Author: searcyf@mac.com

14 August 2024

I’m frustrated. I just spent 3 nights in the hospital due to diarrhea and dehydration and fainting, 8 days of constipation, and now I’m back to diarrhea and dehydration. It makes no sense.

After my afternoon disaster at home with the toilet, I continued with the diarrhea (fortunately, not the nausea). I started antidiarrheal medicine and so far it has stopped for now but my stomach keeps making noises. I may be back to constipation.

I called Farah, Dr. Jellinger’s assistant, and asked if he would consider a Telemedicine connection today. If not, I asked she cancel the appointment. I’m waiting for her to get back to me. I figure it’s not worth the chance going in and having an accident in one of their examination rooms. I also don’t feel safe driving.

I got some sleep last night but it’s kinda hard when you can’t tell whether it’s going to be a fart or a poop that comes out. I wore Depends all last night and will probably do so today. So far, no accidents.

I haven’t showered since yesterday morning so I will probably take a spit bath today. The back brace makes me sweat a lot and I must be pretty rank by now.

I realize some of this might be put down to the process of aging but I’m beginning to think it might possibly be due to the ninety-nine hundred drugs I’m on.

I get to feeling pretty good for a few days and then the bottom drops out. I feeling like my health is yo-yoing.

I’ll quit complaining now. It’s a pretty day in the neighborhood albeit a little warm. Ernesto seems to be headed away from Florida but I don’t think I’ll plan a trip to Bermuda. Whole Foods delivered my bananas and apple sauce. I asked for a dozen yellow roses they had on sale at a real good price but apparently that sold out. The shopper substituted these. For a higher price.

Mrs. Pepper is taking some time away from Mr. Salt.

Stay tuned!

13 August 2024

If you are looking for reasons why I write a daily blog, look no further than my inability to remember who brought me home from the hospital on August 5. Holley reminded me to look back in my blog and I found the answer – Joel. I also post to give myself a history of my breast cancer.

Speaking of Holley, she and Jim showed up at my door around 7 pm and by 7:20 we were at Holy Cross’ Main Entrance. From the check-in on the first floor to the second check-inon the third probably took 10 minutes. They took me back immediately. Jim and Holley had to wait in the waiting room on third floor.

The receptionist was thrilled that the port was being removed because that meant no more chemo. The other nurses that day wanted to know how I was going to celebrate – in bed since I’d been up since 4 am.

Justin put in my IV line and Stephanie kept a close eye on him. Justin was new to the unit, not a new nurse. He knew his stuff. I asked about sedation and they told me that they always sedate when installing a port. I told them how painful that was. Stephanie suggested to Kat, the OR nurse, to give me the sedation early so it will take effect by the time they numb the area of the port with lidocaine. She did. It still hurt but less than I remember from the insertion of the port.

I was back in recovery and then out the door of the recovery room by 9:20. I wasn’t even scheduled to be sent in until 9. I like that they got to me early. Of course, Tom, who was going to take me home hadn’t even left home to come to the hospital.

When Tom arrived, all of us agreed to meet at Top Hat for breakfast. This was my, Jim and Holley’s second time there. I got the fruit bowl and side of toast. Again, they refused to let me treat them and she of the quick draw credit card beat everyone to the waitress. Have I mentioned I have great friends?

At breakfast, I got a little nauseated. It passed. When Jim and Holley dropped me at the house, I rushed to the bathroom and I proceeded to void violently from both ends. Luckily, I had a lined waste basket for the three massive barfs and I made it to the toilet in time for the other end. There went breakfast.

I called my cousin Jimmie to let her know I was OK and she suggested I do the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, apple sauce, and tea/toast).

I climbed into bed and stayed there until 3 pm. I didn’t sleep but I rested. I got up to take my temperature (normal) and to order some bananas and apple sauce from Whole Foods. I have the tea and rice. They will deliver it tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow is a follow up appointment with the endocrinologist at 2:30 pm. He’ll be late to the appointment and it’ll be 4:30 or 5 before I leave for home. I cannot complain since he spends anywhere for 45 minutes to an hour with me. He’ll have several blood tests to choose from since I’ve had several since his.

Stay tuned!

12 August 2024

ATT seems to have trouble keeping the internet up in our neighborhood. It went out on Wednesday of last week and was back Thursday. It went out again today and I keep getting updates but no estimated time of the system being back up. I’m sure they will refund some money for the outage.

It’s been a blah day. I just don’t feel great. I tried to get by without the back brace early today but finally gave in. I’m sure my poor posture doesn’t help my back issues and the brace makes me sit or stand straight.

