5/26/22 was a pretty exciting day. I woke up to another bloom on my latest cactus purchase. It is a hybrid between a June Noon and something else. I saw it at Bach's Cactus Nursery and had to have it. This is the 2nd bloom. This is the day that I saw a coyote with its 2 pups and a king snake at Tohono Chul Park. I also went to the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens where I saw a roadrunner with its young ones and it had killed a lizard to feed them. That's a good photography day.
I didn't get a last day of school picture this year because Nathan actually didn't go to school the last half day. He developed a cough the night before. I got a picture of him at church a few days later. He impressed us once again with his Character Attributes Report the last quarter. He got excellent remarks including another increase from the previous quarter. His Best Effort went up from C (Consistent) to E (Exemplary). I think he is very relieved for the school year to be over and he is looking forward to starting a new school next year (which will be here before we know it because his first day of school is 7/25!). He just had to choose his electives for the upcoming school year. For Music, he had to choose between piano and guitar so he chose guitar. For Foreign Language, he he had to choose between Russian and Mandarin so he chose Russian. He had Spanish and Latin at Leman so he is ready to learn something new.
5/31/22 Paul isn't doing well. He's very tired. His stomach is always hurting. He can't really seem to get his blood sugar below 200. He seems to be getting worse. His A1C came back at 12.9 (should be 4-5.6).
5/31/22 My First Light cactus bloomed. Paul went to the cardiologist. He wanted to do an echo, scheduled for 6/29 after we got back from Hawaii. He switched his Simvastatin to Crestor. He may have to do a stress test. He ordered a T3 test to test his thyroid, which his PCP did on 6/2. He scheduled a follow up appointment with the cardiologist on 7/29.
6/1/22 Paul saw the ophthalmologist. His eyes looked healthy, but his vision has worsened in one eye. He may have to get corrective lenses before he has to renew his driving license next.
6/2/22 My grandma turned 104. Paul saw the NP. They doubled his Metformin dosage. She prescribed him the insulin, Lantus. She prescribed the pen, but insurance denied it.
6/3/22 Paul went back to the NP. She was going to show him how to use the insulin, but since he didn't get the insulin.... She also looked at a lump that is on the back of his neck. They said it seems movable and not much of a concern, but they suggest having a surgeon remove it. So eventually he needs to find a surgeon in network who can do that, but he thinks that is near the bottom of his priority list right now.
We decided to still go to Hawaii since most of it was already paid for. We also decided not to start up Paul's insulin since he wasn't shown how to do it and we didn't think it was a good time to start that on vacation. He made it through the vacation. He did most activities with us up until the last day. The last day, Nathan and I went to the Honolulu Zoo and the Waikiki Aquarium on our own and we met Paul for lunch/dinner. He didn't do a lot to control his diabetes during our vacation.
Here's a rundown of our vacation:
6/14 We flew to Kona on the Big Island. That first night we stayed at the Volcano House inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
6/15 Nathan had to go urgent care. He ended up getting an antibiotic for an UTI. The infection seemed to go away and he had no more problems. Later that day, we were able to explore Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, including the Lava Tube. That night we stayed at Aloha Crater Lodge not too far from the Volcano House, but outside of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. They had so many pretty flowers on their property.
6/16 We went to Panaewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens in Hilo. We made a stop at Rainbow Falls. I went to Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden. That is an awesome garden. Paul only gave me about an hour there so I did not get through the whole thing. I could have spent hours there. That night we stayed at the Royal Palm Cottage.
6/17 We went to Akaka Falls State Park in Hilo. We stopped at the Waipio Lookout. Then we headed to Maui. There we checked into the Maui Sunset in Kihei, where we stayed for the week.
6/18 We went to the Iao Valley State Monument. We tried to go to the Tropical Gardens of Maui where we got married 19 years ago, but they are permanently closed.
6/19 I went to the Kula Botanical Garden while the boys went to eat at Kula Lodge. That is another garden that I loved. My favorite flower there was the protea, which I had never seen in person before. Paul and I decided we really liked the Kula area. Kula is on the way up to Haleakala. There are rolling hills. It's less busy because we noticed how much busier the rest of Maui seems to be getting. There are jacaranda trees lining the roads. Morning glories are all along the sides of the road. There are eucalyptus trees with their beautiful rainbow bark. Later that day, we went to the Maui Ocean Center. Nathan and I enjoyed it. We seem to enjoy aquariums more than Paul. Nathan liked seeing the pufferfish. I was mesmerized by an octopus that kept changing colors. We all got Dole Whips there for a treat.
