Watcha doing today?

[Littlesister]

Jeepers, glad you did go to the doctor.  Some of the B/p issues could be the stress you have been under trying to get the house sold. Mine had been going up really high but not that high when GS was living here driving me up a wall. I am happy to say it is now back down too normal but need to watch the blood pressure meds I am on also. Don't need it getting too low. But 120/74 works for me. Not sure yet if my meds will be adjusted or not. Will find that out tomorrow. And I am going to try to get him to send me for an MRI of my knee. This is not a bone-on-bone issue as the X-Ray showed that. Those gel injections made the issue much worse. So will see how that goes also.

 

And yes, from me to everyone on here that wants a hug. We all need those now and again. 

 

And for everyone that will be traveling and are having health issues. Keeping all of you in  

And to top off the friends I am losing due to being called home, another friend of mine called and said her sister passed away this morning. What is going on? Too much death around here. I need to send out more sympathy cards. Need to take some time out to get that done in the morning before going to doctor. Sent some out already and here we go again. 

[Mt_Rider]

We're a struggling bunch right now, aren't we?    Everyone take good care... 

 

Sheesh, Miki!    First Ambergris and now you.  They have labels: This End Up!!!   

 

Today I saw the PA again.  She agreed with my evaluation:  L ear clear.  R ear very nearly clear.  (what is taking 4 wks to clear a fairly mild ear infection?) 

 

As for WHY I'm getting bad shakes when I do "any little thing"....she's deferring to a neurologist; saying she thinks it's an MS episode.     Unless something has changed, I don't DO MS episodes.  I'm not Relapsing/Remitting.  And by the time I get ready to go somewhere...drive (well, I don't drive) in....get up elevator using wheelchair with DH....using restroom....  I was having shakes very bad again.    It also blurs my brain...which is very annoying. 

 

I really was hoping she'd say it was a side affect of the steroid.  She didn't.  But was it?  Or just being worn out battling a not-that-serious-just-persistent ear infection???   

 

Then there is a mystery issue that's spreading:  High sensitivity when touching the skin on my neck/back.  First it was at the base of the skull.  And over the kidney area.  Then it was down the neck to shoulders.  Today this high sensitivity to touch, (like OW!) goes all the way down my back.    PA abdicated on that one - saying I should check with neurologist.   Yeah...MS is that weird but no.  Not sure I've ever heard of THIS reaction - tho it is apparently inflammation just under the skin.  MS is inflammation but referring to the body's nerves.  Not general subcutaneous.... At least as I've always understood it.  Dunno.  That and the shakes are the symptoms I'm still dealing with. 

 

DH started talking about not going to MO....flying by myself (one plane change).  Well, airports do pretty well in getting us folks using wheelchairs from Point A to Point B.  So I'm not worried about that.  I am a bit concerned at I will look like.  I can keep saying:  I'm fine.  This is within my "normal parameters"....  But shaking that bad...maybe I'll claim Parkinson's?    That might do it.  I need to remember PB&J sandwiches...keep energy leveled up.  Lots of water.  Ugh....hard enough to get into restroom when the floor isn't moving tho.  However, I am able to sit in the second seat of the plane, close to the front restrooms.  They are only a couple handholds away from that seat.  BeenThereDoneThat many times now.  I can do this.....    ....ahem,   

 

I would really love prayer for this trip tho.  Just get me there and I can rest all I need with my RN friend.  She'll watch me and I'll be keeping an eye on her too. 

 

MtRider ....... Old Age Ain't for Sissies, RIGHT?

[Jeepers]

The shakes remind me of Katharine Hepburn. She had them really bad too. People thought she had Parkinson's. I saw an interview with her, decades ago, where she explained what it was. She had something called "essential tremor" that wasn't related to Parkinson's at all. That might, or might not, give you some clues. 

 

When are you flying out? You probably said but I can't remember. 

 

 

What is it with ear troubles now. Something floating in the air? Air pressure difference? I hadn't done anything differently and hadn't been around any plant life. Just all at once my weak ear was weepy and swollen. The pharmacist warned me that 5% of people with 'cillin' allergies can have a reaction to keflex. We probably know who that will be.     I'm only on it for 1 week though. 

 

Littlesister, good luck with your Dr. appointment! 

