Month: April 2021

Well, there it is. On Wednesday, April 21st, I had my Brachytherapy surgery. At the same time Jake the Electrician showed up to finish wiring the garage addition and catio. Here is how the week went down.

On Monday I went to Rochester to have my Mayo Clinic pre-surgery evaluation and consultation with the doctor. As part of this visit I had a blood draw and a COVID-19 nasal swab test. (Test came back negative.) The doctor did a thorough job of explaining the procedure and what I could expect. The procedure is pretty routine at this point and the only questions I had dealt with how and where Pam would pick me up after the procedure. A location where Pam could drive in and collect me was established. It was the Charlton Building, part of the Mayo campus. I was given a prescription for some antibiotics and Flowmax. The latter was to help reduce the symptoms of a swollen prostate that would be one of the side effects of the surgery. All in all Monday was an 11 hour day with a couple hundred miles put on the car.

Tuesday afternoon we drove to Rochester yet again. After a stop at the craft store, Pam drove me to the hotel where I would stay that night, the Kahler Grand Hotel (which is right across the street from the Mayo Clinic hospital). The hotel has “Grand” in the title but is pretty much like any other hotel you might have stayed at. Slightly worn carpets covered the floors, but the room was clean and quiet. I settled in for a night of restless sleep.

Wednesday I was up bright and early with the 5:00 a.m. wake-up call, having a Mayo check-in time of 6:00 AM. I checked out of the Kahler Grand and walked across to the hospital and checked in. Taken to a room, I was issued a hospital gown and a pair of footie slippers. My overnight bag and other clothing were stored in a locker.

I will mention the gown, as it was not your typical hospital attire. Although it tied at the waist, there were velcro enclosures at the shoulders. The reason became clear as I would be on my back for the entire process, and these openings allowed the doctors and staff to ‘peel back’ the top of the gown to place monitoring sensors. The gown also had provisions to circulate warm or cool air; neither was used this time around.

At this point I was prepped and in the surgical room, but the anesthesiologist was delayed by an earlier surgery running long. I spent some time making small talk with the rest of the surgical crew until she arrived.

The next thing I knew I woke up back in the room where I had first been taken and where my clothing was stored. The procedure had lasted about 3 hours; by this time it was already early afternoon. The staff had me walk a bit, answer questions, and complete a dismissal check list.

Pam was able to pick me up around 4:00 PM. Although I was wheeled down to the pick up point, I walked and carried my overnight bag out to the car. I hadn’t had anything to eat all day, so on the way home we stopped at a small grocery store outside Rochester and Pam bought me a pint of ice cream to eat. My throat felt a bit better after that, as the hospital staff had inserted a breathing tube during the procedure and my throat was feeling pretty rough right about then.

I haven’t had many after-effects so far, other than the sore throat as a result of that breathing tube insertion. Halls cough drops have helped. As of this morning, Saturday, my throat discomfort persists but at a much lower level. I am a bit uncomfortable sitting on hard surfaces but that too is disappearing. Internal functions returned to normal without issue.

Next up is preparation for radiation beam therapy. My orientation session will be Monday the 26th with treatments beginning on the 28th. I am to receive 22 treatments in all, none on weekends. I am scheduled to be done with these by the end of May.

It will be some time until I learn the results of the Brachytherapy. Normally the prostate is monitored by blood testing for the PSA level, but I am taking medications to reduce the PSA level so the prostate is not acting on its own. That may continue for up to 18 months from my first treatment, or another 16 – 17 months. To give you some numbers, an “average” reading is around 1.8 – 2.4. My initial reading was 22.4 which caused the doctors to classify my cancer as “aggressive.” The blood test I had last Monday returned a PSA of .14. That’s right, “point 14,” very low. Time will tell where the PSA will settle after all of this is over.

I would like to thank all the people who sent me messages of support. In particular, a shout out to my friends Jim and Laura Brassfield from Colorado who sent me a box of baked goodies to cheer me up. I appreciate the positive support I received from everyone.

While my Mayo experience was the major event of the week, other things were happening as well. Jake the Electrician arrived to complete the wiring of the garage addition and catio. He completed this job on Wednesday, and I must say it is nice to have lights working from switches and no more extension cords hanging around. Among other things, Jake put in a new fuse panel and a pair of 240 volt 30 amp outlets. The outlets will let me operate larger pieces of equipment such as air compressors, although 30 amps is on the low side of the scale.

