What a day

We are doing a bath remodel for Duf’s mother. In the beginning Duf was going to do the work but then I was on the net and found that these baths are referred to as ‘Del Web Specials.’ Del Web, the builder, raised the tub and put the plumbing above the flooring. To replace the tub with a shower includes digging up the cement and redoing all plumbing. This made us decided to get quotes and ideas.

We found our contractor, agreed it was a two and a half day job, and the contract was signed. The promise of a two and a half day job was lost as it became a five day job. In the end the shower looks amazing and makes the bathroom look so much larger! Everything must set for 20 hours so no showers until after noon on Saturday!

Saturday was shower day! I had to force Grandma to take a shower, she wanted to just look at the shower and save it! After her maiden shower I was able to enjoy the shower for a long shower!

We had been at Grandma’s house all week because she did not want to be alone with the ‘worker.’ After showers and lunch we decided to return home!

Our drive home is about 15 minutes. I am still using the wheelchair and unable to put any weight on my left leg. About 8 minutes into our drive I felt something moving in my shirt! I got a bit upset and told Duf to pull over because something was in my shirt and I had no idea what it could be! I might have been a bit vocal and hyper about him pulling over because something was crawling all over me. He pulled over, quickly came around, whipped opened my door and ripped my shirt off of me. He was greeted by a bee the size of a dime!  I am allergic to Bees!!!!! Duf examined my shirt and we wondered where the bee came from. I put the shirt back on and we drove on for another 3 minutes with him saying it was probably a killer bee with zero antidote known for its sting. As he was teasing me I again enter hysteria because something was in my shirt again!!  Duf pulled over and again ripped my shirt off and another huge bee was in my shirt!! Where are they coming from??? Duf quickly got out my wheelchair and I got out of the Jeep so he was able to examine my seat and the inside of the Jeep. No Bees! Again I put my shirt on and off we go for home.

We get home, Duf backs in so I am able to get into my wheelchair on the patio. As I usually do, while he gets the wheelchair ready, I stand/lean against the Jeep to stretch my legs. As I am standing there my good foot begins to burn and is on fire. I start saying, in a loud voice, my foot, my good foot is on fire and black. Duf runs over and my foot is full of biting ants!! I jump back into the Jeep as he tries to wipe the ants from my foot. OMG what pain that was. 

I waited in the Jeep while he poured boiling water on the cement crack to get rid of the ants. When I finally got in the wheelchair it was so nice out we decided to stay out on the patio.

Duf went in to get us a snack and bottles of water and I waited alone.

 There are copious amounts of rabbits around here and five of them walked out from under the lemon tree toward me. Many times when there is a group of rabbits they are avoiding either a coyote or bobcat! With my luck I figure either a bobcat or coyote is about to appear and I am unarmed. We have walking sticks laying by the RV so I wheel over and get one for defense. When Duf returns I am armed and he looks at me and the rabbits and laughs but agrees I could be in harms way!! He chased the rabbits away.

Cathy, Carole and Jerry———I can hear each of you laughing at me! Cathy you know how I love Bees!

Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show

Today we attended the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show. These amazing horses were competing in indoor and outdoor arenas around WestWorld. The jumpers were amazing although we did see one horse decide to just stop and throw the rider. She did not get hurt but she did not look real happy!

At the indoor arena we were amazed to see how swiftly riders were able to adjust their horses canter from walk, to jog, to long canter to short canter and all the other types of movement. The riders are so poised and wear beautiful outfits and the horses are perfectly groomed with very long tails, they drag on the ground, and meticulously braided manes.

I sat behind Duf and his mother in the handicapped area and began to confabulate with a lady that owned a huge horse farm and many of these horses lived and trained with her. My friend was in a wheelchair because she twisted her ankle working with a horse!  We did not realize we were in reserved seats until she arrived with her daughters and they rather rudely told people to remove themselves from their reserved area. I explained to her we did not know the seats were reserved and that I would tell my husband that we need to move BUT she called her daughters off and said we were welcome to be seated in her reserved area. We had a long conversation that was often interrupted with people walking by and wanting to say something to her. She was so polite and introduced me to everyone and then they were real friendly to me, not what you know but who you know! HA Many of her horses were festooned after winning their event. So when we decided to leave people that we passed acted like I was someone to know!

We stopped at Rio Mirage Cafe on the way home. Duf’s mother is 98 years old and so set in her thinking. She feels bottled water is poison so the waiter had to pour it in a glass for her to drink it. She refuses to eat beans but she ate the rice mixed with beans! She refuses to eat tomatoes but she loves spaghetti and sauce! We love to hear what she Will Not eat and then watch what she eats!

