Saturday, May 17, 2025, MN

Happy Syttende Mai to all of my Norwegian and Norwegian-by-proxy friends! Living in Stoughton, I would be participating in many of the weekend events.

I saw the Urologist on Tuesday and learned that there is no infection now and that my bladder is emptying as it should be. She suggested that I make sure that the cranberry supplement that I take is for urinary support and contains at least 36 mg of PAC  and D-Mannose (limits e-coli bacteria from adhering to bladder walls). What I had been taking must be for dietary support.

My third doctor appointment this week was with my primary care provider and we just reviewed all of the other results and I have no further actions to take other than possibly   COQ-10 supplement for cramping in my hands and feet that has been going on for a while.  No more doctor appointments for a while - Yay!

I helped out with the girls after school on Tuesday and Thursday as Ben was out of town on a business trip and Jill wasn’t able to get home in time.  I took the twins to swim practice and fed them some dinner.  Charlotte sang in a choir performance Wednesday night at her school and that was very enjoyable to watch. The 7th grade Honor Choir got to perform three songs in the annual 8th Grade Concert. 

Cathy joined me for dinner and a drink last night and we had a great chat. I made pizza and a huge salad and she came to the door with a huge salad too.  Guess we didn’t communicate that very well and will be eating lots of salad over the next few days.  I love it and won’t have a problem at all. It is what I have most nights for dinner - a salad and a protein is about the extent of my cooking these days.

Monday, May 12, 2025, MN

 It’s been a week since I’ve written and I will really have to dig to remember the events of the last week. I’ll start with the most recent - Mother’s Day yesterday. It started with a call from Pat and Tracey and we had a lovely conversation.  I then met Ben and his family, Lois and Dennis at Olivia’s organic restaurant in Burnsville.  We have been going there the last few years and it is so nice because it is a celiac friendly restaurant so Norah and Camille can select items from the menu and know that they are safe for them to eat.  It is also quite delicious and I just had a repeat of my breakfast this morning with leftovers. 

In the afternoon, I went with Cathy to her friend Heidi’s house and enjoyed her beautiful yard and gardens and good food and conversation with some great people.   It was a beautiful day and felt so good to be hanging out - looking forward to a while summer of it. 

Sherry and I went shopping for flowers last week and I spent part of the day on Friday getting the planters in front of the building planted.  They look very nice and I’ve gotten lots of compliments. 

I had an appointment with the Neurologist this morning, a second opinion and follow-up to the  issues I was having in February. It is all related, still considered to be mild, and was told to just be cautious about stumbling, dropping things, having trouble with grasping or picking up items, confusion, or any other unusual symptoms - otherwise follow up in six months. 

It appears that the fluid that insulates the spinal cord is pinched off because of the compressed disks and is what is causing the problem. Surgery is an option but that was left up to me and I would prefer to put it off as long as I can and that decision was supported by the doctor. 

Wednesday, May 7, 2025, MN

 Yesterday morning, I got a call from my clinic to tell me that the bacterial bladder infection that I have can’t be treated by the antibiotic that was originally prescribed and I was to stop taking that and go to the ER for an IV infusion of a different antibiotic.  I’m glad they are on top of it. I headed for Methodist Hospital, waited in the busy ER waiting room for 1 1/2 hours and then the infusion took an hour - now, I hope that takes care of it.  

We have had some beautiful weather here the last few days and everything is greening up so nice. I think it reached 82 yesterday and is predicted to be nice for the next week. I will take it!

Sunday, May 4, 2025, MN

 The last few days have been busy ones. I ended up meeting Ben at Staring Lake Park on Friday for a walk around the lake with the dogs.  It’s been quite a while since I’ve done that and I can really feel it in my hips and thighs ever since.  It felt good! and that was the first night that I have slept through with only getting up once to go potty and that felt really good too.

Yesterday, Ben called to see if I was interested in playing a game of mini-golf. So I headed to his house and he, Charlotte, Camille, and her friend Bryn went to the Big Stone Mini Golf in Excelsior that was part of a large sculpture garden.  It was fun to play a game of golf and then we walked around the gardens taking in all of the sculptures. 

After the sculpture garden, we headed back to his house where I joined them for another delicious dinner - pork tenderloin, baked potato, and salad. Yummy!

I was up every half hour to hour all through the night again and I am suspecting another UTI. I had a video conference with a nurse this morning and she is prescribing another antibiotic (I just finished the last round on Friday morning).  I’m getting real tired of this shit and not feeling well. Hopefully, this will get me through to my Urology appointment that is scheduled for the 13th.  Fingers crossed.

Thursday, May 1, 2025, MN

 My friend Cathy treated me to dinner tonight for my birthday.  We had it at my apartment because the smoke alarms in her apartment go off all of the time and she can’t cook a steak there. So she brought everything to my place - a good sized sirloin steak, twice baked potatoes, a yummy salad with lots of veggies, nuts, and crunchy stuff and I made us a little dish of fruit to have for dessert.  How nice is that?  I’ll have to out of the way when her birthday comes around in December.

We had a beautiful day today - it felt so good NOT to have to wear an additional warm layer - and the sun shone bright all day long!