Monday December 22, 2008

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B Troop Soldier

(Ft. Huachuca AZ Memorial Troop

In the collection of the Ft. Huachuca Museum)

14x17 Pencil Drawing

by Lynn Thomas

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GET WELL SOON TWILA!

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Slept in late this morning. Went so sound asleep with too many blankets on and woke up about 1 a.m. soaking with sweat. I never do that - icky. It snowed during the night and was about 20 degrees this morning. Not sure how cold it got, but probably just in the teens. No wind all day. We have 5 or 6 inches of snow and it came down most of the day - just a guess. Joe went to coffee again, took the dogs, so I guess this is getting to be a regular routine now.

Looked at email and read every one's blogs, and after some breakfast I mopped the wood floors. Lot of good it did. I don't know how but the Raven is still finding mud somewhere and the clean floor lasted about 20 minutes without muddy tracks.

Hope this is not more info than you want to know..... After lunch I figured out how to get a better sponge bath by sitting on my bath stool in the tub and just running the water out of the faucet, soaping up, holding up the arm with the picc line to keep it dry, and then carefully rinsing. It felt a lot more like a real bath, still not my favorite shower though.

Twila called me last night and said she still had the three cats I brought her and said that they are fat and happy. I suspected that was so, but was so glad to hear they are safe there, because I did wonder. Guess they are getting along with her cats o.k. Twila had some neck surgery and said she is doing pretty well. She has a friend that has come to help her and tells her to sit down and not to overdo.

I called to see if the car was finished, but he still hadn't started work on it. Said it was next - wasn't that what I heard about four days ago, three days ago, etc. Yes, thought it sounded familiar. Anyway it was snowing pretty hard again, and I called Gina and asked her if she would take me to the clinic and then to get the car about 4:30 and she said yes. Wouldn't you know we waited longer in the clinic this time than ever have - quite a while, but when Amy took me in it wasn't even five minutes before she was done flushing the line.

Next we went by the post office. Joe hadn't been for a while so we had quite a stack of mail. And received a fruit cake from my steadfast friend Joan in Sylmar. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness, Joan. I got a card from her too, and Diane is there visiting from Apache Jct. - so big HI to Diane.

Then we went and waited a while in the auto repair shop. They had a girl boxer dog and I think we sat on her furniture according to the paw prints. The SUV was done about 5 p.m. and I drove home through the dusky snow covered streets. Gina and I agreed we wouldn't want to be out on the highway trying to get somewhere with the snowy, low visibility weather. Thank you so much for the favor of driving me, Gina. I was glad to get to visit with you while we waited.

Joe got the car in the garage with his truck and snow machine for me. I'm still going to try getting the SUV in the little garage door - he says it won't fit so he's probably right. I just want to check to see if it's any easier than the way we're doing it now - i.e. an accidental paint scuffing waiting to happen.

Fixed some leftovers for dinner and since I've now got the external hard drive hooked up, looked in there for some photos and stuck a few old ones in the last three days blog - check below. Am about ready to go watch some TV.

"Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord."(Psalm 112:1,7)

Sunday December 21 2008

Charm

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

TO MY DEAR FRIEND CHARM

Best wishes for many more

WONDERFUL years!

Stayed very quiet today. It is warmer and NO WIND. So I took the dogs out for a little walk around the back loop. They need to get out like that a little more often. There are three dogs across the street and two came over, one went back and one walked with us. Two of the dogs are black labs, and look just like Raven. The other has the head of a Australian red heeler and the body of a welsh corgi. It is a cute female and very friendly. She is the one who wanted to get acquainted. Sparky tried to keep her away from Raven for a while, but it didn't work. Then she tried to come right on in the house when the walk was over. I wonder what her name is.

I got the laptop set back up, hence am catching up on the last three days. Had a bunch of emails. And played some Spider.

Betty called a while ago. I forgot to ask her if she got snow. Her Aunt Ann is arriving to spend Christmas and several more weeks of special time with her. They will have a great time.

So this afternoon I had to flush the picc line by myself and I didn’t really want to do it, but guess if I do it the first time I’ll start to get used to it. I puzzled over all the parts and syringes for a while and then got it figured out. And felt nervous and a little worried about getting it clean enough so it doesn’t get infected. Anyway I got the job done. It seemed to work o.k.

Guess I've decided not to put the big tree up, but still have a small lighted one. I might get it out and bring it in. I have the Christmas cards for everyone on the new desk to write out and send and no ambition for that either. I'll try though - you may get them belated.

Saturday December 20 2008

Mailboxes

This was a much quieter day. I worked on getting my new desk drawers filled with the things that should go there. And am well along with getting the studio more organized.

