14 August 2023
It wasn’t a good night’s sleep nor a good morning. Something was just off with me. I felt nauseuous but fortunately that calmed down after a while. I was even off my usual breakfast and coffee routine of fruit, yogurt and 2 cups. Too eager to get to Dr. Burger’s office I guess and hoping to get the drain removed.
No such luck. She vacillated between removing and keeping but finally decided to wait until Thursday. She was concerned if she took it out too soon, the fluids would simply build up again. The only good news was the most recent bacterial culture came back negative. What I failed to ask is if I will keep my August 21 chemotherapy schedule. I suspect that will be canceled because even if she does take the drain out on Thursday, it incision will not have healed sufficiently. That throws my chemo schedule out of wack.
So, Thursday is a 9:30 am appointment with Dr. Burgers and a 2:30 pm appointment with Dr. Tepper, my cardiologist. Who says there’s nothing to do in old age. You are kept busy with doctors’ visits! You also get to keep your memory sharp by filling out all the online forms they require. I think I preferred it when doctors kept paper records.
On the way back home, I stopped at The Whole Enchilada. I ordered the Happy Gilmore with roasted peppers & onions, jack & cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, bam bam sauce. I’m not sure what bam bam sauce is. As usual, the tortilla fell apart around the sandwich and I simply ate the stuffings out. I’m not even sure why they even put it in a tortilla because they all fall apart. Next time I’m there, I’ll order the one that has no tortilla. You just say to the person “Go Naked.”
I used to eat there more often and the food is fresh but for some reason its been a while. The parking there is almost non-existent but since I arrived a few minutes after 11 am, there was only one other car in their minuscule lot.
As I was getting ready to turn down my street, my neighbor, Chris called and asked if I would be home, she wanted to stop by. I told her I was turning into the driveway. About 15 minutes later she shows up in her car with two Publix bouquets in hand and offered me my choice. They were BOGO and she thought I’d like one. Yes! I had just thrown out the last arrangement before she got to my house so it was perfect timing.
I’ll be honest. It’s depressing to keep this drain in. My mastectomy was July 13th. I had a drain inserted that date. It was removed on the 31st. The second surgery was on the 7th of August. Today is the 14th, so that’s 26 total days of a drain with 4 more to go. I keep worrying it will get infected. Just like me to survive the mastectomy but die from septicemia.
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A little historical botany. This plant was transported to Jamaica from West Africa by none other than Captain Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame in 1793. The mutiny was in 1789, so this was 4 years after Mr. Christian’s uprising. It’s commonly called ackee or akee but the scientific name honors Captain Bligh, Blighia sapida.
This particular tree grows at the entrance to my subdivision (Flamingo Park) and it’s a rather tall tree next to a Candlenut tree (native of Hawaii) so someone liked exotic plants.
Each leaf has 6-8 leaflets and the flowers are unisexual (monoecious) and are greenish-white in color. The fruit is three-lobed and turns bright red when ripe.
Surrounding the black seeds are fleshy arils that have the texture of scrambled eggs but taste nutty. Caution! The fruit is edible but only if the fruit is perfectly ripe. Otherwise, it is poisonous in all the other phases of development.
The tree is a member of the Sapindaceae family of plants. One member of the family you may have heard of is lychee. Today, it also includes the maple family which previously belonged in the family Aceraceae.
| Genus/Species | Common Name | Location |
| Acer circinatum | Vine Maple | Snoqualmie Falls, Washington |
| Acer macrophyllum | Bigleaf Maple | Snoqualmie Falls, Washington |
| Acer negundo | Box Elder | Zion National Park |
| Acer pensylvanicum | Striped Maple | Great Smoky Mountains National Park |
| Acer rubrum | Red Maple | Fanning Springs State Park, Florida |
| Acer saccharium var. grandidentata | Canyon Maple | Zion National Park |
| Acer spicatum | Mountain Maple | Linville Falls, NC |
| Aesculus flava | Yellow Buckeye | Linville Falls, NC |
| Ungnadia speciosa | Mexican Buckeye | Carlsbad Caverns National Park |
Stay tuned!