I fully intended to go out today. I shaved for the first time in three days and also shaved my head for the first time in forever. The closer I got to leaving the house, the worse I felt, so I called Joel to see if he could pick up two prescriptions for me at Walgreens.

He and Keith were out and about and he quickly agreed. Apparently when Keith pulled up to the window and gave my name and birthdate, the pharmacist asked after me and made a point to tell Keith she said hello. She’s a gem and the one who always gives me vaccinations. It was super nice that she thought of me.

Later Joel brought my meds over and we sat and talked for a while. We both wondered what we had switched retirement for. Joel checks on six or seven houses for people and I seem to have one appointment after another. As he got up to go, so did I and I had to immediately sit down again. I was getting very dizzy, so I know I’m not just lazy but that I really do feel unwell. He also dropped off a package for me at FedEx.

This afternoon, Holley and Jim called and Holley wants to stay for my procedure. She didn’t want to dump me at the curb but go in with me. She insists she’ll be fine with the amount of time and take a book and iPad with her. She’s done this numerous times for me and I so appreciate it. She asked if Tom would prefer not to take me home after the procedure since she would already be at the hospital.

I talked to Tom and I think he will come and sit with Holley while I’m under. Great friends!

Speaking of going under, Holy Cross called me today to go over details of the procedure. Startlingly, they offered me the option of a local anesthetic or sedation. I chose sedation. When they put the port in, they used a local and it hurt like hell. Knock me out, please! They also clarified the time of arrival at 8 am, not 7 am so Holley and I will get to sleep a little longer tomorrow. No food or drink after midnight except water for my morning pills.

The person I was talking to asked me when the port was put in and I said I thought it was August 2023. Later, he needed to look up the actual date and found I’ve had that port in since May of 2023.

Holley or Tom or both will drive me home. I’ll be loopy for a while coming completely out of the anesthesia. I swear, it’s getting bad. I cannot for the life of me remember who brought me home from the hospital. I feel as though I’m losing my mind. It was either Joel, Keith, Barbara, Jim, Holley or Tom and I have no idea as to who.

Just received a message from ATT.
“Hi again, it’s AT&T. We’re still working to restore internet in your area. It should be fixed by Tue 08/13 07:00 PM EDT. We’ll text you when it’s back up.”

Hold your breath! Oh, in case you are wondering, I’m using my iPhone as a hot spot to publish the blog.

Stay tuned!

11 August 2024

I’ve been thinking of swimming pools lately. I climbed down into mine this morning while there was still some shade on the east end. My iPhone was playing a selection of my favorites and I hoped the bouyancy of the water would help my back. It seemed to relax me a little but it could be just the warm water, the music and the cumulus clouds billowing overhead. Anyway, it got me to thinking about pools.

I almost didn’t buy this house because it had a pool. I knew nothing about pool maintenance and I figured it as another expense to hire someone who did. After buying the house I began to see about pool maintenance and realized it was basically adjusting chemicals and since I taught a lot of chemistry over the years, I figured I could maintain it myself. It only took me approximately 20 years to get a firm grasp on everything that goes on with a pool. I can safely say I am a master until the next mystery goes on with the pool.

I think the very first “pool” I swam in was at Fort Liberty nee Bragg in North Carolina. Dad was probably undergoing training for Korea and as a Captain, we had access to the officers club and pool. It was here I almost drowned. I had one of those floats that go around your waist (probably with a horse head) and I was in the “big boys” section after pleading with my mother. Someone jumped in close to me and flipped me upside down. My legs were entangled with the float. If I hadn’t caught a fire hose used to fill the pool, I wouldn’t be here today. I pulled myself upright and spit out a gallon of water. The lifeguard on duty has yet to see me drowning.

My next pool was at Forest, Mississippi. I think mother enrolled me for swimming lessons one summer. I remember having to run through streams of water from the men’s changing room to the pool deck. What good that did, I have no idea. The pool at Forest eventually closed down when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed. The white population couldn’t stand the idea of sharing the pool with Black kids. The filled the pool and built a business over the top.

Most of the rest of my life was spent in ponds and lakes. The two main lakes were at Roosevelt State Park in Mississippi and Camp Kickapoo in Clinton, Mississippi. The preacher’s wife taught me to swim at Roosevelt and cousin Jo taught me to swim on my back to the diving tower.

As a Boy Scout, if you were to earn Eagle rank, you had to pass the lifesaving merit badge. Our Scoutmaster, Mr. Polk, knew I was not in shape for that. He got his son Don to work with me and Buzz Shoemaker. Don was the black sheep of the family but he took his role as instructor very seriously. He would have me and Buzz swim from the end of the far pier, around the diving platform, and back about 20 times and then he would jump on one of us, take us to the bottom of the lake and we would have to break his hold and pull him ashore. It was the best training I’ve had even though Buzz and I hated him for it.

