Friday, June 30, 2017

Rain Came .. bringing JOY


When the drought broke, the rain came, the heat and humidity came and the hibiscus has over 50 blooms on it.. It is our largest bush. You can see it is up in the pine tree. We love our jungle WILD...






POP OVER TO FourpawsEtc and see if you can find Jake in His Jungle.


Thursday, June 29, 2017

Sidewalk Closed


We owe a lot to sidewalks, they have been keeping us off the streets for years. But not this sidewalk. Our walk on Riverwalk came to a halt and now I wait impatiently to see why the railing was down and just what they are doing..

This post has been sitting in my drafts for a month now. Now it is NOT...giving you a break from The life and times of Bob and Sandra.


volley ball court

Did you hear the one about the skateboarder who broke his elbow? it was really humerus...

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Embarrassing Moment!


Let me entertain you with my entertainment in  Surgery Waiting Room for five hours.

   Our home is less than 2 miles from the hospital, at various times I raced out to the car and home to let our dog Jake out. When I returned to the waiting room, I sat and then decided to walk around the room taking photos of various things. Every step my shoe went Pop! Pop! Pop!.. this pair has never done that. I was embarrassed at the noise so sat down.

Pulled off the offending sandal, I found PINE TAR.. on the bottom of my heel.

I walked barefoot around the back yard with the dog, getting pine tar on my right heel, when I put my foot in the shoe, it glued my heel to the shoe.

Each time I stepped, it Popped Loose and sounded like a canon going off with each step...



I limped when I walked to stop the noise to get these photos for all of you. And the next time I went home, I cleaned my foot and changed sandals.


Tuesday, June 27, 2017

What She Did #2

the insert is a terrible selfie of Bob and Me in ICU

ICU had certain hours I could sit with Bob. Saturday am it was 8 am.. I got there 10 minutes early and the halls were empty. I decided to potty before going into ICU because each time I had to GO, I had to leave the unit and then phone them to get back in.

While washing my hands I remembered my Samsung Tablet was in my purse, and VOILA, The New Me minus 34 pounds appeared many times.




 When we left ICU, the nurse handed me the scissors and 2 rolls of tape and gauze. She said if you want these, we have to throw it all away. 
I am shocked even though I know they have to be careful of germs. Everything is disposable from pillows to wash basins, and I wanted his and forgot it and also wanted his throw away pillow. Phooey.
I am also shocked I still owe them a lot of money and they never asked for the copay. The surgery I paid the co pay the rest of the bills, 2 days in a room, MRI, XRAY, 2 cat scans, I still owe the copays, maybe 450.00 I think.
that has never happened before...


 
ALERT! ALERT! BELOW THIS LINE IS BOB'S INCISION PHOTO. AND A FROM THE INTERNET PICTURE OF WHAT THEY DID TO HIS THROAT. Weak stomachs leave now



 NO WONDER IT TOOK FOUR HOURS. GLAD I DID NOT FIND THIS BEFORE SURGERY
They removed the drain before we came home...

NOTES FOR MY MEMORY  
This is the name of what she did.
Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) is a surgical procedure used to reduce the risk of stroke by correcting stenosis (narrowing) in the common carotid artery or internal carotid artery. Endarterectomy is the removal of material on the inside (end(o)-) of an artery.
photo off internet, this is in the middle, his was up into the ear canal, it was really hard to get to. up higher than the top clamp. she showed me on an ultra sound where it was.

Monday, June 26, 2017

What She Did #1-Surgical Waiting Room


I waited for almost and hour while they prepped Bob for surgery. I hit the coffee bar, said no to the cookies.. At 8 am they took me to the prep room, and there were SEVEN people working on him. Since he was worried about them shaving his beard of 40 years, I asked and they said no, but it will be ORANGE.  He looked like Frankenstein, there were leads and tubes and both arms were covered with those. FOR THOSE OF YOU who don't have the time to read details, I say now he is fine and doing well with no symptoms of the stroke... All these details are to help my memory in the future.

