Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?

IllinoisLady

Our words are energy that has a ripple effect far beyond our imagining. We must learn the art of communicating so our speech can bring about love, reconciliation, and understanding. Just as it tastes bitter to utter words that are negative or unkind, it feels wonderful to say something full of understanding and love.

Thich Nhat Hanh

IllinoisLady

We are not human beings having
a spiritual experience. We are
spiritual beings having a
human experience.

Teilhard de Chardin

IllinoisLady

Sun is out today, but it is still pretty cool. We fed the feral cats, then into town to deliver all the bills I had to pay. I'm nervous -- when I stopped at the post ofc. I used the outside box and rolled down my window. It didn't really want to roll back up. I finally by pushing and releasing the lever got it to go back so I guess whatever kind of electrical impulse does this has something going on. I think I'll have to take it to the mechanic we use and find out what he thinks.

Then we visited a bit with the ladies at the Manor and came on home. Not out most exciting day, but at least we had sun. I'm usually okay with most anything if we can 'bloom' in the sun.

Hope you all had a good day.

ChiSandy

Had a great trip to London and a good run of this year's "Bar Show" (singing & dancing lawyers, in an actual "legitimate" theater built in 1909--been going on annually since 1922), with my voice holding up well, getting my lines & timing just right (and the laughs where I wanted them), and not making too many choreographic screw-ups (balance is always a problem at our age). But right after the final after-party I caught this lousy adenovirus that's going around and which is holding my voice hostage. Had to relinquish my spot in an upcoming songwriter showcase this Thursday because next Tues. night 12/17 my singing partner is coming down from WI for WDCB-FM's annual "Holiday Hoot," 90.9FM for those in the Chicago area, streaming at www.wdcb.org worldwide. 8-11pm CST. We (Andina & Rich) are on from 9:51-10pm (because of the huge lineup, they're really strict about time), with the group sing-along finale at 10:45.

We got our major snowfalls on Halloween and early-to-mid. Nov., but nothing requiring shoveling nor boots since then. (Though we had a brief deep-freeze the second week of Nov.). Some snow is expected tom'w night or Thurs. Hoping we can keep both Snowmageddon & the Polar Vortex at bay this year, but it isn't even technically winter yet, so who knows?

MCBaker

Close to 0 last night and tonight, and not that much above it for today, and prediction for tomorrow is the same. I have taken the dog out three times today, and he has not pooped yet. He is on tie-out, and getting unhappy. Nasty windchill warnings for counties north of us tonight. Going to make orange marmalade tomorrow.

IllinoisLady

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.

J.B. Priestley

carolehalston

Today is the women's golf group's Christmas event, which is supposed to be a 9-hole scramble followed by a luncheon. It will just be the luncheon since it's windy and cold and not enough women signed up for the scramble. Some of the older women who no longer play golf will be attending so I'm looking forward to seeing them.

Glad you had a good trip to London, Sandy, and a good performance after you returned to Chicago. DH and I were south of Chicago at Thanksgiving in New Lenox.

petite1

Hi, Ladies. The PET scan is finished and waiting for results.

Beaverntx

petite, one more test out of the way. In your pocket for good results.

IllinoisLady

Goodness

Above all, let us never forget that an act of goodness is in itself an act of happiness. It is the flower of a long inner life of joy and contentment; it tells of peaceful hours and days on the sunniest heights of our soul. -Maurice Maeterlinck

And when we come to think of it, goodness is uneventful. It does not flash, it glows. It is deep, quiet, and very simple. It passes not with oratory, it is commonly foreign to riches, nor does it often sit in the places of the mighty: but may be felt in the touch of a friendly hand or the look of a kindly eye. -David Grayson

IllinoisLady

Cool outside this a.m. but the sun will be out. We watched ( thru our bank of deck windows at far end of living room ) a beautiful orange glow early on. Makes me very cheerful and contented about life when I start my morning with a "glow".

Hoping you get results that make you happy on your Pet Scan petite.

Hope you all have a most wonderful day today.

ChiSandy

Fingers crossed for good PET scan results, petite1!

After a brief freeze, we had a warmup today. Alas, I've not felt well enough to go outside since Sat. night. The cold & laryngitis have turned into bronchitis. My PCP confirms that not only is there an adenovirus going around, but also flu & even pertussis (whooping cough). I'm up-to-date on Fluzone Hi-Dose and TDaP vaccines, and I've had neither a fever nor that croupy pertussis cough. He says to try to ride this out unless my rescue inhaler fails to work (have had to use it only once since I got sick) or I spike a fever--it's still most likely viral and therefore self-limiting. OTC (except anything with a decongestant in it) and home remedies are all I can & should do.