6/20 We went on a kayaking and snorkeling group activity in Lahaina. Since there were 3 of us, I had to do a single kayak and I had never kayaked before. I had trouble keeping up with the group so the leader ended up tying my kayak to his. The snorkeling was disappointing. I didn't see much. I think most of the group was disappointed as well because we were all done with half our time (20 minutes) left. The worst part is that I forgot to put sunscreen on my upper arms and my legs so I got a bad sunburn. In fact, a couple of days ago the sunburn blistered and started peeling. After kayaking, we went to eat at the Cheeseburger in Paradise. We then got another Dole Whip in Lahaina after viewing the Banyon Tree there in town. The banyon trees in Hawaii are amazing.
6/21 We laid low because of my sunburn. That night we went to the Royal Lahaina Luau. We all enjoyed it even though it rained on us. We also saw our one and only rainbow while in Hawaii that night.
6/22 We ate lunch at Kula Lodge. Then we headed up to Haleakala National Park. We got to see a Chukar family, the endangered Nene endemic only to Hawaii and the silversword endemic only to Haleakala.
6/23 We went to Maluaka Beach where we had renewed our vows for our 5th anniversary back in 2008. We stopped at a few other beaches including Secret Beach and Lava Fields.
6/24 This was a very long day! This is the day we flew from Maui to Oahu. You would think it would not be that difficult flying from one island to another. However, we had to stand in long lines to check in our luggage and go through security. It is a good thing that we got to the airport early because it took probably 3 hours from that time to get through all of the lines and get on our plane. We took an Uber to our hotel, Waikiki Sand Villa in Honolulu, within walking distance to Waikiki Beach.
6/25 We went to Pearl Harbor. Paul and I had been there before when we got married in Hawaii in 2003, but this was Nathan's first time going since this was his first trip to Hawaii. Unfortunately, he lost his point and shoot digital camera while we were there. That evening we took a walk to Waikiki Beach to eat dinner and do some shopping.
6/26 Nathan and I went to Waikiki Aquarium and the Honolulu Zoo. The Aquarium was nice, but their Hawaiian Monk Seal was on temporary loan elsewhere so we did not get to see it. Again, Nathan enjoyed seeing the pufferfish there. Honolulu Zoo was disappointing. They had sloths, but sloths sleep most of the day so we did not get to see them. Nathan was excited to see the Komodo dragon. Many of the exhibits seemed to be closed due to COVID precautions or exhibit upgrades and other animals that we get to see were sleeping so we didn't really see much there. We met Paul for lunch/dinner on Waikiki Beach between the Aquarium and the Zoo, all of which were in walking distance from our hotel.
6/27 Our day started at 2 am (5 am Arizona time). 3 plane rides later we were in Arizona, after losing 3 hours in the process. It took us at least a half hour to find our car in the parking garage. Then we had to drive home from Phoenix. There was an accident on I10 which added about another hour to our trip. So we got home just after midnight.
6/30/22 We made the difficult decision to put our dog Tulla down. She hadn't been doing well since we got back from vacation and picked her up from the boarders. She wasn't doing very well before that, though. She was old and her health was declining. She was 15 1/2. We adopted her back in 2013. She had broken her leg as a pup (before we adopted her) so she had a pin in her leg. For the most part, that didn't hinder her getting around, but she was never a very playful dog. Recently, she was steadily losing weight, her hearing was mostly gone, she had a lump on her side getting bigger (she had one previously that was benign) and she wasn't all there mentally. Yesterday she threw up. Today she wouldn't even drink water and she had diarrhea, including black stool. We pretty much decided it was time to put her down so we took her to the vet who agreed and reassured us that it was probably the best decision given her age and current health status. He said the black stool indicated internal bleeding. During the euthanization process, he said he could tell that it was probably what she wanted as well. She finally relaxed and let go as if to thank us for taking away her pain. All 3 of us went with to the vet. I stayed in the room with Tulla during the process, but Nathan didn't want to be in there so he and Paul were not in the room. This is the 2nd time we have gone through this. We previously lost our dog Nina at this same vet back in 2012 (Nathan was only 3). Losing Tulla today was hard on Nathan and he was crying (along with me) while we were there. Tulla was his favorite dog between Bella and Tulla. I favored Bella, but today was still hard on me, especially considering everything else our family has been going through lately. Unfortunately, Bella is 14 and having health issues, too. It may not be long before we have to make this same decision for her. Plus, we are not sure how she is going to do without her "sister".
Tulla: Born 11/9/06 Adopted 1/19/13 Died 6/30/22
We went to see the Minions movie on 7/4. If I had any idea about what those movies about I wouldn't have gone to see it. It's about a boy who wanted to be part of the most evil group in the world. The things they come up with these days, geared toward our kids, is disturbing.