A wonderful young man, was slowly attaching SIXTEEN leads to each part of his brain, with red and white wires running to a box. I said to him, if one artery is closed, and you are working on the other how will he get oxygen. He pointed to Bob's franken-arm and said those will hook to a shunt that bypasses where they are working. These 16 leads are my job. He pointed to the screen.


I will monitor his brain and warn if there is a problem and now I am taking a snap shot of his normal rhythms to compare what changes as we work.. then he said Don't Talk, his brain will react to you. And pointed at the blip when I said ok. HA HA he doesn't know me. I did not talk. But two nurses did and the screen was crazy, he asked us all to step out.

I really was thrilled to watch everything, since in the past they just whisked him away and I did not see him until surgery was over.

At 9 am, they rolled him across the hall into OR and sent me to the waiting room. She said 2 to 4 hours. I went home and let the dog out, gone 15 minutes and back to waiting room where I discovered HOT CHOCOLATE fat free and sugar free...

The board changed 4 hours later and it said out of OR into recovery at 1:01 pm... it was another long wait of 50 15 minutes and the surgeon popped in the door and said he did fine. When we move him to ICU we will stop for you.... at 3 pm I walked beside him to ICU, he was riding in a bed, silly not walking. But he was talking to me.  He is a rare person that does not go to sleep when they give him the shot, he said he was awake when they were in OR and saw dozens of people doing all kinds of things, she put a mask over his face and his eyes kept watching everything, she pointed that out and boom he was gone. BUT when they rolled him out of OR to recovery he woke up and she looked at the other nurse and said It Had to Happen Sometime. He was awake from 3 until 8 that night. He also never gets sick from the anesthesia. At 5:30 just 4 hours after surgery he ate Roast Beef, gravy and carrots with bread pudding. BUT the throat was numb, by next morning sore throat and pain would not let him swallow anything but soft food...

His day nurse for 12 hours was and Angel named Stacy...his night nurse he can't remember her name and she was the nurse from hell. Stacy went home at 7 and he never saw another person until Nurse Devil came in at 9 pm. 2 hours. 
The photo at the top and the sunny ME were playtime with my tablet and PIP. Since I only took 2 photos in 5 hours you know how upset I was. I actually thought my heart would stop beating when it got to the 3rd week hour.

My two cousins, Shari and Bonnie came by and talked, and a man I worked with for 13 years, John Allen, was waiting on his wife, and he helped pass the time.
Tomorrow is What she did in ICU... and I will quit I promise.

Sunday, June 25, 2017

We Are HOME...


I am not the Only Mad Person in our family

Thank you ALL for comments and prayers and emails and cards.. You Lifted Me UP!

It has been a long, hard 2 weeks, the stroke on the 17th, the week of waiting for his blood thinner to clear . Bob's surgery was done on Friday, June 23rd. It was a long one, 4 hours on the table, I brought him home Saturday at 2 pm. His throat looks like Frankenstein, I will spare you the photo I took of it in the hospital. I took a photo of him in the bed and my life was threatened if I posted it..

I am not worried because he is to weak to kill me now. The blessed news is no symptoms from the stroke remain, he is weak, his jaw and throat hurt and he is hoarse. He is taking pain pills and his normal 3 prescriptions. He is still at slight risk for stroke or high blood pressure for the next 24 hours. I have instructions and will follow them. If his BP goes above 150 on the top I have to call the surgeon. It is not over yet but the worst of it is..

 All the things I feared, like anesthesia causing confusion of his brain did not happen. he is Perfectly Lucid..

I know this because right after the put him in ICU, he looked an me and said how much weight have you loss? you look just like you did when we got married... (that was 33 years ago and many pounds less) That Proves his brain is FINE... (my weight loss is now at 34 pounds)



Monday, June 19, 2017

Time Off



Bobs reflection in the glass door from my archives

On Saturday at 3:40 am, Bob had a stroke, he could not walk, could not move right arm or right leg. within an hour he was able to move, the slurred speech went away. it did a little damage to the brain that effects his walking and balance, he is working on that at home while we wait for surgery. they found one artery totally blocked and the other 85 percent blocked.

