Tuesday, August 21, 2018

A Brief Update


Hello All, it's been several weeks since I've posted and much has happened. My Meniere's went on for several days and then got better. That enabled me to use my ticket to fly to Idaho for a vacation with a family that has adopted me as a grandmother. Quite wonderful for me.

I stayed there 10 days and came home exhausted. It is so true that what one did when younger is no longer possible when one reaches her eighties. I rested for nearly a week, sleeping 9 to 10 hours each night.

Then the rain began here and an arthritic flare-up occurred in my back. When I had the back surgery in March 2017, he back surgeon told me that he could do nothing in the operation about my very serious arthritis. Thus, this flair-up wasn't unexpected. It lasted for an entire week with me keening and moaning and walking around like an old crone! Stiff like cardboard! Hardly able to bend over and feed the cats. Only today do I feel equal to getting things done in my home without pain.

During that time, I also got a virus that meant diarrhea and upset stomach plus the headaches. So this has been a difficult time. I do hope to return to my Sunday blogging in the next couple of weeks. I want to do my part to keep our blogging community enlivened with the stories of our lives.


I want to write AND I want to read about what is happening in your lives. I hope to catch up soon. Thank you for stopping by and checking on me. 

Peace.

Photo from Wikipedia.

30 comments:

  1. Wow, you've sure been through the wringer with your health! Glad you are on the mend. And it just occurred to me that a person has to be a certain age to even understand what going through a (washing machine) wringer means.

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    1. Dear Jean, you are so right about being a certain age to understand the wringer! I can remember Mom on the back porch of our farm house doing the laundry and that wringer and the needing to be so careful that the fingers didn't go under/between the two shafts of the wringer or else--catastrophe for those fingers! It was scary to put the clothes through the wringer if one was young. Peace.

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  2. Sigh. Growing older is definitely NOT for sissies.
    I am sorry you had such a rough time, and very glad you are back on a more even keel again. Hugs.

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    1. Dear Sue, I've found that when there are a number of days or weeks of feeling under the weather, I forget what feeling healthy or "good" feels like. Today, I'm remembering. And it's wonderful. Hugs back to you always. Peace.

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  3. So glad you were able to go to Idaho & Yosemite!! Sorry that your health had to pay for it.

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    1. Dear Fishducky, I so enjoy my visits to Idaho and Yosemite was a journey into the wonder of nature, but I just am not used to being with a lot of people for a number of days. I've become a recluse in my old age!!!! Also, I think it's the airports that do me in. Peace.

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  4. Yikes, you really have been through it. I had hoped you were busy visiting or writing. I am so sorry you have been so sick. I am so glad you did get to visit with your adopted family but they need to go easier on you and maybe you need to let them know--in a kidding way. No one understands 80 till you get there. Next year for me but I can tell what is coming. Do take care Dee and post only when you feel like it. We miss you but understand.

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    1. Dear Patti, as I said to Fishducky in my response above, I think that while being with a group of six takes a lot out of a recluse like myself, it's really the airports--the terminals--that do me in. They just overwhelm me with sights and sounds and I find myself so aware that both my vision and hearing are now compromised. Traveling makes me so aware of my mortality! Peace.

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  5. Dearest Dee, take care of yourself. I didn't call you as I promised because it has been so hot and I have been so tired. Now I'm glad I didn't but I will soon. I have a perfect post for you today if you feel up to it. It will be there for a few days. Sending love.

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    1. Dear Inger, I'm sorry to learn how tired you are. It's exhausting to be tired. Truly, it is. I become tired of being tired! And then there more tired! I will look at your post; thanks for suggesting it. Thanks for the gift of love. It blesses all of us. Peace.

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  6. So sorry to hear what you've been through. This rain and humidity has been wrecking havoc with my arthritis as well. Been a rough summer.

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  7. Dear mxtodis, so sorry to learn that your arthritis has acted up all this summer. I've had trouble only last week and into this week. It's fine now. I'm sure the flair up came with the rain showers we had. We so need rain here because of the drought conditions and so I think I must just live in gratitude rather then bemoaning my pain--which I tend to do. I hadn't thought about humidity affecting arthritis. Thank you for telling me about that. Here in Missouri we have very humid days in the summer. Take care of yourself. I so hope your arthritis gets better as we move into autumn. Peace.

