Monday, July 18
For July 17 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 15 min with AHI=0.41. Events: 2 CSR, 3 H, 15 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 14 L/min). Oximetry: Nice all night.
We were going to take Annie to the vet to check to see if she had more cheat grass in her ear, from symptoms of flipping her head. We also wondered if something else was going on because of some of her recent actions, perhaps balance related.
John’s morning trip out with Annie resulted in an apparent seizure that might explain her recent strange behavior. At 10:00 a.m., we took her to Dr. Roster (vet at Critter Care), where she diagnosed an apparent onset of Epilepsy (treatable with Phenobarbital). The vet did blood work and found that she has no kidney, liver, or other identifiable problems, but she had a fever when we got there (104, on the high side), and she had a slight issue while in the waiting room. The doc gave her some injections and will keep her for observation overnight, and through the day to be sure the dosage is correct. We will contact her at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow if she hasn’t gotten back to us about picking her up, and also tomorrow, pick up her medication from our pharmacy for her next application (she will have had 3 doses). It has been successful preventing seizures in canines. Apparently, there is another possibility I learned of from a friend, who had her dog on it. Annie apparently is the right age for such an onset. We have never had any of our dogs with the disease. However, we did encounter several through the years while boarding dogs in Idaho.
John just found this link:
Seizures & dogs
I like this, maybe you will too. (The concept for “everyone has a story” came from a long ago acquaintance, David Johnson, when we were living in Troy, ID and David was a news columnist (wife our departmental secretary). David would go to a town and randomly pick a name from the phone book. Steve Hartman of CBS picked up on the idea (stories now on YouTube).
While we are on videos, here is one heck of a Hail and rainstorm yesterday on Blewett Pass – 17 miles north of us (July 17, ’16). I’m glad we were not in this. First image is a ‘still’; scroll down for the video:
John drives this road when he goes to HWY 2 WTA trail sites (for example, Icicle Creek) to work on trails, or our friends would have used that access on their way to Leavenworth (earlier blog entry).
Tuesday, July 19 —
For July 18 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 28 min with AHI=0.62. Events: 0 CSR, 4 H, 13 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 16 L/min). Oximetry: Excellent all night.
We picked up Annie at the vet, paid her bill, got some meds, and brought her home. She’s calmed down and is sleeping.
I worked around the house for a couple hours and then went to Jazzercise and then to a Physical Therapy session. It was a very tough workout. I’m still hurting 5 hours later. I took a vase of dahlias (their vase, I just filled it), and we watched a lightning and hail storm from the 2nd story windows. I need to finish getting stuff ready to go for leaving in the morning no later than 7:15 a.m.
John made a Dutch Apple Pie today, with Marie Callender’s help, and we had a piece with vanilla ice cream for dessert. Heading to bed, so I can get up early and hit the road.
Wednesday, July 20
For July 19 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 4 hrs 27 min with AHI=0.00. Events: 1 CSR, 0 H, 6 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 16 L/min). Oximetry: Until 3:30 a.m. everything was perfect, but something blipped that maybe caused me to wake up (besides needing to go to the potty). I went back to sleep, but not before an hour had passed. Then I slept until 6:00 and thought the alarm had not gone off – jumped up and started my day.
Today is Tillicum Village day, via car, bus, and ferry. I left about 7:10 for EBRG and the Senior Center (AAC). 14 of us mostly old folks are headed for Blake Island in the Puget Sound, near Seattle.
It was a gorgeous day in Seattle. Cool here, nice and sunny, but eventually the air temp got to 81°F. All of us on the trip started taking off extra shirts. It was just 47° when I left for town but we are at 2,240 feet elevation. That’s just 800 ft. lower than Snoqualmie Pass.
