Morris update

What an emotional week this has been for me and parts of it were not so good for my little buddy either.

At right is his face on Tuesday morning - no spark in his eyes and totally lethargic with none of his personality.  The vet and I were thinking it was time since he seemed to have given up the battle that Morris had been fighting so vigorously.  The vet wanted to wait 24 hours and in the meantime put a pain patch on, change his environment, etc and then we met again yesterday afternoon.  I asked my niece to go with me since I fully expected that we would put him down and I needed some support.  So with a pocket full of tissues we headed off to the vets.

What a surprise when we got there yesterday. He was alert, meowing and wanting his ears scratched.  You can see the difference in these 2 pictures. The vet and the whole staff couldn't wait to tell us about the change in Morris. He got the pain patch put on Tuesday morning and it kicked in late afternoon. During the day on Tuesday he was moved to an exam room where a bed was made for him with food, water, etc. The vet said a lot of animals get depressed when kept in the cages and just give up - like people.  Tuesday night he was outside his cage at the vets house and interacting with their 3 & 7 year old boys. The vet took him outside in the grass to express his bladder and Morris stalked and found a cricket for dinner while they were outside. He was in "his room" yesterday at the clinic. The vet checked his back and back legs for sensation and he reacted quickly so he does have good feeling in them but the message to move the legs isn't getting to the muscles. He is eating everything in sight, drinking some water but still doesn't have any use of the back legs nor is the bladder working.  They "express the bladder" 2-3 times a day which is squeeze it forcing urination. The room he is in at the clinic is still used as an exam room but Morris just ignores what goes on and stays in his cave which is underneath the island used as the exam table. If the room isn't in use, they leave the doors open and Morris can come out if he wants to.

Since Morris was so much better yesterday they decided to try him in a wheel chair which is shown above and he went all over the place in it. He looks funny with so many shaved places on him.  The one on his head was for the spinal tap. So....Morris is now the official Clinic Cat or as Vivian says, he is in "assisted living". The vet said he needs more care than I can provide, they love him and want to keep him as long as Morris is Morris with visiting privileges for me and I pay for meds, etc.  When he isn't Morris any more then the vet has my permission to do what needs to be done. The meds may kick in or he might stay the way he is but as long as Morris is trying then he gets the chance.  He will like all the attention and activity going on. As for me, I slept better last night and I don't have the know in my stomach today.

Primary Care Vet for Morris who is an amazing person.

Monday Misc for Sept 1st

I just cannot believe that it is September already - the months here have really flown by.  I can't wait for fall - a real fall - not the desert fall.  Let's face it....palm trees don't change color...  I know it is early but I did put some of my fall items out in the house today but won't do the outside stuff for a few more weeks. I have been through a little bit of Winter, full Spring and Summer so now comes Fall to get my 4 seasons in that I missed so much being in the desert.

An interesting dilemma: I had made plane reservations to come back here in early January before I had originally planned to move in March. I cancelled the plans when I put the house on the market early and it sold.  I wasn't worried about cancelling the reservation since I knew I would be going back to Tucson in January 2015 and planned to use it then.  I made my reservation for Tucson last week and got a surprise!  The cancelled fare must be used before Nov 12th which is when the original reservation was made. My dilemma is to go someplace before then or loose the fare which I don't want to do but not sure what to use it on.  I'm going to look at everywhere Southwest flies to and pick a short trip. Since I'm in the Midwest, there are more options that won't take so long to get to as flying from the west does. From Tucson, it takes a full day to get to the east coast. Interesting dilemma.... Any suggestions?

Morris: Nothing new as I haven't seen him since Saturday. I'll go by in the morning for a visit.  I'm hoping for a miracle but not expecting it. I fully understand that him being sick is all wrapped up with Larry and it is all very emotional.  Just because I understand it doesn't make it any easier....

Little Rock: Plans are made to go down on Friday and back on Tuesday. That will give me 2 days for research plus a day to play tourist. I can stay another day if I decide to.  I checked the Clinton Library to see what temporary exhibits they have since they usually have some really good temporary exhibits.  I've seen their fixed exhibits a couple of time so that doesn't interest me. Imagine my surprise to see that there is currently an exhibit of glass art by Chihuly!  I have seen his work twice in Phoenix in the Botanical Garden and once in Oklahoma City at their Art Museum. It will be interesting to see what is on display at the Clinton Library. Hope the Irish Pub is still there and still serving the big baskets of home-made French Fries....

Another medical day....

Morris: All the tests are back and there is nothing that says it is lymphoma in the spine or inflammation of the spine. IF it is lymphoma, it has not spread and only 15% have it just in the spine without it showing up somewhere else. So he gets high doses of steroids which would be used to treat either one. They are also giving him antibiotics for good measure. We all agree we will give the meds 2 weeks to see if they make a difference and then will look at options which I don't like thinking about.  I visited him this morning for awhile and sat in the lobby with him on my lap so he could see outside and watch what was going on. A woman brought another cat in and her cat and Morris kept talking to each other which was kind of funny. He sees a lot more dogs than he does cats....  He seems a little weak which is totally understandable after all the tests he has been through. His PCV (primary car vet) takes him home with him at night where his 3 boys have fallen in love with Morris. Poor Morris keeps getting places shaved on his body for tests, etc and the latest one is on the back of his head (below) for the spinal tap. He has this spot, a big one on one side where the pain patch was and a shaved circle on each front leg where he has had IV's - looks funny....

My back: My Pain Management doctor called this morning with the results of the latest x-rays. I do have arthritis in both knees which is no surprise but it isn't severe yet.  The back x-ray shows some movement in the spine but since I'm not having any pain from it we are not going to do anything about it yet. She said it may or may not get worse.  I think I will do the nerve block for the back pain I have but not until everything is settled with Morris. The nerve block is done to specific nerves outside the spine leading to a specific area and is NOT the same as an epidural.

Getting away:  Unless something comes up, I think I will take off next Friday and do a genealogy research trip to Little Rock and Arkansas for a few days.  This has been a tough medically stressed summer and I need a break.  The vet say "Go while we are taking care of Morris." It will be good to get away!

