Now that the ablation is scheduled the afib has settled down and my heart has a happy sinus rhythm. Of course it does. But then it will slip in for short periods and out again.
This last 10 days have been tumultuous to say the least. By Thursday morning I was ready for some normalcy so I went to SHARE. Jade had come in Wednesday evening and since both her parents were at work she came with me. It wore her out doing half of what I do. Then I went to yoga at Hesed House Thursday night and filled the regulars in on why I wasn’t there last week. I’m to the point where I make jokes about it because otherwise, well, it’s just too depressing and does me no good to obsess about it. Jade left Friday morning heading back to Austin. And last evening my grandson came by with great granddaughter Paisleigh,
my first visit with him since he’s been back from Arkansas. He and Audra and Paisleigh are moving back but slowly while he works here, currently staying with his folks, and figures out a place to live but he’s still paying the bills on the house in Arkansas and the lease isn’t up til the end of the year. So Audra and Paisleigh are still living in Arkansas while she works there and he works here. Paisleigh has been here for the last week, Mikey went and got her last weekend, and Robin has been doing childcare duty while everyone is at work. Audra came for the holiday weekend and is taking Paisleigh back with her.
I wondered in the night during my awake time what the neurosurgeon would think of my upcoming procedure for afib and the effect, if any, on the aneurysm so this morning I went on the patient portal from his office to leave a message/question and checked the test results listed that he had reviewed and the most important one, the CT with contrast that showed the aneurysm, wasn’t listed. Did the hospital not send that report, has he not seen it, did he determine my condition didn’t need immediate attention because he did not see the test that showed the aneurysm? So I sent a long message with pictures of the type of test and the results showing the little bomb in my brain. He did review the CT scan, the chest x-ray, and the MRI. I doubt, being a holiday weekend, that it will be seen before Tuesday and I have no idea if he has left the country already or not. I also want to ask about doing a headstand, and a couple of other yoga asanas, which I do, holding it for 20 breaths, giving my organs a little break from gravity and sending the blood to my head, if that puts pressure on the aneurysm but that can wait. I did my home yoga routine this morning for the first time in about 10 days and thought to not do a headstand but I did one anyway only holding it for 10 breaths. I’m still here.
Summer is here, temps in the mid 90s and humid as fuck and no rain for the foreseeable future and I still have stuff out in the yard to do like excavate my potatoes (if I have some), repot some stuff, plant some stuff and ordinarily I would be out there for a couple of hours sweating but with these procedures coming up I am not. The last thing I need is to get heat stressed before all this happens. So I go out when I get up, kill stink bugs off my tomatoes with the insecticidal soap I made and then come in. In the evening I go out and water all the plants in pots. Yesterday I spent the day moving the sprinkler around. The new cotton out in the field, maybe not even 12” high yet looks terrible, sere.
Oh, and I went and got my glasses Friday. I wore them most the day but took them off to read and look at the computer monitor. I see better for that without the glasses which are transition bifocals. I doubt if I’ll wear them much in the house, just mostly driving and being out. I have 60 days to decide if I don’t like the transition lenses and I can get new lenses with the hard line at no extra cost. Rimless except for across the top.
The picture below is my previous pair, the ones I lost in the flood. I think I might like those frames better. This picture was taken in 2016 when Minnie was only a little over a year old. The last eight years have been hard on my face.
Scary as it is, I'm glad you're sharing your health news with us. Particularly since you've been dodging discussions with humor in your real life. You need somewhere to offload (if only that really happened) the ugly.
ReplyDeleteI kind of like the new glasses better. And Paisleigh is ADORABLE! I would want to squinch her cheeks all the time.
ReplyDeleteThose are excellent questions for your surgeon. Hopefully you'll hear something back soon!
I like your new glasses. That's my choice of style, too. I'm glad you did the follow-up about the missing test.
ReplyDeleteFor the headstand, look here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31219304/
ReplyDelete"Contrary to popular belief, Sirshasana does not increase blood flow to the brain through the ICA, but results in predictable reduction in cerebral blood delivery in compliance with known mechanisms of autoregulation of cerebral blood flow. Moreover, increased ICA blood flow while performing the headstand is likely to be a contraindication to this exercise."
You can also do a search on "cerebral blood flow autoregulation".
ReplyDelete37paddington: I’m so glad you’re cross referencing procedures with your different doctors. Please do follow up about the aneurysm test result, and maybe get a second opinion while the first doctor is away, just to be sure everyone, of every specialty, is aware and on the same page. Your rimless glasses look very cool.
ReplyDeleteI went with the transition lenses years ago. Got to like them. I like your new rimless ones. Good thinking to let all medical professionals know new developments. They wouldn't notice till you were to be seen again by one, unless you said something, I'd bet.
ReplyDeleteSo, stood on your head for ten breaths. Of course you did. Surprised you didn't say fuck it and do the whole count. And the last eight years have been the same hard on everything. It's still your same face, and you still have it. Peace.
ReplyDeleteI like your new glasses! I'm not sure about the standing-on-your-head thing. I think I might skip that pose! But it's great you're doing yoga and going to SHARE and keeping up your routines as much as possible. If only it weren't so hot!
ReplyDeleteA visit from a sweet little girl can go a long way to making the whole world seem right. And your new glasses look terrific.
ReplyDeleteJoanne said it all. It really is important to get all the doctors on the same page. I'm impressed you're doing headstands or any yoga or any yard work at all. I'd probably be hiding under my covers. You're a force of nature, Ellen. And I do like those glasses.
ReplyDeleteI love that I can go online to my doctors and ask my questions. I usually hear from someone within a day or two so hopefully you will hear tomorrow when everyone gets back to work. You can always call them if you don't. Hope the docs settle the Afib and you get calming news about the aneurysm. I like your glasses, Ellen!
ReplyDeleteI like the glasses, I have the transition lens. The only problem with mine are that they make me dizzy outside when I am navigating my gardens. I just don't wear them outside anymore. I know the days until your procedure will leave you frustrated and weary, but no more headstands! Not worth the chance that it could cause anything to change before you get taken care of! Please take care, we would all miss you so much!
ReplyDeleteYou look to be aging beautifully. I like the new glasses, I hope you adjust to the transitional lenses. They make life easier.
ReplyDeleteNow that I'm caught up, I'm especially glad to know that your afib treatment isn't going to be a problem. It's good that you've finally been able to talk with the various docs, and get some clarity about who's seen what, in terms of tests and such. Waiting can be its own sort of pain, but at least we're even closer to Tuesday now, and you'll be able to cross that off your to-do list.
ReplyDeleteWe had another whopper of a storm this morning. There was 2" hail in some nearby places, but none here. Now, the rain seems to be slowing down -- at least, the doves and squirrels are back at the feeders. That's always a good sign. They usually don't come out until they sense things are settling a bit.