At 11:30 I went down to the clinic to get the picc line flushed. They are only open on Saturday in the morning. They had to call a man to come in. I liked him, and he was very quick with doing it. My friend (who is going through breast cancer - and is a nurse at the clinic) is doing it the other week days, but she's not there on Saturday.

Since the car is in the repair shop, I've been having to drive Joe's truck. I worry about dumping his snowmachine out going up one of the hills - think of that happening!! The truck is VERY high, and to get in anymore I have been using my two step Rubbermaid step stool. I put his lariat around it and pull it up into the cab when I get in, and then let it down again when I get out. So for that reason I'll be glad to get my car back. Boy I used to be able to hop right into the trucks, and it hasn't been that long ago either, but can't do it any more.

It was cold and the wind was blowing. Everyone has been saying how cold it is right now. I can hardly bundle up enough to keep warm when I get out in the wind. The dogs just stay in the house and sleep.

James had Jim Allen come today and he went down in the crawl space and closed up those vents and insulated them. Joe had brought a couple of big rolls of insulation from the ranch. Jim took a look at everything down there and thinks it will be o.k. now. He's coming back to finish something up though. I'm feeling good about all the people who are coming to fix things and they all seem very qualified and sharp about fixing our situations. So guess we are getting a good list of people to call on when things go wrong in the future. This place is sure getting a good shaking down, and I guess all new houses going through this. James got me the builder's phone number and when we get the bills and reports we will have to talk to him. That might be an interesting conversation.

Bonnie called and I asked if they would like to come over and share a pork loin roast with us. She brought vegetable, wonderful whole grain rolls, mashed potatoes and brownies. I added baked onions, fresh apple sauce and the gravy. We had a nice meal and a good time. They brought us a beautiful wastebasket made out of a hollow aspen tree. It is really nice. They had gone up into Irish Canyon and found the tree. They also made one for themselves. I'll take a picture of it ASAP and show you. I had wanted a new wastebasket for beside Joe's chair, but love this one so much I put it by the new desk and I'm sure it's going to stay there. (He's got a fine plastic one anyway.) What a nice addition to our home too. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YET ANOTHER GIFT, BONNIE AND CRAIG. IT'S SUPER DUPER!!

Friday December 19 2008

This is a photo of a fire near Big Sandy Lodge with smoke jumpers parachuting in. I am standing in front of the lodge on the shore of Mud Lake. We fed the firefighters 3 meals a day for over a week and there were lots of them - maybe sixty or eighty.

Guess I better catch up the blog, or you'll be wondering what happened to me. Friday morning Joe woke up at his usual early hour and found that the water in the house was totally frozen up. Figured the best thing to do was call James in GA, and let him go the proper route to getting someone here. He called the seller's realtor and said to get someone up here in an hour or we’d get our own plumber. A nice man from Bridger Mechanical soon came and went down in the crawl space and checked things out. He had to go to Sand Draw for a while and in a few hours was back with most of what he needed to get our pipes fixed. By that time the water had started running thank goodness and no apparent leaks. He insulated the pipes that were showing and put heat tape on them where they came under the foundation. He thought that was where they had frozen. There are some open vents that are letting the wind and cold come in and those need to be closed and insulated. Hopefully this solution will be good for when it gets to be minus forty. It was only one degree this morning. Apparently there was no permanent damage to the pipes. ..... I’ve had about enough stuff going wrong for sooo long. Probably more stress than anything.

Took the car to the repair place. By evening I called and they said he had put it on the computer and nothing was wrong with it. I talked to the mechanic and he said he did find it was a little hard starting when it was cold and if I wanted he would put in a new fuel filter and some spark plugs, but he couldn't work on it until Monday. I decided to leave it there instead of going to get it and take it back again on Monday. At least it won't be a major bill.

Before the plumber left I had to get the carpet swept where the new desk and file cabinet would set in the living room, and clear enough room for the furniture delivery guys to work in the dining area and studio. Before noon the truck from the furniture store arrived and they brought the desk, a table for the studio TV, and a couple more chairs. They also brought a new table top for the dining table so hopefully now the leaf will work properly. They sure had to lift and yank to get it open and closed and I told them that I wouldn't be able to do that - the table is very heavy. Also way too big for two people to leave the leaf in. Finished the vacuuming, in fact mopped the wood floors 3 times, with Raven still finding mud to track in. I decided to quit mopping for a while.

It was snowing flurries off and on. Joe went out to the ranch to feed the cats so I hoped he wouldn't get into a storm where he can’t see the road. But he did fine. He loaded up his snow machine into the bed of the truck and brought it back so he could continue to go to the ranch when he wants and feed the cats. I went to the clinic at 3 p.m. to get the picc line flushed. I don't have to wait long and they get it done quick. Then went to the grocery store and was in there for about an hour and a half. I felt like I've been overdoing things after just getting this tube in my arm, so am just going to rest for a few days, and get to bed early.

