Finally

It's been a while since I blogged and it hasn't been because nothing has beeen
going on. Quite the contrary. My back is no longer my problem. It's something
I haven't found out yet. I saw a Neurologist , Dr. Allen Peter last week and the
the bloodwork I had done showed everything tested was fine. That's good news,but
I had hoped go find out at least a name for this pain I'm going through. I've told
myself it can't be plain authritis, but I'm doing more blood work and seeing the
doctor in a month.
I had I guess the flu for a couple of weeks and now Buddy has it. We both had
our flu shots, so what's up?
We had a wonderful Christmas with everygbody here. Everyone has their aches and
pains, and Steve has to be extra careful with his back. We're doing lots of things
to bring our rentals up to par. Our guy, Uvaldo is a Godsend. He knows what to do
and how to do it. We've become very close tohim and his family.
Nancy has had a few health problems and is under a lot of stress from school.
Jeff is in his second student teaching assignment and should be done by summer.
Jake, Jemnnie and Amy are getting used to the ranch and it's uniqueness. They
seem to enjoy being out there and have had a lot of their friends out for R & R.
We are really enjoing the rain and hope it does not pose any problems for anyone.
My plants and the orchard will love it.
Best of the new year to you all. We love you and wish you the best.Genelle

Doctor's report

I saw Dr. Alberstone Friday as a follow up. I really appreciated
his accepting me as an emergency patient and I was thoroughly satisfied
with his work. However, I am having lots of joint pain and wanted to
know my next step. He really didn't have much to tell me except that
perhaps a visit to a rheumatologist would help. He recommended Dr.
Allen Peter whom I had already seen prior to my three surgeries. He
was the one who said he was 95% sure it was fybromyalgia at that point.
Two of my other doctors said that was what doctors said when they
wouldn't find anything else. WELL, they haven't found anything else.
I've tried pain management, acupuncture, physical therapy, surgery,
but to no avail. I am on pain medication and may be for quite a long
time unless some miracle turns up. I am determined to live my life
to the fullest that I can manage. Thank everyone for your prayers and
will you continue to do so.

What's up?

iT'S been a while since I blogged, but I just have forgotten to do it. We've had
a busy summer. My emergency surgery for yet another herneated disc was not a good
thing. I did have a new doctor, Cary Alberstone and he was great. I was also at
St. John's Hospital in Oxnard and they were just wonderful. I stayed another 5 days
for rehab and I'm glad I did that.
Buddy continues to have some trouble with his back and hip, but he usually keeps
pretty busy. Uvaldo, who works or us, has been a life-saver. He works well with
Buddy and is excellent at what he does.
We have Charlie and Day Douglas for a week and we enjoyed doing things with
them. Day and Ihave become very close over the last few years. We love having them
out here and this time they flew.
I've enjoyed working with the plants on my patio and I must say they are looking
beautiful. My roses that I got for my birthday are beginning to bloom and are
beautiful too. This warm weather has made it necessary to give them more water.
This ground is pretty rocky.
Buddy says we're going to have air-conditioning put in pretty soon. This house
stays cool (if you keep things closed) but heats up in the late afternoon. Thank
goodness for ceiling fans.
I saw the doctor yesterday and he said I could drive and that Ididn't have
to wear the corset all the time. I haven't minded, but it's nice without it.
We hope things are going well with all of you. Remember, God is large and He's
in charge.

Last update

I saw the Dr. today and thought I'd share the latest. The bottom line
is that I have a bad back. He said that this is just something I will have to
learn to live with and not to blame fibromyalgia but just accept it and learn to
adjust my life to a much slower lifestyle. No lifting more than 10 pounds, no
twisting, turning, bending, etc. Buddy has taken over quite a lot of my every
day chores and Pam does my cleaning for me. Quite the life, huh? I can't
drive until I'm off drugs and that should be in a month or so. I'm to see how
an antiimflamitory like Aleve will do. I also need to wear the corset when I'm
out and away from home. It's not terribly comfortable, but it does its job.
We can't say enough good about Dr. Alberstone and St. John's Hospital.
I'm so thankful that my problem was taken care of so quickly. I was referred
to Dr. Alberstone because my neurosurgeon, Dr. Herman was going on vacation and
my primary care Dr. Gary Wikholm was also going on vacation but recommended Dr.
Alberstone. God just had a hand in it!!! I see the doctor again in six weeks
and I hope to be off the drugs by that time. Remember me in your prayers.

Here I am again

Boy, what happened to our cool June weather? I'm sort of trapped in
the house and no air conditioning. I'm not griping. We have ceiling fans
that do a great job.
I'm getting better each day,but the fibromyalgia(I guess that's what
it is) keeps me thankful for pain pills. Don't worry, I've learned something
from Michael Jackson- get off the pills as soon as possible. I take the pain
pill every four hours and someone said "what do you do for an alarm clock?" and
I said "Pain!!!!!"
Thanks everyone for your prayers and thoughts and gifts. I hope I got
a thank you card to everyone. If not, let this be it.
Buddy has done a good job of helping me get through this. He is not pain
free himself. I guess like all the "old people", we are making up for all the
things we shouldn't have done to our bodies when we were young.
Keep remembering us in your prayers as we do you.

Home at last

Whew, I don't want to go through this again!!!!! I got to go home on Tuesday,
and I was ready.I can't say enough good things about St. John's Hospital. The
staff, the facility-everything was just wonderful. If I've talked to you, you
know my "FIRSTS". 1.First time with Socrates for a nurse (everyone called him
Soc. 2. First time to wear a paper diaper, and 3. First time with a male nurse
at clean-up time.
One nurse (bless her heart) felt compelled to help me extend my time between
medications. There was a notation in my room white board that said "My personal
goal was to get the pain under control. After a couple of these incidents, the
floor doctor said he'd let the head nurse know that if I really needed medication
I could have it shorter than the prescribed 4 hours.
I'm glad I chose and was accepted into rehab. I didn't feel ready to come
home after a week and the additional 5 days really was a help. Buddy was not too
good at taking care of himself, let alone me.
I won't be having physical therapy for a few weeks. Dr. Amberstone said
they could sometime be a little too physical. I learned some simple exercises I
can to to get me more mobile.
If I had any doubts about having Fibromyalgia before, they have been laid
to rest. My pain is seldom concentrated in my surgery site. Good ole Fibro, goes
from head to foot and I plan to be on meds for several weeks.
We had a surprise visit from Buddy's cousins from Arkansas. Sedalia has been
a big help and we are so close. They left earlier than we wanted, but when Charlie
gets ready to go home, they go home. I felt the poor host. It was Kentucky Fried
chicken, Jack-in-the-box and the like. The bad part was that they gave us good
"ole southern cooking when we were back there last.
Nancy has made herself sick taking care of things. I knew she was doing too
much, but you usually don't argue with her. Pam and Steve were right in there too.
Pam did my hair twice. The "helicopter" look wasn't too good, and she does a
greatjob.
You will notice there are no pictures with this blog. I didn't even like to
look at myself, let alone let others see me.
Lastly, thanks for all the thoughts and prayers that went up on my behalf.
I'm pretty much confined to home except for short jaunts.

Home at last