Moving my journal

I've decided to return to Simplesite to continue my journal.  
 Please join me there at my new and improved site:
MY JOURNAL

I'm shakin' in my boots

I had a look at the program for the Changing Melody Forum for Saturday.  The morning guest speaker is Dr. Jennifer Fogarty, a clinical neuropsychologist.  The afternoon speaker is Dr. Ken Shonk, a family doctor who has been doing public speaking for twenty years.  Sandwiched in between those two high profile people is little old me!  But worse than that...I speak after we eat lunch!!! What if I drop some food on my top, before I speak?  Well, I've devised a very nice little bib to wear to protect my top. I used miniature paper clamps and a gold chain.   I'll let you know how my invention worked!!!

Slow month

Still plugging along...doing this and that....and enjoying life.  I haven't attempted any more baking since the banana bread fiasco.  Only the top half of the loaf was edible!  I need to figure out a new recipe system, so just one recipe is visible at a time! 
I have another speaking engagement this Saturday at the Changing Melody Forum in Woodstock, Ontario, which is about four hours away.  I hope I'm able to help a few more folks on this journey.

Back to my normal self

Well, I guess I'm pretty well back to my normal self.  In fact I thought this morning would be an excellent morning to use up some overripe bananas in some banana bread.  I found my banana bread recipe in my binder, and proceeded to make it.  Somehow my eyes got onto the next page, and I ended up adding all the ingredients for Applesauce Pancakes into my mashed bananas.  Don't you just hate when something like that happens?   I added more flour to make it thicker....and now I'm waiting for my banana applesauce pancake bread to bake.  Anyone want to be my guinea pig?

Great news

We are very happy to report that our son's surgery went well. The tumor was successfully removed and Sandy was bright and alert this morning.  He expects to be home tomorrow.  Thank you all for your prayers and best wishes.  I think I will need to sleep for a week to get my brain unfogged, but it is indeed a happy fog!

Jim and I joined my brother in law Nick in his Parkinsons' Superwalk today in Ottawa.  Pictured above is Nick and some of the other super heroes!!  Nick raised nearly five thousand dollars for Parkinsons...way to go Nick!  It was a really fun day.  I accompanied Nick on the five kilometer walk on my Scooter....it was great fun!

Update on son

Sandy visited his neurosurgeon again yesterday, and received confirmation of his brain surgery for September 26th.  Our other four sons will be here to give Sandy their support.  Sandy, of course, is very positive, and when asked if he would consent to donating his tumor for science, immediately agreed, "as he won't be needing it anymore!".  The five boys are planning on having their annual golf game on the 24th.  We sure do have five great boys!!!

Lowering my cholesterol

Last week our doctor prescribed Ezetrol to lower my cholesterol.  It isn't a statin drug, so I agreed to take it.  However, my research indicated it was also known to sometimes cause muscle problems.  There is no way I need any more muscle issues going on, so I'm not going to take it.  Jim's sister Carly suggested I try flax seeds and chia seeds.  Both are known to lower cholesterol.  Also Chia seeds are a  major source of omega-3. They also contain high amounts of antioxidants, fiber, protein, calcium, magnesium and iron.  They have been recently touted as the new 'superfood'.  They are an amazing source of long-term energy.  So I will be taking 2 tablespoons of ground flax and 2 tablespoons of ground chia daily, and I'll let you know in a month when I have my next blood test how they worked at lowering my cholesterol.

Stressful week

A week ago we received news that our son Sandy, who is 40, has been diagnosed with a brain tumor.  According to his neurologist it is a grade two astrocytoma.  Now we wait for his appointment with the neurosurgeon in Toronto, which will hopefully be within a few weeks.  Sandy is still able to carry on work as an electrician, but isn't allowed to drive, because of his seizures.  His spirits are good and he has his mommy's positive outlook!  I'll keep you posted on any news in the weeks to come.

Doctor Appointment

I wanted to give you an update on my cholesterol levels.  We had our dr. appointment yesterday, and even though I've been taking 3 yellow peas a day, my cholesterol level is still up at 7.  I had great hopes for the yellow peas!  Not sure what we're doing about it yet, but I am refusing to get back on the statin drugs.  
I just spent the last twenty minutes going through all our cupboards looking for the noodle soup that my mouth is watering for.  I finally remembered the two packages were in the pile of stuff we left behind at Giant Tiger last time we shopped, because the noise in the store became more than I can handle.  I guess I'll have to settle for a salad for lunch!!

We had an enjoyable week with Jim's Mom visiting, along with her 4 month old puppy Buttons.  Having a puppy really cuts down on how much time you can spend shopping.  However I was able to find a neat solution which let us do all the shopping we wanted.  Buttons didn't seem to mind shopping at all from the duffel bag slung over my shoulder.
I'm totally enjoying my Kindle, and now have a Kindle case with light, so I can read out on my deck in the evening, after the sun goes down.  Life just can't get much better than this, I don't think!

I had an appointment with a physiotherapist on Monday to see if he could help with the nightly muscle spasms in my legs.  After a half hour consultation, he concluded that there was nothing he could do.  He did suggest having my electrolyte levels checked, and perhaps see a nutritionist to see if they might have some suggestions for me.  We have a doctor appointment schedule for two weeks, so we'll see what we can set up.  In the meantime, I'm totally delighted with my early birthday present from son Ralph and his wife Lisa of a KINDLE e-reader.  It even has text to speech, so it can read to me when I need to be busy doing something! I have yet to try out the browsing and emailing it does, but I'll keep you posted as I experiment with all the features. 

