We, along with all of you, and the rest of the U.S., have been somewhat baffled with the mild weather this Winter. I cannot remember a single January in my lifetime that was so mild. I have to admit that I have really enjoyed this mild season. It is very comfortable, it allows for more ventures out of doors and time to clean the yards. It is also comforting to know that those who have no home do not have to endure the extreme cold outdoors. How very sad to know that there are so many thousands of families in the U.S. who have no home.
Lee has been busy pruning his fruit trees and small vineyard in the backyard. He has been fortunate to have grandson, Jeffrey available to help him one to two days per week. He has been somewhat dismayed to see that his peach trees are beginning to bud. He said it would be a miracle if we had peaches this Summer. Nonetheless, it is so good to see him out of doors and able to help with some of this yardwork. Prior to his illness and since his retirement in 2005, he had planned and was able to plant his many apple trees, pear trees, and peach trees. In addition, he had begun a small vineyard for his muscadine vines. In 2008, he planted his blackberries and blueberry bushes. He now has his orchard, but it does require upkeep and maintenence. I might add, that if it is proliferative, it will require a lot of work on my part in preserving and freezing the bounty!
How wonderful it is to be able to write about our life as it is today! I honestly never thought we would be able to see Lee planning another day to work in the yard and to be pruning his trees and vines! This is truly a blessing! We do not miss a day without thankful prayers for the doctors and nurses and all the people who have helped Lee along the way.
As I write this blog, Lee is already outdoors at 9:15 this a.m. and he has plans for more projects during the afternoon hours. He never tires of planning and of having the energy to once again be working. Sometimes he finds it difficult to fall asleep at night because he is planning what to do the next day! He is looking forward to the Super Bowl on Sunday and to our grandson, John's thirteenth birthday party on Saturday evening.
And so it is, on this the last day of January, 2012, the weather promises to be sunny and warm @ 65 degrees, the days are getting a bit longer and Lee Kanipe is getting stronger and stronger. It is with great joy and a grateful heart that I end this month.
More Later...........................Brenda,
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Simple Days
It is so foggy this morning that I feel like we may have been somehow transported to the "Milky Way" overnight! From my vantage point the outside looks rather ominous with the bare trees encased in the dense fog. This is one of those mornings when I am happy to be retired and do not have to venture out. Good news is that the sun will come out later today.
Speaking of going out.....Lee seems to be on the move daily. He has some plan each day that requires his leaving the house most of the morning and sometimes in the early afternoon. He has replaced work days on the farm with many days of rehab at the center, business ventures, and lots of errands to complete that sometimes include my lists. He has discovered that activity is his key to regaining his strength, and that he is able to include his socialization with the many others he knows during these outings.
As you can see, we did not return completely to our previous lifestyles. We did return to some changes that have become a major part of our daily activities. These are good changes. I have enjoyed having some extra time for reading, for writing, and for catching up on absence of contact with my many acquaintances. In addition, there have been some medical issues for me that have required the time that I did not have during Lee's illness. These were nothing serious, , mostly just follow-ups that had been delayed.
Today Lee will go by his physician's office for his routine labs, then he will have breakfast at Bojangles and will probably meet with some of his friends there. He has some family real estate business for transaction after that. Most of his morning will be filled with activities. This afternoon he will probably have his usual social hour with the "guys" in his "man cave" downstairs. It has become the custom for 4-6 of his farmer, neighbor buddies to meet with Lee 3-5 days a week. The former meeting place used to be his shop/garage in the backyard. Prior to Lee's illness, all these friends would meet daily at one of three areas Monday through Saturday. It always followed a day of intense work on someone's farm with the reward at the end of the day to include some refreshments and to catch up on the gossip of the community. There were other important issues to be discussed, of course, such as politics, and they became the experts on that subject.....controversial maybe.....but still they were the "experts". Nonetheless, they have continued their friendship for the past 10-25 years.
Well.............time for that last cup of coffee. Lee is finally up for the day so I will join him before he leaves.
More Later.............................Brenda
Speaking of going out.....Lee seems to be on the move daily. He has some plan each day that requires his leaving the house most of the morning and sometimes in the early afternoon. He has replaced work days on the farm with many days of rehab at the center, business ventures, and lots of errands to complete that sometimes include my lists. He has discovered that activity is his key to regaining his strength, and that he is able to include his socialization with the many others he knows during these outings.
As you can see, we did not return completely to our previous lifestyles. We did return to some changes that have become a major part of our daily activities. These are good changes. I have enjoyed having some extra time for reading, for writing, and for catching up on absence of contact with my many acquaintances. In addition, there have been some medical issues for me that have required the time that I did not have during Lee's illness. These were nothing serious, , mostly just follow-ups that had been delayed.
