Well...Finally!
Finally, What, juvat?
Well, maybe, just maybe, the moons of Jupiter are in alignment and the events of the past 11 months are behind us.
Off topic, but I thought this was fairly interesting and aligning The Moons of Jupiter kinda rang a bell. Watch or not, I'll be waiting here.
Our last episode related Dr visit is Wednesday with the radiologist. We then fall back to our normal schedule with our GP. A yearly PET Scan just in case and visit to the specialists if called for.
Just to put the whole episode in Fighter Pilot understandable terms. The last 11 months on the calendar had a minimum of two doctor visits a week on every one of those calendar pages. Thank you Medicare and Tricare for Life!
Just got off a video chat with Little J and gang. Nothing catastrophic, just an update on what's what and watching Miss B goofing around with her toys while causing her grandparents to respond with great bouts of laughter. She's 2 1/4 YO and seems to have made the change of station with no real problems. The Nanny had passed her testing requirements to move to Great Britain, which will allow LJW to begin working and that will take a lot of stress off.
Speaking of video chats. I still have a hard time believing in the communication technology improvements made since I was stationed at Kunsan AB, ROK. Called home to talk to my Folks and get over the "Deployed for Christmas" blues. 10 minute call cost me well over $100, which back then was a significant chunk of a 2LT's paycheck. We goofed around on this video call for well over an hour. Cost us?
Nada!
Ain't Technology grand
Oh and Beans, Miss B and I had a contest. The goal was to see who could drool the furthest off their chin before it broke and fell.
Poor Girl never had a chance!!!!
On a serious note.
One thing that did come around and impact the way of living round here while Mrs J was sick, was the "What If?" What if something happened to me while she was in the hospital or at home by herself? No good answers and I spent a good amount of time in the middle of the night trying to figure out answers. Our nearest family members are in College Station a couple of hundred miles away.
Fortunately, nothing catastrophic occurred, but...
We're going to start doing the research/planning to move to that area sometime early next year. Lot of balls up in the air that we'll have to figure out how to handle.
I found this tutorial quite handy in taking care of the Balls in the Air portion of this project.
And, Yes, Beans. This post was completely written, edited and visually enhanced on the MacBook Pro. Think I'm gonna go take a nap!
Peace Out Y'all!
That's one very interesting first vid, always good to increase one's knowledge base, even at this time of the morning....... :) Encouraging to read that a yearly scan is in the offing juvat, I'm two years into my every six month scan of the lungs for the first five years after surgery. Yah, lots of research and prep for that move, Someone close by is a Good Thing.
ReplyDeleteNylon,
DeleteThanks, I thought the video was interesting also.
Lotta good reasons to move closer to family. The safety factor obviously, but there's also the additional pull of grandkids and watching them grow up. So, just got to get the ball rolling.
juvat
A lot going on down there in Texas, prayers up!
ReplyDeleteNothing like a little astronomy to start the week!
Thanks, Boss!
DeleteGreat news on the health outcomes Juvat. I have to agree on the Medicare and Tricare comment. After a major heart attack, afib surgery, and lung cancer zero out of pocket. Those 22 years are starting to pay off, (although that's not why I did them). I just hope we don't elect some clown who will manage screw up the system.
ReplyDeleteI have said here before about how great grandkids are and had I known I would've had them first.
Flugelman,
DeleteLotta truth in that first paragraph, especially that last sentence. AMEN!
As I mentioned above, the grandkids are a big factor in the decision.
juvat
Great news. Go for it, while you can. Next wine cruise will be...?
ReplyDeleteJB
JB,
DeleteMarch of '26 Basel to Amsterdam. If you're interested, contact Sarge and he can give you my contact info. We've been on several, both ocean and river. Entirely different cruises, but both very fun!
juvat
Juvat - So glad to hear Little J and the clan have settled in nicely. I bet that is a huge mental relief.
ReplyDeleteOn your phone call note - just last Friday Nighean Gheal called from South Korea for a chat of over an own. It is amazing to my mind that we are thousands of miles away and yet there we were, both have incredibly clear conversations (remember what the phone lines sounded like) in the comfort of our individual homes, not crammed into a phone booth.
The relocation sounds like a solid plan to me. Having just been through almost four years of shuttling back and forth to help with my own parents, it has definitely got me thinking along the same sorts of lines.
THBB,
DeleteWe are too, obviously. Wish it were a tad closer, but the three of them are all pretty happy, so so are we.
As to needing help. There's that old adage "You don't need help, til you need help and then...You need it BAD!" Would like to avoid that as much as possible.
juvat
Moving is a BIG thing but I've known a few folks who have packed up & done that to be closer to the kids/grandkids.
DeleteSome years back I was at a rest area talking to an older gentleman pulling a harbor freight trailer with a table saw & some other "like" stuff in the back, I asked him about it. He was moving to his son's as his son and finally talked him into it... I had the impression he was doing what he had to do.
Good luck...
Rob,
DeleteWell we haven't reached the "had to do" stage, but it'll be a lot easier to do now than when we do get to that stage. So...
Thanks.
juvat
Some years back I told my daughter that I was "not crippled enough yet" to move to her place and get old doing child care. I love my kids and grandkids but I can still live my life as I wish and hanging it up to go live with the kids is not something I want to do before I have to.
DeleteRob, Good points all.
Deletejuvat
I feel for you. I don't enjoy those middle of the night conversations in my brain- rarely do they resolve anything, and they don't help me sleep. Get that ticker back in shape and maybe you can rest better, although the move wouldn't hurt either. However, you just moved in!
ReplyDeleteTuna,
DeleteGlad I'm not the only one, and you're right, they rarely resolve anything and I usually wake up having forgotten the "perfect" solution to the problem.
It's been 4 years since we moved in. I like this place and our property is off the beaten path and thus quiet. Maybe I'll see if I can't convince The Rev and MBD to move here! Given their affiliation with a certain University in College Station, I think I'm going to fail though.
juvat
So happy to hear that the little one is happy and playing. And that your better half is getting nothing but good news now.
ReplyDeleteThere are always medical alert button you wear around your neck. But retired Dr. friend has a watch with a feature that if he's anywhere in the world the watch will send alert for medical help. I'll see him tomorrow and get the name as he's had 2 strokes and a major heart problem. And he's a major stickler for getting the best.
Anon,
DeletePlease do. It sounds like it might be an Apple Watch which pairs with an iPhone and takes medical data and stores it on the phone in an app. The App can then be read by the Dr's and such and helps them figure out what was going on before you got to the ER. As you might assume, I have one of those and it came in quite helpful recently.
But, if it's not, please send the info. Bigger, Better, Faster is important to me.
juvat
Two days ago wife got a notification that her 92 yo mother had fallen (all the kids received the notification), the GPS location was used to find & help her. She's fine but the iPhone-Apple Watch did it's thing and that was huge!
DeleteRob,
DeleteThe GPS location of her fall was reported by the iPhone/Apple Watch? Do you know the App's name? That would be a pretty handy to have app!
juvat
I don't know the model number but my wife says her Apple watch will do that and she has had it at least 3 or 4 years now. I'll bet Apple would be more than willing to explain it to you..
DeleteRob, thanks, got an Apple Watch on right now. Will do some research. Thanks.
Deletejuvat
Juvat, second the Apple Watch health hookup. My brother in law had an afib incident. The watch captured the whole thing and the doctors were able to look at the data and diagnose.
DeleteTHBB,
DeleteThanks, found the menu to get that functionality going. As I've said before, "You don't need it, til you need it, then you need it...BAD!"
juvat
I often have the "What will happen to Mrs. Andrew if I have to go to the hospital?" internal conversation. There's really no good option on this side, sadly. My family has its own issues and her family needs to catch the business end of a shotgun or flamethrower. So the only consideration when we moved from house to apartment was distance from hospital and EMS. And can the stretcher make it in the door.
