First trip since the hospital

I didn’t sleep too well, so at 7:30 I decided to pack and head to Charlotte to play some golf in the much warmer weather. It was a good plan, with light traffic and I drove to Statesville where I rode my bike in Lakeshore Park, small but adequate. My legs were swollen so I raised and rested them on the truck door for 10 minutes and that seemed to help. After that I stopped for a nap, then decided to stop and check out the Larkin Golf Club and had a lot of fun even though I shot a nine on a difficult par 5 and 4 putted a couple of times. I shot what I tried for, a 54, but I was so tired the last two holes. Now I drove to the Wingate and napped again, then did my leg exercises, chatted with Gyorgyi about mad man Trump and then showered and went out to P.F. Chang’s and had eggplant and broccoli and soup, leaving out the tempting shrimp dumplings. I have been raising my feet all day and that does seem to help.

Some slow, slow chainsaw work but a lot accomplished

Thursday has turned out to be another good day. I slept pretty well, getting to bed around 2, and got up around 5:30, and I did my knee exercises, which I hadn’t done on Wednesday and I could really tell I had missed a day. I did some dishes, listened to some news about that idiot Donald Trump, then went back for a nap. When I awoke I knew it was chainsaw time, so I very slowly got all my equipment together and got on my chain saw clothes and headed off to my first stop where I had a 30 foot log just off the road hanging on the stump that eric cut. I wanted to relieve a bit of the pressure and cut some of the log farther from the road. It was slow work and a little dangerous as I got higher up, but I was able to cut away a good portion of it and cut it up into sections I can roll off into the ravine when I get a chance. I had to take several breaks because I was quickly out of breath, but I was glad that job number one was finished. The second job was the two dead trees hanging over the road to the orchard and that job was even more work. I had hope to work till 12:30 but it was simply much too hard and there at least another hour of cutting to be done, then clearing the road. My Stihl electric is great but of course limited and I have to put the other blade on because I think the first one is dulled with all the cuts I made today. When I backed up and turned around in the pasture, I was pretty tired and hungry so when I got home I microwaved an Amy’s Pad Thai and then took a nap. I didn’t sleep that long and when I got up I painted the fixed spots in the bathroom, but it quickly became apparent that the 8 ounce, supposedly matched sample was much too dark. Fortunately, I noticed that I had a quart of old white semi-gloss in the cabinet so I tried that out later and it was a much better match. I actually thought of mixing a little bit of the darker paint to even match the wall better, but such subtlety of effort is not my general mode. I was watching Tiger’s return and at one point he was even but he ended up 4 over which really isn’t too bad for such an incredible layoff. After a very needed shower, I headed into town around 4 and rode my bike on the Huckleberry for 40 minutes, stopping a little early because I didn’t want to hurt my butt. After my ride I dropped off my check to Rob and he hoped we could walk this weekend. That would be fun for both of us I think. I still have to pick up my meds and some more chain saw oil but it’s just after 7 so that shouldn’t be a problem.

a little pain in my hands, but a very good day

Another good day on my road to recovery. It is Wednesday night and I am in O’Charley’s having pie and coffee and doing emails, my blog and my lumosity training. I had a tough night sleeping, and really didn’t drift off till after 4, and my hands felt cramped and I had to hold them straight out just to lessen the pain. I did eventually take an acetaminophen and I think that helped. I got up and was still groggy so I took my meds and did a few things and went back to bed. When I got up, I decided that since I had gotten so much done in the past few days that I would take the day off and just head out and play golf and ride my bike for the first time since I got out of the hospital. My play was pretty off, although I made some good shots and though I had a couple of 4 putts, I still ended up with a 50, which was fine. I played very slowly in the bright sunlight and when the wind slowed around 12:30, I felt very good indeed. My bike ride was also very rewarding. I rode from Merrimac toward Tech at first and then back up to the railroad bridge for 50 minutes. I rode very slow and was winded but it was quite an accomplishment for me. I rode back home and talked with Kelly and that was nice to catch up with her and update her on my condition. I told her I would go back and finish the first two seasons of Homeland but only for her. I asked her how Lucia was handling the Trump stuff and she said that as an 8 year old, her responses are that articulate yet but she is troubled by that idiot. I left a message with Gabes and he left a return message from Julian and from him that cheered me up. I have the time and the money to do a New York trip if the weather was decent, but my sleeping patterns and my need for long naps would seem to dictate waiting at least a month until I am better adjusted to the prednisone. I know it would be fun to take Julian for an adventure but I am not sure if I could be safe with him. I took a look at the new apartments on Merrimac but they don’t have any one bedrooms on the first floor so that won’t work. I did get a message from Jonathan at Hethwood that some of the Cooper Croft one bedroom, one den apartments are on the ground floor. I think I will take a look at one. I got the matching touchup paint for my bathroom job, and after the last spackled spot dries I will paint it. Got a message from Rob not to take the extra 100 mg of allopurinol since he thinks the hand pain is from the lupus not the gout. I am also going to drop off a nice donation for his charity walk.

