One SIGHS Fits All

One of the hardships of dealing with Hick's recent surgical incapacitation is figuring out how much he really hurts. Don't get me wrong. I have no doubt Hick has been in excruciating pain. I'm sure. Pretty sure. Assume so. The surgeon DID slice vertically through Hick's lower back. It was a 6-hour surgery. That's gotta smart. However...

Hick emits heavy sighs all day, every day. Any time he's awake. I can hear him through the bedroom door at night, even with the TV on. I can hear him in his recliner when I'm sitting at the kitchen table. When I ask if he's okay, he says yeah, that his hip is just hurting. If I ask him to rate his pain, it may vary from 15/10, which was the week after his surgery, to 2/10, after sitting on a heating pad. Thing is, the sighs are the same. 

I never know if Hick is knock-knock-knocking at Death's Door, or doing a belly-flop at a pool party hosted by Slightly Uncomfortable.

He's been taking his new medicine every 12 hours as directed. It's Celecoxib, an anti-inflammatory arthritis drug. Hick says maybe his left hip hurts a little bit less, but the right one is still on fire. Of course, he's only been taking it since Thursday night. 

Sunday, Hick searched for info online about this drug. He reported that it works right away for some people, but may take up to two weeks for others to notice any effects. Of course, he also told me he read online that people with peanut allergies can safely eat peanut butter... So consider the source.

Hick has a physical therapy appointment Monday morning. Not sure how that's going to work out. When he filled out his paperwork Sunday evening, it kept asking him questions about his KNEE pain. Seems like the Old Biddy has struck again.

The Good Deed Punishment

No good deed goes unpunished. But sometimes, the punishment does not fall upon the good-deeder... 

Like when a driver decides to stop and let somebody pull out of a side street, or make an oncoming left turn in front of him. Only that driver knows his intentions. Putting on his brakes and coming to a dead stop in the middle of the road is not a circumstance that can be foreseen by the cars behind him. So they must all slam on their brakes to avoid rear-ending him and each other. By doing a good deed for ONE driver, the good-deeder has inconvenience many, and risked an accident.

Like when Child Val's beloved grandma would care for her on those rare days when Val could not attend school due to a fevered virus. Grandma would wrap me in a "quilt" made from enclosing an army blanket in felt material, and put me in her swivel chair that she'd moved in front of her fireplace. Then leave me watching TV as she went about her daily chores, having just gotten home from her night shift working at the state mental hospital. There I'd sit, the left side of my face bubbling and melting (or so it felt) until I was in need of a Phantom of the Opera half-mask. I didn't dare complain to my beloved grandma, who was only doing the good deed of caring for me while I was sick.

Saturday morning, Hick left for his SUS2 (Storage Unit Store) around 7:00. At 7:30, I heard my little Jack barking on the front porch. It was his STRANGER bark. With added growling. That little dog has to growl pretty loud for me to hear him through the front wall of the house, while winds are whipping around at 45 mph. I was almost tempted to get up off the short couch and open the front door to investigate. But the warmth of my fleece throw, and thought of the wind forcing open the front door, kept me put.

When Hick got home around 1:30, having curtailed his business at my behest, not needed to overextend himself during his time of hip pain... he said,

"Somebody brought our dumpster down the driveway and put it behind the Gator. I guess it blowed out in the road, so they brought it all the way back."

"That was nice. But how are we going to get it back to the end of the driveway??? I can't pull it up there. And you sure can't, with your hip hurting. We've left it there for at least six months!"

"I don't know. I guess I'll take it..."

"I can follow you in T-Hoe, and drive you back to the house. Or maybe The Pony can come out on his day off, and take it back."

Here's the thing. We are not very mobile at the moment! This is a hardship, even though somebody thought they were "helping" us. Help would have been to put the dumpster where we leave it, at the end of the driveway, and lay it down so the wind can't catch it.

Later in the evening, Hick had figured out who did it. I guess he put out a thank-you on the Facebook page of our enclave, and the good-deeder spoke typed up.

"Sonny said he stopped and had his boys pull the dumpster down the driveway."

"Did you thank him?"

