And realized that this would also fit the NYPD, at least based on the last few shootouts I've read about. Though to be fair they did hit the guy they were aiming at. They just hit 9 innocent bystanders too.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Friday, July 19, 2013
If I have a clean bill of health, why do I feel so bad?
The results from the echo came back as stable also.
So I visited my GP on Wednesday morning to ask about other reasons for the chest discomfort and also the rather severe (for me) edema in my lower legs. I'm retaining more fluid than I did during either pregnancy, and marks in my leg stay for a few minutes.
I was told that the edema wasn't severe, but was given a script for some lasix to take three times a week. I'll take pictures of the pitting in the edema this evening before taking the pill tonight or tomorrow and see if it makes any difference.
However.... he didn't quite yell at me that as I got older I would have more weird little aches and twinges, and if they were benign, I would just have to learn to ignore them.
I pointed out that I had been ignoring the discomfort from the PVCs for five or six years now, and they had suddenly gotten much worse and stronger, and even if they were benign they were really bothering me. I was told, in not quite these words, to just suck it up and shut up about it.
It's hard to ignore something that suddenly jumps on you as you're trying to fall asleep and feels like a cross between a heavy weight on the top of your breastbone and a very too-tight turtle neck, and which can last for several minutes.
I didn't bring up my concerns about hormone problems again, since last time I mentioned concerns about adrenals or pituitary I was told we didn't need to look for zebras. That we've ruled out all the horses.... I've put on 40 pounds in the last year, 10 in the last month, my diet isn't any different or worse than before, I've got that horrible edema, and the beginnings of a weird hump of fat at the top of my spine. For the last few weeks I have had trouble going to sleep, not because it's hot (which it is), but because I feel that something is lying on my throat making it hard to breath if I lie on my back, and that's how I normally fall asleep. The fat is also mostly around my waist and chin, instead of my hips and thighs where I've put it for the previous 35 years.
So I've called the local naturopathic practice and have an appointment in two weeks. Bizarre creatures that they are, they are more worried about the patient's quality of life than just whether the lab numbers look good. When I mentioned my concern about being told I'd just have to learn to ignore the discomfort of a benign arrhythmia the woman on the phone tsked, and "no, no, no!".
So. Let's hope I can stay awake and functional until the 5th. I'm tired of being so tired.
So I visited my GP on Wednesday morning to ask about other reasons for the chest discomfort and also the rather severe (for me) edema in my lower legs. I'm retaining more fluid than I did during either pregnancy, and marks in my leg stay for a few minutes.
I was told that the edema wasn't severe, but was given a script for some lasix to take three times a week. I'll take pictures of the pitting in the edema this evening before taking the pill tonight or tomorrow and see if it makes any difference.
However.... he didn't quite yell at me that as I got older I would have more weird little aches and twinges, and if they were benign, I would just have to learn to ignore them.
I pointed out that I had been ignoring the discomfort from the PVCs for five or six years now, and they had suddenly gotten much worse and stronger, and even if they were benign they were really bothering me. I was told, in not quite these words, to just suck it up and shut up about it.
It's hard to ignore something that suddenly jumps on you as you're trying to fall asleep and feels like a cross between a heavy weight on the top of your breastbone and a very too-tight turtle neck, and which can last for several minutes.
I didn't bring up my concerns about hormone problems again, since last time I mentioned concerns about adrenals or pituitary I was told we didn't need to look for zebras. That we've ruled out all the horses.... I've put on 40 pounds in the last year, 10 in the last month, my diet isn't any different or worse than before, I've got that horrible edema, and the beginnings of a weird hump of fat at the top of my spine. For the last few weeks I have had trouble going to sleep, not because it's hot (which it is), but because I feel that something is lying on my throat making it hard to breath if I lie on my back, and that's how I normally fall asleep. The fat is also mostly around my waist and chin, instead of my hips and thighs where I've put it for the previous 35 years.
So I've called the local naturopathic practice and have an appointment in two weeks. Bizarre creatures that they are, they are more worried about the patient's quality of life than just whether the lab numbers look good. When I mentioned my concern about being told I'd just have to learn to ignore the discomfort of a benign arrhythmia the woman on the phone tsked, and "no, no, no!".
So. Let's hope I can stay awake and functional until the 5th. I'm tired of being so tired.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Testing Update
Well, my nuclear stress test is "stable". A message was left on my voice mail, so I called them up to find out what exactly was meant by stable. Basically, it means fine, and since I had one of these tests five or six years ago which this practice knew about, and presumably got and looked at, presumably there have been no changes.
I'm not sure whether this makes me happy or not. It's not that I want something to be wrong, but most of the stuff that they find on stress test is fixable, and I'd really like to know why I'm tired and short-of-breath with chest pain and water retention. So I'm going to have an echo next Monday, where they will be able to see if the valves are working right. With my luck, they're fine too. Which will leaving me feeling like crap with no reason for it.
Personally I think it's thyroid, or at least thyroid-related, but nowadays, physicians, including endocrinologists, almost always treat the numbers, not the patient, and tell you "You can't be hypothryoid, your numbers are within the normal range", ignoring the fact that just because a certain percentage of people who are supposedly healthy have numbers in a given range doesn't mean that that is the right range for you.
I think it's time to start seeing the local naturopath, in general they seem much more attuned to the patient rather than the lab values.
And if I ever start feeling better, I might be able to write some posts of interest to others than just me. But I'm too tired. I get home from work and fall asleep for 12 hours most nights lately, which isn't conducive to getting anything done, electronically or around the house.
