It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.
I was so sorry to miss FFF last week. We were out of town for a memorial service. I took my laptop, thinking I’d be able to put together a post Thursday evening. But we arrived later than planned and went straight to bed.
Here are some blessings from the last couple of weeks.
1. Our short trip to OH. Jim’s former pastor from ID, the father of his best friend, passed away the week before. He was in his 90s and had been declining, so his passing was not unexpected. But it’s still not easy. The whole family is like a second family to Jim. He said he wouldn’t go to many funerals these days during a pandemic, but he would go to that one. I wasn’t sure about going at first, because I just don’t travel well. But I am so glad I did. Everything went well with safety on the roads. God gave me remarkable calmness. We had hoped to have time to visit with the family, and we did: we were able to eat lunch with them and then go to Jim’s friend’s house for a few hours after the service. It was like a family reunion in many respects. The service was a blessing—though we were sorry to lose this dear man, it was sweet to hear more about his testimony and life and to hear from each of his five grown children as well as a number of people he influenced. I shared more about it in Thoughts From a Memorial Service.
2. First night in the RV. Jim had heard that Wal-Marts will let RVs park overnight in their parking areas. He called ahead to the one where we’d be staying to make sure, and they told us where to park. I thought it would be noisy, but it wasn’t. The bed was pretty comfortable, though it was a challenge to get in it. 🙂 The shower—well, I wouldn’t want to use it often, but it was okay. The only meal we cooked was breakfast, but we had taken other food just in case. It was nice to have the bathroom with us everywhere we went. 🙂 And it turned out to be helpful in carting some of the floral arrangements (one of which was a tree) back to our friend’s house (a few were left for the church’s Sunday service).
3. Good doctors’ visits. I saw the cardiologist’s nurse practitioner rather than the doctor. I was a little miffed at that at first, but I guess that means I am doing well enough that he didn’t feel the need to see me. And I do like the NP. She said she really liked this kind of visit as well, with no problems to report since last time. I also had my yearly physical, and all my numbers were good. (Does it seem like physicals these days mainly just involve talking about lab work and have very little actual physical examination?)
4. Dinner and games with the family. The weekend before the trip, my son and daughter-in-law had us over for chili and cornbread and games.
5. Low carb tortillas. I had mentioned a few weeks ago that we were trying to lower (not necessarily eliminate) carbs. It’s been helpful–my husband had his physical this week, too, and his blood sugar levels have been back in good range, and he’s lost 30 lbs. I found some low carb tortillas at the store recently that were only 50 calories each. They tasted fine and worked well in a couple of recipes.
How was your week? I hope you’ve seen God’s hand of blessing in large and small ways.
Stray Thoughts 
I’ve come to really appreciate the use of mid-level providers (nurse practitioners and physician assistants) in surgeon’s offices. When one of the kids needed a surgery, we saw a well-respected surgeon for about five minutes, during which he determined that, yes, surgery was needed and he would do x procedure. Then his mid-level came in and spent 20-30 minutes explaining the problem, the surgery, the recovery process, etc.
When I had a septoplasty 15 years ago, I saw the surgeon (a very well-respected surgeon) for 5 minutes and that was that – no explanations, nothing more than the perfunctory “any questions?” (when I hadn’t even had time to digest what he’d just said).
I’ve decided that the skill set required to be a great surgeon and the skill set required to be great with patients are two very different things. So now I’m thrilled when a specialist does the thing he’s good at (whether surgery or interpreting clinical data or whatever) and lets his mid-level do what HE is good at – working with patients.
Thanks for that perspective. That did seem to be the case here as well–no procedures to talk about, but I did feel more tuned-in-to than with the regular doctor.
Yay for good doctor visits, a night in the Walmart lot (!), and a reunion-type funeral. It *is* odd when a funeral ends up being like a reunion, but honestly that seems to happen a lot. I hope your week ahead will be a good one!
So pleased your numbers are good. My last “physical” was virtual and I actually had my labs after the call. You’re not wrong about those non-physical visits….
Also really pleased to hear that the RV experience seemed positive overall and helped to alleviate some of the anxieties of travel. Appreciated your musings on the memorial, too. Many aspects of loss to mourn with the passing of a person like Jim’s friend.
That’s amazing news about Jim’s health and a reflection of your efforts. Glad you found more culinary tools to aid in that change.
So glad you were able to attend the memorial service. It is always good to gather with others for comfort and support in hard times. Glad to hear that your medical exam went well. Glad you were able to stay in the Walmart lot. It was probably pretty safe and saved you some cash. Sounds like you had a good week. Glad to hear it. Have a good weekend.
I’m so glad that your trip to ID went well and that you really got to try out that camper! I agree that it’s nice to travel with a bathroom! I have tried a low carb variety of tortilla (flour) and it was good. I too am cutting way down on carbs. I’m glad to hear that Jim’s blood sugar is improving.
We actually went to Ohio, not Idaho. This man had been Jim’s pastor in ID, but later moved to OH. I don’t know if I could handle a long trip to ID in the RV. 🙂
Jim’s doing well with his carbs. I’m cutting down some, but need to do more.
One of the things we like about our Class B motorhome is the immediate access to bathroom facilities.
You asked about Ohio. Yes, we moved to Ohio last year. Near Columbus, so central. Yesterday we were down near Cincinnati–not that far for us.
Good news on the physical! I do like having appts with the NPs and PAs. They have more time to answer questions.
Enjoy your week!
A nurse who replaces a doctor doesn’t exist here. I saw this for the first time when I visited my aunt who had cancer and a nurse came instead of a doctor. She was at home and it was a matter of days until she would pass away and this nurse was so incompetent I just could have killed her ! But I got what I wanted ! My husband declines it’s hard to see him so confused and it is difficult to explain something to him. Well, there is nothing to do !