October 2023 – Chopin – A Passionate Quilter From Texas

October 29, 2023

HQAL – 29 OCTOBER 2023! Not a Lot of Progress on the Quilting Front!

I remember the day we discussed purchasing our new travel trailer in August, and since then I am not sure where I have been most days! If you are living in the same world that I live in (Only when I leave our 5 acres) it is utterly unbelievable. Nothing seems to have gone right here as far as unforeseen requirements. All I know is that I have been drowning in solving problems for Doctors, Business, Insurance, etc. I know I am not the only one who has to do the work of the staff of Physcians, Billing, and then having to work with Insurance to clean it up! AND no trip to Rockport to find an RV park and The Duck is still sitting in the shed!

To top it off my BCBS Federal medical insurance decided to OPT-IN all Retires into Medicare Part D Prescription WITHOUT OUR APPROVAL. May I say that I spent 5 days researching and trying to pin more idiots down for accurate information – that failed. I was finally able to OPT OUT OF THAT MESS. I DO NOT WANT THE GOVERNMENT CONTROLLING MY PRESCRIPTIONS! This is why I say it is becoming a full time job dealing with any business.

During August I began having some pain in my right hand at the thumb area and as the months went on it became more painful and kept me from doing my quilting. So like a dutiful individual who takes care of themselves, I requested an x-ray of both hands to see what is going on and ordered a thumb brace to see if that would help until I got the results.

The x-ray showed a tear in a tendon. I had thumb surgery in 1980 to correct torn ligaments and tendons on my right thumb when I took a fall and put my hand down to brace the fall (don’t ever do that one – just take the fall). The surgery did not work and I did not want a repeat surgery, so I have worked around that one for 43 years. I figured that this could be giving me the problem. (Certainly NOT the 16 quilts I quilted, 20 that I hand quilted the binding earlier in the year!)

I selected a Hand Surgeon from the group I had previously used for hand issues. The Surgeon advised me that I have Thumb arthritis. It is common with aging and occurs when cartilage wears away from the ends of the bones that form the joint at the base of your thumb — also known as the carpometacarpal (CMC) joint (See below) Of course it requires lots of steroid shots (I am allergic to steroids), braces (tried that one and limited use) and if that doesn’t work – the big “S” word Surgery! But before that he made a final decision he wanted me to get an MRI of my hand. At first I thought I would just live with it, but after reading all about the CMC joint I realized that if I let it go it would only get worse, so I bit the bullet and arranged an MRI with my favorite sit down open MRI Imaging place! NO tunnels for me.

So Friday I went for the MRI (I still hate MRIs) and had an appointment with the Doctor’s Physician Assistant (an idiot) just to see what the MRI showed. The Doctor took Friday off (unexpectedly) so I was to see him on his final diagnoses on Tuesday next week! The Idiot PA kept asking for the MRI for my wrist and I told him I had brought the disc to them. He told me that they only got the hand. I told him I did not know they wanted the wrist. The Idiot left the room and I made a phone call to the Imaging people to find out what happpened. They advised me they did not get the one for the wrist.

There were some loud words exchanged after that between myself and the Doctor’s Number one Nurse Rachet (trying to be nice) because I realized that someone had dropped the ball and the Imaging people did NOT receive the orders for wrist and hand. YUP I HAVE TO HAVE ANOTHER MRI. If I were having to pay for the MRIs out of pocket I would be billing the idiot who did not do their job. I was livid. I complained at the front desk very loudly and walked out – told them I would never be back. The problem started with Nurse Rachet assistant to the Doctor because she DID NOT send the prescriptions to my Imaging company. She sent them Friday and they were received. (There is really more to this story but I would be writing a book – this is the condensed version and you are probably already bored!)

On the way home from that mess, I received a call from the The San Antonio Orthopedic Groups’ Office Manager. She had been advised of the situation from the lady at the front desk when I lodged a complaint about having to have another MRI due to their mistake. She was apologizing for what happened with the 2 encounters with Nurse Rachet and the fact that now I had to get another MRI. I told her I would not be using the original doctor and requested that I be transferred to their top Doctor in the Group. So now I have an appointment on the 8th of November for the MRI and on the 14th of November for the Doctor’s appointment where I will know the extent of the damage to the Thumb joint!

