The "We Made it to the End of the Year", edition.

iPod shuffled to "This Place Hotel", The Jackson's. I like the arrangement. Well, it's the end of 2013. We made it. I started out using a walker.  I was passing out after treatment. My mom died in January.  But wait!  Progress started. I took my first trip in February.  I used the cane because I hated the walker. Lol.  Vanity had a huge part in my recovery.  The walk from the airport transport to the wheelchair area was the longest walk ever!!  Shawn got accepted to a PhD program with a fellowship. We took a trip to Champaign, Illinois to help her get an apartment. I started the process to get on a transplant list.  I reconnected and got together with friends from elementary school!

"Shake It Off", Mariah Carey.  "Like the Calgon commercial..."  I got the catheter taken off my neck.  Shawn graduated from Wayne State University, cum laude. Frances would have been so proud. We were able to tell her about the acceptance to the PhD program. :-)  I planned and had an open house for Shawn. I walked in a walkathon for the National Kidney Foundation. Raised over $400. Thanks so much to my sponsers!  

Took a  6 day trip to Disney a World.  Had a ball. Went to the water park!  Got put on a transplant list. Enrolled in water aerobics, took several day trips around Michigan including Port Huron and Frankenmuth. Went back to Champaign to help Shawn move. Twice. Lol.  Tossed the cane!!  Missed Dad so we went back to Vegas. Got selected and trained to be a peer mentor to other dialysis patients.  Went back to Vegas to spend Christmas with my family. Fixed a massive spread, with assistance from Brian and Shawn. "California My Way", The Main Igredient. Cuba Gooding's voice is so smooth and distinctive.  And through  it all. I NEVER missed a treatment.  Had dialysis in Orlando, Florida, Champaign, Illinois, and 3 times in Las Vegas.  Lol. The last time at the airport,  the walk from ground transport to the wheelchairs was a piece of cake. Now I'm still to wobbly and slow to make it to the gates without assistance, but one day...  Anyway, the stamina levels have made leaps and bounds.  

I can go to stores without using the scooters. I don't even lean on the carts when shopping anymore.  Early on, I didn't have the stamina to shop for more than 10 minutes. I'd have to go back to wait in the car. And even getting to the car was dicey. Now, I go by myself...when I can escape my helicopter husband. Lol. 

My friends and family have played an immeasurable role in my recovery. I can't thank everyone enough for the love, support and encouragement. The comments on Facebook and the blog let me know you care and understand. 

Thank you for being there this past year. I love you all. Have a safe and wonderful New Years Eve.  I'll be back next year (Friday-lol). Signing off with, Kem, "You're On My Mind".

The "Back Home and Dialyzing on Sunday Morning", edition.

iPod shuffled to "Hey Western Union Man", Jerry Butler and the Impressions.  That through me for a  loop. I knew Jerry Butler had been in the Impressions, but I never heard them referred as Jerry Butler and the Impressions.  I'll look it up later.  I'm back home after 10 days visiting Dad.  We had a great time. And the time seemed to pass so quickly.

"Steve Miller", Jet Airliner. "Big ole jet airliner". Love the hook. :)  lol. The song mentions a 707. Talk about an old airplane. I don't even remember the last time I saw one. It was a big long airplane.  I think we flew that to London in 1973. Lol. On the way to Vegas we were on the standard 737. Prior to departure, I got a notice from Delta that there was a change in the itinerary.  Well sort of.  They changed the plane.  We went from a 737 to a 767, a larger plane. I suppose more people were leaving Vegas than anticipated, so a larger plane was needed. 

Well we boarded and oh my goodness. We boarded a 21st century plane!  Brian and I were in Business Elite seats. We'd seen pictures of these planes, but honestly never thought we'd be sitting in them!  We had individual pods. The seats had massive leg room.  The seat reclined...like a LaZBoy!  We had individual lamps and places to recharge and stow the electronics.  We had easily 20+ movies, and over 15 TV shows to watch...and that was just comedy.  I didn't check out the drama, comedy or lifestyle categories!  Nor did I check out the kid section or the games. Or the music channels.  And yet I still had a complaint!  I like to check the stats and maps while in flight. You get to see airspeed, temperature at 30,000 feet (really cold), distance traveled and distance to destination, time to destination.  You also see large and small maps of where the airplane is.  This plane was set from San Francisco to Memphis. ;-(  However, all things considered, I got over it. Lol.