Thursday December 18 2008

Bev's Front Door- Palm Trees are Shivering

Finished! Aren't they Cute?

Almost Done - notice t-shirt

Clay and Bottom of Snowman
Notice the lawn is still greeN.
We haven't seen green here for 4 months.

Front Door Again

They are having snow in Las Vegas. Beverly had about 5" on her lawn last night. So that's more than we have here. Clay has been out playing in the snow since it started day before yesterday. Walked home in the snow (he never walks home), has been building snow men with his friends all over the neighborhood, having snowball fights. In one of the pictures he's out in the dark building a snowman in his t-shirt, for heaven's sakes. Anyway I'm putting some pictures of the Las Vegas snow storm of the century. All the roads were closed in and out of town, the airport was closed, you probably heard that on the news. School was closed today although it rained in the night and all the roads cleared off. This will be Clay's first and only snow day off school. Beverly said the mountains are beautiful with the snow on them this morning. They are supposed to get another day or so of this.

It's been sunny and calm here, but still c-o-l-d. Today has seemed pretty quiet, although at about 8 this morning we took my car down to the repair place and left it to be fixed. Hope he does a good job. It's supposed to be done today but haven't heard back from them yet. Bonnie and Craig came over about 10:30. He wanted to straighten out the coat hook he put up a week or so ago, so he did that. It will never come off of there now. Joe had gone for his haircut, but got back before they left. We visited and talked about mountain lion hunting, and hounds and wolves and Jim Baker's place and dams on some of the lakes used for irrigation. Bonnie brought Joe a coconut cream pie - we had some after lunch and it's about 1/2 gone, since Joe had two pieces so far. I had to try a small piece and it is deee-licious. THANK YOU BONNIE AND CRAIG FOR THE WONDERFUL GIFT OF PIE. HUGS TO YOU.

BTW Craig said about the ice and condensation in the attic that natural gas will put out gallons of moisture in a fairly short time and probably that venting the furnace into the attic put enough water in there to make all that ice.

Am slowly getting paperwork done and phone calls made and post it notes thrown away as things are accomplished. I went to the clinic about 3 p.m. to get the new PICC (correct spelling - don't know what it stands for though - I could google it I guess.) line in my arm flushed with saline and heparin, and the chemo pump taken off. I will go at the same time every day except have to do the flushing etc. by myself on Sundays, so am learning how to do that. Still no pain in the neck/shoulder/back thank goodness. I feel pretty good. I mopped the floor when I got back from the clinic. Somehow Raven is still finding mud to track in although the ground must be frozen and is covered with snow. Maybe we could go get a taco or something to eat out when we go pick up the car. I tried to call them but just got an answering machine.

Looking forward to tomorrow when the last of the new furniture will be delivered

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'Some people no matter how old they get, never lose their beauty -- they merely move it from their faces into their hearts.' - Martin Buxbaum

Wednesday December 17 2008

A couple of the show walls with

some of my artwork from when we

took the Big Piney Show down.

Mine are in the center the top panel

and right center in the lower.

The day has been sunny, cold and calm, about 20 degrees. Hard to believe almost a week until Christmas, and I haven't brought the tree in yet. Maybe tomorrow. Woke up feeling pretty good this morning - i.e. no chest neck shoulder pain this time. What a relief.

After Joe left to go to coffee, the furnace guys knocked on the door to finish up something in the attic. They were only here about 15 minutes. But that is when I woke up - about 9 a.m. or so, I don't even know. ..... I felt like cleaning up the house and did some laundry, since we hadn't been able to do laundry for over a week. And I brushed the skiff of snow off the deck so the dogs would have a drier place to sit. They seem to like their deck. I've mostly sat and got through the backed up email - a good thing!

I got my new driver's license so guess I'm good for another five years! Glad they are optimistic about me.

Joe forgot to get his protime blood test yesterday, so he went down this afternoon. Now it's 4:30 and don't know what I'm going to fix for dinner. Not much else to write about, it's been a pretty quiet day. Bonnie and Gina called to check on me. THANKS YOU GUYS!

Beverly called and told me about the snow they are having and how much fun Clayton is having in it. 5" so far. She thinks they will close the schools tomorrow because they have no snow plows in Las Vegas. And she is a little worried about driving to work in the traffic there.

Tuesday December 16 2008

Not sure I ever showed this painting or not. I've done several similar of this scene of Shadow Lake, our side of the Cirque of the towers, and the continental Divide - Wind River Mtns. It was hanging in the Big Piney Library when we were there taking down the show so I photographed it. It was bought with community members donations through the Friends of the Library and is in their collection. I like it better in real life than in this photo.

