A Fib

  ...but what I am writing here is the truth and not a fib at all. 

Roger was diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation (often referred to as A-fib).  Mayo Clinic, our go-to website for all matters related to health had this about it:

Atrial fibrillation (A-fib) is an irregular and often very rapid heart rhythm (arrhythmia) that can lead to blood clots in the heart. A-fib increases the risk of stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications.

During atrial fibrillation, the heart's upper chambers (the atria) beat chaotically and irregularly — out of sync with the lower chambers (the ventricles) of the heart. For many people, A-fib may have no symptoms. However, A-fib may cause a fast, pounding heartbeat (palpitations), shortness of breath or weakness.

Episodes of atrial fibrillation may come and go, or they may be persistent. Although A-fib itself usually isn't life-threatening, it's a serious medical condition that requires proper treatment to prevent stroke.

 He has an appointment with his doctor on Monday and still many more days of wearing his Zio patch. That patch will provide lots of information, and then we will know how to proceed. He is still experiencing all of the symptoms, which will be recorded on this device. In fact, he is experiencing quite a bout of it as I type this. 

That's life these days. 

Hope all is well for you, dear friends out there in internet blogland. 

Goodbye November

 

We bid farewell to November, a month of doctor appointments, EKGs, ultrasounds of the heart, bleak and endless gray sky weather, and booster shots. Goodbye November.

Today Roger is having a Zio patch put on his chest to monitor his heartbeats. It supposed to stay attached for two weeks and then get shipped someplace for some skilled reader to analyze the data of his heartbeats. It has not been an easy month. No results of the EKG although it's been more than two weeks since the test. No results of the Ultrasound. Small town medical care isn't always the best. Most test data get sent out of town for a doctor to analyze and then the analysis is sent to the clinic, then the clinic emails us the results. It all takes way too much time for a very impatient person that I am. Roger is much more relaxed about it. That's okay I'll worry and shout expletives enough for the two of us. 

Roger has been experiencing irregular heartbeats, shakiness, unsteadiness on his feet, and light-headedness for a while We only do our one-mile neighborhood loop these days and only on days when he feels up to it. We haven't been to the marsh in quite some time. I'm thinking about mapping a one-mile loop there so we have something beautiful to see while we're out. It would be good for both of us to see some pelicans, a few gulls, maybe even a river otter. 

Until then it's just photos of sunrises here, iridescent clouds, and halos. It's a good thing the sky is still full of beauty right out our windows.

We'll keep you posted. 

Goodbye November.

PS-- Thank you for all your kind words and comments on the previous post about my booster side effects. I'm fine now and happy to be boosted!

One Good Thing

 I'm still not feeling very well after my Pfizer booster. Headachy, chills, exhaustion. Pretty much a bummer. It's a good thing we didn't plan anything for Thanksgiving, because I would have had to cancel. We're still avoiding indoor gatherings and playing it safe through the holiday season. There was one good thing on Thanksgiving day, an ever-changing sky showing me halos and sundogs. Even though I felt crappy I still grabbed the camera to take a look. 

One of the most beautiful sundogs I've ever seen in a lovely Thanksgiving sky.  Something to be truly thankful for.  

Post Booster

 Well, I got my booster shot. I changed my mind about waiting and getting the Moderna shot December 10th at the health clinic and went to the local pharmacy Monday and got the Pfizer booster. It hurt. It still hurts. I felt crappy all day, and Tuesday as well. But as I type this I am starting to feel a bit better. I'm glad to have that done. I think I even feel a tiny teeny weeny bit safer. 

I wrote my siblings and told them about my booster adventure. I told them that I felt tired. That word "tired" started a very funny email conversation that went on most of the day. One of us remembered that my dad used to tell my mom that she was "born tired." Then someone remembered that she was also "born dizzy." It was very funny, and all in good humor as it was back in the day when my dad would say it. Then my sister emailed us the word battle-axe. Oh wow, we had forgotten and was reminded that our mom was a battle-axe. What is a battle-axe? 

Well one explanation found online was, "The prime example was the militant temperance activist Carrie Nation, who actually wielded a hatchet and made it her symbol, living in Hatchet Hall and publishing a magazine called The Hatchet. She became involved in the suffragette campaign for votes for women and this campaign further established the archetype." I think that describes the strength and power of my mom.  She was a force to be reckoned with.

So, a long post-booster shot day gave way to memories, humor and love. The perfect definition of family as we head into the Thanksgiving weekend. Happy Thanksgiving, friends. Stay safe and get boosted when you can. 

 

Changing The Subject

 I just had to make the previous post stop being the most recent post on the blog. Ugh. I was as sick of it as I am of being a neighbor to that house. Ugh. 

So in the interest of just showing you something different, here is a photo my twin brother took the other day in his neck of the woods in Santa Cruz.

My siblings know the sights I love. This is such a beautiful display of crepuscular rays at Schwan Lake. It does my heart good to know that this beauty radiates everywhere. 

We heard some sad news the other day. A high school friend, my brother's first true girlfriend, someone we hung out with in the late 1960s, who spent lots of time with us after school, that person committed suicide in March. I was friends with her on Facebook. She didn't post much, and when she did it was almost always links to music. Just a few days ago Facebook told me it was her birthday. I didn't write on her wall to send her good birthday cheer. I wish I had, even though by then she was already gone eight months. Her suicide made me think of this song. So, here's a song in memory of Susan.