Tag: the husband

Blogging · His Days (about the husband) · Mi Vida Loca · nonfiction · writing

End of the Year Rant/Talk/Catch-Up/Something or Other

JackieP19 Comments

Hello, People! Yes, it’s really me. Been a while I know. I haven’t posted anything since November 9th. I think in the five or so years of blogging this is the longest I’ve gone without posting a thing.

Honestly, I just didn’t have the energy or want to. I felt/feel drained. Totally used up. It’s not a pleasant feeling.

It’s been a hard year, hell, it’s been a hard couple of years. No one’s fault. Just the way life is.

I find myself moody lately, my temper easily set off. I’m not a pleasant person to be around right now. Just ask the husband. I snap at him and everyone else. I’m super sarcastic and just awful, to tell the truth. Hell, I don’t even like myself.

I’m tired of life giving me the finger. I’m tired of dealing with one crisis after another. I’m tired of NOT writing. I’m tired of being tired. I’m tired of having to make all the decisions and deal with the repercussions of my decisions. I’m tired of dealing with people who treat me like I’m an idiot just because I’m old, a woman, short and fat or whatever reason.

I’m tired of some people treating me and the husband like we are lepers and have something they might catch just because the husband had a stroke and lost his hearing aids and can’t hear very good. Yes, he had a stroke. Yes, he gets confused sometimes, yes he walks bent over like an old man, yes, he repeats himself……a lot. Yes, he’s sick and his next stroke might be his last. And ok, maybe you don’t like me personally. I’m fine with that. You don’t have to like me. I’m not everyone’s cup of tea.

BUT……he’s still alive, he’s still talking, eating, walking, carrying on conversations (limited I know but still doing it). Yet he gets ignored and left alone and there is nothing I can do about it. I realize people have their own lives to live. That is no reason to forget about someone who is supposed to be a friend or relative.

I just don’t understand people. Maybe that’s why I don’t like most people.

Whew! That was quite a rant. I have felt it boiling up in me for weeks. Maybe I’ll feel better now that I’ve ‘blown’ so to speak. Maybe not.

Now that my rant is out of the way. And no, I’m not apologizing for it. It is how I feel. I don’t tell people how I REALLY feel often enough. That might change.

As for the husband. He’s still weak. Still can’t use his right hand. But, he does seem to be getting stronger. God knows he’s more stubborn. Some days are good and he can carry on conversations and stay with it. Some days not so much. Some days he’s super argumentative. Some days happy and joking around like he used to. It’s a bit of a roller coaster ride.

As for this blog. I’m continuing it. I’ll be writing more (fingers crossed). I’m not sure what I will be writing. I’m hoping more stories, more fiction, more poetry (even bad poetry) and fewer rants and raves.

I’m needing to get back to writing. It helps ground me.

I’m not trying to find the old me. She’s gone. Like the past year, gone forever. I am looking to find the new me. The one that is a bit wiser. A bit more settled. A bit happier.

I want to thank all my friends who have asked after me. Asked about the husband. And never judge.

I want to thank all the readers who no matter how erratic my posting was, read what I wrote.

I want to thank everyone who will be back again next year to help me grow into a better person, friend, and writer. It’s good to have you with me.

Happy New Year’s Everyone!

 

 

Blog challenge · Daily Prompt · His Days (about the husband) · Humor · Mi Vida Loca

The Nightlife is Not the Life for Me

JackieP8 Comments

If you think this post is going to be about the nightlife where I party…well you will be disappointed.

It’s about sleep or the lack of in my case. Let me set the scene for you.

The husband and I are at the age where we like our sleep at night. Because of his severe back problems we set up his bed in the living room. Yes, not the prettiest living room decor but it is what it has to be.

He loves his TV. He watches it all the time. For him, it has to be on twenty-four hours a day. Even when he sleeps.

Now me, I must have a quiet semi-dark room to sleep. I have never been able to sleep with a TV or radio on. As I grow older it gets worse. I hate noise at night except the white noise of my fan. This is the only way I can sleep.

My bedroom is right off the living room. I keep my door closed and he turns down his TV to the lowest he can have it and still hear it. Now, have I told you he is also going deaf? Yes, unfortunately, he is. He wears two hearing aids which help a lot.

Now, for the most part, the TV is not the problem.  I’ve kind of gotten used to it. Although I must admit, the odd times the power goes off and the TV is quiet, I rejoice inside. Don’t tell the husband.

Ok, back to my story. The husband is on super strong pain medication and he takes sleeping pills at night. Two of them. Most times he sleeps for about an hour or two then he is up and down all night. And here lies my problem.

As he is awake off and on all night he snacks later at night. I don’t mind that, as he needs to gain weight and if he wants to eat at 1 am, who am I to tell him no? The only rule we have is no using the stove. (he sometimes forgets to turn it off. Danger!) So he raids the refrigerator and eats like a teenager. In fact, he lives sort of like a teenager. He sleeps most of the day and eats in the middle of the night, and waits for me to clean up after him.

