Did you accomplish anything today?

[kristina]

Hello Jean,
I do hope your nephrologist assits you soon to sort out the cause of your symptoms.
Perhaps you could bring your neph-appointment forward to "get on it" a little bit earlier?
Sometimes it is difficult to figure out, what exactly causes our symptoms,
because it could be anything from a food-allergy to an intolerance to a certain medication or a cold...
I do wish you all the best to get diagnosed and treated soon.
Best wishes and good luck from Kristina.

[PrimeTimer]

It's not about what I accomplished today but rather, what my husband accomplished. He's the one doing dialysis. His monthly labs came back looking pretty good again and he's feeling pretty well. His neph calls him a "star" and said she wishes all her patients labs looked as good as his. Good news, indeed! But, that isn't the only thing he accomplished today. You see, he's been doing dialysis for nearly 17 months now in which about 14 of those months have been at home (HHD). He also works a full-time day job. I am specifying "day job" because 5 nights a week he is up late at his "second job" aka home-hemo dialysis. I am so proud of him, he's my inspiration! He is what makes me tick. He has endured so much and yet, keeps going. We celebrated his good labs with a special dinner. Nothing fancy, I am not the greatest cook but, knowing that he is doing all he can to stay healthy and share his life with me is what makes our "dinner time" together so special. I am truly in awe of him and what he accomplishes motivates me to push myself a little more, too. No matter which end of it you are on (patient or care partner) every little bit helps!

[Sugarlump]

It's not about what I accomplished today but rather, what my husband accomplished. He's the one doing dialysis. His monthly labs came back looking pretty good again and he's feeling pretty well. His neph calls him a "star" and said she wishes all her patients labs looked as good as his. Good news, indeed! But, that isn't the only thing he accomplished today. You see, he's been doing dialysis for nearly 17 months now in which about 14 of those months have been at home (HHD). He also works a full-time day job. I am specifying "day job" because 5 nights a week he is up late at his "second job" aka home-hemo dialysis. I am so proud of him, he's my inspiration! He is what makes me tick. He has endured so much and yet, keeps going. We celebrated his good labs with a special dinner. Nothing fancy, I am not the greatest cook but, knowing that he is doing all he can to stay healthy and share his life with me is what makes our "dinner time" together so special. I am truly in awe of him and what he accomplishes motivates me to push myself a little more, too. No matter which end of it you are on (patient or care partner) every little bit helps!

That is really lovely to read 

[kristina]

It's not about what I accomplished today but rather, what my husband accomplished. He's the one doing dialysis. His monthly labs came back looking pretty good again and he's feeling pretty well. His neph calls him a "star" and said she wishes all her patients labs looked as good as his. Good news, indeed! But, that isn't the only thing he accomplished today. You see, he's been doing dialysis for nearly 17 months now in which about 14 of those months have been at home (HHD). He also works a full-time day job. I am specifying "day job" because 5 nights a week he is up late at his "second job" aka home-hemo dialysis. I am so proud of him, he's my inspiration! He is what makes me tick. He has endured so much and yet, keeps going. We celebrated his good labs with a special dinner. Nothing fancy, I am not the greatest cook but, knowing that he is doing all he can to stay healthy and share his life with me is what makes our "dinner time" together so special. I am truly in awe of him and what he accomplishes motivates me to push myself a little more, too. No matter which end of it you are on (patient or care partner) every little bit helps!

Hello PrimeTimer,
I am very glad for you both that you are doing so well and I do hope it continues for a long time to come !
You both sound very well suited to each other and that is very rare to come across ...
Best wishes to you both and good luck from Kristina.

[cassandra]

               

[Sugarlump]

Picked the winner in the Grand National at 33-1 feeling very chuffed and celebrating with an extra half cup of tea!!! 

[kristina]

Well done Sugar! The Grand National regularly reminds me of the time when I was in hospital and watched the film "Champions"...
Watching this film really gave me lots of inspiration to try and recover as quickly as was possible and I eventually did...
... My husband and I watched a bit of the Golf-Championship at "Augusta"... Augusta is one of the most beautiful golf-courses
and I am dreaming to travel there one day and watch the Championship ...

