Good morning Vanilla-Jackie.  I hope your day is pleasant.

good Morning everyone. I slept in a bit this A M missed my chat across the big pond. Bis and Jackie are here. wish everyone a great day.

Lloyd

Good Morning Everyfriend!

Good morning to all the early birds.  I slept better last night so I think this day will be better, too.  I have to go to the grocery store but I'll take my time. 

Speaking of grocery stores....a couple of weeks ago when I went shopping and David was loading all the bags into the back of the car, I decided to look over the receipt because I was puzzled about why the bill seemed so high for just a few bags.   I was shocked to find that I had been charged $16.00 plus for two apples!  David took the receipt, the bag of two apples, and went back in to the Service Desk.  The lady at the desk finally decided that "perhaps something else was sitting on the scales when the checker weighed the apples and rang it up".  Well, duh!  They reweighed the apples and refunded the difference with no questions asked.  It pays to check your receipt very carefully.  If I hadn't I would have been out a chunk of money.  Mistakes can happen when we all get in a rush.

Amy, was it the extremely loud noises that he couldn't tolerate?  I don't blame him for putting a stop to it.  I wonder just how much all these tests actually contribute to the treatment of our problems.  Thanks, Shirley, for mentioning the "goopiness" of the Echo.  I am supposed to have one next week and I'll be prepared for that mess.

Sorry about the sore throat, Lloyd.  Hope it is better today.  Take care of yourself.  You don't want to end up back in the hospital with an infection.

Good Morning Everyone!

I have to wonder why they give all us older folks these test and expect NOt to find something out of kilter.  Our old bodies have done a lot of hard work.  I think maybe my Cardio doc is the only one who believes that.  This new, also young, PC I now have is eager and inquisitive, which is good, but he ought to think a minute or two before ordering more 'STUFF'.  I feel fairly certain that none of these other doctors want to operate on an old 83 year old man with a heart condition.  Like my heart doctor says if one is really necessary there are ways to manage the heart, but they aren't eager to have to.

I understand the ultrasound on my kidneys, they want to see if the treatment they are giving me, seed in the belly, is working.   And blood test to be sure meds are doing their job, but, like June says this other testing is starting to be a real chore.

Speaking of chores, I have to get in and clean up and get read to see the neurosurgeon this morning.  Hopefully he has a miracle in little goody bag for my old back, but I doubt it.

Amy sorry your husband backed out of the MRI.  You didn't say what they wanted to look at, but hopefully there is another route to peek in and see.  They do have a whole sackful of play pretteries. 

Everyone have a great day.

Good morning, Lloyd.  It's good when you can sleep a bit longer.

Janie--Good morning.

Good morning, Phyllis.  Glad you slept better.  Take it easy when you go to "gather".  Wow!!  $16 for two apples.  They must have been golden.

halkel--Good morning.  I do hope the neurosurgeon has a solution for your back problem.

I think they may have been platinum, Joan.    Actually, they were Honeycrisp which are expensive but not THAT much!

Have to admit, as much as I dont like going underneath it, if it wasn't for an MRI machine, we wouldn't have gotten to the bottom of me having MS.....At least I would never need to go under it again for this same illness, as like June says, why, if its not going to cure me?

Phyllis--I believe I'd choke if I ate an $8 apple.

Vanilla-Jackie--A MRI is rather daunting, but we do what we have to do.

Hi everyone on this Thursday morning.  My schedule this morning is the same as most Thursday mornings in that I will pick up my friend and got to coffee, take him home and then back to the Church for the Wisdom group and then will stop at Aldi's for some fresh vegetables.  Then later this afternoon Pat has her final Chiropractic treatment for this week.

I read all of the postings since yesterday before I got out of bed this morning as have limited time to post this morning.

Hal, nice to get a break in doctor appointments and tests.  I have understood the booming noise in an MRI is caused by the magnets used.  When you have a pacemaker you can never have another MRI so that is one test I don't have to worry about.

Phyllis, we had no impact from the TS Julia. 

JaneS, I think you hit the nail on the head that "Everyone is at the doctor's office" as the reason for few postings. It is either that or we may be taking an afternoon rest or nap. 

Lloyd, late summer colds are the pits.  Hope you are feeling better today.

Amy, sorry that your hubby wasn't able to complete his MRI. 

Joy, summer has only one more week to go.  It seems like it was a long summer.

Enjoyed reading all the postings. 

