Finally, no pain when I swollow this morning. The first in about five days. I guess the antibiotic is working. I did wake during the night and had a bad sore throat on the right side and my right ear was really hurting. I finally go some saline spray and poured it down the right nostril and then turned my head to the right. I could feel the saline going down the eustacheon tube and it felt warm going into the ear. I think that is why things are better this morning. It really helped.
It is funny the things you remember. There are so many things I don't remember from my childhood, even my children's childhoods. But this I do remember. When Mindy was a baby, she had lots of ear problems. She did not like being in crowds. I mean this was when she was about two weeks old. I would be nursing her and if I talked to someone else in a normal voice, she would cry out. And if we were in a large crowd, like at church, or her baby shower!, she cried a lot. My mother finally took her to the back room and rocked her at the baby shower. She just didn't like a lot of noise. Later she had to have tubes in her ears and that helped a lot.
But her pediatrician told me to put nose drops in her nostril and rotate her head to that side and back just a little. It would help open up her ears. I have remembered this. I don't use nasal sprays much because you can get so addicted to them and messed up with them. But I do use saline spray and it really helps. I think that is one of the reason I have been sick much. For about a year, I used saline spray every night before I went to bed. I has really changed how I am able to not cough and get a dry spot in my throat that would make me cough and gag. I don't really know how to explain it, but it has helped it.
The kids are still here. Emma was sick with a stomach virus last night. So the Goebel's are all reeling from little sleep. I just hope none of the others of us get it! She is better this morning but still complaining of some nausea. Jamie said there is a lot of stomach virus going around at her school.
I didn't sleep well last night. I couldn't get to sleep. Once I got there, it was better, but I will really be glad to have Tollie back. I just hope he is enjoying his hike and doing okay.
Have a great weekend. The weather should be good here. We are suppose to get some rain on Monday night and Tuesday and I hope so, because we really need it.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Friday, October 28, 2005
FEELING BETTER?
Well, I think I am feeling better. I went to bed last night with a sore throat on the right side. The left is doing much better. That tonsil is about the normal size, but the right side tonsil is still quite swollen and sore. It still hurts to swollow and my right ear has been hurting, especially last night.
But all in all, this morning I am feeling better. I think I have more energy and I feel hungry today. I was hoping I wouldn't want to eat for a while and maybe shed some of these pounds, but we will see.
Not much to report other than that. Just counting days to Thanksgiving when we will have a houseful of company and laughter will abound. Looking forward to happy days.
I am so thankful for the company Tollie and I work for. They were very gracious during the hurricane and took good care of us. They paid us for the two weeks we were off. I usually don't get paid if I don't work. I am hourly but they estimated my pay and paid me anyway. Then to top it off, I had extra hours from the previous time sheet and they gave those to me in addition! I wrote Mr. Ruddy a thank you note and I received a really sweet e-mail in return.
Yesterday, Tollie came in from work and he had received extra kudos for working during the two weeks of evacuation. Like I said, they are great people to work with and I am proud to say that I work for them. They are special people. Tollie has been with them for about 28 years and you now know why! God has certainly blessed us in this area of our lives, as well as other areas.
Have a great Friday!
But all in all, this morning I am feeling better. I think I have more energy and I feel hungry today. I was hoping I wouldn't want to eat for a while and maybe shed some of these pounds, but we will see.
Not much to report other than that. Just counting days to Thanksgiving when we will have a houseful of company and laughter will abound. Looking forward to happy days.
I am so thankful for the company Tollie and I work for. They were very gracious during the hurricane and took good care of us. They paid us for the two weeks we were off. I usually don't get paid if I don't work. I am hourly but they estimated my pay and paid me anyway. Then to top it off, I had extra hours from the previous time sheet and they gave those to me in addition! I wrote Mr. Ruddy a thank you note and I received a really sweet e-mail in return.