"Yeah. But I wanted to say, 'Can you stop again, and have your boys put it back at the end of the driveway?'" 

The COINtinuity of Life

In the midst of sadness, there is a silvery lining. I have been mourning the loss of my Sweet, Sweet Juno since Sunday. In fact, at the moment I heard about her passing, I had just picked up my phone to take a picture of a penny! Good timing, I suppose. A penny from Doggie Heaven...

SUNDAY, March 26, I had just parked at the Backroads Casey's when I saw that penny waiting for me on the pavement.

I got the picture before I even slid out of the driver's seat. Good thing nobody was parked there!

It was a craggedly handsome heads-up 2020 penny.

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MONDAY, March 27, I was in the Sis-Town Casey's, paying for my gas and scratchers. My schedule was off, due to my fever that sprung up the previous Wednesday. As I turned to leave, I saw a welcome sight!

I set my scratchers on the unused counter by the closed register, to better have use of my hands to pic my dime. Not that it mattered...

Sorry if that face-down 2016 dime makes you feel like your eyes just got dilated at the ophthalmologist's office! 

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TUESDAY, March 28, I dashed into Country Mart to use their scratcher vending machines. It was a worthwhile trip! I won $40 on a $5 ticket. And when I came out, something was waiting that was not there when I went in.

Making sure no one was behind me to nab my newfound bounty, I put my scratchers on T-Hoe's console and came back for the picture.

It was a heads-up 2014 dime, whose photo turned out quite Ansel-Adams-like. Some days my phone camera likes me, some days it behaves like a recalcitrant child.

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FRIDAY, March 31, roared out like a lion. I went to town a few hours early to get back home before the 60 mph winds arrived with their possible tornadoes. The Gas Station Chicken Store had a treat waiting for me:

Back there in the corner. I couldn't leave it behind.

It was a heads-up 1996 penny, looking as grubby as its surroundings. I don't discriminate. Even a PigPen of a penny is welcome in my penny goblet.

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That's 4 COINS this week, for 22 CENTS towards Val's Future Pennyillionaire Fortune!

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2023 RUNNING TOTAL

Penny           # 37, 38.

Dime             # 7, 8.

Nickel           still at 1

Quarter        still at 0

2022 FINAL TOTALS

Penny           124
Dime              21
Nickel              7
Quarter             9

2021 FINAL TOTALS

Penny        124
Dime           14
Nickel           7
Quarter         6

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Hick Ruffles an Old Biddy's Feathers

Hick got to the surgeon's office around 10:15. He went to the desk (he took his cane today), and told the gal he needed to talk to somebody about his pain.

"I called here two days ago, and nobody ever called me back. So I came to talk to somebody in person."

Old Biddy was not happy.

"Sit down over there, and I'll go ask somebody."

When she returned to the desk, she was even less happy.

"Come get these papers. You need to fill them out before you can be seen."

That made Hick perk up. It meant he was going to actually get an exam, which had not been in his wildest dreams when he left home. He filled out the papers, though what more he might have needed I can't imagine, since they have all his records due to the surgery. 

"They called me back at 10:45. I sat in the room until about 11:20, when the surgeon came in. Old Biddy came to check on me once, and made sure to tell me, 'You're at our mercy today.'"

What in the Not-Heaven? Was that a threat? If they had answered their phones like professionals, Hick would not have needed to drive 2.5 hours round trip to seek follow-up treatment for his post-surgery pain. Maybe this was the actual gal who didn't return Hick's call. But like he said, "I didn't want to push that issue."

The surgeon examined Hick. Looked at his incision. Said it was fine, but gave him some more betadine towelette thingies for me to swipe it with, due to one little hole at the bottom of the scar. As he said, "I pushed on it and squeezed it. I don't see any infection, but just in case, use this again."

He felt all around Hick's back. Then his hips.

"My back didn't hurt at all. He squeezed my left hip, and it was a little sore, but when he squeezed my right hip, it lit me up!"

