Every Last Drop!

We have a new Mexican restaurant that just opened next to Lana's salon. It is called Nando's and we love it. There has been another location near Leslee's house, we actually went there for Leslee's birthday when Dave and Nichole were here in November. That is the last time dad went out to eat now I think about it. Now we have one just around the corner.
I took mom and Leslee to lunch on Thursday, we shared a delicious Appetizer platter and as you can see, mom shared my drink with me. Yup, mom has turned into a Diet Coke drinker! Actually, she grabbed my drink while I was not looking and finished it off. The funny thing is she told me that there was not that much drink left, (1/4 of the glass) and that it was quite diluted with the melting ice. Well, the rest of the story goes like this...

As we were finishing lunch, giving mom plenty of time for the caffeine to kick in, she started to tell us about a nurse grandma had. He was a male nurse and was quite "light in his shoes". Leslee and I both looked at her as though we didn't hear her right, and she repeated it again. Then she said "You Know....that is what we used to call feminine men". Isn't that the funniest thing ever?
But, on with the rest of mom's "caffeinated" day.
Mom went with Leslee to the farmers market but stayed in the car as there are so many people there was no way she could have gone in with the wheelchair.
Mom went to Leslee's house and sat in the wheel chair and walked herself around Leslee's house.
Mom went in their backyard and watered some plants and the grass.
Mom picked up an orange from their backyard on the ground that blew off the neighbors tree and sliced it and ate half and commented on how delicious it was.
Mom played with Leslee's dogs in the backyard.
Mom pulled some weeds in Leslee's backyard.
Mom listened to Leslee give lessons.
Mom helped Leslee make dinner.
Mom told Leslee how to cook fresh green beans.
Mom told Leslee how to broil chicken.
Mom told Leslee how much salt to use.
Mom didn't get home until about 9:30.
Mom was very tired when she got home.
Mom was very tired this morning, and got back in bed to sleep rather than get up.

As we were talking today about how her day went with Leslee and she started to tell me everything she did, I told her no wonder she was so tired this morning. As she was telling me about all the talking she did, and about all the suggestions she gave Leslee yesterday, she realized she was so active due to the "little bit" of Diet Coke she had yesterday. She decided it was a good idea as it gave her enough energy to do something during the day but not enough to keep her awake at night. She is doing so good, I am just amazed.
She has been having quite a bit of cramping at dialysis though and today was no exception. I asked the clinic to use a "crit line" that measures the water in her body to determine how "dry" they can take her. It seems to me that they need to try to take a little bit less water off of her and she would not cramp. As it turned out, they were pulling off too much water and will start taking less next week. That should make a difference.
She also had a drastic drop in her hemoglobin this week. She went from 11 something to a 7 something. That is not very good and means she is not producing enough red blood cells and is anemic. That is a typical side effect of kidney failure, but dialysis should be helping her keep that number in the normal range. They gave her epigen with her dialysis to help her body boost that up. She has had epigen injections off and on over the past several years, I had to take her to the hospital for those once a week. She has only had epigen once since starting dialysis and that was a 1,000 unit injection. Today they gave her 15,000 units. They drew blood again and we should have the results Monday.She was tired tonight, but she is typically tired after dialysis, especially if she cramps.

Follow Up With Cardiologist

Mom saw the cardiologist today. Actually it was his Physicians Assistant, which we love because he has such a great bed-side manner. This turned out to be a very surprising visit. the PA's name is Stephen Chase, and we have worked with him since mom moved down here. He is always so cute with her, sits next to her, sometimes holding her hand or puts his hand on her leg while he talks to her. He is a cute 30 year old with a tribal tattoo on his arm, (totally surprising), and has become like a family member.

He first walked into the office and walked over and gave mom a great big hug and sincerely asked her how she was doing. She said "Oh pretty good, I survived Christmas". He looked at me and I said "actually, she survived something much more than that. My father passed away a few weeks ago and she survived that". Stephen said that is what he was talking about, and again asked mom how she was doing. He stood there with his arm around her for a couple of minutes, and was very cute with her.

The first thing on the agenda was to review the results from the angiogram she had in November. The results were not back yet when she had her appointment in December so we had never reviewed the report. Apparently some of the stents she has had are closing off, this we knew from Dr. Kramers intital report. However, where the stents are closing off, she has grown new capillaries that are circumventing the blocked arteries and providing blood flow around them. Her body is creating a new channel for the blood!

We discussed moms thoughts regarding quitting dialysis as she is in-operable and has been so miserable during dialysis at times. He told her it was ridiculous to even consider stopping dialysis, that she is far too healthy to do that. He told her that "in-operable" does not mean she is knocking on deaths door. He told her she needs to get the permanent access in her arm (fistula) and continue on with life. She will most likely be hospitalized for that procedure as they will take her off her blood thinners and use Heparin (injections in her stomach) for short term blood thinning. So, we are off to another adventure, or at least making the arrangements for that new adventure. Her temporary access (catheter) will typically only last around 6 months and it takes a a couple of months for the permanent access to heal enough to be used, so we need to get moving on that one. She started with this catheter in November.

Talk about a new lease on life! What a miracle! I discussed with her how interesting that she received a blessing that very firmly and adamantly told her she was not to quit dialysis weeks before we hear it from the doctor. Another great testimony to the power of blessings, and reminder that God is in charge. (Maybe at this time dad is in charge, who knows?)