"Never Can Say Goodbye", Isaac Hayes. Lol. I haven't heard a version of this song I don't like.  I had dialysis 4 times in Vegas. At the same center I've been to the last 2 times I was there. I am now an official regular visitor.  Lol. They asked me when I was coming back. :)  It's different from my "home" unit and I guess I prefer my unit because it's familiar. What are some of the differences?  First of all is the ice machine next to the scale at the Vegas unit....and that's a plus. I asked about one here.  I was told there had been one, but people would steal the ice. Really?  "Sigh".  That's as ignorant as stealing the cable box remotes.....but I digress. Differences. Our machines are newer. Vegas has windows.  Here, we're in the lower level. There, they tape the hell out of me when the needles are removed. I like that, though.  The pressure they put on the access makes the bleeding stop quickly. I'm out in about 5-8 minutes after the needles are removed.  The other thing is here an alcohol pad is put between the access and the gauze during the bleed out.  I think it's just an extra step for infection prevention.  

"Why Leave Us Alone", Five Special. We used to go see the play at Orthea's on 8 Mile in the 80's. Damn that was a long time ago..lol. Imagine my surprise seeing my old friend, Tony "T Money" Green , , and neighbor plaing the bass and directing the group.  :-)  And when I say old, I mean I've known him since we were 6 or 7. Lol. He's still a sweetheart. One day I'll go over the musicians I grew up with. I'm kinda thrown for a loop that so many of them became wildly successful professionals. Proud of them all!!

So of course I have more stories from Vegas. I'm just glad to be back at my regular time at MY dialysis unit. I was glad to see my module group. They welcomed me back. <3.  Glad to see MY techs and nurses.  Lol. Well, I guess if I have to go to dialysis, I might as well get along with the others here. We really are some kind of family who spends 4 hours 3 days a week with each other. I bet you can't say that about your friends and family! And this includes the staff.  That, too, is a topic for another day. 

Signing off with "There Goes My Baby", Usher...one of my favorite songs by Usher.  Hey. Thank me for bringing some of the warm Vegas weather back.  I couldn't bring it all, but I did what I could!!  ;-)   Lol

Have a fabulous day!!

The "It Was a Great Christmas", edition.

iPad shuffled to "I Can't Help It", Michael Jackson. Such a pretty song. Written by Stevie Wonder. I guess Stevie had a lot of songs inside. :)   So, how was your Christmas?  I last spent the holiday with my parents in 2010.  I missed 2011 because Dad was scheduled for hip replacement surgery 2 weeks after Christmas.  The plan was Brian and I would go out there and help Mom take care of Dad during his recovery. On December 24, 2011, Mom fell trying to get up out of a chair.  EMS was called and she was taken to the hospital. She ended up with a stent in her heart, was dehydrated, and wouldn't eat.  She was placed into a rehab facility for recovery, because Dad couldn't take care of her due to his bad hip.  Brian and I did make it out there in early January.

December 2012, I was recovering from kidney failure. The only places I was going was to dialysis and assorted doctors. Mom was in a nursing home.  Dad picked up a take out meal and had dinner with her.  I sent her a little Christmas tree for her room. This year, my family went to spend Christmas with Dad. Yay!  I cooked a Christmas dinner like the kind we used to have when Mom cooked. I fixed potato salad. Note, 5 pounds of potatoes is waaaay to much for 4 people. I found fresh corn, so I cooked that, off the cob.  Dad said he liked stuffing with gravy. I cooked a jumbo pan. We froze half. He wanted candied sweet potatoes.  Done. Still enough to freeze. I used 5 yams. It was a lot. Lol. My family loves macaroni and cheese.  We inadvertently made two trays. One got frozen.  Dad likes green beans.  I've mastered that, so he got that.  We made just enough. :)    Got the smallest ham and a roasted turkey breast from Honey Baked ham. It's still a lot of meat!  Had rolls, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and an apple pie. Yeah,we overshot..big time!!  I could have feed 5 more people easily.  Lol.  But he does gave a lot of frozen leftovers now. ;-)  And yes, we got this all done working around my dialysis times. 