[kristina]

... I always wanted to learn how to play the piano, but I only could start with it later in my life...
To be true, I only started with it after being diagnosed with end-stage ESRF (pre-D) and I thought it is now or never...
But because of my medical situation and the unpredictability of it, I could not ask a piano-teacher to teach me
and so I was on my own and had to find ways how to learn and play the piano completely on my own ...
... But at least I had a wonderful sounding piano to start off with and I also learned to tune it myself...
(this was a rather long process with a few catastrophies i.e. broken strings etc.,
but I persevered and there are no problems now (touch wood !)...
... I also had to learn from scratch how to read music, also on my own and yesterday after all this time,
I experienced the sweet success of being able to take on a brand-new score and play with both hands at the same time
from a brand-new score I had never seen before...
and it sounded so beautiful on the piano ... 

[Sugarlump]

    

(I am musically tone deaf sadly)

[kristina]

(I am musically tone deaf sadly)

Dear Sugar,
I am so sorry that it was suggested to you that you are "tone-deaf" !
That is so unfair and some teachers “in the old days” were allowed
to suggest such a terrible thing to their unsuspecting pupils ...
I am saying this because I have met a few people who also thought they were “tone-deaf”
and then they realized much later that "tone-deafness" does not even exist...
because we all react to the rhythm of our own heart-beat, for example...
... The only thing that might exist is bad music, but that is something everyone has to find out themselves,
because everyone has a different taste in music and what’s “bad music” to one person
might be “absolutely divine music” to another person...
Please do re-think where this terrible suggestion, that you are “tone-deaf” stems from
and please give yourself a chance !
If I can be of any help in any way, please let me know.
Best wishes from Kristina.

[Sugarlump]

@Kristina
I do find a lot of music (that other people enjoy) harsh and screechy to my ear. The only music I really enjoy is soft low male voices like Bryan Adams, Ed Sheeran and James Blunt which doesn't grate on me.
I don't come from a very musical family so maybe lack of exposure at an early age has something to do with it?
My eldest daughter had piano lessons from about 8 years old, and subsequently, again from an early age, a piano, passing all her piano exams and my eldest son plays the guitar quite well,
again from an early age. Maybe exposure to music develops your musical ears at an early age?

[Jean]

Kristina, you really impress me with this piano thing and all the things you taught yourself. Congratulations to you. Me, personally, I could seriously not carry a tune in a bucket.

[kristina]

Hello Sugar,
I have problems with some composers as well, like for example with Gustav Mahler ... and have tried very hard to comprehend his music...
... but it always comes over to me as being very unsettling and confusing ...
... and whenever I think there is a little melody in Mahler's music to "feel at home with" (like for example the beginnings of a Viennese Waltz),
his music changes completely and instantly again ... and so it goes on and on... ad infinitum ...
... In an effort to understand the composer, my husband and I listened to all of Mahler's symphonies whilst they were being performed
by Mahler's best interpreters (conductors) at the Royal Albert Hall and we came out of each concert feeling unsettled, confused
and also a bit frustrated, because we could not comprehend and then we thought that Mahler is not quite for us ... not at the moment ...
... and I have been wondering if Mahler's music touches sensitive listeners as unsettling and confusing
because it is connected to the terrible mental and physical abuses he experienced as a little boy ...?

... I have listened to the singers you have mentioned like Bryan Adams, Ed Sheeran and James Blunt
and I can understand that their voices don't "grate on you", as you say...
... I always liked the voice of Maria Callas and I feel that her voice expresses her deep feelings, her despair, her deep thoughts etc.
... but there are also people who think her voice "grates" a bit...
... It is very good of you that you gave your daughter the chance to experience music at an early age and that your son plays the guitar quite well...
... I don't know if exposure to music develops our musical ears at an early age ... ?
... When I was in kindergarten (nursery school) we had an enthusiastic kindergarten-teacher who taught us to sing beautiful folk-songs
and she also taught us to play the recorder at a very early age... and later I became an enthusiastic solo-singer in our school-choir ...

