New Life In The Neighborhood and A Health Update

Just outside my window as I type this post, I am watching a mama robin sit on her nest.  It is hot out there, and I watch her open her beak as if to take in a big breath of fresh air.  I've watched her for several weeks now.  She is my little friend.  I admire her patience as she sits on her eggs.  I say a little prayer of protection for her and her babies.  It is a rough world out there. I think the crook of the tree where she chose to build her nest is rather safe from snakes, but I worry about about one of those magpies that live around here robbing her nest.  I've also read that deer will eat the robins eggs.  Thankfully, the deer can reach her and babies high in the tree.  I guess she knows the dangers of the world out there, but I just hope for her safety while she living right outside my window.  

I've always been partial to robins.  I usually note the first sighting of their return in early spring,  I love listening to their songs outside my window in the morning.  For some reason robins never annoy me when they awaken me from sleep before I am ready to see the dawn of day.  Perhaps this fondness for robins began when I was a very young child and our neighbor taught me to sing and play a few notes on the piano of the song, When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob-Bob-Bobbin' Along.  Do you remember that song? If not, enjoy Doris Day singing this wonderful old song by clicking on the video below.  

I digress...

I've gone from writing about the robin nesting outside my window to Doris Day singing an old favorite.  Let me try to tie all of this together: I expect to find my sweet Mama Robin sitting on her eggs outside my window, or I see her around my bird bath, or at times, she is on the roof of the house next door.  The other evening, she landed on a flower pot on the railing of the deck, then she spotted Boston at my feet, and she quickly turned tail and flew off.  She is the one new mother I am most familiar with in the neighborhood.

A few days ago, I finally spotted one of the new mama doe in neighborhood. While drowsily opening the blinds one morning this week, I was surprised to see this mama and her two fawns grazing in my backyard.  I knew there was no time to run for my camera, so I grabbed my iPhone and opened the back door to take a photo.  Immediately, Mama Doe and her fawns scampered off.  I did catch a quick photo before they disappeared.  I knew that we had two new doe moms in the neighborhood, but this was my first sighting of the babies.  The moms had given birth a few weeks ago in the forested area behind our neighbor's house across the street.  I have to say that I was quite excited when I saw the fawns in my yard.  They are so cute.  Sometimes I get frustrated with the deer because they eat everything in sight, but they can be a joy to watch also.  My nephew visited from Texas this past week.  He had been touring Colorado and had not seen deer until he drove into my neighborhood.Today, one bold mom was right up on my front porch, right next to the front door, eating my pansies.  I guess she was deadheading for me.

Day before yesterday, a mama bear and her two cubs were in the neighborhood.  I wasn't home at the time, but my husband was.  A passerby told him they were up the street in the forested area behind the houses after walking through the village itself.  Jim drove up the road and was able to catch a photo with his iPhone.  (What would we do without these?)  I promise you that there is a bear in this photo.  She is behind the tree that is just right of the center of the photo.  

I reminded Jim about how disappointed he was as we left Yellowstone Park a number of years ago because we had not seen bear.  Then, just as we were leaving we saw one.  I don't know when I've seen my husband so excited about seeing some sight in nature.  He said he was just as excited when he saw this mama bear and two babies just up the street from our house.

The final sighting that we have had in the last week and a half will not include a photo.  We have a photo, but I will spare you as some folks just don't like to see snakes.  We were working in the garage when I happened to look down at my husband's feet and saw what I soon realized was a rattlesnake, a baby rattlesnake.  I yelled out, "There's a snake."  My husband just looked at me with a strange look on his face.  Again, the warning came from my mouth, "Snake, there's a snake.  Get a shovel and kill it."  After nearly stepping on the snake, my husband saw what I was talking about and grabbed a shovel to kill it.  I was pretty certain it was a rattler but didn't want to look too closely until the thing was dead.  I asked him to take a picture with his phone so I could compare it to photos of rattlesnakes.  I asked if he got the head, and he said he did.  Unfortunately, again, my husband must have misunderstood.  He did get the head severed when he killed it, but did not get a photo of it.  I am 98% sure it was a rattlesnake even though there were not rattles.  I saw what appeared to be a button for future rattles.  The head and the markings convinced me that it was a rattler.  

