Friday, July 24, 2009

Friday, July 24, 2009
It is cool and breezy this morning, with a few puffy clouds floating high and moving southeast. It hailed and then rained briefly last night, but only enough to wet things down and didn’t even record on my rain gauge. My weather station says I received .4 inches of rain in the past 24 hours.
My stomach is still feeling a bit queasy and just as I was getting ready for bed last night, I got the dry heaves, so I am not sure what is going on. The only thing that has changed in the past week is that I have had more fresh fruit than usual, and I ran out of my allergy medication as of yesterday. I also haven’t taken any Prilosec for my acid reflux since yesterday, as it hasn’t seemed to help. I guess if I had to make an assumption, I would say the missing Prilosec could be the cause, but really don’t know. I am out of the medication, so I will try a Pepcid AC and see if it gives me any relief.
I have my stress echocardiography test this afternoon, and am not looking forward to it if my stomach is still unsettled. I don’t think I’ll do as well as in the past, as I just don’t have the stamina and strength to do any physical activity for more than a few minutes. We shall see.
I tried to have my usual morning routine, but find that my stomach isn’t going to let me. I have been drinking a lot of water this morning and hope it will flush out my system, but it is now noon and hasn’t seemed to help. Because I will be going to town for my 3 O’clock appointment, I am not going to even try to work outside today. I will have something to eat and then head into town, stopping at the dump to empty the stuff in the truck, and then pick up my mail and make it to my appointment. I will attempt to finish this tonight, but won’t promise as the test usually leaves me with little strength or ambition to do anything.
Well, I survived the day, and feel stronger for it. We headed to Marysville and stopped at Mary and Guy’s to drop off my extra melons and some magazines. I was still feeling queasy, but knew I had to go through with the stress test, so headed into town. I stopped at the transfer station and dumped all of the refuse in the back of the truck, and then picked up my mail. I drove to Safeway and picked up my now approved reflux medicine, which is just the heavier dose of Prilosec, and I hope it will help my air swallowing and burping.
While in Safeway, a huge and loud thunderstorm passed over and flooded the streets, sending a shock wave of the thunder through everything. I drove through a foot or more of water that the drains couldn’t deal with, and reached my cardiologist office in time for my appointment. After the usual signing of consent and agreeing to pay documents, I was weighed and my blood pressure taken. I updated my medication list and then was taken into the dungeon to have my chest shaved, snaps glued to my skin and leads attached for the test. Baselines were taken, including sonic photos of my heart as it beat.
Richard, the cardiologist, enters and looks at all the data and then has me step onto the treadmill to run like a bear is chasing me, until I reach my target heart rate. We exchange jokes and comments; with me telling him I crammed for the test but it doesn’t seemed to have helped. I run for nine minutes, which is a minute less than the past two tests, but I having reached my target heart rate, so Richard stops the test and has me move to the table to lay down and have additional pictures taken, showing the condition of my heart.
I am pronounced “healthy as a horse,” but I probably shouldn’t try to pull a wagon, and the test is over. He pronounces me good until the next test and sent on my way.
Zack and I headed straight home and arrived at about 6 PM. We played until he stopped and then I fixed dinner for Zoey, and then Zack, waiting until Zack recovered and then let him eat. As I did, a thunderstorm past through and peals of thunder rolled through, causing Zack to run upstairs and take refuse on my bed. It rained, hailed, and blew through my area with much fanfare, dropping more moisture to my drying landscape.
It is now 7:30, and the storm is passing, allowing me time to take a shower and think about my dinner. I shall enjoy both and then relax until my bedtime.