The surgeon said he could feel arthritis in Hick's hips. He thinks they are inflamed, probably due to the fever Hick had last week. He said the muscle that runs across Hick's back, where he was cutting around, could affect both hips. He called in a prescription for an anti-inflammatory medicine, the name which escapes me. It starts with a C. Hick read the enclosure, and said it's non-steroidal, and used for people with arthritis to relieve pain and inflammation. He's supposed to take one every 12 hours, and has 60 of them.

Hick is supposed to keep his regular follow-up appointment next week. I think they will do x-rays then. Meanwhile, he got a letter to go for therapy. As he pulled onto the parking lot of that facility, he got a call from the surgeon's office. Not sure if it was Old Biddy, but she said, "You are probably not happy with that letter. It has another patient's name on it. I forgot to switch it out. So have the therapist call me, and I will straighten it out."

Good thing Hick is an advocate for his own care...

A Taxing Day For Val

Time is getting away from me. I've been meaning to work on our taxes for weeks now. I was waiting to make sure we got all our documents first. You know you're supposed to have them by February 1st. Heh, heh. Like speed limits and center lines these days, that seems to be merely a suggestion. I got one mid-March. Which reminded me that I really needed to get to work on those taxes.

I DID get my TurboTax software. I have an external DVD thingy, since HIPPIE did not come equipped with bells nor whistles. I even knew where it was! For a few days I've been meaning to go through my checkbook register and sort out specific expenses so my info would be ready to plug in when prompted.

With Hick having his surgery, and me feeling the need to tend to him rather then let him fend, I kept putting off my tax prep. However... now I am eager to separate myself from Hick and his recliner and his groans. So when he forced our togetherness around 7:30 a.m., I remembered that the taxes were calling me.

Panic ensued when I plugged in my DVD thingy, and it kept making chirping noises on HIPPIE. Like the connection was being disrupted. I tried another port. Same thing. I got it to open, and found a HOYLE CASINO CD inside. Can you imagine that? I'm sure you can.

Anyhoo... I put in my TurboTax CD. Don't bother to ask why I don't download it. Even The Pony had a chuckle at the thought of our internet speed providing me a successful filing. Of course updates were needed. Good thing I was dragging my feet. The Missouri update only became available on March 23.

Anyhoo... I had to restart the process twice, because apparently the DVD thingy just stopped. Jiggling the wire made the light come on again. I was about to panic. Time is running out! I held my breath. Didn't touch the kitchen table. Chastised Hick when he waltzing-bear-ed his way through the kitchen to go to town, and leaned on the pedestal table that was once my mom's. The swaying didn't break my connection, so Hick escaped without visible scars.

Somehow, TurboTax found last year's return which HIPPIE had told me was damaged when he went into a coma and had to life-support himself back from the blue screen of death. So there's that. Much info auto-filled.

I worked on the sections that I knew the info. Fourth cat out of the bag, I was prompted for a 1099-INT that I did not possess! How can that be? It's freakin' March-end! All my forms should have arrived! I called Hick, who agreed to drive down to Bill-Paying town to our financial institution, and ask for a copy. Welp! Seems that since we earned less that $10 interest on that account (ain't THAT a cryin' shame!), they were not required to mail us a 1099-INT, so did not. Try explaining that to TurboTax, who demanded the amounts from Lines 1, 3, and 5. I just put in $0. It worked!

Of course I got to the point where I needed to compile the totals from my checkbook register. Like for assorted medical payments, and real estate taxes, and charity and such. Do you think I was going to take a break and close out my TurboTax? No siree, Bob! I wasn't about to take a chance on not getting it running again!

After all that, and sorting those payments into the proper categories, and adding up mileage... TurboTax told me that it was more profitable for me to take the standard deduction! All that work for nothing! All those payments from my health insurance premiums, and my Unfortunate HospitVALzation, and Hick's medical treatments and sky-high prescriptions. Some people must really be making a fortune by taking that standard deduction without having such expenses!

Then it was time to enter Hick's business info. Lucky for me, he came home right then after a lunch of Meat Loaf at the Senior Center. He had compiled his profits/expenses a couple days ago, because he's eager to get our refund, part of it being owed to him for cash he spent on Pony House improvements.

