Coffee With No Cream

This is the view from the deck at my beach place.
The trees need to be trimmed but you get the idea of the view.
The sunsets can be amazing.
One time there was a thunder storm that went on for hours
before it finally made to my part of the world.
I sat with a glass of wine
taking in the lights that nature set off.
A very peaceful place to relax.

I just got done eating my toast
with coffee and a bit of cream.
Seven am was my do everything timeline.
Now, I am on liquids only.

Tomorrow, I go in very early
for my repair surgery.
So, you won't be hearing from me
for a while.

Hopefully, I will feel well enough
by Monday so Meredith Ann
can let you know how 
everything is going.

Til then, enjoy the views
and remember to dance
and pet those purr and fur balls.

And, may I just say,
coffee with no cream,
torture.

~ JC ~

A Little Music

A little music to start the day.

I was going to go for Mr. Roboto but nah,

I thought this was better with my meowning coffee.

 

As the darkness of this what will be a rainy day,

starts to begin, I sit with my coffee,

which is really good,

and I make my list.

I make one every day.

 

Yesterday, I sat down with my new kidney Dr.

He's a very smart nerdly Harvard type.

Went through the options.

Decided I needed to have robotic surgery.

I am now on his schedule.

If someone has to do this to you,

it ought to be this guy.

 

What am I having done ?

I am having a reconstruction of my left kidney

which will include a

reconstruction of my bladder.

 

He thinks he can save it.

Will know more when he's doing it.

 

Lots of little, ok not so little, but not huge, incisions.

Tubes galore.

Many weeks of recovery.

Possibly more surgeries if needed.

 

When done, I will have a functioning left kidney.

Still at it's 17 % but no longer damaged.

 

After that, many months later,

I will have my right kidney done.

 

If this goes well, I will survive.

If not, oh well, it's been fun dancing.

 

I will try to be upbeat until that day.

(he thinks he's booked out a month)

After that, I think I'll be just a bit cranky.

 

Like usual, I'm going to be dancing

until I can't and even then,

I'll be doing it mentally.

 

Hope you have a nice day.

Enjoy !!!

 

~ JC and Jodie Belle and Meredith Ann ~

(Jodie is on the chair and Mere is waiting for bird tv)

 

 

 

Still Dancing

After a few days of very frustrating phone calls to the fancy kidney specialist, I finally have an appointment for tomorrow.

 I have to drive quite a ways to one of his many offices but at least I will know what he thinks about the condition I'm in.

I've done a lot of thinking.
 Been scared as can be .. cause who wouldn't be when faced with do this or fade away.

If any of you know me, I will always vote for 'do not' but this time, due to my pain levels, I can no longer hide in my woods.

Thus, I start the 'to hell and back' part of my journey.
I'll know more tomorrow.
For now, the first steps have been made.

Just saying ...

Oh, and I'm going to be dancing right up to the end.
If any of you know me, you already knew that.

xo,
JC

Heart

 

As some of you may know,

 my pretending has ended.

I had such a good time

being free and laughing endlessly.

With the new year,

came the reality that it was over.

I had to be a grown up,

 how awful that can be,

and snap out of it.

 

Yesterday, I went to my very fancy heart specialist.

It's taken me almost five months to get in to see him.

(Electrophysiology and catheter ablation)

 

The meeting went fine.

He's nice.

His nurses, yes, there were two, were nice.

Questions that I couldn't answer.

I'm not an expert on my condition.

When done, it was confirmed that I do need heart surgery.

I have two things going on, he thinks.

He'll know more when he gets in there.

(he's words not mine)

 

I was put on new med.

A stronger one as my current one isn't doing the job.

 

I was told that I can wait on this surgery

until I'm done with all my possible kidney surgeries.

 

A note was put in my chart,

for what they should do if

 my heart goes crazy again during surgery.

 

My hope is that this new med

will be tolerated as well as the last one was.

Like I said, the new one is stronger.

 

I was doing a happy dance when I left his office.

Was the best news I could have gotten.

 

Now, off to the next grown up appointment.

It's next week with my other fancy Dr.

I'll find out if I need one or two kidney surgeries.

 

See why I like pretending.

When I come out from my woods or beach,

the mean old world hits me in the face.

Only like usual, I pick myself up

and keep on going.

 

Mew at you all later,

 

~ JC ~

 

Sing, Dance and Laugh

Jodie Belle, Maddy Jean and Meredith Ann

 

~ ~ ~

Having coffee in my Eeyore cup

while listening to the rain fall.

Going to be a moist one today.

 

This weekend, I'm cleaning this old house.

Our remodel starts on Monday.

