Month: May 2024

15 May 2024

The ides of May! So far, nothing to beware.

I like the new time (11:00 am) for my Herceptin infusions. Traffic wasn’t bad and I got to the waiting room a little early. Pretty soon, the waiting room completely filled and they had to bring in additional chairs. I would say 30-40 people were in the room at one time. That meant they were backed up. I was taken back around 11:15 and had Pat as my usual nurse. I think, at most, I have 3 more infusions and then it’ll just be Tamoxifen for the rest of my life. I can’t wait to finish those every three week treatments.

I mentioned to Pat the cost of that little bag of Herceptin. Just the bag of Herceptin itself cost $17K. She said what I was getting was a generic. Herceptin has been on the market for years and when it first came out, it was $20K.

Since they were backed up, it took a little longer to do the blood analysis (nothing terribly wrong – just anemic) and she had to get a release from Dr. Velez. I think that was due to the screw up from the last infusion where they had changed the appointments person. In any case, I was out of there by 1:30 and made it home by 2. Yes, I did take a nap.

Later that afternoon I had to cut up a frond from the Royal Palm. I forget how huge those things are until another one falls. It pretty much fills the yard waste bin. I still don’t have great stamina but I managed that task without too much trouble. My crop of leaves needs tending. I’ll probably do it late one afternoon when it is a little cooler. Our forecast is for the low to mid 90’s everyday.

Today is the echocardiogram at Holy Cross. It should take about 30-45 minutes once I’m taken back. I need to be there at 12:30 for a 1 pm appointment. The last three have been normal. I assume I’ll undergo those every three months for a while since Herceptin has adverse effects on the heart.

My cousin Charles finished his last radiology (10). He got to ring the bell which is traditional at cancer centers. Fortunately, he had minimal side effects compared to some. Like me, he’ll probably be constantly monitored for cancer the rest of his life. I know his family is relieved.

Just when you think you’ve spent enough money (car repair) for the month, I discovered the inside glass of the oven has shattered. Years ago, I probably would have made the repair myself but I have no intention of doing so. I’ll look around for a repair service and have them do it. The internet suggests the repair could be anywhere from $100-$500.

Tonight is movie night with Chris and Tucker. I have no idea whose turn it is to choose the movie but whatever is chosen, it’ll be fun.

After today, I plan to reinitiate my morning walks, hopefully start my yoga again and start swimming laps. I need to build up my strength. All my appointments next week are in the afternoon: eye exam, massage, physical therapy, so I should have plenty of time to do those before I have to leave for the appointment.

Stay tuned!

14 May 2024

Lunch with John yesterday at Casa Frida was better than we expected. The food was always good but the last time the service was terrible. There was only one waiter yesterday but he was efficient and attentive. We’ll go back.

After lunch, John wanted to go to Costco. I agreed to help him because he wanted to purchase a 65 inch tv. I told him it was iffy that I could help him carry it up the stairs to his apartment but we could test it out at Costco. While there I renewed my membership and replaced my broken Costco card. I figure I could get my over-the-counter meds, particularly the vitamins, cheaper at Costco and the same for my next pair of glasses. It’ll also get me out of the house. I’ve become something of a recluse when not on a trip.

John selected a tv and we managed to load it into the Jeep. On the way back, he got the brilliant idea to unpack it on the ground level and move only the tv – not the stand and the box. Even so, it was still 45 lbs and his stairway is very steep. I managed OK and didn’t slip or fall but that’s not something I need to do every day. I did manage to scrape my paper thin skin and bleed all over everything.

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For you veterans out there, while researching something else, I found that if you are a veteran of a war (WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf) you can receive Aid and Assistance for assisted living, home health care and more. Since the VA doesn’t have enough assisted living facilities on their own, approved assisted living facilities and local home health care can be provided. There are conditions, of course. You basically have to be living on social security and not be able to complete certain daily/weekly functions. It can apply to the veteran, to his or her spouse, to the both of them. Here’s the financial possibilities.

Benefit Table
Status	Monthly Benefit
Surviving Spouse	$1,478 Monthly / $17,743 Annually
Single Veteran	$2,300 Monthly / $27,609 Annually
Married Veteran	$2,727 Monthly / $32,729 Annually
Two Vets Married	$3,649 Monthly / $43,791 Annually
Tax Free

As a veteran, I know I have access to medical care through the VA (albeit only after everyone else is treated) but it’s nice to know if the Florida Retirement System goes bankrupt I’ll have a backup.

