Tag: health

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The Lump

I slept really late today, and my blood pressure wasn’t ever particularly good. Summer was gone for a run in Vilonia, and Eaddie was at a robotics tournament all day. I felt like I had a lump at the bottom of my throat or the top of my chest, almost like someone was sitting on me all day. Dad got me on a three-way call with his old friend Ben for some medical advice, and it was mostly the same stuff I’ve heard. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be an immediate answer, much less a fix, for what ails me.

Summer came home, bathed, and started cleaning up for Christmas. We got the trees out, but she set them all up herself. She put one in Eaddie’s room like we talked about last year, and then put the two matching ones in the living room. I really wanted to help, and I didn’t exactly feel “bad,” but I didn’t feel good.

I eventually got showered and took the dogs for a run to my parents’ house. Mom warmed up some phở for me because she thought I might be sick of spaghetti or mango soup for some reason. It was good, and I wasn’t terribly bothered by my throat. That had been more of a general discomfort all day.

After I ate, I took the dogs on a night run through the basin and back home. My neck flashlight went out just as I was trying to clean up some poop, but luckily it was mostly solid. We got back home and I fed the dogs, who immediately went back to the squirrel they had killed earlier in the day. I asked Summer to dispose of it, but she forgot while she was wrapping presents, and I didn’t feel like chasing them down in the yard in the dark.

Eaddie came home and was excited about the tree in her room. Summer wound down with another bath and went to bed. My blood pressure went up again for seemingly no reason, so I took a clonidine and laid down with Summer for a while. I got the chills and couldn’t stop shivering under the heated blanket, but I eventually dozed off for a little bit. Once my heart rate went back down, I finished up my nightly routine and went to bed.

Jitters

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Just Breathe

My blood pressure wasn’t fantastic when I got up this morning, but it was my “normal” high level. Summer left for work after we fed the dogs, and I made myself an egg and cheese biscuit for breakfast again. I followed that with a banana and grilled cheese since I was slightly low on potassium. I started both my 5mg amlodipine and 25mg metoprolol, then tried to relax a bit on the computer before taking a shower.

My numbers kept climbing for a while before they kind of leveled out again. It had me a bit worried, but I eventually felt confident enough to take the dogs out for a ride. I even put Max’s antler from the Grinch on Stilgar, and he didn’t oppose it at all. Muad’Dib kept wanting to bite at it, but I eventually told him “no” enough that he quit altogether. Stilgar wore the headband the entire way to the Ridgewood Brothers to see the crew there.

Everyone came out and was super excited for either the Onewheel or the dogs. Even Robert took a spin on the Onewheel, then promptly wiped out. We hung out for a little while before heading back up the road where we stopped to see Mollie at her house. She came out onto the porch for a bit, but we didn’t stay long before heading home. We made our way through the basin where Stilgar wanted to be an alligator. I put the antler on Muad’Dib, but it was really too big for him, and it kept falling down under his chin. I got it back on Stilgar and we made it to my parents’ house, but they weren’t home.

The dogs got hot dogs and food when we got home, and I spent some time relaxing to keep my blood pressure down. It didn’t seem to help, because the longer I sat, the higher it rose. I decided pretty early that I shouldn’t drive by myself to Conway to see Eaddie’s performance. Then I started to get a lump in my throat, and I called Dad to take me to the clinic when I hit 155/102.

Mom drove them to the house and we headed to the clinic in a fashion that had me stressing out even more. As soon as I got checked in, I sat down and then had a dizzy spell like I did at the self-care fair. Things started to get dark and I thought I might black out, so I told my parents to get someone. It didn’t feel like I was met with as much urgency as I intended, but I pulled out of my spell enough to talk to the ladies that came out. Much like the urgent care clinic, they couldn’t really do anything for me and instead called the paramedics.

The trucks pulled into the lot pretty quickly, but it took them a while to get inside. I had moved into a wheelchair for ease of mobility, and before the guys came in, I started to have another slight dizzy episode without so much blacking out. They came in and took blood sugar, blood pressure, and my oxygen level, and decided they couldn’t do anything more than DoorDash me to the hospital. They did offer to load me up into our own car so I wouldn’t get a bill, but by the time we finished talking, I was good enough to walk again.