That year at Kickapoo, Buzz and I passed lifesaving merit badge easily because of Don Polk.

The only other pool I remember at this time was at Battlefield Park in Jackson, Mississippi. The pool was huge but so was the attendance. Like the Forest pool, they closed that pool down due to integration.

For quite a few years, swimming went by the wayside until I moved to Hollywood, Florida and joined the YMCA. They had a junior Olympic pool and I got in the habit of swimming a mile every time I went (most every day).

About this time I went to summer school at Florida State for a Library and Information Science masters. I frequented the pool there which was Olympic in size. I got pretty good at swimming a mile. I do remember that in the heat of summer, that was the coldest water I ever felt in a pool.

When I moved to Fort Lauderdale, I joined the Y there and did the same. The Y in Fort Lauderdale was conveniently located two blocks away and I continued to increase my distance and stamina.

When I bought the house where I live now, I figured I would use the pool to cool off. It wasn’t long enough to swim laps. However, I discovered swim cords that tie around your ankles and are fixed to a stationary object so you can swim in place. I can safely say that the pool I didn’t want ended up being the one feature I use the most. I’d be lost without my pool.

Maintenance on my pool is a continuous thing and is expensive but it’s the best money I spend at the house. I really enjoy going out there after dark, turn on the pool light, and skinny dip as I watch the stars and moon. The light from the pool up-lights the palms that line the pool which reminds me of arches in cathedrals. Sometimes I’m lucky and there is some snake plant (Mother-in-law tongues) or night blooming cereus to perfume the semitropical air. Up until all this cancer stuff, I seldom went a day I didn’t spend some quality time in the pool.

Stay tuned! I might go skinny dippin’ tonight!

10 August 2024

I slept late again this morning, for more than 8 hours. As I got to stirring, I noticed three text messages on my phone. When I opened the texts, Holley informed me in no uncertain terms she would be taking me to my surgery to remove my port on Tuesday. I knew better than to argue with her – I would have lost. I didn’t ask anyone to take me but I did call Tom and ask him to pick me up and take me home. I have a very strong suspicion those two have been conversing and plotting behind my back. I was going to take an Uber to the surgery but I appreciate Holley’s insistence. Again, what great friends!

My back is better and I’m learning better how to adjust the back brace. I haven’t felt well all day. I don’t know if it’s the blahs or if something is off with me. I got a very late start with stripping the bed and washing clothes and as of this writing (6:00 pm) I’m still washing and drying. My stamina is down and I don’t think I’ve completely recovered from 3 nights in the hospital.

Preseason professional football is in full swing today. I used to only follow particular pro teams (Miami, of course, Chicago and San Francisco). Since college football has become what I refer to as semi-pro, I tend to follow pro football more.

We are a long cry from the days I worked the concession stand at the Morton High School football games (Go Panthers!) and then following Ole Miss football in the 60’s. I remember my first Ole Miss home game. All the men wore coats and ties and the women wore dresses. Someone, perhaps Sports Illustrated, named Ole Miss as the best dressed football crowd. Back then, the women wore dresses because they could not wear pants anywhere on campus. They also had to sign in and out of the dorm. The 50’s and 60’s were the glory days of Ole Miss, never until last year to be as successful.

I still can’t watch Ole Miss on tv. Too often in the past few decades they’ve disappointed. It’s silly of course. Football shouldn’t be so important to me but I am a child of my upbringing. I remember listening to Ole Miss football games as a kid with my Dad. The U.S. puts so much importance on that sport. You didn’t even have to play football (I didn’t). You could be a band member or you could be a cheerleader. All were status positions in high school and college. By the way, concessionaire was not a status position but I could make a mean load of popcorn. My culinary skills got an early start.

One year, I remember Morton had added new lights to the football field. The Boy Scouts managed the concession stand so our assistant scoutmaster, John Stokes always kept an eye on us and on any trouble makers. When they threw the switch for the new lights, sparks flew everywhere. No one reacted except John Stokes. He was a very big man and very heavy set but he ran toward the control panel at a very fast pace and in one swipe, shut the lights off. He risked electrocution in doing that. I’ve always thought that was one of the most brave things I’ve seen. He didn’t think of himself, only of others that might be hurt.

We called him Sargeant Stokes because at the time, he was still in the Army. His role was to round up AWOL soldiers anywhere in the surrounding states. That had to be a pretty dangerous job. I learned a lot from this man. He often let me make mistakes so I could learn the correct procedure. He had an amazing amount of patience with me and the other scouts. A lot of what I am today, he helped mold. I will forever be grateful.