He now walks like a toddler, but he is walking.

Bob's surgery is approved for Friday the 23rd, it will be inpatient, they will open the carotid vein, clean it out and patch with a patch. there is 3 percent chance of stroke during surgery, chance for facial nerve damage, and a few other things, to say nothing of 80 years old going under anesthesia.
The big man is worried they will shave off his beard he has had for 50 years..

I am a little freaked but will survive. The surgery I mean, not the shaved beard.
Thanks to all of you for prayers and for the loving comments I have received.

I will be back when life slows down a little. He had melanoma surgery on Friday the 9th and still has a large whole in his shoulder, and we had to cancel his next appt. But the good news was the melanoma was removed totally...

I will be back soon... right now my mind is not working properly, his stroke messed up my brain...

Saturday, June 17, 2017

Dark NIGHT


Last night was a Dark Night, a night of Fright.
Our neighbor forgot to turn on our nightlight.
The bathroom is dark as a moonless night.



4 AM, Bob and Jake go in back yard,  my eyes are burning because I was awake half the night (another story). I stumble in the bathroom, the dark bathroom.

The usually I can see well enough without a light on because our neighbors side porch light is our night light for the bathroom.

She forgot to turn it on.

I need my eye drops so I flip on the light, it hurts my eyes so I sit on the throne with my eyes closed, I blink a few times, to allow my eyes to adjust to the light. My eyes open fully...

Sitting on the rim of the step that goes into the shower, 2 feet from my FOOT is a GINORMOUS SPIDER.. it is 3 inches across ( I swear). I don't move, I think I must move. I slowly inch to the door and race down the hall to get Jack the Giant Killer  Bob the Spider Killer. He has just stepped out of the pool and is drying off.. HE CAN"T HEAR ME... his hearing aids are in the bathroom.

I wave the fly swat madly out the door, wildly using  arm/hand signal saying COME HERE... he runs to me and I do a big circle with my fingers and wave the flay swat. WHAT??? he says.. I SCREAM LOUDLY
SPIDER!!!!! SPIDER....and run down the hall. Under my breathe I am saying over and over, please be there, please be there. IT WAS.

He SWATS it, picks it up with toilet tissue and flushes down the toilet. I keep FEELING things crawling on me, and saying over and over, IT"S AS BIG AS MY COFFEE CUP!  it WAS!
I say, do your REALIZE I was in that bathroom THREE times during the night? IN THE DARK! It was sitting there while I was sitting there. OMG!!!!!   OMG!!!!!

Hello, my name is Sandra and I suffer from Arachnophobia... 2 hours later, carrying sheets out to the washer, I step out the door barefoot and he has left a fan plug laying where I step on it. I shriek! its a spider.. Actually I just jumped 2 foot off the floor and looked down. it will be DAYS before I don't feel them crawling on me. A hair fell down my back and I am shrieking, what's on my back? what it is?  HE REALLY WAS 3 inches across, Florida has these Giant things... this is only the 2nd time I have seen one in this house in 27 years and the first time was a couple months ago.. OH NOOO I placed a call to the Real Estate Agent




Friday, June 16, 2017

Hug a Bear ME



Hey there, bear with me.......
I will think of a pun soon....
this post could be your cross to bear,
it could  even get a little grizzly.. 
ARE YOU READY????

You are Da Beary Best!!

What would bears be with out bees????   ears
I LOVE PICMONKEY... I LOVE PICKMONKEY

Thursday, June 15, 2017

Repost from 2011- Stranger and the Snook


Saturday early AM, Beer Can Island...and I never know what the morning will bring to my madly snapping self

I passed a lone fisherman, just had to Snap!


Photos from my archives..2011

 I saw the fisherman walk out of the water with a very large Snook.
I walked over and said, My husband would die to catch that fish.

Meet Arthur and he caught not one but 2 Snook. Snook are the best fish in Florida in my book, next are the grouper.
And I love meeting nice strangers and Yes, I did ask his permission to post his photo.

