slip of paper inside one of the boxes with a printed message here is your gift from so and so and a QR code to scan and leave feedback. I'm so confused! But hey, I have them now and they look nice.

Waiting to hear

I don't know anything yet on how dh is doing this morning. It's not even 7am. I figured no calls last night was good news. He did text me right about my bedtime that they put him on oxygen. I asked why and he said he didn't know and I said it must be because of the pain meds. A couple hours later he texted me that yes, that is why. The pain meds must have been working some, haha, as some of his Facebook comments weren't quite spelled right or making complete sense. He was getting quite a few direct messages from friends, so I think that probably helped keep him busy and his mind a bit occupied. 

Hopefully no complications come up and he starts healing and feeling better in the next couple of days. Apparently the most common cause of pancreatitis is due to drinking alcohol and dh said the dr kept asking him how much he drinks. None! I guess he finally believed him, because when he called me he didn't ask if he drinks. When I asked what causes this he said, well, most often from drinking, but since he doesn't drink, it's not that. Then I said, no, he doesn't drink.

In great news - DD called day before yesterday as her promotion at work came through. She's doing same job, just bumped up to the next "level". She had no idea what the salary increase will be. She was thinking she'd just be happy if she got another $5k a year. Then one of the senior managers was congratulating her and said "you must be happy with the significant pay increase". DD said she said well, I haven't been told how much it is! LOL. She was telling me this when I called her about dh and said what do you think "significant" means? I said my guess was $10k more. Not too long later either her direct manager or that manager (I think that lady was her boss's boss) told her how much her raise is...................dd called me and said she was still shaking.........she got a raise of $25,000 per year!!! From $67k a year to $92k. DD said she doesn't even know how to process that in her mind, haha. She has worked there less than 3 years and now makes more than her dh, haha. She's almost doubled her salary from the company she first worked for out of college. My guess is they will probably start looking for a new house, haha. I know at some point they'd like something with a little more property, at least on an acre, rather than in a housing development.

As I'm typing this dh just texted.  He said it was a pretty bad night. The pain meds are only lasting about 2 hours and they can only give him every 4 hours. But, he said the nurses and doctor are very kind. He said they are doing blood draw again to check all his levels. I guess the enzyme level in his pancreas was off the charts yesterday. It's supposed to be like 30 and he said the nurse told him his was 500. He said they just gave him some more pain meds so he was going to sleep some more, so I probably won't hear from him for a bit now.

And as if yesterday wasn't stressful enough, it was payroll processing day. Thankfully, I had gotten most of the issues resolved on Monday. I think in the back of my mind I had a feeling dh was going to get sicker. I was able to get it done fairly quickly first thing yesterday morning, while he decided what/where he wanted to go get checked out. Then I was ready to submit, but the stupid system was blocking me with an error message about a new employee, so while I was at the hospital waiting, my boss got that part taken care of, then when I got home that afternoon, I got it submitted. My side job payroll is due today, but I went ahead and got my side job's payroll (which is very quick and easy to do) submitted yesterday, too, since who knows what today will bring.