We had a great day for my first time out at an event in a wheelchair.

February 13, 2018

Before taking Harry to therapy Sandi brought us delicious homemade coffee cake for breakfast! I took my boot off and was surprised that it was wet on the inside. I had no idea my foot would sweat that amount. I left the boot off to dry and fell asleep. I awoke with a start because my foot decided to have a cramp and spasm! OUCH

Duf is having a fit that his foot hurts so much and he isn’t able to do anything. We have spent the day watching the Olympics and him trying to talk himself into going out to empty the tanks. He finally completed the job and it was not as bad a he thought. He got it done with zero further injuries. 

Long Days

February 13, 2018

Before taking Harry to therapy Sandi brought us delicious homemade coffee cake for breakfast! I took my boot off and was surprised that it was wet on the inside. I had no idea my foot would sweat that amount. I left the boot off to dry and fell asleep. I awoke with a start because my foot decided to have a cramp and spasm! OUCH

Duf is having a fit that his foot hurts so much and he isn’t able to do anything. We have spent the day watching the Olympics and him trying to talk himself into going out to empty the tanks. He finally completed the job and it was not as bad a he thought. He got it done with zero further injuries. 

OMG my nurse is injured

February 12, 2018

Harry, with his arm in a sling from his rotator cuff surgery, and Sandi, the only healthy one of the group, drove Duffey to the ER and me to the surgeons office this morning. 

On Friday Duffey stepped into a hidden sprinkler head hole on the golf course and twisted his ankle. Today it is extremely swollen and painful and he thinks he might have broken his ankle. The plan is to drop him at the ER on our way to my Dr appointment to get my stitches taken out. The ER was not busy so he got right in, but it still took three hours of x-rays and cat scans to deduce it is a severely sprained ankle. The ER Dr remembered Duffey from my visit where he had to relocate my ankle before transferring me to a larger hospital.

Harry waited in the lobby and Sandi came into the room with me for moral support on the removal of the stitches. Dr. Wong said the x-rays looked like things were healing well and instructed me to not put weight on my leg for another three weeks. The stitches were removed and it was not as painful as I had expected, but it did feel like bees were stinging me for a couple of hours.

Harry, Sandi, and I went to Oggi’s for lunch while we waited for Duffey to be released from the ER. Just as we finished lunch Duf called to say he was ready to be picked up. It was ruled a badly sprained ankle but he still feels it is worse and misdiagnosed.

Sandi and Harry are extreme cooks and brought us delicious shish kabob for dinner. Then Sandi got real ambitious and baked amazing cookies!

Shower

Use the handicapped shower they say. It is great they say! Well, they have never had one leg that can bear zero weight and that leg is extremely painful when not elevated.

We loaded up and Duf took me to the handicap shower. It looked very nice, very clean BUT the seat connected to the wall did not seem very sturdy so I used it for a shelf. There was a very nice portable seat that I used for my seat. There was quality nonslip grip on the floor outside the shower. The towel hooks were up to high and to far away for me to reach so I could not hang towels or clothing. 

I turned on the water and like any shower it was very cold and took a while to get warm. The problem here was that the shower head would not turn off so I had to let the icy water run over me till it warmed up. Then I could not get the removal head to come on. To get it to work I would have to stand up and reach over to play with the knob to get it to work.

So the major problems were hook placement and I will get some hooks and hang them in the proper places. Water coming out of the shower head and not being able to turn it off. There should be a low turn off knob so the wheelchair person could reach and use it. The shower wand needs a turn off and on knob so it can be reached.

I wanted to fix my hair but the mirrors were way to high for me. I would have had to be able to stand up to see myself. 

This goes along with my theory about people that design things they have never tried to use. I would like the design team to try to use this shower and then they would be more aware of what is best.

Second shower I brought Sandi to turn the shower on so it was warm before I got in. This wasted water but it was the only way.

Dr Justin Wong visit

On our way to Dr Justin Wong's office we stopped at Macayo for lunch. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was clean and inviting. After lunch Natalie and I want into the restroom and I entered the handicapped stall. When I tried to transfer from my wheelchair to the stool my foot stuck to the floor and it happened fast from there. I had to choose putting my broken foot down or falling on that dirty tile bathroom floor. I fell and of course I was so far from the door I could not get it open so Natalie could get in. I had to roll across the floor to unlock the door. We both laughed and cried!
Dr Wong acted like I should have waited another week to visit him but I told him his nurse made the appointment. He unwrapped my leg and said it looked good. I had a huge blister on my leg so he popped it. He took x-rays to be sure my fall did not jar anything and all looked well.