March 25 -27

From an overcast, coldish MO,

The past few days have been full. Doug called us Wednesday morning when he and Dara returned from a brunch in downtown Austin. One item on his call related to the weather in Austin turning nasty with large hail being in the forecast. He was concerned that our truck would not have a place to get out of the weather. We decided that we would finish packing, check out of the motel, and then join D & D for lunch.

We ended up going to Hutto, a small community northeast of Austin. They are quite proud of the Texan Cafe that is located there. The food was great and their pies were marvelous! D&D then headed back to Pflugerville and we headed north to I-35 and places north. We ran into very heavy rain south of Fort Worth, arrived during rush hour (yuck), and finally ran out of rain about Gainesville. We then had a smooth drive to Edmond, OK - just north of Oklahoma City.

We were back in Chillicothe on Thursday - about 5:00. Unloaded the truck, unpacked, and collapsed in bed.

Today has had its ups and downs. I scanned Dara's twitter site (she had given it to me a year or so ago) to discover that two items pertained to us -- "Inlaws headed back to MO today to miss ..... Now wondering if hubby planted that idea just to get them to leave. Second comment was about 30 minutes later - ....Glad inlaws left so we can take break from trying them all (reference to Texas monthly article on BBQ and cafes.) We had deliberately not gone to Austin the week before because we knew she was on spring break from the college and thought she would enjoy and need a week to recuperate before the last half of the semester. Guess that didn't matter as evidently we were not welcome. I am not sure yet how I will approach our son about my hurt feelings, but guess I had better let a few days roll by before calling.

I went by my local doctor's office today to see when my appointment was to see him to go over results from my trips to St. Joseph to see urologist. Turns out that two weeks after I asked results to be sent to him - they have yet to arrive. I did call the St. Joseph office, but doctor's nurses were not in today so I left a message on voice mail. I am not a happy camper about this as the pain on my right side is getting worse and I don't think the Vicodin is giving me any relief. I have marked my calendar to check on Tuesday to see if results are here - other wise, I guess I'll drive the 70 miles to St. Joseph and rattle some people in person. It seems almost criminal that the only way things get done anymore is to have to become irate!

I looked up WilJenny's web site today and discovered that a man in Sheffield, England somehow came across this site. He sees me as rather complacent - guess some of you need to make a comment as to how you see me. Maybe I am complacent, but I have a few people that would rather see me shut up at meetings. Oh, well --

We have made a trip to the grocery store today as snow is being forecast for tonight. Some reports show 4 to 6 inches - about 4 to 6 inches more than I want! Jim has no business scooping snow, but he has already made plans to do so. Between the Meniere's disease (oh, yes, he had a minor episode coming home on Thursday) and his heart surgery, he has no business scooping snow, but he is bullheaded and will do what he wants to do.

Didn't mean to get on a soap box, but am tired and don't feel good.

Be safe.
B.

March 18-24

From a dampish, warmish Texas,

Jim and I left Chillicothe on Saturday morning, but first I must backtrack some --

Jim had a sweaty night on Thursday, but seemed to get through Friday okay. I joined Pat at HyVee for coffee at 4:00 and when I returne home about 5:00 - I found Jim draped over the back edge of the truck - in the midst of a Meniere's attack. Evidently the prelude was Thursday night. I went downstairs and got the walker and we eventually got him into the upstairs bedroom where he sweated for another two or three hours. I gave him some dry food to munch on eventually and about and hour or so later he was moving around the house slowly. He had spent some of the time I was gone loading the truck with suitcases and I guess this brought on a full blown attack.

He had a good night and we left about 7:00 on Saturday a.m. to head towards Austin. I drove two or three hours during our drive to Ardmore. There is a good "steakhouse" there that we enjoy. We had a smooth drive on to Austin on Sunday morning.

I know Iwill leave out some of the things we have done so far - a marvelous Mexican breakfast this morning, a marvelous reuben sandwich last night, a drive to the Johnson ranch where we saw the visitor's center, but will return for a further visit another time we are here, ate at Johnson City at a local cafe - good chicken fried steak as well as chicken fried pork chops, I took the guys to Twin Peaks (a local girlie bar) today, we ate Greek food on Sunday evening, etc.

Dara taught a night class on Monday evening and left about 6:30 for San Marcos this morning. We ae meeting her for Ethiopian food later today.

