DNA Testing

For Christmas I got one of those DNA testing kits for me and my wife.  It had always sounded interesting to me and seeing it on sale and needing gift ideas I finally got them, the two-three and me one for health and ancestry.  We submitted them several weeks ago and we both got our results recently.

While the results are an interesting read I can't help but feel a bit underwhelmed.  There's a lot of fluff to go through to find results and numbers you want to see, but that's more of a website navigation issue, I think.  And no, I do not want to do a ton of surveys or pay $29 a year for more underwhelming reports and features, thank you.

I thought I'd find the health portion more interesting but thankfully I tested negative for all variants they look for, no predispositions and not a carrier.  The wellness and traits section where they give you a percentage of likeliness I do find interesting, and while many do reflect my actual traits some do not.  It correctly gives me a bigger chance of not being able to match a musical pitch or be bitten by mosquitoes, but also says I'm less likely to be afraid of heights or likely to have fair skin.  Almost all with varying percentages.  99% chance I don't have red hair, 1% I do; 58% chance I do not have cheek dimples, 42% I do.  Yes, interesting information upon first read but nothing that you can really do anything with our about.

The ancestry report was more interesting, but about what I would have expected.  Growing up, I was always told that I was 75% German and 25% Irish (a simplified guess, I'm sure, but easy to understand), and the results weren't that far off and had a few other odd finds, like I have more Neanderthal DNA than 64% of their other customers at less than 2%, whatever that really means.

98.8% Northwestern European.  Not surprising, I know I'm not Native American.  Of that:

44.2% British and Irish.  County Dublin and Greater London appear to be at the top, but it does list 18 other regions.

40.2% French & German.  Not sure why they lump these together.  A closer look shows all to be regions of Germany and Netherlands.  No berets for me.

8.9% Scandinavian.  I hadn't expected that, but it seems I have some roots in Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

5.2% Broadly Northwestern European.  Apparently all the above but unidentifiable.

0.3% Finnish.  This made me smile, but only because I'm a fan of Nightwish.

Then outside of Northwestern European it tells me I am 1.0% Ashkenazi Jewish and 0.2% of trace ancestry.  Go figure.

There's also a section where I can connect with family members and lists several of my actual relatives who must also have done the same test.  So it knows who I am and who I am related to now.  And the other day I received an invitation to share ancestry from someone I don't know.  You are given their name and after a quick google search I found she lives with her family in a town south of here.  Likely a second cousin, but I have not responded and not sure I will.

I don't think I want to dive into this that much and make connections and start a family tree or anything like that.  But I'm glad I finally did it and while interesting it does not change anything or is really of any help for anything.  Maybe I'll change my mind in the future, but for now I'll just let this simmer for a while.

Quiet New Year, Mostly

It's been a fairly quiet new year so far, aside from my most recent medical issue acting up again.  This Omicron variant is everywhere so we're trying to be extra careful.  We, or mostly just I, had been going out for lunch once every weekend for a while now just to get out of the house, but no longer.  Other than that most trips outside the house are for necessities only.

I say 'most' because we did leave the house today to go look at furniture.  In early August last year we ordered - and paid for - a sofa sleeper and ottoman.  Well, it keeps getting delayed and then delayed again.  At one point it was scheduled for delivery on January 4, but that was cancelled and now has been estimated to be late May.  How does that happen?  I think the scheduled delivery was just a ploy as they do not have the sofa in their warehouse yet and may not ever, the way things are looking now.  We didn't find anything we wanted to replace what we already paid for, though, and all furniture stores are having big issues with stock and long delays in delivery, so we just decided to let it ride for now and not cancel and get a refund yet.  The sofa we have now we planned on moving out to the porch.  It will be a good seating area out there and we may then use the porch more in the warmer months.  But for now, it will remain as our living room couch.

I've been on antibiotics again for two weeks now, yet I started to get a fever and more pain again on Thursday, so I contacted the specialist I'd been seeing.  She had me go to a clinic on Friday, not the overflowing-with-Covid hospital thankfully, for lab work and another CT scan and it showed inflammation and still a micro perforation of my colon.  She does think that this is still treatable at home, but if it worsens I may have to go into the hospital again for IV antibiotics for a few days.  Worst case scenario is emergency surgery to remove part of my colon then I live with a colostomy bag for about 8 months.  For now, another two weeks of antibiotics.  This time a combination of two different antibiotics than I had been taking.  Wish me luck, I really need to get over this hump.

The weather is very cold and it snows now and again but nothing major to complain about.  We had the plumber out again due to a clog in our kitchen sink drain, same guy who was out in December to clear out our main waste line that goes to the the street.  The sink pipes likely have never been clogged or cleared before judging by the muck he got out, the main needs to be cleared every couple of years now due to tree roots.  Not much else that I can think about now, but that's okay, I'll take a quiet new year for now.

It's winter in Wisconsin during a pandemic.  We just don't do much of anything exciting and likely won't for several months, so not sure what I'll be writing about but I'll think of something every now and again.  Aside from my health, just a mundane time of year.

Christmas Flare-Up and Snow

Not going anywhere on Christmas Day might've turned out to be a very good thing for me.  I didn't feel right all day, but had a big Christmas lunch of ham, peas, and mashed potatoes and gravy followed by a chocolate sponge cake mint roll.  It was delicious and I was full.  My wife had brought her dad over for the meal, and he quickly tired after eating so she took him home as I did some cleaning up.  We had exchanged gifts the night before so this was the extent of our Christmas.

That afternoon before the Packer game I was really getting uncomfortable and I couldn't quite figure out why.  Later that night I started feeling really bad.  I got the chills, shaking for a few minutes, then just couldn't get warm after that (despite my new warm fuzzy robe and slippers!).  My wife had gone to bed early, and I was so concerned I slept separately, knowing something was definitely wrong.

