Flooder

Our upstairs bathroom is getting close to being done. I finished sealing the grout on the floors and wall on Sunday. Tonight I was finishing up scrubbing the excess grout sealer off the tile before the Toilet, Sink and Faucet (capitalized out of excitement) are installed tomorrow.

I've lost about an inch since I was 'young' and I must not be adjusting to my shortening height. I tried stepping over the bucket and managed to flood the new tile floor. Bob was standing there talking to me at the time so he went to get mops and I worked on slopping the water back into the bucket.

We got the mess cleaned up. I have a great appreciation for my new floor -- and now it is freshly cleaned. I don't recommend this as floor-washing method.

As I was sopping up the mess, Flooders came to mind. The water pooled nicely on the tile instead of leaking under the baseboard. The Flooders were the boys who lived in the section of the dorm Aaron was assigned to when he went to LeTourneau. Once upon a time, a bunch of the boys boarded up the tile bathroom, turned on the showers and went swimming – until the boards let loose a whole lot of water and flooded the dorm.

I don’t want a pool. I did wonder if it would be a good idea to add a lip to the floor that would prevent spills from draining out into the hall….

Hyper/Hypothyroid - get it right

Just an update. I felt very good for a while but since June or July, I've been getting tired again. That has been discouraging. I've been to doctors and nothing was obviously wrong. So, I looked for someone else.

I went to an endocrinologist today. We seemed to be able to communicate. She said that my last test indicated that I’m getting too much thyroid now. That makes sense since it is dosed by weight and I’ve dropped a bunch. HOWEVER, my fear of getting much worse by changing meds became very real while we talked about it. She said that I’m not showing many symptoms of hyperthyroid but that it does make you feel fatigued. Fortunately, this is caused by medication dosage so the first thing is to reduce it.

I'm going to try Synthroid again. I’m going to try a higher dose of Synthroid than I had when I was heavy. I told her that my tests always came out ‘normal’ before but I still felt horrible. She said that the ‘normal’ is being officially lowered and that what was my ‘normal’ is now considered quite high. I hate trying to understand thyroid test results – some, when the number is up means you are low, but another can mean just the opposite. I told her that I am concerned about changing it but I’m more concerned that I feel so tired. If I don't improve, she will try some other things.

She did say that I might gain some weight. I do NOT want to gain. Hyperthyroid usually causes you to loose weigh. I haven’t been loosing since I started not feeling well, so we’ll see.

They also measured my height – 62 ¾” – I’ve lost ¼’ since last summer. That’s not good. Too much thyroid can be bad on bone density. I do want to stop shrinking.

She also said that people on the West Coast – except California – often have a vitamin D deficiency. Too many gray days, among other things. I got blood sucked for some tests, including the vitamin D.

Understanding Vitamin D Deficiency might be good to read. Apparently, once you leave childhood, it is a problem for a lot of people.

It was interesting talking to her. She didn’t have an appointment right after mine so she stayed and talked. She’s from Romania. Her husband works for Microsoft – telecommutes - and was transferred here seven years ago. She got her training before coming here and had to do post-med school training again before she was permitted to practice here. Bob and I both told her we enjoyed her accent. She is bothered by it. I said that it reminds me of many people from my childhood and I miss hearing it.

Wadda Mess - Upstairs Bathroom

Today, Monday, October 22, 2007, I’ve had a change of heart. I love HGTV. However, I've been amazed (and critical) to see how unprepared people are when they start a project. I had forgotten that, until you start ripping up and tearing down, you don’t really know what will work. I LOVE LOWES AND HOME DEPOT. Home Depot has the price but Lowes has a better selection. They both save me from even more driving to get stuff.

This morning, I was off to Home Depot to get some primer and picked up sample tiles, knobs, and a vanity light. I wasn’t finished shopping but had to hurry home because I was watching two grandboys while my DD#1 went to see how the kidney stones were progressing. On that front, things look stuck so she thinks she will have more surgery/procedure. She is thinking, why wait another week, check it again and then schedule it. Getting it over now sounds good to her. She has a stent in which is like a heavy wire that keeps the uriter open for it to pass, which can be quite painful.

When I got home, the bathroom was bare. A friend is doing much of the work and he and Bob got a lot of exercise ripping, pulling and carrying it all out. Anyone wanna cracked toilet? Howsabout an ugly vanity?

The boys arrived and we had fun for about three hours. Zander, the older one, cried – sobbed - when his mom came. He wanted to stay longer. They haven’t been here much since Bob’s surgery since he gets so tired. They watched the guys across the street dump rocks into a retaining wall with a backhoe. Then they made their way upstairs to get a good look at our mess.

The discovery of the day: packed between two joists, was a stash of very old walnut shells that would do any varmint proud. That’s the very down side of an old house.

Dinner came and I went – to Lowe’s for more tile samples and the bathroom fan fit for a king we saw last week and then to GI Joes for a portable throne for night emergencies. Once I got the fan home, we decided that it was a bit over the top for a little bathroom so I get to retrace my steps in a few hours. I got gas on the way home - $3.05 and gallon for middle grade. Lovely.

Bob is frustrated that he gets so worn out. He hasn’t had much reserve energy since his prostate surgery a year and a half ago although he doesn't hesitate to do what exhausts much younger men. It takes the fun out of it for him to be so tired.

I've taken a few pictures and will try to add some later.

I think I’m just postponing the inevitable – going all the way downstairs to brush my teeth than back up to bed. Fortunately, I no longer sleepwalk to the bathroom like I did when I was a kid.

