Tale of Two Kitties and Me

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Subject: Tale of Two Kitties - and Me

Posted by: bionic4ever
Date: Oct 02 10

Well, this won't be filled with profound insights and I'm not as good at humor as I'd like to be, but I miss my old blog - and the opportunity to chat with YOU! So....here I am. More to follow; just saying hi for now.

522 replies. On page 24 of 27 pages. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

bionic4ever

Well, the news wasn't what we expected. It is good...and it is bad. There is nothing that can be done surgically to help me. It seems that hope must be pinned on those awful steroid epidurals and on water therapy. He also talked a bit about a device that the pain doctor might implant that could tell my brain not to interpret pain as 'pain'. Sounds strange and I don't really understand that...but will ask about it.

Back to just coping, one day at a time - but at least I'm able to do that in a lovely new apartment with a big yard and sunny windows!

Reply #461. Apr 26 13, 10:41 PM

MarchHare007

How are you, Beth?
I hope you and the boys are now settled very comfortably behind those sunny windows. :)

Reply #462. May 27 13, 11:16 PM

bionic4ever

I am so sorry for going AWOL without any warning! Was in the ICU with pneumonia (and respiratory arrest) for over a week, then spent 3 weeks in rehab, regaining my strength. (There was no wifi.) Am finally back at home again, very happy to be here. So very grateful just to be alive!

Reply #463. Jun 09 13, 5:56 PM

satguru

Phew, glad you're back and firing on all cylinders. You are truly a fighter, nothing seems to hold you back for long.

Reply #464. Jun 09 13, 6:48 PM

lesley153

Perfect timing - how to celebrate a lovely new place to live: spend a month away from it.

I'm sure Bubba and Rocky are as happy to have you back as you are to be back. (((((())))))

Reply #465. Jun 09 13, 7:09 PM

MarchHare007

A warning for pneumonia would be a nice thing........
Good to hear you're in and out again Beth.
Sending you healing thoughts and wishes that the second half of the year will be Much better.

Reply #466. Jun 10 13, 5:33 PM

bionic4ever

Well, there's still no feeling in my hand yet - but at least it's 'only' the left one...and I'm still hopeful that it will come back. (Typing one-handed is the pits!) My strength is slowly returning. And in the meantime, my caseworker was kind enough to find me a brand-new, shiny (RED!) wheelchair to tool around the house (propelling with my feet) and chase the cats. It's on indefinite loan, which essentially means that it is mine. With such a nice one, the transition to occasionally needing a chair was made a little easier. Have traded my walker in for a different one (since I really can't grip with left hand to support myself) and this one had a 'shelf' for the left arm to rest on. Much easier! And I'm still often working my legs by walking through the house without either of those means of support. More of a 'lunge' than walking, really, but it keeps my legs from getting too lazy. Sleeping more than usual and resting when I need it, both likely courtesy of the meds. And the two furbabies have been keeping a very close eye, after I was gone from them for a month,

Reply #467. Jun 15 13, 5:59 PM

lesley153

Typing one-handed isn't funny. I hope your left hand misses you and joins you again soon.

Does your shiny new wheelchair have a name?

I doubt that the "boys" will ever let you out of their sight again!

Reply #468. Jun 15 13, 7:53 PM

bionic4ever

Shall have to come up with name for the shiny (RED!) wheelchair!

Reply #469. Jun 15 13, 9:19 PM

lesley153

Sorry I forgot to include the RED! bit. :)

Reply #470. Jun 16 13, 9:18 AM

MarchHare007

OOOO! A (RED!)wheelchair! How Very Swish. :)

Reply #471. Jun 17 13, 9:04 PM

bionic4ever

I still can't go into the next room for more than a minute or two before Bubba ambles in to make sure I'm still there - and Rocky has taken to sitting next to me on the love seat (when Bubba allows it, that is).

Reply #472. Jun 27 13, 12:11 AM

bionic4ever

Home from yet some more time in the hospital! Bubba hasn't left my side since I got home. He naps by me for a bit, then wakes up and hollers at me some more. Was quite a bad scare on Friday. Had the MRI, then the pain after was so bad that they sent me to the walk-in clinic to get looked at. Walk-in really couldn't do much and was about to send me home when my own GP got there. He took a look at MRI then took some time to explain it to me. Said that it was either an exacerbation... or a stroke. And that it extended into vision center, which I knew. Then he sent me home. Hadn't even set my purse don (and was still trying to absorb all he'd said) when the phone rang, telling me I had to go back to the hospital immediately, Poor Bubba - he look on his face when I was rushing around, trying to get back out the door!