The road for our trip is Interstate 90. It is always under construction. Here’s is a design-concept-animation about 4 minutes long:
We made the trip to Seattle via a 12-passenger bus, full, with two leaders up front – one the driver, Katrina, and the other the co-pilot, Carly. We experienced a lot of road surfacing construction on I-90, and once to the Seattle area, we were in traffic backups at 10:00 a.m. Because of the number in the bus, we were able to use the High Occupancy Lane (HOV). That only helped for a short while.
We checked out several parking lots and couldn’t find one with an opening, because they didn’t want to take up a bus space with a smaller than usual bus, as ours was.
Selected photos may enhance understanding of my day away. I had to miss my normal music at the Food Bank and SAIL class.
This is my story.
We made it to the Pier to board the ferry that would take us to our experience of the day. Here are a few shots taken in the 45 minutes we waited.
At Pier 55. Sailboats, Seattle Great Wheel
The Seattle Great Wheel is a giant Ferris wheel at Pier 57 on Elliot Bay in Seattle, WA. Its height is 175 feet and was the tallest Ferris wheel on the U.S. West Coast, when it opened 6-29-2012.
See link for more information. I included it here because the Senior Center will be taking a trip over there this year. At this point, I do not plan to go.
I did my favorite thing when in big cities – people watching, as we waited over a half hour to board. I sat in the shade.
Nancy people watching: all sorts of colors of hair, clothing, and statements (Mariners Baseball fan), note the sidewalk with glass windows. Those were put in for salmonid babies to have light to swim – supposedly, see LINK
The right bottom photo is part of our group.
In the link above, comes this statement:
By moving the new seawall landward, the amount of shallow aquatic habitat adjacent to the seawall would increase by approximately 1.8 acres (with cantilevered sidewalks with light penetrating surfaces (LPS) above the newly exposed habitat), improving nearshore habitat conditions for a variety of aquatic organisms that will be able to utilize this area.
Here is a link to a nice brochure on the project with photos and explanation of the new Seawall:
Now for boarding and the trip to Blake Island.
Our trip left from Pier 54 on Argosy’s ship, Goodtime II. Note the lower and upper deck. On my way over I was on the top deck, back on the bottom, next to an open window, while sitting down.
On the trip over I was rocking and rolling and on my feet a lot, getting different angles for photography on the port, starboard, stern, and prow (portion of a ship’s bow that’s above water). Our bow hit some large wakes in the Sound from ocean-going ships.
Chronologically, from the stern, my travelogue. …
Left is the “Space Needle” at Seattle Center (not to scale with picture on the right) from Elliot Bay, middle is me on the stern, showing our wake on Puget Sound, part of the skyline with the Smith Tower off to the right. John put in the orange line to identify it on the skyline.
My interest in the Smith Tower extends to the beginning of the 20th Century. In 1914, the Smith Tower became the first skyscraper in Seattle, and the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. Now note it is the small isolated building on the far right of the skyline. My grandfather was a carpenter and moved from Guyton, GA to the west coast to Vancouver, BC to work on the construction for new growth related to 100,000 by people moving into that city. There he met my grandmother. They married in 1910 and moved from Vancouver to Seattle for him to work, possibly on construction associated with the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, which was a world’s fair held in Seattle in 1909, publicizing the development of the Pacific Northwest. We know he worked on the Smith Tower, built a house in West Seattle (still there), on the corner of SW 44th Ave and SW 102nd St, and started a family. My mom was born as the 3rd child in Seattle, and they left when she was 6 months old. She was born the year the Smith Tower opened. I have a more complete history I can share with anyone interested (as part of our annual greetings for 2012, when I went back to the Wilkins family reunion. (It’s on line). I need to alter some links to our new website HTML domain before I distribute the link, widely.
The correct link just to that story is Reunion of 2012
… but if you go there, to see the start of the greetings intro to this above, you should not follow any of the links that start with www.ellensburg.com because it no longer exists. Here is the full story for 2012 without corrections within, but the information is visible for the introduction to the family reunion link.
More from the Tillicum trip.
Above a collage of views from the ship on our 8 mile voyage. Top left is a large grain-carrying ship.