My first thoughts were, where did I get covid?  I almost went to see my Mom and I saw my father-in-law this day, getting covid would not be good.  Here in Dane County we have an over 80% vaccination rate, so as long as we're careful getting covid hasn't been a huge concern, so far.  But, by the time I went to sleep my gut was telling me the diverticulitis was flaring up.  Still very concerning to me, maybe more so, but not covid.

The next morning I discussed with my wife and took my temperature a few times and it was a bit high.  It was Sunday, so she suggested I get on the website and see if there was a number I could call or something, so I got on MyChart, the website used for all my health records, appointment, medications, etc., and made an appointment for a virtual visit.  I had an appointment with a surgeon the next day, Monday, as a follow up to my hospital stay last month, but I wanted to get on the antibiotics as soon as possible.  It took a little over an hour to be seen, but I visited with a healthcare professional over my phone and she saw my records and agreed with my assessment so I got the prescription from my pharmacy about midday and started on it right away.

Monday I no longer had a fever but I still felt pain in my gut, unsurprisingly.  I saw the surgeon and we discussed this flare-up and the various possibilities going forward and which scenarios I may want to have surgery to remove part of my colon.  But the first thing was to get me over this episode.  She agreed with the virtual visit and my desire to get on meds right away, and added another prescription for several more day's worth of antibiotics.  She thought it was possible it got knocked way back last month, but maybe never fully went away so this was it coming back.  Looking back, I think she may be right.  I had meds for only 7 days after I left the hospital.  Now, looking back and piecing it together, I still had that discomfort in my gut for at least 2 1/2 weeks after I was discharged, though it was getting better and eventually seemed healed.  Now I don't believe that was the case and I'll be on meds for 14 days this time.

Rest is about all I can do, and I have been sleeping lots.  Yesterday I worked for only a couple hours in the morning, and today I took off work to rest and heal.  We'll see what tomorrow brings, but sitting up and typing like this is uncomfortable right now and I feel it more when I get up, going from bent to standing up straight.  Hopefully it gets better soon and thankfully it is not as bad as last month, though I waited at least a day too long to seek help last time.  I won't make that mistake again.

In other news, we got a few inches of snow the other night but it got warm enough yesterday to melt most by the afternoon and what was left was a slushy mess.  After my wife was done working she cleaned it all up with the shovel.  It was going to freeze again and that would not have been good to let freeze as it was.  She volunteered due to my condition and I was very thankful.

Now today we are due to get 2 - 4 more inches, but if it shifts a bit we could get more.  It started about an hour ago and is to continue until this evening.  I better keep up on my rest today as it will be the first use of the snowblower this year, and my wife doesn't use the snowblower.  Temperatures aren't looking to get above freezing in the 10 day forecast, so we may not have had a white Christmas but we may have a white New Year.  Stay well, folks.

RIP Apetor and Booster

 Apetor is a Youtuber that I've followed for many years now, me and his other 1.27 million subscribers.  I really liked his quirky, entertaining videos.  Last night I learned that he died on November 27.  Apetor made many different videos but he had a penchant for skating on thin ice, and that seems to have been the end of him.  I won't say much more here, but this short article tells more about him and how he died.  Below is the last video he made, from November 22, link here for email readers.  RIP Tor Eckhoff.

I got my booster and flu shots yesterday.  I remember feeling a little unwell after my second Covid shot, and I do not feel well today.  I'm not sure if having both at the same time made it worse, but my shoulder that got both injections is also pretty sore today.  Small price to pay for peace of mind, I think.

Happy Thanksgiving Thoughts 2021

With what I've been going through with my health recently and work frustrations bubbling up again I've been pretty down and maybe even ornery lately.  As I sat out by the fire last night I thought it would be good to think of things I am actually thankful for, so I gave it some serious thought and started a list.  Let's see if I can expand on that this morning and maybe get to 10 good and meaningful things for which I am truly grateful.

1. My wife.  It's hasn't always been easy but I just can't imagine my life without her.  I don't know anyone stronger who could deal with me and everything else she's had to deal with the last several years and more.  I've been guilty of being self-centered, taking things for granted and not listening as I should, and improving myself will only help her, so I am determined to become a better person.
2. My health.  I've taken this for granted, too, for far too long and it seems to be catching up to me.  I need to eat better, drink less, exercise more and lose some weight.  Very much easier said than done, but increasing health issues is a good motivator.
3. Family.  My mother and sister, specifically.  I don't like my father and my brother has been pretty distant.  When my mother's husband passed and then the pandemic hit I started to get closer to my Mom and my sister is always there with a smile and encouraging words if I need her.  I love them both greatly.
4. Friends.  I don't have many left these days, more acquaintances than friends.  I want to continue to work on those relationships and in some cases not let the distance between us cause that friendship to wane.  It seems harder to make friends the older I get, but much of that may be me so I should work on that more.
5. Blogger friends.  Delcatto and Blue Witch have been friendly towards me for a long time now and I'm grateful they keep coming back.  I like to read their blogs about them and their lives, and have learned much along the way.  Knowing they are there has helped me try to write better and more interesting things here.  I've not reached out to other bloggers much in a long time now, but Nic has been a relatively recent breath of fresh air and as a bonus he creates music pretty consistently so I always look forward to his next song.
6. Our house.  When this blog started in 2009 we started looking, and originally didn't think we could afford a house right in Madison.  But the market was in our favor and we found a nice house with a nice yard close to whatever we could need or want, right here in the near east side of Madison.  Yes, it is very small, seemingly too small for us at times, but overall I think we found a good one and have improved it in many ways over the years.
7. Madison.  Related to the last one, we live in a good area and city with a majority of like-minded people as us.  That changes rather quickly and surprisingly when you get outside the county.  When we traveled to pick up our last quarter cow it was shocking the amount of pro-Trump flags and signs in the rural areas.  I don't remember such divisiveness before he came along and thankfully don't have to worry about that too much here in Madison.
8. Music.  Music continues to be a joy and an escape for me even as I get older.  I don't go to live shows as much as I used to and am pretty unwilling to travel longer distances for it anymore, but I still enjoy discovering new music and I'm always looking for my next 'latest-greatest,' even if at a lower volume these days. 