Today Lee will go by his physician's office for his routine labs, then he will have breakfast at Bojangles and will probably meet with some of his friends there. He has some family real estate business for transaction after that. Most of his morning will be filled with activities. This afternoon he will probably have his usual social hour with the "guys" in his "man cave" downstairs. It has become the custom for 4-6 of his farmer, neighbor buddies to meet with Lee 3-5 days a week. The former meeting place used to be his shop/garage in the backyard. Prior to Lee's illness, all these friends would meet daily at one of three areas Monday through Saturday. It always followed a day of intense work on someone's farm with the reward at the end of the day to include some refreshments and to catch up on the gossip of the community. There were other important issues to be discussed, of course, such as politics, and they became the experts on that subject.....controversial maybe.....but still they were the "experts". Nonetheless, they have continued their friendship for the past 10-25 years.
Well.............time for that last cup of coffee. Lee is finally up for the day so I will join him before he leaves.
More Later.............................Brenda
Monday, January 16, 2012
No Rejection!
We were both delighted and surprised to get our report from Duke. Delighted that Lee in NOT in rejection and surprised that we received the report the next day. Our experience in the past has been to get the report the following week, usually by Monday or Tuesday.
This was a relief because our conversation with the doctor on Thursday indicated that if he would show rejection again, the treatment this time would have to be another hospitilization @ Duke and the treatment would be with "horse" serum rather than the rabbit serum. This caused some anxiety on my part because I had been given access to some information regarding some others who had this treatment and it did have lots of complications. We are hopeful that the anti-rejection medications ( both the myfortic and the prednisone have been doubled ) are keeping his rejection under control. The down side of this much medicine is that it is very hard on the kidneys and the liver when maintained over a long period of time. His rejection began when he was either taken off some of his medicine in June of last year, or the dose had been reduced to one-half. At any rate, we are glad this is working now!
I will be getting my second cataract procedure on Wednesday. This will be eagerly anticipated! I have experienced some really bad headaches from eye strain on the cataract-affected eye, and a great deal of difficulty trying to drive at night! I discovered this nightmare when we were discharged from the clinic on Thursday, after dark, and I was the DD. My new lens showed a glare of haloes around the on-coming lights, and my cataract lens showed starburst. Because I had no depth perception at that time, I was a disaster behind the wheel! Somehow, I managed to get us to a local restaurant (Lee was starving....a long day with no food!) After we settled into the restaurant, he announced that he would be driving back (even though I had signed his release signifying I would be responsible for his not driving for 24 hours ), I did not argue with him and he drove the 4-5 blocks back to the condo. I know now that I absolutely will not drive at night until I get the other lens in place.
Actually, I am vey pleased with the restore lens! I can read with one eye, and discovered that I can read the piano music now with NO glasses..............I love it! Strange that now all our adult children are experiencing presbyopia (old age vision) while I am now experiencing normal eyesight. I even have to hold print closer to read! The bad news is that I am seeing for the first time an older me! In fact, I did not realize how blind I was until I began to see things I had missed. For example: While sitting in the clinic last Thursday, I happened to see something white on my favorite red winter jacket.....on closer inspection, I discovered it was part of the jacket's deterioration. By that, I mean, the jacket was literally coming apart in several places! I had not been able to see that! After that discovery, I began to look at the rest of my attire, and my comfortable tennis shoes showed more signs of wear and tear than I usually allow! I really do have nicer clothes, but always wear the most comfortable ones on our clinic days!
I am now shopping for another coat and some more comfortable sports shoes..........The others will just have to bite the dust!
More Later..............................Brenda
This was a relief because our conversation with the doctor on Thursday indicated that if he would show rejection again, the treatment this time would have to be another hospitilization @ Duke and the treatment would be with "horse" serum rather than the rabbit serum. This caused some anxiety on my part because I had been given access to some information regarding some others who had this treatment and it did have lots of complications. We are hopeful that the anti-rejection medications ( both the myfortic and the prednisone have been doubled ) are keeping his rejection under control. The down side of this much medicine is that it is very hard on the kidneys and the liver when maintained over a long period of time. His rejection began when he was either taken off some of his medicine in June of last year, or the dose had been reduced to one-half. At any rate, we are glad this is working now!
I will be getting my second cataract procedure on Wednesday. This will be eagerly anticipated! I have experienced some really bad headaches from eye strain on the cataract-affected eye, and a great deal of difficulty trying to drive at night! I discovered this nightmare when we were discharged from the clinic on Thursday, after dark, and I was the DD. My new lens showed a glare of haloes around the on-coming lights, and my cataract lens showed starburst. Because I had no depth perception at that time, I was a disaster behind the wheel! Somehow, I managed to get us to a local restaurant (Lee was starving....a long day with no food!) After we settled into the restaurant, he announced that he would be driving back (even though I had signed his release signifying I would be responsible for his not driving for 24 hours ), I did not argue with him and he drove the 4-5 blocks back to the condo. I know now that I absolutely will not drive at night until I get the other lens in place.
