I wonder the same thing! Where did all my energy go to? (and my waist too). It’s depressing. Like you, I worked all day, cooked, and managed the house hold. I love my house clean. I wanted it to always look bright, clean, and smell like sunshine! Now, I think my house looks mostly like a cloudy day, ha. I thought about having someone come in and clean once a week, but I don’t like the idea of someone in my house moving about.
July Spring Clean is going slowly; we started on the kitchen today. I'm still wondering how on earth I used to do all this stuff by myself. At our current rate we should be done by Thanksgiving. Once I get things spotless I will be interviewing house cleaners to take over. (But like Krys, I don't like to think of someone in my house messing with my stuff.) My son called earlier and had to postpone their visit for a week. Honestly I am relieved; I'm quite tired from all the ladder climbing, mopping and polishing. We have 9' ceilings in the downstairs so there's a lot of up-and-down the ladder cleaning ceiling fans and light fixtures. I'm happy to have another week to get things organized before they come. My sister told me recently that she has our dad's Smith & Wesson long barrel 38 revolver and she asked if I want it. My BIL who recently died had an arsenal of handguns, rifles, and shotguns that she is going to pass along to her grandsons. Trouble is, they already have arsenals of their own, being country boys. I'd love to have the S&W but I'm not driving 1000 miles to get it. I have a snub-nose 38 that was my dad's and no reason to want the long barrel other than it was his. Husband called Fence Guy today for an update; it has been 2 weeks and he cashed our check a week ago. He said he is running behind due to all the rain which makes sense. Hopefully he will get to us soon but I suspect he is working the biggest jobs first. We only have one side of fence that is down. Speaking of rain; it has been raining for a week or so. Supposed to keep raining for several more days. Our front lawn looks like a hay field. Our Lawn Guy (who is Fence Guy's uncle) said it is too wet to mow. I'm sensing a pattern here.
We have been having all of that rain for the last week or two also, making it hard to do much of anything outside. It is kind of off and on rain, several times a day sometimes, and not the downpour and then gone kind of rain we usually have. Of course, that brings out the mosquitoes, and they don’t seem to care if we have on the repellant or not. They are tiny little ones, so you do not really notice them like larger mosquitoes, but just as obnoxious to have swarming around when you are outside. Bobby has been trying to get out with the mower and the weedeater in between the rain, any time it dries out a little, and it is a hard thing to manage, even with only one yard; so I imagine the yard workers are having a hard time of it down there in Houston, Beth.
Not kidding here, speaking of rain. I have a mosquito hat, the netting for over any plain hat, a mosquito shirt and I think mosquito pants although I have never used them. I love my mosquito hat that includes a fold up mesh that I can use or not, depending on their mood. Only problem is that it is difficult to wipe the sweat from my brow or wherever. https://www.amazon.com/Aventik-Mosq...-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1
I think @John Brunner and @Yvonne Smith have similar hats, but I have never seen a "mosquito jacket." The mosquitoes have gotten much worse since the hurricane, and I read a report yesterday of West Nile Virus found in our area. Ugh.
Mosquitos here are bad, but not like they were in the bush. They only last a few months and don't carry any diseases that I know about. I have a mosquito hat but seldom wear it unless I am remote somewhere. Mosquitos never bothered me when young, but they do bite me now some. I don't get welts or swell, but my wife sometimes has her eyes swell shut. She covers herself with bug dope when outside for long periods.
