UPDATE: Meeting Challenges Head On…

I’ve been wanting to talk about this subject for a time now. It’s made me feel quite overwhelmed. Life, lately, especially the past few weeks has felt chaotic. I got the results of my Annual Physical labwork back… my creatinine was off, my TSH was off and even my Iron was off. What does that mean? Adjust medication and retest the labwork. Ugh. 

I had a good talk with my doctors and the subject of Home Health (Physical & Occupational Therapy as well as Social Worker) was brought up again. This time, we were interested in getting the information to see what I qualify for and also to plan for the future. My health will decline more and it’s better to be prepared. It NEVER hurts to find out what’s available so that you can plan for the future. Better to be prepared than to be in the position where you need it immediately and not know what to do. 

Trust me. Since this is all new to K and me, getting all this information so fast is a bit overwhelming and slightly stressful. However, I’m handling it the best I can and I’m trying my best to stay optimistic throughout this new phase of my health adventure. When I feel down, I think of the roadtrip we’re going on soon to see my family. They always are a joy to see. 

One sister is throwing me a birthday party and the other took my rubber chicken, Birdee, to Cozumel! So how can I NOT be happy when I have a great support system. K has done all he can to help me cope with the changes in my health. He knows my life is hard but we do/change things to try to make it easier.

Taking a shower to wash my hair is ridiculously hard for me to do. If you are familiar with a Bipap and it’s mask that needs to be worn to use the machine, then you know that to wear the mask, you need the head gear to hold it in place. It’s the same thing to use a Trilogy machine. For me, I can’t take a shower without using my Trilogy machine. I want to stay as independent for as long as I can, so I invented a mouthpiece to use by putting together odds and ends of medical accessories. LOL! Even using this, it’s still hard because, to wash my hair, it uses a lot of upper body strength that I’m losing due to my cardiac and respiratory conditions. But, at least the head gear isn’t in my way of washing my hair with my new fandangle apparatus! Crazy awesome, isn’t it???

I don’t shower unless K is home in case he needs to help me out. If I’m in the shower, he stays in the house so he can hear me shout out if I need him. When the water is turned off, he asks if I’m ok. He’ll even help me get dried off or dressed if I need extra help but I’d rather do it myself to give me a sense of independence. The first couple of times I needed him were scary because I started turning bluish gray. Not sure who was more nervous about that between K and myself. I’m constantly thinking of different ways to do things that are hard for me. I have a 10ft hose that I use with my Trilogy. The DME only gave me a 6ft hose which was ridiculous because how was I to be able to park my Trilogy in my kitchen and fix dinner while just using 6 feet of hose to move around? So I got a 10ft hose from Amazon and presto, I became mobile! Much better.

So this week has been incredibly challenging for me. I’ve been so stressed out with people coming over doing evaluations and setting up appointments. I’m not used to so many people coming into my home. Every time someone comes over, I have to lock my pups in a room which of course makes me short of breath. But I’m going to give this Physical/Occupational therapy a try in hopes they can help increase my endurance and maintain, or even improve, the level of my health. Tomorrow, Saturday, is the first day this week that I don’t have to get up early or expect anyone to show up. This girl is sleeping in! I’m just so tired. *snore* Oh hey! Where was I? Oh, yeah….

Eventually, I’ll need care that’s not covered by insurance. It’s better to research that now than to be uninformed when that time comes. 

Not to worry though, I am resilient and I’m excited to see my family and I wonder who will be taking Birdee on her next World Traveler Adventure. One person has volunteered already but I don’t know when that vacation will be. So, I’ll let you know when I know! All I know is that my sister said she got some strange looks from a few people but she didn’t care because she was doing this for me. Awww…. *BIG HEART EMOJIS*

I hope all is well in your life. =o) Just to give you a heads up, I’m turning my blog into a ebook that will be in chronological order!! How exciting is that? I want it to be done with it by the holidays. YAY! *hugs* to you all!

A Bit of FUN!

It’s been a fun week of adventuring for my awesome rubber chicken! I’ve decided to change her title to a WORLD TRAVELER MASCOT. Birdee is my newest rubber chicken because, may he rest in peace, Klondike passed away from a broken neck. However, while he was with us, he sure had fun in France, Germany and a few other locations in the USA!

