Week in Review - 7/11/2020

I got a laugh at HH's expense - 7/9/2020

Hunky Husband casually mentioned, about an hour ago (11:00am) that he needed a plastic bag into which to place his pocket stuff and that he had to "be there" at 7:45am, tomorrow. "Where?" asked I. "For my MRI." said he. It seems that the medical scheduler had called HH, yesterday, to give him the information on his appointment. Today, he thought that he had told me; however, the last thing he had told me was that they would call him back with his final schedule, that they had five patients to fit into three slots. "Where is the MRI?" asked I. "Behind the pharmacy." "Here in Derby?" "Yes." "In the same building as the pharmacy or in the building behind the pharmacy where you had your hernia surgery?" "My hernia surgery was in Wichita. I don't know what building it's in." Then we discussed whether he needed me to drive him or not (perhaps they would dose him with anti-anxiety stuff, I thought - he is, after all, slightly claustrophobic), which he was sure was not the case. Thus, HH ran up to the medical offices (a 5-minute drive) to get more information. It seems they had told him nothing except the time and that he was to go behind the pharmacy, into the green doors (which I remember from when I took him for his hernia surgery.) UPDATE: The MRI suite was in the same building with the normal physical exam offices and pharmacy.

HH came back from the medical offices, in a panic. He couldn't wear his jeans to the MRI - or anything with metal. They told him to wear sweats - which he thought he didn't have; but, I dug out a pair of fleece sweats that I had bought him 20 years ago. he hadn't worn them more than once or twice; but, they had metal zippered pockets. Bummer! So, I gave HH a pair of my pull-on knit pants. This is the point at which I got to giggle. He tried putting on the pants without removing his socks. His socks snagged on the knit pants causing HH to dance about. However...that option turns out much more viable than my taking the metal zips out of his sweats. The sweats are so old that the elastic in the waistband has totally given up. In a pinch, I could have picked him up a pair of pants from one of the stores; but, I don't really want to take that risk in the middle of the day. Although, in the past, I have borrowed HH's jeans (and shirts) to wear, this will have been the first time that he has borrowed clothing from me. He's good with it.

Whiplash have we - 7/8/2020

Last Thursday, the Governor of Kansas issued an executive order that included the requirement that people wear masks when out in public. (There are some exceptions; but, go with me here.) The order went in to effect the next day - 7/3/2020. On Thursday, the County Commission of Sedgwick met and voted 3-2 to have people in our county consider the governor's order as "recommendations" rather than "requirements". Under the "Home Rule" laws of Kansas, lower divisions of government are allowed to do such things. Well...on Friday, the City Council of Wichita met and overturned the Sedgwick County Commissioners so that the governor's executive order would apply within the City of Wichita. Again...allowed under "Home Rule" laws of Kansas. The Wichita vote applies to Hunky Husband and me only if we venture north for several miles.

Today, on the 5 o'clock TV news (that we do not normally watch, but just happened to see), we learned the following (excerpted from the County of Sedgwick website):

(Sedgwick County, Kan.) – Dr. Garold Minns, Local Health Officer for Sedgwick County this afternoon signed an Emergency Public Health Order that will require any person within Sedgwick County to cover his or her mouth and nose with a mask or other face covering in situations such as:

• inside any indoor or outdoor public space where social distancing of six feet at all times is not possible
• in line and waiting to enter an indoor public space

This order will take effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday morning, July 10, 2020 and to be in place until at least midnight Sunday night, August 9, 2020.

Since Kansas is doing so poorly with COVID-19 these days (see yesterday's excerpt from the US News website, below), it only makes sense that we have the Emergency Public Health Order in place.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is among the top 14 states in the country for the most rapid spread of coronavirus, and in the top 14 states for having the least restrictions on activities, the state's top health official said Tuesday.

Poor little dead tree - 7/8/2020

For the past few years we've been nursing along (not very well) the little sugar maple that was planted in our front yard in 2000. Hunky Husband really liked that tree and didn't want it taken out - hoping against hope (but not willing to spend a small fortune on the treatments the expert wanted to give it for a few years). Finally, I guess COVID-19 killed it off. At least, it was pushing out leaves and seeds this spring. I am happy that it finally died so that I can get it out of there. I've sent an email to "my" tree people to please come take it out. One can tell by the small size of the tree that it had failed to thrive.

Mid-week Laugh  - 7/7/2020

From All Hat No Cattle, today:

Hunky Husband's Car, today:

My car, today:

I hasten to add that 1) the masks are removed before we drive and 2) never, before, has either of us ever had anything hang from our rear view mirrors (I know this because neither of us had a car when we married - not until three or four weeks before Dudette was born). Hanging the masks this way allows us to doff a mask when we arrive home and hang it by an earpiece without touching the cloth portion. Since neither of us drives much, our ventures out are of short duration, and it is a few days (at least) between ventures, hanging the masks allow them to naturally let any virus disassemble.

