A Good Day

 

Hats off to my sister Laurie.  

Many who are connected with her on Facebook have received the gift of her talents for special occasions. 

Yesterday's offerings included my brother Kevin and his wife Joyce, along with Bill and me, as we celebrated our wedding anniversaries. 

Laurie has studied and practiced with Artificial Intelligence and appears to have mastered the tools and techniques to create beautiful and realistic images of people, horses, etc. 

What a nice gift to enjoy and to treasure forever! 

Thank you, Laurie. 

Adding to yesterday's anniversary fun,  Ann flagged us down to wish us a Happy Anniversary as we walked past the B's Beacon Restaurant at the Hope Hotel. 

She had spotted us as we left our car and walked just down the street to the Old Ice House Pizzeria. 

She was having dinner with her husband, and, like us, was celebrating 52 years of marriage. 

I met Ann for the first time fairly recently, and we have connected a few times since then.  It's been fun, and I hope you had a wonderful anniversary, Ann. 

Bliss:  sitting on the deck of Ice House Pizzeria at Hope, Idaho, enjoying a brew and an incomparable view. 

💙💚💛💜💙💚💛💜

I had made up my mind. 

Bill and I would go to Old Ice House Pizzeria for our anniversary dinner. 

If I paid the consequences, so be it.  Special occasions deserve special attention.

We had celebrated our anniversary there a few times before, but this occasion was different.  

I had not eaten pizza at Ice House for almost two years, and I missed it. 

Enter my friend Pam who spent time at the Lovestead last week.  During our visits, we talked about the common woes of our stomach/gut problems. 

Pam has discovered fairly recently that she is allergic to dairy products. 

As long as I've known her (about 50 years), she has been what I would consider an ultimate foodie. 

Her career involved teaching home economics, organizing food and special dishes for photography at Sunset Magazine and other similar situations. 

She has taken cooking classes in Greece and other countries of the world.

Therefore, imagining Pam having to cut back her food choices is pretty inconceivable. 

Our visit gave me an opportunity to pick her brain. 

Today I'm happy to report that some lactose enzyme pills she gave me went along with us to Icehouse last evening.  

I ordered a small barbecued chicken pizza.  Shortly before taking my first bite, I downed three of the Superpowered Lactase pills.

I enjoyed my pizza and Bodi beer and especially enjoyed the relaxing setting on the deck overlooking Lake Pend Oreille. 

The true test would come afterward with a sudden urgency or none at all. 

Happily, "none at all" won out.  I was able to enjoy my anniversary dinner with my husband without racing to a restroom. 

So far, today I'm feeling okay. 

We'll see, as the day goes on, if this new tactic is a winner and if, with help of this enzyme, I might be able to strike out again on occasion, trying something besides my current diet of chicken, eggs or peanut butter. 

It's been quite a journey since my bout with c.diff and with the subsequent knowledge that I have collagenous colitis. So, this new possibility of expanding my food enjoyment is very exciting. 

The best part:  an anniversary dinner spent at one of our favorite places and, so far, no consequences. 

The anniversary day included another feel-good story to go along with the pain I've been feeling in my left ankle for the past month. 

I had called a couple of weeks ago, hoping for an appointment to see  Dr. Brent Leedle, our orthopedic specialist.  I was then told that he was soon retiring and that if he could see me, I would get a call. 

The call never came, and that was okay because the days since then have been very busy. Yesterday, however, with the pain not offering to go away, I called again. 

The stars lined up.  

If I could make it down to the Bonner General Orthopedics, Dr. Leedle would see me. 

He has two weeks left before retirement, and since he's not scheduling any more surgeries, he had an opening. 

I had about 45 minutes to get there.  Overjoyed to have the appointment, I even arrived early. 

After reading a summary of my symptoms and knowing that walking is a major part of my day here on the farm, Dr. Leedle wasted no time giving me a diagnosis:  Posterior Tibial Tendonitis.

It's pain on the inside of the ankle and it's common in older women who walk a lot and who are prone to high blood pressure. If not treated, the pain continues and one's arches can eventually collapse.   

I told Dr. Leedle that the only time I have high blood pressure is when I go to doctors' offices.  Happily, that statement has proved true, thanks to the in-home monitoring assignments, Paige, my general provider, has given me. 

After seeing an X-ray, which revealed no other problems, Dr. Leedle gave me a prescription to get fitted for orthodics, which will protect and help the tendon heal. 

I walked out of that office, thrilled with the efficiency of the staff and the doctor AND the knowledge that something non invasive (either meds or surgery) can be done. 

I share these stories on the blog, not to get attention or sympathy but to bring attention for others who may have problems similar to mine.  

I have learned over the past few years how important it is to not let these things go and especially to avoid a lot of misery by simply going to the doctor and finding out. 

My medical providers have helped me through this stage of age much more than they'll ever know, and I so appreciate their knowledge and guidance. 

So, all in all, yesterday was a great day.  

Thanks to my friend Pam, I can now look forward to the possibility of eating a few fun foods again and thanks to Dr. Leedle, I can get that ankle ready to take on miles and miles ahead. 

It's all good.