Summer '23

 

It’s been an interesting summer so far.  The animals are doing great, which is a blessing.  I had a mammogram back in April and while I was away in Texas, letting Crazy Cousin Louise have all the fun, I got a call to have another mammogram to confirm or deny the presence of “something.” 

So, testing commenced and a biopsy was done and I was diagnosed with a DCIS… which translates to Ductal Carcinoma In-Situ.  Or Stage 0 breast cancer.  100% curable.  Great news! 

Of course in order to remove this little beastie, I had to go through an MRI.  When they want to view the breast via MRI, the body is raised and the breasts dangle down below.  It’s interesting.  I have claustrophobia.  Not terrible until it kicks in and it did.  Could Not do it the first time.  I was determined the second and used Xanax to get through it.  Since I never take that stuff, I was kinda giggly the rest of the day.

July 12^th Flopsy had a “partial mastectomy” a.k.a. a lumpectomy although I never felt a lump.  All went very well, minimal pain (and I’m a wuss when it comes to that!) and I’m constantly wearing a bra or the binder they put me in after surgery.  All of that is good, I’ll have radiation therapy for a while and take tamoxifen for 5 years.  I meet with my oncologist this coming week.  Not a big deal.

I have been dealing with another issue though.  I can’t breathe.  Do anything and I get short of breath and end up sitting down.  Before surgery, I had to be okay’d by my cardiologist, and I had a stress test the end of June.  No surprise, I passed with flying colors.  Strong heart, lousy arteries.

My p.c.p. decided a regular old stress test wasn’t sufficient.  She sent me for a Calcium Score CAT Scan.  Everything was ok except for one artery which came back with a 99.99% blockage.  So that’s still on the table.

With everything confirmed, my surgeon saw something on my sternum. So she ordered a chest CAT scan.  That confirmed something with my sternum.  Don’t know what yet.  I’ll be getting a call from a thorasic surgeon sometime this week.  Dr. Rubino (breast surgeon) doesn’t do chest surgery.

Betty (step-mom) had become very concerned about my breathing and at her behest I made another appointment with my pcp.  Dr. Angelee is wonderful. 

She made me walk around the clinic and called Manchester’s ER.  No ambulance, I could drive myself but she was concerned about a PE – pulmonary embolism.  Those can kill.  I spent 5 hours in the ER, doing my best comedy routines to keep the nurses, aides, etc.  in good humor.  That really did work.  They enjoyed me.

Around 8:00 I called my daughter, Trudy and asked if Francis could go over and feed my animals.  Of course he could.  Some time after 9 p.m. I looked up and there was Francis walking into my little cube.  My 16-almost-17 year old grandson stayed there with me until they sent me home.  My animals were fed, Trippy didn’t bite him and Blackie loves him.  He’s the best.  I have a pneumonia that actually looks like covid-19 in the scans and x-rays but is not (I’ve been tested 2x in the last couple of days.).  And my asthma is out of control.  So I have antibiotics, cough medicine and an inhaler.  I’m tired a lot.

Betty called herself “a pain in the ass” about wanting me to see the doctor.  She is not.  She is the best present my father left me with: a wonderful, caring step-mother.  Her birthday was last Thursday and as soon as I feel better we’ll be going out to brunch to celebrate it. 

Sometimes in this life we just have to admit that God knows what she’s doing.  When Trudy moved in next door so many years ago I had no idea that I would gain a daughter, a son-in-law, and three beautiful grandchildren.  How fortunate I am to have them.  They’ve moved but they’re still my family.  My granddaughter Vita has been coming over and helping me with chores around the house, and she’s a delight.  The youngest is Portia, so much fun and so smart.  Well, they all are.

CCL goes to Texas, Part 2

 

Bernie is working at Jaimes’s new ranch, running equipment and doing work which requires a certain amount of technical expertise – like driving a tractor and using the equipment which runs off same.  The barn staff is rather immature and break things.

Margie and I went over there (Hutto) to help Bernie put a playscape together for the guy who owns the property.  This is no ordinary playscape.  It’s a two storey monstrosity with picnic table, climbing wall, slide, swings, roof.  OMG.  I got a sunburn that thankfully turned to tan.

It’s nowhere’s near done.  But we spent the entire afternoon working on it.  My dogs hung out under the trees with a large bucket of water.  Callie followed Margie around as always.

