I've been terrible about blogging. I guess maybe we have been so strung out that I haven't had the energy in my down moments to write. I have started many times, but my heart wasn't in it. I'm going to try to get back in the groove. Maybe I should promise myself to write something every day for the next 30. Maybe I get too in my head with content ideas. So here goes some randomness...our week last week:
Started Monday with my day off. I like my day off, only this time I had to go to the Dr. for a long overdue appointment. I love my Dr. (most of the time). We banter back and forth. I believe during this appointment he openly mocked me a few times and I told him to shut up at least 3 times. My mother would be horrified! shhhhh, don't tell her. Usually it goes like this: 'I have (insert horrible symptom here), what do you think?' Him: 'You are getting old'. Me.: 'Shut up'.
Me: 'I have gained weight without changing my diet and it is pissing me off'. Him: (laughter). Me: 'Are you mocking me?' Him: (laughter) Me: 'Shut up'.
I really shouldn't do this though, because usually in these appointments there comes a moment where he has to inject cortisone into my feet. This appointment wasn't any different. Long needle stabbed into not one, but both feet. If you have ever gotten a cortisone injection you know that it takes a while to get the syrupy substance shoved under your skin. I still have the bruises where the injections were, but my feet do feel a lot better.
The appointment ended with more tests being ordered and a new prescription for high blood pressure meds. (DING!) 5 points! Oh and the BEST part, I was told no caffeine for a few days until I took additional tests. (DING!) 50 points!
Tuesday was somewhat uneventful. Went to work at church. Staff meeting day, so Scott was there. Really the two of us shouldn't be allowed in a room together for very long. We laugh way too much. It is hard for people to get too serious around us too. His wife stopped in, leaving the kids in the van. She said good-bye. Then Scott notices that their van was driving out of the parking lot, with their kids inside but Amy was still in the building. Panic ensued for a few minutes until we realized it was a terrible practical joke and the prankster drove back into the parking lot with the children in tow. We all feigned polite laughter, but were a little rattled for a while. We had each had our cell phones at the ready to call 9-1-1 for fear that we had just seen a kidnapping. stress inducer-(DING!) 5 points! Dean had another meeting that night and returned home late. Joy.
Wednesday was my day to go to the Bellingham office. NOT my favorite thing to do. I was trying to adjust to the new blood pressure meds which make me very tired...more tired than I was already feeling. AWESOME (DING) 5 points! I got home and Kirsten came in from softball practice carrying an ice pack on her face. Dean and I were looking forward to our usual Wednesday evening at home alone, but it appeared that our plans were about to change. Kirsten explained she had taken a ball to the face and now her face and nose were numb. I called the Dr., wolfed down some dinner, and headed to the evening appointment. $30 copay later, the Dr. told us we needed to schedule a CT scan first thing in the morning. Oh no problem I thought....I am supposed to be at the medical testing center first thing in the AM for further heart tests. Dean was thrilled when I told him that he was on for the CT scan in the morning.
Thursday morning Kirsten's face began to look a little more colorful but the swelling was keeping in check. THANKFULLY Therapy Thursday with Annika had been cancelled due to Yoda being out of town for that week. I headed into Bellingham to the testing center and Dean and Kirsten headed into imaging. My 2 hour test took me 3 hours. The balding nuclear medicine doc kept looking at me, looking at the computer screen, looking at me, then he turned his head to one side and made the exciting announcment: well you show definite signs of heart disease. !!! 100 Points! I was S-T-O-K-E-D. I will review the scans more and let you know. I emptied my bladder and left the building. On the way home, I got a latte. Why not, what did I have to lose?
Part way home I received a phone call from Kirsten's Dr. The CT scan showed sinus/facial fractures. (DING DING DING!!!) 200 Points! I was told that an appointment with an ENT had already been scheduled, could I get her back to Bellingham by 2 pm? Sure, I would love to drive home and turn around and drive back. I called Dean and asked him to notify school. I swung thru a drive-thru and bought another round of cholesterol --again feeling like what do I have to lose...I've been trying to be so good and where is it getting me???
I pick up Kirsten and trudge back to Bellingham to meet with the Doc. He carefully examines her face, pushing here and pushing there. Looking to see what matches up and what doesn't. He leaves the room and returns with a copy of her CT scan. The bad news...she had 2 fractures of her cheekbone which caused a pinched nerve in her face (thus the numbness) and then there was another fracture to her sinus cavity which was what was causing the jaw pain. (DING DING DING!!!) 200 points! The good news...the fractures were clean and would require no surgery, the nerve wasn't severed and so should regenerate 100%. AND she would have no restrictions other than eating soft foods for a few weeks, AND she could fly the following day to her scholarship interviews at Whitworth. (DING DING DING!!!) Erase 200 Points! That evening we had a nice dinner with good friends. (DING DING DING)!!! Erase all points.
Friday was rather uneventful. I worked until 1:30 and then took Kirsten to the airport and she flew to Spokane for a weekend scholarship application process at Whitworth. I was so proud of her...it wasn't a huge deal, but she flew completely alone for the first time. She negotiated ticket counters, security, changing planes/gates, etc., looking for my dear friend Lisa in Spokane who graciously picked Kirt up at the airport and dropped her at Whitworth. Kirsten is very confident, but things like that can sometimes be a little intimidating for her. When she got home on Sunday, I told her she had now experienced a new level of freedom...traveling alone without a chaperone. She was pretty excited.
So while it was a red-letter week, in the end it was all good. While I have another excuse to kick my butt into shape. My family genetics are working against me in the heart health department, BUT I was told that I have nothing that can't be treated at this point with medication. Now, I just have to get the blood pressure under control and continue to exercise and eat right. Just shows what years of high stress and bad genetics will do...good grief 43 and already succumbing to heart disease? No worries, my Mother in Law told me it was really no big deal. hah!
oh, p.s....don't tell my mother I'm on high blood pressure meds...she isn't ready for that one yet! shhhhhhhh
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