TERMINAL 86 GRAIN FACILITY
… below the ship is an insert of W. Seattle and Alki beach. Top right is the Alki Point Lighthouse, and below that is Blake Island, an ancestral camping ground of the Suquamish Indian tribe. The region was under thousands of feet of ice to about 13,000 years ago.
Coming in to Blake Island we have views of the Longhouse, totems, and the clamshell walkway.
Left, Long house and ramp from the ship in the marina, right, entrance with the greeter I met later describing his Raven mask utilized in the dance (see my video – 11 seconds below). Here he is above, dressed in the traditional Kwakiutl button blanket. The walkway behind him is the clamshell one. The people on the walkway are members of our group. We were served 2-3 clams in their shells and nectar upon arrival. The photo advertising the clams on line is more generous with the clams than we experienced (see below in my collage).
Left, Nancy w/Totem; Clams-mine on top, ad below; right, clamshell walkway and bottom, Louise, a Blackfoot from a Montana tribe, sharing shade with me as we ate our clams. She requested a second cup that they gave her. My serving was good, but had more shells than clams. I received only two clams, but I had fun doing the clamshell dance at Louise’s request to break them up on the clamshell walkway.
On inside to eat our buffet luncheon.
Our menu, my plate, the salmon end of the buffet table. More below.
Green salad with sunflower seeds, cranberries, and Oregon blue cheese. Top middle shows three of the entrees to go with the salmon: Palenta w/ wild mushrooms, wild rice, and venison stew. Fruit salad is pictured on the right, with Louise serving herself.
Then they dimmed the lights, making it tough to finish my meal that I hadn’t previously. No photos or videos were allowed during the performance, but we were allowed to meet and talk with the actors afterwards in the lobby.
Nancy with the young girl in the story, and Stephen Maher, (the greeter from the entrance, and dancer with the large Raven mask), describing its size in the video below. On the right above, is him with the mask in place (as he wore it to dance), and below the salmon roasting set up.
Video..Tillicum Village Dancer – Raven Mask Information
Dancer – Raven Mask
Stephen Mather, 25, a member of the Makah tribe, demonstrates how the raven mask, or Kwakkwakwalanuksiwe, is worn. Mather is one of the dancers in the Tillicum Village story show, I taped for only 11 seconds, but check it out.
Basket making display & explanation with cedar bark, spruce root, and sea grass being used in the basketry.
A typical Native American Alaskan hat in the upper left has an Ermine skin attached. Ermine is a winter-coated Stoat (Mustela erminea), for those that want to further their knowledge. The prices on the work were hefty. I only captured the one $450 tag on the right basket.
Then out to the garden to see the pretty flowers:
Nice Hydrangeas, Dahlias, and a resident Raccoon, as a surprise.
Back to see more crafts:
Many totems and other wood carvings around the rooms, the blackboard drawing I found intriguing and well done. Beneath it is a Drum, hanging on the wall above the counter. Next is a clock, and then another carved animal on the floor near the exits.
Finally, we were ready to board for the final shots of the return trip.
Ten of us made it into this picture, and on the way out of the marina from the bottom deck, I took the pictures of the Heron.
This was taken at the start of the day, and we could get a photo at the end. I wish they had picked one with my eyes open. They took more than one. Oh, well, here’s our group.
Thursday, July 21
For July 20 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 4 hrs 27 min with AHI=0.45. Events: 0 CSR, 2 H, 8 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 21 L/min). Oximetry: SpO2 lowering for a few minutes before 1:00 a.m. fine before and after all night.
I spent a bunch of time trying to add some songs for future play lists and to replace some of the Fourth of July types we are getting weary of. Today was at Brookdale (old Dry Creek) assisted living home. We had a good turnout of audience and players.
I got home and found this picture from Dawn & Victor Estrella and the news they had made it safely home to Boise. This is a beautiful photo of Snoqualmie Falls (25 miles east of Seattle). Nice ending to a great trip. She wanted Victor to see the falls, and I’d say that is the nicest view I have ever seen there in many visits over the years.