We left for Jackson and my chemo treatment about 7:30 this morning. Gina drove her car and came to pick me up and then brought me home. The weather was cold, cloudy in Pinedale and eased up some as we went north. There were some snow flurries here and there along the way. There was fine dusty snow on the road, so every time we met another vehicle it blew up and made the visibility more or less obscure. We had a little bit of every kind of weather. The ice on the Hoback river is closing in, and the water was all kinds of colors - blues, greens, white and almost black in places. As usual they have more snow than we do, perhaps 6 to 8 inches.

Drank the two bottles of barium "stuff" on the way up starting at 8 a.m.. Got up there about 9:30 p.m. It was the beginning of a long day. They gave me the contrast stuff through a needle in my left arm where they had drawn my blood tests. I had three CAT Scans, head/neck/; neck/chest, and abdomen. I am at the therapeutic (very good) level of blood and it only took one stick with the needle and it flowed really well this time, thankfully we are getting the coumadin at the right dose.

After the radiologist doctor checked the Cat scans, they could see that the blood vessels above the port were Occluded - (Occlude: to close up, to jam). Place your hand above your heart as if doing the pledge of allegiance under the collarbone, and that is the area that all the veins(vessels?) are scared. They don't know if they will go back to normal or not, and I don't know what the results of that can be - there was just too much info today to absorb and I didn't ask how serious this is. The abdomen scan of the size of the tumors looks about the same as last time.

Carol said "So this is why you were in such pain". It's been a year now that I've been having this pain and telling them all along - it has gotten worse and longer each session until it was up to 5 or 6 days the last time before it resolved. That has been what was causing all the pain. All the chemo and saline and heperin flushes they put through there couldn't get distributed.

So they didn't use the port today. Carol with help from Judy, put what they call a pick? line into my upper right arm almost under my arm pit. It will function the same way to get the chemo drips in as the port has. But it takes a lot more maintenance. I'll have to go to the clinic here twice a day, except on Sundays I'll do the maintenance myself. In the afternoon I did get the chemo through the pick line. It was a long day, for them too, with all the different procedures going on. I got a huge amount of information and still more to come.

The old port is in my left chest. They will do small surgery in the operating room with anesthesia to take out the old port on Jan. 6/7. On the afternoon of the 6th I'll go up for an appointment with Dr. Meno in Wilson, stay overnight at the hospital's Hitching Post Motel. There might even be some time for seeing the galleries or a little shopping. On the 7th I will have the surgery in the morning and probably get chemo and then home. I understand all that they say is happening, but not sure I get the terminology right so you can understand it.

Gina's son-in-law was getting a hernia operation this afternoon, so she was able to go to their room and visit a little bit. It had to be a long boring day for her, but she did get over to KMart to shop a little too. She also had me come out to see the most amazing "nativity" scene all built up over a graceful large branch, with a Christmas/hospital theme. She has a photo of it on her blog, which like she says doesn't do it justice( click on horseback up on the right. Lot's of little animals and rooms with activities going on. What patience it must have taken to build.

Coming home we had every kind of weather again. We started from Jackson at early dusk and had some light through the canyon and Bondurant. It was just as beautiful a ride home as it was going up. On our side of the Rim there are some cabins in the trees to the west. We saw the most awesome sight of about 6 of the cabins looking exactly like they were on fire, as in flames leaping from the windows, all orange and reflecting orange high into the sky as if onto the smoke. It was quite dark by then. The only other thing it could have been was some kind of phenomena from the weather, with fog and low clouds, but no lights from other homes looked like that, and not all one color, and the six houses were all giving off such an orange flame-like light. We haven't heard yet that it was fire though. The only way it could have been was if it were arson, or maybe something with utilities all at once. There is nothing about fires on pinedaleonline.

From below the rim we were in a blizzard which didn't last too long coming out of it about Daniel Junction where it was plumb clear with the stars shining. Gina brought me home about 6:30. I had baked a dutch apple pie for them - not my best effort. We had cereal for dinner, and soon I went to bed. I just couldn't get comfortable so tried the recliner and watched TV there. I know I was exhausted with all my body had been through, but all I could do was twitch and wriggle around trying to get in a position to sleep. Finally I did go to sleep on the couch, woke up several times feeling o.k., putting dogs in and out and making hot cups of tea. The radiology guy said to be sure to keep hydrated and flush all that nasty stuff out so every time I'd wake up I'd drink a cup of hot tea. I finally fell into a good sleep.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING CARE OF ME TODAY, GINA. I ALWAYS ENJOY GETTING TO SPEND TIME WITH YOU AND VISITING. I LOVE YOU. So..... all in all everything is going along pretty well.