Well, 10 was an arbitrary number anyway and I don't want to add something lesser just to get to 10.  I may remember something good that I missed later, but I think I have 8 very good things to be thankful for here and it was good for me to consider and reflect upon these.  Now it's time for me to do some cleanup for Kate's family coming over to celebrate the holiday.  It's currently snowing big white flakes outside, and my wife has been busy cooking up the cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and other goodies while the turkey is already in the oven.

Happy Thanksgiving and a great long weekend to all!

Health Update and Lactose Intolerance

My wife discovered her lactose intolerance about 7 years ago and has been taking lactaid when she eats dairy ever since.  There had been times when I would complain about something and she would tell me it's possible that I'm becoming lactose intolerant, too.  I'd always just brush it off and never had any real bad problems.  After all, we live Wisconsin, known as the Dairy State, and I really love cheese and ice cream lots and just can't imagine a diet restricted or without dairy.

Yesterday morning I still felt poorly, I had a bit more strength and stamina but not much.  I had arranged to borrow my neighbor Jane's handyman to help me clean out my gutters and rake and mulch my leaves before it gets too cold and/or snowy out, probably doing a little too much myself but it's hard to stand by and watch someone else do your work.  Once done, about 1:00 in the afternoon, I sat down and had some leftover cheese and sausage crackers.  Three of them, to be exact.  That's only 3/4 of a sandwich slice of swiss cheese.  It didn't take long and I was bloated again, feeling as inflated as a Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon.  I was so uncomfortable a cough made my sides hurt.  I had been bloated quite often recently and it was happening again.

Once my wife got home I was discussing it with her and she looked it up, and sure enough the antibiotics can make you temporarily lactose intolerant.  A fact the doctor or anyone else failed to mention when putting me back on a regular diet on Wednesday, still with an IV pumping antibiotics into me.  Hell, I even had pie and small cup of ice cream that day and later complained about being bloated before finally being discharged.  Here at home and as my appetite increased I just ate as normal, bloating on and off and wondering why my movements weren't normalizing.  She convinced me easily and now I'm swearing off dairy at least until I'm off the antibiotics, but this could turn out to be permanent and I'll have to take lactaid when I want dairy forever.

It took 16 hours since that bit of cheese, but this morning I've had so much more 'relief' than I had all week and I'm starting to feel more like myself.  I'm still rather perturbed that I wasn't warned, and I'll be sure to bring it up at my follow-up appointment in a couple days.  I'm sure it tells you this can be a side effect on that full page of small print that comes with the prescription I got after I was discharged, but who reads all that stuff?  I still feel the doctor should have mentioned it when he put me on a regular diet while I was still in the hospital.

So, while that part should be getting better for me now I again woke up with a headache.  I failed to mention this in my last post, but I've had the same migraine on and off since I was in the emergency room last Sunday.  I'd be given different medicines for it in the hospital every day but it would always come back, and it's been a similar pattern since I've been home.  Maybe it's related, not sure, but I really hope it ends soon.  I've also had pretty wacky dreams all week, sometimes waking up panting with my heart beating fast several times a night.  Last night was better so perhaps this is related, too.  But again, I'm not sure.  

I guess all I can hope for is to avoid dairy for the time being and I should continue to improve and these things will work themselves out.  I just want to feel normal again.

Diverticulitis Hospital Stay

Well, I was certainly optimistic in the last post.  I wrote it shortly after settling into my hospital room, still feeling the fentanyl they gave me in the emergency room.  The picture was from the ER and before they hooked up a second IV bag in an attempt to get me rehydrated.  So, nothing much had been happening, now I have something to write about.  Let's start from the beginning...

I felt fine last week, mostly.  Thursday and Friday things that normally happen in the morning happened, but not enough and not well.  Still, I felt normal and figured things would clear out with a little pill to move things along.  Friday evening was the last night I ate food.  Saturday was uncomfortable but still, life goes on and I had things to do and a Badger game on TV so I took another little pill and ran some errands.  I had a bit of time before the game started so I thought taking a walk might help.  I made it around two blocks and was almost doubled over by the time I got back home.  And still, splash mountain had no one riding the ride and my belly hurt even more.  I upped the ante with what I thought would be more effective than the little pill in the afternoon, then again before bed knowing I would be getting up often all night - and I was, just about every hour.  My wife started taking my temperature that afternoon and it fluctuated the rest of the day, between 99.4ºF and 100.8º.  Still, I went to bed hoping to feel better by morning.  In the morning I did not feel better.  I knew I just couldn't take any more of this medicine, I needed outside help but I was unwashed yet so took a very uncomfortable shower and my wife took me to the emergency room.  This was Sunday morning about 11 or so.  

In the emergency room waiting room there were probably about 8 other people, some seemingly okay and others looked like regular visitors, but no one seemed in the distress I was in.  I do know that you can't tell what someone is dealing with just by looking, just sayin'.  Only patients were allowed to wait, any support persons had to wait in their car due to covid so my wife was outside.  After about 15 minutes I was called into a side room where they were taking vitals.  I explained the whole story and she told me it would be a few minutes but they would come and get me, so I waited about 5 minutes in the waiting room again until they called me back.  By this time I couldn't stand straight the pain in my gut was so bad yet I declined the wheelchair and shuffled back to a room where I started to get treatment right away, as hospitals go, anyway.  They put stickers all over my body, gave me an EKG, chest x-ray, and when I asked they called my wife to come back in with me.  Eventually I was wheeled off to have a CAT scan with contrast, ironically in the same room I'd been in twice already this year for my back shots.  When back in the emergency room they put in an IV, then at some point added a second and had them both dumping into my vein at a fast rate.  I was given fentanyl and hooked up to monitors, something they have to do when giving fentanyl I was told, but I asked them to not give me dilaudid as I've needed heavy duty pain killers enough in the past to know it makes me sick.  My Mom texted me about the upcoming Packer game, I texted back for her to cheer for me because I may have to miss it.  A nurse came in and said it looked like they would be keeping me so she had to give me a covid test, the long swab that goes so deep in your sinus it tickles your brain stem.  I found out later it was negative, of course.  Then it was just waiting for a room assignment.

