For Older People with Sense

dragonflymary

wow, Marybe, I haven't heard the word "miller" in years!  Grew up in the midwest and we had great millers, some the size of your hand.  Also cool beetles.

Chrissy, don't feel bad about rabbling!  I love to read your posts.  Good luck with the surgery.

Love to all,

Dragon 

chrissyb

Oh there you are Leah!  I was wondering where you were as I hadn't seen you around for a little while.  Keeping everything crossed that your sister doesn't find any nasty surprises in her MRI.  Unbelievable day you had trying to get to see your PS......................but yes patience is very often rewarded so it pays to have it.  I sure hope they actually put you in to see the one you want and not the other one.

Did you know that cockroaches are a great source of protein?........not the I would want to eat one but it's interesting to know that you could if the necessity were there and of course survive.  Leah I'm sure your cat knows this and so they become fair game in the food chain. 

 I find it facinating to watch what our animals will eat other than what we give them as they show us what is edible and what is not.  It is only our squeemishness and our sense of what is or isn't food that prevents us from eating a lot of things.  Eating, like all things is a learned behaviour.  We eat what our mothers gave us as she was the teacher.  What one mother liked in terms of food taste that is what she passed onto her children etc. 

With each generation the food and food tastes we find acceptable are expanding as the world becomes smaller and people move around bring with them their style and taste in food which we then try and find we like anad then we tweek it to suit us.  As I say, it is a matter of what we are given and of course society taboos that dictate that we don't eat bugs............why not eat bugs?  they are a great source of nutrient and that after all isn't that what we want when we eat?...............nutrient in order to keep the body healthy and functioning. 

If you look at the indigenous peoples of different lands from eons past you will find that bugs, grubs, worms, rodents, bird eggs, grasses and all the things we no longer eat and find abhorent were their staples and they survivied very well.  Each country has an abundance of these things and even now, in some Asian markets you will find things like deep fried grasshoppers and stewed grubs.  What these peoples are doing is making the most of a resourse that is neglected by most modern people as we have been taught that they are just bugs and not edible...................Says who???.................and so we turn our noses up at the thought of eating them.........................Just some food for thought.

Love n hugs all.   Chrissy

lassie11

Leah - I can see how you might forgive a doctor's tardiness for such impressive reasons. And I'm sorry such things are happening in your part of the world.

QCA

Leah, I'm so sorry you had to wait so long for the surgeon!  I can imagine your frustration.  Hopefully the nurses will do all they can to get you in very soon and your patience will be rewarded!  Hope your sister's MRI goes as expected also.

Oh dear goodness, Marybe, a worm farm in your basement??  And you FEED the things???  Be careful, be very careful, because you should know that they escape!  They can invade your water pipes, too, and one day when you're in the shower....

Chrissy, your post made me remember that several years ago there was an article in the Charlotte paper re how nutritious and what a great source of protein earthworms were.  The article included several recipes, one for an egg dish with crispy earthworm bits and another called "applesauce surprise cake".  You KNOW what the surprise part was.

I'm so longing to get away from home for a few days---just want to go somewhere! Our 32nd anniversary is next month and it sure would be nice to go somewhere!

Hope all is well for everyone tonight.  Tomorrow the high is predicted as 75 here---nice!

Kathy

chabba

Chrissy, when I graduated from college I moved across the State to teach.  My Father had a job that brought him to my area often and he would always try to stay with me at least one night.  He always brought some treat from a gourmet shop for us to try.  Mom was what I call a North Dakota Norwegian diet--bland meat and potato diet.  In addition to the more common smoked or pickled sea food products or various pickled animal parts he brought canned rattlesnake, deep fried grasshoppers and chocolate covered ants.  We tried them all and actually enjoyed most.

3jaysmom

i justget grossedmout thinking ofall the "goodies" i did do choc late covered ants, once, but the scotch i was dinking then, made it Much easier to go down... yuck!3jays

Gingerbrew

I do not like rats. In Haiti we called them Haitian squirrels to be a little gentler with ourselves. You could see them walking across brances of trees into the house, bars on the windows, no glass. Bold rats. I alwaays slept totally tucked into my mosquito net.  Lots of traps in our house, horible racket when the traps would go off. 

So move ahead to me in a cardiac intake unit in the states after being in the hosp for a week in Haiti and going home for diagnosis. This unit was like a space ship, especially compared to Haiti. I am hooked up to everything one could be in this small glass room in a group that circles the nurses station.  I go to sleep and wake myself up screaming hysterically about the rats! I think I about gave a heart attack to the nurse. She looked totally shaken. The rats were of course all the lines that were attached to me.p.s.  I did not have any heart attack, it was acid reflux.