We left the clinic, and I had Mom take me to the house to use the restroom and grab my blood pressure cuff. Then we drove to the hospital and sat in the parking lot for a while, testing my blood pressure several times to see that it was going down. Once it got low enough that I felt comfortable leaving, we went to their house for some food.

Mom made me some mango soup while I watched my blood pressure start to rise again. Summer came over after dropping Eaddie off at home, and we ultimately decided it might be best to go to the hospital. The two of us got to the emergency room and checked in. There were several of us in the waiting room, and strangely, they called everyone back at the same time after a mysterious amount of waiting. Summer and I were in a room near the back and waited a while for a young, Vietnamese doctor to come check me out. My blood pressure had continued to drop a bit, and after recounting the last few days to him, his recommendation was to modify my normal medication timing and then follow up with my PCP. He offered to give me more meds and re-run all of the same bloodwork, but indicated that he didn’t really think it was necessary.

We were eventually discharged, and I suppose I earn enough by now that paying the bill didn’t send me into another event. We went home, Summer crawled into bed, and I wrapped up way too slowly for how tired I was.

Solidarity in healthcare providers.

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Hypertensed

I got up this morning and tested my blood pressure at 119/69, which had me hopeful. Summer was going to stay home with me, but ended up going to work for a while. I took the time to shower and relax a bit before I took the dogs out on a run to Walgreens to get my prescriptions filled. They found a persimmon tree along the way, so I fed them a couple that were hanging low enough for me to reach. Maybe we’ll get a tree out of it next year.

I went ahead and took them back around our normal circuit, though they weren’t behaving super well. In addition, Stilgar had eaten my old cat water jug, which angered me. We made it back home after some tugging along, and I continued my research to pick a new primary care physician. I also waited forever for Summer to finish doing work from home so we could pick up my prescriptions.

I started feeling a little hot behind the ears in the afternoon, and noticed that my pressure was climbing again. Sensing my urgency, Summer got up and we went to get my medicine. I continued to feel slightly worse, so we decided to swing by the Conway Regional clinic to see what they were like. There I encountered two familiar faces: Monalisa, who I don’t think I’d seen since my time at Asurion, and Lelan’s friend Cindy. Mona got me set up with new patient paperwork, which frustrated me further. It’s 2024. Get an iPad.

I think if I had known they were open in the evenings at no additional cost, I would have made my decision a lot earlier to go there instead of the local Baptist Health clinic. My only real gripe was about the lady that took me back and did my notes before the nurse practitioner saw me. She kept yapping loudly in my ear as I was trying to calm myself for her to take my blood pressure. It actually increased noticeably in the time I was in the room with her. The practitioner, Crystal, was wonderful. She came in early and gave me half the dosage of clonidine that I received in the ER the night before, and my pressure started coming down. We talked to her for a bit, she wrote me a prescription for some clonidine to take home, and we scheduled a full workup for January so I can get an early start on my high deductible.

We ran back to Walgreens for the additional meds, then ran home to change for the Christmas parade. My heated vest made me feel pretty fluffy, but it worked – at least around the collar. The body elements could have been warmer, but I couldn’t figure out a way to adjust just the neck. We made it across town and found a space in front of a tree where nobody had sat down. I hated to show up late and then get the best seat in the house, but the guy next to us encouraged us. We waited for Eaddie to pass, then crossed the street again to leave. I didn’t much care for interrupting the parade, but there was noone there to stop us, and Summer insisted.

From there, we went by Kroger for some bananas before I took us to Ridgewood for some food. I spotted Grant and chased him around back where he was trimming some brisket. I talked with him for a little bit, and I think we had a good moment to break through some concerns I had. He walked me through the restaurant and I got some food, and then we headed home.

Summer went straight for a bath while I mostly tried to relax. I kept watching my blood pressure since I couldn’t start a new cycle of meds until the next day. I was concerned that only getting half the dosage of amlodipine wouldn’t be enough, but maybe the addition of metoprolol will make up the difference. Time will tell, but for now, I guess I’m carrying three bottles with me.

Just, like, chill out, man.