Since I can no longer travel like I use to, people are lining up to take Birdee on her next adventure! Lucky bird! Honestly, I’m excited about it as much as Birdee is! I have to finish crocheting her new backpack to get it ready for her next adventure. I’ll have to “renew” her passport too. *wink*

Over the past week, she had her first international flight to Cozumel! You’re probably wondering why I have a rubber chicken, that acts as a “Flat Stanley,” if you will. It makes me feel like I’m experiencing the vacation in a small way. It just works well for me… trust me. It also gives me great joy to see all the pictures coming in from Birdee’s vacation adventure. My husband bought my first rubber chicken YEARS ago and I named it Poke. So, it all started with Poke and the roadtrip mascot was born.

This time, my sister volunteered to take Birdee to Cozumel. She’s not shy about carrying a rubber chicken around with her in public. Sometimes, she stuffs my rubber chicken in a backpack to carry around but that’s ok! What an awesome sister, right?? BIG *HEARTS* to her! Especially since every time Birdee is squeezed, she screams REALLY LOUDLY. lol!

Birdee experienced some daring and exciting things: Flying in an airplane, boating, scuba diving and then got seasick. Poor Birdee. I hope she feels better soon! Below is a slide show of the pictures of her big adventure. I hope you like them and put a big smile on your face as it did mine.

Next post will I will be updating you on what’s going on with me health wise. It’s been a little overwhelming. So that’s why I haven’t posted about it yet. However, I think I’m ready to discuss it now. *big hugs* I hope you are dealing with the heat safely. Don’t forget it’s almost time for a Flu Shot! Yay? lol!

• 

  Birdee has arrived in Cozumel! Birdee has just arrived in Cozumel and seen the ocean and beach! She is my World Traveler Mascot. Thanks Birdee for going places I can not go!

• 

  Birdee looks a little anxious trying on the scuba gear that looks way too big for her.

• 

  The Captain allow Birdee to steer the boat! Whoa what a cool captain!

• 

  My sister diving with Birdee! Wow what an adventure!!!

• 

  Birdee is totally amazed with all the coral and look at that huge lobster!!

• 

  Birdee said “squawk” (that’s HELLO in Birdee speak!) to the big turtle!

• 

  Birdee really close to that shark. Now what????

• 

  I think Birdee was trying to float away from the shark who’s in the background.

• 

  Uh oh! Birdee might have had too much fun. She sure got seasick… Poor thing.

• 

  Ohmygoodness! Birdee!! You naughty chicken! Eating some of the birthday girl’s cake. I’m sure she was just trying to celebrate with her.

• 

  K and my tradition for our anniversary and my birthday. My sister did this for me because I can’t get to a beach this year. Love her so much!

Life Has Changed!

An opportunity has come along and I’m grabbing it with all I’ve got to give myself a chance at some fun and excitement.

Everyone knows how bad Covid has been. I’ve been stuck in my house for over a year and I’m finally starting to get out in the public. Having Pulmonary Hypertension along with other breathing and heart issues, K and I have taken this Covid19 seriously. That means, I didn’t leave my house unless it was for my monthly labs. Even at the height of Covid19 lockdown, my doctors had me only going every other month for labs instead of monthly. Naturally, that’s when my lab results started to look concerning. So back to every month I went. I finally got smart and made appointments for the lab work. Less waiting around.

Now I have an exciting event to go to this year. My little sister is getting married!!! She wanted me to be the Matron-of-Honor but I had to pass the torch of to another one of our sisters. The stress of being involved in the wedding party would be too much for my health. As sad as this makes us, I decided to go all out and dress up and have fun with attending. It will require some traveling which means our dogs will be going with us! Roadtrip!!!

K took me dress shopping. He was great! We had me in my wheelchair looking for the perfect dress. Let me tell you… it took a while. Since I have scoliosis, dresses don’t normally fit very well. After I found the dress that I liked, we decided to take it to a place who specializes in altering formal wear. The picture above is the dress before it has been completely altered. It’s a little long and it needs taken in on my left side at the strap and bodice. Darn that scoliosis!

I’ve never done this with any of my clothes before. However, now that I’ve experienced how easy it is, I’m asking myself why I haven’t done this before???

I hope that everyone is doing well. I pray that everyone is staying active and as healthy as you possibly can be. *hugs*

My adventure today…

Living On Oxygen for Life

This was my adventure today. I made cinnamon swirl bread because K asked me to try to make it. It came out a little muffin-topped but when it cooled down a bit I cut a slice off and ate it warm with butter. It’s delicious even though I forgot to add salt. Oops! I read that it makes great French toast. Uh, who doesn’t like French toast???

