Me Again

 

Here I am again with another update due to what happened Wednesday. 

In the morning, I felt fine and set out to a meeting with a nurse practitioner at my doctor's office. She was going to check my cognisant health, you know the one where you remember three words and know how to draw an oldfasioned clock. 

That all was a piece of cake for me. But then:

Then she asked me to get up from my chair, which I did. I still had my blood pressure cuff on, and when I got up, my BP went down by 20 points and I felt very weak. So I sat down again. 

The NP became concerned, she said I was very pale and that was a large and very sudden change in my BP. 

I continued to sit and started to feel very dizzy and a bit worried and scared, as I had no idea of what was going on. I had never experienced anything like it. And it was very sudden. 

As I sat there for awhile, I began to worry about driving my car home and decided I needed to be checked out in the ER. 

So they called an ambulance. The first time in an ambulance for me. One of the two guys that came for me, drove the ambulance while the other, a super nice young man, took care of me.

He gave me this fluffy, cuddly toy dog, named Siren. Just the perfect thing to calm me down. 

Then we talked. He told me he was a Russian immigrant and came to the U.S. when he was seven. I told him about my background, also being an immigrant. And of course about my experience on the Russian ship, the Mikhail Kalinin, that I sailed on about three times back and forth -- Stockholm to London, when I was young. 

We both agreed that the problem with Russia is not with the people, but their leaders.

The nice young man's name was Vladimir, so I asked, do they call you Vlad? He said yes. 

I've now decided to name my new toy dog Vlad. 

My time in the ER was long and no fun at all. I soon figured out that all the tests they did on me came back as normal. Soon I was getting no attention at all, as new and far more seriously I'll people arrived. 

I never saw a doctor. So around 9:00 p.m., I was very hungry and very tired and decided I wanted to leave. I called Joyce, who had agreed to come and pick me up, and told the nurse that I was leaving. So then the doctor came by and said leaving was fine, my tests were normal and that I should see my personal doctor for a follow up. 

I have an appointment with my doctor on Tuesday next week to discuss the CT scan I had.  

Today, Thursday, I'm resting at home, feeling better, but still a bit weird, not exactly dizzy, but not exactly normal either.

Joyce and her sister, Alice, went grocery shopping and picked up some things for me. Then Joyce drove my car home from where I left it yesterday outside the doctor's office.

I'm so grateful for them, the best neighbors ever, and such very good and loving friends. 

An Update

 

I've calmed down a bit about moving.  Selling my house and finding a place in town and then actually moving will require both time and energy. 

And then there's Faith. The only time she's been on a leash is when we go to the vet. I could train her, but what happens when we run into other dogs? She's not socialized to be around dogs and she's overly protective of me. If she gets aggravated, I couldn't hold her. 

For now, I want to find a good realtor so I can get my questions answered. I'm sure talking to a professional will provide me with information that I need, but never thought of. 

The other thing I must do is continue to downsize. I love doing it, so it shouldn't be a problem. 

 It took me awhile to get over the bronchitis, but not fast enough for the doctor, so he ordered a CT scan. I'm feeling fine now, but since the scan had been scheduled, I went yesterday. 

In the waiting room, I met a woman who believed in astrology and was also from Europe. Her birthday date was a day before mine, but she was many years younger. I told her that I'm not into astrology, but had to admit that being born on the cusp of Gemini/Cancer fits perfectly with my personality. 

When I was done with the CT scan, a nice guy rolled me out in the wheel chair. Many cars of many colors were in the parking lot, but not that many blue ones. So we found mine right away. 

See how my Rollator is the same color as my car. 

I 

I haven't used my Rollator very much outside, but when I do, it really helps me because I can sit and rest and catch my breath. I only need a minute and I'm fine again. 

I also use it in my kitchen when I prep for a meal. It's tall enough so that I can easily reach my kitchen counters. 

 

Lately though, I've noticed that I'm standing more and more, which of course means that I'm feeling so much better.