So, what am I complaining about then, you ask? This was last night….

I’m all comfy in my bed with Sam (my dog) at my side and just drifting off to sleep when…

*crinkle, crinkle, CRINKLE!*

My eyes pop open as I wonder what the hell that noise is. I hear it again…

*crinkle, CRINKLE, CRIIINNNKLEEE*

After hearing it again I finally figure out it is the husband eating potato chips in bed and it’s the noise of the bag.

I shake my head and close my eyes and just start to go into a sweet slumber when I hear…..

 *bang! rrrrrrrrrrrrr, ding, ding, ding!*

The husband running the microwave for his snacks. No problem, I hear it most nights so I close my eyes again.

*clink, clink, clink* 

*crinkle, crinkle*

*clink, clink, CLINK!*

Eyes popping open, again.

*clink, CLINK, clink*

I finally figure out it’s the husband eating and is the sound of his fork hitting the plate, plus the potato chip bag. Rather damn loud too. Sighhhhh.

I swear under my breath and look at the clock, 2 am. I was asleep for all of half an hour. I’m tired so I close my eyes and snuggle down into my pillows.

Sleep, sweet sleep. Finally. My eyes pop open and I sit up in bed in a flash as I hear someone shouting…….

*BLEEP, BLEEP, BLEEP, WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH, BLEEP, BLEEP!!!*

I almost leaped out of my skin. It was so loud it sounded right next to me. It wasn’t. It was the TV. The husband fell asleep and turned over on the TV remote and turned it up very high. He turned it down before I went into the living room like a raging harpy and threw the remote and the TV out the door. Lucky him.

My heart slowed down and I looked at the clock and frowned, 2:34 am. I was so tired!

I get up to go to the bathroom as my bladder has decided since I was awake now anyway, why not empty it. I grumble as I do my bladder’s bidding and think if I am woken up one more time, the husband won’t need sleeping pills as I will put him to sleep myself. The hard way.

I crawl back into bed and close my eyes once more. A deep sigh escapes as I drift off into dreamland. Finally. Hopefully.

As I write this, the husband is sound asleep and I think it’s time to do some vacuuming.

 

 

 

(This post was done for WordPress’s Daily Prompt Later and yes, it’s all true.)

 

 

 

His Days (about the husband) · Humor · Mi Vida Loca · Wednesday Whatever!

Wednesday Whatever! Jan. 11, 2017

JackieP19 Comments

I’m going to tell you a true story. It’s a bit funny, a little sad, and a slice of my life as it is now.

It deals with the husband. Many of you know of him. I write about him sometimes. He’s had his share of hard times the last few years. Debilitating back pain, colon cancer and all that comes with battling that. Now we find out he has cataracts, in both eyes.

He is dealing with it all like a trooper. The man is strong in many ways.

oldmansil

But…..sometimes our life is like a comic skit. A dark one, maybe, but a bit of dark humor never hurt anyone.

It happened one day last week. The morning started well enough. I mean, I managed to get up out of bed. I always figure that’s a good start to any day. I have a routine in the mornings. It helps to have a routine when you are still half asleep and need to do certain things first thing in the mornings.

I dole out the husband’s daily pills. So, I count out his pills and walk out to the living room where he is still sleeping. I put his pills in his daily pill container and still half asleep go to make my first, much-needed cup of coffee. Didn’t really look at the husband as he was buried under his blankets. Usual morning.

I grab my cup of coffee and head down the hallway to my home office. After firing up my computer I do what I normally do every day. I check out WordPress, briefly bring up Facebook, and then go into my emails. Same old, same old.

About an hour later I finally hear the husband’s shuffling feet coming down the hallway to his bathroom. Again, same old stuff. A few minutes later I hear him coming towards me. Probably just to say good morning. Ok. No problem.

He stops in the doorway, as our two fat cats have decided to lay in the open doorway and believe me, you can’t walk over both of them. They take up too much room. He stands there and starts talking to me. I only listen with half an ear because…well, I only had one cup of coffee and I’m reading….and well, ok, sometimes I’m a terrible wife.

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I glance over at him briefly when he asks me a question. Just a quick look. Then I do a double take. I sit back in my chair, grab my glasses to put on for a better look…..and ask him….What the hell did you do to your face!?

His face ….. it was cherry red with what suspiciously looked like hives! It looked terrible. I mean, really, it looked like it should hurt like hell.

This is pretty close to how our conversation went……..

“What the hell happened to your face?”

” Why?” (Rubs his face and grimaces)

“It’s red! And terrible looking! I also think you have hives!”

(Rubs his face again and looks at his hand) “Really? Must be from that cream you gave me.”

“I didn’t give you any cream.”

“Yes, you did.”

“Nope, I didn’t. So what cream are we talking about?”

“The cream you gave me. It was on my shelf.” (He has a shelf next to his bed where he keeps all his stuff.)

“I didn’t give you any cream!”

“You must have. Why would I have it then?”

