Silent Heart Attack

Saw my PCP today for my routine monthly follow up. But this time it was different. He heard a heart murmur he had not heard before.

I was not concerned. Having had Rheumatic Fever as I child, I have had a murmur come and go over the years.

He insisted on an ecg though I’d just had one 3 months ago. Was I surprised when he told me I had had a ‘silent’ heart attack!

A few weeks ago, I had suffered from a ‘belly ache’ and I could not really tell if it was my belly, or chest that was hurting. It was mild and went away in a few days. Perhaps it wasn’t a belly ache after all.

But no bad pain, no sweating, no pain in arm, no nausea.

Two new meds were added to my regime, Welchol and Plavix. Now in my introspective moments I wonder when the ‘BIG’ one is gonna hit…

I was urged to quit smoking and to lose weight! Ha! If I haven't been able to do it in 62 years, I don't think it's gonna happen now.

I truely feel one of the main causes of this 'silent' heart attack is all the stress I've been under the last 6 months; the water damage & reconstruction, the refrigerator failure (again water damage), AIMCO's slowness in reimbursing me for my expenses, and the computer problems. Add to that, my much less physical activity due to the RSD in my left ankle, toss in severe poverty, and it spells disaster...

Another Birthday!

Since I am just getting over a 'flare' and still feel pretty rotten, I didn't do much to celebrate my 62nd Birthday! Not even a piece of Birthday cake. Nor did I hear, in any way, from my kids or grandkids, sigh.

I did however, write a new poem, 'caul'! This seemed to take me all day! Now I am exhausted, and maybe a little depressed...

Hooks - Gemlites

I just received two sets of inexpensive acrylic crochet hooks (under $10 total for both!) that I had ordered from http://www.herrschners.com/ - Gemlites Crochet Hooks, a set of 9 - sizes G though P.

(An early birthday present for me!)

And they are just great! Each one is a different color, and they came in their own, reusable, plastic holder. They work well with every yarn I have tried so far, NO dragginess, NO splitting yarn.

Of course, I STILL have not learned the difference between hook TYPES, i.e. 'inline' vs. 'tapered', so I can't tell you WHICH type the Gemlites are. I can tell you they feel and work like Boye Hooks to me, which are my favorites, and what I have worked with since I was a child.
I would recommend these for anyone seeking decent hooks at an affordable price!
Slowly but surely, I am building my 'stash' of hooks...

Pet Assistance

I have gone through the volunteer training. I have now been doing my once a week telephone shift all by myself for the last month.

In a four hour shift, I have been taking between 15 – 20 calls. It sounds like a piece of cake, but it isn’t. All the info you have to learn, or at least know where to find it in the materials provided, so you can impart it to those calling in, is formidable.

I am getting more experienced though. Still after my ‘shift’, I am exhausted. And each week is getting a little easier.

I feel that I am doing something worthwhile, helping both people and animals. And I am glad I took on this ‘job’.

Lap Band

Today I was turned down for Lap Band Surgery because I had too many medical problems. But mainly because I have an auto immune disease and take Prednisone on and off for that.

(Over the past 9 years, I've been turned down for the 'gastric resection' twice, for medical reasons. This was my last hope.)

The surgeon said that auto-immune disorders with concomitant steroid use is one of the number one reasons for NOT doing the procedure.

Now this is not something I have hidden! From the time I went to the ‘seminar’ and filled out the first paperwork, I have listed this problem. So why did I have to get labs, records, fill out a truckload of reports and see two other docs (& the transportation $ involved) to be told I was ineligible?

I came home feeling as if I’d been handed a death sentence…

Off My Hook - Striped Throw

This was made with 4 ply (ww) scrap yarn. So it took quite awhile to finish!

It was done in all half double crochet, which is my fav stitch, using an H Hook. It was worked in one piece, and then a small picot edge was added.

I love the way it looks folded on the bottom of my bed...

Computers, the agony and the ecstasy

I am STILL installing programs into my computer, and will be for quite some time to come. Have not even started on most of the data yet (which is stored in back ups in various places). What a giant pain.

I am NOT going to do this again; I am just too damn old, sick, busy, and impatient!. I just ordered a 160G external usb HD. It should be here in a week or so.

Next, I will get ‘mirroring’ software. I want a ‘clone’ of my c drive! So when (not if) this happens again, I will be fully ‘up & running’ again in a day or two.

I had planned to try to get a laptop this year, with the cost of the above, that’s now out of the question, unless I win a lottery or something…

They understand what I say!

The Sisters were to go today for their yearly immunizations. But Ethel developed a sudden case of ‘bad tummy’ last night.

She must have heard me tell someone about their pending appointment with the needle! So now, they have to wait till next month, when the ‘shot clinic’ is again in a parking lot near me.

From now on, when talking about such matters, I will spell it out, S-H-O-T-S!

Computer woes

My ONE desktop, with its' one hard drive, was acting up the last time I posted to this blog. It quickly got worse. I tried everything I knew of: virus checks, malware checks, scan disk, defrag, the whole nine yards, nadda.

Finally on December 21, Windows XP just crashed, which is not all that suprising as I had had the same install for 2 1/2 yrs. It would not close, wouldn't 'system restore’, then it wouldn't boot. Oh joy, just what I needed for Christmas!

So after sighing a lot, I wiped the disk and reinstalled. After a couple of days of that process, the SAME things started happening AGAIN.

This was way beyond my experience! So I had someone come in. He also could not wipe the disk and reinstall XP without errors! So, he went further than that. It turned out I had a 'corrupted' master boot record. He fixed it, reinstalled XP. Though I was terrifically happy, I KNEW the days and days of work that was in front of me.

So that is where I've been and what I've been doing.

People with more than one computer are so fortunate! Hope everyone had ‘better’ holidays this year than I did!

As if I didn’t have enough problems!

Last night, ohh, about 1AM, I wanted some Ice Cream. So I went to the freezer. The new half gallon of Ice Cream was on the top shelf. I stretched to reach it, grasped the edge of the lid of the round carton. It tipped over, and POURED down the shelves of the freezer and into my lap!

I checked the rest of the stuff in the freezer, and it was stuffed full. Everything was thawed!

Of course, there was no one to help me in the middle of the night. So I spent the next HOUR, mopping up melted ice cream with a couple of small sponges. I did a pretty good job too, but it exhausted me.

I set my alarm, got up as soon as the Complex office opened, so I could call. First one guy came, an hour later another one checked it out, ‘yep, it’s not working’, they said. Lastly the maintenance manager arrived. They then bought in a ‘loaner’ and put in my living room. (So again, the spot where I put my wheelchair to watch TV, read, or crochet was blocked to me.) It’s my opinion that the refrigerator absorbed too much water from the very wet kitchen wall when all that was going on, but no one wants my opinion.

At 3PM, my IP arrived. She spent most of her scheduled two hours today, helping me make a list of all the food in the freezer that had been ruined, then taking it out to the dumpster!

Of course, there were a few items I could salvage: a tub of cool whip, a loaf of bread, and a package of dinner rolls. But even a 4 pack of bran muffins had to be tossed because the bottom of the package had filled with ‘wet’ from other melting foods. Hundreds of $$$ of food, ruined!

Since I eat mainly frozen entrees (adding cups of fruit, cottage cheese, etc), and frozen veggies, and since I depend on having groceries delivered (at $10 charge per), I keep my freezer WELL STOCKED.