Hint for mosquito nets.. Buy one bigger than you need and you can really tuck it in well. I used one for a king size bed, with poles in the top. I put it over a bumk bed with no mattress on top. Then I could sleep without touching the net and getting mosquito bit through the net.  I thought my arrangement was brilliant. Never scrimp on a net and always dip in premethrin, always. I used the US Army formula. End of lecture.

GInger

macatacmv

Hello everyone, I am on the boat, back to the daily grind. I call it a grind but there are people who dream about making this trip. It's all about perspective, isn't it? Whether we are waiting for a doctor or dreaming about rats, or what we choose to eat or do to survive our present reality. I am so tired, just dragging! I don't even care that the shop isn't open anymore, just had to let it go. I'm not depressed just exhausted no matter that I take two naps aday and sleep all night.

Just making it through, trying to laugh every day. You guys sure help with that.

Nancy

Kaara

Nancy:  Sorry you are feeling so tired...hang in there...it will get better.  I'm sure it's the radiation treatments that are causing it, and they will soon be over.

macatacmv

Thanks Kaara, how's the eye? I was thinking of you yesterday.

I'm on my way home from rads now. I'm half way through. Yay! I'm starting to plan a vacation with my DD for the end of April. Something to look forward to, not sure where we will go.

Nancy

Kaara

Nancy:  That's what you need...a good vacation to rest up!  We're going on vacation in April as well...out to Mesquite NV to play golf and then to Scottsdale for a week.

 My eye is fine today...almost back to normal.  Yesterday was rough, but mainly from the burning of the betadine that they put in to sterilize the eye.  The shot was just like poking yourself with something...very quick and it was over.  I don't have to worry about it again until next month:)

duckyb1

Kaara................hope your doing ok..................I have MD too, but not sure what kind.......they are not making a big deal out of it, so I'm guessing, the less progressive one.

However, my glaucoma was "narrow angle" which is the rarer kind, so maybe I'm wrong about the MD.........will ask the next time I go back................

Kaara

ducky:  It usually starts out as dry and that progresses more slowly.  If it turns to wet, then it can rapidly progress to destroy your central vision.  Do that grid test frequently and if you notice any distortion at all, go right to the retina specialist.  I first noticed the distortion last summer, but because of the bc dx, I waited to go to the specialist which was a mistake.  The shots are annoying, but not intolerable.  It sure as hell beats the alternative, so I will do them.

ptdreamers

Nancy, It probably is the rads. It will get better. Start tossing ideas to your DD about where you want to go. it helps to have something to look forward to. We are leaving in ten days to go to Forida for a week then board a cruise that will take us across to Amsterdam by way of France. We don't have any exceursions planned but will see what happens. Nice to contemplate a change of scenery.

Wren44

Chrissy, My DGS convinced my DH to take him to the local science museum for bug day. He wanted, and got, a picture of him eating a bug to put on his facebook page.

Good luck with your knee surgery. Keep your eyes on the prize--walking where and when you want to. 

Gingerbrew

Nancy,

During Rads is when I learned the real meaning of fatigue. It isn't even in the same category as tired! 

I recall that it kept becoming more severe for about two weeks after Rads ended. Then it slowly went on its way. You might want to consider that in your vacation planning.

Yay for half way through!

Ginger

chrissyb

Hi girls!!!   Yes I'm up early today, not sure why but here I am........lol.

Nancy, the fatigue from the rads is cumulative but will go within a few weeks after completion but in the mean time, just take it easy and rest as much as possible.  Don't forget that your body is trying to heal itself constantly after being bombarded with radiation every day.  It is from all this cellular activity that the fatigue comes and the only cure is time and rest. 

Kaara I'm so glad you got through the injection without too much trauma.  How many treatments is the doc saying you need to have?  Not sure if you told us or not but the memory is just not there.......lol.  Your mini break sounds like a lot if fun.  Enjoy you golfing!

Wren isn't it strange the things that kids want photos of...............most of the time the more gross something is the better they like it, particularly the boys...............gotta love the little critters!  At least they keep us oldies amused............lol.

PT Wow!!!  Now that sounds like a fabulous holiday!!!  Relax, rest and enjoy!!!  and take thousands of photos and please share a few with us........lol.

Ducky sure hope you keep an eye on your eyes (pun intended....lol).   I think I could cope with just about anything but not the loss of my sight as I get such joy from seeing all the beauty around me.

Ginger that is a great hint regarding a mosquito net..........thanks! 

Hope all are having a great day!!!!

Love n hugs  Chrissy

ptdreamers

Chrissyb, What time is it there. Its 5:16PM here on Tuesday. Thanks for the good wishes. Since this the first trip post diagnosis I am not sure how my body will handle so we are definitely doing it low key. I still have swelling and hardness in surgical site so I don't want to aggrevate anything.

chrissyb

PT it's 10.55am here on Wednesday.  I'm sure you will do fine just as long as you remember to say enough when you are tired.  I did a huge trip last year and had a blast!  I wasn't sure how my knees would hold up but they were okay so long as I recognised the time to say stop......lol

That hardness and swelling will take sometime to go but it will go.