Stay tuned!

9 August 2024

For once, I don’t have anything scheduled for today. I do know I’ve been sleeping a lot. Today was 10 hours and 20 minutes. The day before was 9 hours and 12 minutes and the day before that was 11 hours and 11 minutes. Even taking into consideration a muscle relaxant and a sleeping pill, these are excessive times for me and it tells me I need the sleep.

It also means I was in worse shape than I thought when they hospitalized me. Maybe that’s the reason they kept me for three nights and had so many specialists consult. Then again, it could because I have good insurance and they wanted to take advantage of that. I have a strong streak of cynicism running through me.

Next Tuesday is the port removal. I’ll take an Uber or Taxi to the hospital (I have to arrive by 7 am) and Tom has agreed to pick me up after the procedure. That’s if they don’t cancel again and not notify me.

Yesterday was extremely warm. We are only hitting low 90’s in the temperature but the “feels like” temperatures are in the 100’s. I know we older folk feel the temperature more so than kids and we are semi-used to hot weather in Florida but this seems extreme. November is too far away.

Success! I had a massive bowel movement this morning. That’s the first real one in 9 days. Prunes work! Thanks to Judith and Joel for their expert medical opinions. Holley suggested citrate of magnesia and I kind of curled up at the thought.

Mother used to check me and my brother for worms once a year. She would get little round containers and bottles of citrate of magnesia. Archie and I would have to down two of those bottles and wait until it worked. Then we would have to defecate into those little rounds. She would put the top on them and the doctor would do a smear on a microscope slide and check for worms or eggs. We never tested positive but that didn’t stop her. It was a rite of spring in our house.

Today is the day I usually rake leaves, clean the pool filter, clean the patio and pool deck and then poison weeds. I’ve finally come to my senses and realize that is not happening today. I’m still wearing my “armor” for my back and truthfully, my back is better this morning. I attribute it to the number of hours I’m sleeping. Therefore, I plan to be a slug today and stay in bed and snack all day. What’s so strange is that I haven’t gained any weight. Maybe my fruit diet is working.

Stay tuned!

8 August 2024

It is time to bring out the big guns for my constipation. Eight days and all I’ve managed is a tiny little fecal pellet aka turd. Joel encouraged me to eat prunes and Judith encouraged me to drink prune juice. I decided to go with both. It may get messy at 2451 SW 16 St.

I’ve always enjoyed dried prunes as a snack. If this doesn’t work things will get drastic and use mother’s treatment – an enema.

I had a 2:15 pm follow up with my primary care physician and he removed my staples and reinforced that he thinks my problem was dehydration from diarrhea. He doesn’t think my echocardiogram had anything to do with it.

In reviewing the notes of my hospital stay, I find the echocardiogram was not 50-55% ejection fraction but 40-45% which is not much of an improvement from the low of 40%.

I had a whole list of names of consults for my hospital stay. Everyone wrote somethings that never occurred. I think they have the system down pat and simply cut and paste their responses. Out of all the doctors I saw, I think the best was the emergency room doctor. He plotted out my stay with a CT scan and X-rays which found the compressed Thoracic 12 vertebra. He took me seriously and listened when I presented to the ER.

I now have prune juice, orange juice, peach juice and Gatorade to keep me hydrated. I’ve stopped the blood pressure medicine and will only go back on it if my systolic pressure is consistently 140 or above. It’s sone less pill to take!

My back is a little better and I admit this piece of armor is helping, albeit uncomfortable. You sweat in it and the center piece rides up and hits your throat. The discharge notes only specify for a couple of weeks.

I’m sleeping like crazy. Perhaps to make up for such little sleep in the hospital. I’m not complaining about the sleeping. I think it’s good for me.

Stay tuned for the big blowout!

7 August 2024

It’s been a busy day. First up was a fasting blood draw at my endocrinologist. The phlebotomists there really are top notch but I wondered if there would be any problem finding a vein because of the dehydration. She found the vein but it collapsed about half way through. She went next door to the lab technician and found out she had enough to test. I had a baby hematoma but pressure put everything right.

I always go I-95 to the endocrinologist and get off on Sterling. For some reason, my Apple Watch listed Sheridan. Of course, I got off on Sheridan and realized I overshot Sterling so I took some back roads to get back to Stirling.

On the way home, I always travel 441. You get to see the guitar hotel at the Hard Rock casino. Traffic is always lighter on 441 unless you get in a herd of gamblers staggering home after an all night binge at the tables.