I was finally wheeled off to my room, in time to uncomfortably watch most of the second half of the Packers game.  Well, I was going to feel the same if the game was on or not.  Once I was settled my wife left and I kind of watched the game, and waited.  I couldn't call my Mom, I would have broken down, so I decided to post here about it from my phone.  (I actually had planned a different post about the first snows as I normally note it on the blog every year, but this would have to do.)  Then I texted my Mom to check the blog and told her I would call her the next day.

Then it was Monday and I was in the hospital and I had just been terribly miserable since the fentanyl wore off the prior day.  I had been given morphine as a painkiller since, which didn't make a dent, along with anti-nausea and various other drugs and IVs.  My IV tree had really grown.  I was not allowed food at all but I had no appetite, just ice chips now and again.  This day is kind of a blur, but I remember not sleeping well and having people come in and out, poking, prodding, asking questions, drawing blood, and you name it.  And the damn IV kept beeping so I had to keep calling the nurse in, a new one every few hours it seemed.  Some I saw lots, others I may not have seen at all.  I do remember a brief period of feeling relatively okay and sitting in the chair for a while, otherwise it was miserableness and beeping and getting up often to drag my IV tree into the bathroom with me.  I was feeling pretty icky unclean by this point.  My wife came in the morning and brought me some things to clean up and underclothes, which I greatly appreciated.  I tried to give myself a quick clean-up, but it was difficult.  I remember when I was admitted that they said they would keep me until at least Tuesday, so I was looking forward to that.

Tuesday I felt a bit better and the doctor said he did see improvement, but I knew I wasn't near well yet so I didn't put up much resistance later in the day to having to stay another day.  All this time they had multiple IVs pumping into me; saline, antibiotics and potassium.  I remember early morning still feeling so dehydrated, and when I pinched my knuckle or back of my hand it kept it's shape long enough to indicate I was needing more fluids.  When I discussed with the doctor he agreed and increased my IV rate from 125 ml to 175 ml, and put me on a clear liquid diet.  I was able to get water, juice and jello now to go along with my ice chips.  I was making progress, feeling a bit better though I felt filthier.  I wound up taking two walks around the floor that day to get moving, totaling 52 minutes of active time per my Fitbit, though I'm sure some of that active time was coming down from walking as well.  I also tried to clean myself up more, but my hair was still filthy so I wore a cap.  The best thing that happened this day was that one smart nurse flushed my IV (she said it did feel as if there was a little clot in the end, put a tight roll of gauze in my elbow and covered it with a cotton mesh sheath to hold it all in place.  The damn IV that beeped if you looked at it cross-eyed the last two days finally worked as it should.  My lovely wife brought more supplies and stayed with me for some time.  Also, I had been texting with my Mom so she didn't feel she had to come up and visit, I wasn't very good company anyway.

Wednesday I felt considerably better than I had.  Certainly not healthy but hopefully healthy enough to go home.  By this point I was utterly exhausted from uncomfortable sleep when I did sleep, and nurses coming in and out at all hours giving me pills, changing IV's, drawing blood, etc.  I saw the doctor early and he was encouraged, upgrading me to a normal diet so I ordered hash browns, one scrambled egg and an english muffin.  Food that I thought would be bland enough to start my system with again.  By mid-morning I could no longer stand the filth.  I rang the nurse and asked for towels and shampoo and new gown and bedding.  I didn't think I was allowed to shower due to the IV, but she taped a sleeve over the area and let me do it.  Man, I wish I had done that sooner as I felt so much better.  They don't make any effort to keep you clean in there, it's up to you.  I took another walk around the floor and waited, hoping I would be let out that day.  On my walk I saw the doctor, he told me he was going to check my blood potassium levels again and a get a stool sample for bacteria shortly.  Sure enough, someone was there to get my blood at the designated time and I ordered a piece of cherry pie and some ice cream to help get things moving for the other sample.  That afternoon I was allowed to be discharged as the sample came back good and my potassium had risen, though not enough but I would get pills to take when I got home.  By last night I was finally home, but it is still apparent I have much more healing to do.  Any kind of shape or conditioning I had has left me as I huff and puff over the smallest tasks now and still feel very weak, but I did go four and a half days without food.

That's my memories of the last few days as I remember them at this moment.  I did take some pictures when I was feeling up to it, but not many.  I'll throw some in here, I think, but this is long so I'm not going to proofread, just put it out there.

The takeaways?  Diverticulitis is highly uncomfortable and can be scary considering your colon has a perforation.  I have a wonderful and patient wife.  And people in the hospital are filthy.  Now I must rest, take my pills and get something to eat.  Please stay well, folks.

Snows 1, 2 & 3 And Other Unpleasantness

 We got our first dusting of snow for the season on Thursday but I was working so didn't get a picture. More snow last night and then some more today, but it's all gone by now.

In other news, I wound up in the hospital again.  Diverticulitis is the diagnosis after an afternoon of tests.  I shouldn't need surgery, but I have to hang out here with no food or water until at least Tuesday, sounds like.  IV's and antibiotics, and maybe a few ice chips is all I can have for now.

I'll write more later, I'm doing this on my phone right now, which is proving difficult.  Please don't worry, I should be good to go soon.