All things medical

For Me: Last Thursday I went to my new kidney doctor and got set up with her for care. I swear she looks like she belongs in high school - not a board certified nephrologist!  I can't say I have her blessing to take ibuprophen but she knows I do, have taken it over the years with no negative effect on my kidney function so if I need to do it moderately for back pain then go ahead.  Tylenol doesn't work and a prescription for a pain pill just put me to sleep. She is recommending that I have a ultrasound in an effort to determine what the suspicious area in the area of the missing kidney is that showed up on the back MRI. The radiologist suggested that it could be scare tissue which would make sense since I had a lot of scar tissue already in the area when they took the kidney out and that just created more. The other test would be a CT scan with contrast and if I do that, then a lot of pre and post IV's are needed to flush the contrast out of my kidney. Otherwise, get my labs done very 6 months and come back in a year.
Yesterday I saw the Pain Management doctor for my back to get the MRI results and a plan of treatment. I found out that I have moderate-severe arthritis in the L4-S1 part of the back and that is what has probably caused the disk damage. There doesn't appear to be any constriction on the spinal cord. She had some more X-Rays done yesterday to check for movement and don't know the results on that yet.  She also did X-Rays on the knees to check for arthritis as the cause of the pain and stiffness in the knees. The back pain is the big thing.  Sometimes it is quite severe and other times it is very mild - depends on what I have been doing such as lifting, twisting, etc. However, the good news is that she can go in and cauterize the nerve that goes to the area and zap - no more pain.  The nerve can eventually grow back but it usually takes a few years to happen. Ill deal with that after the issue with Morris is resolved. After 2+ years, what is a few more weeks....

For Morris:  The tests today were inconclusive as to whether it is inflammation in the spine or lymphoma. There are no spots anywhere else in the body based on x-rays and ultrasound so that makes it more likely to be the inflammation. A spot on the spleen was a little off so they did a biopsy just in case.  However, when they did the spinal tap there was not the huge amount of inflammation cells to conclusively say that it is inflammation. No one know for sure what it is......  They are going to treat with steroids and see what happens which would be the treatment for either one. I picked him up at ICU a little while ago and took him to the regular vet who will keep him since he requires too much care for me to take care of him even if I could. He still has the catheter in, must be given meds and monitored. He was going home with the vet tonight and may do that for the next few days. Waiting....

MRI Results for Morris

Vivian and I went over to visit Morris after my back doctors appointment this afternoon. His neurologist called me and said he had some results from the MRI but I wanted to talk to him about it instead of just getting it over the phone plus I wanted to spend a little time with Morris. The doctor was still in surgery when we got there so we hung out with His Majesty until the surgery was  was done.

The vet tech put us in a visitor's room and brought Morris to us complete with his catheter. I was to let them know when we were done and they would take him back to his "room". The surgeon came in about the time Morris started getting restless so Morris went back and the doctor spent about a half our with us in which we talked about the results, he showed us the MRI and we talked about future plans. So........ there is no ruptured disk or breaks in the back which would have been easy to fix with surgery. Instead it shows that he probably either has massive inflammation in the spinal cord or lymphoma in the spinal cord. He is sending the MRI films to a radiologist for his opinion and they are doing x-rays and ultrasound of his whole body to see if any cancer shows up.  If nothing shows up then they will do a spinal tap tomorrow to check the level of inflammation. Treatment for both options will be the same - massive doses of steroids.  If it is the inflammation then it's 50/50  he will respond.  If cancer, then the steroids may buy some time. Unless the treatment is successful I will have to make a decision on what is an acceptable quality of life for Morris but I'm not going there yet.  Both vets say they will help me make that decision. Since he won't need to stay in ICU, I will move him to his regular vet either tomorrow or Thursday and he will be there for awhile until the catheter comes out and he shows some improvement. The fall did not cause any of this.  The opinion is that it was already there in the spine and he was weakened which is why he didn't clear the desk on his jump like he has done for years. The people at the hospital have fallen in love with him as have the other vets and are giving him special treatment, etc. I went to the regular vet's office from the hospital to fill them in and talk about boarding him which they are more than willing to do.  While there, I found out that Dr. Cain (regular vet) and Dr. Weinstein (neurologist) went to vet school together and know each other very well. We will see what tomorrow brings after the tests.

I'll write about my back tomorrow....one back at a time... 8-)

Odds n Ends

High temperature: Yes, 94 is hot with a heat index of 98 with a 43% humidity.  But I was just out in it going to the store and to me is a lot better than same temps in Arizona.  Why? There is a 12 mph breeze blowing and that to me, makes all the difference in the world! 

Morris update: Not much new.... Most of the time he is in his little area and thank goodness he doesn't protest too much. This picture was Thursday evening when I put him in his car carrier for awhile so he could check out the neighborhood.  He was definitely being overmedicated so on Friday we stopped the oral med and he just has the pain patch. Now he is more alert, wanting his ears scratched, etc. His acupunture vet is going to have a fit when I tell her that Morris "went over the wall and escaped" Wednesday night. I heard a noise in the night but it didn't fully wake me up at the time but when I did wake up a little while later for my usual nightly trip to the bathroom, I checked on Morris and he was not in his area.  I had forgotten to put the 2nd gate up (each one is 2' high) when I went to bed the night before - bad nurse! I went looking for him and see a tail sticking out from under the bed.  The next night I hear him rattling the gates after I go to bed so I get up and tape a big piece of cardboard to the gates on his side so he can't climb out. The gates have diamonds in them that are big enough for him to get his paws in so I could just see him climbing up and out again. Today I got some screen wire and stapled it to his side of the gates so he can't climb out.  It just never ends......  Tomorrow we go back to get the pain patch changed and another test of the reflex in his back legs. Both vets gave me their cell phone numbers in case I needed them this weekend which I really appreciated. I don't know how long they will wait before recommending the surgery that we are hoping to avoid. He really has been such a trooper through all of this and the vets just love him. I met a lady at the Genealogy board meeting the other night who has a cocker spaniel that has a completely torn ACL and is having surgery on it this week.....

A night out: Several weeks ago I got tickets to one of the local dinner theaters in town to see Smokey Joe's Café. I took my niece, her husband and her step-daughter along.  It was really good to get out and do something fun for a change after spending so many hours taking care of Morris.  At least with his litter box, I can leave him for awhile at a time. The show was a musical and very good.  Dinner was good and overall it was a very good evening. I needed it!

Bed rest for Morris

I sooooooo want him healed and back to his onry self!!!!!!! It was 4 weeks ago this week that he fell and hurt his back.  To me, he isn't any better.  To his team of doctors (regular vet and acupuncture vet) he is making progress with more feeling in his back feet when they test it and less swelling in the area of some vertebra - T 12 and T 13 to be exact.  They agreed that he needs to be confined and prefer him to not be walking to let the bruise/injury heal.  I want to see him moving but I have to trust them. So......instead of the 3x3 ft area they preferred, we compromised and I made him an apartment in the 3x6' hallway where his litter box already is. Maybe I should put a picture of a lizard on the wall..... He is not thrilled but he is such a good patient. I think having to do this to him is harder on me than it is on him. I can take him out to sit on my lap but he cannot be allowed to jump down or I can carry him and put him in his car carrier (below) where he can see outside. He can't be on a slick floor hence the carpet in his apartment. He still has the pain patch which get's changed every 3 days $$$, I give him a dose of oral pain medicine and predisone daily and he gets weekly acupuncture $$$. He hates the oral meds and I am not nearly as good at giving them to him as the vets are - they make it look so easy. We go to every other day for the predisone on Sunday so some days I will only have to go through it once a day. They both say that injuries like this can take months to heal which is not what I wanted to hear. I want it fixed now and I'm sure Morris agrees with me! The acupunture vet made me promise that I wouldn't make myself a bed in his space like some of her patients have done and sleep in there with him.......

