Number One Son's and Hubby's Excellent Adventure in Paradise!

Anyone who asks why move to Florida permanently; here's your answers in pictorial form! 

This trip begins in Palmetto Florida and ends in Number One's Son's new home of Apollo Beach Florida, which is an easy commute to his job in Tampa! 

The vistas are breathtaking going down the Manatee River out towards the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico then up to Tampa Bay and finally home to along the Apollo waterway; a seven hour cruise under an auxiliary diesel engine, used where the wind was too calm and also by sail. Hubby is a retired Marine Patrol Officer and Ship's Captain license with over forty years boating experience in all types and sizes. Number One's new ship/live aboard home is a Pearson ketch 365, which Hubby says is as roomy as a fine camping trailer below deck, with a full galley and head, dinette and sleeping quarters for four comfortably, 13' beam X 36' from bow to stern.

Truly all-inclusive waterfront property; even with its own, at the end of your dock, Tikki bar! Now how do you dare ask why one would care to live in this vacation-land that we all call home all year round?

Smile, for you too can COME ON DOWN MON; the islands are closer than you think! Big smile inserted here.

On this note of hoping that you enjoyed your mini vacation too, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask all of you to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

Worry Wart?

You know me when someone in authority tells you something you have a tendency to believe them verbatim; not necessarily true.

I saw a PA, physician's assistant in my overbooked Dr. Nord's office Friday late afternoon for my problem who was very capable and thorough, no problem there, I had called that morning, after all.

After she did all the appropriate examinations and test, she put in the referral via fax for the gastroenterologist for my way overdue consultation and colonoscopy, it had been since 2002 when I had my last one and polyps were biopsied and found to be benign, thankfully.

I had lost a first cousin from colon cancer back in 1986 in his fifties then and more recently my niece who also died from this insidious disease thirteen days before her fifty-first birthday in 2006. She was my nineteen years my senior half brother's daughter who was only five years younger than me. Now with my cousin who is doing our genealogy verifying that we are Ashkenazi Jews whom historically have a more likely sadly contraction to three cancers: breast, ovarian as well as colon. No one knows why this is only that it is similar to all genetic anomalies that seems to be not uncommon for us including the BRCA 2 gene that is also unhappily amongst us.

So I was told that the gastro's office would call today, or so I thought.

And I reread my copy which did say they would call me but also said if they had trouble making an appointment to call my referring doctor. Meanwhile I didn't know why I couldn't just call, hmm?
So I called after nine A.M. and no one answered the line only a recording stating their office hours to call then, but it started at nine and it was after.
I called back my dr's office and got a grumpy woman who said to wait till they call.
I do not have a HMO I have a PPO which allows me to make my own doctors' appointments without needing a referral from a gatekeeper, I thought maybe they were confused.


So I did wait most of the day, took the phone with me even in the bathroom during my shower and outside when taking Gus out since Hubby was gone for the day keeping our promise to our son moving his 365 Pearson Ketch from Palmetto Florida to Apollo Beach where he will be living aboard moving it via the waterways, an all day event/ promise that I felt  he should keep and so he did, he's on his way home now, lotsa PICS taken for tomorrow's night's blog.

I called my doctor's this afternoon to get permission to call the gastro's office, okay not true, but asked why I couldn't/shouldn't?
The two I spoke with there said sure I could, but it usually takes a few days before they call back, and I said WHAT???
I wasn't told that.

I was called today, this morning, to verify my neuro appointment for Wednesday that was made six months ago, but I rescheduled that due to not knowing when I was going to be going to the gastro's appointment, before this new info was given to me late afternoon around three thirty.

Oops, when I finally spoke with the appointment gal at the gastro's office she said that they make all their appointments on Fridays!
I said that I was worried and foolishly told this person my symptoms which she promptly gave me her diagnosis of hemorrhoids!
I said that she is probably right, but even so I was concerned and she offered me two dates for an appointment, one in the wee hours of the morning of next Monday that Hubby would never go for and the following week at mid-morning, and so I took that one, two weeks from today.
Another medical tidbit/dx from this receptionist was, if I begin to hemorrhage profusely that I should go to the ER, duh?
And is it even legal for her to diagnose future clients? Methinks NOT!
Hope the doctor is better than his office personnel, worried...