“Why would I give you cream? I would remember if I gave you any cream and I don’t so I didn’t.”

“Then, why do I have it?”

Well, I had to admit that one had me stumped. So I get out of my nice warm, comfy office chair and say……

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“Show me this cream.”

We both shuffle back down the hallway to the living room where his bed and shelf are. And where this baffling, notorious, cream is. He digs around his shelf and triumphantly hands me this small tube that I swear I have never seen in my life!

As I’m trying to read the small print on this small tube I hear him say…..

“See! You gave me this moisturizing cream, so I used it last night on my face because my face felt dry.”

“I have never seen this tube before.” I murmur as I try to read the small print. When I read what it says I start to laugh.

“This isn’t moisturizing cream…..it’s shower gel.”

“Then why did you give it to me?”

“I didn’t give it to you! I would remember and I don’t, so I didn’t give it to you!”

“Then why do I have it?”

I just sigh and look at his poor face. I don’t know why he has it. It’s not something I would ever buy.

“Did you not read the tube before you used it?”

“I couldn’t make out what it said. I just assumed since you gave it to me that it was moisturizing cream. So I used it all over my face in the middle of the night and then went back to sleep.”

“Well, it’s shower gel. A cheap gel and obviously you are allergic to it.”

He uses his forefinger to scratch at a hive.

“Don’t scratch it! Go splash some warm water over your face to make sure the gel is all off. Don’t rub your face dry, pat it dry. You don’t want to irritate those hives.”

“Why would you give me shower gel?”

I grit my teeth and say, “I. Didn’t. Give. It. To. You.”

He goes slowly towards his bathroom, mumbling….”Well, I don’t know who else would give it to me. Had to be you.”

I just shake my head, throw the tube in the trash and give up the battle. We could go on for hours.

I get him a Benadryl for the itching and send him to the pharmacist to see if they had anything for the hives. They tell him just to keep taking the Benadryl and to use a cream they sold him for the itching.

He was miserable for a couple of days. I still don’t know where the cream came from. I have my suspicions but I gave up that particular battle. I did tell him to please…PLEASE….show me anything he wants to use or take before he does so I know it’s ok.

Welcome to my world……..

 

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Mi Vida Loca · Monday Meeting · nonfiction

Monday Meeting ~~ June 13, 2016

JackieP10 Comments

It’s been quite a while since I wrote one of these Monday Meeting posts. So grab yourself something to drink and sit a spell.

 

Monday Meeting

 

Let me just freshen my coffee and I’ll tell you what I’ve been up to.

Ah, there we go. So, how is everyone doing? I’ve read about the terrible shooting in Orlando. So sad. I’ve read a lot of comments on posts about the shooting and let me ask you something…..has everyone gone completely crazy?? I tell you the comments are almost as bad as the shooting! People! Where has your common sense gone? Where is your compassion? Your love of other human beings? It saddened me that there were so many hateful comments. So many people took the opportunity to rant about the US government and blame Obama once more. Obama is no more to blame than I am! Come on people. One man went in there. One man made the decision to shoot those people. One man decided he was more important, more worthy, more whatever and decided to kill a bunch of strangers. One man with a gun. And his name wasn’t Obama.

Then, of course, you had comments that went off the rail about gun control. I won’t even go there. People need to wake up and smell the gun powder……but enough said on that also. My blog is not going to be the stomping ground for arguments. I won’t go there. I just feel so terribly sad for the many people affected by one man’s decision. The world is a scary, scary place where you have a place with little gun control and possibly a future president that is just as crazy and egotistical as the shooter.

I love my homeland, the USA but I’m so very sad of where it is right now and where it’s heading.

That’s about as political as I’ll ever get on here. Sorry folks. Just had to get it out there.

On to more personal news. The husband is finished with his chemo treatments. Yay!! This was his last month of them. He says he’s feeling better and his stomach seems to be doing much better. We have one more visit with the Cancer Clinic at the end of the month. Of course, he will have to have another CAT scan and colonoscopy to make sure everything is ok. They have already told us that he will have to be monitored for the next three to five years to make sure he stays cancer free. Still, it’s good to hear him say he’s feeling better.

That’s not going to help his health in other ways. He will always be disabled and in pain because of his back but at least we don’t have to worry too much about cancer now. And believe me, that was one big worry. It will also mean fewer pills for him to take, fewer doctor visits, less hospital visits. Less of a lot of things. So, it’s all good.

As for me. I seem to be in limbo. Ever since my mom died a couple of weeks ago, I feel like I’m just treading water. One good thing that has come out of it is that my sister and I are talking again. We are back to being friends……well…..back to being sisters anyway. Maybe the friend part will come later. I call her every weekend and we talk for a couple of hours. It’s nice. Especially since I was feeling a bit adrift as I used to call my mom every weekend.