From start to finish, this bread took me 3 hours to make. While I waited for the rise time to finish, I rinsed the dishes I used and ran a load of laundry through the washing machine. I’m still getting use to our new high-efficiency washing machine that looks like it barely uses enough water to dampen the clothes and has no real clothes agitator. Is it just me or do you wonder how or if the clothing even gets clean? It boggles my mind.

It’s definitely quiet time now at 5:30 pm and I’m ready for a power nap. So, I’m going to strap on my bipap machine with my oxygen and lie down to recharge enough to make dinner in about an hour or so. It feels like it’s been a long day.

I hope everyone has had a good day so far!

My Rookie Experience in Trying a New Thing and How to keep life interesting.

Living On Oxygen for Life

The past few months, I have lost a lot of interest in doing a lot of things that I normally would enjoy. Part of it is from depression and the other part is a decline in health. I’ve slowed down quite a bit. I still “garden” but K waters the garden for me. I still crochet but it takes me longer to complete an afghan. I don’t leave the house on my own as much because it drains me a lot. But I still do it because I need to feel like my old self as much as possible. I get out of the house more WITH K than alone.

I try to find different things to experiment with to keep my interest and find the happiness I need to keep me getting out of bed while K is working. So, I look to Pinterest a lot. Recently, I’ve challenged myself into conquering Yeast Rolls. Since I don’t have a KitchenAid stand mixer or a bread machine, I thought mixing and kneading the dough by hand would wear me out. When I finally found a recipe the creates only 4 rolls, I thought… “What the heck! Even I can do THAT!” Right? So, my foray into baking with yeast begins. My first time I produce the 4 rolls but the crust was too hard and they were dense. The third time I tried, I found the perfect recipe! This recipe calls for more milk than water and 2 eggs. Wow! Who knew that these changes would produce awesome dinner rolls?

There are some people on my FaceBook Page (Living On O2 for Life) have seen my posts about my experience with baking yeast rolls and want the recipe of the rolls I made this week. So, here it is… I hope you understand my method of explanation:

Buttery Soft Top Yeast Rolls

3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
4 cups flour + a couple of tablespoons if needed (I used all-purpose flour)
2 1/4 tsp of instant yeast (1 package or 1 pkg of active yeast)

I used instant yeast this time but you can use active yeast because I do the same process of proofing the yeast for either kind.

TIP #1: I use glass and tupperware bowls to make the dough.
TIP #2: When measuring flour, ALWAYS spoon it into your measuring cup without packing it in or shaking the flour down. Level off with a straight edge.

Combine milk, 2 tsp of the sugar (the rest goes in the big bowl) & water. Warm in the microwave about 30 seconds on high, stir and then microwave another 30 seconds and stir again. Test with a thermometer and make sure the liquid reaches approximately 110 degrees. NO HOTTER or you could kill off your yeast. (make sure you have the sugar in there for the yeast to eat!) Once your Milk/Water/Sugar is warm, add yeast and stir softly and set aside to froth & foam for 10 minutes. (it smells so good!)

Melt butter in the microwave in a small bowl and let it cool.

While using a blender (I used my hand mixer) to combine 1 cup of flour & 2 (room temperature) eggs and then add in the butter once it’s cooled but still liquid.

Add the frothy yeast/milk/water/sugar to the Flour/eggs/butter that you just combine with the mixer and use the blender while adding another cup of flour. By this time, unless you have a stand mixer, you’ll need to change over to using a rubber spatula to add the rest of your flour. I had to do this last part with a rubber spatula because I don’t have a kitchenaid stand mixer. Don’t worry, it’s not that hard or tiresome.

The dough will seem a little sticky after you incorporate the four cups of flour but it shouldn’t stick to the bowl. If you need a little flour, add it by the tablespoon. I only needed about 2 tablespoons of extra flour. It will be sticky but it shouldn’t stick to your fingers.

Let the dough rest a few minutes in the bowl (I needed a little few minutes of a break) and then knead the dough. I kneaded my dough in the bowl instead of on a countertop for about 5 to 10 minutes (closer to about 10). It saved me from getting my countertop dirty. I eyeballed how much kneading was needed by testing its stretchiness (something about a window of dough)!

After kneading, I just left the dough in the bowl and covered it with a Turkey Roasting oven bag since I had a box of them from when I thought I would try roasting a turkey one year. That didn’t happen. *rolling my eyes* The roasting bag fits nicely over the big, gigantic bowl I use to make the dough. I set the covered bowl in my warm garage (it’s in the 90s here now) and then the waiting started for the dough to rise to twice its original size. About an hour, maybe more, maybe less.