Actually, I am vey pleased with the restore lens! I can read with one eye, and discovered that I can read the piano music now with NO glasses..............I love it! Strange that now all our adult children are experiencing presbyopia (old age vision) while I am now experiencing normal eyesight. I even have to hold print closer to read! The bad news is that I am seeing for the first time an older me! In fact, I did not realize how blind I was until I began to see things I had missed. For example: While sitting in the clinic last Thursday, I happened to see something white on my favorite red winter jacket.....on closer inspection, I discovered it was part of the jacket's deterioration. By that, I mean, the jacket was literally coming apart in several places! I had not been able to see that! After that discovery, I began to look at the rest of my attire, and my comfortable tennis shoes showed more signs of wear and tear than I usually allow! I really do have nicer clothes, but always wear the most comfortable ones on our clinic days!
I am now shopping for another coat and some more comfortable sports shoes..........The others will just have to bite the dust!
More Later..............................Brenda
Sunday, January 8, 2012
A Home Town Sunday
Today as Lee and I were leaving to go to our church, I turned and looked at him. He looked so handsome in his new sports coat (one that fits and does not look so large!). It seems we both spoke at the same time, acknowledging how nice it was to be able to attend church again. Even though the weather was overcast with threatening rain, we felt the warmth of the day for the blessing of being able to resume our normal Sunday as before Lee's illness.
We are constantly aware of how important time is, and why we have to stop and speak of our deep appreciation of having that time once again. I suppose it is kin to the movie that Lee and I saw five or six years ago called "The Bucket List". At the time, we were only concerned about seeing two of our favorite actors portraying two senior guys and how they decided to spend the rest of their lives (which was, by the way, being shortened due to a diagnosis of cancer). Our anticipation was centered around the humorous aspects of the movie. It was only after we were leaving that the impact of what we had been watching really occurred to us...................time is valuable.................do what you most desire when the opportunities arise.
Looking back on the choices we made these past ten or so years, we are glad that we made those trips and did not wait for another time. We are glad we have spent so many wonderful weeks at the beach with our children and grandchildren. Lee is happy that he took that balloon ride many years ago when he visited his middle son in California. We have been fortunate to enjoy retirement, knowing that we were successful in our chosen careers, and that we gave it our best.
Looking ahead with the memories in the background, we still have things to do. Lee is committed to helping others along the way who may be experiencing the decision to have an organ transplant. He is also busy with some speaking engagements that encourage others to seriously consider becoming an organ donor. I, too, have become somewhat of an encourager to others based on my experience with cancer, and my time as a caregiver for Lee. We hope, that somehow, along our life's journey, we have had a positive influence on others we have met. We are grateful for all those who have had a positive influence on us as they have shared their life stories. Each day I listen as I hear Lee's prayers lifted up in thankfulness for yet another day. He doesn't ask for more, he has a grateful heart for all he has been given.
We will be returning to Duke next week for all the tests, etc. on January 12. This will require two overnights for us, and we plan to leave on Wednesday and return on Friday. It will be a very long day for Lee on Thursday: Clinic in a.m............see Dr. @ 1:00........bronchoscopy @ 3:15. We will probably be in the clinic from 8:00 a.m. through 7:00 pm. Good to stay at Duke Towers and get a restful night before returning.
I had my first cataract surgery this past Wednesday..............very pleased so far. Easy procedure! Unbelievable!
More Later...............................Brenda
We are constantly aware of how important time is, and why we have to stop and speak of our deep appreciation of having that time once again. I suppose it is kin to the movie that Lee and I saw five or six years ago called "The Bucket List". At the time, we were only concerned about seeing two of our favorite actors portraying two senior guys and how they decided to spend the rest of their lives (which was, by the way, being shortened due to a diagnosis of cancer). Our anticipation was centered around the humorous aspects of the movie. It was only after we were leaving that the impact of what we had been watching really occurred to us...................time is valuable.................do what you most desire when the opportunities arise.
Looking back on the choices we made these past ten or so years, we are glad that we made those trips and did not wait for another time. We are glad we have spent so many wonderful weeks at the beach with our children and grandchildren. Lee is happy that he took that balloon ride many years ago when he visited his middle son in California. We have been fortunate to enjoy retirement, knowing that we were successful in our chosen careers, and that we gave it our best.
