Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[Arzeena]

Necessary unnecessary information for Tea lovers:

I heard that MSC is opening a Tea Bar on their ships, that will serve over a thousand varieties of teas and also carry water from different places/regions in England, especially for their British clients, who are not only very particular about the teas but of the taste of water for their teas. Apparently they conducted a survey and many were complaining about lack of tea variety, and not only bring their own tea but also water for tea.
 

Sue and Graham, are you particular about the taste of water for tea? For example, does water from south London taste any different than from central?

[grapau27]

11 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

Necessary unnecessary information for Tea lovers:

I heard that MSC is opening a Tea Bar on their ships, that will serve over a thousand varieties of teas and also carry water from different places/regions in England, especially for their British clients, who are not only very particular about the teas but of the taste of water for their teas. Apparently they conducted a survey and many were complaining about lack of tea variety, and not only bring their own tea but also water for tea.
 

Sue and Graham, are you particular about the taste of water for tea? For example, does water from south London taste any different than from central?

A couple of years ago I started a thread on here about all of the different teas available on Royal Caribbean ships.

There was a big choice from the DL,CL and windjammer.

Our water in the North East is very mineral rich hard water.

A lot of limescale builds up in our kettles after boiling the water several times.

On Royal Caribbean I used the bottled still water left in our cabins especially from my D+ embarkation allowance.

[firefly333]

4 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Thank you @taznremmy for your lovely comments.

We had cheese and biscuits after our meal last night.

I had cheese and I guess biscuits last night myself. The best crack like I've ever had. Called crunchmaster... the publix here has new things to try. Someone in the store was putting goat cheese on them. Idk I even liked goat cheese but it was good. I got some vermont cheese which to me is a bit crumbly and honey ham. Idk I'd get that Vermont cheese again but all together I, loved it.

 

Crunchmaster mulitseed even come in a protein variety. All kinds of seeds in them. 4 oz I think was 4.79 or something I thought was kind of high for 4 oz of crackers but the best I've ever tasted. I think the 8 oz of crackers were 8.99. But so good. If someone hadnt been giving out samples I'd have never tried them. 

 

Sun is out here. It's a lovely fathers day. Happy fathers day to all the fathers.

[bobmacliberty]

Happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there!

 

[firefly333]

19 hours ago, helen haywood said:

It’s amazing that the PT exercises I have to do for an hour three times a day totally wipe me out.  The stretching exercises with a resistance band are no problem…but the ones where I lie down on the bed and work my leg etc muscles…they don’t hurt…but afterwards I’m totally exhausted.  I get the shivers and my teeth chatter.  Keep thinking it will get easier…. I personally have never experienced the endorphin high people describe from exercise.  I think it is bunk promulgated by sports medicine doctors.

 

I still use the boot when practicing the partial weight bearing with the rollator.  According to the PT I’m supposed to be using the walker all the time…but that just isn’t possible in every circumstance.  Next doctor visit is June 28 and I’m hoping I can transition to full weight bearing walking with the boot.  🤞

 

Who knew I’d miss vacuuming, cooking and cleaning litter boxes so much?!

It's good at least you can do them at home. I was also driving both ways about a hour each way. I was supposed to getting moms paperwork done and doing PT 3 times a day to me wiped out my whole morning. Plus more of my time doing it at home. 

 

I hope too you can transfer to full weight bearing. And get your life back. It takes up a lot of your day too if you are doing it 3 times a day. That's a lot of your day spent exercising. 

[firefly333]

5 hours ago, brillohead said:

 

It's not at all unusual to not treat prostate cancer.  Nothing to be alarmed about.  

Thanks so much for letting me know this. I guess I would have thought if you have cancer cells growing get them out. I wasnt aware people didnt always just get rid of them. I dont have a lot of medical knowledge obviously. This helps to know. 

[BonTexasNY]

Happy Father's Day to all the men who've made a difference in a child's life.

[BonTexasNY]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

 The best crack like I've ever had. 

 

 

WOW you really ARE enjoying FL living! 😮

Seriously, hope things are starting to get better for you.

[BonTexasNY]

7 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Now that’s a blast from the past.  Haven’t had a banana split for decades.  Mum used to serve them up when we were kids.  Looks yum.

My blast from the past is Jahn's kitchen sink ice cream extravaganza shared with the best of friends!

 

We throw everything at you with this gigantic sundae served in our own specially made sink! We take three sliced bananas, scoops of your choice of up to 8 flavors of ice creams, 8 servings of toppings, mounds and mounds of whipped cream, chopped toasted almonds and cherries.

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

13 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

My blast from the past is Jahn's kitchen sink ice cream extravaganza shared with the best of friends!

