Restless Leg Syndrome – Continued

Well, it’s been awhile…. I have been busy dealing with a bunch of stuff and haven’t written like I have wanted to.

I have spent the last few months dealing with the Restless Leg.  The vitamin B stopped working after a few months which is typical of my attempts to find a way to relieve this awful thing at night.  Nothing has ever worked for long.  I was really encouraged by the B vitamins because they seemed to work the longest.

After all of that – my doctor decided that it wasn’t restless leg syndrome at all.  He says it’s diabetic neuropathy.  Oh, great.  Just great.  Now what?  That was 2 months ago.  It has gotten progressively worse over that time and is now in both legs and feet.

I wish I had good news.  I don’t.  Nothing I have tried is working. The dr. put me on Lyrica and has even upped the dose.  To no avail.  I have been patient since I understand that sometimes it can take weeks for the Lyrica to kick and and begin working.  How long do I have to be patient?  Time for another visit.  Drat!  I hate fiddling with this stuff but I also would like some relief.  Is this what happens as you get older?  You feel the same on the inside but the outside doesn’t cooperate.  I am not really good at dealing with frustration.

So, if you have Restless Leg and diabetes, it might pay to speak to your doctor about it.  You might be misdiagnosed and need to rethink things as I have.

I’ll let you know my progress.  I only write about this because maybe there is another person out there that is experiencing the same things and can get some ideas about relieving their pain.

I welcome any comments.

Health Issues

I have been dealing with some  health issues for awhile now.  But, would you believe they have all been fixed by a new prescription for my eyeglasses!  Who would think a change in sight would cause so many issues?

Get New Glasses

Get New Glasses

And my thought for the day:

Age Is a Work of Art

Age Is a Work of Art

Every Woman Should Have Enough

Written By: Maya Angelou/Pamela Redmond Satran

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ….

Enough money within her control to move out…
And rent a place of her own
even if she never wants to
or needs to…
Something perfect to wear if the employer
or date of her dreams wants to See Her in an hour…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …
A youth she’s content to leave behind….
A past juicy enough that she’s looking forward to
retelling it in her Old Age….

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
A set of screwdrivers,
a cordless drill, and a black lace bra…
One friend who always makes her laugh…
And one Who lets her cry…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ….
A good piece of furniture not previously owned
by anyone else in her Family…
Eight matching plates,
wine glasses with stems,
And a recipe for a meal that will make
her guests feel Honored…
A feeling of control over her destiny…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
How to fall in love without losing herself..
HOW TO QUIT A JOB,
BREAK UP WITH A LOVER,
AND CONFRONT A FRIEND WITHOUT
RUINING THE FRIENDSHIP…
When to try harder…
And WHEN TO WALK AWAY…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
That she can’t change the length of her calves,
The width of her hips,
or the nature of her parents..
That her childhood may not have been perfect…
But it’s over…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
What she would and wouldn’t do for love or more…
How to live alone…
Even if she doesn’t like it…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
Whom she can trust,
Whom she can’t,
And why she shouldn’t take it personally…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
Where to go…
Be it to her best friend’s kitchen table…
Or a charming inn in the woods…
When her soul needs soothing…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
What she can and can’t accomplish in a day…
A month…
And a year…

Written By: Maya Angelou/Pamela Redmond Satran

Safe Places to Travel – Would you believe Northwest Kansas?

Would you believe there are actually interesting things to see and do in this safe, isolated, underpopulated part of Kansas?

Kansas has the rap of being a flat, uninteresting state but in this blog post and one to come, I will show you that’s just not true. You know the jokes:

Q: What happens when blondes move from Nebraska to Kansas?
A: Both states become smarter!

Wizard of Oz Jokes Never Stop

Wizard of Oz Jokes Never Stop

Worst Thing About Arkansas

Worst Thing About Arkansas

Dorothy Left Kansas For a Reason

Dorothy Left Kansas For a Reason

And those are only a few. But, here where I live in Northwest Kansas, you can see some beautiful scenery, eat at a good restaurant or two, and meet some very friendly people.

Our main “claim to fame” is the Arikaree Breaks.

Arikaree Breaks, Northwestern Kansas

Arikaree Breaks, Northwestern Kansas

Foggy Arikaree Breaks

Foggy Arikaree Breaks

Horse Thief Cave, Arikaree Breaks

Horse Thief Cave, Arikaree Breaks

Driving to Arikaree Breaks

Driving to Arikaree Breaks

Windmill on the Plains

Windmill on the Plains

Three Corners Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado

Three Corners Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado

You can find other interesting places here especially if you like American West history. There’s

prayer site by Cheyenne Warriors and as a camp for the 5th Cavalry just before the Battle of Summit Springs in July 1860

Prayer site by Cheyenne Warriors and as a camp for the 5th Cavalry just before the Battle of Summit Springs in July 1860

and

Cherry Creek Encampment

Cherry Creek Encampment

People come from miles around to eat at Big Ed’s Steakhouse in Bird City. The steakhouse was voted #4 on the list of best mouthwatering steak houses in Kansas.

You can find more information at:
St. Francis, Kansas
Bird City, Kansas
Get Bird City
Don’t Forget to Check the Weather We do get severe weather, especially in the summertime.

We have one of the lowest crime rates in Kansas. People here still leave their doors unlocked, keys in the car, and walk at night. Children and run and play all over town without supervision (everybody keeps an eye on them). I think the biggest danger around here is running across a skunk in your way.