maybe I can get off Cellcept

Microsoft is screwing up again. Amazing. It lost my Monday entry but I am pretty sure I posted it so I guess each blog will have a different name. I am going to return my Tiles after talking with the idiots at Tile, one of the most incompetent organizations I have ever dealt with. And I have to package and get the tiles to a shipping place. Today, Tuesday was a very good day and the big news was that when I talked to Rob, he said that he thought there was a good chance I could get off Cellcept at some point, which would be wonderful. I emailed my kayak friend about that possibility but I know this is another busy week for her so she may not respond until later of tomorrow. During the day I decided to do some work outside, so I drove to the far gate and replaced the old lock with a brand new one, and then I decided to fix the third gate where my turnbuckle / cable setup broke a while ago and the gate has to be lifted to open it completely. If I had purchased a new thicker cable, bigger cable clips, and a new larger turnbuckle, then the job would have gone much, much easier. But I decided to see what I had up at the cabin and in my house and I did have some smaller cable clips so I thought I could improvise, and it got ugly. I had a lot of trouble working with the tiny nuts (losing 3 of them but I brought my box of nuts so I had plenty). I pulled the post back by attaching it to my truck and backing up and that worked okay. I also put some wood under the end of the gate to raise it a bit and that helped. I eventually got 5 cable clips attached and after I pounded the stake in with the sledge, I got the cable pretty tight and the job was done. It works very well but I am not sure how long it will last. The overall job took me over 2 hours but I was pretty satisfied and I did get to use some of the stuff I bought a long time ago. I went back and napped, then got up and took a long hike to the orchard, then napped again and did my exercises, my weights and my stationary bike for 40 minutes but no piano and no yoga before heading out for dinner at Greens. I also cleaned and oiled the TV cabinet, the top of which was amazingly dusty but the whole thing looks great. I talked with Gyorgyi and we are planning to get together soon. Trump is very unbalanced I think and I am not sure he is going to last as president. I looked into the Hethwood apartments a little more and I think I could afford a one bedroom with a den at Copper Croft or Stroubles, their two better places. I was just doing it for fun since my recovery is going well and I am hoping that I can stay in the hollow for a long time.

Good Day, Lousy Football

Hopefully Microsoft Word will work today. I had another very good day, and I slept pretty well last night after falling off after 2. I woke up at around 7 and did some exercises, a load of wash, then a refresh wash, then I organized my travel, misc., retirement and social security/medicare folders. I had quite a bit of extra stuff in them. I then went to nap and when I got up the rain had stopped so I decided to walk to the orchard and did, taking breaks on my new log seats and finding out that my Visa bill is much lower than I thought it would be so that will help me pay for the Amtrak trip to Salt Lake City. I walked down to the level area and then all the way back and while I was sitting there John O’Brien returned my phone call and we had a very good conversation for almost an hour. He was very funny at points and it was really good to connect with him. I will call him in a few months and reconnect. I got back after the Atlanta game had started, taped it, took a short nap and then did my stationary bike, slightly heavier weights, yoga, and cleaning out my vitamin and pill cabinet, I watched football, cleaned up and headed into town for dinner and the second half of the second game. I had one of the best steaks I have ever had at Bull and Bones (a fillet with Rosemary/Garlic butter) that was wonderful, with the smokehouse beans I really enjoy.

first golf in over a month

Saturday proved another good day to recovery. I went to bed by 2 and slept till 6:30, then forced myself to go on a long morning hike. I decided to start the lawnmower and I got it going with a lot of starter fluid. I drove it up to the house and thought about cutting the one dangerous limb by the tractor barn but my long, extendable trimming saw wouldn’t have been long enough to do it. I drove back down and decided to set up a couple of more log pieces to sit on and that should give me a nice resting place (I also want to put some small flat concrete blocks under them and maybe trim them a bit when I bring out my electric chain saw. I walked back to the house with the battery fully charged and then ate a bit and took a shorter nap so I could go play golf (Dr. Trivedi okayed golf yesterday; if fact she said except for heavy weightlifting, I can go back to all my exercises). I was excited and I really thought I would be awful (I hoped for a 58 from the forward tees) but the back nine was open and I started with 2 pars and a bogey, not a bad start at all. It took me a very poor chip from 20 yards off the green and then 4 putts to get a 7 on the 13th, but then I was pretty consistent, 6, 5, 6 and then on the 9th (I usually play it instead of the 18th, which it is harder than), I hit two wonderful shots, my third was ten yards off the green and I was definitely looking at a 6 at worse, but instead of trying a long uphill putt I chipped right off the left of the green and ended with an 8 on a downhill green that was amazingly slow. I picked up some glass cleaner finally and then had two slices of pizza from Amelia’s, then drove home for a nap and my knee exercises and 30 minutes of biking before headed to Macados to get a Margie’s Cashew chicken salad and watch Duke / Miami, with Duke now 5 ahead after being 10 behind and looking awful. I emailed a couple times with my kayak friend and I think my first email to her was one of the funniest things I have ever written. She is worried about me staying on Cellcept too long because it is a very risky drug and I wrote her that I would talk to Trivedi when I am back to normal about the drug and that I would even go down to Duke to consult with an expert down there. It’s so good to have her advice and support.

good visit to Dr. Trivedi

Today, Friday was a pretty good day. I didn’t get to bed until after 2 but I slept until 7 and did my exercises and then some household stuff and then went back to bed until almost 12 and then had to hustle a bit to get my stationary biking done for 30 minutes and get dressed. No walk this morning but it wasn’t too pleasant in the morning and I was pretty tired. I drove in, recycled and got rid of the garbage, then went to visit Dr. Trivedi and she spent an hour and 20 minutes questioning me and all my numbers are getting better (kidney 1.69) and no major concerns. I was pretty happy with all the good news. I also got to give my gift cards to the renal biopsy people, to the surgical care staff and to Trivedi’s office, then I was still able to meet Claire and have dinner at Nagoya and then an almost hour walk with her (I was short of breath going up the hill) on campus. I then got to my office and took a hour and ten minute nap and then talked to Rob, who was very optimistic, and am doing my blog and hopefully my lumosity training. I did have a pleasant and helpful conversation with Craig and that felt very good. Today I also left a message for John about my health situation and I hope to chat with him at some point.