Yesterday, Tollie came in from work and he had received extra kudos for working during the two weeks of evacuation. Like I said, they are great people to work with and I am proud to say that I work for them. They are special people. Tollie has been with them for about 28 years and you now know why! God has certainly blessed us in this area of our lives, as well as other areas.
Have a great Friday!
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Tonsillitis?!?
It started Monday evening when I noticed that my throat was a little dry and I had a lot of sinus drainage. I took some Loratadine, Claritin if you will, and went to bed. I was surprised when I woke during the night and found I was sore and hurting all over!
On Tuesday, I got up and took my shower to get ready for work. I made it to work, but I was moving slow. My skin hurt! Have you every felt bad where your skin hurt? My did and it didn't matter whether I touched it or not, it was so sensitive that even clothes touching was painful! I knew I didn't feel well, but thought it was the cold front pushing through another something that I might be allergic to and just stirred up my sinuses. We had an appointment with the insurance agent concerning our adjuster's estimate about 2:00 pm. I told them at work that I thought I would just go home after that and rest. I really was not feeling great and thought a nap would make things better.
I found that I just sat all afternoon and was cold most of the day! Now that is really unusual for me. I mean we are talking about someone who has a window unit A/C above her head all the time running. I mean all the time, even in the dead of winter. I sleep very warmly and can't stand to wake during the night sweating under the covers because I got to hot! Well, when I went to bed Tuesday night, I didn't even turn on the unit. That was something real different for me. And then during the night, I would get up to pee and come back to bed shivering! So......much to Tollie's delight I cuddled with him. He is a cuddler and because I sleep so hot, I don't like to cuddle. But cuddle I did that night and found when I got warm, the aching stopped in my bones.
I woke Wednesday morning, after Tollie had left for work, to a ringing doorbell. I jumped up to see who was there. It was my son-in-law. He needed some socks before he went to work. Remember, my kids have been staying with us until their apartment is ready. Maybe this week!?! Anyway, I let him in and told him I didn't feel well and went to take a hot shower. I realized right away, my neck was swollen in all the glands and I could hardly turn my head. It hurt every time I swollowed. After my shower, I got the flashlight and took a look. EWUUU! My tonsils were swollen and had white spots all over them. This was de javu! I use to have that happen when I was kid. But never in succession enough to have them out. I remember my mother taking and "painting" merthiolate on them. That was probably putting mercury poison in my system, but who knew then! Anyway a quick call to the doctor.
Well, my regular doctor was in today. He is semi-retired and I never can remember the days he is in and those he is out! But he had not appointments. Would I be interested in seeing another doctor or even a nurse practioner? Certainly. I will see the janitor if he has a key to the medicine closet! Would it be alright to go to another location? Sure! So four hours later I was seeing a nurse practioner.
SETMA ~ Southeast Texas Medical Associates. They are a monster of a machine! I mean they have four known locations to me and employee hundreds. They probably employ more than the local hospital! The amazing thing about them is that they are paperless. You see I can go to another location because all my history is on the computer. They don't need my chart! Although when I walked in the office to face a room full of people and a long desk with a choice of about eight clip boards to sign in on, I did wonder why they had shelves of charts in the back!
I finally found the correct sign in board and signed in, noticing that only four people were ahead of me and their names were highlighted. Hopefully, they were all on their way to the pharmacy or some testing to be done! However, I was willing to wait and wait, I just need some drugs! After a very few minutes my name was called. I paid my co-pay and sat back down. In another fewer minutes, my name was called. I found the young lady at the front door. Where was she taking me? Oh, across the hall to another suite of exam rooms! I told you they are a monster of a machine. She got my info on how I was feeling and said someone would be right with me. Sure enough, the nurse practioner came in after about four minutes. Wow! That is better than any doctor! She got the repeated info and then asked to exam me. She looked in my ears and then asked me to open my mouth. I obliged to a resounding Whoa! You do have a problem! Yes.....I thought that was why I was here!?!
