This Year is Our Year for Success!
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Helene, fingers crossed for minimal damage.
I had my Omicron booster and flu shots Saturday. Aside from a headache and sore arm, I had no side effects from them. I was expecting to have body aches and chills since I had those from the last 3 Covid shots, but was pleasantly surprised to not have those symptoms this time.0 -
I got Pfizer this time because that’s what the local Walgreens had. My last booster was Pfizer but all the rest were Moderna.0
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Helene - I'll continue to hope you can salvage the house!
I thought we'd get a new vaccination card with the 4th shot but we didn't. They sort of squeezed it in on the other side. DH asked for a new card and they gave him one.
I had Pfizer every time but once. I purposely mixed it up with Moderna for one shot.0 -
Mine have all been Moderna. None of the places I’ve gone have had Pfizer available.0
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I see Sanibel Island made the front page of cnn. Caution: it's not encouraging.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/04/us/hurricane-ian-florida-recovery-tuesday/index.html.
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I just got home from my pre-surgery physical. They were fairly thorough, but it took waaayyy longer than it should have. A new doctor has joined the practice and she did part of the exam. I didn’t mind that, but I could barely understand her and had to have several questions repeated several times before I understood what she was asking. She was very pleasant, but communication was very difficult. I still have to go to a lab for blood work, but will probably do that tomorrow, while fasting.0
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Pam, good luck with your surgery. I hope all goes well.
My end of the island fared better than other sections. Most of the homes on the east end have minor damage. Our front stairway will need replacing but the rest of the house looks okay. All the doors and windows appear intact in photos my neighbor too. We use the first level just for parking. When we bought, we were told you couldn’t have livable space there. The reason is in case of flooding, the water will flow under the house and keep going. My neighbor had a finished room downstairs and he said it got 5 feet of water inside. He’ll have to tear out walls, floors and furniture. We were lucky that we followed code and left the lower level open. Our community pool is a mess. The fence blew done, the boardwalk is all torn up and there’s down trees all over. We don’t know yet if the pumps are damaged. They look okay but the flood water might have wrecked the innards.0 -
Helene, overall, that sounds like good news! Or at least, far better news than it could have been. Are y’all planning to go down this year or will you need to delay until things are more stable down there?0
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No, we’re planning to go down this year. Probably be around December 1st. We’re making a list of things to bring…chainsaw, portable ice maker, air mattress (in case the mattresses got wet and have to be chucked). There will be other things I’ll think of before we go. We asked our neighbor if he could turn the main switch off at the electrical panel. Power company suggested this so a power surge doesn’t fry your appliances when they try to come on all at once. I hope he can do that but he’s got more damage than us and is up to his neck in clean up. The temporary bridge should be in place by the time we go. That’s important because we don’t have a boat and we’ll need transportation place to place on the island.0
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Helene, I thought about you when I saw this ad. https://wodify.store/products/--23.99-today-only---full-or-king-size--air-mattress-with-frame---rolling-case?pp=0&epik=dj0yJnU9ems2TXM2Rlc4MlVZd1Q3Tl9RTEZKenk1aE84V3o2NnMmcD0xJm49SnNTVUdJZ0JvYmt3R3h4dm5kUGJWdyZ0PUFBQUFBR05DQlRn&variant=1201509
If you don’t already have a good blow up mattress, this might be worth looking into.0 -
That looks pretty interesting.I’ll keep it in mind.0
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We have an older queen size Aerobed but recently replaced it with a different one. The old one was fairly comfortable, but since it was only about 6 inches thick when inflated, it was extremely hard for us to get up and down from. The new one we bought is one that is double height. When inflated, it’s about 20” tall and much easier to get up and down from. I was afraid it would be hard to keep the bottom sheet from popping off of it during the night, but that turned out to be no problem at all. We used it on our last trip to NC for my cousin’s memorial service and actually slept well on it for 3 or 4 nights. One of my better Amazon purchases, I think.