[Becca_Anne]

Holy moly Jeepers you are very lucky you had a Dr apt that is a crazy high BP and I'm surprised they didn't actually send you to the hospital to be monitored for a bit even though the fast acting med worked. Do you see a cardiologist? It might be time to get a specialist involved with your BP issues. Do you monitor your BP at home? If not it would be a good idea to get a home BP cuff and check it twice a day. 

Miki so sorry you fell but relieved you didn't hurt yourself worse. Take it easy!

Mt Rider the skin sensitivity could be an effect of weaning of the prednisone. Dr's aren't familiar with the effects even for those who have been on high doses weaning down slowly. I and others in my support group for my autoimmune skin blistering disease that I had 13 yrs ago reported lots of symptoms our Drs weren't aware of. Your experience sounded familiar to me as I had joint pain, and skin sensitivity as some of the symptoms I experienced. I don't recall chills, but I may not have had all the possible symptoms. You may be particularly sensitive to the effects of prednisone as if your adrenal glands are already stressed or you are in adrenal exhaustion, your body may not be as fast to ramp up your natural cortisol. I hope you start to feel better soon 

Littlesister you're being very productive be sure to take time to rest in there too!

I'm taking my mom to get her Mohs surgery at the dermatology office tomorrow, we are going to stay in the hotel tonight as the apt is early in the morning. It could take up to 9 hrs as they have to send it to pathology and we wait to see if they need to do more scraping. I'm hoping they get it all in the first pass as I don't think I have it in me to sit there with her being anxious that long. I'm taking a few good books to read and I took Friday off as well. Then Monday back to St Louis for her cardiologist to get clearance for her cataract surgeries and the first one happens on Tuesday, the the other one a week later and the next day my son has Ear surgery to repair his ear where it formed a keloid from his incident a few years ago that cut his ear in half. So I'm emotionally a wreck due to my mom's over the top anxiety about all of it (I get it it's scary) and already exhausted and nothing's happened yet. So please keep us in your prayers we'll need all the calming good energy you can send our way. 

[snapshotmiki]

Praying for you and yours @Becca_Anne!  You need to rest, too.  Could be a long week or so!

@Mt_Rider, Praying for your side effects to dissipate and a smooth flight!

I'm glad that you are getting so much canning done @Littlesister!

And @Jeepers, wow!  That's a high blood pressure reading!  I hope they get it regulated somewhat!

 

A little sore still this morning, but walked anyway and then walked dogs.
I have some VA phone calls to make and then find items and make Christmas sheep ornaments. The sheep represents the Lamb of God so I hope to open the door to talk to the little ones a little bit when I am with them.
That's all on the list for today.

[Littlesister]

Sounds like you are having a busy day, Miki.  Glad you are doing better from that fall. 

 

I lied about my not going to the store challenge.  Went to doctor and then to store to buy wide mouth canning jars.  And I did pick up some lettuce and cucumbers, and carrots to nibble on for a snack. All fresh does that count?

The doctor took a look at my X-rays again and also, we talked in detail how my knee was doing. The swelling of the whole knee, pain going both up and down the leg as well. I told him what that orthro doctor did and how he hit the bone twice when he injected it with that gel injection. I do not have a bone-on-bone issue but a meniscus tear. He is sending me to a different doctor but wants me to check them out first and then give him a call for the referral. There are two he wants me to check out. Both are around the hospital on other side of Suffolk but different locations. He told me to use a knee brace and to be careful how I move around as it could tear worse. I already knew that but not to use a brace on it. So stopped off at drug store and got a brace. Again, doctors missing what is actually wrong with you. I am so over not getting the proper care. My B/p was great 118/70. So that is going back to normal and stabilizing. I guess not having GS here to aggravate the mess out of me is helping. 

Need to wash the jars and label them to put away and clean off counters and get the jars I just bought into the dishwasher. Might not can today as I have to get the clothes washed if I want clean clothes to wear the rest of the week. But maybe do some more meatballs. I am going to look up a recipe for Swedish meatballs to see if they can be canned that way. I did the other ones for spaghetti, but not any Swedish ones for other things. 

[out_of_the_ordinary]

Miki, I hope you are feeling better after your fall. 