She began to tell me I need a flu shot but not now while I was sick. She wanted me to gargle with salt water twice a day. Oh, I like her. She uses them ole home remedies. She proceeded to tell me to take Advil, not the generic, but Advil. It would help with the pain and swelling. She asked if I was allergic to anything and I could tell by my response the wheels stopped turning. Yes, I am allergic to penicillin and Ceclor. Oh my! Those are the two best things to treat this with. So.....she pulled a trusty little devise from her pocket and said, "let's see what Stanford has to say about this." She punched the screen several times and then asked if I had ever taken Biaxin. Yes! I had. I think it was for a urinary infection or tooth infection, can't really remember which. That is what she would prescribe. She wanted to give me a shot but the only injections she had was for the things I couldn't take. She said she was do a culture for documentation but that she would be treating me the same with or without it. I didn't think it was necessary. We both had seen my "kissing" tonsils and knew there was infection. Why have a culture to tell us the same?
I left in a few minutes with a prescription and assurance that I would call if I did not start to feel better in the next few days and that I would call tomorrow if I needed something for pain. So off to the pharmacy to get my drugs. It would be a while before they could fill it so I went home and asked Tollie to go after work to pick it up.
This morning, I do feel somewhat better. I still have swollen tonsils, especially the right side. But I am not cold anymore and even slept with the A/C unit on last night. Of course, when it is cold outside, it only blows air, not cold air. So I slept pretty good. Only waking once with a really bad sore throat and took some more Excedrin because it had worked so well earlier and went back to sleep. I am up, showered and dressed, wondering if Tollie made it Uvalde okay.
Tollie left last night about midnight to start his backpacking journey. He offered to call it off to stay home with me, but I assured him I would be alright with him gone. I do have my drugs and I can sleep without any one here.
On Tuesday, I got up and took my shower to get ready for work. I made it to work, but I was moving slow. My skin hurt! Have you every felt bad where your skin hurt? My did and it didn't matter whether I touched it or not, it was so sensitive that even clothes touching was painful! I knew I didn't feel well, but thought it was the cold front pushing through another something that I might be allergic to and just stirred up my sinuses. We had an appointment with the insurance agent concerning our adjuster's estimate about 2:00 pm. I told them at work that I thought I would just go home after that and rest. I really was not feeling great and thought a nap would make things better.
I found that I just sat all afternoon and was cold most of the day! Now that is really unusual for me. I mean we are talking about someone who has a window unit A/C above her head all the time running. I mean all the time, even in the dead of winter. I sleep very warmly and can't stand to wake during the night sweating under the covers because I got to hot! Well, when I went to bed Tuesday night, I didn't even turn on the unit. That was something real different for me. And then during the night, I would get up to pee and come back to bed shivering! So......much to Tollie's delight I cuddled with him. He is a cuddler and because I sleep so hot, I don't like to cuddle. But cuddle I did that night and found when I got warm, the aching stopped in my bones.
I woke Wednesday morning, after Tollie had left for work, to a ringing doorbell. I jumped up to see who was there. It was my son-in-law. He needed some socks before he went to work. Remember, my kids have been staying with us until their apartment is ready. Maybe this week!?! Anyway, I let him in and told him I didn't feel well and went to take a hot shower. I realized right away, my neck was swollen in all the glands and I could hardly turn my head. It hurt every time I swollowed. After my shower, I got the flashlight and took a look. EWUUU! My tonsils were swollen and had white spots all over them. This was de javu! I use to have that happen when I was kid. But never in succession enough to have them out. I remember my mother taking and "painting" merthiolate on them. That was probably putting mercury poison in my system, but who knew then! Anyway a quick call to the doctor.
Well, my regular doctor was in today. He is semi-retired and I never can remember the days he is in and those he is out! But he had not appointments. Would I be interested in seeing another doctor or even a nurse practioner? Certainly. I will see the janitor if he has a key to the medicine closet! Would it be alright to go to another location? Sure! So four hours later I was seeing a nurse practioner.
