Coxarthrosis

May 22, 2021 / Margaret / 3 Comments

Time goes by so quickly that I can’t keep up. So much to do around the house (etc.), the cats (etc)…etc.

And then…Coxarthrosis came into my life…

The pain began months ago…I don’t remember exactly when, but I recently found an October 2020 text message sent to a friend in which I wrote that I had some pain in my hip and unfortunately had to postpone our rendezvous. So something was clearly happening as many as seven (!) months ago. Back then, though, Stefano and I both thought it was just a pulled muscle or something minor that would heal itself in time…

I began paying attention only when the pain got worse (I have a high pain threshold, so that probably took a while…I just can’t remember…too much going on…), and I began to limp. By then, though, we were at the beginning or perhaps even in the middle of our kitchen renovation, and I really couldn’t spare the time to go for an X-ray. So I limped through the renovation…and, FTR, I am still limping.

Then of course there was the issue of Covid-19. In those winter months, Tuscany, and Italy in general, was going through some very difficult times. Orange, then red zones, hospitals full of Covid patients…very sad. I had to choose between limping around the house OR leaving the house and possibly contracting Covid. I chose the former. Limp limp limp.

But then the Covid vaccination campaign began, and the numbers started going down, thank goodness. Last week I felt it was safe enough to go have an X-ray…Three X-rays, as it turned out. I had hoped it was simply an inflammation of some sort, which could easily be taken care of, but no, the diagnosis was coxarthrosis, which is basically degenerative osteoarthritis of the hip joint. Yes, degenerative. Bummer.

Incidentally, in case you were wondering (I certainly did!!!), it has nothing to do with my myeloma. Phew. No, it’s a common condition with elderly folks (but not just the elderly…Younger folks can get this thing, too…And I’m not even 60 years old…), BUT you can also get coxarthrosis as a result of a fall, and I did fall very hard when I fractured my shoulder a few years ago. Oh well. Who knows? It doesn’t really matter how I got it, to be honest. I will have to live with it, period. What I don’t want to live with, however, is the PAIN, which can certainly be managed.

And that is why, right after my diagnosis, I asked the wonderful pharmacist, Dr. Ferruccio Balducci (Farmacia Balducci, in Calenzano, Florence), who prepares my C3 curcumin complex capsules, to help me deal with the pain and perhaps even slow down the progression of this type of arthrosis. That was the right move: he has a lot of experience in this field, and he prepared some capsules that should help, not just with the coxarthrosis but also with the myeloma. One of the ingredients, in fact, is Boswellia, which I tested some years ago for my MM. Too early to tell if the capsules are working, but it does seem that my pain has diminished in the past few days, and I am moving around more easily. Time will tell.

Now I need to find, and make an appointment with, a good orthopedist, since it is likely that I will have to have surgery at some point in the future…Unless we can stop the degeneration, eh! A girl can dream, right? 🙂

In other news, more positive news!, Stefano and I have registered to have the anti-Covid vaccine. By July we should both be fully vaccinated. We’ll still wear our masks, though. I recently came across a study on MM and CLL patients, which, as I recall, included nine (?) smouldering myeloma folks. The vaccines were, on average, about 50% effective on the MM patients. Still, as I told my family doctor, 50% is better than 0%.

On an even more positive note, we just booked a week in August of TOTAL RELAX in a hotel located on a stunningly beautiful lake up in the Dolomites, northern Italy. Can’t wait!!!

Anyway, sorry for having written so little in the past few (okay, several!) months, but I’m sure you will understand and forgive me.

Okay, I must be off now. Take care, everyone!!! Ciao!!!

P.S. Some of you mentioned how lovely our marble countertops look in the photo with Potter (in a previous post). It’s actually NOT marble, but an easy-to-clean and very resistant (to cat scratches, e.g.) blend of natural quartz stone, porcelain, and glass. It’s fabulous. We love our new, functional kitchen!!!

P.P.S.S. I wanted to post a few photos of my flowers and the kitties, but the system refuses to upload them. Oh well!!! More luck next time…

Time flies

April 9, 2021 / Margaret / 5 Comments

Well, many things have happened in the past month or so, except for finding the time…well, okay, to be honest, except for finding the desire to write a post (yes, I’m, still at a bit of a standstill there, unfortunately…not sure why…oh well).

But everything else is, well, stable, or as stable as it can be, which is positive.

Peekaboo, however, gave us a BIG scare about two weeks ago. I really thought she was on her way…out. Actually, in retrospect, it’s kind of a funny story (?), so here goes…

One morning I noticed that Peekaboo wasn’t responsive. She hadn’t come down to have breakfast with the other cats, as she always does. She was upstairs, fast asleep on the guest room bed. She didn’t even lift her head when I came into the room, which was also very unusual. She’s a big talker, you see, and she likes to meow (complain) at me whenever I’m within a few feet of her.

