Patriot Mission

Marshall's bike on a Patriot Guard Mission:

Memories

Today is the 3-year anniversary of Marshall's death.  I'm starting to feel peaceful about it and that is in large part because I know his motorcycle is living on and participating in an activity that was so dear to him.

RIP Marshall.  I love you.

More photos

I decided to start posting on Facebook as well, so that Marshall's story gets out there even more.  The people who got the bike will be posting lots of things on Facebook regarding what's going on with the bike, so I want to concentrate more on Facebook.  Of course, that is IF i can understand Facebook a bit more.  I just spent a frustrating hour trying to put photos out there.  I think I got a bit more proficient.

Anyway, Matt and Annette got back to Tennessee today -- 4th of July -- and they cleaned the bike up and went over to the American Legion where cameras from Channel 4 and Channel 5 were there to talk to him and photograph the bike.  That is excellent.  I couldn't ask for a better disposition of that bike.  The paint job on the bike commemorates Marshall's time in Vietnam so it tells a very emotional story.

         CHANNEL 4 talking to Matt and photographing the bike.

            CHANNEL 5 - photographing the bike.

Pikes Peak Harley

The transfer of the bike from me to Matt was a very special event.  Some Patriot Guard Riders were there to honor Marshall.  Here are some photos:
     
                Matt - getting used to the trike:

 Handing the title over to Matt and his wife Annette:

               Matt and me:

                 Some of the Patriot Guard Riders who came to be part of this:

       

More

Another picture of Matt (with me).  If he gained 100 pounds, he could be Marshall's twin!  Tomorrow I'll get pictures of him and Annette leaving on Marshall's bike for their trip back to Tennessee....

Marshall's Bike - The Transfer

The new "handlers" of Marshall's bike -- Matt and Annette Robeck -- flew in this morning and I picked them up.  We went to breakfast and then they got a hotel and settled down for some rest.  They had been up since 2AM.

Tomorrow we will drive to Pikes Peak Harley in Colorado Springs, where the bike will be waiting, and we will have a short symbolic transfer of title.  Then Matt and Annette will head out on their return home to Tennessee.

Denver Airport today!!

Tia McConnell and her husband and son.  She is the daughter of one of the men who died in Marshall's unit in VietNam and her father's name is part of the replica of the VietNam wall on Marshall's bike.  So his bike is very emotional to her.

Matt Robeck and Tia.  He has an uncanny resemblance to Marshall (a much slimmer Marshall), don't you think?

Me, Annette Robeck, Tia McConnell and Matt Robeck.

Look for another report tomorrow.

Quick update

I have decided to donate Marshall’s motorcycle to the Patriot Guard Riders.  If you haven’t heard of them, they came into being about 14 years ago when protestors started disrupting the funerals of veterans.  The bikers would attend the funerals and create a barrier between the funeral and the protestors and if the protestors started shouting, the bikers would simply rev up those Harleys!  It’s a very moving thing to see.

Anyway, I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner, but this is the perfect place for Marshall’s beautiful custom painted bike to be where it can support the causes that were dear to his heart.  So I’ve been spending a lot of time doing the paperwork involved in this donation.  I hope to have some pictures in the future of the bike actually riding in a “Mission” — with its new “handler,” of course.  So stay tuned.

My pacemaker got a little wonky but a visit to the cardiologist fixed that, I think.  We’ll see after a few more days.

And we can now add vertigo to my list of ailments.  It’s like there’s a little black cloud over my head.

And even though we all knew where my brother was heading, I still miss having him in my world.

Trip down Memory Lane

The nickname my dad gave Bobby was Bobbles.  So here are some memories of Bobbles:

First, here's the official cause(s) of death -- looks like heart attack was the first choice:

Now, here we go:
Hunting:

 Bob and Cousin Lanette.

               
 
            Devilish....

 

     Bobbles and Tricia:

Bob's funeral

The funeral will be Monday at 1PM.

     Bob Bisoux
     Yarber Funeral Home
     621 East Fifth St
     Mountain View, MO. 65548
     (417) 934-1234

I am heading out this afternoon.

Sad news....

My brother has passed away.  His friend Jeff went to check on him and found him.  More details will follow.

Savings Bonds

First, haven't heard anything from my brother.  I assume nothing has changed.

And Tricia is doing well.

A few months ago I found two $50 savings bonds in Marshall's name.  So today I decided to cash them in.  I went to my bank and they wouldn't cash them.  They said I needed to go to the courthouse and get myself appointed as a Personal Representative.  So I went to the courthouse for Adams County and they said they didn't know what I was talking about.  They said I had to hire an attorney.  So I threw them away.  I figured a lawyer would cost way more than $100!!

