Emergency Room visit ends well

Last night didn’t turn out anything like I expected. I finished up in my office and I went to the bathroom and then went to wash my teacup and I looked in the mirror and I saw that my left eye was bright red. Wow! Scary! I called Rob immediately and he thought it was not that big a problem, just a burst blood vessel in my eye probably but he advised me to go to the emergency room just to be sure. I did and it went very well and my eye should heal up in two weeks or so. I was in the emergency room over an hour but not much more. The sight in my left eye was slightly impaired but not much. I went to O’Charley’s for dinner and then drove home with no problem. Tuesday morning I called Rob’s office and wanted to see if he was going to increase my blood pressure medication since the ER doctors thought he should make the decision. He said to increase the one of the drugs to 4 per day from 2 and said that since my dose was so low we could go to 8 per day if needed. I started on that today and I hope to have my blood pressure down in a few days. For a while I couldn’t even get a reading on my blood pressure machine because my pulse was very irregular and I think I should mention this to Rob. I did some piano and then did a short walk down to the second log seat, visited my big white pine, and got back in time for a long nap. I didn’t have the energy to do my biking but I did two repetitions of weights and yoga. I then headed for Toyota to have my truck inspected and I decided not to return calls from Trivedi and Montgomery Regional Hospital. I will wait till tomorrow since I really need a break. My kayak friend was very concerned about my eye and I assured her that it is not a big problem. I am hoping to have dinner with her on next Wednesday. I haven’t heard from Claire but I assume I will before Friday. I called UPS and they didn’t have my Vital Choice package but told me to track it and I found out it had been delivered to the wrong address. Fortunately, it had been delivered to the log house at the gate and I was able to retrieve it with no problem from the front porch. I put it in the freezer and took a nap on the couch then watched the first half of the Duke game before pushing myself hard to drive in to O’Charleys for the second half, where Duke won pretty easily over Florida State. Grayson Allen is still injured but he did play. Frank Jackson was amazing for Duke. I had done my lumosity at Toyota and so all I had to do was my blog.

finally, some good kidney numbers

Well, Monday was indeed a very good day. I got my numbers and my albumin went up from 2.1 to 2.3 and my protein in the urine went down from the high 800s to the high 600s, both very positive. I also got a call from the UVa kidney center but I told them that I want to wait right now to see how the numbers progress. My weight is staying at 210 and Trivedi thought it okay to drop back to one Lasix. I did my knee exercises, but decided to take it easy so I would have enough energy to play golf and that worked out well since I broke 50 for the first time since I got out of the hospital. I did drill holes in a plastic tray to make a screen to get the debris out of the topsoil I bought and the half inch holes were perfect. I bought new organic seeds yesterday and planted black seeded simpson, romain and some sugar snap peas. I am going to try to take a bike ride after I finish here, having done my lumosity training. I also talked to Chris at Service Experts and he is refunding half my money, which seems fair. He wasn’t sure I could get the Munchin furnace fixed but a new furnace of another brand with all the extra stuff replaced would run about 10K and I have already budgeted that in when I sell the house. I sent Cathy my poem and I think it will move her.

My weight is 210, and I don't want to lose any more

Sunday was a very decent day but I am concerned about my weight. I am down to 210, which would normally be a very good thing but my legs, especially my calves are too thin. I will call Trivedi tomorrow to see if I should go down to one Lasix. I did a hike today, cut down the last dangerous overhanging branch near the tractor barn, fixed a patch in the ceiling (more to come if the patch looks good), played piano, weights and yoga, knee exercises and made myself a dish of Vital Choice tiny shrimp with butter sauce and spaghetti. Very good. I sprayed the lock on the way out and drove to O’Charley’s for dinner, the peach chutney chicken and mashed sweet potatoes with a side salad. My kayak friend is getting better and we are planning to have dinner over spring break if she is fully better by then. Maddie pulled a real prank on me with her desire to get a duckling but it was really just a tease but a lot of fun nonetheless.