Good morning everyone. I am still slowly getting thins PC set to where it is where I like it. Will be great when it all is set up.  Right now I am using Google more than IE. Cannot even sign into S&F. All of a sudden it will not accept my password. Oh well at least no problem with Google.

LARRY  you are doing more cooking than I am now.

JOAN  right now on the TV it says it is 59°, no wonder I slept better last night.

HAL  I have started looking for a different PCP, this one just does nothing for this pain. 2 years ago he said he would look into a pain clinic, still has not done it.

PHYLLIS  no fun when we cannot get the sleep we need. If I get cranky at least I am alone and no one else is the brunt of it. We could use some good rain here, too. We might not have the beautiful fall colors because of the drought and what the gypsy moth caterpillars did to the trees. Leaves came back on some trees but others have been bare all summer. Just saw where Julia has dropped a lot of rain in places and more expected.

JOAN  you could not offend anyone even if you tried to.

JUNE  have you ever read any of Fern Michaels books? With no computer I went down to the library and got one of hers, A series about a “sisterhood” that ended being called vigilantes. I think there are 14 books about them, I must have read 7 of them. Each book is complete so do not miss anything. I don't know if all of them are downstairs but I enjoyed the ones I read.

LLOYD  you just cannot win. Seems one thing after another for you, now a sore throat.

SHIRLEY  my never liked milk and still doesn't. I had to use flavors to put in milk to get her to drink it, mad a lot of pudding and custards to get it into her. You are the first one I heard of to get those little antennas. I have been wondering about them because for the little TV I watch I hate paying for cable and all those channels I would never watch. I am an American and have no interest in the Latin and Portuguese channels I get. I do not watch sports or the shopping channels either. What antenna did you get? I see ads for several different ones and wonder how they work. I do get the Me channel, better shows there than the ones on cable these days. I get that Echo every year when I get my physical. Yucky goop for sure.

JUNE all I want from my doctor is some relief from pain, looks like that will never happen. I know I had measles and strep throat several times. That is all I know about. I did get the  shingles shot, doctor gave it to me and the pneumonia shots.

JACKIE  don't know if I had chicken pox but my 3 did and my daughter got a light case of shingles, she caught it right away and had the meds for it. Told my sons they should get the shot, too. I have had several MRI's and once had the music playing but that made it worse so asked the tech to stop the music. Felt like I was in that machine for hours. That laying there not moving is torture.

JOAN  I love bear claws and will enjoy one this morning. Cute chuckles. Love Food for Thought, already copied it to share. Thank you for all today's goodies.

AMY  wow it was cold there this morning. Looks more like mid winter than the end of summer. Looks like your hubby could not lay there in the MRI for more than an hour not moving or take the noise.

JOY  I miss the sitting out in the evenings here like it was when I first moved here. We sat there till 9:30 and even later some nights. Fun times.

JANE  good morning.

PHYLLIS  that happened to me once at the market. I was charged almost $50 for a small roast beef. I always checked everything when I got home. Called the market, they told me to bring the roast and the receipt back. Did that then gave me the money and I got the roast for free,That is that markets policy. If you find a mistake they will refund the $$ and you get the item free. When I get the order I went online for delivery I check every thing before the delivery person leaves. So far every thing has been good.

HAL  like you I would love something to help my back feel better, even a little better would feel great.

Good morning, Larry.  You have quite a busy day ahead.

Gloria--Good morning.  I know you are happy to get your PC set up the way you want it.   I keep praying that you will get some relief from that unrelenting back pain.  I am glad to have you share some of the "stuff" I post.

I think it was more the sound than anything other than the cold air blowing on him..he didn't like that. Hal, I hope so.....

Lloyd, take a spoonful of your raw honey and let it slowly trickle down your throat......that will help you!

Many years ago I was overcharged on something.  It was a small amount, but way too much for the item.  The manager of the store was a friend of Tom's and I showed him the receipt and he corrected things immediately.  I don't recall I got the item free, but at least the wrong was righted.

I am leaving tomorrow for Indianapolis and Tom will keep the home fires burning!  It is always nice to see that family.

Mary Ann

Amy--I was had a boss who, if we had congestion, insisted we drink his concoction of honey, lemon juice and boubon.  Yuck!!

Mary Ann--Safe travels to you and enjoy your time in Indianapolis.

Strangely it was when I came down with a cold, a week leading up to my second MRI, rather than take over the counter med's, I chose to drink an early morning cup of chamomile tea, fresh lemon juice and honey...I done this every morning....it did seem to have done the trick come the day I went under, at least I didn't make a grab for those tissues ( not that I would have been able too, ) nor done any coughing or sneezing.....
.........................................................