October This-And-Thats*

Looks like I haven't done one of these posts since May, and I've not written a lot recently so I must have something to say.  Yes, it's time again to start typing and see what happens!

• First, Feedburner said the blog mails would end in July.  Then they said August.  Now, here it is nearing the end of October and the emails are still going out.  I'm certainly not complaining, but there has been nothing posted about it that I've found since they said August.  A change of plans, perhaps, I guess time will tell.
• 
  While our fall has been warmer than normal so far, we have become more seasonable recently.  We normally get our first frost about October 7 and this year we got our first frost and freeze the other day, on Thursday night/Friday morning.  It all goes downhill from here now until we come out the other side in several months time.  Yes, I complain but I don't move away.  It's another Wisconsin pastime, kind of like last post and probably a big reason for it!  Well, at least there's no snow in the forecast yet.
• Last weekend we did some yardwork and got the gardens ready for winter.  The back left garden has been fully planted with garlic.  The back right garden with the monster herb plant that the name escapes me now has the rest of the area planted with just an odd collection of bulbs that we had stored downstairs from planting and replanting things in the flower beds.  It will be interesting to see what comes up in spring; certainly some tulips, daffodil and hyacinth are possible, and who knows what else.  You can see here if you look close that the squirrels already dug one big bulb up.  That's also why we have that old makeshift cover over the garlic.  Then the strawberry and raspberry plants have been cleaned up and straw put down for winter.  All the compost soil has been emptied from the left side of the compost bin into the gardens while the right side fills up with yard waste.  Shredded paper to cover it all and the bottom of the empty side, we'll start using the left side only soon and let the right side break down to go into the gardens next fall.  The compost bin is one of my favorite things I ever built.
  
• I've not been walking as much recently, not because I don't want to walk but my knee has been acting up.  The right one, the one that I busted up the femur there back in 2010.  Perhaps it's the change in weather, but I don't remember this from recent years.  Not painful so much as uncomfortable as the patellar tendon seems tight and aggravated.  Hopefully nothing comes of it and I can continue my walks soon.
• My mouse broke yesterday, thankfully it waited until after I was done working.  The scroll wheel started making noise so after work I ordered another one, the mouse must have noticed and shortly after gave up the ghost.  I have the same mouse but wireless that I'm using now, but it's not as responsive and is currently driving me a little batty so I hope the new one arrives early, it's currently scheduled for Tuesday.  Come on, Amazin' Prime!
• Speaking of work, we are now required to be fully vaccinated by a date in December.  President Biden's executive order for government contractors.  That would be us, and it includes fully remote workers as well as those who go into the office.  I've already provided my proof of vaccination, and really no bother to me as I've been vaccinated for quite some time.  There are others I know of who are not, though, so it will be interesting to see what happens and who believes in not getting it so much that they lose their job.  
• I might give the impression that I color my fires more than I actually do.  Normally I save the color for when we have people over, but sometimes I do add it just for myself.  I'm thinking I may have one tonight, after the Wisconsin football game so I'd be out there just a bit before sunset.  It will be chilly with temperatures in the mid-40's F and falling, and I'm not sure I'm quite acclimated to these temperatures yet.
• 
  Speaking of the football game, I like to have a special football snack for games.  It can be almost anything, but today I'll be trying a recipe that I found.  Well, I'm not going to exactly follow the recipe, it will be my take on it.  Dill pickle, ranch and bacon pizza!  Sounds good to me, but disgusting to my wife.  We'll see how it turns out, but I have high hopes.
• I've taken a few pictures of neighborhood Halloween decorations when I have walked, but I feel kind of funny taking pictures of other people's houses, so I haven't got much.  There is one house that beats all the others, hands down.  It's dark and with a steep pitched roof so looks like a good fit for Halloween even without decorations, but their display is pretty impressive.  Not everything even fits in one shot unless I'm pretty far back.  I am impressed, and I'll have to make it back after dark some night because I know they have lights for it, too.

Okay, this wireless mouse is really driving me nuts.  I may have to get out the tiny cheap one that comes with the computer, at least before work on Monday.  I thought a mouse pad would help, but not really.

Well, there's football to watch and pizza to prepare so that's enough writing for now.  Hope everyone is enjoying your weekend, I'll let you know how the pickle pizza turned out!  Maybe I'll add a picture later, if it was as good as I expect...

*Updated after the game.  Pickle pizza pictures (say that several times fast) after the break!

Back Shot II, Birthday and Vacation

Last Wednesday I had my second back shot in the last two months, so by now I should know fully how much it helped and what I'm left with.  The first back shot was maybe 50% effective, which still left considerable room for improvement.  This second back shot was at least 50% effective again, maybe more, and what I'm left with is some tingling in my left leg/foot and sometimes pain in my left seat and groin.  Not painful enough to keep taking opioids, but enough to notice, so this is just what I'm left to deal with until I can't anymore, hopefully several years in the future.  In another week I check in with the neurosurgeons office again so we'll see what they say, but I don't expect any new course of action.  I will live, thank you for your thoughts, everyone.

On Saturday we had some friends over to celebrate my and Terry's birthdays with food, fun and fire.

We only invited a handful of people - it seems I've lost some friends since the pandemic, so be it.  Polite declines would be fine with me but ghosting pretty much says everything you need to know, so the invitations just won't be made anymore.  Oh well, I guess they weren't very good friends to begin with, then.  I've had only a small group of friends for a long time now and it seems to get smaller as I get older, and less 'good friends' as much as 'good acquaintances' now.  I seem to have even lost one of my oldest friends since high school (over 35 years ago) just because we view Covid differently.  I even reached out since, said we can just agree to disagree on this topic, but no response since that last conversation when I hung up on him because he wouldn't stop arguing about it.  C'est la vie.

