After posting my last entry, I was getting ready to go to California to celebrate Thanksgiving with our daughter. I was excited. On the day before Thanksgiving, my husband woke me up at 2 A.M., and told me he had a diarrhea. We talked a little bit and then I fell asleep. He woke me up again at 3 am, telling me to get an ambulance because he was suffering a terrible stomach ache. The ambulance came and took us to ER in a nearby hospital. Four hours later, all test results came back ok; he had a nice sleep; I was exhausted. When we left ER, my husband was still not 100% recovered, but he felt much better. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and next day, we were happy to come home.
Two days after we came back, while trying to do the laundry, I threw my back out. I fell to the floor and couldn’t get up. My husband was 25 feet away in the kitchen, but since the TV was on, he couldn’t hear me calling him. I managed to walk on knees to the bedroom, and luckily, my phone was on the bed, which I could reach without getting up. I lay on the floor, calling my home number to get my husband’s attention. He finally answered the phone on my third try – he thought it was a junk call. He tried to help me to get up, but it hurt too much. So, I lay on the floor for one day and slept on the floor on the next day. Five days later, I was finally recovered. (Does this remind you of the TV commercial on medical alert systems? Now, I try to carry my phone all the time.)
And that was not the end of it. Two days later, my husband’s blood pressure was shooting up; we were back to the ER again. His blood pressure was unstable for another week.
So, we had a rough time. Good thing that my back ache didn’t happened at the same time he needed to go to the hospital. I wondered if it is time to start getting information about senior homes. But since we are ok now, I don’t think about senior home as hard as before.
Our daughter and our soon-to-be son-in-law came home for the Christmas. We had a lovely family time. Seeing how excited our daughter was on the Christmas day (waiting for opening gifts) was quite interesting. In a way, it brought me back to the time when she was a little girl.
Have you heard of StoryWorth? Well, one of the gifts I received from my daughter was a subscription for StoryWorth. Every week the company will send me one of the questions that my daughter picked, and I will answer her question in writing. When I submit my story, the company will send a copy to my daughter and it will also store the story on their website. A year from now, it will print a book for us. I like this gift a lot. It will motivate me to write more personal stories and share them with my daughter. Some of you may want to check this out. My husband also got the same gift. (There are also other companies doing the same services.)
At this age, my mind is racing with time, wanting to complete a few more projects, but my body doesn’t seem to care what my mind wants. What’s next, I wonder.
Happy 2020! And thank you for visiting my blog.
(The photo was taken by my soon-to-be son-in-law. He took it after taking a 10 minute lesson from me on ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. No post processing – I was impressed! 😉
HHC Blog 
Hello, Helen, Happy New Year! Good to hear from you but sorry to hear that you’ve had a rough days recently. Thanks for reading my blog for the past years. Hope your back is better now.
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Thank you for your comment.Happy New Year! We’re ok now. I wrote about it because, to tell you the truth, I know so little about aging 😉 One day I was trying to jump up one stair (I am sure all senior people like to do this for fun ;-), and I was shock that I barely made it. It was a strange feeling that your body had become a stranger to you. Now I don’t jump anymore. Ha.
It’s fun to listen many different songs at your blog. Thanks.
Have a wonderful day.
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Happy New Year, Helen! Wishing you with abundant joy, happiness, most importantly, health! Sorry to hear about your latest incident. Please take care. Thankfully your husband was with you. I always remind my parents to keep their cell phones on all the time.
Look forward to your exciting blog stories in the coming year.
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Thank you, Edward. Happy 2020 to you, too. It’s good for seniors to keep their cell phone on all the time, but it is a problem on days when you don’t wear clothes that have pocket 😉 One option is to get a LifeLine thing (medical alert device), but no one likes to announce to the world that he or she is this old. Apple Watch? I have a hard time to justify either. Ha.
I know I haven’t visit your blog for a while. I thought I would save it for a good day for a treat 😉
You’re in HK, right? Everyone there is in my prayer.
Have a great day.
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Beautiful photo amid scattered worrisome news. Nevertheless, this is in the past now. Let’s await this year with open arms. As my friend used to say: We lack nothing bad. All good to you!
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Thanks, Manja. I was thinking the same thing… it is a NEW year now. I bet everything will be ok now. 😉 Happy New Year!
By the way, I love what your friend said: We lack nothing bad!
Have a great day.
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I am pretty tired of this getting old stuff – I wake up every day wondering what new development is in store, what new ache or twinge will develop. Let’s go on strike!! 🙂
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Thanks, GP.