last two days

Friday was a good day with a nice hike, knee exercises, some fishing out at Wolf and Walker creeks. I got the news from Will Vance and I still owe 2800 in taxes so that sucks but I will put that off until April. I did not hear from Service Experts so I will call Monday. I did send back the salmon jerky and they will replace it with salmon candy. I hope to ride my bike later. Nice lunch with Claire and the closing is in late March. Today was supposed to be my big dinner with Cathy but after the first 50 minutes Maddie called and said Claire was throwing up so Cathy had to leave. Oh well! We got to chat some and I am glad for that. The rest of my day went pretty well although I only got a short hike in because of the rain, but I got everything else in, some piano, weights and yoga, knee exercises, some vacuuming in my bedroom, washing dishes and a laundry, fixing my glass case, a few other small things. Duke lost to Miami but Grayson Allen didn’t play so I’m not too worried about that loss. My weight is 217, and that is fine but my legs look pretty thin, particularly in the calves even though I do a lot of walking and exercise. I tried to get on Rob’s portal but it said my information as inaccurate (I think I still remember my birthday) so I will have to call on Monday. Dave and I are having an interesting conversation about media coverage (he is more critical of the media) and I hope to talk to him later tonight.

bloodwork done

Thursday was a good and active day even though I had to push at points. I decided to take a hike after my morning nap and that started out slow but I got up to the orchard, checked on whether Service Experts is going to refund me some money for yesterday’s useless service call, talked to Will and he thought my taxes would be done on Friday, transferred some money to my checking, and talked to Raymond about the vent free heater (he thought I should just wait till the fall if I could). I did my weights and yoga, and my leg exercises and then I headed out to pick up my vital choice stuff (and I was disappointed with the salmon jerky being rather bland but I am going to return it and they are going to send me salmon candy), then off for almost painless bloodwork, then to the Meadows to play golf (where I shot a 51 hoping for a 52), then to my office for a long nap, my lumosity training, and my blog. I sent my kayak friend a funny email and I hope she gets a big laugh out of it. I also touched base with Maddie and she has midterms next week so she is really moving along. I will be having lunch with Claire at Greens tomorrow.

the vent free is working again

It is Wednesday and a pretty good day even though the rain curtailed my outdoor activities. I did my piano work, my knee exercises, but no weights and yoga. I did ride the stationary bike for thirty minutes. The vent free heater went out again so I tried to call Raymond but he didn’t respond so I called Service Experts and they had a very nice guy, Jaime, come out and he cleaned the pilot and got it working again and then took a look at the Munchin furnace but it sounds like I could put thousands in and not be sure of it working so I am certainly not going to do that. A bigger problem was that the pilot went out again and I was very annoyed. However, I got down and tried to light it a few times unsuccessfully but then I decided to use the pressurized air to clean out the pilot and that worked. I am going to call Service Experts tomorrow to see if they will refund some of my 100 dollars. I am almost finished with my surprise poem for Cathy (just the ending remains) and I also did some financial planning and I should be able to help Maddie out when the Gallos run low. I got the knot out of my good rope by soaking it in hot water and using a plier to pull the knot apart. I also did more vacuuming and rearranged the lower shelf stuff up to the next shelf to make it easier to get to. I still have to do the upper kitchen and my bedroom and then all will be vacuumed. I then watched Duke lose to Syracuse in a great game (Syracuse really needed the win and Grayson Allen was injured and played very poorly). Then I drove into town to eat at O’Charley’s and do my lumosity training and my blog and send my kayak friend an email.

three pound bass

Today turned out very well. I didn’t get a hike but I did some fishing in the North Fork, and then I napped, did my knee exercises, my piano, yoga and weights, and I am going to try to ride my bike for thirty minutes after I finish my blog. I got out to play golf again and in very subjective scoring, finally broke 50 with my last three holes (10, 11, and 12) being a 5, 4 and 6, just enough for a 49. I then decided to drive out to Walker Creek having obtained a license over the phone and I got a 3 pound bass. Very impressive. I am working in my office now having finished my lumosity training and my blog.