SoCalLisa

PT, I am sure you will do just great on a trip..on the cruise you will see alot of water on the crossing...we were in Amsterdam last spring...it was wonderful..if you get a chance to go to Bruges, it is a wonderful spot

chrissyb

Lisa fabulous pics as usual!!!

lulubee

Hey ladies, I haven't popped in for a while so I just wanted to say hello to you all.  DH and I just got back from our 25th anniversary trip to Santa Fe, which was lovely. We walked a lot in falling snow, gallery hopped, ate lots of fabulous New Mexico food, and watched a bunch of movies.  We drove up the scenic and historic 'High Road to Taos' and stopped in at the famous old mission/chapel in Chimayo which reputedly has been the site of hundreds of confirmed healings over the centuries. Why not, right?  Besides, it's a lovely thing to pray in a 400-year-old chapel by a mountain brook way out in the country. We ate so much and so well that I'm afraid to get on the scales for a while, though! Maybe all the walking offset the calories. I can hope, right?

I was concerned about taking a trip like that just a few days after a round of Faslodex/Xgeva injections, because they always make me feel bad for a few days, but thankfully I did fine... except for the car we had there, a Lexus hybrid which a friend kindly loaned to us... yikes, the angle of those sporty bucket seats just about sent my bone mets into orbit on those bumpy NM highways. Yowzer.  I won't ever be tempted to buy one of those now!  Thank the good Lord for hydrocodone!

It was good to go, and good to be back home.  Good to catch up on all your posts, too, except I had to quickly skim over the gross BUG POSTS.  Ick, y'all.  For real.  Can we talk about flowers or something now?  Haha.

chrissyb

Lulu so glad you had a great break. All those places sound so wonderful!!!   Did you take some pics?  Will you share.....please?

I hear you on the low slung seats of some cars!............thank goodness I drive a Subaru Forrester which has perfect height seats for me and very comfortable to ride in.

It's good to see you back!

Love n hugs.  Chrissy

ptdreamers

SoCaLisa, The pictures are fabulous. You are right Chrissy, it will take time but I haven't been able to wear a bra and the girls are unhappy. I am trying a compression camisole and it seems to be okay.

chrissyb

PT I think it was a good year before I felt comfortable in a bra but I used to wear a lite cotton knit with elastain sports bra with a front fastening.  It was pretty comfortable at the time and all these years later I still prefer to wear something like that because of the comfort and no cutting edges.  I use the Ahhh Bra now.............it has no fasteners at all........either step into it or over the head which ever is easiest for you.  Because it is again knitted it is firm without being constricting and does help with the lymphadema under my arm.  Check it out on line if you like.

Kaara

Lisa:  The photos are fabulous...feel like I've been there!

Lulu:  I just love the Santa Fe Taos area!  I would live there if it wasn't so far from the kids.  I remember once having the green chili at a restaurant in Taos...my lips were on fire for the rest of the day!  That was the hottest chili ever, but so good.  I love that kind of food.  I love those kind of lazy vacations where you drive and stop and do just what you want to do with no real agenda.

Today I'm going over to visit my DGGD who I haven't seen in a few weeks.  She is growing so fast...already climbing on things and getting ready to walk!  DGD's engine blew up in her car, so she has no transportation...she struggles so hard and is such a sweet girl.  She is waiting for her tax return to buy another car and her Dad is going to co sign for her..he needs to do something to help her out.  I'm letting him take the responsibility this time.  I helped her get her apartment.  It's always something with kids...guess that's what parents and grandparents are for??  In the meantime my older DGD is turning 23 on the 15th, and she has so distanced herself from the family..doesn't even want to have a birthday get together.  I'm sending her a card, but no money this time because she is so unappreciative...never thanks me, and has not once called and asked how I was doing during all my bc surgery.  I'm so disappointed in her behavior.  She is living with her rich boyfriend and being treated like a princess, but instead of using this time to get her education, she is doing nothing.  I pray it doesn't all come crashing down around her, but life has a way of biting us in the backside sometimes.

Chrissy:  That ahhh bra sounds comfortable.  I've lost weight, so all my bras are too big.  I'm going to check that one out.

Have a nice day everyone! 

SoCalLisa

Lulu,,,I was there too, at Chimayo..I loved it..

SoCalLisa

SoCalLisa

We are off to Palm Springs/Palm Desert/Indian Wells for tennis..

Wren44

PT and Chrissy - I saw a bra yesterday that looked like the pictures of the ahhh bra. It was by Bali and called 'barely there'. Not much support, but pretty comfortable. Here it was $14.50 which is cheaper than the ahh bra.