Now, as you can imagine, I don't want to go out and work in the yard in the new area that I wish to do some plantings.  The area is along a rock ledge and I keep thinking a nest of rattlesnakes must be nearby.  They like rocky outcroppings and have been known to frequent the natural rock formations just across the road, but no one has ever seen a rattler in the village where we live since the homes were built in the late '90's.  Let's just say that I am keeping my ears and eyes open and alert when I am out watering or planting.  

We lived in the arid dessert of Pueblo for years and I never saw a rattlesnake when I know they were seen in some neighborhoods in our old stomping grounds.  It took moving to the foothills of the mountains to be this in touch with nature.  We all may be retired in this little neighborhood, but no one can say that there isn't a whole lot of wildlife going on here.  

****************************

Health Update

First of all, let me thank all of you who sent such kind words to me as I spoke of my health news in my last post.  Secondly, let me apologize for not posting an update sooner.  Many have asked how I am doing.  That means so much to me.  Thank you again.

A week ago today, I had an EUS, or endoscopic ultrasound, at the University of Colorado Hospital.  After meeting with the specialist the day before, it was determined by the doctor and by me that the risks of doing the procedure to determine if I had sphincter of Oddi disfunction were great enough to rule out doing the procedure.  He did not believe that the medical record, lab results, and symptoms warranted this extreme procedure.  I had to agree.  At my age there is a 20 - 30 percent risk of causing any or all of the following by having the procedure done: a severed case of pancreatitis, diabetes, multiple organ failure and/or death.  I didn't like the risks,  Neither did he.  Instead, an EUS was done.

I guess I am becoming an old pro at having an endoscopy as this procedure was the tenth time I have had this done.  This time, last Friday, was the first time that an endoscopy included having an ultrasound.  The procedure takes about an hour.  During this time a fluid is injected and then samples of fluids are taken to be analyzed.

 It is not a pleasant procedure.  As you can expect, I had a very sore throat and tender throat for quite a few days afterwards.  I also have had some pain that has kept me uncomfortable.  Thankfully, I did recover without any real side effects, and it appears that the findings bring good news.  There was scarring in the pancreas.  There is a pancreatic cyst in the pancreas.  I was diagnosed with chronic mild pancreatitis.  I will be followed by having an MRI of the pancreas and surrounding organs yearly.

It is a mystery to me why I developed this problem.  I am not and never have been a drinker of alcohol. I am not a smoker.  There is not a family history of such problems.  I blame the heart medications I have been on.  For now, I watch my diet carefully and avoid fats and other things that might trigger an attack.  I will baby my pancreas and avoid unnecessary medications.  I have never liked a pill being thrown at me to fix a problem in the body, and I guess I will be even more adamant about insisting that any medication I take is absolutely necessary.  When I do have pain, I will definitely take a medication I have for that called hyoscyamine.  I will also get blood work done to check on my lipase levels.

I realize that I have a condition that must be monitored, but I don't have cancer so for that I am extremely thankful.  I am also very thankful to have a wonderful team of doctors and nurses at National Jewish Hospital, University of Colorado Hospital, and here in Colorado Springs at the Gastroenterology of Colorado Springs who have spent so much time with me in person and by checking with me by phone. I cannot tell you how wonderful it has been to have their support and concern.  They have answered every question I have asked with great wisdom and have patient in listening to me when I talk.  At times, I would just as soon dismiss the symptoms, but I know that they won't allow this and have instructed me to get blood work done or go to the ER when they felt I really did need to be checked out.  Hopefully, things completely settle down soon in my digestive track and I can get on with the business of living.  

Summer Update

It is just past noon on a Tuesday morning.  I love mornings at home when the agenda page on my iPhone calendar is clear.  Jim is at work, so I don't even get sidetracked by his company.  No appointments take center stage when planning the day; however, the long to-do list in my head does nag at me:

1. Water the plants
2. Fertilize the flowers and bushes.
3. Find out what bugs are eating your flowers and deal with them.
4. Take a morning walk.
5. Do some household laundry.
6. Schedule appointments for next month.
7. Write those notes to friends that need to be written.
8. Organize your stacks of stuff in the upstairs office.
9. Organize that even bigger stack of stuff in the downstairs guest room/quasi office.
10. Go grocery shopping.
11. Fix a healthy meal for lunch and dinner.
12. Check in with your blogging friends and see how they are doing.
13. Try to get a blog written and published.
14. Take a shower.
15. Fold laundry.

So far, I have accomplished getting numbers 1 - 4 finished.  Somehow, I skipped down to number 13 and sat down to write a quick blog while I cool off from my outside work and my walk by sitting in front of the open window in my study.  The breeze feels refreshing.  