On the 19th of October the air conditioner went out in the bedroom – that required 2 full days of trying to obtain bids to replace the unit in the bedroom and Den (other side of the house is central air (4 tons). By the end of the day Friday 20th of October we had a company scheduled to install the new system – Mini Splits in both rooms starting 30 October! The units were installed in the wall, so Clay will need Monday and Tuesday to close up the wall area where the units were. Murray Air Conditioning from La Vernia will remove the old units for us and hopefully by Thursday evening we will have them installed. This time we purchased A/C and Heat. We will not need the air and probably not the heat at this time as we are going to receive a very welcomed Canadian Norther! Should be here within the next hour or so and will be bringing rain! YEA! Speaking of rain this week we received 6 and 1/4 inches of rain! Drought buster and another inch on Friday!

My walk in the morning will be my favorite 40 degrees! YEA!

OK I have accomplished a couple of things that I consider fun and relaxing. I loaded my lap quilt for “The Duck” (if we ever get to take it out on a trip). She is loaded and one row done this last Thursday before the Black MRI day! Rebecca quilted my Irish Spring quilt with red thread and I am doing the same with the lap quilt. I will finish it starting tomorrow (Monday) as Clay will be busy with the wall repair and I will be quilting!

I finished another block from In The Garden Quilt by Dawn Heese. Only 2 more to go and it will take longer because of the thumb issue.

Next on my diatribe is to congratulate our new House Speaker, Speaker Mike Johnson from Louisiana. This man is going to change our way of doing business in the House! Just watch!

POLITICAL ALERT: I am appalled at the colleges who have turned out Students who are protesting Israel in their War with Hamas and Iran! This should show Americans how sick our Education System is. May those people/students never work for an American Company EVER! I saw today where UAE, Saudi Arabia, and 2 other Arab countries contributed over 6.6 BILLION to our colleges. This has to change. No wonder we are where we are in this Country! No more selling of our precious land to China either! OK I am done!

I LOVE President Trump as you all know, and we need him and Speaker Johnson to clean up the mess that the Democrats have given us for the last 3 years. My prayers are with Israel and its people, President Trump and House Speaker Johnson! May they be kept in the Fold and Safe and Sound.

Have a wonderful week and enjoy stitching and rest those hands. I will age another year on 31 October at 2 minutes to Midnight! I will be flying on my broom in the sky!

Hugs,

Nanette

© Nanette Chopin Cook at Doitrightquilter.com 2023. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nanette Chopin Cook and Doitrightquilter.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another. If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.
Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, Connie, and Cathie.

Linking To: My Quilt Infatuation; Confessions of a Fabric Addict; Finished or Not Friday ; Em’s Scrap Bag; BOM’s Away; Sew Fresh Quilts; Crazy Mom Quilts; Oh Scrap; Scrap Happy Saturday; Slow Sunday Stitching Quilt Fabrication Mid Week Makers; Peacock Party; Design Wall Monday, Scrap Happy Days, Quilting Patch Linky Party, To Do Tuesdays

October 8, 2023October 29, 2023

HQAL – October 8, 2023

Greetings from a much cooler South Texas! Today it was 58 degrees when I walked this morning. It is now 83 degrees at 4PM. What a change from 120 days of over 110to 117 degrees! I am working daily to get back to my 1.5 miles in 30 minutes. I am having to start over doing a 20 minute mile and maybe in 2 weeks I will be back to the 1.5 in 30. I am having back issues, so I am back in my back brace -I am the ultimate brace person!

Ever since we purchased The Duck life was not under my control!!! So I cannot tell you all the things I have been dealing with, but mostly I have not felt good most of this summer. First off I did not keep up with the sun nor my Vitamin D lamp (my fault)- My D level was down to 45. No wonder for the last 2 months I could have cared less about anything quilting. (I gave up my Almond Breeze milk in 2018 when they said I was Pre-Diabetic which has 450mg of Calcium).

In September I had the annual female check up and requested a Bone Density test be done. About 2 weeks ago the GYN doctor called to talk about my Bone Density test. I almost fell out of my chair when a doctor called – it had been over 40 years since I heard from a Doctor! The bottom line on that report was that I was either on the verge of Osteopenia and in 10 years I might be at risk for a fracture, or a broken hip. There would be a 3% chance in 10 years I might fall and have a fracture, OR better yet have a 13% chance of falling and break my hip and then probably die 2 years after that because I would not walk (me just sit in a chair?) Well, in 10 years I will be 89 – really, who cares? How can this person predict what and when something would happen to me?