Sunday Stroll

Needing some fresh air and exercise, I went down to the Plaza early this morning to the Kauffman Gardens and Brush Creek. Great way to get some exercise.

 I never get tired of looking at the flowers that are in the gardens.

 

I took 11 pictures of this silly bird to get a good one....

The top picture is a bronze statue of Sir Winston and Lady Churchill titled "Married Love". The larger than life statue was done in 1984 by Artist Oscar Nemon.

The tee-pees on the grounds of the art museum are due to an exhibit they currently have on Native Americans.

 

"Come on knees, we either gotta go up these stairs or swim across Brush Creek and we can't swim....."

Saturday Stuff

Morris Update: He is about the same after this 3rd acupuncture treatment.  We went back to his regular vet yesterday to get the pain patch replaced and more meds. The vet compounded the steroid with some chicken flavor to hopefully make it a little more palatable but not sure it worked.  I got some freeze dried shrimp that he only gets after his medicine. When he sees me coming, he makes a dash under the bed.  I get down to the side closest to him and then he moves over to the other side.  This morning we played that game several times before I could reach a paw to drag him out. I'm going to put some low boxes under the bed to reduce the amount of space he has because he definitely knows how long my arms are. It really makes me feel BAD when he runs from me!

FOOD: I have had several people ask me what I eat since I have been loosing weight. I do eat a lot

less but the biggest difference is in what I eat. This is a typical dinner for me - lots of fruit (or veggies) and a sandwich.  In this case it is a toasted English muffin with Canadian bacon and cheese on it. Or it could be smoked turkey on multi-grain break. I also had a 1" slice of lemon cake (no frosting) from one of the miniature loafs they make. Now for lunch yesterday....I stopped at Longhorn Steakhouse and had their lunch of  Parmesan Crusted Chicken Tenders with a baked sweet potatoe and bread. Breakfast was toast and an orange. So...I'm eating regular food. I still have cheeseburgers and fries but it is usually once a week instead of several times a week like it was 30 lbs ago.

I went to the farmer's market this morning and am going to start taking 2 bags since the 1 bag was totally full today. The peaches, tomatoes and apples were picked yesterday. The apples are called "Blondies" - similar to Yellow Delicious but a firmer texture.  The peaches are free stone and soooooo good. I also got a couple of ears of white corn.  I have not eaten so much fruit and veggies since Larry and I were in Little Rock and went to their Farmer's Market every week - sometimes twice a week. Maybe it is the soil difference but the stuff from the farmer's market in Tucson is not nearly as flavorful as it is here. I am thoroughly enjoying going to the farmer's market on Saturdays, loading up and enjoying it all week. It has been interesting to see the progression of fruit and veggies over the weeks. Today I saw the first watermelon of the year at the market so more will be there soon.

I'm now a volunteer

Last week I agreed to take the volunteer position of Editor for the quarterly that is published each quarter by the Johnson County Genealogical Society titled "Genealogist". The position has been open all year and I kept thinking about it since I joined and started going to their meeting in March.  Last week I met with the President and liked what I heard. Then on Saturday I met with the 1st VP who has been doing the Quarterly this year after the editor left in January and agreed to take it on. I did newsletters years ago for the company I worked for and have always enjoyed writing. There are several members who write articles for the quarterly so I don't have to do it all myself.  My main job will be to come up with story ideas, either do them myself or pass them off and then put the quarterly together using Microsoft Publisher software.  I was thinking about getting involved here with something to do with genealogy but this particular position was not on my radar - mainly because I didn't know such a job existed with them. I warned both people I met with that I do not want this to become a full time job but that will be up to me to control. The Society here is very active and have a lot of volunteers doing different things in the community to assist people in discovering their roots. They also do a one-day conference each year where they bring in an outside speaker, do different workshops, etc. all genealogy related. I have learned a lot in the 5 months that I have been attending their monthly meetings. The temporary editor is doing the September edition and then I pick it up for December.  That gives me time to reacquaint myself with the software, learn how they do things, etc. I think I will enjoy it.

Woman vs Cat

Now you would think that a grown woman would be able to hold down a 11 lb cat and give it liquid in a syringe. Right?  Wrong!  (1) He hates anything going in his mouth that he didn't put there and (2) when he clamps those little jaws tight you can't pry them open by yourself while trying to hold him while he is squirming around. Yesterday the vet showed me how to put a finger on each side of his jaw in a certain place, pull his head way back and then the lower jaw will automatically open.  Well to start with, the vet's hand is much bigger than mine and Morris has a very big head so we got a problem right off. You would have laughed your head off last night watching me down on the floor trying to get the syringe in his mouth!  Then as an insult to me, I didn't get it far enough back in his mouth and he promptly spit the prednisone out. So we go for round 2 and I succeeded in getting it far enough back in his mouth that he swallowed it. It is easier with the pain med since I only have to get that on him gums and it can be absorbed but he has to swallow the prednisone. He didn't fight quite as much this morning but giving it to him was still a challenge. This morning he is much better than yesterday and is all over the house chattering away. Hopefully we are on the right track this time!

 Yesterday at the vet's office after getting his "cumberbund" put on to hold the pain patch against his skin. It is just a wide cloth tape wrapped around him several times - like an ace bandage.

This morning while out getting some grass for breakfast. I'm hoping the prednisone is starting to kick in since he is all over the house this morning. He is also being his demanding self today.  His back legs still go out but not as often and when they do, he just stops a minute and then takes off again.

TGIF

When you are retired, it doesn't make much difference if it is Thursday, Friday or Saturday.  However, I am always glad to see Friday and don't ask me why - guess it is just the 47 years when I was working and you always looked forward to Fridays......

Brother's Surgery:  My brother had surgery on Tuesday for his back.  They did a Lumbar Laminectomy due to stenosis of the spine. The surgeon had him out of bed walking within 1 hour of getting into his room from recovery and we were just in awe when we watched him walk - it was so much better than before surgery. He went home the next day but it was 2 very long days....

Morris Update: I didn't spend much time at home on Tuesday and Wednesday due to Bill's surgery. I was shocked yesterday to see how poorly Morris was walking and by the time we went to bed last night he was almost dragging his hind legs as he tried to walk.  I had to get him positioned on bed in his usual position because he couldn't get his legs moved around.  About an hour later I remembered that I had one more dose of pain med left and gave it to him even though he protested. I felt him get off the bed a couple of hours later and then in the litter box so I got up to see how he was walking.  Much to my surprise he was walking better than he had in a few days. This morning he was still moving around pretty good but once in a while one of the back legs just goes out on him.  I called his regular vet this morning, took him in and Morris got another pain patch put on. We'll see how it goes. He doesn't make sounds like he is in pain but his actions say he is.  He has another acupunture treatment on Thurs. Both vets think he just has a lot of swelling in the spinal cord from his fall since both legs are affected and no breaks or disk problems show up on the x-rays.  Hopefully the swelling will go down and life gets back to normal with him.  8-)

Lunch: Today I went to Firebird's for lunch, had a great salad, good bread and a glass of wine - I deserved it!!!!!!!

