More episodes

or spells, or whatever you want to call them. Mother had another little episode today. It's her right side & her hand & foot goes numb. And she just gets weak.

Then a breathing spell. I had spent the afternoon with her. We watched a movie from Netflix. A Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, "Homecoming" with Anne Bancroft. The movie is based on the novel "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt. One of my favorite books.

I went to the grocery store & did some shopping for her, went back, fixed supper & she ate that. I left & I only got a couple of blocks. The wind was gusting & the dust was bad, lightning was flashing. I decided to go back & roll up the window's on Nan's Am (Don-Mike's 1980 Trans Am) & help Mother with her open windows. I got back, rolled up the windows on the car, went in the house & couldn't find Mother. She was in Don-Mike's room struggling with the windows. She could barely breathe.

Puttering she was not. She was downright working. I had put Don-Mike's work uniforms in the washer & told her they were there. She had got the clothes out of the dryer, hung them up, & put the uniforms in the dryer when the wind came up. So she was hurrying around, closing the windows & was ready to collapse. I sat with her, helped her with her inhaler & she finally caught her breath. She'd been too long without oxygen, too.

Cache Valley Cruise In

I promised pictures. This is Don-Mike at the Cache Valley Cruise In on July 4. He was just taking the T-tops off so he could go to lunch when we got there.

My niece, Bonnie, on the left, saw Don-Mike from the sidewalk & he was clear back by a building. I couldn't believe her sharp eyes.

Don is in the middle & Don-Mike in the red. A friend took some pictures of '50s vehicles. She posted them on Facebook & as I was looking through her album I saw Don-Mike way in the background of one of her pictures. I was thrilled.
















Don-Mike thoroughly enjoyed talking to people about their memories of their own cars. He got to cruise Main Street 4 times before they ended it. We took Mother down to the parade at 6. Bonnie had spent the afternoon waiting for a friend that never showed. I called to see where she was & she had walked up from the fairgrounds to Main & Center streets. When Don finally got a parking place, Mother walked half a block to Main Street to see the cars. She was very frustrated with all the noise & was pounding her cane on the pavement. I told her to take her hearing aids out then. That's what the cruise in was all about, showing off their vehicles & making noise.

Gigi is here!!!

My sister-in-law, Gloria, I guess I should say OUR sister-in-law, she's Don's brother Reed's wife, is here. Ok, I guess I shouldn't say she is here, as in here in the house. She's in Preston, staying at Mother's. She started signing herself GG, short for Grandma Gloria, about 10 years ago when her first grandchild was born. I spell it Gigi, LOL.

Anyway, Tiffany & Bonnie are with her. Tiffany will go on up to Idaho Falls to see a friend from college. Tiff got a full-ride scholarship at Southern Utah University in Cedar City. She just finished her freshman year. Bonnie had the weekend off & came up with her mom & sister. It was so good to see them. Cyndi & Robert will come up Monday morning, or perhaps Sunday night. Bonnie will then take a car back to Salt Lake & the other 4 will leave for Seattle to spend a week with Gigi's oldest daughter Diane & her family. With Bonnie coming up to drive the car back to SLC, they won't have to come back this way on their way home from Seattle to pick up the other car.

Don-Mike came home from the Cache Valley Cruise In tired & sunburned. He entered his '80 Trans Am. Something is wrong with it. He's had trouble starting it. He said he enjoyed the day. We'll go down tomorrow to watch the cruise in on Main Street in Logan. I hope he can get his car fixed, because he has always wanted to be part of the cruise in & now his car is acting up - grrr.

Gigi wants to go to the Taylor Reunion at Taylor's Corner in Paris tomorrow. I don't know how we're all going to fit in Don's car cuz Tiff is taking their car to IF. Well, ok, Bonnie, Mother, Gigi, Don & I. That's only 5. If Nick decides to go, Bonnie can ride with Nick in the Camaro.

As far as swishing & swiping, I did it yesterday AND today. Woo hoo, I'm proud of myself.

Speaking of bathrooms, LOL, Bonnie walked into Mother's bathroom & came out with this perplexed look on her face. She asked Mother if she could use the bathroom. Gigi asked her why she couldn't. I spoke up & said she could, but not to take the toilet riser off. Then I showed her the toilet in the laundry room. And told her that to use that bathroom, you close the laundry room door, because if you close the door to the toilet stall there is no light in there & you're sitting there in the dark. That's the toilet we all use. I don't like sitting on the riser. My feet don't touch the floor.