Which means, that the Purr and Fur Gang

and I are moving to the beach place

for a couple of weeks.

 

Thus, I'm cleaning and packing

and thinking of what I'll need.

 

We've decided not to decorate this year.

First time that will happen.

Instead, we will try to do a bit

of lights and maybe a tree

at the beach place.

 

Change is good .. right.

 

Who knows.

 Maybe if they get done in time,

I can have my normal Holiday

but for now,

it's new and different

this year.

 

~ ~ ~

I'm going to be making a movie today.

A radio active one.

How special am I.

 

The imaging center could get me in.

I said I could wait but

they said I needed to get in right away.

 

So, I'm drinking fluids.

Coffee for now.

Tons of water after I actually become human.

In an hour or so.

 

The worst part for me is the iv.

They can never find a vein.

Takes forever and several tries.

 

So, the hour long movie

with wild reviews

will be nothing

compared to the battle

of finding that one

elusive vein.

 

~ ~ ~

After all that, if I'm not glowing,

I'm going to go to the

local nursery that's on the way home.

I'm sure I can find

something soothing to my soul

that I don't need.

~ ~ ~

Hope you have a fabulous weekend.

If anything, I've been so reminded

that life is to be enjoyed.

So go out there and do that.

Sing, dance and laugh.

I plan on it.

 

~ JC ~ 

 

 

 

 



Eeyore and Purrs

Jodie Belle as a puppy

~ ~ ~

I'm having coffee in my Eeyore cup.

He and I were meant for each other.

Only I'm a bit cheerier than he.

I just love him.

Always have.

 

Maddy Jean and Jodie Belle have been in and out a lot.

Their normal routine in the mornings.

 

Riley is of course on his scratching post watching.

Meredith Ann is on her heater vent.

 

Al is sleeping on his bed.

Jasmine Marie is on her blanket in the closet.

Ashton is napping on my bed.

 

All is purrfect this morning.

 

~ ~ ~

An update on my Doctor visit yesterday.

They think that I've past my kidney stone.

They think that the infection caused by it is gone.

The ct shows that my left kidney is worse than was thought.

I need to have a test done to see the percentage of it's function.

There was talk of taking it out.

I was told I could go into renal failure at anytime.

My right kidney needs to be repaired soon.

(I have stones in that one too)

It was a fun talk.

She told me I took it well.

I walked away with all my paperwork.

I think I'm in shock.

Of course, I might go into renal failure.

Isn't that what everyone does for the Holidays.

And, who needs that left kidney.

Just gives you stones and infections.

Out with the old I say.

The test will give me the news I need.

I think I might put that test off for a while.

I like the unknown.

At least for today.

 

See why I hide in my woods.

When I come out, things come after me.

 

I'm going to stay home today.

With my Purr and Fur Gang.

And, my Eeyore cup too.

 

Hope your Gang is napping and cute like mine.

They get me through these times.

These tests that life throws at me.

I'm a fighter though.

I plan on winning.

 

~ JC ~

Coffee And An Orange Cat

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As I sit here on the day after,

 with my coffee and orange cat in hand,

I think what a day it was.

Both for me and for our nation.

This time when I heard who won, I cried.

Tears of relief.

 I was, for a few moments, thinking that I was in the minority.

That the women out there had forgotten what it was like to be.

 I am thrilled to know that we stood up for ourselves.

That we voted and for me, the right person won.

 

After I vote, I figure the one with the most votes wins.

I did my part.

 Only this time, I felt that it was so important for women

and for many other reasons,

to vote from your heart and not from your pocket.

 That's all I'll say about that.

For me, it was a day spent visiting my heart Doctor

and then off to the ER for a few hours of fun times.

I know, I need to find something else to do with my time.

Everyone was very nice.

The results are that my heart is still beating too fast or too low.

 No one knows why I reacted to my medications.

They aren't even sure it was due to it.

 

They found that I have a bladder infection

due to another blocked kidney stone.

Again, in my left kidney.

The one I had operated on last June.

I almost, and I say that with a laugh,

 had to have emergency surgery.

I was sent home with a

'at least it wasn't sepsis .. again'

and told to come back if anything changes at all.

 

Again, fun times over here in the woods.

 I'll call my kidney Doctor today.

 She'll probably want to operate as soon as possible.

My heart Doctor wants me to call him

as soon as I know what's going on.

 Me, I'm doing OK.

Feeling sore but OK.

 

Up early due to pain but heck,

 I'm used to it .. right.

 

I was thinking yesterday,

 just how much one person is supposed to deal with.

Is this all a test ?

Is anyone listening to me out there in the Universe ?