The familiar sound of a plane from the nearby United States Air Force Academy  pulling a glider across the sky connects me to the place in which I live.  I think of those young air cadets training to get their wings. I envy the freedom and excitement the young cadets must feel when that glider is pulled into the skies, released from the aircraft that has taken the glider to to the required altitude, and the glider itself  then soars and swoops and then glides back down to earth.

Such an experience is not gained by these cadets without hard work, solid academic performance, and sacrifice.  These cadets have a schedule, and they stick to it.  They won't succeed if they do not use discipline and organization.

The gliding through the air does appeal to me.  At this point in life, I find the schedule that leads to accomplishing much in life doesn't hold much appeal.  

I also know myself well enough to know that I don't function well without schedules.  I fight against them.  Always have.  As I grow older, I probably need a proper schedule more than I ever have, but I hate them all the more.  

I want to glide, and slide, and be free of those time restraints in life that continue to bind me.  Life just seems too short to do laundry, clean house, shop for groceries, and fix meals.  I want to read, write, walk, play in the yard, dig in the dirt, eat lunch with friends, enjoy time with my husband, and visit my children and grandchildren.  

I also want to stop all these medical appointments because of medical issues.  Summer is for fun.  It is not for medical procedures.

Many days I am very well.  Other days I am not.  Last week, I had an earlier than expected colonoscopy.  The results from biopsies are not in.  This week, on Friday, I will have an endoscopic ultra sound of my pancreas at the University of Colorado Hospital.  I had the same procedure three years ago,  at least I know what to expect with the procedure.  I just don't know what to expect on the outcome.  I may require additional risky procedures that same day.  There is talk of a stint for a malformed duct.  Most of my pain and discomfort comes from the pancreatic area, but thankfully I haven't had any bouts of pancreatitis that required hospitalization since 2013.    

As if all of this were not enough, for the last few weeks I have been bothered by floaters that block my vision.  The latest, a very large one that has been assailing my vision for three days in a major way, has made reading and writing nearly impossible.  My stubborn nature went into overdrive so I could write this overdue post.  Defying that seemingly pencil eraser size floater, I sat at my computer and wrote this.  Don't worry, I've been to the eye doctor yesterday and I have not tears or detachments.  I'm just dealing with the aging process in the eye that seems to have gotten worse since cataract surgery in March and April.

So, dear blogging friends, I haven't forgotten you.  I'm just not spending much time using a computer or other technological devices due to my eyes.  I also have been out enjoying life with my dear hubby and my precious family and wonderful friends as much as I can this summer.  I have been working with my writing group every other week.  I meet with church friends for prayer or breakfast.  When Jim isn't working, we have lunch, dinner, or breakfast with couple friends or with my cousin Donna. Other days, when Jim is home,  long walks in the morning invigorate while more leisurely walks in the evening bring peace and joy.  

Some of those things on my to-do list can wait until the weather forces me inside.  In the meantime, the deck or front patio are ready and waiting for friends to drop by and visit.  Books are being enjoyed in the cool of the shade.  I'm winning a few wars with the wildlife by planting and protecting my impossible garden.  I'm also staying strong in spite of health problems that continue to hit.  Keep me in your prayers on Friday.  I hope to be back to summer activities soon.

Summer Update

It is just past noon on a Tuesday morning.  I love mornings at home when the agenda page on my iPhone calendar is clear.  Jim is at work, so I don't even get sidetracked by his company.  No appointments take center stage when planning the day; however, the long to-do list in my head does nag at me:

1. Water the plants
2. Fertilize the flowers and bushes.
3. Find out what bugs are eating your flowers and deal with them.
4. Take a morning walk.
5. Do some household laundry.
6. Schedule appointments for next month.
7. Write those notes to friends that need to be written.
8. Organize your stacks of stuff in the upstairs office.
9. Organize that even bigger stack of stuff in the downstairs guest room/quasi office.
10. Go grocery shopping.
11. Fix a healthy meal for lunch and dinner.
12. Check in with your blogging friends and see how they are doing.
13. Try to get a blog written and published.
14. Take a shower.
15. Fold laundry.

So far, I have accomplished getting numbers 1 - 4 finished.  Somehow, I skipped down to number 13 and sat down to write a quick blog while I cool off from my outside work and my walk by sitting in front of the open window in my study.  The breeze feels refreshing.  