Football: It was fun to watch the KC Chiefs play last night and be in a town where there is a pro team. I was an avid Chief's fan when I lived here in the late 60's and early 70's. Pro football just isn't the same when you live in a town that doesn't have it's own pro team. I somewhat followed the University of Oregon football while living in Tucson so I'm interested to see how the Chief's draft pick from U of O does. He certainly got off to a great start last night!

Monday Misc for Aug 4th

6 Months Later:  Six months ago today Morris and I got into the packed car and headed east. It was the culmination of plans that Larry and I had started making 4 years earlier when we agreed that it was time to leave the desert.  The problem was that we didn’t know where we wanted to move to. We looked at maps and he looked on the internet for possible locations. Then those plans got put on hold when he got sick, died and I tried to rebuild my life. Finally the time was right and I felt it was time to pick up the plans that Larry and I had started together. As I look back, there are some things that I was really smart about: (1) Coming back here during the summer and spending a couple of months before I made the move. (2) Selling the house furnished although that was not my original plan. (3) Settling in Overland Park which is busy, convenient and yet close enough to family and (4) Renting an apartment instead of buying another house. Once I made the decision then everything just fell into place convincing me that I was making the right decisions. So…..6 months later, I love it here and there is not a bit of doubt about the decision to move here.  I don’t know that I will live here forever but for now, it is absolutely the right place to be.

Morris Update:  He continues to slowly improve.  Sometimes he walks almost normally but with a slight limp and then the back legs go out so he just sits down for awhile. He is eating pretty good and drinking an acceptable amount of water. The change over to canned food is not going well so I have about given up on that mission - can't believe he prefers dry food.   He is back to eating his cheese and smoked turkey. 8-) This morning he managed to get up on the toilet for a drink but couldn't get his back legs into position so got down and suffered through having to drink out of a cup. He gets another acupuncture treatment this afternoon.

Rain: Yesterday our 20% chance of rain turned into 100%... It woke me up early in the morning when the wind was blowing it against the bedroom window and then it rained for about 6 hours - sometimes light and sometimes pretty heavy.  Loved it! I can't wait for fall....

Birthday Dinner: Fifteen of us went to Olive Garden on Saturday to celebrate my sister-in-law's 81st birthday which was on Sunday and it was fun to see everyone. The round thing in front in the picture is a bundt cake that is decorated with a "paper flower" on top and some other things for a birthday. There is a store here in town that only makes bundt cakes, all sizes and all flavors. They are sooooooo good! 

 

Tidbits for Today - Aug 1, 2014

Morris Update: I think he has improved some - mainly his personality is returning to more normal for him. Last evening he came into the kitchen when I started getting dinner which he had done forever until a week ago. He purred, at least his version of purring, while we were watching TV last night. He was alert when sitting in the window and watching the dogs being walked by on the sidewalk. Just things like that....  He can walk a few feet normally and then his leg will give out. He is eating some better and last right he made history of his dish of black walnut ice cream which he had refused the last few days.  I took him to the vet today to get the pain patch removed so he doesn't have any more doctor's appointments until Monday.  When we got home I told Morris he has the weekend off but not sure it translated correctly into cat speak....

Weather:  I know this isn't a typical Midwest summer but I sure am enjoying it in case it is a few years before I see temperatures like this again....  So far there have only been 7 days where the temperature was over 90 degrees this year.

Birthday invitation:  Today I received an invitation from the local Vera Bradley store to come over next week for the celebration for her birthday which is on Aug 6th.... 8-)  Besides 25% off all full price items, they will also be introducing new styles. Guess I better get my RSVP call made...  Wouldn't want to miss that!

What a good patient!

I got a call from the vet who does acupuncture yesterday with an opening in the afternoon so changed plans and took him. Vivian was here and we had planned on going to the Arboretum but instead had an interesting afternoon learning about pet acupuncture, chiropractic and Chinese Herbal teas as they all relate to treating pets. I was a little leery when the primary vet for Morris suggested this method of treatment instead before rushing into surgery.  I looked the new vet up on line to verify that she was indeed a "real vet" which she is plus has several degrees from Vet Schools that also teach pet acupunture, etc.

I just could not believe how Morris just laid there and let her put the needles in and do the treatment. She had quit doing cats because they are so hard to treat but said if they were all like Morris she would go back to treating cats. Instead of "twirling the needles", she hooked probes to them so there was some electrical current and he didn't care. When she was done with the acupuncture, she did a chiropractic treatment on his back - not the snapping but just a massage in specific places and stretching. Again, he didn't care what she was doing. She thinks that his problem is in the L12 which seems to be offset from the other verterbrae thus pressing on nerves.  It probably happened when he hit the desk while trying to jump up on it.  He still isn't drinking or eating properly plus has some intestinal issues because he isn't getting enough fluids.  She says that it may take a few treatments before those things improve. He has never been good at drinking water out of a dish and getting up on the toilet for a drink is impossible right now. I put a little footstool in front of the window and now he gets up on the footstool and then on up to the window sill where he lays since he can't jump up on the window sill.  In the meantime, the price per pound for Morris keeps going up....... In the below picture, you can really see his morphine patch.  I take him in tomorrow to get that removed. The pain medication doesn't seem to make any difference which makes them think it is all a nerve issue.  He doesn't seem to be in any pain when walking, he just is really weak in his back legs and sometimes one of them will collapse on him. Poor guy!  It was really good to have Vivian along yesterday during the drive over to the vet which is about 30 minutes from home. She held his carrier on her lap, opened the top a bit so he could stick his head out and see what was going on while she petted him.  Never once did he go into full screaming mode which was a relief. Needless to say he does not trust me when he sees me walking toward him since he thinks it is time for another trip to a vet....  We have 3 more appointments scheduled and should know by then if the treatments are going to work or not. In the meantime, I am trying to find things he will drink and switch him from all dry food to mostly canned cat food which has more liquid in it.  So far I haven't found one he really likes but will get a few more different brands to day to try him on. Milk seems to be his preferred liquid with the toilet bowl of water not available. What an experience!

All Things Medical.....

