This morning we went to Moffitt for an 8:00am appointment so we were up very early and when we got home, we were dead tired. We both fell asleep.

Late afternoon, John got a call from Moffitt. Apparently the cardiologists won’t clear him for the procedure, Wednesday, unless they see him. (We thought he was good to go because he passed a stress test and lots of heart exams while in the hospital.)

Here it was Friday late afternoon and offices about to close so we hopped on our golf cart and went rushing over to the office to make sure he’d be able to have the esophigeal ultrasound on schedule. Our golf cart died on the way.

He was so weak! And with heat at 90+ plus degrees and John decided to walk the remaining distance (about 3 city blocks) while I stayed with the cart. I called the cart shop to have the cart hauled in.

He did make it to his doctor’s office but in the meanwhile a lovely lady stopped and wanted to help. She drove her cart to the doctor’s office and picked him up. He’d already made an appointment for Monday which was all we could do. When they got back to the cart, I explained that the cart shop was coming. She took John home to get our car and I stayed behind.

The cart shop arrived. Batteries were dry because of a broken water line.

John came after me.

What more can go wrong?

Tuesday John was released from South Shore Hospital but the doctors had spotted something on his pancreatus requiring more follow-up. The next day, Wednesday, we had a previously scheduled appointment in Tampa to see his pulmonologist (Dr. Clum). Thursday he went to Moffitt Cancer Center to see a G.I. specialist (Dr. Hodul) about the “something” on his pancreatus. She has scheduled him for an esophigeal ultrasound which is done under anesthesia by inserting a tube in his mouth to his stomach. They’ll do a biopsy of the “something” which is about an inch in size. (It is either a tumor or a cyst.) If it’s not malignant, it could still cause reoccurring pancreatius. Ideally you’d remove it, but with his health as it is, they are concerned that it’s too much for him. At 8 a.m. today we had to be back at Moffitt to meet with the anestheologists so they’ll understand John’s health status before sedating him. Wednesday we’ll be there again and he’ll have the procedure. He’ll return for a review of what was discovered on May 9th. Depending on the proposed treatment, we’ll either head to Michigan or hang around until he has been cleared.

The doctor says it looks like it’s a cyst without the mass of a tumor but we won’t be sure until after May 9th.

This morning John had a minor surgical procedure (small lesion removed) and came home at about 9 a.m. feeling fine.

An hour later, I found him on the bed writhing with admoninal pain. He said it felt like the pancreatius had survived last August. I convinced him to go to the hospital (but he wouldn’t go by ambulance). I drove him.

In the E.R., he was examined and found to have very high lipase numbers which indicates pancreatius. In a healthy individual, a normal lipase level is 0-160 U/L. Last summer his was 9,000. Today it was 750. (Still way too high.)

He was admitted. His heart beats per minute were very low. (In the 30’s.) They fed him about a quart of dye for a contrast CT scan and afterward he “tossed his cookies” and it all came up. The elimination of that substance helped him a little.

He’s still not feeling good, but better. He’s worn out!! Hopefully with the meds they’re pouring into him, he’ll quickly recover.

He was tired so I left him sleeping.

He was worn out and so was I.

The small Sun City Center hospital (South Bay) treated him well. He got excellent care. His room is brand new, huge, and well appointed. Sure glad this happened while we are here rather than on our way home or even in Saginaw. His primary care doctor and cardiac doctors are all here. When I went home, he still had a gastroenterologist yet to come in tonight.

Hope they let him rest. He needs it!

We’ve been working with a restoration company to clean up our basement. I dread going back to Michigan, but it is probably better that we are not there now. I can only imagine the mold and mildew smells which neither of us can tolerate.

Yesterday we decided to move our departure date from Sunday, May 7th to Saturday, April 29th. John didn’t realize how much work it is to change reservations that I’d already set up. It took about four hours to change hotel, mail, newspaper, car insurance, and other date-sensitive previously made arrangements but everything is now ready for us to leave April 29th.

I’m really sorry we won’t make it to the Michigan Club Kentucky Derby Party but we were able to re-sell our tickets so that kinda cinched the change.

We’ll be ready.

What a day!  We got a call from our Michigan neighbor, Charlie, who wanted to know if we would like him to check Michigan place again since the water table had risen. 