I also swish Mother's toilets regularly, not daily, but fairly often. I think though, if the riser came off, that toilet might actually look quite nasty.

July 2

No swishing & swiping today, but then I didn't even make my bed. I got up, used the bathroom, was drawn outside to talk to the boys & they had a project they needed 3 drivers for & had to be back so Don-Mike could be to work. I hurriedly got dressed, took my meds, grabbed my phone & we drove both of Kents cars over to their place.

They've been here for car repairs. I'm glad my guys are such good mechanics.

I got home, checked Facebook, ate a sandwich & went to work. It wasn't until Don called me at 4:30 that I remembered I had not made the bed.

Oh, well, tomorrow's another day, right? I did get the power bill paid & I did work so I can have tomorrow off. I fed the dog too, the poor thing. I guess I need to hire someone to come & clean out his kennel. I can't do it.

Don-Mike has the day off to attend the Cache Valley Cruise In. He's entering Nan's Am in it. Don also has the day off & Gigi is coming for the weekend.

Moving in May, 5/24

Today we went over to Montpelier to decorate Frank's & Bertha's graves (Don's parents).

I think my sons have a death wish. They have no fear of cops giving them tickets for reckless driving & no fear of driving 80 through the canyons, Strawberry, Williams & Emigration, much less out on the open highway. Don-Mike drove his '80 Trans-Am aka Nan's Am with Mother & I as passengers on the way over; Nick drove his '97 Camaro with Don & Eddie as his passengers. I slept most of the way over. I asked Mother how she did & she said she hung on. Both cars have T-tops & I was glad I had a hat to pull down over my eyes. The sun wasn't shining, but that's a lot of windows. Nick was concerned about his wheels touching the wheel wells & the noise it makes, so Eddie rode with us on the way home. Don wouldn't have had any head room in the back of the Trans Am.

I didn't walk today. It rained quite hard. I got soaked walking from the church to the car after church. I fixed baked spaghetti & Nick didn't want to come eat because he doesn't like spaghetti, sigh. I know he doesn't like regular spaghetti but I baked it. I had $14 to spend on 2 meals last night at the store. Spaghetti is cheap.

I bought green onions the other day at the store, came home & carefully cut the roots off of them & put them in water so I could plant them. I was going to plant them yesterday, but forgot in the rush of decorating graves. I'm hoping to plant them tomorrow.

Tax Day 2009

Today, I went in & saw my nurse practitioner, Roxanne Froeher. She is such an awesome lady. She doesn't think the problem is gall bladder. She thinks it is an ulcer. The only time I have the attacks is when I'm empty. I haven't eaten. Usually you have the pain or attack after you've eaten if it's gall bladder. She's sending me in to have an ultrasound at Franklin County Medical Center tomorrow. Nothing to eat or drink after midnight & my appt. is at 10 a.m. I'm so glad it's here at our local hospital. She also gave me some samples of Nexium to try. If it is an ulcer, it will help. If it isn't, it won't hurt.

She's also concerned about the lesion on my spine. It measures about 1" at L1. No wonder my back always hurts when I stand too long. She said she'd call the radiologist in Logan & talk to him about the best option on how to proceed.

I've lost 10 pounds from the last time I saw her in December. Trying to watch the sugar intake. Another 3-5 pounds & I'll no longer be obese!!

I told her that I stopped the femara & crestor because I can't afford them. She told me we would definitely meet our $4K deductible this year,


We took Mother out to dinner for her birthday this evening at Chuck-A-Rama, a buffet in Ogden, Utah. We were all able to ride together in Don-Mike's new extended cab pickup. That's the first time in years, we've been able to all ride in the same vehicle, since the Windstar bit the dirt. well, actually the pavement, LOL, 4 or 5 years ago.

I was very careful of what I ate. Not a lot of fat, no spicy stuff & I only got one little piece of raw onion, LOL Don-Mike saw some no sugar stuff & pointed it out to me. I was a good girl & had the jello & pie. No IBS attack either,

I also questioned Don-Mike about the phone call from Dr. Broadbent. It was not the doctor himself, whew. It was a lady & I was supposed to call back. I assumed I was supposed to call back, but Don had said Dr. B, himself, called, which concerned me. I'm sure they are calling in regards to my calling to let them know that I had stopped taking femara because of the cost.