Some outside tasks were done, including putting up a bird house on the west end of the catio.

Pam had me tack up a sign she had received from her friend Julie Nickles. Julie had a career in US embassy service and had picked up this sign in Romania:

Roughly translated from Romanian, the sign says “This property is patrolled and guarded by an attack cat.” The sign is on the south side of the catio.

I managed to get a photo of a couple yellow finches at the bird feeder. (The feeder was dug in this past week and taken off the temporary base I had it on during the winter months.) Click on the photo to bring it up to full size and check the left side of the feeder.

Photo Archive

A few family photos start this section. Most were taken in the mid-80’s.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

The Mayo Clinic is quite an international place, with people of many nationalities and ages coming and going on a regular basis. Interesting to observe. But, for all its world renown, the Mayo is still a hospital, integrating new patients into its “collective” with the standard procedures – hooking up the IV (and catheter as needed), hospital gowns, etc. I wonder if the staff feels the pressure to live up to the hype of “the Mayo Clinic” reputation?

Minnesota is under a mask-wearing mandate, which is being enforced. This made it comfortable to make the stop at Michael’s craft store and to marginally interact [as needed] with the Mayo crowd. All good.

Back here in NE Iowa, once again I will be covering plants tonight as there is a freeze warning posted. I had a chat with the tulips in the Mary Lynn bed – several are about ready to bloom – I suggested they observe the closed buds of the daffodils and hold off blooming until Monday, when the temps may be as high as 70 degrees. Despite the cold temps I invited the fairies to inhabit their house in the oak tree, but I do believe they are still “snowbirding” in the south so as not to have to wear boots, mittens and mufflers. At least there have been no fairy sightings to date.

Be well. Happy Trails.

In an otherwise “ho-hum” week, we did have a couple highlights. We received our second COVID-19 shots and visited a home and garden show in Mason City.

On April 15th we drove over to Cresco, about a 25 minute drive, to receive our second COVID-19 shots. (The Regional Health group is issuing the Moderna vaccine.) We were warned that we may have reactions that were more severe than those after the first shots. Pam suffered more than I; she had a fever and cold flashes on and off for a day or so plus a sore arm. I had the sore arm and felt tired but did not have any more severe symptoms.

Be that as it may, we are pleased to have received our shots. In two weeks we will be considered to be “fully vaccinated” and will begin to expand our out-of-house activities. We will still mask and distance, however, for the foreseeable future.

We felt confident enough to attend the Mason City Home and Garden show on Friday. (Mason City is about an hour away.) While the show was fairly small and underwhelming, we did identify a house painter who does Victorian home exteriors by hand painting, not spray painting. We kept his card and will contact him for a quote sometime next spring, and see what he would charge to paint the second floor and gable shake trim. When asked did he mind painting at heights, he replied he used to paint water towers and the height didn’t bother him. As a bonus, he can also do minor repairs as needed under the eves and around windows. (Because, really, what are the odds we will need repairs on the entire second story, folks?)

Another find was a different source for cable TV. When we moved in we had signed a two-year contract with AT&T but now, after the intro period, they’re increasing monthly fees and decreasing offerings. An Iowa-based company has streaming plans starting around $35.00 per month (for two TV sets) and you get to choose what channels you wish to receive. Our current fee is now around $115.00 per month. While our current contract dies not expire until September, I will look into the “buy out” clause in our contract and see if it is worthwhile terminating the contract early and switching to the more local company.

The rest of the week was rather ho-hum. Pam continues to paint her ivy and morning glory details in the snug. I relocated a couple small bird feeders, filled them with finch food, and am pleased to see a few pairs of yellow finches visiting them.

Some yard work was done as I took out the riding mower for a first pass. This time of year the grass is ‘patchy’ with a few spots growing faster than others. The grass I planted last year near the garage additions is growing much faster than other parts of the lawn. A quick pass with the mower evened things out and picked up some of the leaves that had blown into the yard. The place looked much neater when I was done.

It has been dry enough to warrant bringing out the hose and getting some water on the plants that we relocated last fall and those we planted this spring, including the wisteria, rhubarb, and blackberry starts. I watered in a few areas where I had worked up the ground a bit and put in some grass seed.

A few days and nights have seen below average temperatures and we covered some of the more tender plants as temps dropped near or below freezing. Unfortunately, the upcoming week also promises to have night temps lower than 32 degrees so more covering is in the works. I guess we have to make up for the above-average conditions we had a couple weeks ago when temps approached the 80 degree mark.