Meanwhile, I cleaned up my mess and read a book on my Kindle app while occasionally glancing at the TV. Yeah, I’m that good! haha! When the dough is twice its original size, I brought it back into the kitchen and pressed/punched it down. I used my cutting board and a 8-inch sharp knife to cut the dough in equal portions. You should be able to get 15 pieces that you can form into approximately 2 – 2.5 inch balls. Don’t over manipulate the dough. Just gently fold the edges under and pinch the bottom seam together.

Rolls after rising to twice their size.

Place dough balls, seam side down, into a Pam sprayed 9 X 13 inch pan. I put my pan with the rolls back into the Roasting Bag and moved them back out into the garage to rise again to twice the size. By the time they have risen, they’ll spread to fill the pan. Take them out of the bag, preheat oven to 375 degrees and used melted butter to brush on top of each roll. Add a pan or baking dish of water on the bottom rake in the over under the place the rolls will go. It helps to bake them with this water to make the tops softer. Bake for 13 – 16 minutes depending on your altitude where you live. They should be nicely golden brown on the top. When they are done, butter the tops again and sprinkle with sea salt (I used Mediterranean Pink Sea Salt). Then eat one! Or two or three! YUM.

Let me know if I made any mistakes or if you have any helpful tips in the comment section.

Crazy Awesome Weekend with Family!

Living On Oxygen for Life

I had a very long but fun weekend. First was the Pulmonary Hypertension doctor appointment and an Arterial Blood Gas drawn. Then we ate lunch at McDonald’s because we had other things we needed to do. We had to run to Walmart to return some stuff and pick up some forgotten thing from the grocery trip K did the previous day. Plus we picked up a new inhaler at the pharmacy. That was all on Friday.

When we came home from the errands, we got busy finishing up with cleaning the house because family was coming!!!! Yay!

After I made it to bed feeling exhausted, I knew I had to get up way early again for another appointment on Saturday that was a little over an hours drive away.

While we were at the appointment, my sister & her family already arrived at our house (we call it The Chateau), and we finally got home around 2pm. Yay! 

We got to babysit my niece for 4 hours, which was super fun but by the time they got back, K and I were wiped out.  My niece must have some sort of super-charged mega-battery that keeps her pumped up with energy.  I asked to borrow it but I didn’t think it’s transferable. Darn! 

We had so much fun but I’m glad we didn’t go to lunch with them today. It’s time for this girl to crash. I need sleep or at least down time. My niece is 7 and she asked me lots of questions (even taught me a two person hand-slapping song that was called Lemonade. I think?!) about my bipap mask that I was using when she snuck in my room to see if I was awake yet yesterday during my very short nap. She wanted her own cannula. She also wanted to see what it felt like with it connected to the oxygen. 

So, like a fun Auntie that I am, I used it as a learning experience for her. I got her a 7 foot cannula (like the ones used with portable tanks), connected it to one of my oxygen tanks, and I turned the oxygen on to 2 liters first. She wasn’t really impressed. So I told her, “Ok, now this is was it feels like at the amount that I have to use which 6 liters.” Her eyes got really wide when she felt it in her nose and she said, “Whoa! How do you do that?” “Baby girl, I do it because it helps me breathe.” 

I always want to make sure that she knows it’s ok to ask questions about me or my equipment. Curiosity can be a good thing when paired with learning about something that will expand her mind. We had a great time this weekend and I feel happy as I always do when I get to see one or both of my sisters. It’s like medicine to my soul. Sounds a little corny but it works for me. 

Our Vacation Experience with Oxygen

Living On Oxygen for Life

Keep in mind as you read this blog post that K and I are very experienced with traveling while loaded down with multi reservoirs of liquid oxygen. We are safe drivers and we take precautions before we head out on the road for vacation to ensure that our vehicle is in what we call, “Vacation Ready” mode. That means we take it to our favorite auto repair mechanic and ask them to look at our vehicle and make sure it’s ready for a road trip. We ask them to take a good look at the tires, brakes, belts, and to change the oil. They fix anything that needs to be fixed because we don’t want to be miles away from home and have car trouble. Thankfully, we have AAA (triple A roadside service) Membership.

Everything we need for vacation, including medical supples.