"Tilt Ya Head Back", Nelly and Christine Aguillera.  That's a mighty big voice coming out of that tiny little lady.  Lol. Yeah, I needed to watch what I ate. Mac and cheese, phosphorus.  Potato salad, potassium.  Sweet potatoes, potassium. Ham, sodium. Ah well.  I tried everything except the ham. I had it forThanksgiving.  The results were not good.   :-(  

We got Dad a tablet.   He loves it.  The good news is we got him wireless in summer of 2012. :)   He was good to go. He's figuring out his apps.  Shawn also got him a Facebook account. He's questioning some of the Facebook nonsense, but he's learning it.  Daffy is an 87 year old techie. Lol. 

It was a quick 10 days. I enjoyed every minute.  I was with my family.  And I'm functioning just fine with ESRD...at the moment.  I'm still dying, but I'm enjoying living right now!

Signing off with The Stylistics, "People Make The World Go Round". Another one of my favorite groups.  Lol. Have a wonderful weekend!

The "Christmas Eve and I'm Dialyzing", edition.

iPod shuffled to Blue Magic, "What's Come Over Me". Another Thom Bell group. Well it's Christmas Eve and I'm at dialysis. Like I've been on other holidays.  The holidays where my centers close are Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day. All other holidays are dialyzing days. After all, we need our artificial kidneys.  So of course I get here nice and early and on time and there's a problem with the water.  Water is a nessicity in the functioning of the dialysis machines. No water. No dialysis. The problem was fixed about 1/2 hour after my chair time was to start. Merry Christmas Eve!! Yeah well, a 1/2 hour isn't to kill me. The corn and potato salad are done. Stuffing and yams today.  We're still on schedule.

A few days ago I mentioned the process of removing the needles. It seems the techs and nurses all have their own methods, within the protocols. The machine is stopped, to stop the blood flow.  The 1st needle out is the last needle in and the last needle out is the 1st needle in. "Georgy Porgy", Eric Benet' featuring Faith Evans.  Cool video. The tech gets a few gauze pads and folds them up. Some put an alcohol square on the folded gauze. My skin has been reacting to so much alcohol lately, so I've requested betadine. Anyway, the first needle is carefully pulled out and the gauze is applied with pressure. Making sure that the needle hole is covered. This is important...covering the hole.  Lol.  Once the tech is confident that the gauze is in the right place, we transfer off so I can apply the pressure. Oh yeah, before this process begins, the but a sterile glove on my right hand....so I can apply pressure to the left arm. 

This is the fun part.  Guessing when the bleeding stops. Guess too soon, and it's a gusher!   Heh, when I first started with the smallest needles, I peeked and the blood spurted up!  I was startled and my tech laughed. :)  Now with larger established holes, it can be a pretty impressive flow. Once the flow stops, I apply the band aids then call the tech over to take the last needle out and repeat the process.  That's one way.  I've had techs take out both needles at the same sitting. They tape the gauze to my arm applying pressure with the tape and I'll still apply additional pressure with my fingers.  The bleeding stops anywhere from 5-30 minutes. Since getting the buttonholes, the bleed out is about 5 minutes per buttonhole.  Lol. So close to leaving, but gotta wait for the bleeding to stop.  They give us gauze alcohol and band aids or tape, though, for those just in case of "issues" once we leave. 