I should go to Vegas - 7/6/2020

To beat the heat, I started my lawn work at 6:15am, this morning. The first thing I did was to rake the detritus out of the edge of the grass along our 120 feet of curbing, scoop it up, and add it to the compost pile. When I had finished, one could see the rake scrapings along the curb. Instead of immediately sweeping up the leavings (and you can imagine that I did not wish to overwork that particular set of muscles lest I develop aching), I cleaned out the cover of the curb-side drain, pulled creepers out of the woods, and wound up the hose that I had left strung out when watering the trees, yesterday. I had every good intention of doing the leavings sweeping tomorrow morning, but I had reached my heat/humidity/exertion limit for the time being.

Imagine my pleased surprise when, 30 minutes after I came inside, the city motorized street sweeper came along our curb. Yay! Just think how frustrated I would have been had I exerted myself in sweeping up what it took the motorized street sweeper but seconds to remove. This would be my day for gambling! (The above photo shows the motorized street sweeper on its return trip down our street - sweeping the gutter that is across the street from us.

Health Update for Family - 7/3/2020

HH: Hunky Husband had his “annual” physical (first one in who-knows-how-many years; but, he did have his post-hernial-surgery evaluation three years ago), yesterday. I had asked if I might accompany him. He said, “No”, that I tend to take over a conversation if we are together (that is true – I think that I am just making sure other people get correct information, of course); so, he went alone. When he came back, all he knew was that they had drawn some blood, that they had given him some sort of shot, and that he had forgotten to tell Dr N about the fungus under his toenail. I asked if HH had checked with Dr N on any Alzheimer’s studies that might be taking place in our area, as he had mentioned wanting to do. (HH's mother participated in a study at Washington U in St Louis and they did her autopsy, pronouncing that she had died of Alzheimer's - or complications of, maybe, I don't recall.) “No.” Nor had he asked Dr N to look at a spot at the crown of his head that has been worrying him. HH called Dr N’s office to tell them about his toenail and they made him an appointment for the next morning.

Before he left the house for the second appointment, I reminded HH about the spot on his head and he wrote it down on his little card of notes. An hour later, when he returned, he said that Dr N would take off the spot on his crown and a spot between his eyebrows, but didn’t do it, today. HH was prescribed and brought home with him a 90-day supply of anti-fungal horse pills to take (continuing for one year). They gave him a simple test of his ability to do mental addition (did well, he says) and are going to schedule him for an MRI. Well, better everything should be addressed in two visits than to not have anything more to show for his annual physical than he would have had from his first visit! BTW: The shot was pneumonia immunization.

In his records, it was noted that he had a “slight hearing loss”. I don’t know how his hearing loss was evaluated (HH said they did not test his hearing). I do know that I often wear earplugs if in the same room with HH's TV because he sets the volume level at 30-35 whereas I would set it for 11-14. 

CORRECTION OF 7/11/2020 9:48 am

I'm leaving a photo of the physician in the red dress, above; but, I happened to notice, just now, that I posted the wrong photo. That photo is of my primary care physician. A photo of my eye doctor is below. Apologies to both doctors. The only way I can tell them apart is by the fact that my primary care physician is nearly a foot taller than my eye doctor. (I'm serious about the height difference!)

CC: By chance, I had my “annual” eye exam yesterday afternoon. I knew that my sight had degraded within the past 6-8 months which I attributed to more crap floating about in my eyes.  Dr A found a small hemorrhage in the retina of my left eye – near where the large floater (artifact from laser surgery a few years ago) is attached. (I hadn’t known that it was still attached to anything as it floats “all over” my field of vision until she told me.) I’m awaiting a call from a specialist to get his evaluation. Probably nothing to be done, but Dr A wanted to be sure “we” know what’s going on.

EB: He's doing well - no untoward effects from his birding trip of last month.

Comments

[bogie]

Wow, that was a lot of stuff to cover in one post.

I can see HH wearing your pants - with the hems up to his knees most likely :)

Sorry to hear KS is experiencing an uptick in Covid-19. NH steadily climbs, but we have never hit a high hospitalization rate, and death rate is fairly low (mostly in Senior living homes). Seems that the hope that the virus would not do well in heat was in vain.

That was wicked good luck and timing on your street sweeper. Unlike my timing which usually means the snow plow comes by just after I'm completely done snow blowing and have just walked back into the house.

[bogie]

Maybe next time have HH print out a copy of what he wants to review (not hand written - we both know nobody could read that). Pretty sure that advice would be ignored, or forgotten, but always worth a try.

I have a vertical stripe of haze in my right eye now, from something similar to your issue. It is weird because the tear seems to be at the far right of my vision (according to where I see the "lightning" flashes). But, the haze is toward the middle of my line of sight, actually crossing from side to side as I move my eye. If the "lightning" doesn't go away (it has been getting smaller, slowly), then my doctor will send me to a specialist. Like you, not sure they can do anything.