I was getting pretty tired of all this taxing tax preparation, but I figured it was just a hop, skip, and a jump into my state return. So I powered through. Got it all done! Six hours from start to finish, part of that being the compilation of info I should have done ahead of time.

Anyhoo... I never would have thought when I got up (from the short couch to avoid Hick) on Wednesday morning that I would have the taxes filed by 2:30 p.m.

Nothing like fear and faulty equipment to light a fire under Val's rumpus...

Hick's Progress Takes a Turn

I am getting concerned with Hick's recovery from his back surgery. Ever since he got a fever last Thursday, his pain has intensified. The steroids that worked before for his leg pain have done nothing for his current hip pain. It started with the left hip, then went to both. He also says his muscles/nerves hurt where his legs hook onto his body. Like in the groin area. So I'm guessing it must be about the nerves, since a joint infection wouldn't jump from one hip to the other. Also, the fever is gone or just 99.1. 

Hick was lurching and moaning when he got out of bed Tuesday morning. He took a pain pill and muscle relaxer. He's about out of both now. It's been four weeks since his surgery. He plugged in a heating pad and sat on it in his recliner. Within an hour, he said he was feeling better. That his pain was down to about a 1/10. Well. There's the pain pill and muscle relaxer...

Anyhoo... he felt pretty good, and left the house around 9:00. He was going to go in Walmart for his Diet Mountain Dew, but I told him NO, to not push it since he was feeling okay. He ate lunch at the Senior Center. Chicken Ratatouille, Salad, Biscuit, Banana Pudding. Then he took SilverRedO to get a new tire at Mick the Mechanic's.

I'm not sure where else Hick went. He got home around 4:00, hobbling like he hurt a lot. He had put in a call to the surgeon, but nobody ever called him back. He just wants to know if this is to be expected, and what he can do to relieve his pain. They never gave him any exercise plan for muscle strengthening, or for flexibility. I guess maybe after his 6-week appointment he might get one. He had asked about walking, since we have a treadmill, and they told him NO. But I think general walking on level surfaces is probably okay now, assuming he is surefooted, and wears his back brace. In fact, he took his walker out on the porch Monday afternoon and did a little walking. Said it made him feel better at the time.

Here's hoping Hick hears back Wednesday morning. He will call again. He needs therapy or testing or a method to ease his pain. He said that his pain pills had a note to contact the pharmacy. So maybe he can at least get a week's worth of refill on that.

Hick hates to be THAT patient who is always whining, but he had a taste of freedom, and now feels incapacitated.

Rarely a Day Without a Weird Encounter

Monday afternoon, I had to wait to use the lottery machine in Country Mart. Can you believe somebody had the nerve to stand there buying tickets??? Anyhoo... I stood back, at the end of an unused checkout register. I was in front of the double doors.

A little boy came in by himself. Maybe 4 or 5 years old. He reminded me of young Genius. A little cutie with tousled brown hair.

"Are you going to the potty?"

I was sure I mis-heard. Did I LOOK like I was going to the potty? I hope not! It's not like my rumpus was hanging out.

"I'm sorry. I didn't hear you."

"Are you going to the party?"

Oh. Maybe this little guy was coming in to pick up cupcakes or something for a birthday party. And he was just randomly asking people if they were coming.

"I'm not sure what you're asking me."

"I have to go potty!"

"Oh! It's over there. In the corner. Go down that little hall. It's there."

Seriously. I was NOT going to take this child by the hand and walk him to the bathroom. I have no desire to be splashed all over the news, and locked up for the rest of my life. You don't go anywhere near another person's child and the bathroom these days.

The little guy wandered over, and stood looking in the direction of the hallway with the restrooms. A man came in, saw him there, and said, "Go on. It's right there. I'll be waiting here for you."

What kind of guy lets his kid walk into a grocery store alone? And then won't take him into the bathroom. If it wasn't his kid, he'd apparently been tasked with the job of taking him to the facilities. Which he was NOT doing satisfactorily. 

The boy came back out rather quickly. He asked the man something, and was told, "No. We don't have time for that today."

Maybe he asked to have a party...