Jeweled Vixen

I had a doctor's appointment this morning, so I had to put shoes on. The clogz-like shoes I have been wearing have been making my toe hurt. I think it's because they are made of stiff plastic and don't have any give in them, which my toe needs right now, since it's not healed all the way yet. So I decided to wear my sneakers and that was a wise choice. My toe feels fine after wearing the sneaker on it. It protested a little bit when I put the shoe on and wasn't completely happy while I wore it. But it like the sneaker a lot better than the cloggy shoe. I had decided to wear the cloggy shoe because it's wider and I thought it would give my toe more room since it was swollen, but it didn't dawn on me that it was too stiff to be good for the toe. So, the sneakers win! No more cloggy shoes. :D

I was born with a narrowing of my aorta and I had bypass surgery done on it when I was 26, which was close to 30 years ago. I had a Teflon patch put in to widen the area that is narrowed.

My new cardiologist told me last month that those patches need to be checked regularly after 15 years, since they can come loose or start leaking. o__O No one told me that in 30 years! So, he scheduled an MRI for me to take a good look at it. That was this afternoon. Since they were doing it with a contrast material, and I only have one kidney, they had to do blood work before the MRI to make sure my kidney function is good, since the body gets rid of the contrast material through the kidney(s) and can be hard on it/them. My kidney function was fine.

The MRI wasn't bad. I'm not claustrophobic and they put in earplugs and put on headphones, so it wasn't anywhere near as noisy as the ones I've had before. It was just hard to lay on my back for so long with this heavy rectangular antenna taped to my chest. It's harder for me to breathe lying on my back.

But it's done and now I just have to wait to hear from the doctor with the results.

I also called the local SPCA today to ask about volunteering there. I can go in anytime they are open and stay for as short or as long a time as I want. I will get to pet and brush the kitties. I'm looking forward to that. :3

On Monday, I went on line and ordered three refills for prescriptions. I was expecting to pick them up on Tuesday since I had to go to town for a doctor's visit anyway. On Tuesday, the doctor's office called and cancelled. I wasn't feeling all that great, so I didn't go. I had taken the last one of my Gabepentin on Monday night, so I was out. I decided since it's for restless leg syndrome, it wasn't urgent for me to take it, so I would pick up the prescriptions today since I had another doctor's appointment.

Well, yesterday, after missing two doses, I woke up and rolled over slightly so I could pet the cat. The room started spinning! I have never been that dizzy before, ever. I moved back over a little and it went away. I got up, got awake and went to feed the cats. This involved bending over to fill their water and food dishes. My head started to spin again. I had to grab the wall to keep from falling over. It went away, so I didn't think too much about it. I was fine the rest of the day.

This morning, I didn't feel dizzy lying in bed, but after I sat up, I felt really dizzy again and nauseous. Everything I did made me dizzy - sitting down, standing back up, bending over, getting dressed. I called and cancelled my doctor's appointment and then looked up Gabepentin on the internet. I knew it is usually used for nerve pain and also for treatment of seizures.

Well, I found out that if you stop taking it suddenly, it can cause dizziness, shortness of breath, and seizures - even if you never had them before. So, I hauled my butt to Walmart and got my meds. I took one of them in the car before I left Walmart. I won't be doing that again!

Actually, I'm feeling quite a bit better. I'm still really tired, but my cough is mostly gone and so is the stuffy nose. I don't know if this was a head cold or a very mild case of the flu, but it seems to be on its way out. I've been sleeping more than I'm awake since Tuesday, so maybe that helped, too. I took all the antibiotic and I've been taking the guaifenesin and tylenol. Altogether, I guess it knocked this thing out. I'm so glad I didn't end up in the hospital.

It started yesterday afternoon.

( The Rest is Pretty Gross )

On Monday I went to see my new Cardiologist for the first time. He was great. He spent almost an hour with me, talking about everything about my health. He was really easy to talk to and he listened to what I said. I asked him about switching my main blood pressure med because the one I am on is so expensive. He agreed and said that Norvasc is better for my blood pressure than the old med and that it wouldn't tend to make my ankles and feet swell like the old one. He sent in a prescription right then to my pharmacy. It will cost me just over $2. I'm so happy. I couldn't believe it. So, I'm off to Wally World to pick it up. :D

I couldn't sleep last night, so I was up after until 3:00. Then I had to get up at the butt crack of dawn (7:30) so I could get to my family doctor for an appointment at 9:20. I hadn't been in to see her since March. I had been seeing her every 3 months so she could keep an eye on everything I have going on. The nurse asked me if I wanted a flu shot, so I got one. Now my arm feels like the Hulk punched me.

She had a medical student with her today. She asked me what had been happening since March. Soooo, I told her the whole crazy story, cried, made her upset, made the student go awwwwww. Then, really quickly, she asked me how I was feeling otherwise, she listened to my lungs, checked the swelling in my feet and asked if I needed any prescription renewals. She ordered some blood work and that was it. I went down the hall to the lab and got the blood work done.

Then I went down the street to the Price Chopper and did my grocery shopping. I got some good bargains, so I felt good about that. I got home, unpacked the groceries, had lunch, then took a nap. I was woken up by my neighbor who shares walls with me. It's home improvement time! With a hammer! Oh, well. It was time to get up anyway. So, that was my day.

I had to go to WalMart for food and meds again today. When I go, I use an electric cart because of my breathing and my back. A few months ago, our lovely WalMart got rid of the greeters who managed the carts for everyone. This means that anyone who needs an electric cart has to get their own and then has to return it and plug it in again. When the greeters were there, they did this and they knew which carts were charged and which weren't. Now there is no way to tell.

You can probably see where this is going. Well, they doubled up, then tripled up on their cart suckage. I got the only electric cart left when I went in. About ten minutes later, when I was way back in the milk aisle, it started getting low on battery power. I tried to make it back to the other side of the store to get a new one, but it died in the shoe section. I had to push the forward lever while scooting it with my feet to make it to electronics where I could get an associate to call for a different one.

The woman who used to be one of the greeters came back with a new one and I continued my shopping, knowing my legs would be sore later. I got most of my shopping done when cart #2 started to die. I stopped shopping and headed for the check-out. I had to scoot this cart with my legs to get up to the cashier. Since I still had to go to the pharmacy and pick up the two prescriptions I had dropped off at the beginning of this saga, I asked the cashier to see call for another one. Some snippy little snot came and said they had no carts that were charged - they were all plugged in. o_O They plug them all in as soon as someone is done so they stay charged. I tried to tell her that, but she just repeated that there were none available.

Finally, she grudgingly went and got one when I told her I still had to go to the pharmacy. She said, "Here you go. I hope it works for you. I don't know if it's charged or not," then walked away, leaving me pretty much pinned in between the check-out and the new cart. I got hung up on the bag rack, then the other cart.

Well, it wasn't charged. I barely made it to my car with the damn thing. I left it in the parking lot. They need to put the greeters back at the front to manage those carts. Now I'm short of breath and my legs hurt. I know they are going to cramp when I go to bed tonight. Idiots.