The trip went well for us but we were glad to be back home. We had taken both cameras but no pictures were taken. We had great intention to do that but it never worked out. We would see something that looked to be nice and didn't have the camera ready or with us. Poor planning.
Monterey is usually cool and foggy but not while we were there! It was warm as is all of California. With wearing this knee high boot, it did make one very warm all the time. I never made it to the Aquarium as it did require quite a bit of walking and stairs. I did pretty well with navigating the stairs when I had too but I had to pass on this outing. It was a bummer but there will be other times I hope. We did see seals and/or heard them, sea otters, and sea gulls. There was a small black swimming bird that did diving for fish. You saw many people taking advantage of kayak's, sail boats, or power boats. The water was always calm with little waves coming up to the shore from the boats that passed. On the last day, we saw a diving school out in the water with so many divers. The one new thing we have been seeing around here is a person standing on a surf board and use a long paddle for paddling. That is a definite work out!
Dad played Poppy Hills golf course which is one of the courses of Pebble Beach Golf Club. He did not have a great game of golf on Friday but he did win a new putter. He already had won a new driver, just recently a new golf bag, new golf balls, and now a new putter. At this rate, he may wind up with all new clubs. He will be going back to Monterey to play Spanish Bay which is another course at Pebble Beach. Dad will be playing June 4 & 5.
We are having some very hot temperatures this weekend. Yesterday it got to be 95 degrees. Today it might be a couple of degrees cooler but not much. The air conditioning is on and I am wearing a cooling vest. That boot that I wear, as I said, makes me very warm. I have to wear a tennis shoe on the other foot to help with the walking. Not a fun time when all you want to do is to get cool!
Dad and I have a conflict when it comes to the air conditioning as he likes things warm and I would be very happy to keep everything as cool as possible. The compromise is the electric bill. If it is too high, than I need to wear that vest more often and use portable fans.
Gasoline is over $4.00 a gallon here now. Once in a while you might find a station at $3.90 but the majority is over that $4 dollar mark. I have also heard of a couple of places in the state that are over $5.00 a gallon. Not a happy time here...
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
New type of Boot
I have had a lump on the back of my Achilles tendon for a couple of months. It has started to be painful first thing in the morning and when I have walked for some time. I decided to have it checked out with a podiatrist and my appointment was this morning.
He did an ultra scan on the area and I do have a small tear in the tendon. It is not something at this point that I have to have any surgery but I do have a boot that rocks to keep the pressure off the tendon. It goes all the way up to my knee. I am to take an anti-inflammatory (prescription), keep it iced, rest it and start physical therapy. Hopefully in three to four weeks it will be all better.
IF it isn't at that time, than he will do an MRI to see what is going on but he thinks that doing the above will take care of it. The spot that has torn is the watershed area. It is the area where a lot of athletes will tear or you would hear that they had torn their Achilles tendon - this is the spot.
How did I do this, you ask? I have no clue. It could have been something I did a while ago and it has just gotten progressively worse. I do remember a small bump but did not think anything of it. I did pay attention when it got bigger!
I was to go with Dad this week to Monterey, CA. He is leaving it up to me as to whether I want to go but he has been hinting for me to stay home. I really can't do anything up there. For the spouses they were going to have an outing to the Aquarium. It did sound like it would have been very interesting as you were going to see things the public would not. It would require walking and even though I could with the boot, how tired will I get? It isn't the same thing with Dad and the wheelchair. I would have to do everything with my own power.
What a decision!
He did an ultra scan on the area and I do have a small tear in the tendon. It is not something at this point that I have to have any surgery but I do have a boot that rocks to keep the pressure off the tendon. It goes all the way up to my knee. I am to take an anti-inflammatory (prescription), keep it iced, rest it and start physical therapy. Hopefully in three to four weeks it will be all better.
IF it isn't at that time, than he will do an MRI to see what is going on but he thinks that doing the above will take care of it. The spot that has torn is the watershed area. It is the area where a lot of athletes will tear or you would hear that they had torn their Achilles tendon - this is the spot.
How did I do this, you ask? I have no clue. It could have been something I did a while ago and it has just gotten progressively worse. I do remember a small bump but did not think anything of it. I did pay attention when it got bigger!
I was to go with Dad this week to Monterey, CA. He is leaving it up to me as to whether I want to go but he has been hinting for me to stay home. I really can't do anything up there. For the spouses they were going to have an outing to the Aquarium. It did sound like it would have been very interesting as you were going to see things the public would not. It would require walking and even though I could with the boot, how tired will I get? It isn't the same thing with Dad and the wheelchair. I would have to do everything with my own power.
What a decision!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Chester is getting old
Chester is now 12 years old. You might say that this might be young for a cat. It might be if he didn't have any other problems.
I took him to the vet a couple of days ago and they checked him over, gave him his rabies shot, and did blood work. They also tried to take his blood pressure but Chester was not having anymore of it. They could not get him calm enough to take a reading without it going off the charts.
The vet called me yesterday with the results of the blood work. She said he has the beginnings of hyperthyroidism. If left untreated he will eventually die from heart failure or kidney failure or both. Now the two options I was given were to give him a small pill every day for the rest of his life which could be 3-5 years. This will cost us about $20-$30 dollars a month. Now this option may or may not work.
The second option is to have his results tested again and once it is really, really confirmed that he has the problem, then we can take him to another animal hospital where they can give him an iodine procedure to knock out the problem. Now I read online that this procedure is not always 100% at the first try and you may have to do it again.
The results, if it did work, would be that he would have all his problems taken away. He would not have high blood pressure, or kidney problems, or a problem with his thyroid. Sounds great doesn't it. Now the problem we have.. the cost.
The vet said this could cost around $800.00.
Dad doesn't want to do either option and just let him die when it is his time. I think I am favoring it that too. If he was younger than I would be inclined to do what I need to do.
It is upsetting to realize that your pet is dying but that is the nature of things. I am not trying to sound "cold" about him. What would you do?
I took him to the vet a couple of days ago and they checked him over, gave him his rabies shot, and did blood work. They also tried to take his blood pressure but Chester was not having anymore of it. They could not get him calm enough to take a reading without it going off the charts.
The vet called me yesterday with the results of the blood work. She said he has the beginnings of hyperthyroidism. If left untreated he will eventually die from heart failure or kidney failure or both. Now the two options I was given were to give him a small pill every day for the rest of his life which could be 3-5 years. This will cost us about $20-$30 dollars a month. Now this option may or may not work.
The second option is to have his results tested again and once it is really, really confirmed that he has the problem, then we can take him to another animal hospital where they can give him an iodine procedure to knock out the problem. Now I read online that this procedure is not always 100% at the first try and you may have to do it again.
The results, if it did work, would be that he would have all his problems taken away. He would not have high blood pressure, or kidney problems, or a problem with his thyroid. Sounds great doesn't it. Now the problem we have.. the cost.
The vet said this could cost around $800.00.
Dad doesn't want to do either option and just let him die when it is his time. I think I am favoring it that too. If he was younger than I would be inclined to do what I need to do.
It is upsetting to realize that your pet is dying but that is the nature of things. I am not trying to sound "cold" about him. What would you do?
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