Today is my 69th birthday. I went out last night with my grad school friends and had a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant on their patio. The bottle of champagne we initially ordered had turned and had a pretty foul taste and odor. When we notified our waiter, he brought the owner over and he apologized profusely and brought out a bottle of Prosecco which he comped for us. We all enjoyed our dinners and side dishes, and then they brought a complimentary serving of bread pudding to share. It was so good that we ordered another serving! We had a lot of good conversation and a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
Today has been pretty low-key. Several phone calls and texts as well as Facebook birthday wishes kept me busy. DH asked if I wanted to go out for dinner, but since I went out last night I was happy to stay home and order a pizza. So that’s how I’ve spent my birthday. Next week another group of friends are having a birthday happy hour for me, which will be fun. I haven’t seen them in awhile.
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Pam - sorry the pre surgery appointment took so long. Here's hoping the surgery itself is a huge success!
Helene - did you ever think your packing list would include a chain saw? That's good news about your house. Any hints as to how long it will take them to rebuild the bridge?
Finishing up the 3-day weekend here working on an extensive "to do" list. Seems to be never ending.0 -
The permanent bridge will take a year. They’re working on a temporary bridge that will be done end of October. Being able to drive out will make a big difference. People are going by boats for now so they can’t bring much stuff on or off island. Hopefully they’ll be power by the time the temporary bridge repair is done so people can stay overnight. You can’t get much done if you have to leave every day at 7. My neighbors drove down from MI and are going to the island today. The closest hotel they could find is 2 hours from Sanibel. They have to take a boat from Cape Coral and get dropped off at the marina down the street from the house. They have more damage than we do. They enclosed the carport into a garage and left a car there. They had 5 feet of water in the garage so the car is totaled. They’ll have to pull out all the Sheetrock as well. They have an elevator. The elevator was on the second floor but I think the controls were in the garage. We left our carport unfinished so the water just flowed through it. We probably lost some tools in the storage closet in the carport but everything of value was on the second floor. The front stairs are hanging off the house so those will need reconstruction.0
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Wow, a temporary bridge by the end of October? Amazing what can be done with the right motivation.
What all were you used to being able to get on the island? Groceries, e.g.?
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They announced yesterday that the temporary bridge is completed. So far, it’s open to big trucks and electric company trucks coming to repair the island power grid. The other trucks are bring supplies like utility poles, portable toilets and water for the workers. The bridge will be open on October 21st for residents and property owners to check and start working on their homes and businesses. It’s incredible that they were able to complete repairs two weeks before the promised date. They worked around the clock to get it done.0
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They announced yesterday that the temporary bridge is completed. So far, it’s open to big trucks and electric company trucks coming to repair the island power grid. The other trucks are bring supplies like utility poles, portable toilets and water for the workers. The bridge will be open on October 21st for residents and property owners to check and start working on their homes and businesses. It’s incredible that they were able to complete repairs two weeks before the promised date. They worked around the clock to get it done.
WOW! Can residents only visit/work at this point or can they move back?0 -
Right now, residents can come for the day and leave by 7 pm curfew. There’s still no utilities and you have to come by boat. Our neighbors came for 2 days. They had a hotel 2 hours away and then had to take a boat. He didn’t say what the charter boat costs but the Marina in our neighborhood charged $30 a person for people to get off at their dock. That seems like gouging to me. The temporary causeway is complete and utility trucks and heavy equipment are using it. They have to restore power, water and sewers and clear roads of fallen trees. Residents with hurricane passes can use the causeway starting the 21st. They were hoping to have the temporary bridge on done by end of month and they cut that time in half. It’s amazing what they’ve accomplished already. It’s 19 days since the storm. Hard to be out there without power.0
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That is amazing that they were able to complete the bridge that quickly. And I agree that $30 per person just to get off at the dock is ridiculous. I hope they are charged with price gouging, fined, and made to return the money. Hopefully, by the time y’all get down there, conditions will be at least somewhat better.
