Book

It's weird because when I picked up this book, The River Road, by Tricia Currans-Sheehan I didn't realize it was a book written by an Iowa woman. The young girl she writes about coming to age was slightly older then then me growing up. I can relate to so much of the era of growing up in the late 50's and 60's and of course relate to being a girl who questioned everything. Her writing is really good and I think worth reading if you can get it at your library.

I love reading. When she talks about walking down the lanes and running through fields I can almost feel the dirt and smell the fields. It transports me to my childhood. I always thought I would love to become a writer when I grew up but am one of those readers who can read well and read anything, but writes poorly. Oh well. As long as others keep doing it so well.



Back to work today. They haven't called me all week so work must be going well without any shortages. I was lucky not to have caughten the crud that was going around a couple of weeks ago. It has been so wonderful to have been healthy and well after being sick every other week all winter. I was sick of being sick.

The photo below is one taken from a distance. Remember the rock climbers and the dog. This is how high it is.


I haven't heard from the doctor about when I will have the surgery. I figure, knowing my luck, it will be smack in the middle of my vacation. I watched the surgery on youtube. Yikes.



I have a feeling it is going to hurt and I also have a feeling I will be sitting up to sleep for awhile. He said I would be using a sling for a week which will end up aggrevating my neck. But. From what I have read I have a good chance of finally getting this shoulder fixed. I just hope he isn't as stingy with pain medication after surgery as he has been so far.



The weather is cool, in the 70's and not to breezy. That only means one thing. Perfect bike riding weather. So that is what my plan is. A bike ride. Read for awhile and then work. I get to talk to my boss and let her know about the surgery in the morning. Goody. Well, hope all is well in your world.

The magic of Photoshop

First of all these are not my photos and I don't know who they belong to. Some very talented person. I received these in an email and thought they were very cool. I need to practice. I need to get photoshop first, LOL. You might have to click on them to see the full shot.

End of Life depate.

Rather then suffer the slow progress of cancer or dementia the government offers to pay for the medication to help you legally end your life and stop the suffering. Sounds so good doesn't it. They care about your suffering.... your pain. You. And who wants to suffer.

Then take it a step further like the Oregon case. The woman's cancer had returned. There was a chemo that could help her. But Oregon has a assisted suicide law. On the Books. And she was denied chemo treatment. However..... she was not denied medication to end her life.

The Netherlands has had assisted suicide for 2 decades. Good country to watch and see how it actually goes down. Its what Oregon used as a role model. It turns out a quarter of the doctors admit to ending patients life's without the patient asking for it. Some patients were made to feel like a burden on their family. One wife told her ill elderly husband to either end his life with assisted suicide or she would put him in a nursing home. The doctor wrote the script. Even knowing the patient had been coerced. One doctor gave his patient the script without her knowledge because she only had about 4 weeks anyway!

Makes you nervous about getting any scripts from your doctor doesn't it? I remember the last few weeks and days before my in-law's died when I cared for them. We said things to each other in those last days that I will cherish forever. Many families use this time to come to terms with things in the past they wanted to be forgiven for or forgive. Many need this time to say goodbye to a loved one they won't see again.

When you take it out of an individuals hand. Make it a law, put in on the books the choice is taken away from the individual. A premie, born as 6 months gestation. The cost will be extremely high to keep the baby alive. There is no guarantee the child won't have birth defects. A law would make it OK to give it right to life care, against the parents wishes. And maybe will deny the cost of keeping the child alive.

A woman asked President Obama. My mother at 100 needed a pacemaker. She is active and mentally alert. With the pacemaker she is alive today at 105. And then she asked this man, who has no medical training, if her mother would still get it with this new health care reform.





As a nurse I believe in giving patient's as much medicine as they can get to end their pain when they are dying from a terminal disease. I believe in comfort care. I also don't always agree with doing dialysis or surgeries on patients when they aren't going to benefit from it in their quality of life. But. I believe that it is the patients right to make that decision. And they are not always given an informed talk about the benefits of doing it either way. Because finding someone who is truly impartial I think would be almost impossible. Like your insurance company approving a $50.00 dollar end of life pill as opposed to a $4000.00 dollar chemo treatment.

And I think it should be your choice because. Some 100 year old people have 5 more happy years. Some premature babies might grow up and find the cure for diabetes. And some cancer patients win the Tour De France , not by winning it...... but by being given the choice to live and being there to race.

Repeal the 16th & 17the Amendment.

I read a wonderful article that basically tells the only way to save our country at this point. If your worried about whats been happening and whats going on right now check out this article by J. B. Williams. We also need to replace almost everyone in congress and put back people that have our best interest at hearts again. These special interest groups have been working hard to take our country from us, we have to take it back. Our terrorists are in the White House.

http://www.michnews.com/JB_Williams/jbw7709.shtml

Can you see me now? And surgery

I was messing with my camera and took this shot. Can you see me now? You might have to click on to view it larger. Gee another new picture of me. 2 in one decade. LOL.

Today I saw the shoulder doc. Have to say this once more. What a nice looking young man. Yummy. Oh to be young again, whoops, that's not what this post is about, grin.

