Category Archives: Health

2026, Fantasy, Health, Technology, Uncategorized

AI Ears

26 Comments

Husband’s hearing aids are the sort that are battery operated. At least once a week he has to replace the batteries, those tiny round ones that come in a round plastic case and that are impossible to remove from their packaging. Husband has very poor fine motor skills at this point, and it has become increasingly difficult to change the batteries. I am always worried he will drop one and a dog will swallow it.

We decided it was time to move up to rechargeable hearing aids. We visited an audiologist last week and ordered these high tech, state of the art hearing aids. They come in a nice red color that are easy to see when not in his ears. They are somehow hooked up to an AI program that causes them to mainly pick up sound from the dominant environmental sound source. They sound so wonderful I almost want to give them names and have a welcome home party. They also cost a bundle, so Husband better not lose them.

I find the emerging AI presence in our world disturbing, but I can see the benefit if used for things like hearing aids. We pick them up next week in Sioux Falls. I hope they live up to their hype.

Thoughts, fears, hopes about AI?

2026, Fantasy, Health, home, News, Uncategorized

Rumours

38 Comments

I am giggling. On Monday afternoon, Husband was in the driveway seasoning his new automatic charcoal smoker/grill, when the neighbor across the street came over to talk. She is a couple of years older than I am, and I was a high school classmate of her younger sister. Our mothers were in the same sewing club. Her family owned the Old Norwegian Boarding House in Luverne in the early years of the 20th century. Her son recently fixed our tires.

Mary asked Husband anxiously how I was doing, as another neighbor, someone we only met once, told her he heard that I had been diagnosed with dementia.

Well, this was quite a surprise! Husband had me come out to reassure Mary that I was fine, and in possession of all my faculties. She gave me an enormous hug, and said she would go have a little talk with the neighbor to let him know he was wrong, and that he had probably mixed me up with another close neighbor who actually has been diagnosed with Alzheimers. We walk our dogs with that woman, whose name is Jeanette. Her husband is a Vietnam Vet with MS and Agent Orange issues.

This is a small town. I am curious if any other residents have heard I have dementia, and how I should address it. Start reciting facts and figures? Wear a sign that says “I am cognitively intact”? Maybe I can act outrageously in public and everyone will forgive me!

How would you manage a situation like this? Ever been the subject of a rumour?

2026, Food, Health, Nature, Uncategorized

Go Fish

23 Comments

One benefit of living in the oil patch in ND was found in our local grocery store. To entice oil workers who came up from Lousiana and other southern states, the Cashwise store made a point of having a wide variety of very fresh and frozen seafood.

I don’t care at all for oysters or shrimp (shrimp is no better than eating mice, in my opinion) but the cod, salmon, lobster, clams, mussels, halibut, and crab were wonderful. I especially came to like Chilean Sea Bass.

I am somewhat disappointed with the seafood choices around our new town. The local grocery store has no fresh fish. The larger stores in Sioux Falls are better, but no sea bass. When did tilapia become so popular? I like to make a North German Fischgulash with cod or sea bass, shellfish, and scallops. The sea bass makes it particularly good.

Tuesday Husband and I made a quick SF grocery run and went to a specialty gourmet grocery and there was sea bass! I bought 3 pounds of filets and they are all safely frozen.

Our town had an ice fishing derby for kids and adults on February 14 at a spring-fed pond in town. It was 60° but the ice was 10 inches thick. They hauled out pounds and pounds of crappie, bluegill, perch, and carp. I am not sure if it was catch and release or if some of them were kept and eaten. I won’t eat freshwater fish because of all the contaminants in the ponds and lakes. The seafood I eat is probably not much better, but I can only hope.

Who is the pickiest eater you know? When was the last time you went fishing? What is your favorite fish to eat?

2026, books, Health, Uncategorized

Age And Experience

38 Comments

Husband started guitar and cello lessons, and also attends OT to improve an injured wrist. He enjoys all his activities and finds they are mutually beneficial.

The other day he mentioned feeling disconcerted because he suddenly realized that all his teachers, helpers, and guides are younger than he is. His cello teacher is in his late 20s. His guitar teacher is 40. He went on a nature hike on Sunday led by a very young naturalist. He tries to share experiences, music, recipes, etc, with them that they don’t know about or haven’t had. They are very interested in the things he talks about. He sees himself as having experience without expertise, while they have expertise without experience. He hopes that he and the others are all learning together. He says It’s like being an old book in the library that is still good but no one takes out anymore.