Morris: I pick him up at the hospital around 5 today. The vet called me a little while ago to give me an update and his recommendations. He decided it was probably neurological so carefully went back over his x-rays and didn't see anything. Then he went down his back with his fingers feeling every bone.  When he would get to one place, more than once, Morris would cry out but yet nothing shows up on the x-rays. Morris did one of his running jumps up on my desk last Tuesday, a paper slid and he fell back on the floor making lots of noise so I knew he hurt.  Then the next day, he was limping really badly and this all started. He said he sees this a lot in dog, especially small ones, and they have the same symptoms as Morris does. Cats are more agile so he doesn't see it as much. The vet is going to put a strong pain patch on Morris and see what happens. He says that he is having 100% success with the 18 dogs he has sent to a woman who does animal acupuncture and avoided surgery for the same type of injuries.  However, they have never tried it on a cat but he was going to call the acupuncturist and talk to her about Morris. O.K. you can quit laughing now...... 8-) Sure was lonesome last night without him around.

My Back: The doctor's nurse called me yesterday on my MRI results. I printed the report out and am totally clueless as to what all the problem is.  Basically the L4 is not sitting properly on the L5 causing a bulging disk and narrowing thus irritating the nerves in the spine. I tried to look up some of the terms they used and don't get much information so will wait until I see the doctor and get simple English explanations.  My PCP doctor is referring me to a Pain Management Doctor at the Spine Clinic that he goes to for his neck. They called today and I have an appointment with the pain doc on August 16th to find out options, etc.
I am just amazed that these KU Med doctors who read X-Rays, CT Scans and MRI look for more than just the specific issue the test was done for. The one was to look at the heart and also scanned the lung because it was on the picture thus finding the tumor in the lung. This time, he was to look at the spine.  However, he also looked at everything and found a lesion on the left nephrectomy bed which is the area where the missing kidney would be.  It could be a blood clot, "fat infiltrated scaring" (whatever that is) or just bad scaring, etc and he recommends a CT Scan with contrast dye to check it out. The surgeon who took my kidney out told me later that I did have a lot of scaring around the kidney area from the hysterectomy I had in 2001. He said "we had to chisel the kidney out of the scar tissue" plus more would have formed after they took the kidney out.  So, I'm hoping that is all it is.  The problem is that I can't do contrast dye without kidney doctors being involved because it is hard on kidneys and I only have 1 to get the dye out of the system. I have an appointment on Aug 21st to get set up with a local kidney doctor so will discuss it with her.  It just doesn't stop......

Monday Misc for July 28th

Morris Update: After a weekend of watching his behavior, I called the vet this morning and took him back in. He drinks very little, doesn't eat much, won't even eat tuna and his favorite ice cream so I KNOW he is really not feeling good. He is also constipated, still limping, can't jump and at times is in obvious pain. So.....he is staying in the hospital, probably overnight, where he is getting flooded with fluids via IV and getting a neurological checkup. He did another set of x-rays and there is stuff in the intestines/colon that hasn't moved much since Friday. We don't know if there is a stomach problem that makes it painful to move or if there is a nerve problem that is affecting the whole back part of his body - legs, hips, intestines included. So for the first time in 7 years, I am in the house without him and won't have him sleeping on my legs at night...... I feel like the biggest responsibility Larry left me with was his cat.... 8-)
Postponed Trip:  I had planned to drive east to Boonville, MO this morning, stay overnight and come back tomorrow.  This afternoon was going to be spent being a tourist at some of the old, little towns along the Missouri River that Lewis & Clark spent time at.  In the morning I was going to take a tour of Warm Springs Ranch which is where the Budweiser Clydesdales are bred, raised and trained. You have to make reservations for the ranch and it took me 5 weeks to get a ticket for a morning tour.... Another time..... 
Hot Water Heater: Friday morning the water in the shower wasn't as hot as usual but I was in a hurry and didn't think much about it. So...Saturday morning I go to take a shower and there was nothing but COLD water....  I called the office after they opened and they deemed it "an emergency" thus dispatching a maintenance person on the weekend. He came out later in the day and it was just a tripped switch on the heater which is electric. There are two of them and one of them had tripped. I had already checked the fuse box and knew it wasn't that when I called them.   I was reminded again how wonderful it is to not be a homeowner!

Voices from 2010

Back in Sept 2010, Larry and I did our first major road trip in which we visited New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas and then home. Most of the time we were just being tourist but visited my family in Missouri and some distant relatives of Larry's in Kingman, Kansas that I found on the internet. I spent several hours one afternoon interviewing my brother on audio tape getting some history on my family and his own history - childhood, where he was when, etc. I finally got around to transcribing the tape this week - 4 years after it was made. There were 3 channels on my little audio recorder and his was on channel 2.  However, before I discovered that Bill was on channel 2, I started to play it back and the recorder was on channel 3, last one used,  which was an interview I did with a relative of Larry's. Imagine my shock when I heard Larry's voice on the recorder chatting with Wilma Hovan, whose mother was Larry's grandmother's sister.

Needless to say, I was stunned! It is one thing to see pictures of a loved one who has died but it is quite another to hear their voice 4 years later. I didn't listen to it but quickly turned it off and found the channel where the interview with Bill was. About 1 hour into the interview, I hear Larry asking Bill a question and that happened several times during the interview. I got through the transcription of Bill's interview but have not tackled the one with Larry's relative when he talked a lot and asked her questions and she wanted to know about him. I would like to get it transcribed so I can add the info to his Family History book but I think it is going to have to wait a few months until I am ready to deal with the voice. Emotional. Sad. But yet it also brings back good memories of the wonderful trip we had that summer which was the first time Larry had ever been to the Midwest and then couldn't wait to get back to Arkansas.

Tuna Soup Medicine

I think we are making progress in getting Morris to feeling better!  Of course he hated me this morning after I gave him his 2 syringes of medicine and he immediately made a beeline for under the middle of the bed where I couldn't reach him. He jumped up on the bed last night on his own and was in the window when I got up this morning so there is some improvement.  For the first time in several days he walked all the way into the office a little bit ago and I set him up on the desk to help me after an appropriate amount of ear scratching - he decides how much is appropriate. He still isn't eating or drinking like he used to but he does love his "tuna soup".  I slide the dish under the bed and he drinks all the tuna water but doesn't eat much of the tuna.  Then I add some more water before putting it back in the frig so the water will soak up the tuna flavor. It's much easier when the patient can talk!  Now me getting down on the floor is another story!  I didn't know how bad my knees were until I'm doing that several times a day....  I can get down but it's the getting back up that is the problem.