Floaters - yeah, mine "float" too. I can shake my head and make the large cluster in my left eye move out of the way during vision tests. Who knew they were "attached". Maybe they area attached to a tether so they get limited movement. Seeing the floaters in pictures is always so weird.

[Cop Car]

Bogie--No, the hem of the pants fell just shy of the top of HH's shoes. Because he is so much taller than am I, people assume that his legs are much longer than mine; but, no, maybe 1/2" or 1", and I take up that much because the girth of my thighs is larger than his. (The first real jeans that I ever wore were your dad's, when we were in school, and they fit fine, even when I was pregnant, since the waistband fell so low.) I doubt that HH would have worn my pants had they fallen short on him. I had asked him if he had a pair of shorts; but, his shorts have metal zippers. He had to wear the mask that the Dr's office had given him because the mask that I made him has a piece of wire in the nose area - to fit.

It is my understanding that, recently, NH and VT are the only states not showing an increase in COVID-19 cases. (Maybe they said increase in hospitalizations?) Well done! Even in the waiting room of the MRI suite (I waited 45 minutes in the car before going in to see if HH had finished, but spent about five minutes in the waiting room), the other two people were talking about how COVID-19 is a hoax and they didn't see why they had to wear a mask. After all, neither of them personally knew anyone who had come down with COVID-19 - an indictment of our school system of 60 years ago that they were passed without learning much about math (or is that snarky of me?)

Your dad, being the list-maker that he is, I cannot imagine that he had not made a list and I cannot account for what happened. Maybe next time (in another three years?) I can find a graceful excuse to insist upon going with him.

I do wish you had chosen among the pieces of DNA more wisely, Sweetheart. (How's that for blaming the victim?) I do not and have not experienced the light flashes one is told to look for - maybe because I don't pay enough attention. The hemorrhage has made my normal "blind spot" larger. If I started noticing flashes, I would be at Dr Agpoon's office, post haste.

As to attachment of floaters: I don't know about other floaters although it would make sense that those floaters that result from retinal tears might stay attached. My huge floater (my theory, you understand) is probably attached because it is the product of laser surgery. The surgery is performed by using a laser to zap perforations around the clouded structure that comprised my secondary cataract. That also accounts (in my mind) for the floater staying as a varying but coherent blob. (I know that floaters are not made of "rods", but that is how mine looks!)

The outline of my floater is 5-pointed-star with a tail like a Manta Ray's. The apparent fine, black "rods" of the outline move about to change the appearance, but the basic shape has remained unchanged in the five years since the surgery.) I've never seen a photo of floaters. I'll have to ask when I see the specialist next Tuesday. The rest of my floaters? For many years I've compared my vision to looking at the world through a lace curtain they are so numerous.

[Liz Hinds]

Hope HH enjoyed the cross dressing experience - but not too much.

Wales is doing reasonably well in Covid terms but we've been slower than England to lift restrictions

[Ole Phat Stu]

Hmmmm; what a great cultural difference we have between Kansas and Germany.
In Yurp, we don't post about others health or lack thereof.
The DSGVO sets legal limits regarding data privacy.
Of course, you can post about your OWN (bad?) eyesight if you want to, but don't be surprised if nanny state then confiscates your driving licence, just to give a (perhaps extreme) example.
But it's a no-no to discuss the health etc of private persons. At a minimum, it is indiscreet.

Now public persons can be the subject of conjecture (e.g. "Is DJT sane?" ) as long as you steer clear of libel,
but that is similar eveywhere I imagine.

[Cop Car]

Liz--I see nothing wrong with cross dressing. I don't even know why it is a "thing". Congratulations to Wales. Glad for the update.

Stu--OMG. Thanks for the chortle. We have a little thing called "freedom of speech" over here. I do not fear our government. I may judge some of its members a bit strange, but I do not fear that they will come get me for keeping our family informed as to health status. "Youngsters" are concerned with how their elders are doing, so I try to let our family know what's up with us, and I have HH's and EB's permission to do so. Were I a healthcare professional, I would need to protect the privacy of my patients/clients; but, I am not.

As to my eyesight: I am perfectly legal to drive - as long as I am wearing the appropriate corrective lenses (just as has been the case since my first driver's license that was issued when I was 22 - yikes! - 60 years ago!)

[bogie]

If you had flashes, you would know it. It is literally like seeing lightning out of the corner of my eye - and it moves as my eye moves, and flickers like lightning (so it isn't always "on"). It only appears in low light situations. However, when it first happened, I could see it just by closing my eyes.

[Cop Car]

Bogie--You are right. The photos of the floaters are weird. My right eye looks pretty "normal"; but, my left? Oh, my goodness. Yours probably looks even more my goodness.