What? Another Vacay?

Sophie The Wonderdog and I are headed to the beach to visit my best friend.  While I’m away, good friends Proof, Grunt and Adrienne will be keeping tabs on the ol’ blog for me.

The photograph above was taken on my phone last summer, but you can see the view is peaceful.  The patio has deck railing four feet high which is just tall enough to keep my friend’s two furkids, Tika and Teddy, safe and sound.  A great deal of time will be spent sitting under the shade of the pergola watching the carefree geese and mallards swim by.  The only disturbance in The Force will be when Skeeter, who lives next door to my friend, gets let out.  She makes a bee-line for the water to harass the fish and turtles living in the little canal you see in the photo.

Adrienne just joined our merry band of bloggers and has promised to keep the boys in check this go ‘round.  Each time I hand them the keys to the liquor cabinet while I’m away it seems they invariably trash the joint including shooting up my Hummel collection.

Adrienne has fervently assured me she will make sure the beer cans, Cheetos dust and peanut shells will be cleaned up before I get back.  No squirrels swilling the scotch either!

My friends will continue to add content in my absence.  Proof and Grunt are mischievous characters so don’t be surprised by anything they post.

I hope you’ll welcome Adrienne.  She has her own blog as well and has graciously consented to help us out from time to time.

I have made sure the regular Monday feature “Flowing Curves of Beauty” is queued up for the next two Mondays.   One time I failed to do that and Proof put up Star Trek babes.

I hope everyone has a great week.  Take care out there.

You love me, you really, really love me...

Actually, there's not a grain of truth in that statement, but I thought it would be worthwhile to plant a little notion in your noggins.

Allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Adrienne, and I hang out in a little corner of the interwebs.  Most days I sit in the aforementioned corner, sucking my thumb, and twirling my hair. 

However, when a friend comes seeking help, I am powerless to refuse. 

In just days, our fearless leader, Curmudgeon, will be going off on one of her little jaunts leaving Grunt and Proof in charge of the blog.  Regular readers will remember when they had to call in Peruvian maids (legal),  carpet cleaners, and sanitizing crews to fix up the ol' homestead before Curmudgeon's anticipated arrival home.  One year they actually had to replace the carpet because of cigar burns. These guys just cannot not be trusted with the keys to the liquor cabinet.

Sooooooooooo, much to their chagrin, I, me, moi will be in charge of the keys.  The screaming and gnashing of teeth you hear is Grunt and Proof displaying childish histrionics in hopes that Curmudgeon will change her mind.

Not happening, boys.

I've also engaged John Kasich to be in charge of our mail, Trump will handle entertainment, Cruz will order our wash-off tattoos, Bernie, well, Bernie will be hitting the dumpsters for food, and Hillary will be in charge of emails.  

It's going to be a great week.  Yuuuuuge!!

Like Waking Up From A Long, Dark Dream To A Sun-Filled Day

Image credit: BabyPictures.org

I recently shared a moment with my readers in which I recounted the trouble I’d been having breathing.

After visiting a lung specialist at the behest of two urgent care doctors I had seen in December, I underwent a battery of breathing tests and x-rays.  The lung specialist informed me that the breathing tests revealed that my lung capacity was a meager 54%.  The x-rays he ordered were inconclusive so he ordered a high resolution CT scan of my lungs.

 

The CT scan was done on February 4th and I have waited and waited and waited for this day to find out the results.

Meanwhile, Adrienne of Adrienne’s Corner, read the post about my health scare and called for prayers.  As the word spread, good friend and blogger Bob Belvedere of The Camp of the Saints did the same.

This site was visited by so many wonderful folks who wished me well and promised prayers for a good outcome that I was overwhelmed.

So here’s what happened yesterday.  My appointment was at 11:15AM.  All the doctors were running late.  I was finally called into the examination room at 11:55AM.  At 12:29 PM my doctor entered the room.

I sat there frozen—too scared to ask THE question.

I know my eyes were as big as saucers when he said, “Well, it’s not bad, but it’s not 100% either.”  The CT scan is showing me that you do not have interstitial lung disease.  What it does show is that you have chronic bronchitis and possibly occupational asthma.”

He said that my shortness of breath on exertion, cough, fatigue, and chest congestion were most likely from chronic bronchitis.

Here, I will admit that I thought bronchitis was no big deal, but now I know differently.  Chronic bronchitis is a long-term, often irreversible respiratory illness.  To be categorized as having chronic bronchitis you must have a daily mucus-producing cough (check) that persists for at least three months a year (check), at least two years in a row (check).  This is not to be confused with acute bronchitis which is a mild inflammation of the air passages of the lungs that clears up in a few days.

So, what the doctor thought initially, that I had restrictive lung disease turned out to be wrong based on the CT scan.  But, I’m not out of the woods either.  Turns out I do have COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) that can lead to gradual deterioration of the lungs.  It’s the fourth-leading cause of death in this country.

My doctor prescribed an inhaler called Dulera®.  It’s specifically for asthma.  He wants to see me again in 30 days to see if this medication helps.

I want to thank all the folks who stopped by here to leave their thoughts and prayers.  If ever there is a time that you feel prayers don’t work.  Kick yourself in the pants.  It does.  Perfect strangers were stopping by telling me they were joining the prayer brigade.

I guess the best way to say how much you guys mean to me is to quote Anne Frank, “Crying can bring relief, as long as you don’t cry alone.”

God bless you all.  Thank you.