Morris Update

Back to the vet today but this time is was to a local vet for a follow up... Kinda like going to Urgent Care and then going to your regular doctor for a follow up.....  Anyway, this will be his new vet here and we both really liked him.  Kinda youngish and obviously loves animals.   He had the labs for Morris from Urgent Care and noticed that the labs indicate Morris has an infection of some kind.  When I commented that Urgent Care said they were normal, he showed them to me and it clearly indicated some of the values were above normal. Morris is also running a temperature.  He took x-rays of his back, hips and entire torso to look at lungs, etc. Bones are fine but there is a lot of swelling in the soft tissue of the back legs and some of his lymph glands are swollen so he thinks Morris has an infection of some kind. So I have a bottle of antibiotics to give him along with the pain meds and we go back in 10 days.  Since Morris isn't eating or drinking much, he wants me to get TUNA in water and give it all to him - water included even adding some water. Usually I drained the water off before giving the smelly stuff to him.   He says Morris will drink the water thus getting some water plus eat the tuna so he is getting protein. So I got some tuna, gritted my teeth when opening it, gave it to Morris and he lapped up the tuna water plus ate some of the tuna.  I also learned from him how to get a cat to open his mouth so I can squirt the medicine in.  However, first I literally have to drag him out from under the bed with my knees protesting every second I am down on the floor let alone getting up. His first thoughts are that the asthma/sinus problem Morris has is from a fungal infection he picked up in the desert. Hummmmmmm....... 

Poor Morris

Here is His Majesty pretending to be a new piece of art on top of the buffet in the dining room. However, last night I took him to the emergency room because he could barely walk, couldn't jump up on my lap, wasn't eating, etc. I had been noticing that he was having trouble jumping up on things for a few days and sometimes his right rear leg wouldn't quite make it. Normally he can jump 5 feet from a surface with no problem. Yesterday he was under the bed when I got home and wouldn't come out - usually he is waiting for me at the door to the garage since he hears the garage door go up. He finally came out about 6 hours later and could barely walk with something wrong with the rear right leg. He couldn't jump up on the recliner with me and when I picked him up, he was obviously in pain and cried out. He hadn't eaten all day and couldn't drink since he couldn't jump up on the toilet which is where he drinks. So.....off to the emergency room we went. Two hours and $332 later.... he was walking a little better but still limping, they couldn't find anything wrong with the leg. they did a blood draw for labs and I got 7 pre-filled syringes of painkiller to squirt into his mouth. They gave him one dose before we left and when we got home he drank out of a cup of water I put on the floor and ate some of his food. This morning he was a little better but still limping. I made an apt with a vet for tomorrow and will probably do an x-ray, another $220, if he is still limping. They called me at 6:30 this morning to let me know that the blood work was fine. Knowing it would make him feel better, I got him some of his very favorite Black Walnut ice cream this morning and he wolfed it down leaving the nuts on the plate. Then I lifted him up onto his favorite window sill when he was setting below it and looking up at it and he has been up there for a couple of hours now. We don't know if he tried to jump up on something, didn't make it and hurt his leg or what.  Time will tell..... Other than his atshma, this is the first time he has anything wrong with him in the 8 years he has lived with us.

Genealogy DNA.....Huh?

I first started researching my ancestors back in the mid-1990's when the only way to do it was by going to the Family History Centers and spending hours looking at images on microfilm - page by page as you turned the crank to advance the film. It was slow going and it didn't take long before your eyes starting glazing over....  Then along came Ancestry.com, Family Search and other web sites that were digitizing the images and creating a searchable index. Millions of records are being added to these site every month. Now I can go to one of these web sites, key in the ancestors name and a little info on them and if I'm lucky, by magic will appear several hits of documents with his/her name in them. Well at least that is the way it is for many people I look for. Now the new thing in genealogy is tracing your ancestors by DNA. I have done a lot of reading on it and have attended a couple of seminars on it but will be the first to admit that it is still too complicated for me to truly understand it.  Science is NOT my best topic....  However, here is what I do know.......  A male has the same Y-DNA that his father does as his father's father, etc back along the direct line of males. Men inherit their father's Y-Chromosome.  This is not the case for females and don't ask me why....  The test results go into a database that matches people. People who do a DNA test for genealogy usually either want to (1) find their ancestors or (2) confirm their ancestors. I was hoping for to confirm what I had found in Public Trees on the internet.

My brother agreed to swab the inside of his cheeks and let me submit his DNA.  Thanks, Bill!  I used the nations leader in this technology who had  an Arnold Project which is collecting DNA and using it to trace/confirm ancestors. The day after the results were completed, I received 2 emails - one from the administrator (JA) of the group and another from a guy (BMC) who manages his brother's file.  JA let me know that based on Bill's DNA, there is a 97% likelihood that they share a common ancestor within 8 generations. BMC's brother is a very strong match to Bill plus BMC has written a book on the Arnold line. The next step was to compare our Pedigree Trees to determine where the common ancestor is.  In both cases, it is with my 6th Great-Grandfather Thomas Arnold who was the first generation born in the US in 1648 after his father immigrated to Mass. from England in 1640. Thomas, the one born in the US, had 3 sons - Isaac, James and John. Bill and I are from the Isaac Arnold line while JA and BMC are from the John Arnold line. I got a list of 17 people whose DNA is a close match with Bill's indicating they share common ancestors. Interesting!!!!!!

Midwest & Desert Temperature

Yesterday was the hottest day yet here in KC.  At 5:30 p.m. the temp was 95 degrees with a heat index of 106 although the TV said the heat index was 110. In some ways I felt like I was back in the desert!  The difference is that in the desert you feel like you are walking into a dry sauna when you go outside and here it feels like you are walking into a steam sauna when you go outside. It was very humid yesterday - 50% at 5:30 p.m. plus there was very little breeze.  However, the humidity is down today and it is much cooler.  I'll still take the weather here........

Monday Misc for July 21, 2014

Branson: Vivian and I went down to Branson over the weekend and I had forgotten how horribly bad the traffic there is. Maybe it was because when I was there before it was in April during the week. This weekend, the only main street/highway through town was stop and creep because the traffic was bumper to bumper for miles.  There are very few stoplights so it is almost impossible to get out of a parking lot into traffic or make a left turn. If you haven't been there, think of the Strip in Las Vegas being 2 lanes with no stoplights.

The drive down, especially when you get into the hills, is really pretty. We went through an area where there are a lot of Amish people and this was one of them on the 4-line highway. We stopped at an orchard on the way home and got some great tomatoes, etc. In my opinion, Lone Star Steak House has one of the best steaks you can get and there is one in Branson so guess where we went for dinner on Friday and guess what I had.....

Great-Grandfather Arnold:  The search continues and I'm happy to report that progress is being very slowly made! I have gone about as far as I can go on him until I get the information back from the National Archives.  I'm starting on his father next - Micajah Arnold who was born abt 1811 in either Tennessee or Georgia but lived in Tennessee for a lot of years and moved to Arkansas sometime between 1840 and 1850 since he is in Arkansas on the 1850 census.

This is the first time I have ever mapped a person but he seemed a good candidate to start with. I think if you click on the map, it will be larger on your computer.....