If you live anywhere within a day’s drive of Northwestern Kansas it is worth the time to come and visit this slice of America. It’s like it used to be 40 years ago. And a big plus: No Traffic!

Safe Travel – Punta Cana Dominican Republic

I had my doubts about going to the Dominican Republic but just got back from an all-inclusive stay at the Dreams Resort Palm Beach in Punta Cana.  I didn’t go by myself:  my cousin went with me so we were two women alone.  We just had a good ol’ time!

We arrived later than planned since there was a 3-hour delay on our fight from Houston.  But after a whirlwind trip through the airport ( some guy just grabbed our bags and said he would take us where we needed to go (and he did)) we caught up to our driver to take us to the resort.  You have to be careful, though, and make sure that you are going with the driver from your resort and not some strange outfit that promises to get you there.  Your travel agent (always, always use an agent) should have arranged for your transfer to the resort.  We were instructed that our driver would be in a blue flowered shirt.  Sure enough – after a winding around and around we arrived at Dreams Palm Beach.

We were greeted in a beautiful open air lobby

Dreams Palm Beach Lobby

Dreams Palm Beach Lobby

and promptly taken to our spacious room.  We had requested two beds:  when we saw there was only a king size bed, they fixed it right away.  Rather than move us to another room, the staff just brought in another bed.  I am so glad they didn’t move us because the view from our third floor balcony was beautiful!  Tons of swaying palm trees and marvelous pools.

Balcony View Dreams Palm Beach

Balcony View Dreams Palm Beach

We had difficulty adjusting to the time.  I haven’t figured out why but we thought it was much later than it was so we hurried to dinner at the Seaside Grill and ate a fantastic rib-eye for dinner.  This is an all-inclusive resort so dinner and drinks were included and very nice.  Of course, we had to take a little walk along the beach even though it was dark.  After all, the beach is the reason we came to Dreams Palm Beach in the first place.  We just had to hear the ocean and see the water in the moonlight.

Our first full day was rainy, wouldn’t you know it?  We didn’t let that detour us from exploring and sitting beside the pool under an umbrella.  There are plenty of chairs, umbrellas and thatched sun shelters on the beach.  Be aware that even if the sun is not shining you can still burn badly.  Use your sunscreen!  In between rain showers we took a walk on the beach.  Right now, in the Caribbean, they are having a problem with seaweed washing up on the beach.  There was quite a lot of it the first couple of days but the staff was diligently trying to keep up with removal of the seaweed.  By the third day, the seaweed was gone and you were able to get into the water if you wanted.  We didn’t have a problem with seaweed the rest of the trip.  But the white sand beach and beautiful blue water were fantastic

Dreams Palm Beach View

Dreams Palm Beach View

On the third day we took a day-long excursion into Santo Domingo to see some of the old city at the place Columbus discovered the new world.  We had an incredible guide, Munchie, who was fluent in three languages – English, French, and Spanish.  We had to be ready to leave at 7 am and didn’t return until around 6 pm.  It’s about a two hour drive to Santo Domingo from Punta Cana but the time was not wasted as our guide explained a lot of the history.  We even passed over the jungle river used in the filming of Apocalypse Now.  We saw the old city, Columbus Light House, the castle of Columbus’ grandson, Panteón Nacional, First Cathedral of the New World, and clock square

Alcazar De Colon

Alcazar De Colon

Panteón Nacional

Panteón Nacional

Panteón Nacional Eternal Flame

Panteón Nacional Eternal Flame

First Cathedral of the New World

First Cathedral of the New World

I would highly recommend this excursion as shopping and lunch are included.

The remainder of our 7-day stay was just relaxing – moving from poolside to beach and back again.  The resort has plenty of activities if lying around in the sun is not your thing.  There are aerobics, dance lessons, free scuba lessons, tennis lessons, spa sessions (which we never quite found the time for), watching the many weddings, shows and parties at night.  We went to a show called Studio 54 which featured disco music and dancing.  I am in awe of people who can dance like that!  You can walk out of the resort a few blocks and have some great local shopping.

Shopping in Dominican Republic

Shopping in Dominican Republic

We did one more excursion:  deep sea fishing.  What an experience that was!  I did everything I know to prevent sea sickness but it didn’t work on that small boat on 7-8 foot seas.  Everyone on the excursion but my cousin and a Russian guy got sick.  But a couple of nice mahi-mahi were caught and I would go again.

Deep Sea Fishing in Punta Cana

Deep Sea Fishing in Punta Cana

There are 5 specialty restaurants at the resort:  Sea Side Grill, Portofino (Italian), Bordeaux (French cuisine), El Patio (Mexican) and Himitsu (Asian).  We were excited to be able to try new food but to be honest, we were pretty disappointed.  We tried the Italian (calamari were rubber and spaghetti had way to many olives) and Asian.  They were not good at all so we didn’t venture to two of the others.  We had the best food at Sea Side Grill and the World Cafe which is an international buffet-style restaurant.  The resort has 5 bars scattered around:  drinks were generous and well made.  There were plenty of wait staff poolside and on the beach.

So – overall our trip was fantastic and I would recommend Dreams Palm Beach.  We will more than likely return for another tremendous vacation.  Next time it will be for longer than 7 days!  Our travel agent was wonderful and set us up on a great trip.  And last but not least:  the cost is very reasonable.