We had DH’s mom over for dinner last night. It is so difficult to talk to her because she doesn’t remember to wear her hearing aids. She wanted to watch the Alabama vs Tennessee game and we had to turn up the sound so loud that I couldn’t stay in the room. And yet, she couldn’t really hear it even then. It was a good game, though she was disappointed in the outcome. We had dinner afterward before DH took her back to her home. Her judgment is really poor in some areas. She wants to climb our stairs so she can see the game room where DH spends a lot of time, but she can barely walk using her walker. Because we have 10’ ceilings our staircase has more steps than a typical staircase. I thought I was going to have to throw my body across the stairs in front of her last night to keep her from trying to go up them. We didn’t dare leave her alone even for a few minutes for fear she would try the stairs on her own.
I’m trying to get as organized as I can before my surgery on Wednesday. I made an appointment with my hairdresser for Tuesday. I’m going to have her put my hair in 2 French braids which I can leave in for several days. That will be 1 less issue for me to deal with, at least for 4 or 5 days. I can and often do French braid my own hair, but she will be able to do it much more neatly and tighter than I’m able to do, which will help it stay in place over several days. Last year after I came home from the hospital on Friday my sister came to see me the next day and she braided my hair for me then. I was able to leave it up for several days, which was a huge help. Since my arm and hand will be heavily bandaged, I’m sure I will not be able to do much with it and I learned last year that DH is unable to help me with my hair.
I’ve read and reread the lengthy instructions I was given for the surgery. I thought I was following all of the recommendations but discovered yesterday that I had missed 1 instruction about discontinuing 1 of my medications. The instructions referenced it by its brand name but I only knew it by the generic name, so I missed it. I was rereading the instructions yesterday when I noticed that I was supposed to discontinue all anti-inflammatory drugs, such as (insert list of drugs here). My generic wasn’t listed, which I thought was odd, so I looked it up to see if it was indeed an anti inflammatory, and that was when I saw it’s brand name, which was on the list. So I didn’t take it today, but I should have stopped it last Thursday. I’m hoping it won’t be a problem.0 -
Pam - here's hoping your surgery goes well!0
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I wish you the same Pam. Good idea to have your hair professionally braided. I’m in colonoscopy prep today. So far I’ve had 2 cups chicken broth, a red jello cup and a cup of blac coffee. I logged it and so far I’ve had a whopping 42 calories. Tonight I drink a mixture of Gatorade and Miralax plus a couple of Dulalax pills. It’s 32 ounces which I drink by the glass every 15 minutes until gone. I repeat it with a second batch at 5 am. I think this is my 4 th time and the prep has been different every time. The first was the worst. I drank about a gallon of salty liquid. This seems not as bad but time will tell.0
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Leaving for my colonoscopy in an hour. I’m hoping for an uneventful procedure. I think a stop for an egg McMuffin and coffee will be on my trip home. The Governor announced the bridge is open to residents as of yesterday. They have quite a process set up for getting access. There are two checkpoints to show your hurricane pass. The right lane is for emergency vehicles, heavy equipment and contractors trucks. The left lane is for cars. If it works well, they may reduce it to one checkpoint. They had announced Friday as the opening day but opened early because they’ve made such progress.0
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Helene, I hope you’re colonoscopy was uneventful. It sounds like Sanibel is recovering much more quickly than expected.
We just got home from the hospital about an hour ago. My surgery went well but I won’t know for several months if my function and feeling will improve. Right now I’m bandaged from my shoulder to the tips of my fingers and wearing a sling, so I can only use my left hand. I’m glad to be home as it’s impossible to rest in there. I’m hoping to get some real rest tonight. So far the pain has been manageable with hydrocodone but I’d like to stop that as soon as I can because of the side effects and addiction potential.
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Pam, I’m glad you’re back home safe and sound. After all you’ve been through, I hope the surgery is really successful. Rest up and get your strength back. Will DH be in charge of meals for a bit until you’re up and around.
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I'm glad to hear the colonoscopy and surgery are both over! Here's hoping everyone recovered well.
Pam - living with only the left hand is NO FUN!!!