"Whip It", Devo. Imagine how tickled we were when we found out Mark Motherbaugh of Devo wrote the music for Rugrats.  Lol.  Christmas Eve is my parents anniversary. They would have been married 58 years today. <3  December events, Shawn's birthday, 12-12, my birthday, 12-17, the anniversary, 12-24 and Christmas, 12-25.  One big celebration!  :-)

Photo of the two needles for reference. Signing off with "Crazy on You", Heart. Oh yeah, check out James Brown's version of "The Christmas Song".   ;-)   Have a great holiday!!!

The "Dialysis on Sunday..Again", edition.

iPod shuffled to "Portuguese Love", Teena Marie.  This is my favorite song by her.  I wore out the cassette tape. Literally wore it out!  Look how we've progressed from LPs, 8 tracks, cassettes, CDs, and now digital. We lugged giant stero systems off to college. Now my entire music library is stored on 1.5 x 4 inch skinny little metal thing....and in a "cloud". Lol. And I'm sticking little soft plastic "buds" in my ears to listen to music.  And it sounds great.  I'm hearing things I never heard on the songs before!

The change in schedule is disruptive, but I just have to take it. Late times on off days. Just gotta do it. What choice do I have....other than plan for it and around it. I cooked the corn yesterday.  We picked up the ham early today.  Good thing, too.  The line grew immediately after we entered. Lol. I'm going to fix the potato salad tomorrow. It always tastes better the next day, anyway. After all the flavors get settled and absorbed.  Stuffing and candied sweet potatoes on Christmas Eve.  Green beans, mac and cheese, and gravy on Christmas Day.  Lol. My stomach started grumbling.  "I'm So Proud", The Main Ingredient. Sounds like pre Cuba Gooding.  I guess I could check...... They are good before him and good after.  And I forgot the Impressions did this song first.  Lol. Now which version of the Impression?  Pre or post Jerry Butler / Curtis Mayfield era?  

Lol. DMX. I HAVE to skip this.  I'll start joining in at the top of my lungs. Lol. "Y'all Gonna Make Me Lose My Mind".  In the desert I am even more thirsty, but somehow I'm controlling it. You know what's nice?  7-11 has small size slurpees. <3. It satisfies the thirst and helps when I get warm....because, you know, it's hard to figure out to wear in the desert in the winter. Lol. You can't catch a clue from residents because they are dressed across the spectrum. In Target...lady in tank top...another lady in a pea coat. <shrugs shoulders>. 

I've learned how to use the scanner...don't judge.  So I'll put a few photos up. Not sure which ones. You can ask me about them.  Stay warm, have some kids shovel the snow, have a great day/evening.  Signing off with "That's The Way of the World", Earth Wind and Fire".  "You find peace of mind when you look way down in your heart and soul..."  :-)

The "Time to Start The Holiday Schedule Again", edition.

iPod shuffled to "Just My Imagination (Running Away From Me)", The Temptations. Listen to those strings. I think it's pretty cool that Barry Gordy got musicians from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to play for Motown.

We found some photo albums my mom squirreled away.  Photos from when I was a baby through maybe age 7-8. Photos of my cousins when we were kids. We're going to scan them in and I'm posting them.  Lol. Me and Karen, when we were babies.  Photos of us with Santa.  Photos of my brother as a young teen. Photos of us dressed yo the nines for Easter. One of the jackpot photos is of my Uncle and my dad dressed in all their golf attire finery. Pretty sure their outfits outshone the game!  Lol. I had a ball going over the photos with Shawn. 

There were also photos of young Shawn.  And Brian. And Pat.  Lol. Those will get scanned in also. We even found one of our old poodle, Clark, barking as his photo was taken. Photos of Mom, Dad, my grandparents, and aunts and uncles. :)

So I have the button holes for the needles access. It's pretty ok. The stick doesn't hurt, but the tech has to remove the scab. Imagine someone picking 2 scabs off of you 3 days a week. Well, in reality, it doesn't hurt me. I guess I have a tolerance for pain. When I arrive, I wash the arm and apply alcohol swaps on the button holes.  This helps to prevent infection and loosens up the scab. "Never Can Say Goodbye", The Jackson Five". I've always liked flute weaving through the song. Also, this a song that is hard to mess up. I've liked most versions I've heard.  The button hole sticks don't  hurt and the bleeding after removal is much shorter. I'm not sitting in the chair for 15-20 minutes waiting for access to stop bleeding. Lol. One day I'll go over the needle removal process. 