The familiar sound of a plane from the nearby United States Air Force Academy  pulling a glider across the sky connects me to the place in which I live.  I think of those young air cadets training to get their wings. I envy the freedom and excitement the young cadets must feel when that glider is pulled into the skies, released from the aircraft that has taken the glider to to the required altitude, and the glider itself  then soars and swoops and then glides back down to earth.

Such an experience is not gained by these cadets without hard work, solid academic performance, and sacrifice.  These cadets have a schedule, and they stick to it.  They won't succeed if they do not use discipline and organization.

The gliding through the air does appeal to me.  At this point in life, I find the schedule that leads to accomplishing much in life doesn't hold much appeal.  

I also know myself well enough to know that I don't function well without schedules.  I fight against them.  Always have.  As I grow older, I probably need a proper schedule more than I ever have, but I hate them all the more.  

I want to glide, and slide, and be free of those time restraints in life that continue to bind me.  Life just seems too short to do laundry, clean house, shop for groceries, and fix meals.  I want to read, write, walk, play in the yard, dig in the dirt, eat lunch with friends, enjoy time with my husband, and visit my children and grandchildren.  

I also want to stop all these medical appointments because of medical issues.  Summer is for fun.  It is not for medical procedures.

Many days I am very well.  Other days I am not.  Last week, I had an earlier than expected colonoscopy.  The results from biopsies are not in.  This week, on Friday, I will have an endoscopic ultra sound of my pancreas at the University of Colorado Hospital.  I had the same procedure three years ago,  at least I know what to expect with the procedure.  I just don't know what to expect on the outcome.  I may require additional risky procedures that same day.  There is talk of a stint for a malformed duct.  Most of my pain and discomfort comes from the pancreatic area, but thankfully I haven't had any bouts of pancreatitis that required hospitalization since 2013.    

As if all of this were not enough, for the last few weeks I have been bothered by floaters that block my vision.  The latest, a very large one that has been assailing my vision for three days in a major way, has made reading and writing nearly impossible.  My stubborn nature went into overdrive so I could write this overdue post.  Defying that seemingly pencil eraser size floater, I sat at my computer and wrote this.  Don't worry, I've been to the eye doctor yesterday and I have not tears or detachments.  I'm just dealing with the aging process in the eye that seems to have gotten worse since cataract surgery in March and April.

So, dear blogging friends, I haven't forgotten you.  I'm just not spending much time using a computer or other technological devices due to my eyes.  I also have been out enjoying life with my dear hubby and my precious family and wonderful friends as much as I can this summer.  I have been working with my writing group every other week.  I meet with church friends for prayer or breakfast.  When Jim isn't working, we have lunch, dinner, or breakfast with couple friends or with my cousin Donna. Other days, when Jim is home,  long walks in the morning invigorate while more leisurely walks in the evening bring peace and joy.  

Some of those things on my to-do list can wait until the weather forces me inside.  In the meantime, the deck or front patio are ready and waiting for friends to drop by and visit.  Books are being enjoyed in the cool of the shade.  I'm winning a few wars with the wildlife by planting and protecting my impossible garden.  I'm also staying strong in spite of health problems that continue to hit.  Keep me in your prayers on Friday.  I hope to be back to summer activities soon.

I'm Ready for Some Changes

Last night at 1:30 a.m., I finally got up out of bed and moved to the guest room hoping that by doing so I would finally get some sleep.  The wind had howled for hours.  We had moved our outdoor grill close to the sliding glass door that leads to our deck from our bedroom because the night before, it had been blown clear across the deck.  The more sheltered place kept the grill in place, but it caused it to bang against the door.  Thankfully, Jim slept through it all.  It must have been the nighttime cough syrup that knocked him out.

The cold, windy, snowy weather has not been the only drag on our emotions lately.  We've been sick, both of us.  Jim, who never gets sick, has bronchitis.  He is in his tenth day of fighting this pesky virus. We are keeping Walgreens in business buying Mucinex, cough syrup, cough drops, and antibiotics.  Thankfully, my husband is feeling better today.  I've warned him that this stuff likes to hang around for quite a while.  The doctor told him to plan on three or four weeks before he is really over this.  By the way, we both had the flu shot.

I started my bout with the virus that has been making the rounds right after Thanksgiving.  It began with a sore throat, a headache, and a cough.  The week after Thanksgiving, I began experiencing terrible spasms in my trapezia muscle on my right side.  This was combined with a terrible headache.  The doctor gave me trigger point injections of lidocaine in the muscle from the base of the skull to the shoulder blade.  I also treated the pain muscle relaxants, very strong ibuprofen, with massage, and even was treated with acupuncture.  Something worked; I can't say which treatment was best.  I think it was the trigger point injections that worked the best.