Looking ahead with the memories in the background, we still have things to do. Lee is committed to helping others along the way who may be experiencing the decision to have an organ transplant. He is also busy with some speaking engagements that encourage others to seriously consider becoming an organ donor. I, too, have become somewhat of an encourager to others based on my experience with cancer, and my time as a caregiver for Lee. We hope, that somehow, along our life's journey, we have had a positive influence on others we have met. We are grateful for all those who have had a positive influence on us as they have shared their life stories. Each day I listen as I hear Lee's prayers lifted up in thankfulness for yet another day. He doesn't ask for more, he has a grateful heart for all he has been given.
We will be returning to Duke next week for all the tests, etc. on January 12. This will require two overnights for us, and we plan to leave on Wednesday and return on Friday. It will be a very long day for Lee on Thursday: Clinic in a.m............see Dr. @ 1:00........bronchoscopy @ 3:15. We will probably be in the clinic from 8:00 a.m. through 7:00 pm. Good to stay at Duke Towers and get a restful night before returning.
I had my first cataract surgery this past Wednesday..............very pleased so far. Easy procedure! Unbelievable!
More Later...............................Brenda
Monday, January 2, 2012
Winter 2012
Today we ushered in the first of cold weather, that will probably continue for the next three months. At least , that is the way it usually is. After a surprisingly warm December, this day, January 2, 2012 appears to be warning us that those warm days may just be a thing of the past. The sun is shining, but the bite in the air carries a chill. Guess we will turn on the gas logs tonight, and reset the electric blanket from 5 to 10!
Good news is that daughter, Julia was here over the week-end and now all of my Christmas is not only down, but neatly stored away until next year! She managed to accomplish in the span of 2-3 hours what would have taken me 2-3 days! After she completed that, she rewarded us with a batch of her wonderful home-made cookies! We were deliciously spoiled on New Year's Eve.
Having been caught-up in all the Holiday festivities, I failed to give you Lee's report from Duke. If you recall, our last trip there was for him to have another PH test to determine whether or not he was having reflux. The test confirmed that he WAS NOT. All tests were negative and he will not be having the stomach wrap. He was greatly relieved.
Wednesday of this week, I will be having the cataract surgery. I have elected to have the Restore lens. Hopefully, this will eliminate the necessity for glasses. My second lens implant will be on Jan. 18. My selected physician holds a record for his 6 minute procedure. A little Versed, and six minutes later I should be good to go! Wow! This procedure is way ahead of the dentist on the apprehension and pain scale! No need to be apprehensive for something that only lasts 6 minutes....and pain.....none according to my friends who have had the procedure, including Lee. We will return to Duke on January 29th for Lee's clinic and bronchoscopy on the 30th. After spending that night, we will return home on the 31st. As you can see, this is beginning to be a busy month for both of us.
Tomorrow will be our grandson, Alex's, 9th birthday.....Happy Birthday Alex! His will be followed on February 1st. by John, turning 13, and on February 10th by Will, turning 12. We have many tween and teen boys now! In addition, our great grandson, Easton, will celebrate his 1st birthday on February 25th. We will be attending many birthday celebrations during these first months of this year.
As you can see, we have so much to look forward to. We enter this new year with hopes and promises of good days ahead. We wish the same for you!
More Later................................Brenda
Good news is that daughter, Julia was here over the week-end and now all of my Christmas is not only down, but neatly stored away until next year! She managed to accomplish in the span of 2-3 hours what would have taken me 2-3 days! After she completed that, she rewarded us with a batch of her wonderful home-made cookies! We were deliciously spoiled on New Year's Eve.
Having been caught-up in all the Holiday festivities, I failed to give you Lee's report from Duke. If you recall, our last trip there was for him to have another PH test to determine whether or not he was having reflux. The test confirmed that he WAS NOT. All tests were negative and he will not be having the stomach wrap. He was greatly relieved.
Wednesday of this week, I will be having the cataract surgery. I have elected to have the Restore lens. Hopefully, this will eliminate the necessity for glasses. My second lens implant will be on Jan. 18. My selected physician holds a record for his 6 minute procedure. A little Versed, and six minutes later I should be good to go! Wow! This procedure is way ahead of the dentist on the apprehension and pain scale! No need to be apprehensive for something that only lasts 6 minutes....and pain.....none according to my friends who have had the procedure, including Lee. We will return to Duke on January 29th for Lee's clinic and bronchoscopy on the 30th. After spending that night, we will return home on the 31st. As you can see, this is beginning to be a busy month for both of us.
Tomorrow will be our grandson, Alex's, 9th birthday.....Happy Birthday Alex! His will be followed on February 1st. by John, turning 13, and on February 10th by Will, turning 12. We have many tween and teen boys now! In addition, our great grandson, Easton, will celebrate his 1st birthday on February 25th. We will be attending many birthday celebrations during these first months of this year.
As you can see, we have so much to look forward to. We enter this new year with hopes and promises of good days ahead. We wish the same for you!
More Later................................Brenda
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