Sweet Summer

Loving the lazy summer days, and today was an especially good one. Ol' Abner has diabetes and it's been a struggle controlling his blood sugar and dealing with the side effects of the high side. Today he visited his medical practitioner for lab results and was pleasantly apprised of the success of insulin usage. We left the office feeling a sense of relief that the frightening trend has finally been slowed or maybe even reversed.

This evening we joined friends along with some of their visiting family for dinner to celebrate a birthday. The company was pleasant and we ended the visit at their home with a dessert of birthday cake. Ol' Abner indulged in a very small piece and noted a slightly elevated blood sugar level when he tested on our return home. He didn't seem to be feeling the awful effects usually resulting from ingestion of sugar. We know he cannot enjoy large quantities of his favorite sweets, but an occasional small serving probably will not cause serious repercussions.

An appointment was scheduled with a local podiatrist today to deal with his chronic ingrown toenails. High blood sugar previously precluded this intervention and he has suffered all summer with constant foot pain. Our hope is to resolve the toenail issue so he can enjoy his walks with the dog and wear his boots for a motorcycle ride.

Ah yes, summer is getting better all the time

Talk

Dogpatch has been a little crowded this weekend. Those relying on only a cell phone for communication have been tested. Several hundred young active wake boarders and their friends have descended on our lake for Bro-Stock Championship Competition. We have avoided the lake since I much prefer a gentler ride than can be enjoyed with all the speed boats and the wake boards in tow whipping up the wake. Weather was perfect for the spectacle. Little wind and lots of sun assured the best view for those watching the competition or those watching the crowd. Pretty much every visitor came equipped with a cell phone and constant texting or talking capability. At our Saturday morning breakfast (which used three times the normal allotted time), Sis in law was completely flustered by her inability to reach the dog groomer where the four legged kid had been deposited for a fresh new look. I seldom worry about such things as functional cell phone. Mine is used more for games and those can usually wait. We have a land line and if you know the number or can access information, we can always be reached. Maybe that's why we live in Dogpatch....we like things just a little old fashioned.

Nosey

It would seem I am fully recovered from my surgical episode. Two visits last week for a light to shine where previously it would not, resulted in a declaration of success from my nose specialist. It is such a joy to be able to sleep through the night without awaking to blow my nose. For a couple of weeks I was sure that ability would bring satisfaction. Now I know! Just being able to take a breath without thinking about it and never thinking about needing to blow my nose is optimal. Life is good.

Blow

About fifteen years ago a blow to the nose began a process that I hope will end soon. Damage was evident at the time in the black eye I sported for several days. When that wound healed, it was all over...or so I thought. A few months later, I suffered a sinus infection followed by another the same year. Previously my bouts with sinusitis triggered by allergies were alternate year events. I had laughingly referred to them as West Texas-itis when we lived along the Texas coast. Laryngitis, sniffles, headaches and sometimes a round of green discharge from the nose. The greeness generally prompted a visit to the doc for a round of antibiotics. No big deal every two or three years. The last four or five years I've been hosting a nasal circus. Ring one is constant drainage, usually green. Ring two brings laryngitis and often the ensuing sore throat. In ring three the allergic flare ups that lead to migraine like headaches. The movement from one ring to another reached its crescendo last month and I finally succumbed to the recommendation that I have a specialist review my nasal passages.

Surgical intervention was a forgone conclusion...and I dreaded it mightily. Oh yes, I can remember the black eyes and miserable strings hanging out of other noses and had no disire to partake of the experience. My doctor assured me that new technology made it a little easier on the patient (oh wait..that's me!), but my thoughts prior to the surgery were seriously bleak. I hoped that I might just not awake if the misery lived up to my imagination.

It's been six days since the infamous surgical event and I still live and breathe in Dogpatch. Ol' Abner has cooked all the meals and waited on me as though I am an invalid. Amazing, the things one cannot do without bending over. Removal of the packing two days after was not nearly as traumatic as I predicted. In fact, it was over just as I worked up a big hunk of dread. It was out and the doctor was calmly holding my wrist to check my pulse. Saline solution sprays into the nasal cavities several times daily keep me breathing easily and I have really had very little pain. One more trip to the surgeon's office is scheduled for removal of the splints still holding my newly straightened nose intact. Maybe I'll be released after that. I won't really feel over this til I can blow my nose.