Words cannot possibly do justice to describe the absolutely fantastic week we've just enjoyed with our family.  If you had a chance to click on the link from my last Journal entry, you can visualize 30 to 38 of us enjoying the amenities provided to us.  (Various family members arrived for a day which added to the numbers.)  The week seemed to melt away at an incredible speed, and suddenly we were having to hug and kiss everyone goodbye until next time.  I won't be able to step on the scales for at least a month, after a whole week of indulging in every bit of scrumptious cooking that came from the huge kitchen that was at our disposal.  Thanks to our neighbors Ann and Barb's excellent care, our cats are still talking to us!   

Exciting Week Ahead

Our family are having a Family Retreat for a whole week, starting Sunday. You can picture us lounging around here!
There will be 28 to 30 of us....including 3 of our sons, and 10 of our grandkids and my sister June and her sweetheart Nick. Brother Dave and wife Margaret are also coming for a day visit.  We'll see if we can convince them to stay longer!  I am so excited!  I've got many lists prepared for shopping as well as packing.  Fortunately our neighbor Ann is able to come in and care for Angel and Baby, our two senior cats.  Barb and Eric said they'd also pop in occasionally for a visit, just so the girls don't feel terrible neglected.  I'll be taking along my laptop but I imagine I'll be having internet withdrawals big time!

A funny thing happened on the way....

I was scootering over to the recycle bin with my bag full of goodies when I had a brainwave that maybe I should just toodle up the laneway to the neighbours where Jim was cutting grass while they're on vacation.  Now the laneway is about 1/2 mile to the highway, and I was totally loving that I could be whizzing merrily along at top speed of about 5 miles per hour, when something flew into my mouth.  Now with my demented brain, it takes a wee tad longer trying to figure out what you should be doing about it.  I finally stopped my vehicle, and without losing my dentures, managed to spit whatever it was out.  Not, unfortunately, before it manage to sting me twice...on the tongue and at the back of my mouth.  So then I'm hurridly driving up to where Jim was cutting grass, hoping I wouldn't go into anaphylactic shock or any such thing!  So here I am, living to tell about it....and vowing to now keep my mouth tightly shut...or wear a face helmet.
 

Happy Canada Day

We've discovered, by trial and error, that I have almost no muscle spasms at night when I don't use my legs.  So I found this great scooter on kijiji, and I'm now able to galavant all over the campground!  Notice my pretty Canadian flag we installed for this special day!  Jim said he's going to have to install a personal tracking device on me to keep track of where I am. 

 

A Great Day

Our trip to Peterborough to attend the Alzheimers Society meeting went well.  We were early enough to first visit the graveyard where Jim's father and aunts and uncles are buried.  The meeting was held in a very luxurious retirement home called Canterbury Gardens.  I doubt any of us could afford to retire there! They had a buffet supper consisting of various sandwiches, cheese platter, veggie platter and desert tray.  Jim and I managed to find lots of food to eat without straying from our diets.  We picked sandwiches that just had meat, so we ate the meat and wrapped the bread in a napkin to dispose of later.  I had picked a quiet spot to sit and eat so I don't think anyone saw me stuffing bread in my purse!  The organizers thoughtfully had my speech at the beginning of the meeting, so when I finished speaking, I accepted a lovely gift basket and we were on our way home again.  Jim says I was 100% again, and everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy what I had to say.  Hopefully some folks there got a few tips they can use to make life easier.  Now its back to hauling wood and screwing screws!

Busy, busy days

It's hard to believe we're at the middle of June already!  Jim's Mother bought us a newer trailer, and we have been unbelievably busy removing the old one off our site, and getting the new one set up.  We are totally in love with our new 12' x 40' summer home!  Our son Sandy spent Sunday with us helping Jim level the old deck, and installing new deck boards.  He and his daughters will come again this weekend to help Jim finish up.  
Tomorrow we go to Peterborough where I am the guest speaker at the Alzheimers Society Annual General Meeting.  A day off from hauling wood and screwing deck boards!

We have now moved our two cats down to the summer trailer, so we are officially In Residence, and our flag is flying.  Sort of makes me feel like the Queen!  
We found the required yellow peas needed to lower my cholesterol.  I have a sealed jar sitting on the counter top so I remember to pop three a day.  I'm scheduled to have my cholesterol checked again in August, and I'll let you know how the peas worked.  Our friends at the campground have decided I will be their guinea pig.  The pharmaceutical companies should be quivering in their boots about now! 

Lowering cholesterol

My friend Linda emailed me after reading on my blog that I've once again stopped taking the statin drug and shared the following:

My friend who lives in New Hampshire is a nurse who was diagnosed with high cholesterol.  Her friend suggested that instead of taking any of the statins she try taking three whole yellow peas daily.  Her friend said that the same chemical as found in the statins was in the peas.  So she left the drugs on the shelf and started taking the peas.  When she returned to the doc to have her levels checked a few months later the doc was please to report that her numbers where back within the safe range.

Wouldn't that be totally amazing if it works?  I'm off to find a supply of yellow peas!!!