That 3rd Thing

So, I've been waiting all week for that 3rd 'awful' thing to happen.

A cold? A flat tire? Forgetting something important when I went to the store? There's no telling what it would be.

I finally decided that it HAD happened, and I had barely noticed it.

I had 2 days when my stomach was unhappy and the small of my back felt tight, and I couldn't seem to focus on much of anything. We've all had those kinds of days where we're not quite there, right?

Well, I got up this morning feeling my normal self, and decided those 2 days were the 3rd 'bad' thing to happen. So now I can get back to being myself, doing things (whether I want to or not) and not have to be anticipating something awful happening.

If I count those 2 days as the 3rd thing, then I'm free and clear, with no impending doom hanging over my head!

Does it matter that I may have brought those 2 days on myself? That the day before, we went to the movies and I filled up on popcorn and pop. And then got more popcorn and pop to bring home with us? I'm not a spring chicken anymore, and too much of anything might have consequences. Well, that could at least explain the stomach that wasn't quite happy.

Okay, so maybe it was the item I forgot to get when I went for groceries. It was the 2nd time I'd forgotten it, because it never got written on my shopping list. Well, it's on my list now, so I shouldn't be forgetting it a 3rd time.

It's over, I tell you. My trials times 3 are done.

Until the next time something bad happens.

It's just an old wives' tale, anyway.

Number 2

There is an old proverb about unfortunate events happening in threes. I never really paid much attention in the past, but if that proverb is true, then I guess we're waiting to see what number 3 will be.

Last Saturday was a hard day for me. My left hip yelped in pain every time I moved in a way it didn't like... and who knew what kind of movement it wouldn't like? That hip also tried, a number of times throughout the day, to buckle out from under me. I had first noticed a yelp of pain from it about 2 weeks ago, when I semi-woke up in the middle of the night and tried to use my legs to lift my hips off the mattress to shift my body into a new position. One hip said, "I don't want to!"

Fully awake, I thought, "That's new. I wonder what it means? Guess I'll keep an eye on it, see how long it takes before it bothers me enough to call the doctor." Well, I can't call the doctor's office on a Saturday, but I definitely resolved to call on Monday. I managed to get an appointment for Tuesday.

The tentative theory is that I've got arthritis in my left hip. I'm not surprised, because the arthritis in my knees got so bad, I've had both knees replaced. (Not at the same time, thank goodness.) And I also have arthritis in my shoulders, which, frankly, I thought would be the next piece of me to be replaced, but so far they are holding in there.

So, Wednesday, I went to the radiology clinic to get x-rays taken of my left hip, to determine how bad the arthritis is. Is it already bone on bone? Then I need a hip replacement. If it's not that bad, and we can control the pain with medicines, then we can hold off for a while. They currently have me on anti-inflammatories.

In the meantime, my days have been a roller coaster between occasional burps of pain, to more often yelps of pain that make me walk very carefully and sit down or get up slowly, to bouts of "I can't concentrate right now, I'm going to lay down flat on my back for an hour or so and see if that helps." Laying down does usually help, although the first 10 minutes of it, while my back is trying to relax, can be a little rough.

The pills seem to be helping. Maybe we can get through our next cruise (April) and a wedding (May) before we need to start seriously thinking about replacing a hip.

Now, let's hope the 3rd thing to happen is comparatively mild, like a cold.

Bad News

This morning, we took Dresden (the family dog) to the vet for his annual shots. While we were there, we pointed out that the hacking cough he'd had 6 months ago was getting worse. And thankfully, he even demonstrated for them, so they could hear it for themselves. They didn't hear any heart murmurs or anything like that, but they wanted to take an X-ray. Unfortunately, the X-ray revealed a large mass in his lungs. They couldn't say definitely what it was, so we had to pay extra to have the X-ray sent to a radiologist for interpretation. We got a call back this afternoon saying it looked like cancer, but a definitive diagnosis would require we either take him to Gainesville to the Florida University Vet school, or a big vet hospital in Tampa. But the radiologist had seen several smaller lumps as well as the large mass, so s/he was fairly certain it was cancer. There's no telling how long the poor guy might have left, but so far he's eating and drinking normally, and he hasn't lost any weight.

I knew it was bad when the vet said she'd give him some of his annual shots, but not the one for kennel cough (which he'll need when we put him in a local kennel to go on our Dr Who cruise. I had to explain to John that she (the vet) was saying he might not be around in 5 weeks to need that shot. If he's still doing okay by then, we can always take him in for it.

I did not handle the news very well, even before we got the radiologist's report. I mean, a big mass in the lungs can't be a good thing. I managed to hold it together for the ride home (I was driving, and probably shouldn't have been), but I've been having crying spells ever since. And I've gotten very little work done today.

Dresden just acts like he's getting old. He's uncertain about jumping up into his chair or onto the couch any more, and sometimes he's reluctant to jump back down. And he's got this old man hacking cough. But we'll enjoy his company while we still have him.

Excuse me. I need another tissue.