We went to breakfast after the appointment then to Target to fill her new prescriptions. She was in the shopping scooter and she shopped from 11:00 until 2:30, looking at things for Easter and her little grandkids. I just followed her around and we talked. She put bunny ears on and I took a picture. She then forgot to take them off, and I walked around the aisle to the other side. When I walked back over to check on her she called me a "Silly Goose" because she had forgotten to take the bunny ears off and had been wearing them for a while, sitting in her scooter, shopping.

Now, I ask you....who is the "Silly Goose"?

A little 80 year old lady was trying to decide on a hat to buy and started a conversation with me about how the hats look on her. We spent 20 minutes (really) helping her choose a hat. Mom tried on a couple of hats as well saying if she is going to be around for a while she needs a hat!

Skye and Cloud

CLOUD
SKYE

Mom has chosen names for her birds. The white bird came from a family that needed to find a new home for her and they had already named her "Skye" because she has some blue feathers. More white than blue. Mom is going to name the blue bird "Cloud" because she has some white feathers. Somehow now we need to remember the bird that is white and looks like a cloud is really named "Skye" and the bird that is blue and looks like the sky is named "Cloud".

Arrival of a Boy and Girl

Yes, mom is the proud mother of two new birds. One is a blue parakeet with white the other is a white parakeet with blue. They sing all day long, and are just starting to get along with each other. Yesterday they were feeding each other seeds! How cute is that?
The blue parakeet is a boy and the white is a girl. We found the girl on Craig's list, and then got the companion at PetSmart. This has been a great distraction for mom, she has always loved birds, has had them in the past, and enjoys talking to them and listening to them talk back to her!

Sea World

Yes, we did! We went to Sea World on Wednesday with David and Leslie, Lisa, Darwin and the kids and Ray and Laureen. It was a very enjoyable day, beautiful weather, and mom had ribs for lunch just to make it a perfect day! We were all very tired, and got home late, worn out, exhausted, but ready to do it all over again.

Yes, Leslie is taking a self portrait while we are all on the ride. Lydia is in the back with her Aunt Merlene. The kids loved the ride and wanted to go again, but we saved this for the very last and the park was closing when we were finished with the ride.

Saturday at the Beach, and YES, it is all About Lisa

Our entourage arrived at the beach Saturday afternoon, ready for the afternoon. These was a very handy sidewalk clear out to the beach, with an asphalt basketball court. This was perfect for wheelchair traveling. We set up right there, flied kites, played in the waves, sunburned, and then I left and took mom to dialysis. The rest of the crew stayed and played, had ice cream and then watched the sunset. Beautiful weather, beautiful day!

Where in the world is Leslie? She is behind the camera. Ray was helping ward member move so he was not able to go with us. Any one want to plan a family reunion to California? I am offering it up, but then of course, you are always welcome in Arizona as well. We just don't have much of a beach, but I could sprinkle some sand around my pool!

Star Fish on Balboa Pier

Lisa and I were standing on Balboa Pier looking over the sides when all of a sudden Lisa calls me over to the side of the pier she was standing on. She was very excited about what she saw, I figured she was a naked man as there were scuba divers working on the pylons under the pier, and they were just stripping down with a towel around their waist to change clothes.

No, no. no, nothing as mundane as that, but starfish! Right on the pylons! Glued there! What an amazing find, and she was sure that is why the divers were workingon the pier, to rescue the pylons from the ferocious starfish and their wayward destruction!

Well, with all the commotion, one of the divers (dressed in only a small towel and hiding behind the door of his truck) asked Lisa if she liked she starfish. She didn't know how to reply, and after a brief moment, she gushed..."oh yes, I LOVE Starfish! The diver proceeded to tell Lisa that he can get a starfish from under the pier for her. She was ecstatic! She could hardly contain her excitement and then after the diver committed, she told him she would like two starfish for her two children. He told her, that would be great, and then proceeded to talk to his divers in the water and sent a bucket down for them to pry some of the starfish from the pylons.

It took a few minutes to coordinate the effort, during which time Trevor shared some of his fries with the now dressed diver. There was talking between the surface diver and the below surface diver, and the Home Depot bucket was tied to a rope and thrown over the side of the pier. Anticipation grew, all present held their breath, and waited and watched.

Soon a masked head and gloved hands appeared below the pier and the extraction started. One starfish after the other were removed from the pylon and dropped in the bucket.

The diver on the pier told us this was a heck of a way for a company that charges $600 an hour to be working, filling a bucket with starfish, but he was happy to do it. (At least I think he was happy when he first offered, but after the extensive effort involved, he may have been regretting his original offer.

Finally, the bucket starts to appear as the diver on the pier and another deck hand started hoisting the bucket up and over the railing.

The bucket finally surfaced and with a final heave ho, it was laid to rest on the pier.
The contents were emptied out for all to see, and admire.


There they were, a huddle of 6 starfish. One of them had 6 legs, and another was missing most of one leg, he looked a man with a very little head and very long arms and legs. (Bottom left of picture)
The diver explained the anatomy of the starfish to Lydia and Trevor and told them that because the starfish does not have a brain, they can not feel pain. (Really?) The diver told Lisa to take what she wanted, and it was decided that Kib would like a starfish and mom wanted the one with 6 legs, so we bundled all of them up in my jacket and headed off the pier.

The rest of the story will remain untold for those with sensitive feelings, but the starfish are beautiful and a great reminder of the trip we took to the beach with grandma.