Otherwise, I’ve been reading. A lot. One book after another. It’s what I seem to fall back on when I’m grieving. I remember I did it when I found out dad had died too. I just buried myself in books. Maybe I’m hiding. I don’t know. It’s my way to deal with things. I haven’t been writing. I just can’t seem to settle long enough to write. I do hope it will pass. I’m sure it will. Do you think it will?

I’ve also been cleaning house. Getting rid of stuff we don’t use. Just overall cleaning. It tires me out so I can sleep at night. It also makes me sore as hell but the place is looking good! I found out I’m not as young as I used to be. I tell you this getting older is hell. Things I used to do with ease, even ten years ago, is much harder now. I have aches where I never had them. Sigh. I hate that part of growing older. Better than the alternative, eh.

So, as with life, there have been bad things and good things going on. I’m hoping for more good for a while. I need to step back from the bad…..just for a bit longer…..and adjust.

 

 

 

How have you been lately?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mi Vida Loca · Monday Meeting · nonfiction · postaday

Monday Meeting~~ March 14, 2015

JackieP18 Comments

Hello from sunny Alberta, Canada!

I’ve lived here in Alberta for the past fifteen years and I don’t think I have ever seen a milder winter. Hardly any snow (sorry farmers) and warm temperatures. We’ve seen it in the mid 60’s plenty of times this past month. Spring isn’t officially here until this coming weekend but I would say we have been having Spring-like weather for weeks now.

Anyway, let’s get this meeting started.

Monday Meeting

 

Some of you have been asking how the husband is doing. First, thank you for your thoughts and warm wishes. It is deeply appreciated. The husband seems to be doing much better. He has managed to stay out of the hospital. That’s always a good thing. He is taking better care of himself in that he is now drinking lots of water and taking things seriously. Like most men I think he thought things would just go on as ‘normal’ and he would be able to drink what he wanted. Which was NOT water.

After taking out a third of his colon the doctors tried to explain to him that he needed to do certain things. Like, drink lots of water. He thought he knew better….after all, this is how he always lived his life.

Big surprise that he was wrong! ha! He wouldn’t listen to me or the doctors but I bet he listens to his body from now on. The last stay in the hospital scared him straight, I hope. Water is so very important to your body!

He has even managed to gain a little weight. Good news there. He has some home care now also. We finally were able to get some of that because he blacked out in the bathroom last month and hurt himself. We don’t know why he blacked out but it has happened a few times before, so the doctor is concerned. We have been able to get him a bath bench for the tub and a walker. He has some mobility issues, mostly due to his back. So they gave him a walker to use.

I’m not sure how much he will use it because he refuses to use it in public. I tried to explain to him that no one cares if he is using a walker, they have their own problems and lives to live and they don’t care if one old skinny guy is walking with the help of a walker. Sometimes his pride gets in the way of good old common sense.

We’ve also had a dietician visit us this afternoon from Home Care. I personally thought it was a waste of time. I’ve talked to more dietitians in my life than I care to say. This one is not going to tell me anything different. They want the husband to gain weight. Duh! He is gaining weight. Just slowly….which to me is like losing weight. Slow is good. He eats what he wants if we can afford it. He doesn’t eat a lot in one sitting but he grazes all day and half the night. She left him some nutritional drinks like Ensure to see if he likes it. I told her straight out….it’s not an issue if he likes them or not….it’s if we can afford them.

All in all, things with him are getting better.

Built by Damon Bennett!
Built by Damon Bennett!

As for other news. Remember a few months back when I told you guys I won a dog house for Sam and a Lowes gift card of 2500.00? I think I posted that I had gotten the dog house and was still waiting for the gift card. Well, I finally got it! Yes! Twenty-five hundred big ones to spend on appliances!

I am now the proud owner of a new refrigerator, dishwasher AND stove! Lowes was having a sale the day I went out there and so I was able to get all three, have them delivered, installed and the old appliances hauled off. All for the amount of the gift card. Finally something good happening! I’m a happy camper.

One more piece of news and then you can sit and tell me all your news. My book, ‘A Case of Deceit’ will be FREE from March 18th to the 22nd! I’m having a Spring Fling sale as the Deceit book will be free and ‘The Canine Caper’ is 99 cents. So if you haven’t read my book yet…..and why haven’t you??  You can download it for free from Amazon this weekend. Just click the book pictures on my sidebar and it will take you right to Amazon! Thanks!

I’ll be posting a reminder on Thursday. If you would be so kind as to download, read and please…please leave a review! I would be in your debt. 🙂

 

Now, what’s going on in your world? Let me know!

 

 

His Days (about the husband) · Mi Vida Loca · Monday Meeting · nonfiction · postaday

Monday Meeting

JackieP10 Comments

Hello, People!

I do hope you all had a great weekend. Come join me for some beverages, snacks, and a good old-fashioned chat session.

 

Monday Meeting

 

Are we comfortable? Settled? Need a refill? Please, help yourself to all the virtual goodies you want! I’m having my ever-present cup of coffee.

