Thursday, March 31, 2016

Continuing Update

Well...the catheter went fine.  I don't remember a thing.  Feeling very groggy for a day and quiet as well.  Not much appetite.  That was Monday.  Tuesday night I got the shakes woke Gary around 10:30 and we decided to go to the ER.  By the time I got there the heater in the car had stopped the shaking but I was nauseous.  So turns out I had a fever.  Also turns out that when two middle aged old people don't have their glasses on reading a thermometer is purely guesswork.  Heart enzymes elevated, white blood count normal.  Eventually (like at 5am) they decided that I did not have a heart attack, did not have an infection (though they are growing cultures still), but instead had a reaction to the invasion.  Makes sense but was something we were not prepared for.  So slept all day yesterday as well as a good night sleep last night.  I feel good.  All my arteries are good.  Just the valve is bad...soooo off to talk to a surgeon next week in Burlington, VT, though I don't think that is where we will go for surgery.  We'll see.


Here is a boring video of Magic and Hannah...Magic keeps her in line because she has very sharp claws that Hannah respects.

Thank you all for your caring.
xo

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Health Update and Fairyland

All is well on the pancreatic cancer front.  Just wanted to get that out there.  But I have been having some heart issues.  Like I always feel like I'm slogging through mud.  Tired when I wake up (thought it was old age).  Can't breathe very well when I climb stairs, or walk with Hannah uphill.  So last May had an echo and again in November which showed chamber pressure changes in those 6 months and he said I needed an aortic valve replacement.  I was supposed to have a treadmill thing in November according to a cardiologist over in Burlington but I didn't because I was enjoying living in denial don't like driving over there in the winter.  So I finally called them and asked if I could have it here and they set it up.  So I showed up with my sneakers and they hooked me up and out from behind the curtain came a local cardiologist who wouldn't let me do it.  Said it was ridiculous because I already had symptoms and he didn't want me to drop dead on him (or on the treadmill) and that I needed to have a cardiac catheter to see if there is blockage which they would have to fix at the same time as the aortic valve.  Sooooo that is what is happening on Monday.

OK enough of that...Fairyland is growing!  I have been keeping warm in the kitchen and staying creatively busy!  Look!  Little houses from Walmart re-worked...I got sand and shale from a friend in Boston...acorns for roofing from a friend along with stone from a fishtank...tile from our local tile store...some wooden fairies from a fb friend...All the stone walls are moveable and the houses can be put inside or out.  AND I have the more rustic houses that I actually made and covered in bark put up in the woods but not photographed yet...Can't wait for my granddaughter to visit!!






Hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of spring
Happy Easter!
xo