I had been on strike since 20 years ago when I saw my parents get old!!! Oh well, it’s better than one other way.
I didn’t mean to sound sad. It’s life.
Have a Healthy and Happy 2020!
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I guess it’s better to be ‘over the hill’ than under the hill, eh?!
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Definitely! I salute you!
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Helen–it was so good to see your post this morning! Oh, but I am so sorry for all the health issues. This really struck home for me about the cell phone. My husband’s hearing is not the best. And then he forgets to take his phone with him. I am constantly reminding to keep it with him at all times. You are a good teacher, Helen. The photo is pretty–lovely lighting and a beautiful background. XO
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Thank you, Lois. Yes, do carry cellphone all the time. My husband has hearing problem, too, but I am pretty sure that with the way I screamed, he would be able to hear it if the TV was not on.
Is there such a thing called “blog block”, do you know?
Have a Happy and Healthy 2020!
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So glad you two are on the mend and feeling better. 😀
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Thanks, Cee. Nice to see your recent photo on your blog! I am glad you had taken short break!
Have a Happy and Healthy 2020!
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Happy 2020 to you too! Sorry to hear you have both had health problems though.
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Thanks, Anabel. I think… maybe it was because I didn’t walk on Monday! 😉 Seriously, I admire you! I wish I could walk more… maybe that should be my new goal. Thanks.
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Helen, you and I are on the same page; the page is yellowing and wrinkled, but you can still read it.
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LOL! Love this yellow page thing!!! The first question my daughter asked was: What was: What your mom like when you were a child? Funny how old memories started to surface… I began to realize that I did have a good life. So yellowing or not, I don’t think I will change a thing. There! 😉
How are you doing? Still babysitting? Now I wish I have a kid around to play with ;-(
Have a Happy and Healthy 2020!
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I have been going to a senior exercise class. It is not just slower regular workout, no, it was designed by the USF Kinesiology Department with specific exercises to help with preventing falls, cognitive issues, and strength. The program has a component to help prevent the loneliness seniors have; after exercises, they have a class. Right now I am going to a memoir writing class, which sounds like the Storyworth project you mentioned. The teacher gives us prompts like “write about a time you were afraid for your life”. I think about things I have not thought about in a long time. But I am not sure I would share this with my daughters. I like the idea of your daughter choosing the topic. The one I mentioned might be too heavy! Yet, it was really good for me to write about it, and also fun to hear the other people’s experiences.
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I like it! I mean the exercise and the writing. But I also found out that writing memoir is not easy — it can be too emotional. You don’t know how many times I cried when I wrote about my mom. BUT, on the other hand, I started remembering more about the past and realized that we did have a lot of good time together 😉
Wish I can take that exercise class. Maybe I will check YouTube. Thank you for mentioning it.
Good night.
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Yes, indeed, some people left the class because it was just too heavy for them. Brought up too many issues from the past. Yesterday, the topic was “death of someone close to you” Yes, one woman cried. Its okay. Its real.
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But on the other hand, it brought back a lot of sweet memories that I had forgotten…
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Health is everything. Sorry, you had to suffer from all these issues. It’s good to be optimistic, but you certainly should pay attention to all these problems to prevent other episodes.
Happy New Year! I hope 2020 is kind to you.
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Thank you, Inese. You are right! I appreciate your good advice! You certainly know more about the subject on health than I do. I started drinking ginger tea, hoping that will make a little difference 😉
Have a Healthy and Happy 2020!
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Oh Helen sounds like you have both been in the wars! I suffer from back issues … something to do with gardening 🙂 Hoping you are both feeling better!
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Thanks, Julie. You have to be very careful with your back. It’s no fun when you have to rely on someone on everything. Take care of yourself.
Have a great day.
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Dear, are you ok now? do you need to follow-up with doctor(s)?
Hope you both are getting better. Hope you are doing well this year.
Happy new year. Happy and healthy.
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Thank you, Lady Oscar. I called and left a message yesterday (Hope I got your number right.) Are you ok?
My back is all right now. This time it took much longer to heal, which was scary. Getting old is no fun ;-(
Good night.
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Dear, glad to know you are ok. Please take care and be careful… getting hurt is really no fun~
Emailing you right now.
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Oh dear! One day we are sailing along in the clouds, the next tumbling down to earth. Wishing you a 2020 free of such calamities, Helen! 🙂 🙂 Story Worth sounds interesting. If I remember to I might Google it. Stay safe and well!
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Thanks, Jo. Wishing you a healthy and happy 2020!
More about StoryWorth on today’s post 😉 Have a great day.
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