For the first time in a couple of weeks, my leg feels a tad better, enough to be able to trust it, and my body, and my walking, ( any walking has to be done on the spur of the moment as my whole body can change in a blink of an eye, literally, ) so, with R walking along at a distance to my side, and me taking my rollator out, I managed a short downhill, turning right then left in a half circle before coming back to the bottom, then going straight ahead to my left, towards the alley, then back, and up the hill to home....Guess a 15 minute walk but, to be out and about and feeling fresh air on my skin was just heaven.....it felt good to be outside....Our parkhome site seems so deserted, so lifeless, just waved to one couple walking in the distance, ahead of us and through the small wooded area, where I usually like to walk with R and Benji....

Vanilla-Jackie--That was great that you were able to get out and walk and get some fresh air.

JOAN....
...I am now back where I started, a kindof middle of the road, not as bad as I have been over these last couple of weeks, but bad enough that I wouldn't be able to do that walk again.....

I did go to my monthly MS social evening Tuesday, been a two month wait, as they never held one last month....Not one of my better visits, wasn't overkeen on the nights subject matter, plus I wasn't in the best frame of mind, but it was a car to door, door to car with R, although our carparking to our home is on a slope, and the evening was dark at 9.30pm, I found it very hard when we arrived home in getting out of the car and down the slope into our home, even with Rs sleeve to grab hold of....Well at least our MS social evening always lands up with a raffle and a trolley load of teas and nibbles, biscuits, cheese...I always make for the tiny cheese squares and the sandwiched cheese biscuits, and grape if there are any going...I will leave the choccy wafer biscuits alone, and the single wrapped choccy marshmallow cakes.......

Im back.   And things went very well. Clinic was close by the door of hospital and they called me in early and the doctor was a nice guy.  He took his time and pulled all the MRI's up and explained what was going on.  His recommendation, try the shots in the back and if they don't work then an operation that, the way he explained it, will be minor and wouldn't be performed until everyone, medically, agrees.  My Daughter was well pleased with him, as she said, she liked his conservative approach.  The operation would in and out same day BUT because of my age I might be kept in overnight for observation.  In the meantime, more PT and the shots.

Just one more appointment and if it goes as well as the rest of the week, whooooopeee.  The good Lord does take care of us, doesn't he.

He said he doesn't agree with the radiologist write up, it isn't as serious as was written up.

Vanilla-Jackie.  At least you did get to the meeting even if things weren't exactly subjects you were keen on.

halkel--That's all good news.  Yes, the Lord is looking out for you.

HALKEL....
.....great, some positives coming out from your negatives....see how life and situations can change just in the blink of an eye....no two days are ever the same......

Good Morning Dear Ones, it is almost noon out here on the W. coast, but I just now finished my cream of wheat breakfast. I didn't wake up till nearly 8 o'clock this morning. I do remember a trip to the bathroom at 4 a.m. but right back to a deep sleep after that. I am missing musical bingo this morning, but I don't mind a bit..I am enjoying my life at home. I will go down for choir practice at one thirty, but the rest of the day will dictate itself as to what I do and where I go. It's a great life !!!!!

Jackie, it makes me happy that you had such a nice walk this morning. It is good to be out among nature and fresh air, and it is good for the body and mind both. Have you considered using a cane when you walk with R. ? You could hold his arm with one hand, then use the cane in the other hand. It would give you more confidence to have help on both sides of you. I used on for balance long before I got my cart, but now I must have the cart for when my legs cramp up badly. Sitting down on the cart bench gives relief after a while. Due to lack of blood flow, the leg muscles do not get enough oxygen from the blood and this causes quite severe cramping.

Phyllis, I am glad you checked that Grocery receipt, Six bucks an apple would give me a stomach ache. They really should have given you the apples  free for having had to make two trips.

Hal, I am glad you have a cardio doctor that understands how you feel. It renews our faith in the medical profession. My new doctor does not push electronic testing at all, and she trusts my judgement enough to allow me to make decisions. As do my kids.

Gloria, I am so proud of you for all you can arrange on you computer. I would not begin to know how to do the things you do. Yes, I have read several of Fern Michaels books, and i especially enjoyed the ones about the group of girls and their sisterhood. I will remember to seek more out next time I go down to our library here at Rowntree. It is very extensive, they have every style of book there is, even large print for those that need it. And a whole group of "religious" novels. Gloria, I am so very sorry you have to have that constant pain. There are Pain medications to help, but usually they have to be increased in strength as time goes by. I wonder if acupuncture would help you ?

