Health Updates

Yeah, I know: nothing for a week and then two posts in one day? What's with that?

All three of us have news today. Rich's rib is improving noticeably, enough that he's thinking returning to work is a possibility by Monday. That's if, of course, his boss will take him back. In that kind of lower level job, I'm sure he's used to a lot of turnover and is cynical about anybody's excuse for not showing up. Then too, there's the paycheck which still hasn't shown up, and by now another one, though partial, is due.

Steve had his angiogram yesterday. Happy 4:30 AM wake up call, whee. I was supposed to pick him up afterwards, estimated to be 12:30. It's a 30 mile trip each way, so planning is required. Unexpectedly, I got a call to pick him up by 9:45. Something about using his wrist.

Huh?

Contact is kept very brief so no questions were asked/answered as he was hustled out the door and into the car. Just the "Here's the instructions, there's an Rx but you can start tomorrow, bye," kind of stuff. And Steve was groggy and still in pain from the procedure, so I waited to ask what they'd meant.

Details came out piecemeal. He didn't need a stent, just a statin. Hence the Rx, and could I drop it off for him please? (Of course, and grab ice cream while there.) Must be one of the few medical places still using paper rather than emailing prescriptions to the pharmacy, and I know they had the information as I was sitting next to Steve when he gave it over the phone the previous day to them.

The wrist part meant that they didn't go in through the groin as planned, but up through a vessel in his wrist. (Apparently he has very good ones.) That bandage can't come off until later today, so I'm presuming artery, not vein. Meanwhile there is a lot of pain, bruising, and swelling in that arm, still even today. I'm not convinced that was a good trade-off.

Anyway, they aren't concerned about his heart. They are about his breathing. And I'm left concerned about how often his heartbeat drops between low 50s and 40. I will be nagging periodically about having somebody pay attention to that. So this is not over, just another stop along the way.

I say that because I'm aware of the difference a pacemaker makes. As it happens, that's my medical news of the day. It was time for my annual pacemaker check. There is a piece of equipment in my bedroom that periodically uploads information from it to whatever destination needs it, so I don't need to do what my folks both did, making an appointment monthly to connect with a landline to the doctor to make sure theirs were still working properly. However, I do have to go in annually to my cardiologist to have it evaluated and make any changes needed to make my life better.  Today was that day.

I walked in with my pretty "Peace" mask, anticipating a check-in and sitting down for a wait. Instead, I was greeted and sent straight back, with the receptionist commenting to the technician, "I told you Heather was dependable!" Inquiring, I found out that his 5 (!!!) previous appointments had failed to show up. Or call. That begs a few questions, like are they among the 440+ people in this zip code who've caught the virus, and are they still using their pacemakers? Or, say, air? Have they just gone north and can't/won't fly back?

After checking it out, he informed me that I have 9 1/2 years until this will need to be replaced. I'd put it on the calendar, but mine ends in 4 months.

On my way out I stopped at their scale. I'd been going often enough to make that a regular stop to monitor myself, following my progress on a dependably accurate piece of equipment, the kind where weights are slid across their bars rather than needing to program them in order to read the number. In other words, something even I can use. I'd figured, with all the time I haven't been exercising, still finding chocolate sources powerful enough to overcome any efforts at "won't power," and noticing that certain pieces of clothing here starting to bind, that I'd likely put on 10 pounds over the summer.

I lost two!

Of course, the surprise and elation were quickly replaced by the sobering realization I was in fact simply replacing muscle with fat. Meaning before too long, I need to talk myself into heading back to the pool, which in turn means finding a way to talk myself into believing it is a safe activity. We're still having record highs here (113 today, tomorrow...), so walking out along the streets is out of the question for a while yet. The weeds in the yard need pulling but I'm leaning - literally and figuratively, balance issues taken into consideration - towards hiring it done by our regular crew.

And, of course, the weight loss could possibly be the result of a couple months of involuntary blood donation from those omnipresent bed bugs! Quick, tell me: do I look pale?