Arthur, click on My Profile on the side bar and pick up my email address and send me  your email and I will email you the photos.

My friend Diane was there and below are two photos she took of Arthur.


Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Jungle is BACK


9 inches of rain in 6 days and our Jungle is BACK... this bush is the smallest we have and it had 28 blooms in two days...


Even the bush that only has half its leaves back had 12 flowers on it. this is just one that was waving at me against the sky.

Thank you God, for 9 inches of rain...and the beautiful flowers it brought to us and the GREEN of the trees and grass.


Tuesday, June 13, 2017

MAD MISH MASH Day by MADsnapper


SO! here we go with Mad Mish Mash day..

Do  you hate it when someone starts a story with he word So???

SO.... Jo of memorialmeanders, lives in South Africa, she posted a photo of a fly on her screen and made the mistake of wondering what Madsnapper could do with it.... Really?


So....How can one relax when the word is backwards??? Fish Found on Walmart Shelf, you can buy one for 9.99


So......My friends Joe and Joan at the YMCA gifted me with this big and beautiful COOK book. . It has 500 healthy recipes in it. I love it.....but...

SO! where's da COOK?

So! See those hooks holding up the shower curtain??? I nearly DIED hanging the hooks, shower liner and shower curtain. Really! I did!
Hook a few/Rest/shake arms around saying Owie!  Hook a few/Rest/shake arms around saying Owie!  Hook a few/Rest/shake arms around saying Owie!
My shoulders are OLD and Shorter than they used to be, holding them up over my head was KILLING me. Three Rest Periods to hang a curtain. SO Much PUN.. SO little time to do it

Monday, June 12, 2017

Always Be Prepared

Can you find Jake?

Let's band-aid together, because I am stuck on YOU.... Just In Case you are wondering, PICMONKEY has 40 new FONTS and the one I used is called Homemade Apple, I LOVE IT..

Since My Motto is "Always Be Prepared", I had 87 millions bandages, anything we could possibly need for caring for Bob's Melanoma removal this past Friday....

I had 40 bandages, only 1 of the 40 was what I needed, see the open one bottom right? perfect.

I had ONE.... a trip to Wal-Mart and now I have 20 of those to add to my 4 drawers of preparedness....

Have you ever stood and LOOKED at all the different sizes, shapes and types of bandages?
YOWSA!
Before you ask WHY?  the ones I had were NOT fabric that breathes and moves with the body,  were NOT waterproof PER Doc Instructions. ... 3 hours after the surgery blood started flooding down his back, he takes blood thinners, and after holding pressure on top of an ice pack to stop it for 10 minutes, I put a wad of gauze and enough white tape to cover a battle ship.

I now only have 7 rolls of tape, not 8.... 😃😃😃

Day 2 we can use one big Band-Aid. Cost of said perfect Band-Aid is 2.48 since PER BANDAID
What's NEXT????


Sunday, June 11, 2017

Beach Please...


Seek to sea more, seas the day.. playing in PicMonkey makes me happier than a seagull with a French fry..
 I had a shell of a time making twin MadSnappers.... Have a crabulous day...
I blame this post on PicMonkey Blog, they have been adding tutorials a few each day. I love trying new things
Life's a beach and then you 'picmonkey'    thank you Ann from SnapEditScrap.... for the quote below in comments

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Bob's Dream Car


When I met my husband Bob in 1984, all he talked about was one day owning his very on 40's Willy's Coup in Candy Apple Red..... 

I gave him the apple of his eye for  his birthday in 1985.
Sigh........ 

A. Yellow not red

B. It is only 4 inches long...



He drove it a few times in my PIP app roadway and I PIP-snapped a few shots for him to stir up memories


And his dream car floated off into never-never land.
The TOY now lives in the garage with his Dale Earnhardt Photo, his dog photos, a rubber lizard, snake and shark.
All on the same shelf.
Such is Life. He has the PIP of a life with ME thus no need for a 40's Willy's Coup