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Subject: Cat's Corner

Posted by: Catreona
Date: Nov 11 20

A virtual blog to post updates on my mother's illness and other thoughts

629 replies. On page 23 of 32 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 28 29 30 31 32
Catreona star


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BTW my most recent quiz earned me June's painting. So, I'm all caught up, for once.

Reply #441. Jun 30 23, 6:45 PM

MiraJane star


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Hey, Cat.
I haven't been here for a couple of days so I missed the excellent news of your Dad coming home. I'm glad he's home now ignoring all advice to take it easy. I'm also happy Priscilla has her person back.

Reply #442. Jul 01 23, 8:24 AM
Catreona star


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Hi Mira. Dad's gradually getting back to normal. Priscilla is already her old grumpy, bossy self again. /grin/

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Reply #443. Jul 02 23, 12:42 PM

Catreona star


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Remember, Dad's birthday is coming up on the Twenty-ninth of this month. Messages for him (to be printed) should be sent to my FT mailbox with "Operation Birthday Card" in the subject line.

Reply #444. Jul 04 23, 7:02 PM

Catreona star


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Dad had his phone consult with the surgeon this morning.

No prostate cancer!

The surgeon confirmed that the bladder cancer is non-aggressive and will be treated in his office, every three months. I didn't hear the treatment details.

He reported that the bladder stone was the size of an orange! Surely, getting rid of that will help Dad feel a lot better once he's fully healed.

The surgeon cleared him to drive, though warning him against yard work and heavy lifting. Told him to rest for a few more weeks.

THANK YOU to everybody for your prayers and concern♥

Reply #445. Jul 05 23, 12:03 PM

Dagny1 star


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Great news!

Reply #446. Jul 05 23, 2:24 PM
Catreona star


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♥Dagny

Reply #447. Jul 05 23, 4:14 PM

postcards2go


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That's all wonderful, Cat!

Reply #448. Jul 05 23, 5:46 PM
MiraJane star


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Cat, what fabulous news!

Size of an orange? No wonder he felt awful!

Reply #449. Jul 08 23, 10:05 PM
Catreona star


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♥Postie

Yeah, Mira. The thought gives me the screaming heebie-jeebies!

Reply #450. Jul 10 23, 5:31 PM

Catreona star


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Sometimes it seems like the world has it in for me.

Like, for instance, what I thought was a mark or smudge on the tow of my left sneaker (indicating that the pair needed to go in the wash) turns out to be an incipient hole. Not a big hole yet, and the right sneaker seems whole and intact - for now. Needless to say, I'm not going to throw away sneakers that are perfectly adequate for knocking about the house. But, naturally, they are my favorite sneakers. What's more, I can't figure out what caused the worn spot and subsequent hole, when my pattern of movement would seem more likely to cause a hole in the right toe rather than the left.

At some point, they'll have to be replaced, sooner rather than later, and it just seems so aggravatingly unnecessary.

Then there's my part in Operation Birthday Card. It seemed so simple. People would send messages; I'd print up the messages in cards using MS Publisher, a program I used to enjoy playing with and, voila! But nothing's ever simple.

First, to my mystification, Publisher was nowhere to be found on my computer. So, I tracked it down at Microsoft - finally found a stand-alone version, and purchased it. Then, the installer thingy kept trying to install MS Office, which is NOT what I bought.

Eventually, I worked out what was the correct installer to download and got Publisher installed. Finally, after jumping through several more hoops brandished at me by Microsoft, I was able to settle down to design my card. Always enjoyed this part. I have specially designed card stock that's easy to fold into quarter-fold cards. No longer have a color printer, so that was kind of a bummer, but there are some nice borders (for the front) that are designed for black and white, and you can do a lot with fonts.

I did have some trouble with the front cover, and wasted a couple sheets of plain paper before getting in the groove. Overall though, the learning curve for this new version wasn't too bad, and I enjoyed the process. In the event, the card came out nicely.