Kathleen, who thinks a tiny bathroom doesn’t need a fan with a nightlight, a dual bulb light fixture, and a heater tonight. I wonder what I'll think in the morning... It’s a bit crowded up there on the ceiling – especially when we will already have a ceiling light - and a vanity light so I can see those wrinkles more clearly…

I'm Stoned

I got to see the doc at 1 pm today. Tomorrow I check into day surgery and have they will attack this lovely 6mm kidney stone with Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL). The short version is that they blast it with a machine and put in a shunt that lets the pieces come out easier. They are going to see what's going on in my kidneys since there is some cloudy stuff they are not sure about but appears to be pre-stone materials.

I have to be there at 12:15, the surgery is at 2:15 and I will probably be ready to go home by 5. The procedure is scheduled to take an hour – plus the time that I need to be there before hand, recovery room and a few hours spent in day surgery.

I just hope I don’t have the same problem I had last time. Last time, I really had to go – to use the facilities – and the nurse said they wanted me to wait for a while since I probably didn’t ‘really’ have to go. I guess that sensation is common after the procedure. However, I ‘REALLY’ had to go. When I finally convinced them, I filled the container I had to use so they had so they could evaluate the stuff.

I will then need to strain it for a week or so and collect the pieces so it can be sent off to wherever they send it to see what its composition is. I have so much fun to look forward to, tomorrow. Bob will need to bring a book or two, and maybe some jogging stuff since he just can’t sit for very long. Emanuel hospital is nice – and large – so there would be a lot to see. That is where Natalie was born, Zander had his surgeries, and Alyssa also had her kidney stones taken care of.

Of course, it is much more fun than the other choice is. He – Dr Winchester – said it is too large to pass and it is at least partially blocking the exit point of the kidney.

I finally got anti-nausea pills this afternoon. By the time we left the doc’s office, got the pills and made a have-to stop at the grocery store, we were gone about four hours. We just got home a bit ago.

http://www.web-feet.us/RLS/htdocs/litho.html is a look at the procedure.

I will also be exchanging my APAP machine. Apparently this one has been used and shipped as new. I was able to get it re-set this morning. A good night’s sleep will be wonderful.

Wadda Knight

We are home after a very long evening. Our Andrea, her John and "our" Brandon invited their folks out to eat at Sweet Tomatoes for Father’s Day.

Brandon was parked between the two grandmas – someone needed to keep an eye on that boy… I just realized that he was in his car-seat-carrier the whole time and we didn’t get to hold him at all.

I took just a tiny bit of what my heart desired, which filled my plate. I began to feel uncomfortable in my abdomen and thought a trip to the powder room might help. It didn’t. We left because I was feeling worse. I had driven there but I couldn’t drive back. I continued to feel worse, every mile we drove. Just before the exit closest to our doctors’ office, Bob asked me if I wanted to see if any one was there. Yes, yes, yes indeedy I did. They have short hours on Sunday so there was a slight chance but not a very big chance after five and this was after seven. (They closed at three so there never was a chance.)

By the time we got there I decided to call the on-call doc who gave me the choice to go to the emergency room or to go home and try to wait it out. I chose the emergency room, which was just a couple of blocks and three turns away. By the time I had almost filled out my paper-work I couldn’t sit. I ended up leaning against the wall. The pain was worse in the general area of my left ovary and it radiated down my left thigh to my knee. The only thing I can compare it to was labor pains –rolling waves of pain that radiated down my leg.

Fortunately there wasn’t much of a wait – only one person was before me. When she finally opened the door to let me in I was able to lean on this sweet little (short and a bit substantial – just right for leaning on) admissions lady and shuffle my way back. I just needed to lie down. I kept hyperventilating from the pain and I was afraid I was going to pass out. They got me onto some funky little examining table just so I could answer the questions. They finally decided to just put me in one of the cubicle first and admit me later.

Then came the dreaded insertion of the IV and blood draw. Second time worked so I’ll have matching bruises on my forearms. Then came the pain-killer. J Then the cup needed some filling. Finally, at about 9:30 they wheeled me in for a CT scan and discovered it was kidney stones. One is 6mm – too large to pass - and several small ones behind that. My urologist was on call so he decided I need to come in to see him tomorrow then they sent me home with a couple of Rx for pain and nausea. I still had lots of Vicadin left over from breaking my arm almost a year ago and I ‘knew’ I had seen some pills for nausea just a few days ago so we went home.

I needed to take some pills so I tried to eat something. I got the pills down then ran to the bathroom. I made it but I have my doubts about any pills having a chance to dissolve – including the pain-pills I took before leaving the hospital. I feel ‘better’ but can’t wait for the stuff they put in my drip to wear off completely.

Remember when your mother was concerned that you had ‘holey’ underwear in case you were in an accident? Usually I just grab a pair of undies and put them on. This morning when I looked in the drawer, I actually thought – do I want to wear those old ones or the newer ones – in case I end up in the emergency room. I chose the newer ones.

When I was getting dressed to go this afternoon, I chose pull-on pants, a black camisole to wear under a lacy, pale chartreuse sweater and a long sweater-coat over the whole thing. Normally, I would just grab a jacket but I had decided the sweater looked best out over my pants so I took the long sweater-coat instead.

By the time we got to the emergency room, I had to pull everything down from my abdomen area altogether. The pull-on pants were snug enough to stay up – even while pulled to a new low. The green sweater came below my ‘new’ waistline and the long sweater covered all of the rest. How very comforting that I didn’t have to worry about exposing myself along with the concern for my pain.
It still isn’t over.

I have to get through tonight and through getting this taken care of. Now I just don’t feel good.

Happy Father's Day, dear Bob, and thank you for being there.