He wanted me to come in and we would discuss “treatment”. Long story short, I decided to try the NOW liquid Calcium Citrate with Magnesium Citrate and liquid Vitamin D to get things going in a more positive way and if successful great, if not I could tell him that my walking, resistance exercises, and drinking a cup of Almond milk each day would be the “treatment”. (Note: I have never been able to take vitamins – my system does not like them) Outcome of 4 days taking the vitamins was not positive as it made me very ill! So I quickly cancelled the appointment because I knew up front he wanted me to probably take Fosomax or some other poisonous drug and I refuse to sit and talk with a doctor who does not understand Celiac or Gastroparesis and would not want to listen to “why I am different”!

Now to let you know that I did research on who was setting the “parameters” (percentages) for the next 10 years of my life. Does it surprise anyone that the lovely World Health Organization (WHO) recommends all the drugs for Osteopenia or Osteoporosis? So I am at peace with not having to waste my time defending my right to say – ‘NO THANK YOU’. WHO wanted everyone to take the Vaccine – how is that one working for many Americans? Not well!

Next on the list of “why I have not quilted lately” involves hearing aids and iPhones. This will be short and sweet. Apple is now controlling how loud you can play music, phone calls, notifications, anything to do with Sounds. YUP – it is embedded in IOS 17. I began to notice something was wrong with my phone a couple of months ago when the sound would go down without me even touching the button and now I know it was IOS 16.7. The last Wednesday I upgraded to IOS 17. WOW talk about an eye opener – MORE WHO!

If you have an iPhone and IOS 17, you might want to look up the new regulation that the Government has now put in all mobile devices that will reduce the level of sound you can listen to. OH YES – guess who has provided the guidance to the world. THE LOVELY WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO). If interested, Google this one, I spent 2 hours with Apple to learn about the Regulation and some states (i.e. California or servers in the Western part of the US) will not let you adjust the level pf decibels you can listen to! Then Friday evening Clay and I spent another 4 hours researching and trying to override the software settings – FORGET THAT ONE.

My hearing aids were acting up since the Oticon idiots put out a new App so I made an appointment to get them re-set or upgraded Firmware! Outcome after the first appointment was lovely I could not hear anyone on the phone unless I went to speaker, Tinnitus would not work, and forget my Podcasts, etc. So the next day I went back and now I am using loaned hearing aids while they sent mine back for replacements. Of course, we found out about the new Master who is controlling our lives after both visits but I will enjoy the new hearing aids anyway.

You will take note that most of the problems I have had to deal with is related to SOFTWARE ISSUES! Anyone ready for more technology and especially AI?

Now on to quilting. There has been ZERO quilting being done here most of the summer, only applique. I am 100% certain that after 20 years I suffered “quilt burnout”! So I have mostly watched a lot of movies, reading, and appliquéing on In My Garden. I finished the Center block for In the Garden and working on the other 3 blocks. And of course The Duck came into the family!

The Duck – We will be making a day trip in a couple of weeks to Rockport to check out the RV Parks and then make reservations for a week or two stay! YEA! I can finally see something other than the Studio and the House! Clay has added so many great improvements to The Duck – the most important – 3 Security Cameras and finished things that Heartland did not do correctly. We are just about ready to make the Maiden Trip!

Today I have been looking through patterns to make for the 10 quilts I will donate to the Seniors at Jones Academy. One of the will probably be made from some patterns that Gretchen has made this year. One of them is Christmas Star here and here. The pattern is available here at Jo’s Country Junction. The other pattern I really like that Gretchen made is her Wintersweet Quilt – a free pattern from here and here is the link to the free pattern. Another pattern I am considering is from the Fat Quarter Shop called Night and Day.

I can always count on Gretchen to find some great patterns that are fun to make and most of them are free downloads! Thank you Gretchen!

Well, if you made it down to here thank you for reading!

I want to offer prayers to Israel – I have a feeling this is the beginning of WWIII and it is starting in the worst places it could. The US is weak with a weak leader, so brace yourselves as we could be next with all the 8 to 15 million Illegal Immigrants that have come into this country compliments of the Liberal Democrats and an Alzheimer’s Patient in charge. Remember included in this group of Illegal Aliens there are Terrorist that were caught, but they have no idea how many slipped in without being caught.

Have a blessed week and I am praying that Jim Jordan will be our next House Speaker. I firmly believe he can bring the Republicans together.

Have a wonderful week quilting, reading, watching old movies, Gunsmoke, and Longmire!

Hugs,

Nanette