This week I'm on vacation, and I didn't plan on any project to keep me busy but my to-do list will be enough.  After Saturday night with friends by the fire I was pretty lazy on Sunday, drank too much and stayed up way too late.  But on Monday I went down to Dubuque to visit my Mom.  We had a nice visit, got a couple things done for her, and mostly just hung out and talked.  I spent the night and came back early on Tuesday since I had a dentist appointment and a few errands I needed to run.  I also got a good walk in that day.

Today I spent several hours in the basement, mostly just cleaning, dusting, sweeping and vacuuming.  I had high hopes of going through a lot of stuff to sort, donate and trash, but my wife needs to be around for much of that so by the time I finished cleaning I was happy to be done.  Also had lots of heavy things to test my back with putting away downstairs.  A couple hundred pounds of water softener salt, 80 pounds of cat litter, and tables and chairs that were brought up for having company the last couple weekends.  The back held up well, thankfully, so next was yardwork.  I did some cleaning up in the gardens and trimmed some bushes, among other things.  I might get out there for a fire tonight, but we'll see how tired I feel as dusk nears.

Tomorrow is power washer day.  I'll get the power washer out and wash the house, garage, steps, driveway, and whatever else needs a power washing.  Likely not as long a day as today, but I'm on vacation, after all.  I might get to cleaning windows, but currently I have that penciled in for Friday along with cleaning the garage, which won't be too much in there as the garage is about as organized as can be so just a little cleaning.  Then the weekend has its normal chores, plus we've ordered a new sofa and ottoman (both on backorder) so will do some measuring and moving the living room rug in anticipation of the new furniture.  I think we'll be moving the old couch out to the porch, which will actually help us use the porch more often, too.

So it sounds busy, but the chores get easier as the week goes so I will have plenty of time for doing other things or doing nothing, as I see fit.  Weather-wise has been pretty good but getting more seasonable.  This weekend will be very hot again, maybe for the last time as next week I will have to consider getting out my long pants for the first time since spring.  It's been nice, living in shorts and bare feet all summer, but all good things must come to an end.  Like this, if this was a good thing.  Autumn officially starts one week from today, folks.

Family Fire Pit and Labor Day

 The last couple months I've only had one fire, due mostly to the heat or sometimes rain.  Saturday was overcast and cool, a good day for a fire, and for all the in-laws.

Yes, we had my wife's side of the family over to celebrate her sister's birthday.  About a dozen of us, overall, so not too crowded.  We grilled burgers and I ran out of gas halfway through, so my wife had to finish them off inside.  But other than that things went about as well as expected and I think everyone had a good time, especially my 5 year old nephew.  He was so excited, and his dad said he's been talking about it for days.  I had a lot of fun playing with him, mostly the bean bag toss game as well as a 5 year old can, and did more than I should have as I've been paying for it ever since.  Not the smartest of me, but I don't often get to play with kids and we had fun.

I was feeling guilty for not going on a walk before company on Saturday, but I needn't have worried as I ended up with over 14 thousand steps.  I'm sure it was all the setup of the garage and yard, then the reverse after everyone had left.  Not to mention playing with a 5 year old a bit too much.  I've not walked now since Thursday, and I won't again until maybe tomorrow.  And that's okay with me, right now.

Last night I was tempted to go to my first larger show since the pandemic.  Tickets were still available, proof of vaccination (or negative test within the last 72 hours) was required, and masks highly encouraged.  It would have been different, but fun, I'm sure, but I was also still sore and out of 4 bands there was one I really would have liked to see and the others take or leave.  A ticket was only 25 bucks, but add in the fees, parking, and a beer would double that, and almost double that again if I got a tee shirt.  Tetrarch was to be the second band to play, so maybe a 40 minute set, maximum, I would guess.  I like them but not enough to go through with all that, but I'm sure there will be a show soon that I won't be able to pass up.

Happy Labor Day, everyone.  I'm celebrating by being extremely lazy today.  Aside from the shot on Wednesday I'm hoping for a very quiet week, then there will be more fun to come next weekend.

Back Doubt

I've been struggling with doubt recently.  Doubt as to whether I deserve or require the upcoming shot in my back.  Over time the pain has gotten better since the last shot, and my pain varies throughout the day and depending on my activities.  One morning I can be hoping the date comes quickly, and that evening I can be filled with self doubt about even needing a shot.  This is different than in the past.  This is the least pain I've had before a shot, compared to the several other shots I've had, which has been different for me, and sometimes troubling in this way.  But I've also had the good pain pills all this time, as I have in the past, as well.

This weekend I've been doing a little experiment, I've done everything as I would have normally but without the pain medication.  Now, I've tried to not take them much anyway, but usually end up taking at least one and, more often than not, two a day.  An opioid called Percocet, Vicodin, or just Oxycodone.  It's been super hot lately, yesterday was over 90ºF but feeling like 100ºF with high humidity, but slightly better today so I was determined to walk to go out for lunch.  It's a little less than a mile to the Harmony Bar and Grill, one way.  A good walk, almost all bike path, and only takes about 15-18 minutes, depending, but the walk back was quite a bit more painful and slow than the walk there.

I mentioned in the comments for the last post how if you view it as 3 levels - surgery, shot, and live with it - that I would be toward the bottom of the shot level, and I still think that's true.  But my little experiment this weekend has given me the confidence that I am not doing this frivolously, it just happens to be the lowest level I've been at before undergoing this procedure.  For some reason I just feel a little guilty that I'm not in more pain, or as much as I have been in before.

This is good for me to realize and I'm glad I did this.  Now I'm going to take that damn pill.

Back Update, Second Shot Coming

 

I saw the neurosurgeon on Tuesday, and it was a rather short visit.  I told him my symptoms and we looked at the MRI.  The notes say it was slightly worse than my last MRI in 2018, but he said it looked much the same to him.  It clearly shows how the nerve is impeded when compared to the right side.  This is the area that I had surgery on in 2000, and most recently the shots in 2018.  We both agreed that a second shot was the way to go.  I won't have to undergo surgery and I won't have to live with it, now let's just hope the second shot works out well.