Southwest Airlines: I get their weekly email covering fares that are on sale.  It is interesting to see the ones from Kansas City since I looked at Tucson's for so many years.  The big steal last week was a flight to Chicago for $67.00 one way.... Now I have no real desire to go to Chicago but it did cross my mind based on that fare. Larry saw a $29 fare from Tucson to Denver and said we couldn't resist it so we went to Denver for a few days.  After using our senior discount, the fare ended up being about $25 each way each person.

Powell Gardens

As I said other day, I have been wanting to go to Powell Gardens but was waiting for a cool day to do so.  So when Tuesday's high temp was forecast to be 70, then I decided to go and did.  As I'm SURE you remember from my post on it last summer, Powell Gardens is spread out over 915 acres and contains several distinct gardens with trails connecting the different gardens. The Island Garden is probably my favorite with over 200 water plants in the pools.

There is currently a display of sculptures in the garden created by Dan Ostermiller.  They are bronze, larger than life sculptures of animals. For instance, the elephant is 12' tall.

 

I asked a staff person what the "purplish flowers with cones on top" (lower left above) were called and he said "purple cone flowers". Well I gave him a look of disbelief and he laughed before saying that was the common name but the scientific name was Echinacea - the herb.

 

Top: Catapillar resting  on it's breakfast.  Bottom: Dragon Fly which I don't think I have ever seen up close before.  They are strange in that their wings are folded up over it's head when resting.

Misc pictures in the Farm Garden.

 

Yesterday's meeting with Doc

I spent a little over 30 minutes with my primary care physician yesterday afternoon in which we reviewed every one of the recent tests and have a plan for going forward.  He opened the meeting with "we keep trying to find something wrong with you and aren't having much luck".
Heart: Valves and pumping are just as they should be.  Yes, there is a lot of hard plaque in an artery but the blood flow is good so no need to do a heart catherization to look for % of blockage, etc. I can't get rid of the hard plaque but I can prevent more of it accumulating through "aggressive risk factor modification". Losing another 20 lbs would be nice but it much more important to maintain what I have lost and don't go back to my old eating habits.
Blood Pressure: I did a chart for 10 days of home numbers that I took at home and it definitely is high at times.  However, he doesn't feel that medication is warranted yet since it is not an every day occurence.
Lung: Leave the nodule alone since it is not cancer and be prepared to explain it every time I have a lung x-ray.
Liver (auto-immune hepatitis): Labs are still good so stick with the liver doc's plan.
Kidney: Labs are good but he is giving me a referral to the nephrology dept so I have one lined up before I might ever need one.
Back: He had said back in May when all of this started that we would deal with the lung and heart before getting to the back so now it is back time. He want's to do an MRI to see how far out of line the particular vertrabra is out of line, etc. Once we know that we can decide what to do if anything. It is a lot of pain, especially when I do any lifting, but is bearable so we will see. I'm learning a lot about back stuff from going to the doctor's appts with my brother and sister-in-law. All the doctors agree that I'm between a rock and a hard place since I'm should not be taking either Ibuprophen (hard on kidneys) or Tylenol (hard on liver).  I tried a pain killer and it just made me sleepy.  So....we agree that I will use Ibuprophen when I absolutely have to take something and monitor the kidneys closely. Tylenol just isn't very effective for me.
Always tired: The heart doctor thought it might be from the heart not pumping correctly but that isn't the case. I did a thyroid test yesterday and it that is normal then he wants to do a sleep study. He asked if I had sleep apnea and I said "I don't know, you will have to ask Morris"......  I guess that can make you tired, raise blood pressure, etc.
Summary: Basically I'm in pretty good shape!!!!!!!!!!

The new rankings was just released for hospitals and KUMed Center is ranked in the top 50 hospitals out of 5000 hospitals in 12 of their specialties.  The top 50 includes Mayo, etc. I continue to be amazed at their high level of patient care mainly due to the time the doctor gives you for your appointments.

Monday Misc.....

Vera Bradley's Sidewalk Sale started last Friday and ran through yesterday.  Yes, I was there when it opened on Friday standing in line waiting for a "go" from the staff along with about 100+ other people.  Yes, I bought things I didn't need but couldn't resist when they were $5-10 dollars ea. Yes, I bought the same style purse but in a different color to go with the 4 of the same style I already have. But it was fun, once-a-year event and now I am letting my credit card recuperate.

On Saturday morning early I went to the Overland Park Farmer's Market. I haven't been in a few weeks and was pleasantly surprised at what they have in season. EVERYTHING was grown by the farmer in the ground as opposed to hydrophonic tomatoes, etc. The tomatoes actually taste like tomatoes. This is the first crop of peaches and they were pretty good. Most of it is from the same farm that I got the strawberries from back in May.

 

Can't wait for the polar vortex that comes in tonight and drops our temperatures to fall numbers for a few days.  54 is forecast for in the morning with a high of mid-70's.  That is my idea of perfect weather!!!!!!  I have been waiting for a cooler day to go to Powell Gardens so am headed that way in the morning. They have a special exhibit that will only be there for a few more weeks.  That is the gardens that last year had the display of animals made of Lego pieces......

Thursday's This and That

I love these flowers!  One of the homes along the trail by the golf course has a bunch of these in their backyard next to  the trail.  I don't know what they are called but my mother always had them in her garden.  The plants are 3-4 feet high and the blooms are quite large.

I can remember gathering the seed from the blooms when I was a kid and putting them in an envelope so she would have seeds for the next year to plant. It is always a trip down memory lane when I walk by that particular house.

Morris has come up with a new "cave" for his afternoon naps and it is under the sofa.  He has a 4" high space between the floor and the bottom of the sofa to crawl in and then it is higher right under the sofa once he gets under there. It is really funny to watch him slither under there. The first time he went under there was when it was thundering in the evening and that was the closest place to get under since he was on my lap when the thunder hit.  I guess he liked it since he disappears under there during the day now.

I'm still on the trail of my Great-Grandfather Jefferson Arnold. Yesterday I found his muster rolls for the time he was in the Arkansas First Infantry - 1st Battalion in 1862 on the Union side. I also found some history on that particular unit but haven't had time to analyze the info yet. I spent so much time on Larry's genealogy because it was so interesting with his ancestors role in settling California.  My side was pretty boring until I found GGF Arnold and that opened up a very interesting chapter on my family.  Of course, once I get on the trail of something like this I spend hours and hours on it but that is what's fun about being retired!  Yesterday I took a step back to spend some time organizing what I have found. There is a wonderful Arkansas state genealogy library in Little Rock and I wish I knew then what I know now about my ancestors. I spent several afternoons at the library when we spent the summer there in 2011.  It's only a 414 mile drive, or 6 hours, to Little Rock from here........

