A sense of Normalcy Returns…

It has been a long haul with my mom’s medical problems and she was getting pretty discouraged about it. She’s had a drain line in since she went into the hospital over Labor Day weekend. Finally this past Thursday the doctors felt that it could come off so she is free of it. Yahoo ! Along with that came the daily care of flushing the line, dumping the bag and changing her dressing. It is a big relief to her to not have that anymore but she still has other medical issues such as her weak heart that are taking their toll on the rest of her body. Her ankles swell because her heart can’t pump the blood to her feet and back again so she builds up fluid in her ankles. It has been hard to see her in this diminished capacity and it’s also been like looking at the future me and what my senior years might hold in store for me. If there’s one thing that stands out most of all, it’s that you can’t slow down at all. Once you stop moving, it is the beginning of the end. You need to stay active in whatever interests you and it’s so important to get up and move around. Get physical exercise so that all of your organs get oxygenated.

While all of this has been going on, we did manage to get the RV site put together. We have water, sewer and electric hook ups. The electric came just in time….the temps have been getting pretty chilly around home. This Saturday the forecast is calling for high temps in the low 40’s. Brrr….

Currently we are in Norfolk, visiting Linda B’s kids and grand-kids. I had my four month check-up today for my melanoma and all was clear. There is an excellent dermatologist on staff at the medical school where Linda’s daughter teaches so I am going to her for my check-ups. They did a complete body check (they look at every mole and spot in every nook and cranny on your body….even in your hair) and everything was good. The Dr. said it was really easy to check my skin since I don’t have many spots on my body anyway. I have to have these check-ups every four months for the first several years and then they can go down to every six months. If I’m clear after five years, then I will only have to go once a year to be checked. She said that chances are good that I will have some type of reoccurrence, even it is a basal cell. Since the skin cells have been damaged, from childhood burns, there is a strong likelihood that something else will pop up. The good news is that with basal or melanoma, they outwardly appear and aren’t a hidden cancer, like breast cancer or lung cancer. I’m hoping that her prediction is wrong, because I really don’t want to have to go through any more skin surgeries ever if I can help it.

While I was taking care of mom, Linda went out and worked two parks in New York state and did an amazing job. I have always been the salesperson in the team but I knew that she had it in her to do really well with selling and interacting with the business owners. She said she was petrified at first but she kept remembering what I told her that it’s not about “selling” or “pitching” people. I told her to pretend that she is just talking over the backyard fence to someone and telling them about what our company does and how it could help them in their business. She said she kept telling herself that and it really helped. It must have because she grew the job by over 20% and did an awesome job! She is headed out this Sunday to work two parks in the Lancaster area and work her magic once again. I will stay behind and help mom. Mom has an appointment coming up with the cardiologist while Linda is away that I’ll take her to. Since she’s not driving anymore, I am her chauffeur to town or anywhere she needs to go.

Linda will return to enjoy Thanksgiving with us and then will leave again in January to work on parks in Texas and not be back until May. It will be like going through my internship all over again….being apart for that long but it’s what needs to happen right now. Mom needs me here and Linda will be great on the road. She’ll have Boomer to keep her company. Sometimes life ain’t fair but we do what we gotta do and keep on moving !