Here's an article in the New York Time, As Pills Treat Cancer, Insurance Lags Behind that a friend drew my attention to.

I've made the decision, as a lot of people have to, do I take the meds & prolong my life or do I pay my mortgage, utilities & outstanding medical bills & buy food? In my case, we don't even know if the medication will prolong my life. Supposedly, the breast cancer was taken care of with the removal of the lymph nodes, the partial mastectomy; the chemo & the radiation. The femara is to inhibit estrogen. I didn't have the HER2 cancer, mine was estrogen-positive. HER2 is aggressive & has to be treated longer & more aggressively than estrogen-positive. But my decision, after discussion with the Lord, the bishop & my husband, is to pay my mortgage, utility bills & outstanding medical bills.

If I die, we have insurance to cover my funeral expenses. The local morticians are friends of mine. They have explicit instructions of how to lay me out, We don't have insurance to cover my prescriptions until we reach our $4K deductible. I pay $90 for one Rx & take 3 more in the morning & 1 in the evening, for a total of 5 scripts. Besides, we buy Prilosec (for Don & Nick) over the counter & Zyrtec-D (for Nick, I stopped taking that, too) over the counter as they went off patent & insurances no longer cover them. We can get Prilosec for Nick thru Medicaid though, only one dose a day, when the doctor prescribed 2.

I will call Dr. Broadbent's medical assistant tomorrow. Roxanne said she'd call when she gets the report back from FCMC & also when she has talked to radiologist in Logan. Her morning receptionist, Kristy Nelson, is a friend of mine. We go back a long way back. She still remembers when she worked for the local chiropractor that Mother was picking apples & the ladder fell over & Mother hung from a branch in the apple tree until my dad came along & set the ladder up for her. I wasn't living around here then, must have been about 20-25 years ago, if Daddy was still able to get around.

OK, gotta tell you why I'm glad the ultrasound is here in town. My car is in our garage, with no brakes. Don-Mike had the day off & was going to replace them today, but the local NAPA store just sold the rotors for my model of car yesterday. They had to order some for it. I needed wheels, so I'm driving Don-Mike's '89 Trans Am, Nan's Am, around town. No way would I go to Logan in that. I may have to go to the chiropractor after driving it. It was raining today, which turned into snow, rain, snow ... & the T-top was dripping. He hadn't gotten the glass down tight.

Don't know if that was an update, a complaint or just general grousing. Whatever it was, it was rambling, & too many words, LOL.

Lent, Day 14

I was reading testimonials & emails from the inbox on my FlyLady email account. I have an email account just for FlyLady. Anyway, one of the subject lines caught my eye & I decided to read it instead of filing it somewhere. "Fighting Fatigue." That's what I do ALL the time.

Last night I was ready to turn out the light & go to bed at 11:30. I had done everything I needed to be in bed by 11:30 for the first time since I started this, but ... you knew there was a "but" didn't you? Sammy was laying in front of my pillow. He came in hurt tonight, he could barely limp. Brackin was down further, but both cats were on my side of the bed & I hated to move them. Finally, I scooted Sammy over a little bit & crawled in bed. I covered Sammy & moved my legs around Brackin. They both were purring, but I wasn't very comfortable. Finally, I put the CPAP mask on & went to sleep. I woke up when Don came to bed. He puts the cats in the laundry room when he goes to bed. So, I knew I could stretch out & be comfortable. I woke up at 9:35 again this morning. I got up after 10. What is this with 9:35??

Back to the FlyLady email on fighting fatigue. A FlyBaby from Pennsylvania had written in explaining Lent & she said:

My Lenten commitment this year is also related to FLYing. I've been doing part of your system but not all of it. I finally realized that the biggest hindrance for me is fatigue. I've never really committed to an evening routine, I stay up too late (my "me" time), and I'm always tired. I know my body, and my family, deserve better. You've said time and time again how important the evening routine is, but some of us are just stubborn, I guess.

So, for Lent I'm giving up going to bed late. And I'll build my evening routine (in babysteps!)

I guess I need to see what a FlyLady evening routine is. I obviously have one, don't we all? Mine just isn't written down.

Don-Mike came by on his way home. He had driven Nan's Am, his Trans Am, to work today & came over to say good-night & get his Mustang. He parks Nan's Am here, out by the old garage, & the Mustang is garaged at his house. When he bought the Trans Am I said it must be a keeper, it has a name. He bought it from a lady named Nannette & it was already named.