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Good Advertising

I ran a little late this morning, but the battery didn’t seem to take as much of a hit. It was reasonably quiet, but things quickly escalated. I didn’t get into anything big. Randy and I met Jim, Kyle, and Maggie at Gadwall’s for lunch, and then I actually continued on with Randy all afternoon while he got gas, then took us to the annex to check for inventory.

Kyle found us there for a bit and we all rooted around a little bit. Randy and I were the last two out and we couldn’t set the alarm, so we went to the “octagon” to talk to Kevin about it. After that, we planned to go to a church that was putting on a self-care fair for the school district.

It had started to drizzle a bit, but we got back to the office where I packed up my things. We all drove separately so we could go straight home after the fair, but I wouldn’t end up making it to the end of that.

We arrived about 15 minutes early and Kyle and I walked in, but were promptly rushed back out. I waited by the door while he went back to his Jeep to vape. When they finally let us in, I tried to stick with Maggie since she had the eye for the swag. I got a couple signatures on my “bingo” card before I ended up at a Baptist Health booth where the lady wanted to give people flu shots, something else, or take their blood pressure. I let her check my blood pressure and joked that we would be going for a high score. I wasn’t wrong.

She panicked at my 185/111 and insisted that I test again, even after I tried to explain it away by having been running around the event with all the other loud people. The second wasn’t any better, but I don’t know if it was any worse. She let me go with a stern look that I should go to the emergency room.

It was only a couple minutes later as I bantered with Randy and some other lady that I suddenly became flush and dizzy, and nearly blacked out. I quickly grabbed an empty seat from another vendor and tried to relax myself. The dizziness came in waves, and I did everything I could to breathe and relax. As soon as I felt able to stand up again, we tried to finish my signature card. I got one more, but then Maggie took it to finish it for me while I sat in another chair in the corner. I called Summer, and then we all left the event.

I sat in the car for a bit to calm myself, and felt confident enough in my ability to babysit the car as it drove me out of the city. I plotted a couple of urgent care clinics in case, and headed toward home. A little ways down the Interstate, I began to get a wave of dizziness again, so I immediately took the Crystal Hill exit and gathered myself at a Shell station. I decided to go straight to the HealthCARE Express to see if they could help.

Though friendly, the urgent care center was not particularly urgent about anything I said. They did check my blood pressure, but then basically told me to start filling out registration paperwork. The girl at the counter called me up to say that it would be about $200 for them to see me, and I tried to confirm whether they could actually treat me, or if they would only try and diagnose me. A doctor or nurse eventually came out and said that he would need to check for organ failure before doing much else, and that they would basically have to refer me to the Walmart pharmacy across the street for treatment.

I took a beat and eventually gathered myself up enough to go on to the next place. I found a Baptist Health urgent care clinic, but the lady at the counter there said that they wouldn’t even be able to address me for at least an hour and a half, and that she could basically only call a paramedic for me. I decided to take my chances and get into Conway rather than wait for a more expensive ride. I wasn’t feeling terrible by then anyway.

I got to the Baptist Health emergency room and checked in after waiting for another older couple. The waiting room was pretty full, but they got me back to take my blood pressure measurement, some blood, and a urine sample pretty quickly. I waited about an hour after that before they called me back to a room. In that waiting period, Julie called for an update.

I waited for a little while before a guy came back to get my insurance information. Then a nurse eventually came back, who asked my ethnicity and then responded that he, too, was Vietnamese. He got me chained to the machine, and from then on it was basically me beating my own high score repeatedly until we got enough medicine in me.

After a couple of hours and a couple quick pop-ins from the ER doctor, neither he nor Jonathan, my Vietnurse seemed terribly concerned about my situation. They asked questions, but reported that all of my labs and EKG were fine. Jonathan didn’t even let the final blood pressure measurement complete its cycle, satisfied enough with the results of the prior test after my pill and subsequent shot.

They cut me loose, I went to Supercharge, and then made it home without incident. I felt pretty good, so I got unloaded, took out the trash, and then came in to chat with Summer. Then I had a brief anxiety attack in the kitchen and wondered if that, too, was blood pressure related. She went to bed, I played with the dogs for a bit, and then I quickly finished up so I could go to sleep myself. If I wake up tomorrow, I guess we’ll figure out a PCP solution. If I don’t, then I guess will someone come erase my browser history?