Let’s start this meeting with an update on the husband. He’s home from the hospital. As most of you know he was admitted to the hospital via Emergency because he was in a lot of pain and couldn’t keep anything in his stomach last Monday morning. He finally came home Thursday evening.

After a lot of blood tests, x-rays and CT scans it was determined he had what is called a ‘mechanical obstruction’ in his lower intestine. Because of his previous colon operation for colon cancer and his high doses of pain meds he became so constipated that it was obstructing his intestines. This was a serious situation as people can die from this. So they kept him in the hospital with a tube through his nose to his stomach, IV drips and various other things. He wasn’t able to eat anything and for the first couple of days, he wasn’t even allowed to drink water. They wanted to keep his stomach empty until they could do something about the obstruction.

It was a very long week for the both of us. He finally started to feel better about Wednesday. I think talk about a possible operation scared him well. 😉 I’m half kidding. It was a scary time.

Bottom line….he needs to drink tons of water, have a high fiber diet or take Metamucil. He needs to exercise more. Get out of bed and walk. He needs to keep himself regular or next time he might die. I hope they scared him enough that he will do these things. I did get him the Metamucil and make sure he takes it every day. Oh boy, that stuff is expensive! But it’s worth the cost to keep him out of the hospital.

I have him drinking lots of water too. I refused to buy him his pop/soda water and bought extra water. So far he is ok with it. The exercise part…..well that’s a struggle. He just refuses to do it. Not much I can do about it. Nagging him would just frustrate the both of us. I certainly don’t need that and neither does he. Anyone with any suggestions?

In other news….not sure there is any other news. ha!

My mind has been so tired and fuzzy I can’t remember what I’ve told everyone before. I’m just so tired. I’ve been going to bed before 10 p.m every night….that’s how tired I am. So far it hasn’t helped because I’ve been having some really vivid and tiring dreams lately. I think it’s the stress. Eh, I’ll be ok.

How have YOU been doing? I’m trying to catch up on everyone’s blogs. It’s hard once you fall behind. I do what I can. I’m trying to get back to my writing again but I’ve been so tired I have a hard time concentrating. I think that’s the most frustrating about being this tired. The lack of concentration. I find it difficult to write when I’m this way. I did go to my doctor the other week and told her how tired I am all the time. She had me do a bunch of blood tests to see if I lack in vitamin B12 and K. I haven’t heard back, so I suppose I better call her. Sigh. One more thing on my very long list of things to do.

Sorry for being so whiny today.

Again….How are YOU?

 

 

His Days (about the husband) · nonfiction · postaday · Stories of my life · Wednesday Whatever! · writing

Wednesday Whatever!

JackieP31 Comments

Hello, People!

Wednesday

 

Today’s post is going to be a bit of a catch-up. I don’t know how many of you noticed but I haven’t been around much lately. There’s a very good explanation for that. There is actually two reasons for me not being around, one, is good, the other not so good.

The first reason being the husband. He is back in the hospital. Monday morning at 4 a.m.  I had to call an ambulance for him as he was in so much pain he thought he was dying, or wished he was dying. That was a very long day. I did manage to have my first ambulance ride in the FRONT of the ambulance. I’ve had a couple of rides in the back. Riding in the front passenger seat was interesting. Especially at four thirty in the morning. No traffic for one and I saw a couple of coyotes crossing the highway.

Anyway, getting back to the husband. In the emergency room the husband was in terrible pain and throwing up. He couldn’t even keep water down. At first, they thought it was his appendix. They took blood and found he had an infection…..somewhere. More tests were ordered. I was there from 4:30 until almost noon. I had to go home and take my insulin and meds, so I left him there as the emergency doctor told me they would be keeping him for a while yet.

I waited at home for the husband to call me…..with no call. I waited….and waited…and waited. Tried to take a nap, but worry kept me from that. I finally called the hospital at around 6 p.m. They told me they were keeping him and transferring him to a regular room. They gave me the floor he would be on so I called the floor nurses desk. They told me …. yes he was in the room but sedated for now and that I could talk to him later.

The husband finally called me about forty-five minutes later. Seems it wasn’t his appendix after all. It was his colon. It was infected and had a blockage. So they were keeping him for a few days, he wasn’t to have anything to drink or eat until they rid him of his blockage and knew he would be ok. I told him I would come and see him in the morning. Which I did. Just in time for me to have to step out of the room while they gave him an enema. Yeah, I know….too much information. Sorry.

Anyway, to keep a long story short. He is supposed to be home sometime this afternoon. Unless they change their minds. Poor guy was so hooked up to so many things he could hardly move. But, at least, he’s alive and he doesn’t need surgery. So far. He’s had it rough the last few months.

The second reason I haven’t been around much is that I’m writing a new book. I had this character keeping me awake at night. I don’t need some character keeping me awake, as I don’t sleep very good as it is. She insisted I put away Dee and Tee away for a while and write her story. She almost dictated what I’ve been writing. So, I am working on a new book. It’s a bit of a continuing story of a short story I did on here about three years ago. It was called ‘The Arsonist’. Some of you might remember it.

