Mid-Atlantic Musings - Page 2

Ha! New toys...

Think I got to go and find out how to do that. LOL
Well, I guess that will be later. I'm up at this ungodly hour getting ready to take my Dad in for a heart cath. Gotta go.....

This message was edited Feb 2, 2010 6:46 AM

Hope all goes well for Dad, Holly.

I feel like a celebrity - I've never been quoted so much!

Sally, No they never did the cath. We have to go back again tomorrow. My Dad takes coumadin it's a blood thinner. You have to wean him off the coumadin which takes several days for his levels to come down. It's a whole process and if the levels are too high they can't do the procedure. That is what happened to Dad so back again we go tomorrow. My poor Mom is a worrier so this was all pretty hard on her. Plus the Dr that was going to do the procedure won't be able to do it tomorrow so he will have a different Dr that they have never met. We did hear some really great stuff about the new Dr. this afternoon from a relative that works in the hospital so that made her feel better.
I have noticed that quote before but never realized what it was for. Holly

Holly, So sorry they could not do the cath, waiting is the worst part. Coumadin is nothing to mess with.
I worked in a catherization lab in my younger days, they have come a long way since then. I hope you get good news.

Yes, Holly, let's hope that Mom is much less worried this time tomorrow.

Sheryl, you crack me up!

OK Marylanders, what's up with this?

Thanks everyone. My Dad is in his early 80's and has had an artificial valve since he was 65 and had a pacemaker put in years ago. Actually he has been in very good condition and pretty active. First snow of the season he was out with his snow-blower clearing off half the sidewalk on the block. But then towards the end of Nov he just started not to feel quite as good. Too tired and out of breath for his activity level. After a couple of visits and some tests that showed a decrease in some areas compared to tests taken last March they decided to take a look. They have made some med changes and want to rule out a blockage and just get a good look at the heart. Hopefully he will be feeling more like his old self soon again. Holly
Here is a picture of my parents taken at the end of last summer. They are getting ready to take a speed boat ride with Josh. Mom says my sense of adventure comes from Dad.

What a lovely couple! Good thing the doctors are looking into things. Best to catch things early.

They have been wonderful parents, grandparents and are enjoying being great grandparents. My oldest daughter Julie named him Buppie. We have no idea where it came from but that was what she started to call him and they all still do. He owned a moving and storage company at the time and boy did his truck drivers tease him.I would take her over to the shop on occasion and she would run across the garage floor yelling Buppie, Buppie and the guys would just laugh like crazy. Lets see they just had their 59th Wedding Anniversary in Jan.

I like that, can we adopt him and call him Buppie too? LOL

I'm sure they'll fix him up good as new. My mom has stents from '02 and'03 that are still flowing well. She's 90! And I thought she was getting old at 75--boy did I have a lot to learn, when I was 35 yet!

Oh man - my mom turns 80 in May, and hasn't had any of this stuff yet - just a carotid artery Roto-rooter.... stuff to look forward to, I guess. I have the same feeling now, Sally, but I'm 46!

Course, when I was 17 I thought 50 was old HA HA. Pagancat, I wish your mom great health. My MIL is 92, up until about 89 she was on No med but thyroid supplement. Seems unheard of, so many people are on blood pressure or cholesterol med at least. Last year she had an emergency which earned her a pacemaker, and got her back to Energizer bunny status in two weeks. She's a wonder. Whatever is in store for your mom, what serious issues present themselves will scare the crap out of you at first, but just have faith and chances are great that there will be medical intervention for whatever, and lots of caring medical people along the way. Well, that's my experience so far, but what do I know.

stormyla- I have never seen one of those signs ! so funny!

Thanks, Sally, I appreciate your wisdom.

In the dental office where I work we have a lot of seniors in their 70's, 80's and a few 90's. they come in get their teeth cleaned and some are still getting crowns and bridges. We have them, their childern even grand and great grand childern. We really look forward to seeing them.
It just amazes me, as my family are not long livers.
We usually take extra time with them for an appointment most of it is just to visit.

oh lady, every minute of social time in your office is a gift to many seniors.

Sally, I saw it at Conowingo. Thought maybe it was something new you all were doing.

The older I get the younger my parents seem. LOL
I remember that when I was 16 I had this Mom just a plain "old" Mom. When I turned 36 I realized that I was the same age as my Mom was when I was 16. LOL

Hey Stormy are you at Conowingo looking for Eagles?

I was.

Funny thing --- how OLD becomes a realtive term as we get OLDER. :)

Yep, it's absolutely amazing what can be done now medically. ((HUGS)) Holly. We know all about pacemakers, coumadin, etc around here.

Same here, Jan.

Keep your parents close if you still have them, they are such a blessing, I miss mine so.

Hey Stormy did you get to see and photograph any Eagles?

Oh that's right! That's where you were over the weekend Stormy!
So... did you see any???
Where are the pictures girlfriend... huh? Where are they????