The upcoming week promises to be a busy one for me. On Monday I go to the Mayo Clinic for a pre-surgery exam and consultation. Tuesday afternoon Pam will take me to my Rochester, MN hotel where I will stay the night, then be up bright and early (6:00 AM) to begin the Brachytherapy surgery process. Pam will have to make the return drive to Rochester that afternoon to take me home.

It’s hard to say what the first few days after the surgery will be like, but I anticipate I won’t feel like doing much. I will be starting radiation treatment but, as yet, do not have a schedule for those appointments. I would prefer to take them in Austin, MN, as that location is closer to me and the Mayo does have a facility there. We shall see.

Spring continues to progress. On our way to Mason City we saw a number of farmers working their fields. Our tulips are developing flower pods among the greenery. All of our hosta plants have poked shoots above ground, some up a couple inches. Other plants show spring growth in their new leaves and green buds. I’ve been able to open the garage doors to get some fresh air flowing through.

A trip to Walmart (in Decorah) resulted in bringing home some 12″ square paving blocks, a couple bags of topsoil, some spray paint, and a few other odds and ends. The pavers will be used in various places around the yard and the topsoil will be used as we plant more flowers. The catio door will receive a new coat of white paint. Projects and tasks continue as the weather gets better.

Nothing earth shattering happened this past week but small projects, along with Pam’s painting and my yard work, continued to receive attention. My next post will center around the Mayo Clinic experience.

Photo Archive

Many of my photos focused on “nature” photos such as the ones shown below.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

Lovin’ Spring, livin’ the retirement life. Hopeful being vaccinated will return existence to something near-normal. Toby should be fully vaccinated by next week, Felicity had her first “Fouci Ouchie” yesterday.

I try not to watch the parts of the national news that resemble a police blotter. A pandemic is not the only major problem we have in this country.

Be well. Happy Trails.

The past week saw record and near-record warm days, some rain, and now near-normal temps. As a result the yard and outside plants are turning a rich spring green. Record temperatures over the weekend really helped bring out spring growth on trees, shrubs, and newly-emerged flower plants. Here are a few shots taken around the yard.

Pam added to the ‘green up’ by continuing to “grow” ivy stencils in the snug.

I tackled a few outside projects, including edging all the sidewalks, planting grass seed in a few bare spots, picking up more leaves, and other general clean-up work. Many of these tasks fall into a maintenance category instead of projects but all take some time to complete.

I have found if I don’t edge the sidewalks a couple times a year the grass quickly encroaches on the cement. Still, this year the task was much easier than the first pass last year. No walk maintenance had been done for decades and cleaning and edging the walks was a real chore. This time the job took just over an hour.

Another pair of maintenance items focused on my ATV. I had to replace the battery, but also had to remove the winch and tighten a wire terminal on the winch controller. The winch had been operating intermittently and I wanted it fixed before the riding season gets underway. (The controller powers the winch in or out depending on the moment of a toggle switch located on the handlebar.)

Other minor tasks included getting the garden hose out of garage storage and hooking it up. It had been warm and dry enough to warrant watering some of the plants. A trip to the local farm supply store procured two blackberry bushes and three more rhubarb starts, all of which were planted within a day or two and watered in.

Rain moving in put a stop to most of the outside work, but it was a productive week just the same. Pam and I enjoy going around the yard and checking on the new starts and sprouting flowers. We had some concern about the hostas and other plants we had separated and relocated last year, but all seem to have survived the trauma pretty well and show new growth. Spring is a good time of the year.

The siding for the south wall project arrived this past week. Currently it is sitting at the west end of the garage until we can set up a painting station. The idea is to have the siding painted before Bob the Builder puts it up thus removing the job of painting siding from a ladder. A window replacement is also part of the project but lead times on new windows is six weeks or more so it may be June before work commences. This gives us time to get the siding painted before Bob arrives to install it.

None of the work done this week is major but getting these small jobs done was quite satisfying. We go into the spring with ambitious plans for the yard, house exterior, and finishing interior painting and redecorating a couple rooms. We will not have the yard work we had last year when we planted 23 trees and shrubs and relocated dozens of other flower plants. (Not to mention building the dog run and construction of the garage addition.) More jobs this year will be maintenance and minor upgrades and tweaks, but the big project will be more repairing and painting of the house exterior. We will not lack for things to do!

