Phone calls and cards

Yesterday we got lots of phone calls since it was a combined celebration of Valentine's day and my birthday. It was great fun to hear from friends and family and to have a good visit. I could even get my mom to understand what I was trying to say to hear. Usually she does not get any phone conversation since she is so hard of hearing. Some of the cards were real funny and others carried a nice message. I even received a few e-cards which are always fun to open. So it was a nice day and I appreciate all of the good wishes. Happy travels.

Birthday today

It is Valentine's Day and my birthday as well. So I have managed to arrive at the advanced age of 73. I guess it beats the alternative but after all it is just a day. Foxy and I decided to celebrate the day by going to La Madeline, a restaurant about eight miles south of here for breakfast. I ordered Eggs Benedict and Foxy had an omelet. Both were excellent and once finished we decided to walk the interior of a large nearby mall. Half an hour later we felt that we had walked off some of what we had eaten and headed for home. A lovely way to celebrate I think. Happy travels.

Doctors update

We continue to visit lots of doctors. We have now seen and liked an internist, a neurologist and a cardiologist. Foxy has had a complete workup. It appears that she did not have a TIA but rather the neurologist thinks that she had a Transient Global Amnesia. Apparently this is really a judgement call and the deciding factor is that there was no evident problems found by the MRI and that there is a period of longer than an hour where Foxy cannot remember anything. Who knows but we are encouraged and hopefully she will have no further problems.

We have been meaning to locate some doctors now that we have moved to Denton and this problem forced us into getting that done. The neat thing is that everyone took this incident seriously and how quickly Foxy was able to visit other doctors as recommended. The health care here is simple excellent. Happy travels.

Doctors visits continue

At the hospital, supervising physician Dr. C suggested that upon release that Foxy needed to see an internist and a neurologist. We met today with Dr. S, an internist who carefully listened to Foxy's problem and suggested that she had temporary amnesia during the event and would not ever remember that time period. She suggested several other tests which should happen this week such as an echo-cardiogram amongst others as well as a visit to a neurologist. We feel that the medical staff has been very supportive and took the time to really listen and further examine Foxy. We came away from our meeting pleased that we were in good hands medically and grateful for all of the support.

Tonight we called Maurice and Anne to wish her a belated happy birthday and see how things were going there with mom. Yesterday Maurice lost entirely the hearing in his right ear and does not know what happened but hopes to get this problem seen to in the next several days. I can only conclude that it is tough being 70 or more years old.

Finally today after visiting with Dr. S, we drove to Louisville to go to Cost Co and to have lunch at La Madeline which was excellent. At Cost Co I got Foxy to have her hearing checked since she has not been hearing clearly lately. Yup! You guessed it! She has to have hearing aids to help her hear in the higher ranges. So, we ordered them and they should be here and fitted in 4-5 days. Foxy is feeling more and more bionic. When she turns 70 in June she can then be welcomed into the "tough being 70 group." It has been a stressful week for both of us but we have been very appreciative of support both near and far. Happy travels.

Foxy is home

Foxy was in the hospital Friday and Saturday and had several tests while there. In the MRI they did find past evidence of a TIA which gave credence to our notion that she had another on Friday morning. The only damage from this mini stroke was that she cannot remember anything that happened on Friday morning. Otherwise she is back to being her old self. She was delighted to be able to do Sudoku puzzles and is looking forward to a more limited activity on our WII exercise system. Kim came over to the hospital as did Chuck after work and we really appreciated their support. I made numerous calls to family and friends. The prayers and thoughts were mightily appreciated. Max knew something was wrong and tried to lick Foxy to death when we finally got home late Saturday afternoon.

When I tried to call sister Susie, I used several phone numbers that I had listed here and there. On my first try, on my phone, their names appeared but when there was no answer, I prepared to leave a message. Imagine my surprise to hear, " Colleen." Who was this Colleen? Maybe she said, ".......calling?" I tried their several other numbers and left messages each time. After about fifteen minutes or so I tried the first number again. "Colleen," was again the unexpected response. This time I left a different message trying to get Susie but also trying to assure Colleen, whoever she might be, that I was sorry to disturb her if indeed it was her phone now.

About fifteen minutes later, the phone rang and it was Colleen. She was very supportive and so sorry that we were having a family emergency but that this number was no longer assigned to Susie. I apologised and after some more kind support from Colleen, hung up. Shortly we got another call, this time from Susie, and after bringing her up to speed on Foxy told her about my conversation with Colleen. After giving Susie Colleen's phone number, Susie thought that this was an older number they had when they were in California. I thought that Susie should call Colleen back and was sure they could become the best of friends as she had been so nice to me. Susie thought the Colleen business was hysterically funny and so we were able to have a good laugh when actually all of us were troubled about Foxy. Sometimes a good laugh is all you need. Happy travels.

Foxy update

Yesterday Foxy probably had a mini stroke called TIA. She has no memory of the time it was occurring. I took her to the hospital and they began a series of tests which continues today. Probably what happened is that she had a blockage in a vein in her brain which later disappeared. In her case it only caused no physical damage just the short time memory loss. She is doing much better today and hopefully will be able to come home later today. Once we have the test results from the doctor, I will update this entry. Happy travels

An update here

I have been back to see the dermatologist and he wanted me to continue the treatment for two days and start in with the steroid creme which I have done. I am now done with the entire treatment and my face is trying to get back to normal. Mostly it has but by nose is still red which makes me think I should give up drinking. Not likely.

We continue to take care of the boys and took them on Wednesday to an afternoon concert in honor or the head of our church's music program and importantly for the past 40 years, head librarian of the Music Library at the University of North Texas . It was a fun concert and we heard a variety of presentations which kept the boys interested. Afterwards we met up with their mom and handed them over to her and went on to a Wednesday program at church which started with a dinner and then had several programs from which to choose. Dinner was prime rib and trimmings for $4 each, a real bargain and the food was excellent. We attended the section in which our pastor talked about his book about Presbyterians. It was quite good

Yesterday we went to an estate sale and little else. It is rainy today and we have not yet decided what we are doing. Sunday we return to the Fort Worth Symphony for an afternoon event. That is all of an update I can think of. Happy travels.