The book is going to tell the story of how a girl/woman turned out to be an arsonist for hire. Why she sets fires, how it makes her feel and why she wants to stop. It’s going to be about how she’s not really a bad person, even though she sets fires. How she wants to stop, but can’t. And how one man is on the hunt for her, finally tracks her down and what happens between them and more importantly what happens to her. I think it’s a mixture of psychological suspense with a touch of romance. I’ll keep you updated on the book(s).

I’ve fallen so far behind in my reading and blogs and stuff. But, I’m still around. You can’t get rid of me that easily. So, see you next time!

 

 

PS….A quick update since I wrote this post. The husband will have to stay in the hospital for now. I just received a phone call from him. He told me he has had a bit of a set back. He tried to eat some soup and it didn’t go too well. He’s in severe pain again and can’t keep anything down. So for now he is where he needs to be. Keep him in your thoughts if you will. Thank you. 

 

 

 

 

Blogging · Mi Vida Loca · Monday Meeting · nonfiction · postaday

Monday Meeting ~~ January 4, 2016

JackieP16 Comments

Hello, People!

I do hope everyone was prepared to start the first full week of January. No? Oh, oh. Better luck next week.

I thought I would do my first Monday Meeting of the new year. So, shall we get it started?

 

Monday Meeting

 

I hope everyone’s Christmas and New Year’s was wonderful. It was quiet around here. Which is nice as the husband and I seem to be on the move a lot. Mostly doctor visits and hospitals stays and such. So having a nice quiet holiday was nice.

As an update on the husband and his cancer situation. He did have one-third of his colon taken out along with the cancerous tumor. He was in the hospital for seven days. It was a little touchy as during the operation he started to bleed out. He had to have a blood transfusion. But, now he’s healed up nicely.

His doctor did determine that the cancer cells did penetrate the outside of his colon so he will need chemo therapy. We went on New Year’s eve to talk to them and they put him on chemo. He takes it in pill form at home. Which is a good thing. The dose is relatively low so the side effects should be minimal if there are any. He’s been taking them for four days now with nothing happening as far as side effects are concerned. So, we are keeping our fingers crossed.

We don’t know how long he will be on chemo. I’m hoping we find out with our next visit. His attitude is pretty positive, which should help a lot. So good news in that department.

On the book front. I am writing again! Yay, me! I’m working on the third in the series of the DeeDee Watson, PI, series. In many ways, it is going to be a fun book. After all Dee and the gang are on a cruise ship. They should have some fun. Of course, with Dee, nothing is ‘normal’. Even on a cruise ship. There is a dead body, Dee’s mother, and a few surprises in store for Dee in the book. And…..Fedora and her heat things up a bit between them! 😉

It’s still a mystery book though, not a romance. But hey, why can’t there be a touch of romance mixed in, right?

As for this blog. It’s staying pretty much the same. A little of this, a little of that. I do want to write a few short stories. I’m even thinking of doing one that is ‘reader-driven’. I need to work out a few more details with that. But, I do believe it would be a lot of fun for all of us!

I might even do a bit more poetry! Yeah, I’m getting brave….ha! And as most of you saw yesterday, I’m bringing back Silly Sunday. That’s where I post silly comics, meme’s or whatever else I can find for you to lighten up things a bit.

I want to thank everyone for continuing to read, comment and send good thoughts my way on this blog. I hope you stick around for this year, too. We’ll see what we can get ourselves into.

That’s about it for this Monday Meeting.

 

 

How was your holidays? Anything you want to see me do on this blog? Let me know!

 

 

 

Mi Vida Loca · Monday Meeting · nonfiction · postaday · Stories of my life

Monday Meeting ~~ December 7, 2015

JackieP19 Comments

Today’s meeting has some good news in it and some bad news. Let’s get started.

 

Monday Meeting

 

Grab a warm beverage and sit a bit with me. I have my regular coffee. Can’t live without this stuff. I hope you have had a good weekend. Everyone in the holiday spirit yet? No? Not quite? Like me, I’m not there yet.

Yes, I know I’m procrastinating a bit here. I debated for a while whether I wanted to post the bad news today. Then I thought…you guys have been with me since the beginning of the cancer battle with the husband and I appreciate it more than you know.

We just got back a little while ago from seeing his surgeon for a post-operation check up. The husband is healing nicely, although he had a rough weekend. The doctor said he will have good days and bad days and that soon the good days should outnumber the bad as far as the pain is concerned with his surgery. It’s a slow healing process. Unfortunately, the doctor also had some bad news to tell us.

The husband had what the doctor says is ‘high level 2’ cancer. He’s not out of the woods yet. He needs chemo. When they did the blood tests and biopsy of the tumor it was determined that the cancer cells did break through the colon walls. Good news is it didn’t affect his lymph nodes or any of his organs. The doctor wants the husband to have chemo to “mop up any stray cancer cells” that are in his body.