Just that simple trip took a lot out of me. I put on my armored vest and it did help with the back pain. I don’t wear it out in public because I don’t want people to think I’m a member of a swat team.

I decided to do Pizza Hut for dinner tonight. I even ordered the Cinnabon cinnamon rolls. Whole Foods delivered my order shortly after Pizza Hut so it was a busy few minutes eating pizza, cinnamon rolls, unpacking groceries and trying to find room in the fridge. I keep finding stuff in there I don’t remember putting in there.

Thanks to everyone checking up on me. It warms my heart. I’ve had phone calls from Joel, John, Chip, Michel and Nancy and texts from Holley, Jim and Barbara. I called Chris to cancel movie night (again!) and she promised Tucker wouldn’t pout too much. I’m a lucky guy with all these wellness checks!!

It’s gonna be an early night. I’ll take a muscle relaxer and a sleeping pill. I’ll probably dream of cinnamon rolls all night.

Stay tuned!

6 August 2024

It’s been a good day. My back still hurts but not as badly as before. I suspect it’ll be a long, drawn out affair to get back to my normal self.

Today, I hosted a truffle tasting. The truffles are from Chocolat by Adam Turoni in Savannah. I invited Jim, Holley and Barbara to share the tasting with me.

The selections were Mint Julip, Blood Orange, Roasted Fig and Cognac, Habanero Caramel, Georgia Peach Cream, Cafe Americano, and Lover’s Perfect Caramel.

To be honest, it’s hard to choose a favorite but I really did like the Roasted Fig and Cognac and Cafe Americano. These are, simply, some of the best chocolate I’ve ever tasted.

Barbara brought goat cheese, crackers, olives, almonds, Greek honey, and candied orange slices. She went with a Greek theme since she had just returned from Greece. Oh yeah, she also brought a small bottle of Ouzo!

Jim and Holley brought ribs from Flanigans along with salad, Cole slaw and French fries. Obviously, there wasn’t enough food. And, we killed a bottle of red wine.

It’s such fun when this group gets together. There were a lot of laughs. We did commiserate with Barb. In getting ready to come over here, she fell and twisted her ankle. I told her imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but I didn’t need to be flattered. Please don’t imitate me in my falls! She’s gonna ice the ankle down and I told her if it is not better by morning to call me and I can, for once, take her to urgent care.

Around noon, I knew I needed to give my back a rest so I climbed into bed and thought a short nap would revive me. I waked at 3 pm. So much for a short nap. I got hopping to get ready for my tasting at 4:30.

Tomorrow is a fasting blood draw with my endocrinologist. Otherwise, I have only one other appointment on Thursday with the neurologist. It’s strange not to have doctors’ appointments filling my calendar.

Stay tuned!

5 August 2024

I finally checked out of Holy Cross a little after noon yesterday. Joel picked me up and dropped me at home. I crawled into bed and apparently slept the evening, night, and much of the morning away. I even forgot to take a shower even though I haven’t bathed in 4 days. I didn’t even think about lunch or dinner. I kept looking at the clock thinking my iPhone clock went bad. It hadn’t, I slept almost 24 hours.

I was scheduled to have my port removed today. I have stopped my aspirin intake and didn’t have anything to eat or drink after midnight. I did take my pills with a swallow of water.

Barbara picked me up a little before 9:30. She had taken my white polo home with her to get rid of the blood stains all over it. We then set out for Holy Cross, got our ID’s and proceeded to the third floor only to be told I was not on the schedule. No explanation other than I had been canceled.

The thing is Holy Cross will drive you crazy with notifications: emails, texts and their MyChart. Yet no one notified me of the cancellation. I’ve been rescheduled for Tuesday of next week.

Barb and I headed to Mom’s Kitchen for breakfast. I wanted to treat Barb for her willingness to pick me up and return me home after the procedure but she would not hear of it. She had pastrami on rye and I had 2 eggs, 2 sausage links, 2 bacon slices and 2 French toast. That was my first meal since breakfast yesterday.

Back home today, I slept the rest of the morning away. Finally forcing myself up, I texted Stacey I was home and she brought over a FedEx package she picked up from my front porch so it wouldn’t get stolen. Trevor and Stacey did the same for another package, I just haven’t gotten to them yet.

I haven’t had a bowel movement since August 1st. I finally broke down and took 2 Dulcolax that were a 100 years old. I hope they work. Then again, laxatives and I have a love hate relationship. Hopefully, it won’t put me in the emergency room again.

Tomorrow, Jim, Holly and Barb come over for a truffle tasting. I’m providing the truffles and they are providing the wine. It should be loads of fun.

Stay tuned!