 

 

*****

Margie’s van has been giving her the “check engine” light and it’s been in the shop now 3x to get it fixed.  Yesterday was shop number 3.  Because of the weather forecast (mega storms), Bernie did not go to the ranch but instead we piled into Cindy’s truck (borrowed) and the van and headed down to Lampassas to take the van in and get the brakes done on Cindy’s truck.

I took the boys, not wanting to leave them for so many hours and of course Callie came.  We went shopping (didn’t buy anything) and then hung out at the dealership until Cindy’s truck was done. 

It’s an hour each way to their preferred dealership, and on the way home I got some really cool pictures of the sky – storms coming in and clouds at all different heights in the sky.  Then we got home and I pulled the slide in and brought my dogs into the spare room (away from Moon, who believes Trippy is snack food).  All Eleven dogs were in the house for the duration.  They were amazingly well behaved, occasionally giving us a chorus of barks/howls but mostly really good about it.

 ****

Currently, the roofs on the three main buildings (house, barn, metal shop and wood shop) are being replaced due to mega hail damage.  So Margie and I are stuck here whist the work is being done.  It’s noisy and there are nails everywhere outside.  We can’t let the dogs out, and mine are trapped in their little yard.  At least it’s not horribly hot out.

 

 

 

CCL goes to Texas, 2023, Part 1

The Crazy Cousin was getting house fever so off she went to Texas.  Here’s her first report.

 

The drive was fine, took four days but of course I had “coach issues.”   The refridgerator was working fine at home, but once on the road both lights (gas and on) were blinking at me.  Except at night when the generator ran…  So I bought ice and hoped for the best.  The status panel told me I had ¾ s of a tank, which means “full” because there must be room for the gas to expand.  Since it was fine at night, everything was okay (cold). 

I noticed that the running night lights on the trailer didn’t appear to be lighting up, so I did a check and discovered that they weren’t…  I had checked from inside, using the camera and while the brake lights and turn signals worked, the regular lights were not working.  And when I had checked from inside, I had my foot on the brake.  Bernie already has the tiny trailer in the shed and is rewiring and replacing the lights.  He never liked the design of the lighting on that trailer anyway.

Lastly, the trim around the driver’s side overhead and down the front of the coach came loose (again).  To the point where I had to reach out and pull it into the cab and shut the window on it.  I did use gorilla tape to hold it but it didn’t last.

More on these issues later.

 

Phone GPS brought us in on the dirt road.  It’s in decent shape and I don’t mind it.  It was more of a curiosity than anything else. Satelite GPS wanted to bring us to I-35 in Waco, and I will have none of that (traffic).  At least bring us down to Temple!    We got in around 3:30, and it was interesting to note that the pups knew where were before we got here, becoming excited and whining eagerly about a ½ mile out. 

Margie was home and as always it was wonderful to be together again.  And the puppies!!!  OMG, they’re really big dogs now.  Zorro found a home but the other FIVE are still here.  I need to get semi-formal photos of each of them.  Luckily, they all seem to have Indi’s personality, as far as being luv-bugs.

The original pack (pre-puppies) is doing fine.  Moon, Ace and Indi are in a separate yard as the “boys” haven’t been fixed yet and Arthur and Moon have dominance/leader issues.  Callie is the favored child as she’s the service dog and therefore is in the house with Margie 99% of the time.

The horses are being trained/used by their friend Jaimes, and are staying at either his home (Gadget, training) or “the ranch” (Harley and Rio).  Instead they now have a steer and a goat.  They’re going to get more of each…  

So we’ve been here a few days now and first, we dealt with the coach’s issues.

Margie and I drove over to Lone Star RV.  They had great ratings online and I’ve been there before.  The folks are really nice and reasonably priced.  They checked the trailer lighting plug and it’s fine.  They will fix the trim issue Wednesday morning (have to be there at 8 AM!!!), and since they couldn’t see the dial on the propane tank, and didn’t trust the inside panel, I went to get it filled.

Been to Killeen propane last time, so I was quite comfortable taking Rigbee over there.  We only needed 7 gallons, so the inside panel was correct.  What I did not know was that when Rigbee was winterized this time, they shut off the propane at the tank.  OMG, so damn simple!  Just turn the tank ON!  OMG!

So, the rig is gassed up, both gasoline and propane.  Bernie is rewiring the trailer and the trim is being replaced tomorrow.  Yahoo.

There is much more to write, but that’s enough for now.