SETMA ~ Southeast Texas Medical Associates. They are a monster of a machine! I mean they have four known locations to me and employee hundreds. They probably employ more than the local hospital! The amazing thing about them is that they are paperless. You see I can go to another location because all my history is on the computer. They don't need my chart! Although when I walked in the office to face a room full of people and a long desk with a choice of about eight clip boards to sign in on, I did wonder why they had shelves of charts in the back!
I finally found the correct sign in board and signed in, noticing that only four people were ahead of me and their names were highlighted. Hopefully, they were all on their way to the pharmacy or some testing to be done! However, I was willing to wait and wait, I just need some drugs! After a very few minutes my name was called. I paid my co-pay and sat back down. In another fewer minutes, my name was called. I found the young lady at the front door. Where was she taking me? Oh, across the hall to another suite of exam rooms! I told you they are a monster of a machine. She got my info on how I was feeling and said someone would be right with me. Sure enough, the nurse practioner came in after about four minutes. Wow! That is better than any doctor! She got the repeated info and then asked to exam me. She looked in my ears and then asked me to open my mouth. I obliged to a resounding Whoa! You do have a problem! Yes.....I thought that was why I was here!?!
She began to tell me I need a flu shot but not now while I was sick. She wanted me to gargle with salt water twice a day. Oh, I like her. She uses them ole home remedies. She proceeded to tell me to take Advil, not the generic, but Advil. It would help with the pain and swelling. She asked if I was allergic to anything and I could tell by my response the wheels stopped turning. Yes, I am allergic to penicillin and Ceclor. Oh my! Those are the two best things to treat this with. So.....she pulled a trusty little devise from her pocket and said, "let's see what Stanford has to say about this." She punched the screen several times and then asked if I had ever taken Biaxin. Yes! I had. I think it was for a urinary infection or tooth infection, can't really remember which. That is what she would prescribe. She wanted to give me a shot but the only injections she had was for the things I couldn't take. She said she was do a culture for documentation but that she would be treating me the same with or without it. I didn't think it was necessary. We both had seen my "kissing" tonsils and knew there was infection. Why have a culture to tell us the same?
I left in a few minutes with a prescription and assurance that I would call if I did not start to feel better in the next few days and that I would call tomorrow if I needed something for pain. So off to the pharmacy to get my drugs. It would be a while before they could fill it so I went home and asked Tollie to go after work to pick it up.
This morning, I do feel somewhat better. I still have swollen tonsils, especially the right side. But I am not cold anymore and even slept with the A/C unit on last night. Of course, when it is cold outside, it only blows air, not cold air. So I slept pretty good. Only waking once with a really bad sore throat and took some more Excedrin because it had worked so well earlier and went back to sleep. I am up, showered and dressed, wondering if Tollie made it Uvalde okay.
Tollie left last night about midnight to start his backpacking journey. He offered to call it off to stay home with me, but I assured him I would be alright with him gone. I do have my drugs and I can sleep without any one here.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
BIG BEND TIME
This is the time for my husband and his friends to go backpacking in the Big Bend. I think it is a guy thing. They drive hours and I mean hours to arrive a the Chisos Basin. They will leave at midnight tonight and arrive there sometime early Thursday morning. I think it takes about ten hours to get there. It is about 673 miles from here to there. They plan to camp in the desert on Thursday night and then hike up the mountain on Friday. They will camp in the mountains on Friday night and hike back down on Saturday. Spend the night again in the desert and then head home on Sunday. They will arrive back home about 8:00 pm.
All this travel to hike up a mountain peak. Like I said, it must be a guy thing. Now I can see going that distance to attend a flea market or some flower show or craft sale! But to climb a mountain? I just know that Tollie enjoys this time and is ready every year to go. It will be cold this year. It is suppose to be in the 40's at night and he will be cold. The daytime temp will be up in the 70's so that will be good. I just hope he doesn't push it too much. The other two guys he is going with go every year and they are little more physically fit. Tollie ususally spends time walking around the neighborhood with his back pack to prepare for the trip. Because of hurricane Rita, he could not do that and I don't think he is as much prepared as usual.
