Update on my prob...errrr...opportunities. Done With? Oh, not me! Or my writing! The first: I plan to be around another 5 years+, at least.
The latter: I will return on AD with my poetry and stories one day, I know.
What I refer to is my being able to take pain meds for my debilitating back pains.
Although I had not been taking the full prebscribed dosage - much, much less - seems the pain meds were working against me, and my kidneys - the kidneys slowing down in their functions. On the morning of November 27th last, I had ingested my last 1/2 pain pill before seeing my urologist/nephrologist. One of those "musts" in order to survive, I was told. But, darnit, survive I will as I still have obligations and goals to fulfill, love and returned-kindnesses to give, more "life" to live, and - above all - more of my faith to share.
The "opportunities" to set priorities in my lifestyle were obvious:
1) take precautions with my health
a) quality sleep at night
b) healthy nutrition
c) communicating with family and friends
d) constantly feed my mind with inspirational thoughts
e) not fretting over "things" I cannot accomplish as before
2) daily care of my 7 indoor cats; the 12-14 semi-feral outdoor cats; the outdoor birds, squirrels, and the recent arrival of raccoons that come at night. This entails
keeping them fed and watered morning and night; cleaning the outdoor birdbath; cleaning the 5 kitty-litter boxes indoors (4-6 times each day)
3) realize, moreso, that my life should totally be given to the Hands of God
I've learned to sweep and mop my kitchen in 4 separate sessions; if, during any one of these sessions, the back-pains become unbearable, I drop the mop and go to bed - lying on my side - and have a long talk with God. He's so very receptive to my needs! I do the same when I am trying to cook and cannot stand in place for more than 6-7 minutes at a time: turn off the burner, go to bed and have my talk with Him. Same with dusting and vacuuming. I've realized it's OK if my house is a little more cluttered and not always as clean as I'd like it...I'm just grateful my eyesight is good and I can tell the difference :o)
I can still drive my car, 'tho not any long distance. How fortunate there are three grocery stores within 5 miles of my home; my doctors are less than a mile away; my home is one-story (no steps to climb!); I have friends to take me to pet stores for cat food, bird seed, squirrel food, etc.
They even unload the car, and take to my back room for easy access by me.
My niece and her husband often pick up my Dad, drive 30 miles to pick me up so our family (including grand-nieces and gr-nephews) can have a weekend lunch and visiting time together. I have friends who call every day and/or night to check on me. I have a neighbor who also checks on me often.
I am so blessed by those Hands SO Gentle and Strong!
Monday (28th) I'm going for an ultrasound test, done annually, to determine: are there more growth on my kidneys (prev. 5 on left, 2 on right); has my abdominal aortic aneurysm grown (in diameter) any; has the hernia from quad-by-pass surgery grown closer to my heart? One good thing: I've got a really good and strong heart! I don't EVEN want to talk about the colonoscopy I'm due to have
this summer...:o) :o)
FYI: most doctors, and report explanations of abdominal aortic aneurysm, will tell you the causes to be hypertension, smoking, and hardening of the arteries.
Two days before my by-pass surgery, my cardiologist did an angiogram on me - there was no aneurysm. Eight months after my by-pass surgery of 5 hrs. 50 min. I had an ultrasound test done for kidney stones - the aneurysm was found.
You're not told that long-periods of this surgery (clamped-off aorta/blood vessels) can also cause aneurysms. DARN, maybe that's more than you wanted to learn.
Micke
Oh, some pleasant news: I've also been working on my next blog entry for a really good recipe to share with you! Tom H. get your oven heated.