ReplyDeleteSucks to be getting old.
As to your current location, talk to your doctors and TriCare and see what type of home health care you have available to you in your area. Yes, it's nice to live near family but it's also nice to have some distance and you've got a nice spread out there. Who wants to move into the city until you absolutely have to. Plus, is the College Station Crowd firmly embedded in College Station or is the Rev potentially moveable?
If you can get all the emergency services where you are, and serve as vacation station to the extended family, then that's also something to consider.
Yes, when you're 70 or 80, or your healths are really bad, moving isn't a bad thing. But enjoy the country life as much as possible.
Beans,
DeleteAll good points, and the decision hasn't been made yet or finally.
They're pretty big Aggie Fans and they're only a block away from Kyle Field, so...having them move is nigh on to impossible. Our hospital just got bought out by Methodist Health Care and a lot of the people aren't happy about that. Which is a shame because previously it was an excellent hospital. Could be just the transition though. MrsJ had home health care post surgery. It wasn't as smooth as it should have been. I'd rate it an "OK, not Great!" We're still trying to get her ostomy supplies orders sorted out. She want's a very specific type and they haven't provided it routinely yet. She's getting ready to take it up the chain the next time it gets screwed up.
But, all good considerations, thanks
juvat
There's a guy whose blog I used to read until he shut it down. Retired Marine, he built a really nice 3 story house and compound on the side of a hill in Georgia. And then he got old. All the preps and supplies and it got to the point he and his wife couldn't climb up or down the stairs and the driveway was way too sloped to travel up or down during icy or muddy conditions.
DeleteWhere you're going to live in 'old age' often changes when the reality of old age hits.
I've liked the thought of multi-story houses and basements and stuff like that, but in reality, nah, single level is the way to go. I've also liked the idea of living out in the country but I don't like caliche/limerock roads, my allergies to Nature are rather severe and I don't like being farther than 10 minutes away from a drugstore. So, well, here I am.
I hate how life intrudes on well-ordered plans.
Beans,
DeleteI hear ya, Friend, I hear ya!
juvat
Where my parents lived, many of their friends who were a decade or more older than they eventually ended up moving down the hill to the town I grew up in. It just got to be too much for them to handle in terms of general living and maintenance.
DeleteAnd yes, single story is totally the way to go!
THBB,
DeleteI don't think I'm there yet, but better to get it done earlier when you're more able. That's my plan anyways, we'll see what fortune has in store for me.
juvat
Great news, juvat!
ReplyDeleteI used to run "Phone Patches" from the Amatuer Radio and MARS stations to folks in the Chicago area from their deployed loved ones. Things always got busy at the holidays!
DrJim
DeleteI'll bet it did get busy, but having taken advantage of the system/service, I'd like to say thank you for your efforts. It made a difference.
juvat
You're very welcome. It was quite a thrill for a high-school kid to our servicemen!
DeleteDrJim,
DeleteI'm sure it was and probably got you firmly set on either a challenging career path or a fascinating hobby (or both). So...Win/Win.
juvat
This column hits home for me. When my parents were failing, I took care of them at home. Hospice enabled me to keep them in their own bedroom and die at home. Sold the house a few years later, and moved into a condo on the second floor, with no elevator. Two months later I was diagnosed with RA and lupus, plus a few related syndromes. I'm still here, but the stairs are getting to be a real problem. I'm hoping to get another new knee in 2025, but my hip and back are giving me trouble. After my COVID and pneumonia in January, & now COPD & asthma, it's gotten really hard. I have friends, but they are either involved in grandchild care, or suffering with their own health problems. I think it's time to move to Houston permanently, to be close to my brothers. Good medical facilities, lots of new restaurants, and family! Getting old & frail sucks!
DeleteMary,
DeleteSorry I'm late to the fight. Your story hits home with the concerns we are thinking through in this repositioning. It also gave me a couple of other "consequences" to think through, so Thank You!
Hope all goes well with your Houston option.
juvat