Today is a Herceptin infusion. I have to be there at 10:45 for an 11 am appointment. I must say that I like the new time frame better. I don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn to have coffee and breakfast, bath, shave and get on the road by 8:30 for a 9:15 am appointment. I used to allow 45 minutes because of rush hour traffic on I-95. With the new 10:45 time, I don’t have to rush.

I always pack a lunch. Today is pimento cheese sandwich, ginger ale, peanut butter cookie and apple slices. Of course, I have Tootsie Roll Mini’s for the front desk and nurses.

I should get through around 1 or 2 pm. That’ll be just in time for my nap time.

Stay tuned!

13 May 2024

I got out of bed this morning feeling better than I have since I’ve been back from the trip. I can only describe the past few days as a malaise. I felt good enough to begin a walk this morning.

I noticed on the walk my left heel was giving me trouble. My left leg is weaker than the right and I wonder if I’m compensating too much for that leg. Either that or I’m getting a bone spur. I did managed a half a mile after I decided to head back home because of the heel.

I sat on the patio for my “second” breakfast of grapefruit, coffee and crossword puzzle. I noticed my pygmy date palm was in bloom.

This is the only palm that was in my yard when I bought the house. I now have nine different species in the yard and there used to be more. The pygmy date palm is native to southeastern Asia and is planted here as an ornamental. As you a see, it has tiny yellow flowers. Supposedly, the fruit is edible but mine never sets fruit. That’s because I have a male tree.

If you follow my blog, you know I have a habit of eating a half a grapefruit after my walks. I’m on a statin drug (Prilosec/Omeprazole) and generally you should not eat citrus when on statins. However, Prilosec is not affected by citrus. Anyway, my cholesterol levels are good with my dosage and the grapefruit really doesn’t seem to cause a problem.

When you order from Whole Foods, Publix, Aldi, or any other grocer, you are at the mercy of the shopper and how well they know to pick things, particularly fruit. I usually have good luck with them picking my fruit but when I got the grapefruit unpacked, I had a sinking feeling. It felt the rind was too thick.

Here’s what I found when I cut one in half and sectioned it.

I can safely say that’s the thickest rind I’ve ever seen on a grapefruit. I haven’t tasted it yet but it could be the best tasting of all but the sections are so small, it would matter. All of the ones the shopper sent me are like this one.

Pretty soon it will be too hot to sit out on the patio so I’m trying to take advantage of that while I can. We’re supposed to hit 97°F on Wednesday and Thursday with rain. That may break a record for May. We’ve already set two May temperature records and we are not even half way through the month. Hurricane season is looking ominous. Good thing they serviced my generator while I was on my trip.

Lunch today with John.

Stay tuned!

12 May 2024

May seems to be zipping along. This weekend is the Fort Lauderdale Air & Sea show. Thankfully, I didn’t need anywhere near the beach. They have to bus people in to the show. I don’t need to go see it anyway because the Air Force Thunderbirds fly over my house to get to the beach. I get an up close and personal view of the jets.

Barbara came over a little after 9 this morning and I had coffee waiting, goat cheese and ciabatta bread, strawberries and cream, and my tamale pie. She brought mini lemon/poppy seed muffins to finish off the breakfast. Alas, she left the rest of the muffins with me to finish. They were too tempting to her.

We caught up with each other. It’s funny how lives sometimes sync. I just finished a visit with first cousins and second cousins. She’s about to leave for a visit with first cousins and second cousins.

Barb listened to my worries about the family health issues. We discussed options and conditions. I felt better after talking with her.

After she left, I headed to Broward Health (Broward General Hospital) to check on my friend Mary. There are three important facilities on the third floor: ICU, CCU, and RCU. After much confusion and much walking I finally found her in RCU. She looks well considering what she’s been through. They are at the point of deciding whether or not to move her to a regular room. That can only be good news, however, the care in RCU is really top notch. I walked in and there were two grand nieces standing guard. I knew one but not the other. That’s a close knit family.

