Time to wage war against the
flies…so many flies in the camper, all of them small, like newborns. The question that we’ll never get answered is:
Are they transplants from Michigan, hibernating as eggs in the crevices of the
camper ready to pop out in the warmth OR are they locals, taking advantage of
the open doors as we were setting up yesterday? I vote for transplants; Kim
thinks they’re local. The flies aren’t
talking. 😉
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Time for
us to start walking also. For maybe the
last 7 months or so, Kim has been dealing with some leg issues. Last March out
here in Arizona, he walked so fast I couldn’t keep up with him. Sometime around
June, he started saying that occasionally his legs felt ‘heavy’, comparing them
to stumps and suddenly I couldn’t walk slow enough for him to keep up. Then we
noticed a slight swelling in his lower right leg. Hmmm…what’s up with that?
We’re both aware that heart issues can cause leg swelling. But since he
had no other symptoms, I started looking at other causes. Googled Prostate
Cancer…heavy legs because that seemed like a good starting point. Looking at only reputable medical
sites, I read that prostate cancer surgery followed by radiation can cause swelling and
heaviness in the legs, especially if lymph nodes are affected, which is
important to note since the lymphatic system is responsible for draining excess
fluid from the body. Not only that, but the edema (swelling) can appear weeks,
months or even years after radiation treatment.
Bingo! So, we checked with
his urologist who said that it was possible that that could be the culprit,
especially since lymph nodes had also been removed during his prostate surgery
but encouraged Kim to talk to his primary care physician to eliminate the
possibility of it being a heart issue. PCP ordered a carotid artery scan and
echocardiogram, both of which eliminated heart issues.
So, the likely cause of the swelling and heaviness is the radiation treatment
that followed his prostate surgery. The solution? Compression socks, drinking
more water and getting the heartrate elevated with exercise. He reluctantly
agreed to wearing the socks but appreciates the payoff…most days there’s no
swelling and his legs feel good. We’ve
been doing a yoga program at home which is good for flexibility, but it doesn’t
necessarily increase the heart rate for an extended period of time. This is
where walking comes in, which is what we did this morning. Started out with the
big tire as our goal but ended up going several electrical poles past it. A little over a mile total. We may work up to doing two short walks a day,
but for now, what we did this morning was a good start.
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Kim projects:
1. Solar-powered fountain: The
fountain needed some modification because we forgot the plastic plate that sat
on top. One of our bamboo plates was sacrificed to do the job. Kim drilled a center hole for the pump
apparatus and then more holes around that to allow the water to recirculate.
Added a couple of rocks for the birds to perch on and Voila! the fountain was
ready for the birds!
2. Bathroom fan: The fan wasn’t
working but all it really needed was a good cleaning. Running smoothly now!
3. Spare tire: Our original spare
tire shredded itself on the outskirts of Topeka and since the new tires have 6
lugnuts instead of 5, the spare holder on the back of the camper needed to be
modified. When we left Topeka, the new spare was wedged next to my bike in the
camper, which was a short-term solution. This project was started yesterday
with the help of Joe, our neighbor, and finished today with my help. I don’t
know what all went into it since my help was minimal; but the spare is now
attached to the back of the camper. Hopefully we won’t need it in the near future.
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The hummingbird that showed up at dusk yesterday must have spread the
word that there were feeders back in the corner of the campground because more hummers
showed up today. Well, really what I can say with certainty is that two have
found the feeders because I saw two at once, harassing each other. The other sightings could have been of the same
bird over and over, tricking me.
Sparrows, thrashers and another bird that I need to get identified
showed up on the seed ring. The mystery bird has the beak of a cardinal but not
the coloring. I posted the picture on the Arizona Birding page on FB. I should
have an answer soon. **Update: The mystery bird was identified as Abert’s
Towhee.
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Kim got his telescope set up today. Once it got dark enough, he headed
to his corner of the campground, ready to relearn his equipment. It doesn’t get
used much in Michigan due to cloudy skies. He just popped to grab a cup of
coffee and to say that, although it took a while to get it going, he thinks it’s
going good…it’s taking pictures anyway. Rosette
Nebula is his target tonight.
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When getting all his telescope
gear out of the truck, Kim realized that he had forgotten an extension cord,
which is an important piece of equipment. We decided to ride the bikes to Coolidge to
get one. It was a quick ride but man, it felt good.
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I spent
most of my free time today reading; had to see how the story ended. I
brought along my needle felting and intend to get into that tomorrow now that
the book is finished. Last year, I busied myself by needle felting the Critter
Crew. This year, I brought along a kit for making a gnome; my goal is to make
an army of gnomes to sit on the shelf with Burnie (the super hero that Kim found
beside a trash fire last year), Bendy Man, Rocky and Chad. They’ll enjoy the
company, I’m sure.
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