The husband doesn’t want to do chemo sessions.

We discussed things and I asked him to at least talk to the cancer clinic, get the information on what kind of chemo he would have to take, for how long and what were the possible side effects before he makes a final decision. He agreed to that. He still may say no. It’s his decision. I will stand with him on whatever he decides. I know he would do the same for me.

So the fight continues.

Sam (c) JLPhillips 2013
Sam (c) JLPhillips 2013

On the good news front. I won a contest! Yay me! I just wish it was for writing. LOL It’s not. I entered Sam (my dog for those who don’t know) into a contest with CertainTeed Insulation in Canada to win a custom-made doghouse and a $2500 dollar gift certificate to Lowe’s early last month and found out Friday afternoon Sam and I won! I was so thrilled! I couldn’t say anything until they made their announcement on Facebook today. You can find it ……here

I won the doghouse made by Damon Bennett. As for the $2500 dollar gift certificate that is going to buy us a refrigerator and dishwasher! Maybe a new wash machine too if I can squeeze it in. I can’t believe I won! We need a new fridge too as the one we have is going out. You can’t put anything on the top shelf you don’t want frozen because that’s what it does. It freezes things on the top shelf and rots things in the crisper. The dishwasher hasn’t worked in two years. The wash machine works but is absolutely huge and I need a stick to get the clothes out of the bottom of it, as I’m too short to reach them. So I am so looking forward to shopping for these appliances!

The husband and I were determined to have a good Christmas anyway because I have one of a kind friends that were going to make sure we did. 🙂 This win just puts that cherry and extra bits on an already fabulous cake.

So, as always in life, there is the good that balances the bad. Almost.

 

 

 

What extra goodie are you planning for this Christmas?

 

 

Blog challenge · Mi Vida Loca · Monday Meeting · NaBloPoMo · Nano Poblano · nonfiction · postaday

Monday Meeting ~~ November 30, 2015

JackieP17 Comments

Hello, People!

Well, I really did mess up my 30 days of posting this weekend. I mean it was messed up before, but since I didn’t post at all this weekend that pretty much blew it out of the water. Ah well, hopefully, next year there isn’t so much going on. I could do with some boring stuff for a while.

Monday Meeting

 

Sit a spell, grab a beverage and I’ll get this meeting going.

On the husband front. He came home from the hospital this morning. He wanted to come home Friday, but they wouldn’t let him out as he was still passing a lot of blood. That seemed to clear up over the weekend, thank goodness. So right now he’s in his own bed, surrounded by his cats and sleeping. Nice to have him home again.

I think he was on the edge of running off last night. He was tired of hospital life and wanted to come home. I was glad he got the doctors approval, otherwise, I think he would have made an escape. 😉

He has a follow-up doctor appointment in a couple of weeks. Now that he’s home, he’ll heal that much faster.

As for me, I took yesterday completely off. Didn’t leave the house, didn’t do anything but try to relax. I was so tired and wore out that I just couldn’t get motivated to do anything. I needed a day off. So I took it. I just lazed around and relaxed. Goodness, I haven’t done that in ages. Felt good.

Now it’s back to the grindstone. I need to get writing again. I miss it. I need to start my next book in the DeeDee Watson, PI series. It’s been brewing in my head for a long time now. Time to get it out.

I also want to write some short stories and more flash fiction on my blog. So, we shall see where that goes.

That’s about it. Short and sweet. I didn’t want to keep you long. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that their Friday afterward wasn’t too crazy. Wouldn’t catch me shopping on that day! I have always stayed home where it was safe. Not always sane, but safe. ha!

Have a great week!

 

 

What do YOU do to relax?

 

 

 

Blog challenge · Mi Vida Loca · NaBloPoMo · Nano Poblano · nonfiction · postaday · Stories of my life

Update and a Reminder!

JackieP22 Comments

Hello, People.

It’s been a very busy and stressful last couple of days for me. Whew! Yesterday morning the husband had his colon operation. They started at 9 am and he didn’t get into his hospital room until 3 pm. It was a long day of waiting. I went to see him yesterday afternoon and he was still pretty groggy and out of it. I wasn’t able to talk to the doctor, but the nurses said he was doing well. His son and I only stayed for a short while. Just to assure us he was ok, then we left and let him have his rest.

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I was there again bright and early this morning. He looked good but was in pain (of course). He told me the doctor had been in to see him around 5 am this morning. That’s when I found out the reason for the surgery taking so long yesterday. Seems they closed him up after the surgery but couldn’t stop the bleeding. His blood pressure went down to 50/30. They had to give him a transfusion and get him stable before he could go to the recovery room.

Last night and this morning he was still bleeding internally. They are monitoring him and if it keeps up through today the doctor told him they will take him back to surgery, reopen  him up and try to repair it so he stops bleeding. Seems sometimes the body will stop it itself but if not he goes back in. Always seems to be another road block for him.

