GI Doctor visit

Just realized that I failed to talk about my most recent GI Doctor visit  of a couple of weeks ago. My major concern going in was my persistent diarrhea. Although it's been better since my experience earlier this year, it still continues to interfere with my ability to get out and with the arrival of spring I really needed to address this problem.

So, the long and the short of it is, since the immodium is not working, I now have a prescription for codeine - 30mg to be taken as needed and repeat after 6 hours if necessary. Of course the down side is that if I overdo it, I'll end up with the opposite problem, constipation. So far it seems to be working. I still get diarrhea,often in the morning but if I take the codeine, it's been working although sometimes requiring the follow up after 6 hours. And because of its pain suppressing capabilities, I have been skipping my NSAID when I take the codeine.

Life is good.

July 26 update:

Still have diarrhea most mornings but after an hour or so of repeated trips to the bathroom, I'm good for the rest of the day. This morning was the first time in months that I haven't had diarrhea. Yesterday I took three 30 mg pills just to see how that would work out. With the prescription, I only have enough for 2/day but there were a couple of days when I only took one so had the extras. sen though I was ok this morning, I took a pill anyway. It's now 10:00 am ad no bm. Wondering how long this will last. Maybe the answer is to take 3 or 4 pills one day and then go wight for a day. Worth a try anyway.
No nausea or vomiting for maybe 3 weeks now. Although I have been eating, I skip a day if I feel the least bit bloated and that seems to help.

Bella

Meet Bella my candidate for adoption. She is a young, under 1 year, Boston Terrier mix and she's from Kentucky as was Jojo her predecessor. She's a beautiful little girl, energetic, agile and apparently smart as a whip - I've only had her for 4 1/2 hours so too early to form my own opinion but she certainly comes across as very alert and curious.

I already love her but am trying to reserve judgement until we're entirely sure that we're a good match.  Anything less wouldn't be fair to either her or me. She's a tad skittish around the wheelchair so I enlisted the neighbour's dog walker to help me with our first outing this evening. Based on that experience, I think she's going to be okay with the chair. 

And if the following is any indication, it looks like she's pretty comfortable with me. She's already claimed Jojo's favourite spot and that makes me very happy indeed. What a gift it is to earn the trust of an animal. I've also discovered that she's a sucker for a deep muscle body massage - but then, who isn't.

Wish us luck.

Update: 48 hours later.
The wheelchair proved to be no problem. This afternoon we were out for a couple of hours without incident and Bella is pretty much exhausted. Just spoke to her foster mom on the phone and it looks like I'll be keeping her. Happy days.

Update: 1 week later
Well, it's been a week and Bella has adjusted to all the changes in her life and is doing great. Had a huge scare yesterday when her harness slipped off of her when we were out on our morning walk. Boy can she run. Fortunately, she stayed of the roads - it was morning rush hour- and ended up behind our apartment building. After a few minutes she responded to my call and came to me. After we got bcd to the apartment, I discovered hat she'd been chewing on her collar and gnawed right through one of the buckles. Mystery solved. I returned the harness to the store and replaced it with a full body harness sand we are now good togo again. 

Balcony Garden 2

Since the last post I have transplanted everything into 2" pots with a good potting soil and all I can say is WOW! Everything is flourishing. As can be seen from the picture, the plants have really taken off. Even now, three days later I see more growth.

Today I took the next step and planted some of the more cold tolerant plants as shown in the picture below. The chives are left over from last year.

I was pretty much exhausted after planting those three bags but it's reminiscent of a time many years ago when spring would find me working in the garden from sunrise to sunset. It's all relevant, but the feeling of satisfaction is the dame,maybe even better now because the obstacles are greater.  Another hurdle overcome and it feels awfully good. Of course, I'll have to remind myself of this in a day or two when my muscles and joints are aching.