7/8/22 5 of the 9 First Light flowers opened. Nathan and I went up to Mount Lemmon looking for ladybugs with no luck. I saw ONE ladybug and I couldn't even get a good picture of it. We did enjoy a nice lunch at the Iron Door, though. A man working there told Nathan that they get flocks of turkeys up there and he sees them once in awhile across the way by the slopes and in the Summerhaven area. So I was disappointed that I didn't see ladybugs and he was disappointed that we didn't see any turkeys. It was the end of the July last year when I saw a bunch of ladybugs up there. I tried to go back to that same area, but I think we got off track. Nathan was complaining the whole time that we were looking for them. He was getting tired of the hike, saying there were bugs, he wanted to go back, he doesn't like nature and that he is a city boy! Really, is this my child?! I am still thinking that maybe we are a little early to see ladybugs?
7/9/22 the other 4 First Light flowers opened, 2 Apricot Glow flowers, 2 June Noon flowers, 1 hot pink flower, 1 white with green underside flower and then my purple hedgehogs opened.
7/11/22 Nathan and I went to Golf N Stuff with Greg Lyons and his Arizona Adventures Camp.
7/12/22 Took Paul to ER. He lost more weight and was down to 122. He broke down with one of his employees on the phone so I told her I was taking him to the ER. They did a chest X-ray, a covid test, took blood, gave him an IV and did a ct scan of his abdomen. Wendi Miller came and got Nathan. They tried to contact his endocrinologist, but couldn't reach them so they said we needed to keep trying to get him in before his scheduled appointment on 7/28. I called from the ER and was able to get him an appointment for 7/14. They referred him to the same gastroenterologist that his NP referred him to. Chest x-ray was normal, covid test negative, ct scan of abdomen was normal. Bloodwork just indicated high glucose. They released Paul from the hospital that same day.
7/13/22 Nathan and I went to church that night. I helped Dorothy with the kids snacks and Nathan's class had a nerf gun fight.
7/14/22 We went to the endocrinologist. They increased the lantus insulin he was taking and switched to a pen which is easier to administer with his shaky hands. They gave him a 2nd insulin humalog to take before each meal. He’s to test his blood sugar before each meal and based on that reading determine how much insulin he should take. They changed his regular metformin to an extended release metformin per my suggestion which may be easier on his stomach. They wanted him to get blood work done as soon as possible, but it has to be done at 8am. He already had an ECG scheduled the next day at 8 so the bloodwork had to wait until Monday morning. One thing they are looking for is to see if he switched to type 1. She gave him a doctor note to be excused from jury duty so we faxed that over. When we called the next day the automated system said he did not have to report for jury duty the following week. She tested his feet and he still has good feeling there, no signs of neuropathy. Blood pressure was normal. The frustrating part is that she wants to see him back in 6 weeks, but she’s booked for the next 10 weeks so his next appointment is 9/22. This seems more urgent than waiting another 6-10 weeks to be seen again. They said we can call to see if there’s any appointment cancellations.
7/15/22 Paul had his ECG. They didn't say anything to him after it was done so they must not have seen anything abnormal. He met with his NP that afternoon. She was going to do bloodwork there that day, but I showed her the work order from the endocrinologist and she said they are testing for everything she would do. That bloodwork we did today, 7/18.. One of the things it will tell us if he's switched to type 1 which is what they are suspecting at this time because all of the other testing they have been doing has been normal for the most part. If his pancreas is no longer producing insulin then the body tries to get the insulin from the stored fat in your body which could explain his weight loss. I asked about cancer, like pancreatic cancer, and she said the ct scan of his abdomen they did at the ER probably would have revealed that, but it was normal. The next thing they want him to do is meet with the gastroenterologist. I called today and set up an appointment with the NP there at the gastroenterologist office for 7/25 at 3. That's Nathan's first day of school. So the NP at his PCP said with her, the endocrinologist, the cardiologist and the the gastroenterologist involved we should almost have a complete picture of what is going on with him. She wants to meet with him again 8/16. He said he felt a little better that day and had more mobility. He took all 4 shots of insulin and each blood sugar reading before doing so was lower. The next morning it was even better at 204. But then it went up again to 260 something in the afternoon, back down to 180 something in the evening, but then the following morning only around 120 (which is the lowest it has been in a very long time). So it fluctuated a lot.
7/17/22 I decided to stay home from church because I was tired and perimenopause symptoms were crazy. I pretty much decided that helping with VBS the upcoming week was going to be too much, too. Paul's sugar varied a lot again that day with 2 readings in the 200s. Got a call that my uncle Les (Skeeter) Hoehn died. He was 72.
7/18/22 We got Paul's bloodwork done for the endocrinologist. I called and got him the appointment at the gastroenterologist for 7/25.
Tomorrow, 7/19, Paul has a virtual appointment with a diabetic dietician. Nathan and I have his Meet and Greet with his teacher/s at his new school.
