Cat Tales

((By the way, WHAT the heck is going on with this Blogger??? I can't seem to post photos tonight...weird!!))
It's July 8th already...wow!
So, I thought I'd share some cat tales with you.
These both have to do with my Jerry-son.
Jerry...that remarkably brilliant, handsome, and sweet kitty...
It was three years ago. I had to reach past Jerry to get a glass of water, and I told him so (just call me "the kitty whisperer"). So, what did my boy do?? He replied, "Meow-Wa-Wa." He heard me call it "wa-wa" (kitten talk for "water"), so he repeated what he heard me say. Smart cat!!
Then, later in July, I was getting ready to leave to go to East Dundee, IL...to see Dick Biondi (that's where my Blogger picture comes from, by the way). I told my cats who I was going to see. Remember, the name "Biondi" must have stuck with Jerry. And, he repeated as best he could: "Meow-WOW-i!!" Now, is that a smart cat, or what?? I tell you, I'm amazed at what my three "little angels" can do!!
Tony sometimes "drags" me to his "crunchy" dish so I can watch him eat. He says "Wah?", repeatedly, looking me in the eye every time, and making sure I'm following him, until we reach his "crunchy" dish...so, I get to watch him eat.
Tony is also the one who was sooooo afraid of my first "PD" machine...that's what inspired me to call dialysis machines "Moonsters." So, thanks to my Tony-son, I can safely say, I see the "Moonster" three days a week. That's one way of looking at it, right?? And I couldn't agree more...thanks, son!!!
Mup is the one who talks up whole paragraphs when she has something on her mind. She's so adorable! Her favorite way of talking is "Meow-WAH". Like that.
Well, I'd better call it a night now (I'm so sorry; I probably said that on my last posting...well, now I mean it).
Good night, and ta-ta for now, for sure!!
(poof.)

So...back to needing a new kidney...

Sooner than later, by the way.
There are certain positions I get myself in, while I'm busy working, where I can feel the water rush to my head. I probably would NEVER feel the blood rush to my head in those positions, but having too much water build up in me between treatments, since after all, no water escapes me at all except during dialysis, naturally, this means I end up with more water in my blood than the average bear.
I'm so tired of dialysis, I truly am. I lose all kinds of valuable time that I could be here working...cleaning the house, working on my car (cleaning, etc.)...rather than sitting in that blasted chair doing nothing.
I probably shouldn't squawk too much. At least I have 3 and a half hours to myself, to listen to Bobby Jameson (on CD, of course!!), read, learn needlepoint, etc. But, I get stressed when I feel like there's not enough hours in the day to get everything done because I have to lose that much time out of my productivity. Make sense??? I hope so.
Forgive me for rambling. It's been a long day. I did more painting (of car parts), and cleaning the house. And I didn't get a nap in. And, it's 10:30pm, so I'm tired and just about to call it a night, but wanted to get that water retention rant off of my chest.
(P.S.: Don't those Isuzu Rodeos (which is what I have) and Honda Passports look absolutely LOVELY in white???? I sure think so!!) ;-)
Good night, sweethearts...and, ta-ta for now!
(poof.)

Happy 4th!! And, question re: ice chips

Once again, Happy July 4th!!! Hope you have a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend!!
I have a question.
You see, I've been hooked on ice chips ever since about a year ago. It may go along with a couple of things. It may be related to when I found out that a cup of ice has about 1/10th of the water that a cup of water does, and that turned me on to ice due to my fluid restrictions (from being on hemodialysis--YUK!). Or, it may be related to my on-again-off-again anemia (and I've had both iron-deficiency anemia, AND erythropoetin-deficiency anemia). Or...and this is a wild, wild guess...it may be related to my not "getting any" for a year and a half. Now, that last choice there is probably way out in left field. But, I won't turn down the possibility that it could be what's causing my ice chip fixation.
I'm just wondering WHY I have this ice chip fixation, and I'm wondering, because two or three of my teeth are now temperature-sensitive, to the point of where I have to chew my ice on the other side of my mouth. Fortunately, none of these are teeth that would affect my wonderful smile, so no need to worry on that. But, all 28 of my teeth have been near-perfect all my life (except when I had braces), so I'm concerned, and I want to save my teeth from destruction-by-ice-chips, if I can at all.
Once again, Happy 4th!!
Love ya!!
Good night, sweethearts, and ta-ta for now!!
(poof)

Wishing my readers a wonderful, safe, and Happy July 4th!!

