Jul 30, 2013

Sinus Surgery Update

It's 3-1/2 weeks post sinus surgery and my second follow-up doctor's appointment went extremely well.  After the first follow-up appointment two weeks ago, I never wanted to see that doctor again!  It was brutal.  But this time he said I'm healing very well and was ahead of the game.  Because I'd done so well, he did not have to use suction (yay!) or the scope (double yay!).  I was pretty tired after this past weekend at Devil Pup graduation - it's a looooong trip!  But I continued with a nasal wash three times a day and it served me well.  I'll have some time to rest up before Devil Pup Awards Night on the 27th of August.  (See our marvelous 2013 Devil Pups in the post below.)

Jul 29, 2013

2013 Devil Pups

Another eight Devil Pups have graduated from Devil Pup summer camp at Camp Pendleton, California.  It was another long drive, to and from, with a number of changes to our plans, but we are safely home and happy with this year's Devil Pup results.  Here's a photo of six of the Pups, plus a link to more photos and videos of the main parts of the graduation ceremony.

2013 Devil Pup Photos


Such great kids!  They're easy to be with, so eager to do well at this camp, the most difficult camp for teens in the U.S., and they all completed all challenges and got their challenge coins after climbing Old Smokey at Camp Pendleton.  They were put to the test every day, every hour, and all came out extremely proud of themselves - much more confident and responsible citizens.  In addition to eight Pups, Mariah spent a month at Devil Pup camp as an Eagle.  Eagles are Devil Pup graduates who return to camp as staff assistants.  Congratulations to McKenzie, Ty, Micah, Daniel, Justin, Donovin, Andrew and Cody - and to Mariah as an outstanding Eagle! 

Jul 24, 2013

The Green Thing


Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.  The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days."

The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today.  Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."  She was right -- our generation didn't have the 'green thing' in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store.  The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over.  So they really were recycled.  But we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day.

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things.  Most memorable, besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks.  This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings.  Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags.  But too bad we didn't do the "green thing" back then.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building.  We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.  But she was right. We didn't have the "green thing" in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throwaway kind.  We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days.  Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.  But that young lady is right; we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room.  And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us.  When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn.  We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.  But she's right; we didn't have the "green thing" back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.  We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.  But we didn't have the "green thing" back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the "green thing."  We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances.  And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.  But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the "green thing" back then?
 
Please copy this to another selfish “old” person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart-alecky young person.  We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to tick us off...especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smarty who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much.

Jul 16, 2013

Graphic45

Graphic 45 is my favorite scrapbook paper.  They've done it again with two new collections.  This one is Typography and I love every page in the collection.

They have also come out with a new collection called Mother Goose.  It'll be perfect for my heritage scrapbook.


French Country!
This one will work nicely for my heritage album, too:

 

Jul 10, 2013

Clearing

Ever heard of NAET?  It's an innovative treatment system for allergies that is completely natural, painless, and non-invasive.  I took the newest antibiotic there this morning and have been "cleared" to use it now, without those pesky side effects.  Looking forward to getting better quickly.
NAET

Jul 9, 2013

Not My Friend

Cephalexin is not my friend.  Granted I have nearly every allergy known to mankind, but it gave me blisters inside my mouth, on the soft tissue inside my lower lip.  I finally realized in the middle of Sunday night that it was getting worse and thus probably not sores related to the breathing tube.  My doctor's office prescribed a different antibiotic which I think is OK - so far - at least no more blistering is appearing.  Fleeting moments of air thru my nose give comfort but a nasal wash right now would be so awesome!!

Jul 8, 2013

Chairs are for naps

Chairs are for naps . . . not for all night.  Having had three nights in a recliner, I'm the expert.  Sinuses are opening up.  Feels like the dissolvable packing is doing what it's supposed to.  My pesky allergies are in the way again.  I'll have to switch to an antibiotic that I'm not allergic to.  All in all, I'm doing pretty good.  I don't know - I'm being very well cared for.  Maybe I should prolong this recovery!

Jul 5, 2013

Where's the Truck?

Someone must have put me in the middle of a street where I was hit by a truck!  Oy!  What a headache!  What a nose!  What a pain to breathe thru a mouth with a throat that's sore from a tube jammed down it during surgery.  Let me think . . . why did I do this?  

Surgery was two hours - then almost two hours for recovery.  I'm told it was image-guided surgery from the CT scan taken of my head and sinuses earlier this month.  Dr. Gardner told Bill it went very well - the nurses tell me I'll like Dr. Gardner a lot better in a week or two!

I felt like I had a hard time coming out of the meds.  The joy juice doctor knew I have an extreme reaction to pain meds, so he gave me some anti-nausea medicine which I think has me feeling out of it. I don't plan to take anything except Tylenol and the prescription antibiotics - with copious use of ice packs.

This is my second surgery of my adult life - the first being for a bunion in 2004.  I'm planning on this being my last - no more!!

Jul 4, 2013

Sinus Surgery - Yuk!

July 5 - that's the date.  It's been put off a few weeks so I could get past several summer visitors, but it's here and I can no longer avoid it!  I've had a sinus infection for at least a year, ever since oral surgery to remove a molar that had broken.  Complicated roots necessitated a lot of drilling, and over the ensuing months the symptoms got worse and worse.  So tomorrow we are doing something about it.  I'm not excited, of course, but can hopefully get through the first couple of weeks of healing without too much loss of sleep!!