Time for me to get myself dressed in street clothing and get out for a walk. I'll check the menu for todays lunch and if there is something appealing I will sit down and order and save most of it for supper. I am still full from my big breakfast.

See you all later, June

June--It's nice you can go back to sleep when you wake so early for a trip to the bathroom.  Once I wake up, that's it--just can't go back to sleep.  Enjoy your choir practice and lunch with your friends.

Are you still fixing crepes?  I'll have the Nutella one - thank you.

We had the normal rough flight over the Rocky Mountains into Denver yesterday but back to wonderful weather here.  Seattle was sunny and so pretty for this last week.  Lots of ferry rides and meeting with cousins & nephew with family.  Playing with a two-year-old and a four-year-old - so much fun.  Traffic there is awful.  We left the north end of Seattle at 5:15 am in order to get there & go through a predicted two-hour-line at the TSA airport.  We were fine - having circumvented the freeway where three lanes were blocked - the t.v station had that news before we left the hotel.  No breakfast - they did have coffee and a cookie to hand us going out the door.  Fortunately - because no food on the plane unless we buy it.  Cheap flight but a wonderful view of Mt. Rainier and others. 

Back to real life here - there is a pot of beef vegetable soup simmering while doing the washing.  I have never lost any height - why, I don't know.  Just so happy that my back didn't act up while toting a little suitcase and a very heavy purse.  We traveled one week with overhead little suitcase each only.  It can be done with washer available.  They wanted $50 round trip for a large suitcase & darned if I was going to pay -

JOAN.....
....yes our subject matter was a man sent from the CAB office....( Citizens' Advice Bureau ) talking about PIP mainly, ( Personal Independent Payment ) something I claimed for re, my MS diagnoses last year but got turned down at age 64,.... can't claim it this year even though my MS has become worse, as it has a cut off age of 65....If I had of gotten it last year, I would be on it for however long....So I had to sit and listen through, to something that I felt some anger and bitterness towards......

The PIP allowance is awarded on a points system, a point for this two points for that etc...the PIP payment would be adjusted to the amount of points.....last year when I was diagnosed, I just didn't get enough points to receive anything...especially that you are judged on the day they come to your home and see you, not what has happened to you  in the past....... This payment is not assessed by the CAB, but an outside company....and my form was filled in with the help of my then MS Specialist Nurse, not the CAB....This CAB man said he words it in our favour, as he has filled in so many of these forms, and has rarely had any rejections...

Jackie, what ever happened about you complaint about how you were treated on the screwed up appointment?

Bis, I too have had those kinds of mornings when I wake too soon and just cannot go to sleep again. So I just get my day started earlier. It is impossible to force sleep, I know, but this morning, it just happened that I fell right back to sleep…I think before I ever hit the pillow.

Carol, good to see you back with us, and it sounds like your trip was a great success. Soup sounds great too..I loved my homemade soups. They are so nourishing and tasty. But a thing of the past for me now.

Time to scoot down for Choir practice….

HALKEL.....
......I have been given a date I should hear its outcome by, it is anticipated to be around 23rd Sept...To be honest I have no Idea what I want from this, nor expect from this.....just the satisfaction that I have made it....

Quote from: Vanilla-Jackie on September 15, 2016, 04:24:03 PM
HALKEL.....
......I have been given a date I should hear its outcome by, it is anticipated to be around 23rd Sept...To be honest I have no Idea what I want from this, nor expect from this.....just the satisfaction that I have made it....

Tell them you want the medical care you are entitled to without all the hoopla and bureaucratic crap.  I would also point out how long it has been that you have had to care nor even seen someone who specializes in your MS. 
Jackie, start taking notes to yourself now and consult with R for the interview.
Don' leave anything out.

HALKEL....
...dont think there is any interview, only a stage if I am not happy with the outcome...
...agree, everyone with MS is entitled to an MS team....I can go find them myself, even out of our catchment area...but as my female GP has told me, it still has to go through a referral from her first...I have found via the internet a couple of top specialised hospitals that supposedly have a great MS team, but one is in the heart of London, think the other I found is in Kent....R of course is concerned on the distance and has as good as told me why cant I find someone nearer, yes nearer is the team I  have an ongoing complaint....and would you believe it was the MS Nurse who gave me the details of the complaints board, told me if she was me, she would be putting in a complaint, so I took her advice, even if part of my complaint, she knows, includes her....