Wade called from San Francisco. He was concerned about my family health issues and we talked about what might happen to us. We both live alone. I feel I have such good friends in that they constantly check in with me – to make sure I’m alive. Joel calls me almost daily, I have movie nights with Chris on Wednesday, Jim and Holley take me to happy hours. I’m beginning to have people over to the house for the first time since the cancer diagnosis.

I really don’t want to go to an assisted living facility. I’d rather stay at home and hire home health care, if possible. Remember, I’m an introvert and wouldn’t fit in with an assisted living facility.

Tomorrow, I’m having lunch with John. I think we will go to Frida’s. Yes, it’s a Frida Kahlo themed restaurant. The first two times we ate there were great. The last time we ate there, not so good. I’ve noticed when the owner leaves, the service goes downhill.

Stay tuned!

11 May 2024

Still tired from the trip. Still concerned about family medical issues. Still getting up 3 times a night to pee and then having trouble going back to sleep after the 3rd time.

I did manage to strip the bed, wash, dry and fold the linen and put new sheets on the bed. That wiped me out. Lunch was some Cole slaw and pimento cheese on ciabatta bread. Right after lunch, I crawled into bed and read for a short while and then napped.

Jimmie and I had our usual Sunday FaceTime today at 3. They have plans for tomorrow. We had a lot of news to share and it’s something I look forward to every week. My Dad and I had a thing where we called each other every Sunday.

I have tomorrow off but Tuesday is a Herceptin infusion at 10:10 am and Wednesday is an echocardiogram to make sure the Herceptin is not causing heart failure. For every action, there’s an opposite but equal reaction. Seems like I’ve heard that somewhere before.

Tonight’s dinner is tamale casserole. I’m doing a vegetarian version with fresh corn, green chilis, salsa and corn bread mix. It’ll probably be my dinner for the next few nights. It’s one of the few leftover meals I like more than one or two nights.

One of the things I dislike after a trip is adding the expenses to the checking account. I use the app MoneyDance to keep track of checks, expenditures, etc. and it takes some time to enter all the trip information. I got that done yesterday and then balanced the account because the April statement was available. One good thing is that bank statements are more readily available than they once were. I usually get the previous month’s statement on the first of the next month.

Tomorrow, Barbara is coming over around 9 am for some coffee and conversation. She’s about to go on a trip and I just got back from one so we need to catch up. I even cleaned off the kitchen table for her.

I have a sick friend in Broward Health Hospital. I hope to be able to go visit sometime tomorrow. I want to be there for her sister. I’ve known them for over 30 years. It’s a tight knit bunch of friends and I couldn’t be there before now.

I think Tucker is ready for movie night on Wednesday. I’ll get the popcorn ready and the wine chilled.

Stay tuned!

10 May 2024

I got home around 2:30 pm yesterday and did what I always do when I get back from a trip. I unpacked the Jeep and then unpacked the suitcase and then washed, dried, and folded two loads of clothes. I even put the suitcase back in the overhead in the utility room – a dicey situation any day.

Chris and Tucker came by with my mail delivery and I caught her up on my trip. Tucker was unimpressed.

I ordered food from Whole Foods and they delivered around 7 pm and then it was unpacking that and putting it away. By the time I got everything taken care of, it was 9 pm and I was too tired to post a blog.

This morning was busy. I stopped at the Riverland Plaza at a nail place and had them trim my toenails. They were getting to claw length. From there I headed to a car wash to get rid of lovebugs stuck all over the car.

The car wash charges extra for lovebug removal but it was worth it. I found out early in my Florida stay that the worse thing you can do with them is turn the windshield wipers on. It smears it all over the windshield and you can’t see out the window. Fortunately, my encounter with them was minor compared to other years.

From there it was go to Whole Foods and pick up a few items I forgot to order yesterday and then off to Walgreens to pick up a medication they had been texting me about all week.

When I came home, I made pimento cheese and spread it over a couple of slices of ciabatta bread. After lunch (and a cookie) I got in bed to read and then dozed off around 2 pm and slept till 3. I’m still unbelievably tired. I’m sure it’ll take a few days to get back on track.