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  8. Glad to hear you are doing better! :-)

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    1. Dear Sandi, thank you. I had such a good day today. Peace.

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  9. I am so sorry to hear about all your maladies, but they do seem to be on the upside, rather than deteriorating further. And I too remember the wringer, even used one in my first marriage when we lived in Puerto Rico. :-)

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    1. Dear DJan, I'm glad that Jean and I are not alone in remembering the "wringer." There have been several days this summer when I felt like I'd truly been "run through the wringer." But now I've been hung out to dry, the wind has wafted through me, and I know the joy of feeling healthy again! Peace.

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  10. I am sorry to read about the very difficult time you have been having, Dee, and hope that the days ahead will be less painful for you. Arthritis is a beast.

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    1. Dear Arleen, I've always thought of diabetes as been a real "beast."
      But now, after my first flair-up, I can see why you name arthritis that also. So many maladies that can bring us low. I am just grateful that I have medications that help, that others are near to call if need be, and that I can take care of the cats! Peace.

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    1. Dear Bea, thank you and may you be well also and the air you breathe clean and fresh. Peace.

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  12. Goodness, you have been through the wringer. Visits away from home, no matter how fun -- we always come home very tired, too. Takes a while to recover. I hope by now you are feeling better and more rested.

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    1. Dear Cynthia, I am better except for this virus that keeps holding on. It's been a week now, but I'm sure that I'm better today. Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment. I am so fortunate to have met you through blogging. Peace.

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  13. Oh dear Dee you have been coping with many sufferings at a time!

    This is nice that you spent 10 days with a family who wanted you close to them!
    I am sure that it was pleasures for both of you!

    So sorry to hear about your back pain dear .
    Either my doctor said about my throat infection that no treatment will be beneficial except being careful in food .

    I am crawling towards my fifties and got multiple health issues to deal with!

    I believe that you are amazingly strong and positive lady with beautiful heart and very creative head so I would love to read you more regularly.
    Please take Great care! Hugs!!!

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    1. Dear Baili, I always so enjoy your comments when you drop by my blog. Your attitude toward life--your philosophy of life--is inspiring. It's so positive and so filled with love for all creation. Thank you for sharing your great belief in the Oneness of us all. Peace.

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  14. I'm so sorry to hear that you've had such a very difficult time, Dee. I really hope that by now you're doing much better. It's a mixed bag, isn't it? On one hand you benefit from travel and spending time with people who care about you and share the benefits of community, but then upon return you're hit with such fatigue and then illness and flare-ups of arthritis. Rest is always good and you seem to know how to put yourself on the road to recovery. I hope this week marks a very strict turning point for the better! Debra (breathe lighter)

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    1. Dear Debra, I had a hard time learning what retirement meant. It took me about 15 years! Now, I'm trying to learn to understand what aging truly means with regard to letting go and embracing new ways. I know that as time passes, all will be revealed.

      I'm working right now on copyediting the first book in a cat fantasy trilogy. It will be--I hope--published in November and I think you will enjoy it. Much of it is "tongue-in-cheek" and I found myself laughing at the idiosyncrasies of cats often while I wrote it. They are such delightful creatures!

      I truly am feeling so much better. I've decided that I have to balance my passion for writing with an embrace of my limitations. So I hope--beginning now--to write during the weekdays for 3 months and then take a month off and just to keep doing that as long as my health permits. I'm being gentle with myself. Peace.

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  15. Gosh ---it's so good to hear from you. I was truly worried....Sounds like you have had a rough time --although the Idaho visit must have been great (although tiring)....

    Please blog and FB when you can. We miss you!!!!! BUT--we understand when you can't do it...

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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    1. Dear Betsy, I'm hoping to begin my Sunday blogging again this coming Sunday and then FB and the reading of other blogs also. I decided to take a few days to just relax from the past few weeks and enjoy being lazy to the marrow of my bones! Peace.

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  16. I'm glad to hear you're doing better! Get some rest and don't worry, we will all be here when you get back. Big hug to you and the cats! Take care of yourself first :)

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    1. Dear Baiba, I just read your most recent posting about wanting to become a wife in a marriage that endures. I so applaud your maturity. Peace.

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