When we plan a vacation, there are a lot of factors that go into the planning. The very most important factor is the location of my DME company in relation to my vacation destination. We also take into consideration whether there are any Lincare’s along the way. For the ones along our route to and from our destination, we could possibly set up a refill for my liquid oxygen reservoirs by asking my local Lincare office to set it up. The Lincare that I stop at for refills have to have the capability to fill liquid reservoirs. Some Lincare companies no longer do liquid oxygen.

This year we decided to find a beach that we’ve never been to before. We love the beach and for the past few vacations, we’ve only tried to rent beach house one other time. The only thing with this house that we rented on the beach was that it was on stilts. We didn’t realize the stairs to the house would be so darn steep. When we finally got the keys and drove the short distance from the office to our rental house, we pulled in and saw the stairs. We brought with us 2 – 100 pound reservoirs of liquid oxygen that weigh about 165 pounds full (but feel like you’re lifting a ton!). It took both of us, with K doing the lifting. I was standing behind him supporting his back with one of my hands pressed hard against him making sure he didn’t fall backwards. By the time we got that tank and the 75 pound reservoir up the stairs and into the house, we decided that the other 100 pound reservoir could stay in the vehichle since it was parked in the shade under the house. We were both sweaty and hot after that. It was so humid.

We planned an extended vacation this year. My health has been declining. So, we both knew that I would need extra days when we arrived in Alabama and even in-between to adjust to the heat and humidity. It took me 2 days resting off and on before I could get outside and start having fun. K was super kind about not pressuring me to do anything that I didn’t feel like I could do. I arrived at the beach house with a migraine headache because the drive was stressful for me. The first day we drove we stayed overnight at a hotel. We came out the next morning and found one of our tires was flat from a piece of wood embedded into the side wall of the tire. Luckily, K had a tire air compressor in the back of the van and he aired it up enough to take it to a tire shop where he bought a new tire.

The second day we drove, K stopped to fill the van with gas, it was my turn to drive this time. For some reason, as I was sitting there waiting for K to come back from the bathroom, the fuel light went on but the fuel gauge stayed at full. I don’t know what made me do it but I actually pushed the tripmeter to zero it out. At least I would know how many miles I’ve gone with the gas that I have in the tank. Anyway, the fuel gauge scared me by dropping all the way to EMPTY while K was a sleep. Ten minutes later, the fuel gauge would start raising back up to full and the light would go off. That was creepy scary. I let K drive after that. Apparently, there’s a wiring problem. Ugh!

After I was ready to get out of the beach house, I hit the beach! Even from the wrap around porch of our beach house on one day, we could see a few dolphins swimming off the coast!

It’s easy taking my oxygen to the beach. K had set up a tent with two beach chairs beneath it for me to relax and watch K wade into the water. When I wanted time in the water, K would either carry my portable on his shoulder and hold my hand as we walked into the waves OR he would have me connect my 50ft tubing to my portable and clip my portable to one of the beach chairs that he’d move closer to the shore. I’d bury the feet of the chair in the sand to give it more stability. I’d just need to sit my tank right in the seat with strap clipped to the top of the chair. Perfect! I could walk up to 50ft into the water or just sit on each of the tide.

Dolphins along the coast of Gulf Shores, AL	This is how I sit at the beach under a tent on low beach chairs.
Rocco would sit with me while I crocheted on vacation.	We went out to celebrate my 47th birthday and our 24th Anniversary!

We really had a good time on vacation. We didn’t want to come home so soon even though we spent 10 days in the beach house. I think next time we are going to try to stay longer. It all depends on how well my health holds up. *fingers crossed* YAY!

Q & A video?

Living On Oxygen for Life

Most of you know that I’ve done YouTube videos about my Bipap or the “Meet Christine”, right? If you’d like for me to make another one, I’ll do a Q&A video if you send me your questions. They can be about me or about oxygen or just silly stuff. Keep them clean questions. Just message me or email your questions at goredrider@gmail.com when I get enough for a video, I’ll make one. Sound like fun?

I finally figured out what I wanted to do with the 3 large lemons my dwarf Meyer lemon tree produced. What’s better than freshly squeezed lemonade? It was so delicious! If only my tree grew more than 3 lemons!

I made lemonade from the lemons I grew!

Here’s the updated picture of my January’s Need a Hug afghan. Get yourself on the list of recipients if you feel in need of a hug because you’re having a tough time breathing.

January Need a Hug afghan Update

GO Broncos!!! Need I say more? hehe!

Yes, I’m supporting Peyton Manning for the Super Bowl.

