We went to an Ambassador's of Harmony concert Saturday. They are a favorite acapello men's choral group and have won national and international awards. There are two great barber shop quartets that perform also. Some friends picked us up and we took the wheel chair, as it is a long walk from one end to the other of this auditorium. Larry also took his cane and was able to use it too. I forgot to include the feet to the WC but he was able to hold his legs up. lol When people clapped at the b
Well the weather has finally cooperated and turned cooler. I just wish those pesky cicadas with long wings and bulging eyes would get out of town. It's not too bad to hear them singing in the trees but when they get in your car or get down your blouse, that's bad. :yucky: Larry & I went to a graduation party last Sat. His daughter and her husband had a party for her husband's daughter. They are party people, so 50 people were invited. We sat outside part of the time and weather was cool. (
It's like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. The 13 yr. cicadas came out of the ground to greet us and boy are they noisy, irritating and flying everywhere. :ranting: I took Larry to a store today and tried to park away from any trees. When we came out and were walking to the car I said, "Oh, Larry you have a cicada on your shirt". Big one! Then when we got in the car and I started driving there was one on my blouse! I flicked it off and it chirped back at me. I got out of the car and shook my bl
My daughter, Tina, came for a short visit this past weekend. She is my lifeline when I crash every now and then. She noticed a difference in Larry's walking from the last time she was here in December. She said he was walking better. I thought he had slowed but I guess I was not noticing the change. Larry is always happy to see her and she seems to lift us both up.
We recently sold one of our old cars, a 17 yr.old Honda, and bought a new Honda. We have another older car which is kind
After a week of going to exercise, doctor appts. and car repair shop, we got to enjoy a nice weekend.
The weather here was nice Friday through Sunday but we are expecting storms again this afternoon and evening. I am so happy spring and summer are here. If I had my choice, I would live in a warmer region with no ice and snow to deal with in the winter.
Larry agreed to go out to dinner Friday and so we went to a nearby restaurant. We got in on the early bird special which included desse
We had a nice weekend with great weather. My son came over this weekend and helped me with some chores and brought some flowers from him and his sister. Sunday my stepson and his wife and our granddaughter came over and brought some steaks to cook out. I received many cards. My stepdaughter couldn't come, but sent a card with a very nice message saying "thanks for making so many sacrifices and taking such good care of dad". It's nice to hear this. Friday Larry and I went to the bank to get
We had a beautiful weekend for a change. Some are still recovering from the tornado but thankfully no deaths here. Most of us have basements and that helped. I decided to take Larry for a little day trip to the Missouri Botanical Gardens Friday. He had exercise in the morning but I let him eat lunch and then rest a while. The weather was gorgeous so off we went. The gardens are the oldest in the country and have a lot of recognition all over. The handicapped places were all taken but Larry
All night long we had TV coverage of storms and tornados threatening our area. We live in St. Louis County but there were reports of damage in both St. Louis City, County and in Illinois. When It came close to us, I got Larry down the basement. He did really well going down and coming back up. There were reports of 4" size hail in one area, tornados touching down in several municipalities and major damage at Lambert International Airport. The airport is shut down after windows were blown ou
I went to the skin cancer doc today after going to my internist, then to my dermatologist to see about this thing on my outer nostril. It had not formed a scab or bled lately and all you could see was a small reddish area between my nostril and cheek. I thought he can cut that off and I'm good. Well it was a bigger area than I thought (about 1/3") that he is going to take off. Thank goodness it is not the melanoma type cancer. I will have to see a plastic surgeon now and arrange to schedule
Well except for Friday morning, we had an eventful weekend. Larry woke up and said he wasn't up to going to exercise and didn't feel well. I used my authoratative voice and tried to change his mind but he wouldn't budge. :yadayada: Sometimes you just have to let go. He went back to bed for a while and later felt better. I hate it when he misses his workouts. Larry had agreed to go out for dinner with me Friday and started to protest. He saw how disappointed I was and caved in. We went t
We had a fairly nice weekend with good weather. I took Larry to warehouse furniture store Friday and was grateful they had a WC at the entrance. We were looking for a chair that does not swivel so that he can sit and use his computer in our office. Both of our chairs swivel which is hard for him to get out of. Saturday we went for a drive, lunch take out and then church. Larry had a hard time getting up from the church bench to leave. I'm sensitive to his not standing during the service whe
[size="3"]Well, here we are still waiting for spring to arrive. We got a few inches of snow last weekend and may get more tomorrow. The poor tulip trees got it this time. I'm hoping I can get Larry to our Botanical Gardens this year to see the azaleas and other flowering trees in full bloom. We have one of the nicest botanical gardens around. I will have to push him in his wheelchair probably but that's okay as it is way too much walking. I took Larry to the vascular surgeon who checks on