I don’t know why it took Husband this long to finally feel his age. Perhaps working full time until he was 71 had something to do with it.

What kind of a library book would you be? How old do you feel these days?

2026, Family, Health, Uncategorized

The Tedium Of Self Care

40 Comments

Husband has been hit pretty hard this past month getting reestablished with a variety of health care providers. We are fortunate to have the same health system here as we did in ND, so it has been easy to get records and appointments. I am waiting to get started on all this until March.

At a recent first visit with a new GP, Husband was given a course of prednisone for some sinus inflammation and referred to OT to increase the range of motion for his bum right wrist. This has meant two hours of OT sessions a week and exercises outside of appointments. He also went to the new dentist for a cleaning and check up. He has started cello and guitar lessons. He got connected with the local medical supply store for CPAP filters. All his prescriptions have been transferred to the local pharmacy. He has a considerable number he has to take every day.

At this point he is heartily sick of it all. The prednisone made him sleepless, irritable, and anxious, although it helped his sinuses quite a bit. The OT exercises are just what his wrist needs, but make his wrist sore, especially at night when he is trying to get to sleep. He really likes his music lessons but finds his medical and dental appointments cut into his practice time. The weather hasn’t been conducive to a positive attitude, either.

He is glad he is doing all this self care but finds it tedious. He knows the alternative of just doing nothing is unhealthy. It is a real pain to get older!

How are you doing with self care? How do you deal with the tedium?

2026, animals, Health, pets, Uncategorized

SAILing

43 Comments

Well, I admit defeat. I am old. I am out of shape. I am stiff and sore. I need exercise.

I went to a SAIL class on Thursday at the American Reformed Church. (That is the less conservative Dutch Reformed Church in town, in contrast to the Christian Reformed Church, which is uber conservative.) SAIL stands for Stay Active and Independent for Life. It is operated by a community organization that provides services for senior citizens, and aims to prevent falls and keep older citizens in their homes.

I realized after my decision to attend that I had no work out clothes. I haven’t owned sneakers for 10 years. We made a trip to Sioux Falls earlier in the week to remedy that.

The class lasted an hour. We marched around, worked on balance, and stretched. They supplied hand weights. Some exercises were done standing. We worked on upper body and shoulder strength and thigh muscles. For some exercises we sat. I was the youngest person in the class. Some of the folks knew my parents.

It amazes me how woefully weak and stiff I have become. I will attend these free classes twice a week. We want to get a Cesky puppy in the spring, and I need to get into shape.

How often do you exercise? What defines “old” for you? Getting any new animal companions soon?

2026, Fitness, Health, Mysteries

Biting Remarks….

40 Comments

My dental exam was Friday.  Like most folks, I don’t spring out of bed on dentist day, singing with joy and sprinkling my path with rose petals.  Honestly, if I could take a pill and never have to worry about my teeth or go to the dentist again, I’d take that pill every darn day. 

My dental history isn’t all that happy.  I have a small mouth to start with, not really enough room for all my teeth and then when my adult teeth started coming in, we discovered that I had some duplicates.  That meant tarting at the age of 9, I got the first set pulled, then wore retainers.  Then when the second set descended, those got pulled as well.  More retainers.  Then, the eventual braces, followed by more retainers.  During that time, I had another adult tooth that wasn’t breaking through the gum so had to deal with that.  5 years total.

Before marriage to wasband #1, I had my last dental exam while still on my folks’ insurance.  Dentist said all four of my wisdom teeth were there but didn’t appear to be doing anything.  Since my mom’s wisdom teeth never came in, the decision was made to leave them be.  Literally six months later (after wedding and without any dental insurance) all four came in.  They had to come out (small mouth, no room) and three of the four were impacted.

I’ll stop there, but suffice it to say I’ve had plenty more drama – broken tooth, crowns, bridge, more gum issues.  And this is all for a person who brushes and flosses every single night.  For decades.  Did I mention that my dentist growing up was my uncle?  So there was no sloughing off where the teeth were concerned.