I’ll be attempting more gardening this year. K is building me a raised garden bed that will be about 16″ high. The size of it will hopefully end up being 2’x 6′ and 16″ tall on the ground. I’ll be growing potatoes, Bibb lettuce, cilantro, and spinach this time. Also, the chives and basil are what I grow every year. I hope like crazy that I’m successful and that it doesn’t make me too tired. K is going to build this extra garden next to the tall raised bed. That way my oxygen tubing will reach just fine. He’s so thoughtful. He had to move all my half whiskey barrels to make room. Aww… he’s so sweet. He loves me but this is his way of trying to get me motivated and outside so that I don’t become sedentary which would make my lungs weaker. I don’t need them any weaker. Trust me on that. erg! I’ll take pictures of the garden progress and blog about it! It will be fun!

So send in your questions and I’ll try to answer them. Think of it as a way to get to know me and remember, no question is a dumb question. If I can answer it, I will. Just keep in mind that I’m not a doctor. My answers are based on my experience during my life. Have a great week!!!

Know Your Limitations…

Living On Oxygen for Life

Know Your Limitations for the Holidays.

So, you use oxygen. Whether it’s 24/7, like me, or you use oxygen during activity, you should always know your limitations. The holiday season is now upon us. Heck, it’s been upon us since just before Halloween! Personally, I don’t understand that. I’m a type of person who loves to enjoy each holiday for what they stand for. Aren’t you? Though, I certainly can’t wait for K to start decorating for Christmas. He really has a knack for that. Remember last year?

Your limitations are your body’s warning signs for telling you to slow it down and pause for a rest. No one wants you to peter out before the fun starts…whether it’s board games or Football games –backyard or on the TV in your comfy recliner. I think everyone who reads my blog would want you to enjoy the holidays with your friends and family without risking your health by overdoing. Right, y’all?

So, what do you do? If you are the one who does the cooking for the holidays of the past but are now on oxygen, you can either pass the baton to another family member to cook the meal or delegate the whole meal as a pot luck. You can even prearrange by ordering a precooked turkey or ham from your favorite store and have it picked up! Save your oven for the important stuff, like PIE! Yum!

Plan on taking sit-down breaks that are uninterrupted. Got the meal under control or have someone else tending to it? Take that power nap before the meal. Teenagers are a great source for free help. Trust me… I was once one! They will do just about whatever asked to earn a chance to sit at the “Adult” table this year. You remember the moment in your life when you were given that honorary seat at the table where all the adults gathered to sit and eat (and talk!). It was….a beautiful day. *sigh*

With all the activity and excitement, even if you are not prescribed to use oxygen 24/7, you should always use your oxygen as your doctor has prescribed! You should never feel embarrassed to wear your oxygen. Your friends and family care about you and should always put your health as a priority. They want you to have fun too. So, if your body is telling you it’s tired but your brain still wants to get something done, listen to your body. Don’t be stubborn. Just get some rest and ask for help. People are actually willing to help you but most are just unsure how to be of assistance. Need something moved? Ask! Need help getting up from the couch? Ask! Is your oxygen tubing stuck around a chair leg? Ask for help! Someone STANDING on your O2 tubing??? Well, shove him off!! No… Just kidding! I always tell people when they come into the house that it’s ok to accidentally step on the tubing…just don’t stand on it and to watch their feet so they won’t trip. You need to not be afraid to speak up and ask for help. It’s really ok!

Wherever you go and whatever you do for the holidays, I hope it’s full of fun, love and adventure. Leave a comment tell me how you handle the holidays on oxygen! Be well and stay safe. —Christine

I’m a genius!!!

Living On Oxygen for Life

I’m a genius! Ok, well, maybe I’m not technically a genius or even very intellectually smart but I’m pretty darn creative. You see, I have a problem. I want to go to a movie. Normally that wouldn’t necessarily be a problem because K would go with me and carry my oxygen. Right? Yep. He would.

But what if this is a movie that he REALLY doesn’t want to see even though I have been waiting for this movie a whole year for it to come out on the big screen? Not a problem because I have a cart for my portable oxygen, right? Ok. That sounds logical. Just use my cart to pull my oxygen around so I won’t become exhausted from carrying it. Great!!!

Only one huge problem with that… the movie is over 2 hours long which means I’ll need two liquid oxygen portables. (Remember, I use 6LPM of O2) Not to worry because I have two portables. However, the problem is that I have a cart that only carries one portable. And before you ask or say it, I can’t carry one and drag one in the cart. I’d be wiped out before I got to my movie seat.

