And the Doctor Visits...

continued.  I feel truly "older" now.  I think I have/had 8 appointments (doctor/dentist) this month and that doesn't count whatever is added after I have surgery on Thursday. More on that in a minute.

Monday, I saw a specialist about the gall stones which were found in every CT scan for the kidney stone.  The urologist office especially felt it was important to have it checked out.  So I met with a Dr. Jordan who was an interesting character.  He told me that I will probably "die and go to heaven with my gall stones."  The gall bladder looked fine except for the stones and lots of people have stones and never have any trouble with them.  He reviewed the symptoms with me and gave me his card and said to call him if they ever become problematic and he would be happy to remove the gall bladder. So, good news and checked!

Tuesday I saw the PA at the urologist and they said everything was looking good--no infection or blood in my urine.  I go back tomorrow to find the results of the stone and possible things to prevent another one of that type growing again.

Wednesday, Gary and I met with my vascular surgeon (who wants to have a vascular surgeon? If you need one, you would want one, I guess---like having a urologist!) We discussed options and it happened that he could fit me in this Thursday or we could do it in October after our vacations/family wedding. We decided to go ahead and have surgery on Thursday and move into the healing part of this whole experience.  I have already been mostly in "sick" mode this summer so I guess I will finish the summer that way This is a bypass surgery to go around the blockage of "cement" in my artery.  He decided to use an artificial tubing for the bypass which for my particular repair works "just as good as" using a vein.  He said that I had many good veins he could use, but this allows for a simpler surgery and recovery and also keeps my veins for any future needs.  Once a bypass is done, I have to be watched the rest of my life to make sure that it is working properly. They usually do, but for some people they might fail after a year or after 10, there is no way to predict.  So I guess I really do now have "my" vascular surgeon on my regular yearly or however often they require. Fortunately, I have felt very comfortable with the staff at the clinic as well as the doctor so that is good.  This surgery is about 2 hours long and I will have about a 2 day stay in the hospital and then PT and recovery 3-12 weeks. You will be hearing more about this, I am sure.

Also on Wednesday, I had a follow up with "my" hematologist as well. He was excited to learn about the two kidneys/2 ureters situation and told me that I was just a fun mix of genetic oddities.  I haven't told him that I don't smell.  Our family doctor in Hong Kong told me that made me "even more interesting!"  Doctors find odd things interesting. Anyway, even though my white blood cell issue is a benign condition usually, he feels they need to track it every three months along with some other tracers in the blood to make sure that it stays in my "normal" low range and doesn't drop back into the severe low like it was at the beginning of the year. So for the next few years, I will see him once or twice a year and do blood tests with his office every three months. Learning new things about my body and how it works (or doesn't work) every appointment.

And that was a wrap for last week's visits.....no photos although Dr. Schlieder did show me the pictures of my artery and the blockage and drew me a nice picture of the artery and why they couldn't place a stent.  Fun stuff! And these are minor things compared to what so many people have to deal with every day!

"Footloose"- Hale Theate

Since we had to reschedule our time to see "Twelve Angry Men", we are getting a lot of practice making the trip down to Sandy, Utah, for Hale Theatre productions. This past Monday, we saw "Footloose" which I have actually never seen.  At first I wasn't sure I would like it, but as the story progressed and the characters grew, I liked it more and more.  The music and dancing was amazing, like usual.  Jena loved it.

Of course, no photos are allowed during the show, so these were taken before it started.  As always, the scenery and the stage changes were amazing!  It is well worth attending a show or two in the round Hale Center Theatre.

We actually took these photos with the props after we saw "Twelve Angry Men."  "Footloose" hadn't gotten out yet, so we were able to get a photo with no waiting!

Tomorrow night, we make one more trip down to Hale Theatre to attend a concert for the group- Gentri.  Something different---

When we were at the theatre last week, I just remember feeling so grateful that my parents shared their love of theatre with me, that Gary (and Jena) share that love, and that we were able to share so many seasons of Hale Theatre with Gary's parents. None of those moments were wasted.

Will there be theatre and shows in Heaven?

Painting the Basement

On Thursday, July 24th, I was sitting on my recliner in the usual heating pad pose and Gary was lying on the bed in pain from a muscle pull in his lower back and we were really feeling like we were getting old--

when I got a text from our contractor.  We had asked for them to do some repairs and painting for us downstairs and he had said it would likely be in September or October which was fine for us.  I just wanted it done before our Christmas party in December. Anyway, he had an unexpected break in their schedule the following week and wondered if they could come and do the work and painting.  We said yes, but then laughed at ourselves.  We were both not well and getting the basement ready was going to take some energy over the next few days.  We still had lots of boxes not unpacked yet and cleaning and organizing the areas where we had unpacked.

In between the two of us--walking wounding--we got it done (although we did forget to clean out the water bottles from the small fridge and move it.).

And now we have a freshly painted game room, hallway, and bathroom and we can actually move into those areas and finally get rid of our boxes!  The grandkids will be so excited to finally have a place to play with grandma's toys again.  It has been five years for them.

Getting ready

Carlos working on the trim

The painting is done except maybe a few touch ups and the hanging of some doors and other things.  Probably no one will really notice, but this is a slightly lighter and "minter" color of green.  It is actually on the same "color strip" as the green in our master bathroom, but a shade lighter.  I like it.  I read that green was a good "social"color, so perfect for our game room.

toy closet--all green this time

They will finish up tomorrow and then we can start slowly moving things back into place and maybe finally feel "moved back in."

So at least, we "accomplished" something during July...well, Gary has accomplished a lot.  Even with his back being in pain, he continues to work on things around the house, do family history work, and serve at the temple. We are hoping to do a session this coming week--that will be a first since this kidney stone sage started.

Twelve Angry Men (Hale Theatre)

 I have already mentioned that I spent most of the month sitting in our recliner with a heating pad.

We did take the chance to go to the Hale Theatre to see Twelve Angry Men.  It is a jury room drama which was excellent.  They did a great job casting the parts.  It was one that gave you things to think about.  We had had to change our tickets because of the kidney stone adventure in Washington, but I was glad we made it.

I have never been on a jury and probably won't at my age now.  But it made me want to have that experience.  I should have put it on my bucket list long ago.