The side effects from a weekend of STRONG steroids were brutal...but the results appear to be worth it! (And no rehab this time!) I am the not-so-proud owner of two more brain lesions, but the treatment brought back most of my vision..and maybe even brought my left hand at least partially back to life.

No lay-out on the beautiful, sunny lawn today...because it rained. But there's always tomorrow!

Reply #473. Jul 02 13, 8:47 PM

bionic4ever

Doing a little better now. I'm working my left hand with a set of squishy OT Therapy Balls. It's a little discouraging to suddenly realize I've dropped the ball and didn't even feel it...but I keep trying! Even crocheted a little the other night, just to see if I could do it. (I couldn't when in Rehab.) The stitches are clumsy-looking and quite uneven - and I'm slower than a beginner even though I've crocheted for many years - but I was doing it!

My legs are okay...well, as okay as my legs get, anyway. I'm mostly walking on my own through the house and the worst they get is stiff and sore, to let me know I've done too much. Wobbly? Yes - but I'm used to that.

My vision has remained improved. It was really scary to quite suddenly not be able to see very well! I can best compare it to the way print looks when you need reading glasses...but the whole world looked that way! SO grateful that the steroids helped with that!

Doctor Bubba finally feels secure enough to leave my side and sleep on my bed or in his sunny window. And Rocky has stopped 'singing' and gone back to...being Rocky again.

Reply #474. Jul 07 13, 1:43 PM

MarchHare007

A nice improvement Beth and crocheting is very therapeutic. Here's to not dropping the ball and lots of sunshine. xx

Reply #475. Jul 08 13, 7:36 PM

bionic4ever

Left hand is withering noticeably, in spite of my best efforts - but I am doubling and tripling up on my OT exercises.I refuse to let it die! Doc has increased my pain meds yet again and added an even stronger, long-acting narcotic to supplement what I'm already taking. Not mentioning the specific drugs here but there was a pill that they used to give me when I'd have to visit the ER, that had me singing to my caseworker on the way home. Am now taking that very same pill at home, every 4 - 6 hours!

Cannot stand the thought of the rest of my life being a matter of pain control! There has to be another answer! Will be seeking out another surgeon for second opinion soon,as the last one was unable to give a satisfactory answer (or any answer, really) as to why my herniated disc is inoperable. With the MS getting worse, it would be nice not to have to deal with severe back pain on top of it!

Sorry; whine over with now!

Reply #476. Jul 26 13, 4:41 PM

lesley153

I hope you get answers, and solutions.

Whining is very much allowed. (((((())))))

Reply #477. Jul 26 13, 7:00 PM

bionic4ever

Yesterday, I took a tumble - headfirst toward the floor, hitting head and back on the way down. Then (I don't know why) I posted it on Facebook, instead of calling for help! Took a pill and was just going to go back to bed...when my phone rang.

It was my caseworker. "Did you just fall?" she wanted to know. I couldn't lie to her...so off we went - to the Emergency Room!

I had an EKG, ortho-vitals (vitals taken lying down, sitting and standing) and a CT scan. Other tests too. The verdict: dehydration and a slight infection. So I've been on antibiotics (horse pills - HUGE!) and slept almost ALL DAY today.

Am using my walker religiously now, as we finally got a tray for it. Before would have to just walk to kitchen for coffee, etc...but now can use the walker. And am able to hold the handles on both sides; don't need the shelf for 'dead hand'! So this is great new! The two rounds of IV-steroid chemo (in the hospital last June and as an outpatient this past weekend) seem to have helped! My left hand isn't slipping off the walker handle now - and it (my 'dead hand') is even trying to type! Not very well yet, but trying. Progress! Hope is on the horizon!

Reply #478. Sep 14 13, 9:07 PM

lesley153

Aah that's how she was there - she must have heard you fall - and she must have a sixth sense to have been in earshot. Or am I making things too complicated?

Whatever it was, I'm so glad she was there, and so say a lot of other people. :D

Reply #479. Sep 15 13, 1:23 PM

lesley153

Or (just thought) was she watching you on facebook, and not telepathic at all?

Reply #480. Sep 15 13, 1:32 PM

522 replies. On page 24 of 27 pages. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

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