 

We throw everything at you with this gigantic sundae served in our own specially made sink! We take three sliced bananas, scoops of your choice of up to 8 flavors of ice creams, 8 servings of toppings, mounds and mounds of whipped cream, chopped toasted almonds and cherries.

 

 

I wonder how many calories that represents?

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

Thanks so much for letting me know this. I guess I would have thought if you have cancer cells growing get them out. I wasnt aware people didnt always just get rid of them. I dont have a lot of medical knowledge obviously. This helps to know. 

I know that intuitively your thinking makes sense. However, not all cancers are aggressive and it is possible to harm the patient more by "treating" them than by just monitoring them. This is not only true of some prostate cancers but low grade lymphomas are an other example. Some lymphomas will just sit around for years not really harming the patient. The treatment is more harmful.

[Sea Dog]

12 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I know that intuitively your thinking makes sense. However, not all cancers are aggressive and it is possible to harm the patient more by "treating" them than by just monitoring them. This is not only true of some prostate cancers but low grade lymphomas are an other example. Some lymphomas will just sit around for years not really harming the patient. The treatment is more harmful.

 

What's your feeling's on prostate biopsies? I've been hearing some horror stories about it not being a pleasant experience. In my case I have one area that is termed "equivocal" or 50/50. Some research suggests foregoing a biopsy in favor of monitoring. Your thoughts?

[akcruz]

Happy Father's Day to all!

[Ocean Boy]

8 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

 

What's your feeling's on prostate biopsies? I've been hearing some horror stories about it not being a pleasant experience. In my case I have one area that is termed "equivocal" or 50/50. Some research suggests foregoing a biopsy in favor of monitoring. Your thoughts?

Deciding who to biopsy and who to monitor is a complicated process that warrants a sit down discussion with the individual. I'd be pretty uncomfortable generalizing here.

[Sea Dog]

7 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Deciding who to biopsy and who to monitor is a complicated process that warrants a sit down discussion with the individual. I'd be pretty uncomfortable generalizing here.

 

 I appreciate your response and thank you for commenting. Either way I may get a second opinion to what my urologist tells me. There is something about him that I don't feel good about.

[Arzeena]

3 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I had cheese and I guess biscuits last night myself. The best crack like I've ever had. Called crunchmaster... the publix here has new things to try. Someone in the store was putting goat cheese on them. Idk I even liked goat cheese but it was good. I got some vermont cheese which to me is a bit crumbly and honey ham. Idk I'd get that Vermont cheese again but all together I, loved it.

 

Crunchmaster mulitseed even come in a protein variety. All kinds of seeds in them. 4 oz I think was 4.79 or something I thought was kind of high for 4 oz of crackers but the best I've ever tasted. I think the 8 oz of crackers were 8.99. But so good. If someone hadnt been giving out samples I'd have never tried them. 

 

Sun is out here. It's a lovely fathers day. Happy fathers day to all the fathers.

I am a fan of of that crunchmaster multiseed! Also available in Walmart, Sprouts and other stores.

And I top it with brie..... The small ones snack sized. 😋

I am happy to see that you are settling down and becoming a Floridian!

Edited June 16 by Arzeena

[Ocean Boy]

11 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

 

 I appreciate your response and thank you for commenting. Either way I may get a second opinion to what my urologist tells me. There is something about him that I don't feel good about.

That is all the reason you need to seek a second opinion.

[George C]

5 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

 

 I appreciate your response and thank you for commenting. Either way I may get a second opinion to what my urologist tells me. There is something about him that I don't feel good about.

One of my friends had totally different opinions from two different urologist. My urologist wanted to operate to remove prostate for about 5 years but I waited happy I did,  psa test after radiation shows no cancer , did the radiation about two years ago. Doctor also wanted to do biopsy in his office without anesthesia, I definitely would not agree with that , had first biopsy done under anesthesia in hospital, nothing was found , then a year or so afterwards had it done with mri and they found cancer. 

[Arzeena]

Jane

Having lunch with the crunch masters! Since I do not have brie today, some Labneh will do.

[helen haywood]

I agree absolutely that if there is anything about your doctor you don’t feel good about…you should seek out a second opinion.  The orthopedic surgeon who operated on my ankle…at our first meeting I could tell wasn’t listening to a word I said.  That’s annoying but I wasn’t expecting us to become friends.  He obviously had paid attention to my X-rays and his explanation of how he’d repair it satisfied me.  I wanted to have the surgery ASAP so I didn’t want to ask my referring physician for a more personable surgeon.  However, if this was a discussion about cancer treatment…it certainly would have been important that he listened to me.

 

I don’t know why it took me so long to think about playing music when I do my PT…made all the difference in the world!!!  Time didn’t drag at all.  Had to edit the playlist a bit…didn’t fully appreciate how maddening “Addicted to Love” is.  I swear Robert Palmer has only one lyric he repeats over and over and over….