The button hole access is created by a single person cannulating the same spot in the fistula for several weeks.  It's mature now and that's a good thing. My tech has been out since Thanksgiving.  With the exception of the angioplasty day, which was not the fault of the button holes,  there haven't really been any issues. Some techs are more adept at cannulating and short of the ones I just don't want near me, it's been good. 

Have a good day.  Signing off with....The Dramatics, "Welcome Back Home". You can't mess with perfection. "I'm the one that loves you".

The "I Had A Wonderful Birthday!", edition.

iPod shuffled to Johnny Guitar Watson, "A Real Mother For Ya".  "Rents goin up higher, got the parents lying. I'll pay ya tomorrow".  Discovered him on WGPR. No other station played him.  And even though Eric B says his songs all sound alike, I still like him.

Yesterday was my birthday. Dad told me I was looking at 60. The he stated he was looking at 90. Lol. He said nevermind and dropped the subject. :-D  Last year I almost didn't make it..blah blah blah.  Well I'm here now. I had a nice quiet celebration. Maybe I'll have a 60th birthday party. Had a nice one at 30. Lol. That was awhile ago.  Ok. It'll be in Vegas, so save up. You have a few years. We'll celebrate our fabulous lives!  Lives well lived. :-)

Yesterday we woke up.  The first thing I do is give the dog some loving. She insists on it!  Then Brian takes her out. We have coffee and I have a bagel...with chipotle cream cheese. It has a little kick. I tried the jalapeño cream cheese, but it didn't work with hot coffee {shudder}.  "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)", Parliament.  "We gonna turn this mother out".  I opened my gifts. When we were at Macy's a few weeks ago, (joyfully) pointed out things I'd like. I received 2 of them. Some warm slippers and Estée Lauder perfume and the gift pack. <3   The day was quiet and calm. Just being with Brian was great.  As far as gifts, mom had favorite store.  She'd pick out items she liked.  The staff would hold it for her.  Mom would the send dad to select some items. Dad would go and just purchase everything!  Lol. 

I got quite a few birthday wishes on Facebook. lol. Facebook is good for something besides being a massive time sink. I am humbled by all of the Facebook greetings.    Greetings from someone who walked me to school in kindergarten, someone who was in Sunday School with me, elementary school friends, high school and college friends. Sorority sisters, people from my different jobs.  Friends I've met online, from gaming.  Relatives from all sides.  Thank you!  I was also tickled by how I was referenced. Pat, Patrice, and Patsy. Depending on when you met me determines what you call me. I actually have no preference.  I don't like Patty, though. Ugh. I was called Patsy as a child. I was named after my cousin Patricia.  My Perry family likes to recycle names lol. I am little Patsy. I stand almost a foot over Big Patsy. Lol. It's always a joke at family reunions. Most of friends call me Pat. I had to switch to Patrice when I started a jib and there were already 5 Pats there. Lol. All of them Patricia.  I appreciated being Patrice. :-).  Thank you. <3

"Ordinary Joe", Terry Callier. "I've seen a sparrow get high, and waste his time in the sky. He thinks it's easy to fly. He's just a little bit freer than I".  We spent a quiet day. Visited a book store. Had lunch. I had a nap when we got home. Later we had a dinner and Brian got me caramel cake. My favorite. Yes better than chocolate. ;-)   

Oh yeah, I need a dialysis reference. I don't really have one. Doing ok.  My labs are ok. I need a little more calcium, but calcium rich foods are also phosphorus rich foods.  Lol. It's not dire, all numbers are in the good range.  Calcium is just on the low side of normal.  

Photo of me 40 years ago...when I had hair.  Lol. 

Signing off with "You And I", Rick James. Now that's a party starter!!!  Have a fabulous Wednesday. Stay warm.  :)