I'm not sure whether this makes me happy or not. It's not that I want something to be wrong, but most of the stuff that they find on stress test is fixable, and I'd really like to know why I'm tired and short-of-breath with chest pain and water retention. So I'm going to have an echo next Monday, where they will be able to see if the valves are working right. With my luck, they're fine too. Which will leaving me feeling like crap with no reason for it.
Personally I think it's thyroid, or at least thyroid-related, but nowadays, physicians, including endocrinologists, almost always treat the numbers, not the patient, and tell you "You can't be hypothryoid, your numbers are within the normal range", ignoring the fact that just because a certain percentage of people who are supposedly healthy have numbers in a given range doesn't mean that that is the right range for you.
I think it's time to start seeing the local naturopath, in general they seem much more attuned to the patient rather than the lab values.
And if I ever start feeling better, I might be able to write some posts of interest to others than just me. But I'm too tired. I get home from work and fall asleep for 12 hours most nights lately, which isn't conducive to getting anything done, electronically or around the house.
Sunday, July 07, 2013
Joys of Testing
I get to spend an exciting day tomorrow at the cardiologists' having a stress test and a nuclear stress test done. Hopefully we'll figure out why my chest keeps hurting, I'm short of breath, exhausted all the time, and retaining tons of water (worse than either of my pregnancies, though I retained so little it wouldn't be hard to retain more). At this point, I'd be happy for them to find something wrong, just so we know what's going on, and can maybe do something about it.
Thursday, July 04, 2013
Wednesday, July 03, 2013
Waiting....
We have improved our credit score a fair bit since we bought the last car. We've even bought a house since then.
The car we want isn't that much more than the previous one cost us, we can finance for up to seven years rather than five, and hopefully at a rather lower interest rate. Still, it's rather nerve wracking waiting to hear whether the financing has gone through. I gave them the go-ahead to run it over an hour and a half ago. I hope that's not too bad a sign....
The car we want isn't that much more than the previous one cost us, we can finance for up to seven years rather than five, and hopefully at a rather lower interest rate. Still, it's rather nerve wracking waiting to hear whether the financing has gone through. I gave them the go-ahead to run it over an hour and a half ago. I hope that's not too bad a sign....
Monday, July 01, 2013
It's dead, Jim.
I have tried, and maybe succeeded, in killing my car.
Today on the way into work it started making tick, tick noises, almost immediately followed by thwuk, thwuk, and then THWAK, THWAK. I pulled over to the side of the road and called GEICOs roadside service number, which is in my contacts, though it's never been to the point where I felt it needed a speed dial. An hour and a half later I was at the dealer's repair shop waiting for a ride into work.
It turns out I haven't had an oil change in 9 months. (!Ack! And I'm the one always nagging my husband to get his car done, because he works at Sears, and it's so hard for him to leave it at the in-house auto repair while he's there.) In my defense things have been pretty crazy the last five months, and that wasn't high priority, especially as it's really inconvenient for me to get it serviced. And as with many low priority things, when you leave them alone long enough, they turn around and bite you in the ass. This particular ass-biting involves having destroyed the engine.
I'm waiting to hear from the repair shop with an estimate on how much a used engine is going to cost, parts, labour, and taxes. If it's under $3K it will still probably be a good idea, since I doubt we'd get a car for under $300 a month in car payment, and with a new-to-us engine we should be able to nurse the Santa Fe along for at least another year. It's only a 2003.
Sigh.
The only thing that makes me feel a little better about it, is that my mother did exactly the same thing to her first Camry. So it's not like she can say anything.
Update 7/2: It will cost between $4K and $5.5K to put a new-used engine with 100K miles on it, or a refurbished engine in the car. And even in pristine condition, if we were buying it from a dealer it would only be worth about $5K anyway. So today (Tuesday) I'm starting the car hunt. At least our credit should be better (we have a house), dealers are starting the "Get rid of the 2013s!" sales push, and there's a chance we may still be able to get something as trade in for the Santa Fe. If nothing else it should be worth something for parts.
Again, sigh.
Today on the way into work it started making tick, tick noises, almost immediately followed by thwuk, thwuk, and then THWAK, THWAK. I pulled over to the side of the road and called GEICOs roadside service number, which is in my contacts, though it's never been to the point where I felt it needed a speed dial. An hour and a half later I was at the dealer's repair shop waiting for a ride into work.
It turns out I haven't had an oil change in 9 months. (!Ack! And I'm the one always nagging my husband to get his car done, because he works at Sears, and it's so hard for him to leave it at the in-house auto repair while he's there.) In my defense things have been pretty crazy the last five months, and that wasn't high priority, especially as it's really inconvenient for me to get it serviced. And as with many low priority things, when you leave them alone long enough, they turn around and bite you in the ass. This particular ass-biting involves having destroyed the engine.
I'm waiting to hear from the repair shop with an estimate on how much a used engine is going to cost, parts, labour, and taxes. If it's under $3K it will still probably be a good idea, since I doubt we'd get a car for under $300 a month in car payment, and with a new-to-us engine we should be able to nurse the Santa Fe along for at least another year. It's only a 2003.
Sigh.
The only thing that makes me feel a little better about it, is that my mother did exactly the same thing to her first Camry. So it's not like she can say anything.
Update 7/2: It will cost between $4K and $5.5K to put a new-used engine with 100K miles on it, or a refurbished engine in the car. And even in pristine condition, if we were buying it from a dealer it would only be worth about $5K anyway. So today (Tuesday) I'm starting the car hunt. At least our credit should be better (we have a house), dealers are starting the "Get rid of the 2013s!" sales push, and there's a chance we may still be able to get something as trade in for the Santa Fe. If nothing else it should be worth something for parts.
Again, sigh.
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