Becca, for your family and you.

MtRider,   for healing and guidance.

LittleSister, I hope you find a good doc to help with your knee.

[Jeepers]

@Becca_Anne. I do see a cardiologist for my POTS. She did the holter test, the test where they use a handheld device and scan like an ultra sound (can't think of the name of it.  Echocardiogram?) EKG, and something else. Regular doctor did another EKG yesterday. So far, the heart is fine. I failed the tilt table test though. He wasn't letting me leave if that pill hadn't worked. They know my blood pressure issues but it has never been that high before. Today, I took the new dosage he ordered and was awful. I felt just like I was when I was fainting from POTS. I was on the floor about an hour to keep from passing out. I checked my BP. 95/61. Its the cuff kind. For someone who functions with high BP, that was terribly low. I can't prevent passing out unless I 'hit the floor' and stay there for awhile. I have a follow up appointment tomorrow. I took a picture so I can show them.

 

It's great having our own nurse here.  

      

[Jeepers]

@Becca_Anne. Sending many prayers your family's way!!! I think it's even harder on the ones who aren't having the procedures, than it is on the ones who are. 

 

I had a very nasty keloid scar on my breast from a mole removal. About the size of a dime and angry red. I kept colodial (sp) silver on it and it finally went away. I don't know if the silver helped or not but today, after many years, I can't even find the scar. And it was pretty bad.  Healing prayers for your dear son. And calming prayers for your DM. Most of all, prayers for you to handle other people's angst. 

 

Get into your books and stay there for awhile. 

[Jeepers]

I'm still in the parking lot. Lonely. Can you tell?  LOL. 

 

Inspector is at the house now. Tomorrow is yet another inspection. That one for the bank to make sure the house is worth what they are borrowing for. Appraisal. At least I'll be at the doctor for most of that one. I think that will be all unless they can come up with something else. 

 

AND, the feds lowered the interest rate by a half a point today! They were only expecting a quarter of a point. Hopefully that will spur on a buyer. And maybe by the time I get some money to put down on the Indy house, it could drop again. Wouldn't that be nice. As it is right now, I can just barely afford that house. Getting out from under the Ohio debt will help a whole lot.

 

[Mt_Rider]

Yeah, Jeepers.  I believe my ear issue is due to the mass amount of plant life well watered this year.    Our arid conditions don't usually produce this much. 

 

Essential tremors vs Intentional tremors.  Intentional is, of course when you shake while moving your hand (intending) to do something.  Essential is when you have tremors while just sitting/laying still.  When I tire the muscles of hand/arm/leg, I can get essential tremors just sitting/laying.  The twitching is annoying and kinda neurologically "itchy" to me.  Intentional tremors can drive me nuts when they prevent me from doing something efficiently.  Hand/arm can veer off course, etc.  I can also have muscle weakness so that when I pull a heavy book off a high shelf, I need to have a landing zone cuz gravity is going to slam that book downward.  Lighter objects don't give me that much trouble. 

 

My tremors can start up if I've been startled.  When I'm fatigued.     ...cuz I'm alive that day....      I experience little micro, "itchy" tremors in the muscles too.  Those aren't really visible....I don't think they are?  Frankly, by now, I don't pay much attention unless I've got some grande ones showing up...like these recent ones.  The PA did the Catch Me If You Can exercise yesterday.  I'm supposed to touch my forefinger to here as she moves it around.  I can do that basically but it's a strain and I'm not always right on her finger.  I test myself - see how much "off" I'll be dealing with - by holding my hand/arm straight out, parallel to ground.  Then slowly turn palm down/palm up - back and forth.  See how long before it malfunctions and how badly.  It will always malfunction at some point.  Usually doesn't take too many hand flips before my coordination can't even do that move...and my arm muscles are in spasm.  In normal life, I avoid holding anything of any weight out away from the body.  Elbow tucked in - much safer to manage.

 

Becca Anne, I was really hoping that the skin sensitivity was related to coming off just 5 days of steroid.  PA said no but....    It was present before I took the steroid tho...just at base of spine.  Then increasing to all over my back in the past couple days.  DH adjusted my back this morning and quite a lot of the sensitivity is gone now.  Better nerve action thru a straightened spine?    I agree that even the docs cannot know ALL about our body functions.  Especially cuz there are a zillion variations of body function and malfunction.  