P.S. Callas's voice is at its most beautiful when she sings : Maria Callas - Angelica nővér - Senza mamma...
...  most expressive because she sang it after she had lost her own child...

Best wishes from Kristina. 

[kristina]

Kristina, you really impress me with this piano thing and all the things you taught yourself. Congratulations to you. Me, personally, I could seriously not carry a tune in a bucket.

Thank you Jean. ... To be honest, my learning to play the piano helps a lot to put up with the distress of being in ESRF ...
... and my piano-learning also helps me a lot to keep a little distance to my three-times-a-week of "you know what" ...
... and it also helps to create for my mind a little rest from all the different ESRF-distresses...
Piano-playing is a wonderful distraction and it keeps the mind occupied with positive ideas ... which helps a lot to keep a balance...
Thanks again and best wishes form Kristina.

[kristina]

Kristina, you really impress me with this piano thing and all the things you taught yourself. Congratulations to you. Me, personally, I could seriously not carry a tune in a bucket.

Hello again Jean,
I was just thinking about how many things can still be explored whilst we are in ESRF...
...My most important hobby is to learn how to play the piano whenever I feel well enough...
... and there are many other IHD-members with most interesting different hobbies...
... We also have professional members like Zach who directs his films...
... and there are so many different things that can be done despite being in ESRF...
and everybody has their own talent in whatever particular field ...
... Our talents only want to be figured out to get a chance and be explored further...
... and exploring our talents in whatever field certainly helps us to take our mind off a little from "you know what"...
Best wishes and good luck from Kristina. 

[iolaire]

Today was Bike to Work Day.  Biked in 9 miles with stops at two pit stops for snacks and coffee.  Bought a bike share membership last month, so I used the heavy bike share bike which you have to dock every 30 minutes. The great thing about bike share is I can then Metro/Bus to dialysis and not have to deal with my bike.

[Sugarlump]

That's a clever idea (with the bikes)
We have a similar scheme in London but never seen it elsewhere.

[iolaire]

That's a clever idea (with the bikes)
We have a similar scheme in London but never seen it elsewhere.

It's getting more common now. Various US cities have it. Ireland seemed to have adopted it in the larger cities, Cork, Glasgow and Dublin. We were to rushed to use it.

[MuddyGurl]

as someone with serious, unfixable fatigue issues due to a failing sole kidney I make sure i stop blaming myself for all the undone projects I can't finish.
I focus on what I want to accomplish that will help me maintain health.

Yesterday, and today I will sleep as long and as late as I want, enjoy all the books I can haul home from the library, spend hours on the net for the pure mental pleasure and education of it. ( Like Riki---what a time stealer!  but hey, PubMed is my friend)

I decided money was for buying what I needed, no more "frugal to the max"  I don't choose the cheapest anything anymore.

Before a major life shift in 2009 I had a zillion high energy manual-labor-required projects, and now am having to remind myself I don't HAVE to do a dam thing today if I can't. NO more shame over stacks  and piles of materials (tiles, wood, building supplies, great salvage, garden stuff), no more worry over completing house interior..the cottage is liveable just as it is.  While I admire the energy into all the Home Fixer TV shows, nothing is going to happen here like that.

I am in a town of 10,000 Victorians, which is charming visually, but means there was no economy after WWII to build new, so believe me 100 year old houses are smelly and inefficient for modern life, often having no electrical  outlets in many room..but they still are used as apartments and rentals, lots of indoor pot growing too.

what I see are 1932 cottages where  the young bride and hubby moved in back then and they NEVER fixed or updated a thing after..so at 90 when they pass the houses need everything. Cheap to buy..but oh boy.

So while I have plenty of GOOD INTENTIONS to finish…stuff stays piled where I left it 6 months ago…I just dust it as I pass by. <grin> and go read a book

[willowtreewren]

I'm right there with you Muddy!