He was in good spirits this morning. His color was good and he was joking around, so that helps. I think he was just relieved it was over with, or almost. As for the cancerous tumor, it’s all gone along with 1/3 of his colon. They didn’t find any more masses or tumors when they operated, so there is good news too.

As for me. I’m tired but less stressed knowing he will be ok. At least I’m pretty sure he will be ok.

Thanks for all the warm thoughts. It does help. I do hope everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving tomorrow will have a wonderful day!

Dog_Meme_1

Don’t forget that both my books are on sale on Amazon!

 

 

 

Blog challenge · Mi Vida Loca · Monday Meeting · NaBloPoMo · Nano Poblano · nonfiction · postaday · Stories of my life

Monday Meeting ~~ Isn’t This Monday?

JackieP8 Comments

Hello, People!

Monday Meeting

 

Yes, once again I’m having my Monday Meeting on a Tuesday. If anyone noticed, which I doubt anyone did, I didn’t do a post at all yesterday. Damn there went my perfect posting month. I’m afraid there will be a few more missing days before the end of this month. I’m ok with it. More important things are going on.

So grab a comfy chair, your favorite drink and lend an ear or in this case, eyes.

As many of you know the husband has colon cancer. The doctors are moving fast on this, which is a good thing. His surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday, the 24th of November. I believe that’s about a month from diagnosis to surgery. There is a lot of things for him and I to do before his surgery, mostly him. I’m just there to help remember things and keep him on time. We’ve spent more time at the hospital these last few weeks then we’ve spent in the last fifteen years. One thing I have noticed…they have the most uncomfortable chairs my sorry butt has ever sat on! It’s a lot of hurry up and waiting.

Yesterday was one of those days. We didn’t know until Friday afternoon that he had to be at the hospital on Monday morning for pre-op. What they told me on the phone was he had a couple of people to see, one doctor and the anesthesiologist. Wouldn’t take long at all. I wonder if that is hospital talk for ‘it will take hours and hours’. Ha! Because that is what it did.

We got there in good time, got registered, was sent for him to have an EKG done. Wasn’t expecting that. Off we go to the other side of the hospital. That tech after she is done, sends us off to finally talk to the first doctor, which I’m still not sure why, but hey, who am I to question it. He asked dozens of questions, wrote down all the meds the husband was on and listened to his breathing. That took about thirty minutes. He said to wait where we were, a nurse was going to come in and explain some things and ask some more questions. Ok, more questions, what more could they ask?

The friendly nurse comes in with a handful of brochures and sheets of paper. She asks thousands of questions, again writes down his meds, explains all the procedures to us and kept calling the husband ‘sir’. I would just smile every time he winced at her ‘sirs’. I almost laughed when she lectured him about what a good wife and helper I was and not for him to take advantage of me in the coming weeks. Hahaha. I loved that. He thought it was funny, so no harm done.

Then it was time for the anesthesiologist to come talk to us. Very nice woman. Told us what she would be doing, asked a million questions, listened to his lungs and heart and said something about his carotid artery in his neck on right side. Hmmmm. She said she wasn’t happy with how it sounded? Felt? She says she thinks there is plaque in the artery and since she didn’t want the husband to have a stroke while under for the operation she wants it checked out. So she finishes and we were told to wait as they wanted blood samples. We wait a few minutes and the woman who draws blood comes in with her mobile blood-letting machine and takes a huge vial of blood from him. Alright! Maybe we are done now? We’ve been in the hospital for several hours by now.

Um, no we aren’t done…..

Told to go back upstairs and get an x-ray done of his lungs. The doctor wanted another one, so off we go. So far we have been from one side of the hospital to the other. Now we are going back to the other side. Poor husband is groaning in pain from his back. I’m tired and my legs are about to give out and the husbands son, who was kind enough to take us to the hospital that morning has been waiting for us for several hours by now. But we aren’t done yet…..

They call up to x-ray and tell us that we are to come back downstairs when we are done. What? Again? Argggg……

We go back downstairs for two things. They decided they want the husband to do a breathing test for his lungs. Also, the anesthesiologist wants him to have a sonogram done on this carotid artery so they are calling the radiologists to get that set up. Holy tests, Batman!

Finally, he is done for the day. The sonogram is set up for Friday morning, early. We go home and collapse. Whew, what a process!

I am glad they are so through, less chance of anything going wrong. It is very tiring though. Now, the husband just wants it over with. Don’t say I blame him. Anyway, that’s why there was no post writting yesterday. I was wore out and my mind was a disaster area. That’s also why there will be a few more posts missing next week. I’ll be at the hospital visiting a hurting hubby.

On other news…my mother got her birthday package of cards and gifts and was so happy! Thank you once again for all of you that sent her something. She says she is happily organizing all the recipes and already has a few marked to try right away. She told me that the day the package came, her home care nurse was there when she opened it. They both thought it was a really nice idea and was amazed how many cards she got and from so many places. 🙂

Now, I’m going to rest for a while and see if there is any chance in hell of catching up with everyone else’s blogs. See you!