Things are moving along. The house cleaning is going slow, but still going. It's not easy to clean baseboards with these old knees. The blinds and windows are all done, including the big round window over the staircase. Husband had to bring in his super tall extension ladder for that one. Son and family are supposed to be here on Saturday around lunchtime to spend the weekend and leave our little granddaughter. It will be good to see them if they actually show up this time. Fence Guy finally showed up and began removing old fencing and digging holes for new posts. We had the gas company come out a couple of weeks ago to mark the gas line; they put yellow paint on the ground and little yellow flags. Well, I guess the Marker Guy wasn't too swift at it because Fence Guy dug into the main gas line with his post-hole diggers and everyone had to evacuate the area while I called 911. A firetruck arrived in about 5 minutes; the firemen looked around and said to stay away from the leak area and the gas company had been notified. WTF? I guess they were bored at the Fire Station and decided to roll the pumper truck and 6 firemen out here at a cost of several hundred dollars to tax payers. Gas company crew arrived in short order. So Fence Guy and crew have gone to eat lunch while the gas company repairs the leak. I hope they will leave some ACCURATE markers of exactly where that line runs. Lucky for us, the leak is ahead of the meter so at least we don't have to pay for the leaking gas. It's always something.
Day 4 of the granddaughter's visit. We have been shopping today; I let her pick out whatever style clothes that she wanted. I figure I won't be there when the "you can't wear that to school" argument ensues. Yes, I'm unashamed to admit that I'm trying to be the favorite grandma. (Her "other" grandma refused to buy a hoodie with a skull on it so guess what came home with us today? Not sure if she can wear it to school but she can look at it and remember which grandma said "yes." ) She is a good child; very quiet and reserved and has excellent manners. I'm so glad that our kids are raising their children to be decent people with proper values. I just hope they have a decent future ahead with the craziness in this world today. She always looks forward to movie night with Grandpa. The two of them go to the movies and eat popcorn and junk food. She has selected some movie about "Wolverine" or something. I see that it is rated "R" but all the kids are flocking to see it. What is that all about?? Anyway, she and Grandpa have a date scheduled for Thursday evening so I will let them sort it out. My son is bringing a trailer when he comes to pick her up on Saturday. I'm giving him all of my "City Pickers" self-watering garden boxes and some bags of growing mix. There are 6 of them, about 24"x 24"x 12" deep and filled with soil so they are quite heavy and bulky. My DIL said she would love to have them so I will happily load her up. She's already planning some fall garden stuff so this works out well for both of us. I am going to limit my outdoor gardening pursuits to the 3 metal raised beds from this point forward. I must finally learn my limitations.
I am feeling somewhat vindicated today. I recently joined a private group on Facebook (gasp) for IBC survivors. Imagine my surprise when someone posted about torso muscle spasms and horrible cramping... and no less than 25-30 people responded that they also have them! OMG. For 3 years I have suffered with that mess and my oncologist/care team all shrugged and seemed mystified. My PCP ran all kinds of labs and pronounced everything normal. Well. Obviously there is a common thread among those of us who have had the "Standard of Care" treatment protocol for Inflammatory Breast Cancer. I have long suspected the high-power radiation with "boosts". How can all that tissue be radiated and "cooked" without some kind of residual side effects? At any rate, I feel somewhat comforted that at long last, I am not the Lone Ranger of torso cramping. I will share this revelation with my oncologist and radiation oncologist at my next visit to MDA. Today was busy with laundry and getting granddaughter (who is my namesake, BTW) packed up to go home. Her parents are coming tomorrow and will probably spend the night. She and Grandpa had so much fun at the movies last night that they decided to go again tonight. They are gone to see "Despicable Me 4" or something. I have a difficult time processing that there have been 3 previous "Despicable Me" movies... where have I been?
Well. That's good·ish news. You may not have a remedy, but you have a cause. Did anyone in that Group tell their doctors that others have experienced the same thing?
I'm sure they have. It is more of a "anything bring relief???" kind of discussion. So far, nothing seems to help anyone... massage, muscle relaxers, stretching, drinking more water, etc., etc. Kind of depressing really. One woman had cancer treatment 19 years ago and has had the spasms ever since. A couple of women said theirs were so bad that they actually got broken ribs.
I wondered if any solutions had been arrived at, but it seems not. I also wonder what the "broken ribs" are all about???? That's pretty violent.
Some people get extreme brittle bones after cancer treatment, depending on the type of chemo and radiation. It's not unusual for a breast cancer survivor to have broken ribs.