This time I received notification that my second shot had been preauthorized by the insurance the very next day.  I took today off so called this morning and have an appointment scheduled for about 3 weeks from now.  This has been a long process so far and I'm hoping this will be the end of it, for now at least.

Wildflowers

Attention Email Readers!  The blog emails when I post are still going out, at least as of the last post, but the end of July is nigh and the emails will no longer be sent.  Go to the link at the bottom of your email and save as a favorite or shortcut on your phone now!  Thank you.

*Edit: Now Feedburner says the emails will be discontinued in August.

Inspired by the comments in the last post, I took my camera phone with me on a couple walks today along our section of Starkweather Creek and the bike path.  It can be hard to see even in real life, but there is a creek in there!  I'm tall, and many of the flowers are waist high to me but some get much taller than me.  I don't know all the names of them, I've just been admiring the view whenever I can.  Yes, I'm sure seeds were spread by people at times, but I still call them wildflowers.

More flowers plus other sights after the break!

This Week, In Pictures (Mostly)

I don't think I have many words to say, but I'm sure I'll think of something.  I do have several pictures of our area from this past week that I'd like to share.

This is what's left of the potted plants on the stump, and it doesn't look too bad.  The rest had been ravaged by the rabbits.  Not pictured here are the flower pot out front and petunias on the back steps.  The only thing left out front was a green stalk of a yellow marigold that was still trying to live, everything else was devoured.  I moved a couple petunias out front and surrounded the pot with chicken wire and they seem to be doing well.

For the sake of keeping the home page tidy, see the rest after the break!

Literally Back. And Back.

I've not posted in a few weeks as I just haven't had much good to say.  I'd written about my latest with my back, so it made no sense to keep complaining until there was something new.  Well, I guess there was something new, I was just too upset about it to write about it at the time.

I spoke to my doctors office on Tuesday, June 15, and they said they couldn't schedule the shot in my back (a CT-guided left S1 selective nerve root injection) until it was preauthorized by my insurance and they would submit it that day.  By Tuesday, June 23, I had not heard anything back so sent a message to my doctor's office to inquire.  I waited the next day, but received no response.  So early on Thursday I contacted my insurance and they said they just  received the request the day before - 8 days after my doctor's office said they would submit it.  I told the story to that insurance agent, and she seemed sympathetic.  The preauthorization was approved the very next day, so either she expedited it for me or my doctor's office got it expedited somehow.  Probably the former, not the latter, but I'm still bitter.

I'd never had a reason to not trust my doctor's office before, but I won't make that mistake in the future.  They'd been bought out several years ago now by a larger company so I'm sure expenses had to be trimmed and the quality soon follows (duh!).  But I had to spend 8 extra days in pain, 8 extra days on opioids, and 8 extra days limited for work.  Eventually I got a cursory apology from the guilty staff, and a more in-depth apology from the head of the department, but I was definitely not happy.  I considered my options; talking to a lawyer, taking them to small claims court, even calling and yelling until I was blue in the face.  But in the end, nothing would come of it and I would just be more miserable.  Best to get on with it and go through with it.  Just get it done.

Eventually I got my injection two days ago, Wednesday, July 7.  It was certainly the most painful of these injections I had, I think this is the 4th, and not the most or least effective I've had, either.  I still have pain in my butt and groin, sometimes extending down the back of my thigh or to the back of my knee, all left side, and my left heel has been tingling ever since.  I no longer get pain all the way to my foot, or the very sharp pain from internal pressure, such as a cough.  

Overall, it's just taken the edge off and I think this is something I'll just have to live with.  Until I can't anymore.  Then I get to go through this whole process yet again.  Next time maybe ending up in front of a neurosurgeon.

So, that's that, I'll try not to complain about it here anymore.  I do have some things I'd like to catch up on so I'll try to write more this weekend.  Stay healthy, everyone.

Solstice Plant Update

This has been a difficult spring, not being able to do all I want to do.  I've had to let things go for a later time, which is very much against my nature.  One of the things I've let go of is trying to keep protecting the potted plants, and the rabbits have gone to town on them.  Whether in the pots on the stump or the pot out front, they've just been eaten right up, even though other plants in the area were their favorites in years past. Only the hanging basket out front is doing well as it's out of reach.  And the petunias I moved onto the back steps about a week ago, so are making a small comeback.  We even put out a tray of water thinking they were eating them for the moisture during our mild drought.  Very discouraging, but I still will not be letting our cats out.  There are other neighborhood cats that roam free and they do come in our yard sometimes, but makes no difference.

Meanwhile, in the gardens, the strawberries and raspberries have been doing very well since being replanted.  The strawberries are winding down but the raspberries are just starting to ripen.  The (what I believe to be) cucumber vines have grown into monsters.  We've been trying to keep the vines on the fences but they are reaching in all directions and show no signs of slowing down.  If we don't start seeing some flowers soon we may start pulling them out, starting with the multiple large vines in the raspberries, but we'll give them a little more time.  The fence doesn't go all the way around the raspberries as I ran out of chicken wire, but it's working well enough as is.

Weather has been seasonable lately.  We've gone back and forth from air conditioning to windows open, and have had some rain lately with more called for here in a couple hours.  The front lawn had gone mostly brown so the rain is good, but we're still several inches below normal so far.

The view over the house is a little different now with one less tree, but it's still nice to look up and ponder life by the light of the fire.  Happy solstice, everyone.

Another Tree Gone

A couple weeks ago another large tree limb fell out front, from the maple tree on the terrace of the house directly across the street, right in their driveway apron.  When the yellow dot showed up on the trunk shortly after we suspected it might be taken down, and today it was.