*************
We had an appointment with our insurance agent yesterday. He had pulled our file and had received the same estimate the adjuster had given us. He already had some questions and had already called to find out about some stuff. He is asking for another adjuster and he said he thought the kitchen floor should be paid for as well. He also thought the food in the refrigerator and even maybe the living expenses we had while evacuated. So he is checking on those things and we should hear from another adjuster in a couple of days. I just want them to pay for the kitchen floor, or at least to count it in the estimate toward the deductible and then maybe we will get something.
We both has said as time goes by, we don't notice the floor as much as we did. So......we may not do anything but if they will pay for the kitchen floor, we will probably put down tile and then try our very best to have the laminate in the den replaced by the good stuff in the kitchen. They say it is not possible, but I think it could be done. It would have to be done a certain way and very delicately but we will have to see. I certainly plan to tile the laundry room.
I think I am cleaning out the garage today. That is if I feel okay to do that. I have not felt well the last couple of days. My throat has hurt and my ears have hurt. I know it is sinus stuff brought on by the cold front, but I think I ran fever the last two nights. I am never cold and I have been shivering when I get out of bed. So....hopefully, I am feeling better. At least I am not shivering this morning!
Thanksgiving is coming and I am counting the days. We are having lots of company and I want to enjoy all that to the fullest. Have a great day and count your blessings!
All this travel to hike up a mountain peak. Like I said, it must be a guy thing. Now I can see going that distance to attend a flea market or some flower show or craft sale! But to climb a mountain? I just know that Tollie enjoys this time and is ready every year to go. It will be cold this year. It is suppose to be in the 40's at night and he will be cold. The daytime temp will be up in the 70's so that will be good. I just hope he doesn't push it too much. The other two guys he is going with go every year and they are little more physically fit. Tollie ususally spends time walking around the neighborhood with his back pack to prepare for the trip. Because of hurricane Rita, he could not do that and I don't think he is as much prepared as usual.
*************
We had an appointment with our insurance agent yesterday. He had pulled our file and had received the same estimate the adjuster had given us. He already had some questions and had already called to find out about some stuff. He is asking for another adjuster and he said he thought the kitchen floor should be paid for as well. He also thought the food in the refrigerator and even maybe the living expenses we had while evacuated. So he is checking on those things and we should hear from another adjuster in a couple of days. I just want them to pay for the kitchen floor, or at least to count it in the estimate toward the deductible and then maybe we will get something.
We both has said as time goes by, we don't notice the floor as much as we did. So......we may not do anything but if they will pay for the kitchen floor, we will probably put down tile and then try our very best to have the laminate in the den replaced by the good stuff in the kitchen. They say it is not possible, but I think it could be done. It would have to be done a certain way and very delicately but we will have to see. I certainly plan to tile the laundry room.
I think I am cleaning out the garage today. That is if I feel okay to do that. I have not felt well the last couple of days. My throat has hurt and my ears have hurt. I know it is sinus stuff brought on by the cold front, but I think I ran fever the last two nights. I am never cold and I have been shivering when I get out of bed. So....hopefully, I am feeling better. At least I am not shivering this morning!
Thanksgiving is coming and I am counting the days. We are having lots of company and I want to enjoy all that to the fullest. Have a great day and count your blessings!
Monday, October 24, 2005
RECOVERY
Things are beginning to get back to normal and about the time we think they are back, we find something unusual. After work on Friday we made a few stops for errands and then as we were heading home I told Tollie I wanted to run into Walmart. Mind you, this is a 24 hour Super Walmart. As we came near the store, we realized there were no cars in the parking lot. They had closed at 6 pm!