I think I've past.

I get the idea.

Can I be done with all this pain now ?

Just saying ...

 

So, like I said, yesterday was quite a day.

 

~ JC and Riley Andrew ~

Friday Updates

~ ~ ~

Just wanted to give you an update.

I'm home. Doing fine.

On lovely pain meds.

My surgery went fine.

I got option one which is what we all hoped for.

I did have trouble during surgery with my heart.

Woke up to a crazy whirl wind of nurses and Dr's.

Spent the night in the icu heart department.

My heart beats too fast or too slow.

Of course it does ...

I'm home.

With Jasmine and my dogs.

The boys, Riley, Ashton and Al sleep at the end of the bed.

Meredith Ann has been a great visitor to me.

Even though she doesn't sleep with me.

Remember, she has her own special room.

I have my second surgery at the end of the month.

That removes my stint.

All in all, my kidney surgery went as well as I could have hoped.

Now, to mend and figure out what's wrong with my heart.

Enjoy your weekend and pet those purr balls,

XO,

JC

The Simple Things

~ ~ ~

It's a quiet Saturday afternoon.

The sun was out for a while.

Just enough to tempt me into going out back.

I sat with my new cat cup filled with coffee.

The girls, Maddy Jean and Jodie Belle, were playing.

Meredith Ann was on her leash chewing grass.

Me, I sat on the steps,

thinking and taking in the delights of my woods.

The sounds are too much.

Trying to figure out who is talking to who.

Which bird flew to that tree.

Just a wild bunch I have in my woods.

Nice to be able to walk out there.

As of yesterday, I am no longer using my cane.

Not here at home.

My day surgery last week has done wonders.

I don't have sharp pain when I stand on my leg.

It's still a bit like rubber and not totally dependable

but, I do think that I am good as can be expected.

I've been busy going to other appointments.

This time for my kidney problems that were

discovered in my mri for my spine.

The ct done this week showed a lot more than I wanted.

Yesterday, I got a call that my Dr. wants to get me in

for kidney surgery as soon as possible.

I am being handed over to the surgery nurse.

Next week I will start the process of scheduling the when and where

and tests that might need to be done before.

If all goes well, I'll only be in the hospital a day or two.

See why I haven't had time to write.

Been having too much fun going here, there and everywhere.

My family wonders how I'm coping with all of this at the same time.

Not much else I can do but enjoy the day.

Worry about tomorrow another day.

So, on this sort of sunny Saturday,

I enjoy the simple things that bring me great joy.

My Purr and Fur Gang,

Coffee,

and The Sounds in My Woods.

~ JC ~

She Writes On Friday

~ ~ ~

She sat in the office on that chair.

Leaning forward as he explained the results.

He was kind.

Tried to show her each image.

She came in for her back troubles.

Hadn't been able to walk on her leg for over a month.

He said two things showed up.

A day surgery is scheduled on her back.

The hope is it will improve her leg.

Then he showed her the other thing that showed up.

Not his territory at all.

The image was not good.

Words were said to her.

She looked at the picture.

He explained what a good one looks like

and what this bad one looked like.

Something about getting another test done.

Getting a new Dr. that specializes in this.

Doing this right away.

The look in his face said it.

She asked the question.

The words came out.

Is it cancer, she said.

He couldn't say but she needed to get

the new test done right away.

As he left and the nurse came in,

Paperwork and scheduling were done for the back surgery.

A day thing. Nothing big.

She walked out of the office to the lobby.

Looking back for just a moment.

That turn of the sore neck.

Just to make sure.

Did that all just happen ?

She sat down on a chair.

Looked at all the paperwork in her hand.

That's when the tears started.

She wiped them away.

Looked up and told her daughter,

who had been waiting in the lobby,

what had been told to her.

She explained how bad it looked.

Like it was a picture he had just been showing her.

One of those moments you hear about.

Like it's not you they are showing.

Just an image.

A really bad image.

So, the tears got wiped away and the papers folded.

She got up and walked to the elevators.

The new test she needed was downstairs.

Waited in line to schedule that.

Cried a bit in the car ride home.

Not letting her daughter see.

Got home to her cats and dogs.

Did normal things.

Looked at the paperwork and cried.

How did this happen ?

In the hallway, her daughter saw her.

They hugged.

And, the dog barked.

Life goes on.

She was not expecting this.

It isn't what she went in for.

Did this really happen ?

Yes, it did.

Appointments made.

The next weeks will be busy.

As she let her dog back in the house,

she noticed the yard guys had come while she was gone.

The green lawn looked so nice.

She went on with her day.

~ JC ~