Forgive me for being a little early on this, but I wanted to take the time now, while I'm online, to wish any reader that I may have a VERY safe, happy, and fun July 4th!!!!!!
I tried to post this about an hour or two ago, but there was an error and the whole thing went poof. After a much-needed break, and after taking a couple Percocets for my headache (and tailbone ache), I thought I'd come back and again try to say Happy July 4th!!
Whatever this holiday brings you, I hope it works for you!!!
Personally, I'm going to be very busy this month. Besides car cleaning and repair, I have a lot of doctors' appointments. Tomorrow, I'll have two Transplant evaluations, so finally we're getting the ball rolling again on that level. In case you missed it, I'm back in San Diego, so this will be at Sharp Memorial Hospital, where I'm trying to get relisted. I remember that I got fed up with the Cleveland Clinic and how they cancelled my transplant at the last minute, and with no obvious reason. That was NOT why I moved back here, but it happened just before I left Cleveland. Coincidence??? Maybe-most likely. Just another coincidence for me to make a note of.
I had more to say here, but the Percocet is starting to make me rather loopsy, so I'll come back when I feel more coherent. I hope you understand. I'm sure you do.
By the way: I am NOT addicted to Percocet, nor could I ever be. Although I have a history of an addictive behavior (i.e., I had an eating disorder many years ago), I could NEVER bring myself to get addicted to Percocet or anything else. Yes, I've been addicted to Excedrin, but that's different. When it's a prescription narcotic, I can force myself to hold back. Maybe because it's so hard to get refills for narcotics...I don't know what it is, but I'll be OK; trust me.
And, I've gotta start winding it down for the night, so...
Good night, sweethearts!!! Ta-ta, for now!!
Love ya!!

"PD"...or not "PD"....(finally getting around to posting this one)

I was going to do this a week or so ago, but got sidetracked. Forgive me.
So, here's the latest as far as how painfully long my wait for a kidney transplant is getting to be.
July 16th, will be my next "procedure". The doctor will look and be sure there’s not too much scar tissue to put another "PD" catheter in. To refresh your memory, "PD"=peritoneal dialysis. Scar tissue, of course, from all the previous surgeries: the first "PD" catheter, the stomach repair last year due to a perforated ulcer... If there’s not too much scar tissue, I'll of course get another "PD" catheter, and hopefully be starting "PD" again. If there IS too much scar tissue, I'd have to get another graft in one of my arms, and once again, be a "one-arm" wonder.
But, you know, to be honest, NEITHER of those two options sounds like it has much to do with improving my QUALITY of life...just the QUANTITY, or LENGTH, of my life. I see NO reward in doing "PD" again, and having my stomach bloated from the "PD" fluid. The only two pluses to that are that I'll have less fluid and dietary restrictions, and I'll be able to do heavy lifting and car repairs as needed. And, of course, if I have to have another damn graft, I'll (again) end up losing all productive use of one of my arms, and that is DEFINITELY NOT my idea of an improved quality of life!!!!
No matter how hard things get medically, this "handywoman" isn't going to be kept down. Tomorrow (I mean, later today--Tuesday) is an early day; gotta get my truck washed and waxed before 10 am. (New water conservation thing; due to a water shortage, we can only wash our cars Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, before 10 am or after 6 pm). Personally, since I have to wear my hair-washing smock to wash the truck, I'd rather take care of it in the A.M., because later there'll be too many people out who would get a good laugh out of the smock, without understanding that it's all because of that damn dialysis catheter that's not allowed to get wet!!
So, I guess what I'm saying is, I'm back to putting out signals, so that maybe someone will be caring enough to be my donor...asking and expecting NOTHING in return, because I essentially have nothing left to give other than my thanks and appreciation!!
To any reader I might have, I thank you for your time, and I love you more than you know!! (oops...that last part there reminded me of a song. Bobby, you’re getting to me again!!)
As I said, tomorrow I have to get up early and do the "truck wash" thing, so...
Good night, sweethearts, wherever and whomever you are!!
Ta-ta for now...
Best wishes, and again, I love you!
((poof.))