Civil War's Battle of Carthage

I grew up in Sarcoxie, MO which is 20 miles SE from Carthage, Mo which was the nearest "large" town. I heard that there was a Civil War Battle in Carthage but never paid much attention to it growing up and even later. But all that changed  when I confirmed my paternal great-grandfather's name and then ran it through a web page of Civil War information just as a curiosity. Much to my surprise, his name was there along with his enlistment information, regiments he served in, info on his death and enough information on pensions for his wife and son that I can get his records from the National Archives. Now all of a sudden the Civil War is important to me! I remember my granny telling me when I was growing up that she had 2 brothers - one fought for the north and one for the south at the Battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas. She never mentioned her father-in-law so I knew nothing about him until I found him recently.

My great-grandfather, Jefferson Luther Arnold, enlisted in the Arkansas Company D, 1st Infantry Battalion on July 1, 1862 and on August 29, 1864 he enlisted in the Missouri Company L, 11th Regiment Missouri Calvary. He died Dec 29, 1864 of small pox at a hospital in Brownsville, Arkansas.

Now to the Battle of Carthage.....  They have a really nice, small Civil War Museum in Carthage and outside of town is the Battle of Carthage Historic Site where the battle was fought.

The docent at the Museum was very interesting and knowledgeable.  I would like to talk to him again and ask more questions...  Besides the usual exhibits in a museum, they had a really interesting exhibit listing the various reasons for the Civil War in Missouri and it not being all about slavery. Even though many residents of Missouri and Arkansas were supporters of slavery because they were from the Confederate states, it was more than just slavery.  Another reason was to control the Trails to the Frontier and Trade. The wagon trails to the west left from Independence, MO that contained both cargo and emigrants moving west. The docent put it like this. "It wasn't just about slavery - especially in Missouri and Arkansas.  The South didn't like the North telling them what crops they could grow and that they couldn't have slaves. The North wanted the United States to remain one country and not let the South break away. Same things we hear people talking about today." He also talked about many, many of the solders dying of diseases without ever being wounded in battle.

The Battle of Carthage occurred on July 5, 1861 and was the earliest full-scale battle of the Civil War, preceding Bull Run in the east by 11 days. It involved more than 7,000 men, including infantry, artillery and cavalry and lasted an entire day. At issue was whether Missouri would stay in the Union or join the Confederacy. The Governor of Missouri wanted the 6,000 man Missouri State Guard to join the South. Sent to stop him were 1,100 German-American Union volunteers from St. Louis.

A mannequin of a Private, Third Missouri Volunteer Infantry, 1861. At this point in the war, the Union blue and Confederate gray had not been established.  Most of the Union troops were wearing gray and the Confederates were still in civilian clothes.

The battle started that morning 9 miles north of town and in late afternoon the Union troops started to retreat through the southwest corner of the Carthage Square containing the Courthouse.

The Jasper County Courthouse (right), as it appears today, is on the Carthage Square  was used as a field hospital. The Union kept firing but dropping back. Under cover of darkness they retreated to Sarcoxie, Mo and then on to Springfield. This was the first I ever knew that Sarcoxie played a part in the Civil War and I lived there the first 22 years of my life.

I started my journey at the museum with hopes of finding out if my great-grandfather fought in the Battle of Carthage.  However, I knew that wasn't the case as soon as I found out that the battle was fought in 1861 and his first enlistment was in 1862. I went downtown to the Kansas City branch of the National Archives this morning.  They gave me the forms and information on how to request his records. Hopefully the information will include where he was in the war. We shall see......

Reeds, Missouri

On Saturday, I drove my brother and sister-in-law down to Carthage, Mo which is about 135 miles south so they could attend her sister's surprise 85th birthday.  It gave me the opportunity to do some genealogy work I have been wanting to do so I dropped them off and then went wandering......  I went to the Civil War Museum and Battle of Carthage Battleground in and near Carthage.  Carthage was the closest large town to where I grew up but I really didn't know anything about their role in the Civil War and I will write that history lesson tomorrow.  However, I have also been wanting to go to Reeds, Mo which is where my mother and brothers were born. I recently discovered that a brother of my mother's and his wife plus my mother's only sister and her husband were buried in the Reeds Cemetery.

Top left: I worked my way over to Reeds from Carthage on back roads.  I wasn't sure where I was a few times but knew I was headed in the right direction and had a GPS app on my phone if I needed it. The drive was a very pretty  trip through farm land with Willie Nelson on the radio....

Top right: The sign for Reeds. I don't know exactly what the population was in Reeds when I was a kid but would guess it was around 3-400. The population was 130 in the 2000 census.  There is certainly not much there now but they do have a new post office.

Bottom: The Reeds Cemetery where 461 people are buried. I had no idea where the gravestones I was looking for were so it was a lot of tramping through weeds to find them.

 

Top: This is the Reeds school house where my mother attended and got her 8th grade diploma from the school in 1924.  I have the original diploma.....  The school has been converted in a home and some work is being done on it.

Middle: There are hundreds of acres corn in the area and it is in good shape this year due to all the rain they have had.

Bottom: I was so shocked to see that someone still hung clothes on a line that I had to take a picture. True Ozarks! 

July 4th

I made it through Vivian's Annual July 4th BBQ for the family. 44 family members spanning 4 generations - give or take a couple of people were there. It was a beautiful day - about 83 degrees with a light breeze.  The weather was certainly better than last year where it started storming and raining about the time we were ready to eat.

Pat, Vivian's husband, grilled 42 hamburgers and 40 hot dogs. The top picture is the main food and there was another table with deserts on it. My food contribution was the 10 lbs of strawberries that I sliced for the shortcake. The above bottom picture is one of 3 tables that was set up in the backyard and decorated. People also brought lawn chairs and were setting on those, on the deck and anywhere they could find to set.

People setting on the deck, Chef Pat, flowers and fountain with flowers on the deck, people setting out in the yard eating and the desert table. There was another area with cupcakes, cookies, etc on it.
It was a lot of work but fun. My feet have a year to rest up before next year.....
Some of the 30 something guys bought a bunch of fireworks and did a big show after it got dark. I hear it was a really good show but I was at home in my recliner by then getting lectured by Morris for being gone so long.

Another phone call from a doctor...

These doctors have got to quit calling me or I am going to get totally spoiled and expect such care from my doctors and we all know that doesn't happen....  Today's call went something like this: "Hi Darlene. This is Brenda, Dr. Anderson's nurse. (He is my primary care doctor.) Dr Anderson has received all of your test results and would like for you to come in so he can go over them with you. When would be a good time for you to come in. "  Well after I got over my shock of them calling, I suggested July 14th. "That works for us.  How about 2 pm and I have blocked out enough time that he will have time to answer questions, go over everything, etc with you". She also said something to the effect that based on the stress test, I do have problems but it doesn't indicate anything critical. I keep trying to figure out what the difference is with the doctors at KU Med center, of which Dr. Anderson is part of, and the doctors in Tucson. I got an email survey yesterday to do on my heart doctor and the questions were all about did he listen to me, how was his communication and was it easy to understand (non technical), did I feel rushed during my time with him, etc. I feel very blessed to have found such doctors.....