Anyway Friday was just a cleaning but as I was laying back, I had to “un-tense” constantly.  It didn’t hurt but every few minutes I would realize that I was tensing up and have to force myself to relax.  At one point the hygienist knocked the tray with her elbow and I just about jumped out of my skin.  She said “it’s OK, you can relax” and I laughed so suddenly that I snorted.  Luckily she didn’t have any implements of destruction in my mouth at the time.  During a little break in the action, I asked her if anyone ever relaxes in the chair, she said “about half”.  That surprised me, I would have thought that most folks can’t relax.  I prefer not to be the outlier in this area.  We’ll see if that desire helps me relax next time around!  Snort.

What do dentists call the x-rays they take of your teeth?

2025, animals, Family, Health, Travel, Uncategorized

Where In The World is Jacque?

52 Comments

Today’s post comes from Jacque.

Recently, I have decided to begin traveling again.  I have husband’s care plan in place, as well as reliable people to carry it out, so I feel ready to plan travel experiences for myself.  This last week I had an opportunity to take a road trip overnight as a preliminary test of my travel plans.  My son stayed overnight with husband, and husband’s PCA (Personal Care Attendant) was scheduled for a long day so his regular activities were in place. After checking weather, which was looking unpredictable and snowy, I decided I could drive to my destinations between cold fronts.  I was out the door 1pm on Sunday.  Where did I go?

Hints:

There was an invitation from another state far away.

During my visits I encountered a dog and two cats, but one cat I did not see.

As I reached the state line Sunday evening, it snowed hard.

My group of childhood friends were there.

A Baboon was there.

Delicious treats were involved, as well as a scrumptious lunch of baked salmon.

On my way home it snowed again Monday evening about 6pm, starting in Belle Plaine, MN

In one destination the famous falls were entirely frozen and snow covered.  In the other destination the music is wonderful.

When I arrived home everyone was happy.  Puppy McGee was delighted to have   me back home.  Husband and PCA attended a fun Christmas party, and son had his usual workday here.  But he had to take a Lyft home due to the snow.

I will travel far away in April for 5 days given the success of the care plan this time.  I cannot wait!

Where in the world was I? When was the last time you got together with old friends? What was the occasion?

2025, animals, Family, Health, home, Uncategorized

Billows

34 Comments

I couldn’t find the cat yesterday afternoon, so I looked in our bedroom and found her snuggled in the down comforter we keep on our bed. She had been there for hours. You can see her in the header photo. She looks pretty comfortable, I think.

We have twelve very nice goose down pillows for the three queen size beds in our home, plus down comforters for each bed. Our friend who will live with us is allergic to feathers, so we bought two non-down pillows for her when she visits. The dog sleeps with us and also expects to have a pillow for his head at night. We are a spoiled bunch.

Husband’s allergies are so much better here. He is very allergic to cats and dust. There is very little dust compared to western North Dakota, and it seems the cat is shedding less now, probably because the humidity is higher. Our friend’s four cats will stay in the basement after she moves in, but I think we will get an air cleaner or two to mitigate any upward cat dander migration. I just had a Shark vacuum delivered that is especially good for pet hair, so I think we are covered. The dog doesn’t shed.

What kind of pillows do you prefer? Do you let pets sleep with you? If you have allergies, how do you manage them?

animals, Health, Medicine, Mysteries

Aspirational Dreams

19 Comments

Last week I had an “aspiration” done; technically I should probably say “aspirations” since I had the procedure done on both my knees.  Since it creeped me out when it was described to me, I shan’t describe it here.

Since the description was creepy and I’ve been dealing with these knee issues since the beginning of August, I had more than my usual anxiety when I settled into bed the night before.  At about 3 a.m. I was dreaming about getting my teeth cleaned (note – I’m not crazy about this procedure either).  In the dream, after the hygienist has done the top teeth, she informed me that they would be anesthetizing me to do the bottom half.  When I expressed alarm, more dentists and technicians came in to hold me down.  I continued to struggle and they told me I was making my blood pressure too high which was why they had to put me under.  It was at this point that I woke up.

I don’t normally remember my dreams when I wake up, but this one wouldn’t leave me and every time I started to drift back to sleep, I’d be back in the dentist’s chair.  At 4:30, I just got up, turned on the lights and got started on my morning puzzles. 

Of course, the aspiration was nothing to be anxious about.  With the short exception of the cortisone shots at the end, it wasn’t painful and was interesting to watch on the screen while the doctor was working.  I was able to walk out and drive home.  So that scary dream was really unwarranted.  Wish I could have explained this to my subconscious at bedtime!

Are you aspiring to anything in particular this week?