But first, I had the MRI last week and the other morning found out that a shot in the spine is recommended.  Exactly what I suspected when this first started, but you have to go through the whole, lengthy process.  Probably what my doctor suspected, as well, since he never did refer me to the neurosurgeon.  A week or two ago I was getting pretty worried it would be surgery, but the pain has lessened a bit since.  Next is scheduling the shot, but first I have to wait for pre-approval from my insurance.  I've forgotten how many back shots I've had overall, but actually this may be only third or fourth, to go along with the two prior surgeries.  Anyway, more waiting.  Back to the tree!

Last year three more trees on the block were taken down.  This picture, looking down our block, is from 2019.  The second tree down on the left side was removed in 2020, as were the second tree down on the right and another on that side about 6 houses further down.  The year after removal the city will come and get the stump, and sometimes will plant a new tree the year after that.  I hate to lose old, big trees but so goes the circle of life, I guess.  And now we won't worry so much about a branch falling on our cars when parked in the street.

I worked off and on today while I keeping tabs on the activity outside.  The cats certainly did not like the constant loud noise from out front so spent much of the day in the bedroom.  On top of the bed, thankfully, and not hiding under it.  In fact, there was much activity on the street today with this tree being removed by the city, a private company removing a tree up the block in someone's yard, and on the next block were a new front walk and a new driveway being put in at separate residences.  So there were a lot of workmen, big trucks and loud noises for much of the day.

But this is the picture story of this one tree's end across the street.  Pictures were taken from the front storm door window and the (dirty) front window, and I've not even reviewed them myself just yet, so we'll see what's interesting enough to post.  After the break!

Plant Day 2021

*Please note, this was written yesterday but pictures would not upload to Blogger at that time. An asterisk means it was written just now.

Regular readers will know that every May I take a week off for vacation, and one of those vacation days I call Plant Day - the day I go out and get ornamental plants and put them in pots to watch them grow and bloom all season.  Yesterday was looking to be the nicest day of the rest of the week, so that's what I did, but I ran out of potting soil so had to get some this morning to finish up.

The old tree stump is starting to fall apart now, especially the front side.  I actually tried to get less plants than I usually do so fewer pots on the stump, but not sure if I succeeded.  We also normally get two hanging pots, one for by the front door and one by the back door, but the hanging pot in back is in full sun all day so plants there usually get pretty rough looking by the end of the season.  I did put the yellow flowers you see on the stump in a pot that can be hung.  Those and the purple ones like it are meant for full sun, so if it stays looking good it may get put on a shepherd's hook by the back door at a later time.  

I also have some petunias in a long pot by the back door.  Petunias are usually pretty safe and easy - when the rabbits aren't eating them, anyway.  Several plants aren't really blooming here yet, but with time I'm sure the pots on the stump will get more colorful.  You can ask me the names of the plants, but if it's not the petunias, marigolds or geraniums then I'll have to go look it up as I don't usually remember that kind of thing very well.

Today is much cooler (currently 45ºF!), overcast and rainy, as tomorrow is expected to be, before we get back to seasonable temperatures.  The big peony started opening its flowers on Sunday, and I worry because sometimes all it takes is one real heavy rain after the peonies open for them to go to shit, so you have to enjoy them while you can.  At the back of the garage are two other, smaller peonies, as well.  A white one left of the gardens and a pink one to the right (or opposite, I forget).  Those aren't blooming yet, they're always a bit behind the big one by the house.

And just a quick back update, I have an MRI scheduled in less than 2 weeks.  Hopefully I don't need to see the neurosurgeon or have surgery and can get the shot shortly after - and it works.  This pain sucks, so wish me luck, please.

*Pictures of the peonies and other things I found interesting after the break!

20th Anniversary

We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary on Tuesday, well, no real celebration since it was a Tuesday, but we did have a few friends over for fire and cake last night.  This is the first time we've had more than just another couple over for a fire and socializing in well over a year.  In fact, possibly since late 2019 as it was early spring in 2020 when the shit hit the fan.  I put the word out to several friends that we've not seen in a very long time and about half showed up.  It was a little disappointing as we didn't even hear anything from the ones that weren't here, not even a congrats-on-20-years text.  Perhaps they weren't ready to socialize yet, but who knows?  Ever forward.

I bought cheesy t-shirts for the occasion, and also bought a digital picture frame that has a battery.  I went through a lot of old pictures we have in the basement and scanned in almost a hundred for a slide show of us through the years.  All pictures were at least ten years old and some 23 or more years.  It almost coincided with our full transition to digital, so only a couple of the 'newer' pics were already on the computer.  I think all found it to be interesting, and it was good to get those pictures in digital format.  It does take more time than you'd think to scan pictures, but it was also fun and interesting because even I hadn't seen those pictures in a very long time.

I also learned of Starlink, a series of satellites that fly single file across the night sky with the goal of bringing broadband internet to every corner of the world.  Currently there are at least 1,625 of these satellites orbiting the earth and, from what I've read, SpaceX wants as many as 30,000 of them up there.  I must say, it was interesting to watch.  I did try to get a picture of it, but none came out.  I'll be more prepared next time.

While it was strange at first to have multiple people over, we soon fell back into old habits and just enjoyed the company.  It's hard to believe how long it's been since we did anything like this.  I'm grateful for all our friends that shared in our special occasion and look forward to doing this again this year.  I'm also on vacation this week so my wife and I plan on finding a time to go out to eat to celebrate between ourselves.

Despite all this, the back is pretty much the same.  The prednisone taper helped a bit, but not much.  Tomorrow morning I have my first physical therapy appointment, then the next morning I'll see my doctor.  I fully expect a referral to the neurosurgeon and an MRI to happen in my near future.  Hopefully just a shot in the spine will do it and I won't need surgery.  As bad as it is now, I know I've had it worse in the past.   It just takes so damn long to work through the steps before getting much needed relief.