Here's an interesting note, though. I mentioned the occasional nocturnal dystonias in my R leg over the tibial-plateau-fixation hardware implanted 23 years ago this week--shin spasms, my foot dorsiflexes and my toes splay. It wakes me up and is agonizing. Don't want to take Lyrica, because it makes me dopey and causes weight gain. Been using a massage roller, lidocaine roll-on, magnesium (oral prophylactically and spray for relief) and cursing up a blue streak. My PCP suggests...wait for it...CBD! Of course, DEA prescribing guidelines don't allow him to directly prescribe it, but he says the code words that most CBD-friendly doctors do: "my patients report good results with it."

A friend of mine who is a longtime cluster headache sufferer and Oxycontin user wanted to see the doc up in Evanston who certified I qualified for an MMJ card, but she closed her practice to deal with her own advanced gastroesophageal cancer. So he asked his PCP who is part of the NorthShore health system (where all my providers except my PCP practice--he's with Amita, a Catholic health system). Lo and behold, his new PCP told him he could get either Oxy or MMJ, and suggested the latter. And the process in IL for opioid users to get a MMJ ID has greatly accelerated--took me almost 3 mos. to get my card, but he got his in 48 hrs. Recreational MJ becomes legal here on New Year's Day, but MMJ users can buy more, grow plants, and save 30% on sales tax.

MCBaker

" And the process in IL for opioid users to get a MMJ ID has greatly accelerated--took me almost 3 mos. to get my card, but he got his in 48 hrs. Recreational MJ becomes legal here on New Year's Day, but MMJ users can buy more, grow plants, and save 30% on sales tax."

Wisconsin is so slow recognizing the advantage in reducing overdose risk. Naloxone is a great improvement. I think pharmacies are dispensing it without prescription for very reasonable prices. But without adequate treatment options, the scare of having been rescued from an overdose passes into distant memory quite quickly. MJ is a lesser evil.

petite1

Good morning, ladies. PET scan results show no evidence of malignancy. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IllinoisLady

Grace

The winds of grace are always blowing, but you have to raise the sail. -Ramakrishna

Grace is goodness and respect given freely and unconditionally. A sense of divine love and protection bestowed on us when we need strength and renewal. Grace helps us know we are not alone and believe we are cared for and cherished. Grace is a drink of clear, clean water in the desert. -Sue Patton Thoele

IllinoisLady

Yay triple time while doing the happy dance for you. Music to the ears and soul. Congrats and may it always be that way, petite.

Beaverntx

petite, thanks be!

ChiSandy

Petite, mazel tov for the NED PET!

IllinoisLady

Some people confuse acceptance with apathy, but there's all the difference in the world. Apathy fails to distinguish what can and cannot be helped; acceptance makes the distinction. Apathy paralyzes the will-to-action; acceptance frees it by relieving it of impossible burdens. -Arthur Gordon

carolehalston

Good news, Petite!

It's very foggy here this morning. DH is off to a golf tournament. I am being lazy, sitting in my chair with my laptop in my lap, but I plan to go to the gym and do some sweating.

Yesterday I got out the giant silk poinsettias and a few other holiday items including a very old crocheted Santa Claus card holder that a fellow school teacher made for me centuries ago when we both were on the teaching staff at Mandeville High School. So far I haven't bought a single present but have mulled over some ideas.

IllinoisLady

Getting ready for the possibly all day, cloudy day. We have some usual errands. Have to go to the post ofc. this a.m. and get Christmas stamps for the cards that are ready to go out. I will cut a piece of the chocolate cake I made and bring it along to visit at the Manor. Our friend was moved to a private room and that is nice. She has a stomach issue and they don't know for sure but feel she has some sort of intestinal/colon bug I think and don't want the other lady in her room to be affected adversely.

Elsewise all will be the same humdrum I think. I'm still organizing and hoping that we can get things going for the holidays. We won't likely do much, but I'm still in partial catch-up mode from my arm/sling issues. I will say the therapy seems to be going well though. Each few days I seem to 'accidentally' find something more that I can do. I think because the arm is better I've just 'automatically' gone back to the usual way I do something and thereby find out that I've moved into the old ( but new again for me ) way of dealing with my everyday duties. I have loved the "discoveries" and will miss them I think when I'm finally completely recuperated. Joy and blessings...

I hope you are all going to have a really good day. I wrote to Anne awhile back. I haven't heard anything. I may try again, but I'm a bit nervous at the lack of response. I so hope and pray that all is well with her and her family too.

petite1

Good morning. 46 degrees this morning and warming to 70. Went out for morning morning coffee on the lanai and the coyotes are running. The cats did not join me. They went under the bed. With all the building going on around here, wild life is becoming displaced.

IllinoisLady

We in the West don't think much in terms of balance, and obviously we should. Even the very thought of an exquisite union and balance of all our forces, both physical and mental, has a gentle, hopeful ring to it. . . . All of us must find a bridge between our physical and spiritual parts. When that balance is achieved, what a happy comfort for ourselves! Edward J. Lavin

IllinoisLady

Cloudy this morning. Don't know if that will change or what it might change too ( it could be snow ) as it sounds like we won't get above freezing. It will be our first FULL day of cold. So, didn't get as much done yesterday as I should have, but still progressed. Today will be another visiting day. Some will go fast. I have to do some prep for appts. tomorrow and I hope Tues.