So now I’m in MacGyver mode. I came up with an idea last night. I don’t care what the end product looks like as long as it works to carry both portables with ease (and maybe even my purse too! Sweet!!!). All I need is my plastic tub that I use for trash in my van, my handy duct tape (my home is NEVER without duct tape!), and my luggage carrier. This morning I was looking all over the house for my luggage carrier and couldn’t find it. I thought my MacGyver moment was doomed already from the start. But, I texted K because he remembers EVERYTHING and surely he’d know where the carrier was hiding. In fact, I thought he took it to work. Don’t ask…

To my surprise, instead of a text reply, he FaceTime’d me back and he walked with me through the house to find it. I know why he did that. It’s because I told him last night that I thought about going to this movie on just one portable. He thought otherwise. With my breathing becoming worse while on the new PH medicine, Adempas, he put his foot down saying take both portables. He wants me to get out of the house more but wants me to be safe and smart about it. Sometimes I’m so excited about something that I don’t always remember I’m not really Wonder Woman. *GASP!!!* Shhhhh… Don’t tell anyone! Aw… He’s so sweet.

Now that I have everything I need, I will begin the construction phase of my MacGyver moment. I will build myself a cart for two oxygen portables! Wish me luck! Pictures of my hopeful success coming soon. haha!

Off Topic – Klondike’s Big Adventure Begins! (and other stuff)

Living On Oxygen for Life

I think everyone knows by now that I like doing silly things or creative things to keep myself in good spirits. I try to share these things to help others feel happy too. For those of you who don’t know who Klondike is… Well, he’s K and my road trip mascot who happens to be a rubber chicken (don’t laugh.. we take this pretty seriously! haha!). He really is pretty darn cool. Not only that, he brings us good luck and a safe journey to wherever we go.

This year Klondike has the opportunity of a lifetime. Who wouldn’t want to go to Paris, France? I know I do! However, with my breathing problems, I can no longer fly. So, my younger sister offered to take Klondike with her and her husband to Paris. They will take pictures of Klondike enjoying Paris and send them to me. It’s their way of helping me enjoy Paris too. They leave later this month. Last month, I got really busy preparing the things that Klondike will need for his journey… things like: a passport (teeny tiny size!), a French dictionary, a beret, a scarf, a backpack, faux money in a tiny wallet, a fun map of Paris folded like a Rand McNally map, a letter of consent for traveling with my sister, and even a little, tiny journal (with the first entry in it as Day 1) made from the banana paper she gave me from one of her vacations. Well, I think that’s everything. If you want to see some of those things, see my post here.

I’m pretty excited because Klondike has already made it to Oklahoma which is his first stop on the way to Paris. He’s already made a new llama friend. Klondike loaned him his beach hat! Wow! He also learned how to play the clarinet! My youngest nephew taught him how. It really sounds like Klondike is having so much fun already. Here’s a picture and a video for you to enjoy. haha!

Klondike met a new friend llama from Peru! He’s wearing Klondike’s beach hat!

You probably think I’m nutty for doing this but, honestly, sometimes I just need something exciting to look forward to. It helps me keep a smile on my face. Maybe I went a little too far with all of Klondike’s “belongings” but heck, I’m having fun. Pretty soon, I will be turning 46 years old and on that same day, K and I will be married for 23 years. I started dating him when I was 19 years old. So, that means we’ve been together for 27 years. That’s a pretty big accomplishment! haha! With my birthday coming up, I will get my “Week of Princess” treatment. I can’t wait! K is so sweet about it. I get to use the phrase…”but it’s my birthday” a lot and it even works! haha!

Ok enough for now. You all keep safe and stay well. *big hugs* to you all!

Life is good!

Living On Oxygen for Life

A few days ago, K and I decided to step into another adventure by trying a new grocery store… wait for it… on a SUNDAY! Before you say it… it was NOT my idea. In fact, I kept asking him if he was sure he wanted to go to a new grocery store on a Sunday. He was like, Sure! So, that is what we did. We went to WinCo. I can only say that the store was so disorganized that it was so easy to get turned around and confused in there. So many people were stopped in the middle of the aisle looking for whatever it was they were looking for. Then some were talking on their cellphones and suddenly put on the breaks wherever the heck they may be at… which happened to be right in front of our cart a lot. Then, I saw the donuts! We were in the bakery section of the store. I had been craving glazed donuts for days. So, I grabbed a clear plastic box of 6 donuts while checking the date. Ok, they were fresh. In the cart they go. K looked at them and then ripped right into the box and took a big bite of one of the donuts. The look on his face was priceless!! I could tell he wanted to spit it out. *snicker* All he could say was that it was frozen. Naturally, that confused me and I felt bad for him (kinda!). I took a bite of his donut. I certainly didn’t want to start eating a new donut. First, I noticed that it wasn’t frozen but it sure tasted like it had been frozen and then thawed numerous times. YUCK! Now we have to go home with them. Don’t worry… they went straight into the trash. What a waste.