Back where we started.

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Goonie Squad

I took it easy to work this morning but still had to charge due to the extra range loss from cold weather. I kept reasonably busy in the morning as I snacked on things. Then Jim, Maggie, and I went to Sweet Poppa’s for lunch. I rode with Jim so we could go to the high school and troubleshoot some computer labs. Then we stopped by the middle school to see Jay. He was hanging out in the library playing with some little uniform plastic puzzle pieces, but wanted help resetting a user’s password.

After toying around there for a while, we finally made it back to the office. We chatted with Randy about some things that let me flex my experience a little bit, and then it was a quiet hour until quitting time. My laptop had a big update to do that it didn’t finish in time, so I ended up carrying it out to the car while it was open and installing.

The drive home was frustrating and slow, and I kept having to remind my muscles to relax. My blood pressure had me a little worried, so I’ve been taking more frequent measurements again. As soon as I got home, I took the dogs out for a run in the cold. Stilgar still swam, and we got to my parents’ house just before all daylight was gone. They weren’t home, so we did a quick run through the yard and then headed home.

As soon as I got home, Dad texted that they still had spaghetti and soup, so Summer and I went over to eat. Eaddie was out late with robotics and crochet club, but came to chat with me when she got home. Then I finished “on time” for bed, which only gives me about six hours of sleep at best.

What are “the goonies” anyway?

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164/100

I had an okay start today, but my back still had a slight twinge in it. I made up quite a bit of time on the way to work, but it mostly ended up being for naught. Kyle came by and said the backup circuit was somehow getting traffic to the state servers, so we didn’t have to worry so much about installing the VPN. After that, it was mostly Maggie and me in the office all day, with a bit of Charles and Gary.

With Randy out, we didn’t even see Jim, though he did call for help once. I ended up getting some cheap fast-food for lunch, by way of a fry deal from Burger King and a sandwich deal at Arby’s. The afternoon was pretty quiet, and then I snuck out a few minutes early so I could get the car out of the workshop.

I stopped by Old Navy in Conway on the way home to return Summer’s ill-fitting pants. Then I got home just in time to take the dogs out on a twilight run. They ran hard all the way around the basin and to my parents’ house. Mom said she had some rice soup, so I took the dogs home and rode back again to eat.

Summer got home from work late and wasn’t feeling great, so we put her in a bath and then checked her blood pressure. Hers was fine, but mine was unreasonably high for some reason. I imagine my sleepless commute time has something to do with it. We also discussed ordering a new Model 3, and I think Eaddie’s for it now. I guess I should get one so I can enjoy it for a bit before I stroke out.

It’s always an improper fraction, but it’s usually not more than two.

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Just Watch

I still need to look for some more podcasts for my commute, because two new episodes a week isn’t going to cut it, and none of my streaming services are any good at presenting me with new music. I arrived at work just a minute early, right behind Jim and Randy. I parked inside to charge, just in case I needed to drive anywhere else in town.

It wasn’t long before I was left alone in the office. Maggie was off, and Randy left to work with Windstream or somesuch. I just sat in the dark until lunchtime. He called me for lunch, and then he and Jim came to get me to go to Cotham’s. We all had their fried chicken special, which was decent, though a little overcooked.

Charles was sitting in the dark when I got back, and I helped him re-image the two laptops he was given to deliver, since I wasn’t sure what they were named. He didn’t have a proper room number, but at least knew where they were going, which got me close enough. At some point he disappeared and Jim and Randy showed back up. We rode out the rest of the afternoon, but I didn’t leave early enough to get home before dark.

I had a ton of packages delivered, but I had to run the dogs first. They beat a 10 mile per hour average for nearly two and a half miles. They didn’t even care about stopping to dip in the creek because it was so cold. We just ran straight to see Dad, then made it home for hotdogs.

