Cute pics

First picture is of a cheeky squirrel who found the nuts on the widow ledge. He (or she) was not at all afraid of Cyndi who was taking the pictures on the other side of the window. Second picture is of a black and white woodpecker who is king of the backyard. Small but with a mighty beak. The last one was supposed to be a picture of mom but my camera was set on video which I did not notice until later. But all is well that ends well. Hope you enjoy!

3 or 4 more weeks

Yesterday was busy. Took my mom to the dentist where they fixed a broken tooth of hers the best they could (and it was expensive) but they could not crown it because she can't take the amount of water and saliva that happens when they are drilling and doing tortuous stuff like that. Her swallowing reflex is delayed and she chokes really bad if a lot of water is used.So they roughed up what remained of the tooth and built on it with a resin compound. It's weak and may break at which time they will only have one solution for it and that is to pull it.  She did well for most of the visit but was really tired when we left. She didn't sleep though. She sat out on the patio and listened to music. We had hoped that the new med she got which looked promising was all that we had hoped for. Alas she had an auditory hallucination and that was upsetting, for her and for us. As long as the delusions and hallucinations are not scary we won't worry about it. We thought maybe the stress of the dental visit got to her and we're hopeful that things will settle down for her.
Later in the day I went to my doctor and he decided to put me on one more round of prednisone and gabapentin. I improved (in his opinion about 40-50 percent since my last visit) and they took x-rays and didn't see anything but some arthritis around the neck area. If I don't get back to 100 percent after this an MRI is in my future because then they will want to know if I just have a bulging disc or a ruptured disc. My arm still hurts (but not crying hurt) and tingles like you would if you hit your funny bone. This feeling is from shoulder to fingers with the fingers still being numb. This makes me cranky so I try not to let anyone suffer for it. Wish me luck!
It's hot here and the air conditioner is on. I hate summer and oh yes, I hate my pinched nerve!!!

Just Posting

Wow, I haven't posted here since March. Time certainly does fly, especially when you're not having much fun. I've been treating a pinched nerve in my neck for three weeks now. The worst pain is gone but there is still numbness in my index and middle finger of my right hand plus a stinging feeling from my neck and down my right arm. It bothers me most at night. Things are better since I've gone from crying on the floor of the living room and writhing in pain at three in the morning cursing God for my lot in life to being able to tolerate the pain I now have. It's put quite a crimp into what I'm able to do but Krystal and Frank have stepped up to help me more than they usually do, which is a lot. Tomorrow I'm taking my mom to the dentist and then I have an appointment with my doctor in the afternoon to see what I need to do next about my pinched nerve business. Next Monday we have an appointment here at home with a nurse from a company that specializes in elder home health care to see about respite care for my mom so we can get some much needed time to shop or go the movie, or just take a shower and rest, etc. I hope my mom is receptive to the home respite care but I'm not sure she will be. Wish us luck!

Meanwhile taking care of my mom takes up most of my time but she's such a sweetie and often times she makes me smile, a lot. She's taking to singing songs like Home on the Range and The Eyes of Texas. She's quite good. :-) Below is a photo of her. Her hair isn't quite as white as it looks here, she still has more of a salt and pepper color but the light was behind her and gave her this glow. I think she's beautiful.