Anyway, I met a nice couple at the WinCo. They asked about my oxygen. That’s when I lost K. He went off on his own like most men do while their women talk to someone they met or know in a store. It must be a secret MAN skill or something. Of course, I didn’t bring my cellphone with me that day. I wasn’t able to hunt him down using a text message. I had the cart. So, he was going to have to find me. Mwhahaha! Don’t worry… I didn’t roam too far from where I was. We both agreed to bail on the grocery store by buying what we had and go home with that. Good gravy. They didn’t even bag the groceries for us. I got to do it! I say got to do it but I was secretly reliving my days from when I use to work at Walmart. I had a lot of fun. Though when I worked at Walmart, we didn’t have the plastic bags like that. I kicked butt by bagging the way I wanted my food to be bagged! I rock!!!

Yesterday, I went to a new doctor. I was a little nervous because it’s a pain management doctor who will hopefully help me deal with the migraine headaches that I’ve had since I was about 17 years old. If anyone has had one, you know that a migraine can make your life come to a screeching halt for days. Well, that is how it is for me. For the last few months, I haven’t been able to “Bounce” back from a migraine as well as I normally do. After having a migraine headache, I normally get a burst of energy that makes me feel almost like Wonder Woman. Because I have heart and breathing problems, a migraine to me, affects both of those problems badly. My heart will start skipping and my breathing is so strained from the stress of my headache. I can not take things like Imitrex or Maxalt. And taking narcotics like hydrocodone or codeine would suppress my respiration. All I can take right now to help me through headaches are Extra Strength Excedrin, Fioricet and Phenergan. But now with this doctor, I am going to learn about whether or not I can get nerve block injections. I first have to get a neck CT scan. Then I find out more after that. Wish me luck!

Today, I am cooking up a corned beef roast to chop up and fry up with hash browns and a little bit of onion to make some yummy Corned beef hash for dinner! K was very skeptical about it the first time I made it… but after tasting it.. I changed his mind about corned beef hash. YUMMY!! Although, for a long time, I use to eat the kind that came from a can. Homemade is better! My oxygen guy came a little early. Now I should be able to get in a nap! YEA! Please be sure to follow my blog so you don’t miss anything. The HOPE necklace is going to be given away in April! Be sure to send in your name, information, and tell me what gives you hope to goredrider@gmail.com. Just click on the “HOPE – the giveaway” tab in the above menu to read about it.

Have a great day everyone! SPRING is coming!!! Can you feel it yet?

What moves me…

Living On Oxygen for Life

There are times when I am doing chores around the house and I need a little motivation. Sometimes I will have the TV going as the background noise but that doesn’t always work. Then there are times when I feel a little down and out too. What do I do? What works for me? What makes me laugh, have fun and gets me to move? And when I say move… I mean really move! No no not move to a new house.

What I do is turn off the TV. I go to my computer and click on iTunes where my collection of music is stored. I slide that volume up and let the music move me! I become a boogie momma while doing chores… mainly dishes and laundry. What’s good about music and dancing around the house or even in your chair is that it is a form of exercise. It gets you moving and makes you feel good. Sure, sure, I can’t dance the whole length of the song. I get tired. That’s why I slow down and take a few breather breaks. I get really into it. The embarrassing part is having K walk in when he gets home from work and catches me in the act. *giggle* I try to get him to dance with me but he’s not into dancing. He still smiles when he sees me, though, which makes getting tired dancing worth it!

So, why am I telling you this? I would love for you to take a few minutes each time I post a song on my blog to get down and boogie with me! I am posting one of the songs that really makes me move. You don’t need to know how to dance. No seriously! Just move! Get some exercise in a fun way. Are you willing to try this with me? Click the sideways play button link below to start the song video and be silly.. be fun.. get your kids, your spouse, your pet (I’ve done that!)… just whatever! Have fun! Just don’t let your body become sedentary which leads to a decline in health. Do this for you…