I tried to get the mileage from the car but they apparently did something to trip mileage because it showed over 6,000 miles for this trip. It’s 940 each way so that’s 1,880 plus any mileage I put on going back and forth from Roosevelt to Pelahatchie, Brandon, and Jackson. Maybe it really was 6,000!

One thing I do know. I can travel again. I may have to spend more nights en route and do less mileage per day but I simply put the Jeep on cruise control and hoofed it. Now to start planning the next trip.

Stay tuned!

8 May 2024

Another 9 hours of sleep. I’m slowly recovering from the family drama although I don’t have much optimism as to the outcomes.

It was basically a five hour drive to Gainesville from Gulf Breeze. I erred in saying tonight was a Hampton Inn & Suites. It’s a Hilton Garden Inn. Very surprisingly, they have dinner tonight, happy hour, and cocktails. I’m stunned. They used to do this at Garden Inns but stopped during Covid. It starts at 5 pm and I’m always hungry by that time. I think all of these were designed with full kitchens so they should be able to get back in the swing of things. It beats going out and hunting a restaurant.

Tomorrow should be an even easier drive – 4 hours and 37 minutes. Add an hour for back ups on the Turnpike and stop and go traffic at Palm Beach.

So far, the traffic up to Mississippi and back down to Gainesville has been pretty good with no major problems. The Jeep is running fine and no check engine lights have come on. I’m getting around 31 mpg with the diesel and I can’t complain about that.

Sorry for the brief posts but I’ve been physically and emotionally drained. Hopefully, the closer to home, the better I become. It’s been an interesting trip. I got to visit with my first cousins, Charles and his wife Minnie Jean and Jean and her husband Russell. Then it was seeing Jimmie, Stephen, Jean and Roger. Then it was a medical emergency for my sister-in-law. I also got to see Kevin for the first time in many, many years, his son Liam and his wife Olya. We even got a house tour. Then it was back to the doctor with my sister-in-law, Tanis.

I feel badly for leaving Archie and Tanis but I did what I could while I was there. Hopefully, things will get better.

Stay tuned!

7 May 2024

I was very tired last night. I went to bed around 8:30 pm and slept for 9 hours – with the exception of 3 pee breaks. I was just beginning to stir after coffee and oatmeal when I noticed a voice mail on my phone. My Jeep was ready to pick up. Honestly, I didn’t expect them to call me until after noon sometime.

I quickly packed up Tanis’ car and drove to Brandon. I hugged Tanis goodbye and Archie let me drive to the Jeep place and I paid for the repair. It was just a little over $830 even with tax. Apparently, one of the parts was cheaper than they anticipated. I tipped JoJo $40 for expediting my Jeep. Then the person they sent to bring it up couldn’t find it. After a while, he drove up in it and I parked beside Tanis’ car and transferred my junk from her car to mine.

Archie and I get emotional when parting. I told him that we are of the age that there is no guarantee that we’ll see each other again. That was certainly brought home by my cancer diagnosis in January.

I headed south and east via various roads and interstates until I reached Pensacola. I’m staying at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Gulf Breeze. It’s a pretty amazing bridge crossing to get to Gulf Breeze.

After unpacking what I needed from the Jeep, I searched for some place to get a meal. I settled for a Hawaiian restaurant, the Papa Nalu Aloha Grill. I was the only customer even though TripAdvisor said it was the #3 rated restaurant in Gulf Breeze. It was over 6 miles from the hotel and in heavy traffic to get there. At least the food was good. I had two appetizers: coconut shrimp and pot stickers.

I’m now back at the hotel, showered and sleepy. I plan on getting to bed early tonight and getting up very late. My next stop is in Gainesville, about 5 hours away. Another Hampton Inn.

Stay tuned!

6 May 2024

It was a busy day. I managed to get the Jeep into the dealership around 9 am and explained the circumstances. To their credit, they expedited my case and around 10:30 I found out the problem was the thermostat and a leaky radiator cap. Of course, they need to order the parts. If they come in around noon, I should be on the road home by late afternoon – after giving them $830 plus tax.

The family medical problems continued today. Archie and I took Tanis to a doctor’s appointment and spent at least an hour and a half there. We later headed to Pelahatchie Bay for a very late lunch or very early supper.

I now have Tanis’ car and I’ll go to Brandon tomorrow morning and wait for a call from the Jeep place.

Stay tuned!