Snoqualmie Falls in Washington (photo by Dawn Estrella)
Friday, July 22
For July 21 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 3 hrs 35 min with AHI=0.00. Events: 0 CSR, 0 H, 4 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 8 L/min). I was awakened by our dog at 4:30 asking to go out, but I did sleep through until morning, without the CPAP connected. This medication she is on is causing her to drink more and need to potty more. Oximetry: A couple blips of SpO2 below 88 about 1:30 a.m.
We drove separate cars to town, because John needed gasoline for his trip tomorrow. I had 3 appointments. We started at 11:30 at the Senior Center with lunch and a talk from a new medical doctor in town on the subject of Long Term Care. We both went to the grocery store and John dropped me back by the AAC for my SAIL exercise (and to use the computer room). I left exercise 15 minutes early to get to my Physical Therapy session at 2:30. I was very sore going in, and more sore upon exiting. My PT session started with a recumbent bike to loosen my muscles (supposedly 120% better than using heat). From there to the workout table. My Percoset was not working as it had a week ago. I need to figure how far in advance I need to take it. A half hour was not sufficient today. Windy outside all day, in the 40s. The highest today was 45 mph!
Saturday, July 23
For July 22 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 6 hrs 31 min with AHI=0.15. Events: 0 CSR, 1 H, 6 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 17 L/min).
One break in my night’s sleep, when Annie asked to go out. She has stopped wanting to go up the ramp to the doggie door and this morning, I think I found out why. I gave her a treat and asked her to go, but her back right leg fell off the ramp. (It, the ramp, has gotten a bit wobbly, so a fix of that might help.) We had guessed it was related to her balance problem before she was put on the medication. Now we may have to adjust the ramp or add something to the side to catch her foot. She will go out the backdoor and come back down the ramp. Oximetry: Fine.
John took off at 6:30 a.m. for a WTA trail work party at Surprise Lake with Evonne as CL. John is the only official assistant. I’ll get a report when he returns. (Rhonda was an unofficial assistant.)
This morning, I completed the music for the Rose of Tralee for our group, and added this history note at the bottom: Tale of love affair between Tralee merchant William Mulchinock and kitchen maid Mary O’Connor in the 1800s. They met secretly each day. One night under a pale moon, he proposed. His family disapproved. ‘Tho Mary loved him, she declined so that his family would not disown him. William wrote the song to try to get her to marry him, but no. Heartbroken, William left the country, returned 6 yrs to Tralee, intent on seeing Mary again, only to find that she had died from tuberculosis. At his request he is buried next to her in Clogherbrien. Since 1959, there is a festival in the town.
Check below for the video of John McCormack singing the beautiful Irish song along with lovely landscape photos of Ireland merged nicely with the lyrics.
Landscapes of Ireland with Music, The Rose of Tralee:
Today is the birthday of my friend in Eagle, ID. I called to wish her a happy birthday, and reached her before she left for a lunch with her bowling buddies there. We bowled together in Moscow, ID and in bowling tournaments.
Okay.. after a grabbing a bite for lunch, I’m going to attempt to finish the pictures I took at the going away party for Olivia, already written up in this blog last week, but first, I need to complete the ones from the AAC field trip to Tillicum Village on July 20th.
That never got done because of calls from people in Ellensburg and the need to travel to town. I was going to make it a multi-purpose trip and go by the hospital lab for my blood draw I forgot to get on the 19th, but found it closed at 2:00 on Saturday. That was a surprise and a huge disappointment.
Sunday, July 24
For July 23 CPAP. Reported figures. Time on 7 hrs 55 min with AHI=0.13. Events: 0 CSR, 1 H, 15 RERA. No major mask leaks (max= 13 L/min). Oximetry: good all night.
Warmish today – 91° F. At the airport.
Hope your week was fine.
Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan