I have had multiple people ask that I keep them up to date now and then
about the family problems which have reduced my time on-line and have
me downright grumpy or sad some days.

The good news: the worst possibilities have been eliminated for the
pain that our 20 year old niece (my sister's child and Dad's sole
grandchild) is in but her MRI is confusing so some university experts
will be reading it. Alison has two more physicians' appointments this
coming week but at least she is not balled up with pain any longer
since having her first round of nerve blocks and having two meds added.

Dad, who is 93, is still in physical rehab after a long hospitalization
for clots. He has a combination of moderate senile dementia (as do
about 80% of people his age according to refs I found), anemia which is
posing problems in control from MDS (which can progress into leukemia),
another clot (but smaller), the expected prostate woes for his age, and
ravages to his skeleton from years of use. He is on about 6 meds now
and his mental state greatly improved once the MDS began to be treated.

To go to his home with my step-mom and their caretaker he has to be
able to walk 100 or more feet with one helper instead of two, get up
from a chair with one helper instead of two, eat enough, and a few
other basic things. (They are in a different state from us.)

About today the new clothing with velcro (which looks like regular
clothing -- something Buck and Buck can do for any garment they carry)
should arrive there so he can dress himself.

If he gets well enough to go home we want to have a nurse come in about
twice a week to spell their caretaker and our step-mom and to check our
step-mom for care-taker's stress as well as checking Dad's health and
make sure all meds are still being taken (a problem which has happened
4 times now). They have weekly people come in to do a range of other
chores. Our two step-brothers and a step-niece and her family, and a
cousin of ours still live in that area. My sister, a step-sister, and
Steve (the best hubby possible for me) and I don't.

I'll be having a surgery with two repairs in mid-January. There is one
person around here (a prof who is a specialist in that field) who can
do it as a same day op with local anesthesia, which is good because i
am allergic to a component of general anesthesia.

Because I will no longer be allowed to have my long term hobby of
serious weight lifting (Hoped to continue that until at least 60 but
life happens.) I will have to sell my home gym (which will need someone
who knows how to take those apart), my butt blaster (a hard to come by
piece of equipment so if I can find a serious lifter in the NJ area
that will go fast), my cardioglide, my Powerblocks (I have the full
weights -- they can amass up to 100 pounds as dumbbells though in
honesty at my peak I could only work up the rack to a few reps at
70 pounds for supported lifts like preacher curls and this year did
nothing beyond 50 pounds. In a few weeks I won't be allowed to lift
beyond 7 pounds for 3 months and there after no really serious lifting.
Yikes.), and some unusual types of free weights such as a delt
isolater. My lifting books already have a new home, but not my lifting
tapes.

For 3 months I will only be allowed to walk and thereafter my types
of exercise will be restricted because the type of repairs I am having
are not perfect. I am hoping that I will be allowed to use a future
elliptical machine as well as a recumbent bike with a full seat
afterward. We will keep the stepper and Steve's rowing machine (which
I also won't be allowed to use). After the three months I'll go many,
many reps with light weights. If I can't build my fast-twitch fiber
white muscle fibers I'll try to improve my slow-twitch red muscle
fibers.

So, no lifting for about 2 months now has me a bit grumpy and frumpy,
too.

If anything major happens I'll let you know.

Many thanks for the holiday cards received! I apologize for not having
time to send replies and not having one address (Tiff and Dave).
There's just a lot on my plate right now.

Sukie (not a vet) who recently turned 57

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html

[Posted in FML 5827]