Gary in his new shirt.
"All men are created equal but only the best still do woodworking in their seventies."
We've had a lot of rain recently and the garden is still mostly green. We just brought the hummingbird feeder in. We left it up so that any hummingbirds from farther north could stop in on their migration to Mexico for the winter.
Mums from last year are blooming again.
We had this small tree fall down in a wind storm.
This bench is my favorite one to sit on and read. The kids like me to sit on the bench and watch them play. I can overlook the garden while I'm reading there too.
The leaves are just starting to change colors.
The leaves turn different colors at different times depending on what kind of tree it is.
The butterfly bush still has blooms.
We went to see Gary's gastroenterologist last week. After reviewing the upper GI test he had, the
Nissen fundoplication procedure he had done in October of 2019 is starting to fail. So Gary is starting to have acid reflux again. The doctor said he could refer him to a surgeon up the road to see about having another surgery but Gary said no. The
testing and prep weeks before the surgery and the
recovery from the surgery were very challenging. The doctor did say that most surgeons don't like to redo the Nissen if it has failed. So Gary will be taking some medication for acid reflux.
The doctor checked Gary's belly and yes he has another abdominal hernia. It is small and as long as it can be pushed back in, it should be ok. The doctor said often when they repair one hernia another one can pop up either above or below the original hernia. Gary had 3 laparoscopic/robotic surgeries through his belly button (hiatal hernia repair, gall bladder & liver cyst removal, and removal of the right adrenal gland) and then the abdominal hernia repair surgery. These surgeries took place October 2019, March 2022, November 2023, and April 2024. That's a lot cutting on those muscles.
The doctor used a visual animated display of abdominal muscles to show what has been happening in Gary's belly. Technology is a great additional tool to help doctors do their jobs. He recommend that at age 70, Gary only have another abdominal surgery if it is life or death. He can take medication for the acid reflux and he also knows some foods trigger reflux and he avoids them. With the new abdominal hernia, Gary needs to be careful when lifting and twisting. He shouldn't lift heavy loads. It is frustrating because he has things he wants to do and he is going to have to ask for help. That is not easy at all for him. But the idea of not having to have another surgery is very appealing to him also. Hopefully that will encourage him not to lift too much and ask for help.
We also saw Gary's audiologist last week. Gary told her where he was with the balance issues and told her he had done Physical Therapy for balance and he failed to make any progress. He has an appointment with a neurologist on December 4. The audiologist sent the results of her testing to the neurologist and said the ENT should have forwarded the PT results to the neurologist too. So now we wait until December 4 to see what the neurologist says. It is all sometimes scary, but I try to keep a positive outlook and keep it light. I tease Gary that he is dizzy because when he's around me, I make his world spin. We've been through a lot of life together and I am so glad that we are doing life together.
I love living in the woods in the fall and seeing all the leaves change colors.
I love going through all of the wonderful seasons of life with my best friend, Gary. ð
