bobanddenisewanderlust

Saturday-  I had a really bad day with the steroids.Only 2 pills today.  I  napped in the morning and the afternoon and all I did was some laundry, watched TV and read.

Bob was busy with making items for the RV and doing tasks around the condo. We basically had a quiet day.

Sunday-  I took the last steroid pill this morning. So glad this is over. I have taken steroids before, and this is the first time I have felt this awful while taking them. Now hoping it does some good! So far, no…

I did feel better today. So I did a little cleaning and laundry. We had our usual noon Zoom.

Monday-  I had my follow-up appointment with the Orthopedic Doc. My lab values were basically normal, except for an elevation in my RA Factor (Rheumatoid Arthritis). Greater than 20 is a positive result, and mine was 29. Soooo, the Doc referred me to a Rheumatologist. I am waiting for the Rheumatologist’s office to call so I can get an appointment. In AZ, the specialists are booked for months, but I really would like an appointment sooner.

The Doc also suggested a local, family owned, shoe store which specializes in neuropathy, which is also what my pain can be. They opened at 10, and we ran over there. The store was very busy. I met with a gal named Cat. The appointments are 40 minutes. Mine was 1 hr, 40 minutes. The store is in the same parking lot as Total Beverage, so you know where Bob headed to wait!

Anyway, Cat and I discussed my issues, she measured my feet, she had me walk across the store and she filmed my gait, on an iPad. We discussed those results, then she put me into a machine that took pictures and showed footprints. It was all very informative. All this was free, also! So then we worked on inserts. I usually wear the Superfeet green, as recommended by the Ortho doctors. We purchase them at Dick’s Sporting Goods, and they never go on sale. They are $49.99. Instead, she moved me to Powerstep Pulse inserts, $46.99, so a little less expensive, but really less than custom inserts!

Then we worked on shoes. Their selection was limited, due to the Midwest weather and some of the shoes are in a ship, stuck in LA harbor. I tried several shoes and widths. I finally found one that did not seem to hurt the arch, the top of my foot, or the burning at the end of my great toe. Cat also tied my laces much differently. I immediately, changed my larger, wider Sketchers( that I recently purchased) to that different lacing. What a difference all of this made!

I also had another foot issue, which my mother had found, when I was a toddler. The tip of my great toe curves up. This causes me to go through cloth shoes rapidly. As a kid, I usually wore sneakers with the rubber tip, until I got older and moved to leather shoes. I do eventually, go through the leather shoes, it just takes longer!

Cat said, no problem; she put Gorilla tape, in the new shoes over the toe area. Evidently, Gorilla tape sticks really well to cloth.  Hmmm, easy fix, we will see how well it works. So $199 later, I returned home with these. 

By this time my problem areas were pretty inflamed. We stopped at The Habit to pick up burgers for lunch, and returned home. While we were picking up lunch to take home, we received a call, scheduling the delivery of the dual recliner, for between 12-4 tomorrow afternoon.

After lunch, we ran over the the Posse and turned in some paperwork. Bob is continuing his drawing and sawing of wood!

Tuesday-  Our friend Paula is having knee replacement surgery today, so I have been on the phone with her and texting a lot with her over the last few days. I worked more on the diamond painting, the puzzle and finished a book. I returned it to the library and picked up 4 more.

Bob had dropped his bike off last week, at a bike store. His tire was leaking air.We picked up his bike, after our trip to Costco, during the senior hours!

I am back to riding my bike each morning, as the Doc said I could start again. Bob has also started riding his bike. With not riding my bike for so long, I can really feel how out of shape I am. Slowly increasing my riding! 

Around 3, the recliner was delivered by UPS Freight. It was one big box. Bob was concerned, as he was afraid it had arrived, all put together. Nope, each part was separately wrapped in plastic.

Bob cut down the side of the box and we moved the parts to the back of the garage, near his work bench. We had parked the car in the back parking lot, so I went and retrieved the car, once everything, including the palate the box arrived on. I posted on Nextdoor, to see if anyone wanted the palate. So far, no one does. Oh well…..

We had a quiet rest of the day. No foot pain with the old shoes, with laces tied differently.

Wednesday- I wore the new shoes today. What a difference they made! No pain!

I had a hair cut scheduled today, so I dropped Bob off at the RV Storage on the way. Kathy cut my hair, and I returned home.Bob was already working on some small projects in the rig. We moved one part of the chair into the rig, and Bob went to work, on deciding how to install everything. We also worked on some other projects in the rig. Bob needs some supplies, so after lunch we took the rig back to the storage unit.

At 1, we attended a virtual memorial service, for our Posse friend, Ruth,, who passed away January 16, of Covid, as the same hospital that Bob had been in when he had Covid. It was interesting( she had an interesting life, developing polio at 5 years old) and moving.

I worked on my diamond painting, the puzzle, and read my book outside. The temps the last two days have been in the low 80’s. Once Bob finished the sawing, he cleaned off the patio. Then Koda went out and dug in the dirt, throwing dirt onto the patio. Little devil! Right now we are putting money into  the rig, not the patio.

Paula was having a lot of pain and her temperature was increasing. She called the doctor. I had told her not to take Tylenol with her Oxycodone. Sure enough, the Doc told her to take Tylenol. (Tylenol is a component of Oxy) and it is very easy to get too much Acetaminophen, and have liver damage. So she told the Doc no, and he had her to take some Advil.

Thursday- Bob had some medical testing today, so I stayed home and worked on some projects. Paula is doing better, her fever and pain are decreasing. We have gotten our Posse scheduled straightened out. Bob still needs to do one training ride and both of us need to do our six  confidence rides. I insisted that we be placed with folks who take the Covid virus seriously. The Posse is now doing daily cleaning of the building and more cleaning of the cars. They were already cleaning the cars after each duty tour.

At 4, we went to the social hour. Double masks and most of the gals there had already had their vaccinations, some of them even both of them. We were also doing the six feet away, actually, it looked like more than that! The dogs really enjoy going. There were a total of 9 dogs there. Lots of greeting, barking and butt sniffing. Then they settled down. Everyone was talking about the increase in the number of coyotes that have been spotted. In AZ it is matting season from January 1 to March 15, so they are out mating and hunting. Their gestation period is a short 2 months, so we will be seeing more of them for awhile, hunting for food for their young. Of course, we also solved the world problems! The weather cooperated, with high 70’s and no wind.

We returned and cooked dinner and watched some TV.

Friday-  Bob’s PCP’s office had called yesterday to have him schedule a follow-up chest X-ray, due to his having Covid pneumonia. So this morning he ran over for an 8 AM appointment. I had my Mammogram at 11 AM. When I arrived in the parking lot, I found a credit card on the ground. So I picked it up, put it in the car, and went to my appointment. On my way home, I dropped it at the drive thru,  at a Wells Fargo banking center.

Bob did his second favorite shopping, at the local hardware store. I purchased our Weathertek floor liners for the rig. Bob tried making sweet potato chips in our air fryer. They were soggy or burnt. Oh well!

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