I didn’t want to wake her up…didn’t know what to do, really…but I felt that something was wrong. I called the vet clinic and spoke with a vet who agreed that she should be seen as soon as possible. An emergency appointment. The vet’s voice was not very encouraging. You may remember that Peekaboo has an inoperable, malignant sarcoma near her nose…

As soon as I put the phone down, I burst into tears. I thought this was the end. Memories flooded my mind, upsetting me even more. I went to get the cat carrier, which we keep in the room where Peekaboo was sleeping.

And then, as I pulled out the carrier, I heard a familiar “meow, meow, MEOW?!!!” behind me. Loud and clear. I turned around, and there she was, that little rascal, sitting up in bed with both eyes wide open (her left eye is usually half closed now, see photo), giving me a piece of her mind about the cat carrier, I presumed.

She proceeded to get up and jump off the bed with the grace of a ballerina, no kidding, and went downstairs to eat. Ahhhh, cats! I canceled the appointment at the vet clinic. I did take her to the vet the following week for a just-in-case check-up. A good thing I did that, too: the inside of her mouth was red and inflamed. The vet gave her two shots of cortisone and antibiotics. She’s going to have to have these shots every two weeks, perhaps for the rest of her life. Incidentally, she’s doing well, all things considered.

Anyway, that’s just one thing…keeping a close eye on Peekaboo…

Another is that we also finally (almost) finished our kitchen renovation. What a headache that has been. Now that it’s (almost) over, I can say it was worth it, but a few weeks ago I’d had enough and wished we’d just kept our old kitchen, which we’d had for 20 years. But okay, in the end it was worth it: we now have a beautiful kitchen with a big island (our dark old kitchen only had very narrow, impractical countertops). We love it. So do the kitties. The photo shows Potter on the island…

And of course I’ve been following what is happening with the Covid-19 pandemic, the vaccine issues, etc. Unfortunately, Tuscany isn’t doing that well right now. We’re still in a red zone, and the hospitals are full. I’ve been in self-isolation now for ages, it seems. I leave the house, double-masked, only for emergencies…like taking a cat to the vet. Otherwise, I’m at home all the time, which is fine, since I have plenty to do here.

Anyway, enough blabbering for today. Stay safe, everyone, and wear your masks!!! Take care! Ciao!

P.S. As I re-read my post, I almost erased the part about the kitchen renovation. In a difficult moment like this one, it seemed like such a silly, boring piece of fluff. But then I thought that sometimes we all need a bit of…fluff. So I left it in…

More than two months…

February 4, 2021 / Margaret / 2 Comments

Wow, I can’t believe that I haven’t published a post in so long. More than TWO MONTHS…That’s definitely my (worst) record. 😕 Sorry about that. Since I’ve received a bunch of concerned messages, though, I thought I’d better reassure everyone publicly that I’m fine, Stefano is fine, the kitties are fine. In short, we’re all fine, although I’ve been dealing with some health issues with Peekaboo in the past month or so.

Last summer (and then in the fall, and then just about a month ago) she came down with a nasty case of gingivitis, which is concerning, not just because it keeps coming back, in spite of antibiotics and cortisone, but because more than two years ago she had an aggressive form of oral melanoma, and a portion of her jaw was removed…She recovered beautifully from that surgery, I would like to add…In this photo, if you look closely, perhaps you will be able to see that the left side of her face is a bit swollen (this is actually a good photo, since her left eye is usually half shut now). My poor Booboo!!!

But we’ll sort it out, I’m sure. Our vets had a meeting about Peekaboo yesterday. The upshot is that I’m taking her to the clinic tomorrow for a CAT scan. A CAT scan for a cat! Hah. Anyway, yes, I’m worried, but Peeky is a tough kitty who has been through so much…So she is going to be fine. Period.

Okay, let’s see, what else? I’ve been quite busy in these past two months of absence from the blog… not just translations, but, for example, after 20 years of living with an incredibly impractical kitchen (very little counter space, e.g.), we decided to have it totally renovated. I’m finally going to have the kitchen of my dreams (with lots of counter space, a new super duper oven, etc.). Very exciting. Demolition of the old kitchen will start on Monday. By the end of next week, I hope most of the new kitchen will be installed, except for the counter top, which will take another ten days or so.

Anyway, as we say in Italian, tutto bene = all is well. But now I really must continue clearing stuff out of the kitchen…Monday is just around the corner! Yikes!

So…ciao, everyone!!! Now more than ever, with all these blasted Covid variants floating around, please take care, stay safe, and wear your masks!!!

Margaret's Corner

Author: Margaret