Anyway. I complained about his work comp nurse. I really never do this and it was hard to do but she really ticked me off. And he said he was sorry I was made to feel that way. Accepted. Not anything he had done anyway but I was mad about the entire phone call and was ticked she implied I wasn't doing everything I could do.

So with that out of the way we discussed my shoulder. And I voiced my frustration with my lack of improvement. I told him I was still having acute pain when I moved the shoulder a certain way. Usually when I was not consciously thinking about how to move my shoulder so it wouldn't hurt. Like pulling the sheet over my shoulder in bed. Oh that really hurts sometimes. And the fact they are starting to grumble about me being on restrictions at work all these months. And who can blame my co-workers. They have enough to do without doing all my lifting. They have been great but...... It would be getting to me also. I really would not want to lose my job. And he agrees.

He said I have done everything and anything possible to avoid surgery. I remember when I walked into his office many months ago practically the first thing I said was, " please help me avoid surgery. I do not want another surgery". But it is not getting better. And I hurt all the time. All the time! So now the surgery is the next step. Fortunately it will be a scope surgery so not as invasive. Well, invasive but not as bad as if they opened it up with an incision.


Now its just waiting for work comp to approve and then schedule a date for surgery. So wimpy me now I am thinking about the reality of having surgery again. For the 3rd time this year. Man oh man. But. Finally there may be an end to this pain. Not in the near future but in the future. Now to tell my boss. I did talk to her last week and updated her on my lack of improvement and asked about my job security. Hopefully it will be OK for now. At least now I will be able to get back to lifting and doing my full job.

So then after the appointment we went shopping. I got some water resistance weights for doing water exercises in the pool. I am really getting into doing my exercises in the water. I always loved water aerobics and now I can control how much chlorine is in the water. We looked at larger pools today also. Maybe next year. Depending on the economy. And everything. And I got a new purse. On sale.

I finished Kevin's book and am reading another book called The River Road by Tricia Currans-Sheehan. A fiction book. I have to take a break and just read fiction once in awhile and just not think about what is going on in the country. Not ignore it, just not think about it for awhile. So far the book is really good.

Well. Enough prattling on. I am going to look up how they do the surgery. May end up scaring myself. But. Knowledge is power, right.

Obama's first Six Months.

Putting it down in facts and numbers really shows in the stark reality of how Obama's first 6 months have impacted us. Can we really afford any more. Just think what will happen if he finishes his term! Anyway read the figures. And please stop by Bungalow Bill's and send him best wishes as he undergoes some tests.

The weekend is over and many of you are headed back to work. Too bad. Not me though, grin. I still have a few days to go. And the weather has been wonderful. More like early spring days or early fall days.

We went for a bike ride the other day. It was a nice ride. Only did about 5.5 miles as my asthma kicks up earlier and earlier lately. I wonder if it is the chlorine in the little pool? It isn't near as strong as in the pool at the gym but maybe enough to have kicked my asthma up some. But. Love that little pool and I have been in it everyday doing my water exercises.

The pool is deep enough that you can actually do several of the exercises we did at the gym. Those were done in shallow water. I don't have the weights here that I did at the pool but it still works out and it is relaxing. Can I say again how happy I am that I live out in the boondocks so I can sit around in the pool without being self-conscious. because I would be. Here I can just relax secure in the knowledge I have no neighbors that can see me. Life is good.

We are enjoying this pool so much we might get the larger size and give this one to our son. And level an area in the back so it sits better. I am hoping to pick one up on sale this year so we can use it next year. We shall see.

Now for the pictures. I thought it was interesting the contrast between this large old barn sitting there in all its old glory and in the back one of those big new blocky homes slowly creeping forward taking over its territory. I decided to make it all back except the new house to show the old being taken over by the new. click on the photos to see them larger.


We went to Palisades state Park the other day and of course I had my camera and took shots. I love this path going down to the river and the light was perfect that day.


Then we saw these two large rock formations that people from all over come to practice their rock climbing on. They were maybe 3 or 4 stories high at the most. Here these young men were busy tying on robes and getting ready to climb down. Looks like quite the distance.



But when you zoom in on the top of the rock there sits their dog. Wagging his tail and waiting for them. Probably took it about 2 minutes to scramble up the sides. Probably take him about 2 minutes to scramble down. I thought it was funny.


Our steak dinner was wonderful the other night. The kids dropped by so we fed them all and had a merry time. I feel so much better after a few days off and am grateful I get several off in a roll to help me get my head back on straight. Work has been just so stressful. Again it isn't the patients, its the politics. I hope things settle down. Everybody is on edge.

Today we are going to just run some errands and I have been slowly reading Kevin's book. Usually I will sit and just read a book in one sitting but I have been too busy to do that so have been just reading a few chapters before bed. Its a good book. He backs up all his arguments with facts. Democrats are even more racist then I knew. It was the Republican's that voted in almost every single civil rights acts on the boards today. Repeatedly. I don't belong to one party but know for sure that I could not vote strictly democratic.. Now I am pretty sure I could not vote for any of them. But who to vote for. That is the question.