Then, I got an ear infection.

Then, I had an injection for hip pain into my left hip.  Two days later, I had an allergic reaction to the shot.  These are rare, my doctor said, but I definitely had an allergic reaction.

Just after Christmas, I had a bad case of a stomach virus.

Then, the cough came back, and so did the sinus congestion.  Mucinex became my friend again.

Two weeks ago on a Saturday night, on one of the coldest nights on record, I had to have my poor husband take me to the emergency room because of severe upper right quadrant pain and severe nausea.  I have fought this pain off and on since April when I was in the hospital for three days.  We still have no answers on what is causing these attacks.  As my husband drove me to the hospital on this cold snowy night when neither man nor beast should have been out, the spasms of pain reminded me of trips to the hospital when I was in labor.  Yes, I think he hit every pot hole.

The hospital pumped me full of pain medication, anti-nausea medication, and took blood and urine samples, and I had yet another CT scan.  Nothing showed on the CT scan.  My lipase levels were in range.  I had a raging UTI (urinary track infection).  During the time I was being treated for nausea intravenously, I told them I really should not be given Zofran because it puts me at risk for having prolonged QT interval.  The nurse didn't accept what I was saying until I insisted she look up the warnings on the drug and my medical history.  Soon, she came in the room and switched me to a different anti-nausea.

After four hours, I was pronounced stable, given a doze of an antibiotic for the UTI and sent home with a prescription for more of the antibiotic.  The next day, I already was feeling quite lightheaded, dizzy, and not quite right.  I filled the prescription for Lexofloxacin anyway.  Since, my new policy is not to read the literature they give you with medications so I don't freak out, I didn't read the warnings.  Monday morning, I felt terrible.  I was in a very rapid heart rate pattern and light headed.  Once I felt better, I left the house for an appointment.  Half way there, I had to pull over because I was about to black out.  My pulse was 130.  I called my cardiologist who said I needed to get to a doctor immediately.  I was asked who had prescribe the Lexofloxacin.  It is known to cause prolonged QT interval.  Do they not look at your medical record in the emergency room?  Do they not listen when you tell them?

My husband came and picked me up and drove me to the doctor.  I was given an EKG and a new prescription and sent on my way.  A holter monitor was ordered.  As was a sleep study.

Now, I here I was struggling through upper right quadrant pain, nausea, heart arrhythmia, and reactions to a second antibiotic.  Oh, and I also had to get a mammogram, a scan of my thyroid, and more blood work.  The mammogram was normal.  Thank goodness.

A few days later, I am received a call from my doctor's office.  "Dr. C wants you in her office as soon as possible to discuss your blood work."  By now, my new doctor's office knows me quite well.  I go in for my consult.  The time before when I had been in to discuss my blood work and A1C levels, she had wanted to put me on insulin.  I cried and begged for six more months to get my numbers under control.  She gave me three months not six.  Now, with this visit, she is very concerned because my iron counts and vitamin B12 levels are getting worse instead of better.  We discussed a game plan.  I told her I had yet another battery of tests scheduled at National Jewish Hospital next week to see what is going on with my iron and my gall bladder/pancreas.

A few days later, my husband got sick.  Now we at least are going to the clinic for him instead of me.

This week, I have a second MRI and second MRI with contrast of my upper right quadrant.  I will also be seeing the cardiologist next week.  I am continuing the iron supplements and B12 supplements.  It appears I am over the UTI.  The heart is mostly settled down again.

So, dear blogging buddies, I've been through it lately.  I am ready for some changes.  I am doing water Pilates twice a week, sometimes three times a week.  I am doing Restorative Yoga at least once a week.  I am trying to walk two miles most days.  I am slowly trying to change my diet.  My doctor says I must try the anti-inflammatory diet.

We will get to the bottom of all this.  We will.  I am staying strong.  The week that I struggled because of the first antibiotic was the worst of it.  I refuse most medications for the reasons given above.  If there is a side effect, I usually get it.  Some of us are just wired that way.  My main goal is find out what is going on with the pain and nausea.  I really think it is the gall bladder.  My doctor is also leaning that way, but it seems it takes more tests before they will take it out.  I'm hanging in there.