 

for your mom and all you have to do for her health issues.  I've had the Mohs procedure for a basal cell area just below my eye.  That clinic had an in-house lab so while I had to wait ....mebbe 20 min, I was numbed up and didn't feel anything.  If they get "clear margins" under microscope, they just close up the 'scooped out' area.  That was the part that was traumatic for me.  My nervous system suddenly went off the chart during the second round of Novacane needles.  I overheated!   But we had  big ice/gel packs at-the-ready and surgeon was glad to let DH deal with my MS related responses.  I didn't let go of DH's squashed hand during the whole reconstruction.   The plastic surgeon wasn't about to make him leave the room.      A room that was bigger than a closet....and a LOT cooler would have helped me.  Fortunately, when my system goes into a frantic mode, I can lock down all muscles - freeze frame!  Takes a while to reconnect to all those muscles when it's safe to move again.  Very stiff/robotic motion - even speech is difficult.   I'm not good with needles and with the heat/claustrophobia....  Well, I hope your mom doesn't run into the extraneous factors that I have.  The only part of the procedure that's actually painful is the numbing needles... 

 

MtRider 

[out_of_the_ordinary]

Jeepers, take your blood pressure monitor with you tomorrow to your doc appt.    That way, if they tell you your monitor might not be accurate if it hasn't been checked/calibrated (I had this happen to me....and there seems to be no way to calibrate them, whatever that means),  you have it with you and they can take your bp with yours and theirs.  My monitor was fine.

[Jeepers]

Thanks OOTO. Good advise and I will. It's not even a year old but probably from China so...

 

I just got a text that the surveyor's are next on the list. At least they won't be in the house. Or me away from it. Jimbo is right on the property line with everything. Hope he left an inch. Crimony. 

 

Hope nothing else is thrown at me. I'm thinking it is affecting my blood pressure now. 

 

Depending on what all is found, they have paid for; radon inspection, total home inspection, HVAC inspection, basement inspection, title insurance and now a survey. I'm still waiting for all of the results. This is nearly as bad as waiting for medical results. 

 

Stick a fork in me, I'm done. I don't think I can deal with much more stress. I'll probably be going through it again when the results come in and dealing with a buyer. I don't mind giving a credit I expected that all along. I just don't want them to back out. It isn't about the money for me. It's about getting gone.

 

And a house up the street just went up for sale. Of course it did. It looks nicer than mine from the outside. It's for sale by owner though, so I can't Zillow it. Or maybe I can to see a estimated value. "My" buyer has kids. House up the street has a play yard, albeit their yard is smaller than mine. 

 

Continued prayers will be greatly appreciated! Please. 

 

Never again. 

[out_of_the_ordinary]

Jeepers, deep breaths. 

 

All of the things the buyers have had done or are doing are mostly required by the mortgage companies. 

[Littlesister]

Becca Anne, praying for your mom and your son that all will go very well for both of them. And praying that you have the energy and strength to get through this. It is a lot to deal with. 

 

Jeepers, hopefully all this will be over soon. You have been through enough to make anyone's blood pressure go up. Hopefully when it is all over and you are finally settled in Indy, the blood pressure issue will stabilize. Keeping you in prayer as well. 

 

Mt. Rider, I hope they can get you straightened out soon. You seem to have a lot going on health wise as well. Keeping you in prayer also. 

 

I had a busy day today. first doctor, then store for wide mouth jars. And for anyone that doesn't know yet. Canning jars have gone up in price again. 

 

Came home and washed down the jars I canned yesterday, labeled and put away. Then got the clothes washed. Yep, the sweetish meatballs are in canner now. Only one canner going. Just 8 jars of those. 

Edited 14 hours ago by Littlesister
Hit save again

[Midnightmom]

On 9/17/2024 at 3:48 PM, Jeepers said:

That was my day. Over 2 hours in the doctors office for an ear exam. 

 

Gotcha' beat!   Spent over FOUR hours in a dentist's office waiting to get my crown filed/shaped? It was taller than the tooth beside it and made it difficult to chew on that side. Every time I tried to chew I wound up with a dull ache in the other tooth......not pleasant at all.