I have to keep putting this photo up at the top of my blog because...it is so beautiful and I am waiting for my Grape Hyacinth, Tulips and Daffodils to bloom! 67 and sunny today.
This reminds me of our blogging friend Balisha. She died four weeks now and still her blog is left open by her husband, Joe and still, her blogging friends are leaving comments. I think we are all thinking of her because this time of year, she would be posting photos of her gardens and the plans for what she wanted to plant. What a testimony to such a wonderful lady, that even after a month, her friends are still thinking of her and missing her.
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So, this morning I had to go back to my primary guy to see how his "experiment" worked. He lowered my new BP med to half--trying to raise my low pulse rate. Well, it did that--I got up to 53 beats per minute. However, my BP also went up--every day--until yesterday it was 196/68 and this morning, 192/66. I took a full BP tab this morning, not wanting to risk having a stroke before I got to his office to tell him,
GEEZ OH PETE!!! You know how I hate running to the doc's all the time! I gotta go back next Tuesday and have more blood drawn! Today, he also asked when I was going to have a Colonoscopy.
"Never," I replied.
"Why not? You need to get one to check and make sure you don't have polyps."
"I've never had one and I'm not going to start now. I am over seventy-five and "they" say you don't need one after that age...AND...if I get colon cancer, I wouldn't go throuigh the treatments anyway...so......."
He just shook his head, perturbed at me.
Apparently my new insurance company wants me to do all the preventative stuff, because he quizzed me on mammograms (last August), bone density (last August) eye exam (in a few weeks) cardiologist visit plus an echo cardiogram and EKG (last week) and colonoscopy.
He asked if I still smoked and I told him, "I use pipe tobacco now. It is milder, has less chemicals."
"How long did you smoke cigarettes, how many and what kind?"
"Ultra lights, usually half a pack a day, for 55 years."
"Do you cough, have chest pain or shortness of breath?"
"No. Never."
"When did you last have a chest x-ray?"
"Last week. Isn't it there in a report?"
"Ah-hh, yes, here it is. Completely clear and normal. There are no nodules, no scars, no shadows. You're heart isn't enlarged either. Doesn't look like you've ever smoked."
"I never inhaled."
"Hm-mm. Are you going to quit?"
"No. Well...maybe, but not today."
"Didn't you quit a couple of years ago?"
"Yes. For six months."
"Why did you start again?"
"Because I wanted too."
"Hm-mm."
"Do you drink alcohol?"
"No. Never."
"Maybe you should. Wine is suppose to be good for you."
"I heard the latest report that said it wasn't."
"Yes--I did too. Well, all things in moderation."
"Including smoking."
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When I got home, my BP was "down" to 184/62. I had stuff I wanted to do outside, but I was scared to lift or work hard with the upper number that high. Two weeks ago, my BP was 126/62--now with changing meds, "they" have me all messed up again. I HATE MEDICAL PROBLEMS!!! All this doctoring makes me feel mentally as old as I am physically, HAH!
I did get my Hummingbird feeders up and filled as I see on the migration chart that the little Darlings are in Southern Michigan and I am only about 50 miles from the Michigan/Ohio border. I also got my two chairs and little table out of the shed and ready to wash them tomorrow.
Karen called and invited me out to supper. Tonight she took me to a Mexican place. We had a delightful waiter. Lyle and he was so overtly gay and sweet, especially to the Madre, that we had a good time. We spent most of our time talking about Karen's trip to Guatemala.
"Mom...you just can't believe how they live. The house we built, is exactly four inches from the houses on either side. There is trash everywhere. It smelled horrible all the time. Most of them have no electricity, and a lot of them share a public latrine. You just cannot imagine. Dust everywhere. At the end of the day, you have dirt and dust in your hair, inside your clothes and shoes. It is so hot and sticky. Some days, if the power was out, which it was a lot, people had no water, because the well pumps are run on electricity. We complain if our Internet or electricity goes out for a couple of hours. Everyone should have to go to one of these countries and stay for a week. We are the luckiest people to live here in the United States."
We take so much for granted don't we? It's really only by a quirk of fate that we were born and live here. I know I am thankful for that.
That is a gorgeous photo. It is breathtaking.
ReplyDeleteI have a relative who had a colonoscopy at age 76 and the doctor told him that is it, no more because they do them every 10 years and stop doing them at age 85. I have never had one either and don't plan on having one.
I have had two mammograms when I was younger and both times I had to go back because they were suspicious only to find out nothing was wrong. That really put me off having them done again.
I meant to write on my blog that the pictures would follow in a few days. They are still in my camera. I will get around to doing that this week I hope.
That really is a beautiful picture!
ReplyDeleteI was 72 when I had a colonoscopy. I had a large malignant polyp , which was removed surgically and I did not need any further treatment. I had no symptoms, this was just a routine check. Just saying......A believer in preventive medicine.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you are being very patient with your Doctor....! Jx
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