Fortunately, my situation seems once again to have stalled plumbing functioning wise.
Each day is different, fever, tummy pain, and the above mentioned, so on that note allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

The Adventures of my true TMI Tummy Tales

Hard waste has left the body today, but not without leaving its abundant red fluid-atious marks etched in it and my forever history of this mini personal horror story of hopefully/probably no real concern... from minor to lethal possibilities! Fever fluctuates, dose five of Cipro tonight, 500mg.2X daily, I have had more; three or four times a day historically. Appetite functioning, good sign, downing  anti-oxidant/super foods.
Must stop reading and self dxing online.
Directive to call new gastro doc first thing tomorrow, they have sent him a fax I do believe, it was late Friday when I left.
Stay tuned...and please stay well.

System has appeared to have stalled

Body not having all plumbing working, solids side not functioning, appetite better though, fever still here, weird belly feelings with too many conflicting happenings...more later.
Hope all is well with you.

worse

blood clots from body since last night, cold sweat, running temperature, so antibiotic, Cipro via doctor office visit also referral to gastroenterologist new, colonoscopy next week, dr. test showed occult blood.

its back...

ttt

I am covered!

Commitment is nothing that I have ever been afraid of; after all we have been married now for over forty-four years. And I am more than sure many have thought though in spite of that that I should be have been committed years ago many a time, bud dump bum, but that hasn’t happened to date, yet, thankfully, wink, wink.

Any-who, today was the day I became a grown-up, yes kiddies a real grown-up!

I am officially in the system to be covered 100% by my supplemental of the letter “N” to my additional Medicare with A, B & even D! All in some wildly affordable alphabet soup of care, yippy!

Being less than what my nightmare medical care had been previously, and I use the word loosely, and all those years having to have had to pay out!

Papers were signed and sealed, and within a few days money will be withdrawn from our account. I know, I know, but cheapo person here and concerned  person Hubby and I came to an understanding that we were NOT dealing with a fly-by-night company but a long existing company and so to my liking we will also be saving $132 a year by doing this… sure it is not an extremely large amount but it is something and nothing to sneeze at!

Moving on and stepping away from the Medicare topic!

Hubby has been redoing our larger dock, the 20’X24’, not the finger pier since that has stayed fine all this time.

The larger dock has pressure treated boards and was last redone way back after Hurricane Charley had its way with her…fall of 2004, methinks. So the fact that it's been a wee bit funky over these last few years with bad boards that curl, but oddly enough lie down when rain hits them even though they had been waterproofed, is way too weird and unexplainable, even when new boards were replaced in the same areas.

Sure if we were very wealthy we could replace the whole shebang with composite boards made from recycled materials, but the price for that would be way too dear for our pockets; tens of thousands so we have been told.

Problem solving is one thing Hubby and I like knowing that we have done so often over all these years due to tight budgetary concerns and this is what he and I thought would work, mostly him since while cutting out the bad boards we had already determined that the dock’s size was more than we actually needed, and so Hubby is recycling the really bad boards into the hole as a partial filler while the better ones are being turned over and used looking rather great in my unbiased opinion like brand new ones!

The new dock style will revert to its original sort of upside down “L” shape/form. The skeletal area that is seen to its right is mostly on this side of the seawall and is slowly being filled in with soil and clean debris etc., and grass will eventually cover it. The remainder will be open to the water. The “L’s” width is actually eight feet at its narrowest and twenty-four feet long to the end of the dock’s current location, but will go to the right and will be at an eight foot width too but a total of twenty feet long across the water, all recycled, turned over boards or new boards if needed but probably not.

On that note with much hope for Hubby’s idea project to be done as soon as he can and as you may have also noticed that the lift had been repaired weeks ago by him with our boat on it and this is the last big project outside for now. Allow me then to wish all of you all a very happy good night and ask all of you to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know who and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!