When I was going to the courthouse I noticed that the license plates on the motorcycle had expired last July.  So I went to the DMV and renewed them.  I had to pay a $100 late fee.  Good grief.

And over the weekend I bought one of those Ring Doorbells and I love it!  I can check on my house with my iPhone no matter where I am.  And I can talk to anyone on my patio from wherever I am.  It is really cool.  It even records/films me whenever I take Mia out.

I'm trying to learn this new way of eating to keep the pancreatitis at bay and so far so good.  I exercise every day, too.  Trying to do everything the doctors told me to do.

My bone density test shows that I have osteopenia, the precursor to osteoporosis (bummer).  The ophthalmologist says my eyes are in good shape (no macular degeneration).  The ear doctor says I have better hearing than most of his patients (that was cool news).

Brother back in ER

Yesterday we got word that my brother fell again and was taken to the ER.  Has a gash in his head.  Lost feeling in one foot so they moved him to ICU.  And he will be going through detox, too.

Then there's Tricia:

Everything is pretty much the same

My brother is still drinking and refuses to go back to rehab.  We don't get much information from him these days.

Monday I'm going to have a bone density test.  Trying to make sure I get as many medical tests done as possible since I'm on a roll.  The next thing after that will be getting my other cataract removed.

I'm trying to stay on the low fat diet -- picking out low fat items to eat and then double checking to be sure they don't interact with the Warfarin.  I called a dietition yesterday to see if she could put a diet plan together for me but she said she doesn't do that.  So I'll figure it out myself.  One thing is for sure, I am highly motivated to do everything I'm supposed to and I will be losing a lot of weight which will be a nice side effect.

Some of my neighbors have those Ring Doorbells and their cameras captured a guy going from patio to patio at 5:30AM and checking them out, perhaps looking for packages?  I'm going to look into getting one for me.  I did a little research on them and a lot of the reviews were not good, but my neighbors love theirs.  If nothing else maybe it is a visible deterrent??

More updates

First of all, another school shooting.  That is so tragic.  My heart breaks for these families.

Second of all, my brother is still drinking.  That's all I know about that.

And third, the granulomas on my spleen that I was worried about are harmless and benign.  I got that from my primary care doctor.

I heard from my cardiologist's physician's assistant and he wasn't able to tell me what the doctor meant about the evaluation surgery but he did say they are going to arrange night time oxygen for me.

Today I saw my primary care doctor for a Medicare-requested annual physical and test for Hep-C.  I have to say this is the most thorough physical examination I've had in years.  You name it and she checked it out.  That was reassuring.

She looked up the recent bloodwork results and said that my cholesterol and triglycerides have come down drastically since the last test a year and a half ago, so that was nice.

And she got the results of yesterday's mammogram and it was normal!!  Some good news.

The Medicare exam guidelines required the she measure my height.  When I was young, I was 5'6".  A few years ago I was 5'5-1/2".  Today I was 5'3-1/2".

After I left the doctor, I picked Mia up and we went to Camp BowWow for their Valentine's Day Kissing Booth.  Look how cute...  I couldn't get her to kiss me because she was way too interested in the audience of other people waiting for their turn.

Update

No news on my brother.  Hope he's doing well.

I heard from my cardiologist today -- a message left on my online health portal -- and he says I will "likely need surgical evaluation" of the whole gallbladder/gallstones thing.  I don't like that at all.  Hopefully I will hear from him personally in the near future.

My primary care doctor says she thinks I can manage things with diet and exercise and my cardiologist talks about "surgical evaluation."  I can't wait to see who wins.  I know who I'm voting for.

The ultrasound also mentioned "splenic (spleen) granulomas."  I tried Googling that and I didn't like what I found.  But neither doctor even mentioned it, so I guess I won't dwell on that finding.

And he also has not told me the results of the sleep study.

That's it for today.

Test results

First, still no word from my brother, so not sure how he's doing.

I got my test results from the ultrasound:

• I have "gallbladder sludge" (what a pleasant name).  The doctor tells me that sludge is a thickening of the gallbladder contents that may turn into stones.  The doctor says that if I behave (no red meat, no alcohol, no caffeine, and exercise and a low fat diet) it is possible that the sludge will not turn to stones
• I also have a fatty liver which she says is not good and could lead to cirrhosis.  She scared me to death.

So we did followup blood work and I got those results today.  They are as follows:

Notify patient of labs: Her muscle and liver enzymes are normal, and her lipids have improved greatly from previous. LDLs are still a little on the high end, but much improved. We could consider a very low dose statin to try to get her LDL closer to 100 to decrease her risk for heart disease. Her HDLs are much lower than previous, this means she needs to increase her activity/exercise level. Her lipase is still normal, no need to follow-up on this. Recommend she adhere to the low-fat diet to help prevent further problems with her gallbladder. Carol Oakleaf, PA-C

That sounds very upbeat to me, so I feel better.  I go back to see her next week for one more visit and while I'm there she's going to do a test for Hep-C -- after all, I am a Baby Boomer.