Then Saturday, Jamie need to run to Walmart and I went with her. We arrived about 5:45 and had to wait in line to get in the door. They let us in about 5:55 and we were able to shop and get what we needed, only because the lines in the checkout were out into the store in every line open. Waiting for them to thin down, we were able to make our selections and then head to the checkout line where we still had to wait. It is unreal!
I wonder where all the people are coming from and yet everywhere you turn, businesses are asking for employees. It seems not everyone has returned to Beaumont, yet there are so many cars and people here. At first I thought it was from the line workers and tree workers, but they would be driving their trucks, and this is just car traffic! So, I'm not sure what the deal is or what is happening but it is no fun to run errands in a short amount of time. You have to make plans for everything to take longer then it use to.....which includes eating out. There is always a wait on sitting and everything just takes longer.
But I do believe things are getting back to normal. We seem to be getting back into a routine. Our routine is not yet normal simply because we still have our kids living with us. Their apartment is almost finished and probably they will be going back to their apartment this week. It will be quiet here when they leave. I love having the little girls come to our room every morning and give us a hug and kiss. Ashton wakes me up with a nose to nose kiss if I am still asleep when she comes in. She is so soft and gentle and happy!
Tollie leaves for Big Bend this week also. So......I may be here by myself the latter part of the week! That will be different, but it could be soothing at the same time. I think we have all be dealing with post traumatic syndrome. Not the kind where people are having to seek help, but a mild form of it where you just feel tired and emotional. This has been an emotional ride for all of us. I am thankful we had no more damage than we had, but what we have we are having to fix and I think we had assumed since it has been so long, we were immune to such devastation. It was a shock to see all the damage and now our landscape everywhere has changed. I really need to work in the yard and do some different things because I have always had so much shade and all my plants were planted with that in mind. Now......I have sun, full sun for much of the day. At least my plants will be able to adjust with the winter sun and not the summer sun. That will help. It will be interesting to see who all this comes up in the future.
Have a great week. I plan to.
Then Saturday, Jamie need to run to Walmart and I went with her. We arrived about 5:45 and had to wait in line to get in the door. They let us in about 5:55 and we were able to shop and get what we needed, only because the lines in the checkout were out into the store in every line open. Waiting for them to thin down, we were able to make our selections and then head to the checkout line where we still had to wait. It is unreal!
I wonder where all the people are coming from and yet everywhere you turn, businesses are asking for employees. It seems not everyone has returned to Beaumont, yet there are so many cars and people here. At first I thought it was from the line workers and tree workers, but they would be driving their trucks, and this is just car traffic! So, I'm not sure what the deal is or what is happening but it is no fun to run errands in a short amount of time. You have to make plans for everything to take longer then it use to.....which includes eating out. There is always a wait on sitting and everything just takes longer.
But I do believe things are getting back to normal. We seem to be getting back into a routine. Our routine is not yet normal simply because we still have our kids living with us. Their apartment is almost finished and probably they will be going back to their apartment this week. It will be quiet here when they leave. I love having the little girls come to our room every morning and give us a hug and kiss. Ashton wakes me up with a nose to nose kiss if I am still asleep when she comes in. She is so soft and gentle and happy!
Tollie leaves for Big Bend this week also. So......I may be here by myself the latter part of the week! That will be different, but it could be soothing at the same time. I think we have all be dealing with post traumatic syndrome. Not the kind where people are having to seek help, but a mild form of it where you just feel tired and emotional. This has been an emotional ride for all of us. I am thankful we had no more damage than we had, but what we have we are having to fix and I think we had assumed since it has been so long, we were immune to such devastation. It was a shock to see all the damage and now our landscape everywhere has changed. I really need to work in the yard and do some different things because I have always had so much shade and all my plants were planted with that in mind. Now......I have sun, full sun for much of the day. At least my plants will be able to adjust with the winter sun and not the summer sun. That will help. It will be interesting to see who all this comes up in the future.
Have a great week. I plan to.
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