Supposed to have an appt. in Evansville Tues. I had to cancel the last one -- no ride. This time I hope I am able to 'get' my ride straightened out. Have had such problems with it.

A few more leaves off the ground and mulched. It has been pretty slow this yr. since I haven't been able to be much help. By the time I can fully participate we will be into snow weather likely. Any left-overs will have to be done in quite early Spring so hope there isn't too much. Able to see the house on the 'front' road so well now. Now the trees are resting and our line of sight will be quite full till Spring. I always think of the trees as sentinels, sort of keeping watch while they are at rest for the winter.

Hope you all have a really good Sunday.

Betrayal

Jackie: What a wonderful description of trees as "sentinels" while they rest for the winter. Never thought of them this way but will from now on. We just lost two when they hit our house during a high wind storm. They did extensive damage but it can be fixed.

What cannot is the loss of them because they have shaded various scenes in our yard over the 35 years we have lived here. First they were sentinels over a tree swing, then a swing set for my children, next an above ground pool and their last watch was over our patio. They were the final two, from the original 5, that had to be removed or fell during this time. They served us well and I will miss them next summer when we have a new shade pattern for the patio. Their loss cost me a shade flower garden and it will be surprising to see what erupts in the spring from the plants that had been there. I am hoping the lily of the valley will reappear. So a new beginning. There are some small oaks that will eventually provide shade but most likely not in my lifetime nor tenure in this house. I loved those trees (even when the cherries pinged our heads) so I will mourn their loss for the shade and the privacy they provided but most because they were truly "sentinels".

IllinoisLady

An excellent way to practice love is to set your intention on seeing beyond someone's behavior or personality. Try to realize that beneath the surface insecurity, negative thinking, and poor behavior, everyone is connected to God. Just as you wouldn't get angry at someone simply because he or she is in a wheelchair, you need not be angry because a person hasn't yet opened his or her heart to the nourishment of his or her Soul. When people act in unloving ways, it only means they are out of touch with their Souls and aren't feeling spiritually nourished. -Richard Carlson

carolehalston

To lose a mature tree that serves a good purpose is definitely a loss. We have some nice trees in our back yard that we planted years ago. Originally that portion of our two-acre property had been pasture. Of course, we made more work for ourselves in yard work because we have to pick up branches once or twice a year.

I plan to venture out shopping today. If I don't have any success, presents to two great nieces and one great nephew will be cash in a card. I have no patience with the "shop until you drop" mentality. The danger in shopping is that I find things to buy for myself! I wouldn't mind finding a cute Christmas blouse to wear Thursday night to a party and also to our neighbor's Christmas Eve open house.

Happy Monday.

Wren44

I agree that shopping is dangerous. I'm determined to come up with something different to wear to the New Year's Eve party. We've been 3 years in a row and I think I've worn the same thing every year. Must do something different this year. Fortunately it's pretty casual, so no need to buy anything expensive. It will be our 60th wedding anniversary.

IllinoisLady

Yes, we have lost some trees and it is painful to see them go -- not only to lose them but the cost of having to have them removed. We have been fortunate the last couple of times. The men gave us a huge break for the fact that the hickory wood was something they could get money for and so it made our price to remove the trees highly bearable.

Wren, for a 60th. anniversary as well a New Yrs' Eve I'd say you definitely deserve something new ( even if more casual ) to have to wear.

It is noon and we are just now eating. I had to go to my 6 month V. A. check-up today. So, we chose to go and eat after the appt. Then we decided to change our plans and just come home and eat here. We had our 2 & 1/2 inches of snow yesterday. Then on the way to Mt. Vernon ( 23 miles south of where we live ) it sleeted although it was not a huge amt. When we came out of the Dr.'s ofc it was pouring rain -- but still quite cold -- about 31 degrees. We felt like sitting around in Mt. Vernon was not the thing to do with such rotten weather.

So, took the old back highway home. Did okay, but slipped a couple of times in the slush. Then, got home and unable to make either turn to get off the highway to our little woods. Had to catch a hospital/retirement home parking lot and was finally able to turn around and start back for the last corner to drive to our woods. Whew !! Made the corner this time -- going as slow as a car could and still keep going forward. We are in for the duration. It was raining when we got out of the car. I think it will snow again later -- and could have some ice below it though they had been treating the roads earlier. That didn't seem to help me slow to the point of making my turns though.

Di2012

Congratulation to you Wren and your hubby! 60 years WOW! WOW!

Hubby and I celebrated our 51st in August.

For our 50th we renew our vows (on a cruise), exiting Glacier Bay, Alaska with the Captain of the ship officiating, in the chapel of the ship....( looking for the picture.....)