Katherine ( Sallee:
CLASS OF 1957
Harding AcademyClass of 1957
Searcy, AR
Polytechnic High SchoolClass of 1957
Ft. worth, TX
Clyde High SchoolClass of 1952
Clyde, TX
Katherine ('s Story
Life
At the moment, I am living a very quiet life -- I did lose my mother in January 2008, when she was two weeks away from being 98 years old. At the time, I had fallen at her house, just getting over the flu, and I broke my R arm/shoulder in two places, as well as my R hip. And, I am right-handed, and that is the arm where my dialysis access site is. What fun!
Most of the time, I walk pretty straight, unless I am tired or have parked in the handicapped spot, in which case I limp pretty badly! I have more trouble w/ my R arm than w/ my hip, as I can't lift it entirely. Putting groceries in the cabinet and trying to fix my hair are the biggies.
It's no fun having no kidney function and having dialysis 3 times a week for 4 hours each time, but it keeps one going -- and you know, we aren't getting out alive in the long run!Diabetes and high blood pressure are the leading causes of kidney failure, although we don't know why I have it - I am not diabetic and have medicine for BP.
At any rate, be aware, and if you have either one, do what you have to do to promote your health. Your local dialysis center can provide you w/ a list of foods to help keep your health. The main thing is to avoid a buildup of potassium and phosphorus. My charge nurse says, "Potassium kills you fast and phosphorus kills you slow."
When I had a buildup of potassium, I was in the hospital 9 days, so be forewarned and take care of yourself!
When we married 28 years ago, my husband Richard brought his mother into our family, and I brought a 10-year-old son, Joaquin. That was fair, we both thought, and after his mother died, then we cared for his childless aunts in Brownwood and Kerrville, Texas. My son just turned 38 years old on Sept. 16, 2009. Wow -- how does that much time fly on by? I have one granddaughter, Miranda Jane, who turns two years old on Oct. 16, 2009.
Richard and I like to eat out, but that is about the only "exciting" activity, although he's ridden COPs, a local program, "Citizens on Patrol" for 15 years. They patrol the neighborhood and watch for suspicious activities, in which case they notify the police. Unfortunately, at least one COPs guy got too involved and was killed in Fo...Expand for more
rt Worth, where we live.
I read a lot and e-mail and he IMs his family in Colorado. We both are retired and had rather stay home together than run around -- although I sometimes miss the traveling I used to do for my work, which always was writing: newspaper and then national magazines, first for needle crafts and then for professional plant growers, both outside nursery growers and greenhouse growers.
I did go back to school and studied horticulture (thus that last writing job) and in 1996 I got a master's degree in landscape architecture, w/ the idea of writing about it, as there are so few experienced journalists who also have landscape architecture degrees.
After I got out of school, I worked for a dress shop for fun, thinking I would work a year and buy some professional clothes. But it was such a fun job! I never had a job before where I didn't worry about something all the time, stories and such, and for five years I carried a camera everywhere I went, just in case I came across some flowers or plants for my "libary," things I might need sometime.
Anyway, I ended up staying at the dress shop, working in Fort Worth,
Arlington and in Lewisville for four years, which was lucky because my work insurance paid for my pacemaker --which had to be installed four times before they got it right. Rather, the last time, I had changed surgeons and HE got it right. In September 2008, it was replaced for the first time since 2000, so I was lucky it lasted so long, as it runs 99 percent of the time, and my own little heart perks along just one-percent of the time.
My pacemaker saved my life when the potassium built up. Potassium affects one's muscles, and the heart is a muscle, of course. At the hospital they said I had the highest level of potassium they'd ever seen. I guess so! Usually a person croaks by that time, so I was lucky to have a pacemaker that kept it chugging along. Again, a word to the wise!! You really don't want to have to do dialysis if you don't have to, although it is not so awful as you've always heard. And, like I said, it keeps a person alive.
So, these days I have pretty well turned into a pumpkin, but I'm thinking that there are better days ahead!
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