The envelope was another thing entirely. Why Publisher could find my printer but Word all of a sudden could not is beyond me. Eventually I went back to Publisher where, though they have templates for all sorts and sizes of envelopes they do not, of course, have a template for the size of envelope that goes with my quarter-fold cards...which is odd, now I come to think of it, since they have at least one quarter-fold card. /shrug/

I didn't have many of the proper envelopes to start with, and I spoiled a few before giving up in disgust. Dad got his card without an envelope in the end, which was not the most elegant way, but sometimes one must bow to circumstances. He didn't seem to mind having no envelope. But it rankled. One likes to do things properly.

Reply #451. Jul 10 23, 6:14 PM

Catreona star


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Unsurprisingly, Quiz No. 99 is proving something of a struggle, since its subject matter is not one of my strongest points. Still, Qs. 1 and 2 are complete. The rest of the questions and answers are there, the challenge being to boil down the info to the essentials. While that's certainly feasible, it's kind of brain draining. Quiz No. 100, for July's painting, is *much* more my speed - an album quiz on one of Marie Osmond's early albums. That will be nice and restful...if I survive to write it!

Reply #452. Jul 12 23, 1:07 PM

Catreona star


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After seeing all the amazing creativity in the lounge, I'm slightly ashamed of myself for whinging about my very pedestrian Chemistry quiz.

Reply #453. Jul 12 23, 2:42 PM

Catreona star


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We had a scare about Dad this morning. Last night he started piddling blood again. He called Urology first thing and when they got back to him, quite speedily for a doctor's office, the first thing the nurse said was, "Were you out doing yard work yesterday?"

Well, of course, he was - cleaning up, filling barrels with yard waste and dragging them down our very long driveway to the street. What's more, he ignored Sis when she told him to come inside and rest. Besides that, yesterday he did a big grocery shopping. Sis brought everything in from the car and put it away, but still. That was two things in two days that involved bending and lifting and carrying. And it must have been too much. He must have strained or torn something.

According to Sis, he seems suitably chastised. When the nurse ordered him to take it easy and rest, he said he would. Didn't myself hear what the nurse said, but presumably this is a minor problem that will clear up with proper rest and caution.

On another alarming note, Dad lost five more pounds last week. And that's with us trying to build him up with hot dogs, hamburgers, meatloaf, potato salad and the like. He even tried Ensure which, not surprisingly, he wasn't crazy about. But he's so concerned that he has taken to drinking my whey protein shakes.* And still he lost five pounds in one week. Said he has gone down from his usual XL to L. This is very worrying! If anyone has ideas for how to help build him up - weight, muscle mass, stamina, anything - please speak up.

*Though the vanilla whey protein powder claims to contain no artificial sweeteners, it sure tastes artificial to me. When this container is finished, I'm switching back to Soy Joy natural. Their chocolate and vanilla are okay, but I prefer the natural. It has a nice, light, nutty sort of flavor. Also, it blends better with juice than vanilla.

Reply #454. Jul 14 23, 10:37 AM

Catreona star


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The bleeding seems to have stopped, thank Heaven!

Reply #455. Jul 14 23, 7:36 PM

postcards2go


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When you have an operation, and the doctor says no lifting for a few weeks, they mean *no* lifting for a few weeks! (No, days and weeks are not synonymous.)

I'm glad the bleeding has stopped. Hopefully, his appetite will increase, now that he's home, and no longer so uncomfortable from his bladder stone.

Reply #456. Jul 14 23, 8:09 PM
Catreona star


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True enough, Postie. Now, if you could come tell my father that... /sigh/ Though he told me this afternoon that after the bleeding incident he was told to take it easy, so he's taking it easy. Let's hope it lasts.

Reply #457. Jul 16 23, 2:47 PM

Catreona star


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My new avatar is the Disability Pride flag. Vivvie Kitty is MUCH prettier, but this is important.

Reply #458. Jul 20 23, 12:17 PM

Catreona star


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Quiz No. 99 has been submitted.

Reply #459. Jul 21 23, 8:01 PM

postcards2go


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Exciting, Cat... drum roll for the next one ::grin::

Reply #460. Jul 21 23, 8:09 PM


629 replies. On page 23 of 32 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 28 29 30 31 32
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