However, I still haven't heard from my cardiologist and he's the one who ordered the ultrasound.  You'd think he would have called me by now.  I will be interested in hearing how he interprets these tests.  I sure do feel better, though, so the pancreas has settled down.

Oh, and by the way, the doctor told me that the cause of the pancreatitis is idiopathic.  She says that means they can't figure out what caused it.  But it was a very mild episode and she says if I behave it may not ever happen again.   There's that word "behave" again....

The cardiologist also needs to give me the results of the sleep study.  Wait-wait-wait.....

Sleep Study was awful

First, my brother did not get his surgery.  I haven't heard any more so I don't know what his status is right now.

The sleep study was nothing like I expected.  I got there at 9:30 and got ready for bed.  The room was like a hotel room with its own private bath and a television.   The television was only to be used if the patient needed to ease into sleepiness.

The technician attached many electrodes to me.  There were 5 on my face, 1 on my neck, 1 under my arm, several on my chest, several on my legs and 4 or 5 on my scalp.  They also put one of those Pulse/Ox things on my finger.  Then he told me to sleep on my back, which is not the way I sleep.  But I said I would give it a try, so I laid back on the pillow and realized that my head  was laying back on the electrodes on my scalp and it hurt.  I told the technician but he said to try to stay on my beck but I could roll over on my side if I had to.  As it turned out, I really needed to roll over on my side but it proved to be a monumental task with all the electrodes

There were wires everywhere and I felt like I was tied down.  I could barely move, a very claustrophobic feeling.  I didn't get any sleep and he got me up at 6AM, took off all my electrodes and I went home.  I don't see how they could possibly come up with any diagnosis of sleep apnea with the kind of night I had, but the technician said all they needed was a little bit here and there.  I can't wait to hear how this turns out.

I came home and went straight to bed and slept for 5 hours.

Now Monday morning is the ultrasound of the gallbladder and we'll see what that turns up.

Sleep Study

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARSHALL!!

I just got a call from the sleep study place and I am going to do my sleep study tomorrow night.  I check in at 9:30P and check out a 6:00A.  So I don't even need to get a pet sitter.

One down (sleep study), one to go (ultrasound).

The snow is coming down right now.  I hope it doesn't get ugly.

Today was the date for my brother's surgery - I'm waiting to hear if it was a "go" or not.  If he's in any condition to go, my sister was going to take him (it's 100 miles from his home), his wife decided not to go.  I don't blame her.  Living with an alcoholic must be pretty tough.

Diets

Still trying to start eating solid food again.  It is a real challenge to have to eat a particular kind of diet for the pancreatitis and another particular kind of diet because of the Warfarin.  Trying to successfully combine the two makes my brain hurt.

My brother still wants to have his surgery this week, but we know the doctor won't operate on a drunk patient so the surgery probably won't happen.

I cleaned out my roll-top desk today. It was Marshall's desk and I hadn't really touched it after he died.  All of the files are in his handwriting.  It was so sad.  And in one of the drawers I found two dog collars - one was Coco's and one was Marlee's.  So the desk was triple sad.  I miss them all so much.

Another doctor visit; more tests

Today I had an appointment with my cardiologist to discuss my need for nighttime oxygen (will this never end?).  He wants me to do a full sleep study before deciding if I have sleep apnea.  So I'll be doing that in the next week or so.

Then we discussed the pancreatitis situation and he wants me to have my gallbladder looked at since in 90% of all cases of pancreatitis, it's the gallbladder causing the problems.  So he is going to order a gallbladder ultrasound.  That should also happen in the next week or so.  I am sick of all this.

And last but not least today we learned that my brother is drinking again.  He is supposed to have surgery this week for the fracture in his spine.  Not sure if that is still going to happen.  Good grief.

Still healing

It looks like this whole re-introduction of solid foods is going to be very slow.  Every time I try something that my pancreas doesn't like, I get a little vertigo and need to kind of stay in bed.  Oatmeal went well, but an orange wasn't such a good idea.  So what I thought might take 6 days to get back on a semi-regular diet looks like it may be two weeks.  Or more.  At least I'm not having the severe pain that I believe can come with acute pancreatitis.

I've ordered a Pancreatitis Diet Cookbook to get a feel for some good meals.  Then I have to also pay attention to the limitations in diet from the drug Warfarin that I take.  This probably will be doable here at home but boy, traveling and eating out is going to be a bitch.