What a week~~~~

I remember hearing of four icons leaving us this week.
Kind of leaves me to ponder...life is so fragile, and so short.
Too short to hold grudges...too short to be upset...too short for a lot of things.
If it weren't for that nuisance dialysis machine, just think, I wouldn't be alive either.
Forgive me for pondering. It's been a long week.
I've been busy. My sweetheart finally found my spare cable, for my transmission!! I may be back in business now, and can take on this transmission overhaul so my sweet little Isuzu can be running again.
This week, I've started doing cosmetic work on said Isuzu...After all, how exactly could I ever drag it to nice places like Coronado, or Carlsbad, or Encinitas, with it looking so trashed that people would probably chase me out for having too trashy a car??? So, I decided it was time to get it cleaned up, like I used to keep it before I left. Aaaaaaaaahhhhh, it's good to be back alright!!!!!!
Unfortunately, some car covers were kept in there, although they'd been sprayed by some of the cats...so I'm deodorizing like it was going out of style. My favorites are Resolve, any kind of Resolve, and any brand of Fresh Linen and/or Powder Fresh. I hope I can get that cat spray scent outta there once and for all!! Not to mention, my tool bag got sprayed, so I had to wash it and deodorize it, and I still smell cat spray on it. One thing: the smell of cat spray is TOUGH to get rid of. But for an upscale SUV, I'd hardly say that's the smell I want to have to put up with while I'm driving!!
I'm rambling now. Sorry!!
Geez....a "handywoman" has to have a little fun once in a while. Again, forgive me!
Whatever this weekend brings us, I hope it brings you only the absolute best!!!!
Namaste, as usual....and ta-ta, for now...and, at 1:12AM West Coast time, Sleep Well!!!!
P
O
O
F
~~~~

Million $$ Ideas

OK, let me rephrase that: POTENTIAL million $$ ideas.
I'll tell you a little about the first one, and then I'll have to say goodnight, as it's midnight already, and I'm getting tired.
Now, to understand my first idea, you've gotta understand that people on hemodialysis have dietary restrictions that are difficult to stick to.
That said, it's no wonder that high phosphorus and high potassium can be a problem.
There are phosphate binders, however, that can bring the phosphorus level down.
BUT...there is no potassium binder.
Let me correct myself: there is no potassium binder that comes in a pill or a capsule!!
There IS, apparently (I know this from Googling "potassium binders"), a potassium binder that I presume is like what I had to take a couple of times when I was in the hospital, which was a liquid and looked and tasted much like medicated coffee (BLECH!!!!!!!!!).
Well, I'm sure the rest of us dialysis patients would agree...ENOUGH of that junk!! Let's work on coming up with a potassium binder that we don't have to taste, because it would be in pill form and/or capsule form.
Then, we'd also have a little more leeway in our diets, which would be wonderful...like 7th heaven, almost.
Come to think of it: how about a water-binder, for those of us who so desperately need a water-binder to bring our swelling down when we O.D. on water?????? Think of that, too!
I have more ideas to put up here... Hey, this one had to do with some of my own trials and tribulations during this long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long (ka-CHUNK!) wait for a kidney transplant here.
At this point, it's time for me to go see about getting some beauty rest, so...
Many positive vibes to you, and,
Good night, sweetheart, good night, and,
POOF...till I sneak back in here.