I spent two days this week in Annapolis with Smokie at the veterinary oncologist. The news was good - no sign of cancer - no chemo. The visit was a little frustrating. They insisted on starting at 7:30 am which meant I really had to go down the night before and spend the night with her in a hotel room. Then instead of sending us on our way once the tests were done they wanted us to hang around until the results came back. I finally pushed and pushed and got us on our way a little before rush hour. I suggested future CT scans be done by the internist up here and the alacrity with which the oncologist agreed probably reflected both the severe shortage of veterinary oncologists and her degree of frustration with me trying to push them out of their normal procedures. SO the internist will now be seeing FOUR Dubbs cats. Lucky him. LOL! Luckily we do get along great!
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Good for you speaking up about getting the feline tests closer to home. And such good news about Smokie. It’s too bad it was such an ordeal to to have to stay over and then hand around for the results. The doctor wasn’t thrilled with my prep for the colonoscopy. He probably should have had me start the prep earlier the day before. The prep didn’t have enough time to completely clear me out. He was able the get the equipment through and I have no polyps. I spoke to the nurse afterwards and she said there were some small areas he couldn’t get a complete look at but if anything was obscured, it wouldn’t grow that quickly. The bad news was I have to do it again in 3 years instead of 5. My appointment was 11:30. I think I’ll ask for a later afternoon appointment next time to give the prep more time to work. After fully following instructions, it was disappointing to hear he thought I did a poor job with the prep. I doubt there was much left inside me based on the time aI spent in the bathroom. He could have said I needed to do a better job next time instead of telling me I’d done poorly. It will probably take me 3 years to get over his critique!0
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Helene, that’s a shame your doctor chose his words so poorly. I know it was disappointing since we all know that the prep process is unpleasant at best. DH recently had a colonoscopy and was told to do a liquid diet the day before, then around 5 pm he took about 10 pills with a lot of water. I think he also took another round of pills at midnight with more water. He said it was by far the easiest prep he’s ever done, so you might consider asking about it the next time.
I’m slowly starting to feel better. My energy is improving and I’m getting better at figuring out how to do things with one hand. So far, the pain hasn’t been bad at all and I’m going to try to get by without anything stronger than Tylenol today. I managed to get dressed without help today for the first time.
I’m dealing with a rash on my face that’s really annoying. I am strongly allergic to adhesives, which was noted in my chart and I wore a red allergy alert band on my wrist. However, in the OR after I was put under, they used tape to tape my eyes shut for the duration of the surgery. So now I have a bad rash around my eyes and on my eyelids which is flaking and peeling similar to a bad sunburn. So annoying and completely preventable.0 -
Pam, that’s terrible that they used the wrong kind of tape on your face and now you’re paying the price. Would applying aloe help?That’s really encouraging that you’re seeing and increase of strength and a lessening of pain. When is your follow up appointment?
My prep was the liquid diet the day before, 32 Oz of Gatorade mixed with Miralax and two laxative pills at 6 pm. The same thing was repeated at 6 am. I’ll definitely have to discuss the prep. This clearly didn’t work well enough.0 -
Good for you speaking up about getting the feline tests closer to home. And such good news about Smokie. It’s too bad it was such an ordeal to to have to stay over and then hand around for the results. The doctor wasn’t thrilled with my prep for the colonoscopy. He probably should have had me start the prep earlier the day before. The prep didn’t have enough time to completely clear me out. He was able the get the equipment through and I have no polyps. I spoke to the nurse afterwards and she said there were some small areas he couldn’t get a complete look at but if anything was obscured, it wouldn’t grow that quickly. The bad news was I have to do it again in 3 years instead of 5. My appointment was 11:30. I think I’ll ask for a later afternoon appointment next time to give the prep more time to work. After fully following instructions, it was disappointing to hear he thought I did a poor job with the prep. I doubt there was much left inside me based on the time aI spent in the bathroom. He could have said I needed to do a better job next time instead of telling me I’d done poorly. It will probably take me 3 years to get over his critique!
I know doctors and vets are overwhelmed but still..... Our guy has us do a full day of prep the day before, at least for his early morning appointments. I think prep varies by the time of day your appointment is. I usually have my test at like 7 in the morning and have never had any trouble with sufficient prep.0 -
Pam - just simply ignoring your allergies eh? I think medical and vet care just continues to slide downhill. I know they're coping with a lot but still.....0