Poor Mia has been so good just laying close to me wherever I am -- she obviously knows things aren't  totally right.  She is a very energetic dog so staying still must be hard on her.  And she hasn't been to Camp BowWow in several weeks.  If I feel good tomorrow, I will take her to Camp so she can get some physical and mental exercise.  Her trainer has moved on to bigger and better things so Mia hasn't had any training for several weeks, either.  She really liked that trainer.  So I've been trying to keep up with the things she learned and she does well.

That's it for today.

Feeling better

Yesterday I went back to the doctor and had more bloodwork done.  Doctor told me not to eat any solid foods until the test results come back, but I was so hungry that I ate a piece of bread but it didn't sit well.  I came home and went to bed for the day with Mia by my side.

Today I got the results of the bloodwork and my lipase level is back to normal (went from 145 to 19). So he said I could start SLOWLY reintroducing solid food back into my diet, very slowly.  And from here on out, no alcohol, no fatty foods, no red meat, no coffee (boy, nobody wants me to have any coffee).  I had a tiny bit of food today and my stomach reacted, so I need to go even slower.

I feel much better, but I'm disappointed that there was no way to figure out what caused all this.  Frustrating.  But I'm glad to get back into the world again, I felt so bad for over a week.

My brother is doing really well, he's been sober now for about 75 days.  He found a job but then found out he had to have spine surgery on Feb 2 so he'll have to pass on that job until he recuperates from surgery.

And to show how much he has improved, he actually called me on my birthday, something he hasn't done in many years.  Yay!

PS:  An interesting tidbit -- this lipase range differs from lab to lab which I think is kind of unfair.  My doctor's lab says the lipase level should be between 7 and 60.  But the Mayo Clinic, for instance, has a range of 18 to 180.  I asked the doctor about it and said my level of 145 would be acceptable at the Mayo Clinic and he said, "Then you need to go to the Mayo Clinic."  Ha Ha.

I'm hungry

Clear liquids for the past 5 or 6 days and I am so hungry.  But I've lost 8 pounds, for whatever that is worth.

And my cardiologist has not called me like was promised so I guess my heart medications aren't causing the pancreas problems or he would have called, right?  I love all my doctors, but they can be so irritating.  When they don't do what they say they will it just makes me scared.

So tomorrow is more blood work and then wait some more for the results.  And I'm not sure what these results are going to tell me.  If the lipase level goes back into what they consider normal range, what will that mean?  To me, that means I will still have no idea what's been making me feel bad.

That's it for today.

Life gets harder and harder as we age...

First, my brother.  He has been sober for roughly 70 days and is doing wonderfully -- as far as the alcohol goes. He even got a job and was scheduled to start this week.

But remember that accident he had when he slightly fractured his spine?  Well, he needs to have surgery (scheduled for Feb 2) and the recuperation will be about 30 days.  So the job is gone for now. They did tell him to reapply when his doctor releases him for work.  His spirits are still high.

Now, on to me.  For the past week I have been feeling really bad.  Monster hot flashes, bloating and a little vertigo.  I went to Urgent Care and they couldn't find anything wrong and suggested I might be dehydrated.  Told me to drink more water.

I went home and drank more water but it did not improve, so I went back to the clinic and this time they took X-rays and bloodwork. They called me Wednesday night and called during the 10-minute time frame that I was outside walking Mia so they left a voicemail.  She said, "Your A1C is normal and you are not diabetic or pre diabetic; however, you have an elevated lipase consistent with pancreatitis.  Go on a liquid diet immediately and come back in a week to have blood drawn again."  I hope that means this thing can do a turnaround if I'm a good girl.

Good grief.

Today I went to see my cardiologist to have my pacemaker checked out just to be sure this wasn't all a pacemaker issue, but no, the pacemaker is still doing a topnotch job.

However, there is a possibility that one of the heart medications I take could have affected the pancreas and caused pancreatitis. My cardiologist is going to go over all the paperwork (medications, pacemaker report and lab work) and get back to me Monday with his opinion on whether it's one of the medications and, if so, what we should do about it.  If it is not caused by the medication, then we just wait until Jan 24 (happy birthday to me) when I get the lab work redone.

I did a bit of online research (good old Dr. Google) and learned that 70% or more of the cases of pancreatitis are caused from alcohol.  I quit drinking about 13 or 14 years ago, so I don't think we can blame it on alcohol.

Did you ever watch the Redd Foxx show?  Whenever things were overwhelming, he would look up and say, "Elizabeth, here I come..."  Well, I feel like saying, "Marshall, here I come..."  Ha!

In the meantime, I AM STARVING!!  A clear liquid diet really sucks.