Photo Archive

The photos are farm scenics taken in Oregon and Wisconsin.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

The more layers of ivy I stencil onto the snug walls, the more additional ivy I see that needs to be stenciled onto the snug walls. Where will it end? (I also have stencils for mornings glories and hollyhocks – must leave a little room for them.) My sister observes that, in adding this decorative wall art to the snug, I am “having fun.”

Another visit to the dentist this week resulted in paying the ransom for a crown to cover my root canal. I do not enjoy dental visits, no, I do not. Whining isn’t satisfying though — teeth are necessary — whatcha gonna do?

Spring is a beautiful time at 702 Main. Hopefully the same applies where you are.

Be well. Happy Trails.

According to the recent forecast, NE Iowa should not experience below-freezing nights for the next week. More flower shoots are greening up and we are spending a bit more time outdoors. The past week went quickly.

Pam continues to work in the snug, painting stripes on the walls, adding ivy stencils to follow cracks in the plaster, and decorating with the bird house collection. The entire project will take more time — several weeks yet — but progress is being made. Pam wants to get the basics done indoors on the two downstairs rooms before it’s time to start painting outside.

Speaking of outside renovations, Bob the Builder arrived this past week to measure and preview a project we are contracting him to do. The southern exposure of the house, extending up both levels, needs siding removal and replacement. Where the kitchen window now sits on that wall, there was once a door — which is plainly obvious as it was poorly integrated into the siding after the door was closed up. On that same wall are the electric and water/sewer meters, the old telephone box, and the cable TV house entry. It’s a mess of patched and rotten siding. We were going to attempt this project ourselves, but opted to have a professional do it. We’ll use cement board siding for the entire surface, which should take care of future issues on this exposure.

Pam picked up a new cat-themed throw for the bench in the library and Elmo took advantage of it as a napping platform (of course).

I did more yard work and was able to take the first load of yard debris to the dump. I had driven the ATV, pulling the trailer, to the dump but once unloaded the ATV would not start due to a dead battery. Pam had to come to the rescue with the car and a set of jumper cables. (As she noted, at least she now knows where the dump is.) I have to go to the nearest Walmart today to pick up a prescription refill and will pick up a new battery as well. The existing battery was new with the ATV almost 10 years ago so it has lasted a long time.

Another minor project, which I mentioned in my last post, was to begin a reorganization of my tool box. So far I have most of my sockets organized with the help of some organizers I found on Amazon.

The warm weather has encouraged more plants to pop through the soil, as these day lilies show:

The house cats enjoy the sun coming in through the east bay window.

In avian news, a pair of yellow finches briefly stopped at the bird feeder. We know some frequent this area, having seen flashes of them last year. Time to get some finch food. (A grey squirrel has taken to looking for seeds on the ground beneath the feeder, as the birds do flick out whole sunflower and saffron seeds; this grey boy seems to like picking these up.) Recently Pam was thrilled to spot an owl that flew low through our yard and perched briefly in one of the oak trees above the catio. We think there is an owl’s nest a couple blocks west of us, as they call in the evening from time to time. It was awesome to see an owl ‘in person.’ We spotted a nuthatch out the kitchen window, headed downhill on an oak tree. Flocks of robins are gathering frequently.

This is Easter weekend so Pam and I wish everyone reading this a Happy Easter!

Photo Archive

These first couple photos are of Pam and Felicity during a trip we took to the Clark County Fair in the state of Washington. Late ’80’s. (We were living in Oregon at the time.)

These next few shots are miscellaneous critters that came before my camera.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

I hauled the overwintered plants out of the basement and onto the east porch this morning. Mixed reviews for this overwintering process. The geraniums look scraggly and leggy. Some late-arriving bulbs [planted in pots instead of the ground] are trying to thrive but look somewhat anemic. The wisteria looked dead but I see a tiny bit of green emerging on the very tippy-top. (Yay! That wisteria was an expensive purchase.) Let’s see what a little sunshine and fresh air will do for the lot. I would not be at all surprised if I have to cover them with a blanket somewhere along the line due to potential freezing temps overnight. It is, after all, early April.

The Mary Lynn Memorial plaque is out in the tulip bed. Quite a good show of tulips coming up; I planted another couple dozen in mid-November to fill in the sparse spots. Just breaking ground are several dozen daffodils making their first appearance. I take a few moments now to commune with my friend silently when checking on the bulbs’ progress, and hope she somehow/somewhere appreciates the floral display in her honor.

Be well. Happy Trails.