[Sea Dog]

37 minutes ago, George C said:

One of my friends had totally different opinions from two different urologist. My urologist wanted to operate to remove prostate for about 5 years but I waited happy I did,  psa test after radiation shows no cancer , did the radiation about two years ago. Doctor also wanted to do biopsy in his office without anesthesia, I definitely would not agree with that , had first biopsy done under anesthesia in hospital, nothing was found , then a year or so afterwards had it done with mri and they found cancer. 

 

 

I don't think I would want to do any biopsy without anesthesia. The whole thing sounds horrible.

 

 

19 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

I agree absolutely that if there is anything about your doctor you don’t feel good about…you should seek out a second opinion.  The orthopedic surgeon who operated on my ankle…at our first meeting I could tell wasn’t listening to a word I said.

 

A couple of times when I would tell hime something he would smirk like what I was telling him wasn't true or he looked down on me. I am pretty good at reading people. Something about hime doesn't seem right. 

[firefly333]

36 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

I am a fan of of that crunchmaster multiseed! Also available in Walmart, Sprouts and other stores.

And I top it with brie..... The small ones snack sized. 😋

I am happy to see that you are settling down and becoming a Floridian!

Oh they are so good. Best crackers I ever tasted. I love seeds in almost anything. Idk if there is a sprouts here. We had them in dallas. But for sure I'll get more of these crackers. 

 

Found my silverware and utensils today. Boxes marked kitchen imagine that. A few packers maybe spoke english and a few boxes labelled I found. 

 

Here is a unmarked box I opened first this morning. Nothing removed. A whole box that only had 2 spectrum cords, my land phone and a small surge protector. This is all that was in this box and taped shut. Is anyone surprised I ran out of cubic feet and they had to charge me more if I wanted my bedroom set. I thought empty hangers in the wardrobe boxes was the worst, but this is worse waste of space. I about put out my back lifting my microwave and have had to tske it easier unpacking. Still missing some stuff but plates and all I can do without. Silverware and spatula and real knives finally! 

 

I've emailed 3 or 4 times asking about is included with the packing I paid for. And the wasteful packing. Tell me someone was not packing on purpose so cubic feet used up and I had to oay more. On the other hand the sun is out here. The screens on the windows of my balcony make the picture look dark but the sun is sparkling on the water today. Entire box and taped up like this. 4 small items. 

[firefly333]

15 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

 

 

I don't think I would want to do any biopsy without anesthesia. The whole thing sounds horrible.

 

 

 

A couple of times when I would tell hime something he would smirk like what I was telling him wasn't true or he looked down on me. I am pretty good at reading people. Something about hime doesn't seem right. 

I had to have painful surgery last year on my wrist twice. First guy put me to sleep and attached the long bones in my forearm to my wrist and they didnt stay attached. Even the 2nd doctor said terrible job. 2nd doctor for sure didnt win any personality awards, rude, acted egotistic But he was rated high as a surgeon. Just going thru surgery twice and it hurt so bad I cant even say how much it hurt when the long bones were not properly attached and rubbing on each other.

 

You do NOT want to have bad surgery and have it done twice. It's worth a 2nd opinion. Better than bad surgery. Find a surgeon that is good. That you feel good about. The first surgery the 2nd doctor said well obviously he had a bad day. The hospital I went to wasnt a primary, a secondary he said and some times they have good days and sometimes bad. This was a bad day. If you ever want use of your right arm again it has to be redone.

[HBE4]

24 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

A couple of times when I would tell hime something he would smirk like what I was telling him wasn't true or he looked down on me. I am pretty good at reading people. Something about hime doesn't seem right. 

 

He could be socially awkward or just have plain old bad bedside manners. Normally I would just dismiss that if I knew I was getting the best possible medical care.

 

But as you said, you can read people well & if you have even the slightest doubt, it's worth getting a 2nd and even a 3rd (tie-breaker) opinion.   You don't need to be BFF's with your doctor but you need to feel comfortable with him. In this case, it seems like you don't.

[chuckroast1]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

 

What's your feeling's on prostate biopsies? I've been hearing some horror stories about it not being a pleasant experience. In my case I have one area that is termed "equivocal" or 50/50. Some research suggests foregoing a biopsy in favor of monitoring. Your thoughts?

Seadog, I don't post very frequently but I do have direct experience on this subject. I was diagnosed and treated in 2021 for what my Radiologist termed a "favorable intermediate" case of Prostate Cancer (I'm fine now). The diagnosis was from a biopsy, without anesthesia. It was, by far, the worst part of the overall experience. Everything afterwards, the Brachytherapy, the recovery and the side affects were a breeze by comparison. So, if a biopsy is medically necessary, I'd encourage you to get put under.