Larry's son, wife and our granddaughter, Rachel (4 yrs) came over for lunch today. We had pizza and salad and Larry actually ate about 4-5 pieces and a salad. Rachel played with these bendable things that come in all colors. Her mom and dad also played with them and said this keeps Rachel busy for hours. We persuaded Larry to go outside on the patio and Rachel entertained us with her dancing. It was about 80 degrees! :hot: We all got some vitamin D. I had a nice lunch with my friends last
My daughter came for a short visit. She will be changing to a new job and had some time off in between. She is a big supporter and cheerleader for Larry and he is always happy to see her come here. It was very hard on her to see him last year at this time in the rehab facility. She kept saying her allergies were bothering her, but she had a hard time seeing Larry in his early stroke period. I told Larry we will be going out to eat as he is not too keen on this right now. We went out for din
I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and could not go back to sleep. I took Larry to his second to last OT therapy session this week around 9:30. I started to feel light headed and Larry says "maybe we should cancel since your not feeling good". I said you can't cancel today because you only have 2 more sessions left. I think my blood pressure was up and the therapist was going to take a reading for me. I said "no, I know it is up and I take meds for it anyway". This lack of sleep caused it I think. Af
Sunday we went to our granddaughter's birthday party at a place called Pump-it-Up. Rachel is 4 and she had a good time jumping on trampolines and going down slides with her friends. We opted to go to the last part where she opened gifts and we had cake. We missed so many family events last year so this was a must for us. Sunday night I watched the Oscars after putting Larry to bed. I watched the entire thing and went to bed only to get up a few minutes later. The wind was howling and hail
The snow is gone for now as we had temperatures in the 70's last week. I was really happy about that as it made it easier for me to get Larry out without either of us falling. Larry has been back for a few more sessions of OT and PT. He was exhausted after Friday's session as Sarah, the PT, worked on stretching and tried him on the machines he will be using next. He is going to be in a program called "Next Step" which is private pay (goodbye Medicare). However, this will be fairly reasonab
Well, Larry made it to one year and - so did I! Last year at this time he was lying in a room at St. John's Medical Center after being brought there by ambulance. I was so confused and shocked at finding him at home, with stroke symptoms, that I called the kids - and couldn't get them. I was calling the wrong numbers! I finally got one of the kids at work and they spread the word. They were all in the E.R. by the time I got there with Larry's son. I remember the weather was snowy that week
Hello all. I haven't blogged much lately and I see others haven't either. Are we all waiting for spring and warmer temps? We had a fairly busy weekend. Larry had his Botox Friday morning. The rehab doctor wrote a script for his outpatient therapy again. I was happy he can go back again. He has to be evaluated tho first and we shall see. I'm not sure he is happy about it but this is the best thing for him now. Larry's friend came to visit in the afternoon. He is one of the few that Larr
The weather here in the midwest has been like a roller coaster. Starting Christmas Eve we had a beautiful white Christmas with very cold temps. By New Years Eve day the temps were 30 degrees below - like 60! By mid day tornado warnings were out and we had 8-9 tornados touch down in Missouri with one only 5 miles away. I knew Larry could make the basement steps because he had worked at it with the PT here, and on a stairwell in outpatient therapy. He never goes to the basement now. He would
Yesterday was our last day with the trainer and now we are on our own. The trainer said Larry was doing really well and even looked better than the first day he came. I have to be there with him as he is on about 9 different machines. I have to set the chair, pad, weight, plus help Larry on and off the machines. He remembers the settings and does well in swinging on and off the seats while I hold the cane. The trainer also added 3 lb. weights for Larry to do in a chair. I'm not crazy about
Just a short blog to say hello and wish you all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. My daughter came in for Christmas Thursday and we had all the kids and grandchildren over yesterday on Christmas Eve Day. The two granddaughters came dressed alike in pretty dark pink dresses. We had an early dinner, unwrapped gifts and then they all went to their other families homes. Larry tired earlier and I had him take a short nap. Everyone understood. Too much stimulation he wasn't use to. We had a
I was proud of Larry's effort with the trainer today. He worked on 9 different machines today! The weather was lousy. It was only in the single digits and icy patches but we made it. Today several of his friends he had worked out with came over and talked to him. I don't think a couple of them recognized him at first with his weight loss. He was yelling "Candy, Candy" to one lady and she and her husband came over finally. One of his workout buddies gave him a little coaching lecture sayin
We were picked up and brought home by our host due to a bad weather forecast. Luckily, we arrived and were back home before the snow came. Larry's co-workers were all happy to see him. A few of the guests were not there due to being scared off by the weather and distance to travel. We stayed for a couple of hours. When Larry started yawning, I said it was past Larry's bedtime. Everyone understood and a couple of his friends even tried zipping up his coat for him. It was funny as they could
We got our first post stroke party invitation. Larry's former co-worker invited us to his home this coming Saturday. Larry wants to go as a lot of his former co-workers and retiree friends will be there. I'm happy he wants to go even if it is for a short while. I also asked him to start writing a note to put in a few of our Christmas cards as a lot of people don't even know about Larry's stroke. This season is a whole new experience for us.