We’d had had a problem with our basement sump pump a few weeks ago and Charlie had checked but we felt we’d be okay.  The water was over-running the sump hole, but with a block retaining wall, we felt we wouldn’t have any actual flooding beyond the sump hole.  But today the water in the basement was about a foot deep.  Our cluttered basement was a mess!  We’ve been planning to clean it out, but John’s poor health and my wrist problems the past few years have limited what we could do.  Instead of cleaning, we’d added to the mess. 

After Charlie said we have a problem we called a disaster recovery company and, after installing a new sump pump, they have started to drain the foot of water.

The company sent us a few sickening photos.  We can see an upright bass in a case (still standing but probably wet).  There’s one hammered dulcimer floating past and lots of saturated boxes. 

After the water’s drained away, they’ll move our car out of the garage and put all of the stuff in the garage to dry.  Maybe some will be salvageable.  We wanted a total purge, but not this way!!!

We’ve contacted our furnace and water heater company to see if they will need work before being restarted.

WHAT A MESS! 

When we first discovered the problem, we actually thought about heading north four weeks early, but we have company (my daughter from California) and we are expecting our good friends from Mexico next week.  We figure that even if we were home, we’d have to hire help.  It’s not easy to do it by phone, but so far we’ve been successful.

Thank heavens I can access our Simplisafe system so we can turn our security off and when we want the place to be secure we can relock it.  In other works the workers can come in but we can “lock it back up” so we’ll be notified if anyone opens a door.

Wish us luck!

My 54-year old daughter, Kelly, will be flying in from California on Thursday (the 6th).

I’ve been trying to reconstruct the timetable of our condo improvements and her visits. I’m trying to remember what she’s seen and what will be new to her.

We bought our condo in October 2008. Early in 2009, we replaced the plain white ceiling fans with two that are much nicer palm fron-style. We added tiffany-style dining room and foyer light fixtures. With a nice light fixture and dimmer, we created a real “dining room.”

Kelly came to visit us with her friend, Dotty, in March of 2009. I remember it was cold (drafty) and our place needed lots of improving.

In April 2010, we had crown molding installed in the great room and dining room and the wall color in those areas went from stark white to a light tan-brown with a darker shade on one wall.

January 2011, we had the kitchen renovated, installing new cabinets and over-the-range fan/microwave. We also replaced the refrigerator with one that’s a Samsung stainless french-door.

We replaced our very old Toyota with a 2005 Jaguar in October 2011.

November 2011 we had ceramic floor tile installed throughout the condo and our bathroom shower was tiled. We also had the lanai tiled. The builders’ grade off-white carpet was only left in the master bedroom.

Kelly’s second visit here was in November 2012. Things looked definitely better.

In December 2012, our great room was changed drastically with the addition of the 9′ sliders, a nice side window, an addition to the lanai, and the new patio off the great room. Since the addition to the roof-line of the lanai gave us protection over the side window, were able to eliminate the ugly metal awning that had protected that window from the golfers. The new windows not only changed the view but also eliminated the draft and wind whistling.

In December, 2013, we got a new Samsung 65″ TV and new TV stand. The older flat screen went in our bedroom.

I headed to California in January 2014 for my grandson’s wedding. Although we talk often, I haven’t seen Kelly since then.

Jerry, John’s brother and his wife, Marie, visited us, I believe in April 2014. March 2015, Gwyn Besner stayed overnight and the next day Bill & Ann Robinson used our guest room.

November 2015, we had the granite put down in the kitchen and guest bathroom. The fancy vessel sink and new mirror and light fixture made a real change.

This year we got rid of the broken-down living room sofa and loveseat. We added new sofa, loveseat, chair and curtains. The whole place looks brighter and more open.

Of course there have been some other minor changes like getting rid of the guest room bed and replacing it with a futon. A small table and two stylish chairs were added in the corner of the greatroom and we added an attractive loveseat in the area near the sliders. The lanai and patio are nicely furnished. The lanai has four comfortable well-padded chairs, and the patio two dark brown wicker lounge chairs and a new dark brown umbrella. We have new tableware and cookware.

It’s all very comfortable and attractive. I hope Kelly loves it!

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