I don't think I've mentioned the mess we had when we sent a birthday gift to Dara the middle of February. We insured the package for $400 - and it never was delivered and signed for by either Doug or Dara. The Pflugerville post office insisted they had delivered the package and that Doug had signed (although he was at work with a driving time of 45 minutes - one way). Jim filled out paperwork at Chillicothe and that eventually brought a turn down from a regional office since the box had been delivered and signed for - according to the local delivery person.

Anyway, Doug set up a time for us to go meet the local post mistress today and we were greeted with a very different story. Carrier now says the signature does not look like Doug or Dara, and that maybe he delivered a block away (street is Valley rather than Village) and that the local post office inspector was going to the house today to see if they had accidentally signed for the package. I'm guess they will not admit to this as this month long absense of the box would probably mean a federal follow-up, but at least it means that maybe we will get the insurance returned to us. Thank goodness we had kept a receipt of the original sale, insurance paperwork, etc. Hopefully I can give a positive report next time.

We plan on spending much of Wednesday with Doug and Dara. We will begin the trip back to Chillicothe on Thursday. I will then get in contact with my local doctor to see if he has received a report from the urologist - and what I should do next as I am not too happy about waiting until the middle of June.

Be safe.
B.

Feb. 25-March 17

From a balmy MO!

The first week or so from my last blog was rather typical - not much going on, etc. -- then the action began --

Towards the end of February, I was experiencing pain in my right back - just under shoulder blade. This eventually became stabbing at times - and I wasn't a happy camper, but I thought I would be a tough old biddy (my mom's words about herself) until I was to see the doctor for my yearly physical on March 11. On March 2, I took some paperwork to my doctor's office on another matter and mentioned my pain to the doctor's wife and she suggested that I see the nurse practioner the next day - turned out to be a good thing.

I awakened on Tuesday a.m. with worse pain and began passing blood in my urine. By the time I reached the doctor's office, there was no question that I was having a problem of some kind. The NP scheduled an ultra sound for me that afternoon - which turned out negative, but she and the doctor decided to get me scheduled at St. Joseph at Jim's urologist.

On Thursday (5th) we headed to St. Joseph where I had a urine sample, bladder scan, and a CT scan. The urine sample was sent off to be sure there were no cancer cells present.

On Monday (9th) we had a phone call from the St. Joseph clinic that a mass of 3.9 had shown up on my right adrenal gland. (Go to your favorite search engine and type in adrenal gland mass)
They wanted to schedule a second CT scan and bloodwork (could have been done in Chillicothe, but I opted for St. Joseph Heartland hospital) so off we were on the road again on Tuesday to St. Joseph. (By the way, both scans were first done with no injection - and then with an injection.)

We went back to see the urologist on Friday (13th) and he indicated the second CT had confirmed the mass, but it was just slightly smaller - as they measured it. There were no cancer cells in the urine.

If you have looked up "adrenal gland mass" you will have noticed that between 3.0 and 3.9 is a size that is considered "wait and see" with another CT scan being suggested in 6 months. Dr. K suggested that rather than wait 6 months that I come back in 3 months. Over 4.0 would probably indicate the need for some kind of surgery.

Jim was rather unsettled with this as we were discussing the situation on the way home as he thought 3 months was too long to wait. I am going to check in with Dr. Metry in a week or so (he should have received a report from Dr. K by then) and see if he thinks I should wait 3 months or be seen by an endocrineologist (spelling) since the adrenal gland is actually considered part of the endocrine system.

In the meantime, Jim has been over to Joe Shelby lake to "wet a line" and has gone to Dr. Eden's lake. He can hold on well enough with his left hand that he is ready for some serious fishing.

Track season began on March 2, but so far Jim hasn't gone over to practice - of course we have also been on the road a lot. We are planning on leaving Saturday (21st) to go to Austin for a few days - leaving probably the 26th to head back home. We will miss the Kearney relays and will probably be too tired to go to the Warrensburg relays, but should be ready for the home meet with Savannah and Benton on the 31st. Tammy, give Clint a hug for us and explain to Samantha why we aren't there - give her a hug as well.

I guess I mention tired as when I read the items on adrenal gland mass, many of the symptoms are so typical of me - tiredness, hoarseness, pain, difficulty in losing weight, etc.

Until next time.
B.