Since I'm recovering from major surgery, I'm quite pleased that I was able to do a bit of ironing (but not lifting the ironing board).

Plus napping and reading. Let's not forget that!

Aleta

[Sugarlump]

I am having a wonderful lazy Sunday, pottering about in the garden, checking on my raised veggie beds and instructing Drew to tie up roses and top dress some plants and we are painting the patio furniture, a sort of seamist blue...I just do the easy bits!!!
It's important to take time to smell the roses, to chill out, to just enjoy doing nothing. Feet up now having a coffee.
I love Sundays (more so for the fact no dialysis!!!)

[kristina]

Here in London we have lots of sunshine which creates a wonderful Sunday and we may go for a walk ...
... Later I shall try to learn a new piano-melody by Friedemann Bach (my favourite of Bach's sons,
he was such a sensitive and true artist, long before artistry was thought of or even invented...)
... I also love Sundays and Mondays because they are no-D-days ... 

[Gerald Lively]

1.  I managed to get out of bed this morning.
2.  I read the news on my monitor (big font for old farts).
3.  I put some water on the veggie plants. Cantaloupe looks like hell. Squash is progressing.  Chard is getting big.
4.  I did some bench presses at a sissy weight.  Wife will beat me if I don't.  I'm 76, why do I have to do these masochistic exercises?
5.  And she is starving me to death, I've lost 33 lbs, can't keep my pants up.  Come to think of it, I've been accused of the before.
That, Folks, was my day.

[MuddyGurl]

I actually COOKED a real dinner.. tada!!!

on another site my secret ID is "MeNoCookGurl".. because after 3 ingredients I get confused and wander out of the kitchen with a cheese stick in my hand and  earnest intentions to try again later.

well..what made this easier is  I had already washed  and chopped a pound of mushrooms.  [prep work will stall me anytime]

So once I had the little tub of sour cream in my hand  at the store it was easy for the brain cells to connect and say" Mushroom Stroganoff"

 I raced home  and with a leap and a bound to the laptop I found a vegetarian recipe  and while  it had  flour NOODLES  as the platform for the  meal  knew I had a matching pair of  yellow and green zuchinnis… I quickly  cut them in half, and made MANY long narrow slices of them..faux noodle hape..microwaved them (usually I steam everything  'cuz I live in deep in hippie eco-land and can't be caught with a microwave plugged in) 

and while they were 'cooking" [ 'nuking' as the hippe-vegan-raw-foodies say]  I use the "magic bone broth" I keep frozen in ice cube shapes, as the  sauce flavoring, added the sautéed 'shrooms & scallions,  then popped all in the  bone sauce + sour cream, and in 2 more minutes I had dinner.

I am so proud I almost took a picture of the plate.  My brain was thinking "noodles" as I saw i special tool that takes the  veggie like zucchini, and pushes it thru a pattern cutter, and you get long very skinny curly vege..perfect! gotta find me this toy….

here is ONE version:  Stainless Steel Vegetable Peeler Spiral Slicer Curly Kitchen Tool http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/151666297301

her is another:  [ more parts to break tho]   PADERNO  SPIRAL VEGGIE SLIVE- http://www.bing.com/images/search/?q=Paderno+Spiral+Vegetable+Slicer&id=3F02A07FD5C2E49904DE8B5BC0FAF846DFD2BEEE&FORM=BRQONH

[kristina]

Hello MuddyGurl,
Crikey, you have been very busy !... and many thanks for the useful links to these vegetable-cutters, it is very much appreciated ...
... I "usually" wash and peel my vegetables and then I grate them very finely manually on my nutmeg-grater...
When my vegetables (especially root vegetables like carrots etc.) have been so finely grated on the nutmeg-grater,
it usually saves me a little time in cooking them...
... It just goes to show that we all have our different ways to cook our food and it is fascinating to exchange our experiences...
Best wishes and bon appétit,
Kristina.