:o)

Thanks everyone for all the support. Well here it is in the wee hours of the morning, I'll be heading out soon. Talk later. Holly

Holly, hope all goes well for Buppie today :) I know how frustrating it can be with our parents as they get older. Even though my mother will celebrate her 80th birthday this year, I always tell her not to sweat the "small stuff" - she's pretty darn healthy considering her age! We've had a lot of ups and downs with Rick's father this past year - in addition to the heart problems he had the summer before and the surgery which followed, last May he was diagnosed with a recurrence of colon cancer. It's been 15 years since his first diagnosis/treatment and he had a really difficult time with the chemo this time which was a much stronger therapy approach than before :(

Holly, I'll be thinking about you, Buppie and your family today. It will be a long day for you getting up a 4:00 am. I hate those early tests, I find out the test are not bad it's the getting but early that knocks me for a loop.
Debbie, sorry about your Dad, I have a friend that went and still is going through the whole colon cancer thing, it is a pretty rough therapy, compaired to my breast cancer, but then I'm a tough old bird, or just don't know any better.

I just got caught up on the bottom part of this thread. Holly you are in my thoughts and prayers this morning... I do hope all goes well for your father.

My Mom was in the ER last Thursday for chest pain and her cardiologist wanted to do the cath right away. The ER doc talked him out of it becasue she too is on coumadin. They did the stress test which was inconclusive, so we are expecting the cardiologist to still want the cath. She follows up tomorrow with him, so we will know more at that time.

Amazing that so many of us are facing these issues now, I for one take great comfort from that.

I went through all of this with 3 family members and 2 friends for 20 years. Unfortunately I know far more than I ever wanted to know about these procedures. It has totally altered my outlook on living. I wish everyone the best with their loved ones.

Amen to that Stormy! Ric

Ronnie and Karen, I had a wonderful weekend in search of Eagles. However, due to conditions, I wasn't able to get any good Eagle shots. The Susquehanna had really swollen from all of the rains and melting snow and the waters were threatening the adjacent town of Port Deposit. The dam had to open 5 more floodgates than normal which created rapids and hugh mist and spray down below on the water and rocks. There were many eagles flying up above and around the trees on the banks, but none going anywhere near the water. It was very hard to see them in the trees from down below on the river bank.

We were there on Saturday at sun up. It was about 7 degrees out with a wind chill of -8. I think down on that river's edge it was even colder. Even though I had dressed appropriately, it was ultimately pretty unbearable. I did see one magnificent great Blue Heron rise out of it's nest on an island in the river and fly directly over me, but by that time, I had put the camera in the car as my fingers were too numb to operate it.
After seeing how long and patient you have to be to catch good sitings, I have even more appreciation of Linthicum's prowess. But I also know that he has a much better camera than I. And yes, I did read the manual on the way down!!
The Eagles stay there through the end of February.
Karen, if you want a weekend with the kids. I'd recommend that Super8 on route #40 outside of Havre de Grace. The rooms were clean and included coffee pot, microwave and small fridge. They serve pastry & hot beverages in the lobby for breakfast. There are a number of family style restaurants right nearby and a nicer restaurant just next store. Rooms cost about $75 with taxes a night. It's about a 15 minute drive to the dam and a 5 minute drive into the town of Havre de Grace.

Havre de Grace was a nice town to walk around and explore. There are 3 museams, A Maritime one, A decoy museam and a lock museam. There are lots of nice, but expensive, shops and antique stores to explore. The book store is fabulous with new and old books at great prices, but everything else they sell is outrageously priced. Lots of gardening, cook and wildlife books. There are many restaurants, including some right on the water and a few neat little old fashioned cafes. You can find a reasonably priced meal in town. There is a marvelous bakery that sells the best baked goods for less than supermarket prices. Don't miss the pies and pecan sticky buns.

The residential districts are beautiful and great to explore on foot. We hoofed around that entire town in deeper and deeper snow all day Saturday. Beautiful tree lined streets (old trees) with lovely old homes and nice gardens punctuated with lots of garden objects, which really stand out in the winter. There were lots of very mature flowering trees, so it would be nice to go there in the spring.

From Spring to Fall there is a nice outdoor farmers market. There are steam boats to ride and sailing adventures to be had. There are several very large and long boardwalk type of promenades and piers along the lagoons, where the bay had frozen. Lot's of good bird watching there.

Here is the light house.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Linthicum's Eagle threads, they are not to be missed.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1059961/

This town is absolutely loaded with Ducks. They are everywhere. They are passionate about their ducks.

The sun was so brilliant that I couldn't see anything in the view finding screen, so I just pointed the camera and clicked.

I was fascinated in seeing the lagoons frozen. I have spent much time sailing on the Chesapeake and would never have imagined the waters still enough to freeze.

This was the lightkeepers house. I always like seeing that squat upper story that is so prevelant on older Maryland structures.

This is the side view of the house, where they have exposed some of the underlying stone. There is quite a bit of History to this town which was named after a remark made by the Colonial Era French General Lafayette. The town sustained some pretty severe damage in both Revolutionary and Civil wars. There is also a lot of interesting fishing, boating and industrial history there too.

Now if history, ducks and fishing aren't your thing, you can always hang out with Jake & Elwood!