The Week That Was

It has been quite the week around here. Last week, we had company; John’s boss and our friend, Z, stayed here for the week. It was kind of nice having another woman to chat with. She was wonderful company and I know I enjoyed her stay.

She left on Tuesday morning and I took the morning off to go to the doctor as my prescriptions were about to run out.

I have high blood pressure, have had for a number of years. Even with medication, it’s still on the high side and it’s been bothering me. I want it within normal range and that just hasn’t been happening, so I asked my doctor about taking my meds at a different time of day. I’d read a couple of articles about that; basically, it seems that for some people, taking the meds at a different time of day can make a difference in the efficacy of their drugs. His response was that, yes, it might make a difference but he would want to do a 24-hour bp monitoring to see when it would be best for me to take my meds. In order for that to happen, I would have to rent a bp monitor; after 24 hours, the information would be downloaded and transferred to my doctor’s office. I decided to go for it. After all, my health is important.

All went well with the monitor. It would take my blood pressure every half hour during the day and every hour during the night. By noon the next day, I’d be returning the monitor back to the pharmacy and getting my deposit back. That is how it was supposed to go. However…

Just before 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, a co-worker and I were chatting and I had a sudden dizzy spell so strong that it nearly knocked me off my feet. Then my heart started to race… and I do mean race (another co-worker clocked my pulse at over 200 bpm!). I sat down and rested a bit; then I called John to come pick me up so I could return the bp monitor because I did not trust myself to drive. After returning the monitor, John took me home as my heart was still beating way faster than it should have been. While at home, Z called and John explained to her what was happening; she apparently told John to get me to the hospital right away.

       

Well, the upshot of all of this was that I spent the night in the hospital, going through a battery of tests that included half the blood sucked out of my body (not really, but that’s what it felt like), numerous EKG’s, a CT scan, an ultrasound of my heart, a treadmill stress test, an IV, and who knows what else. Twenty-four hours after being admitted, I was released from the hospital with my meds adjusted and two more added. I did not suffer a heart attack as they thought at first that I might have, thankfully, but had what the cardiologist called a “hypertensive arrhythmia”. Basically, my heart was telling me it wasn’t happy with my blood pressure.

Where do I go from here? We already have a pretty healthy diet; John and I both cook and we both enjoy good, healthy food… fresh fruits and vegetables from the garden or our own freezer, very little in the way of processed or pre-packaged foods, lean meats (well, except for the fat cap on a good roast), hearty breads and the like. I do know I need to get this body moving more than it does. Really, it kind of all comes down to a quote I read a few days ago:

“Your life is the result of the choices you make…If you don’t like your life, it’s time to start making better choices.”

Oh, I’m fine now and intend to stay that way!

Oh, There You Are!

And here I am. I’m not gone; I haven’t given up on the blog. I’ve just been a little busy. August was a very busy month for us, or for me, really.
My birthday was in August and I was expecting my youngest daughter and her two kids to come visit us for almost a week. That fell through, unfortunately, when the kids developed a case of head lice and they weren’t allowed to travel with their dad, who was going to drive them part of the way here. Instead, I surprised her and drove down to the coast to spend five days with all my kids and grandkids. It turned out to be a wonderful week!
I was able to spend time with all three of my kids and all but one of my grandkids. It was a lot of fun watching my two oldest grandsons with their bikes.

And yes, Adrian’s bike has no brakes (first pic) If I could have, I would have had his bike repaired or tried to find him a replacement, but I didn’t have the time or the funds while I was there.

When I knew that Oceanna and Teagen were coming to visit, I had planned to give them each a “treasure box” to decorate and use for any little “treasures” they may have accumulated while they were visiting. I took those boxes with me and allowed the kids to decorate the boxes and use them for whatever they wanted. Later that day, we went out for lunch, and then to the local water park.
I also spent time with my older daughter and her kids but, I’m ashamed to say, I didn’t get any pictures of them. We spent some time in the pool with the kids and Ethan was a source of uninterrupted time of hilarity. He is definitely a character!
Once I got back home, I very quickly got back into the routine of work, home, and garden. Already, both our fridge and freezer are filled (and I do mean filled!). Anything else that needs processing will have to be canned or dried because there is no more room in either the fridge freezer or the deep freeze. This is a good problem to have!
Knitting time has been scarce, as you can well imagine. Now, though, that the weather is cooling off a little, I’m hoping I’ll be inspired to pick up the needles again.
For now, enough. I’ll update you about the knitting this weekend, hopefully. Although… John’s birthday is this Friday so this may be another busy weekend. *Sigh*