Summer was sat in front of the TV all night. I had a couple burritos, then unpacked somewhere in the teens of watchbands for the Pixel Watches. I had a couple for the old ones, and then many more for the new ones. I installed one of the two puddle lights I got for the Model Y, and then tried to get to bed. My stomach felt a little rumbly, and I slipped pretty hard on a slick spot in the bathroom, but at least I didn’t die.

I’m getting the bands back together.

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Peptolk

I felt pretty sick to my stomach all night, and it didn’t get a whole lot better this morning. I actually slept about half an hour late since I planned to power through my morning routine after showering so late in the evening. I foolishly thought I was ahead and could stop by Starbucks on the way out of town, but I was actually the latest I’ve ever been. Maggie and Jay were the only ones in the office though, as the old men were outside smoking.

Maggie ended up leaving early to take her kid to the dentist, so I was actually in the office by myself for nearly the entire day. I grabbed some McDonald’s for lunch to try their Chicken Big Mac. It was fine, but it really just made me want a regular Big Mac more.

The afternoon was dull until I finally left a little bit early. I stopped in Blackwell for some beer and then made it home. I took the dogs out for a longer run than usual, stopping to visit with Dad, then out to sniff around the pond. We went past the basin and then turned back around to go through it again on the way home. We passed another girl, her baby, and two large off-leash dogs that came by for a sniff. They made my dogs pretty jumpy, but they weren’t bad.

We made it home and they did super well, so they each got their own hot dog after dinner. Then I had a couple burritos before settling in. I cleaned up a little, got a couple more security cameras up, and then did some shopping before bed.

The worst kind of liquidity.

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No, but Yes

I was a little on edge this morning as I waited for a call from Moodle. I woke up early and Summer was around for a little while before work, and then I made some coffee and cleaned up a little bit while I waited. I eventually got a text, and about ten minutes later a call in the early afternoon, and she apologized for the missed communication. They filled the position, but would have a different one open at the start of next year if I would be available. This worked out pretty beautifully, since Randy would later confirm my employment in North Little Rock.

I took a breather as the afternoon flew by, and then Summer came to get me so we could go look at a house across town. That ended up being a pretty neat experience. The house was small, but super cute, and seemed to be well maintained. As we ended our visit, Alisha spotted the owner in the driveway next door, so she walked over to ask a question we had about the property line. Another guy drove up to look at the house unannounced, so the homeowner went to talk with him, and then came over to talk to us. She ended up taking us back inside to tell us the rich story about her life and the home.

Her father built the house for her mother in 1961 or ’62, and she knew the history of all the surrounding farmland before it was developed. She had all kinds of improvements made and maintenance done, and the house really did appear loved. I was a little concerned about the number of cameras outside, but it made sense for her situation. The lot seemed to be fairly sized, which was difficult to discern from the maps I found online. Summer was nervous about taking on additional debt, but we’ve been doing so well, and I may have an opportunity for immediate income.

We finally left and stopped by the old house before going home. She thought she had a Tech event for work, but ended up back home because she had the dates wrong or something. I took the dogs out for a run, but then wiped out going pretty fast just a few houses down the road. I don’t know how I didn’t take more damage, because I tumbled over backwards and lost my phone out of my pocket. I must have rolled just right to take the inertia out of the fall. I took the dogs back home since Summer was still in the driveway, and then the neighbor rode over on her little recumbent trike. I shook off a bit while we talked, and ended up continuing my ride with the dogs to my parents’ house.

I visited with them for a little while and then ended up just going straight back home. The dogs had been pulling kind of hard all night, and I was still feeling shaky on my board. I got them fed, and then I came inside to watch the recorded Linkin Park streaming event. I’ve never had a more emotional connection with a band, and I don’t entirely know why. Maybe it’s nostalgia, or maybe it’s power in the vocals, but I was weepy the entire show, even with their new singer that made me feel a little iffy about them.

I got hungry late and ate some leftover pizza and fried mushrooms. Eaddie got home from her away game and went to her room to study and sleep. I thought I’d get to bed early, but I missed. I won’t be able to keep that up if I’m going to make it to Little Rock by seven o’clock in the morning for five days a week.

Get some cheddar for now, and worry about the rest later.

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Bye Week

I could feel something in the back of my throat Wednesday evening, and by Thursday I had a 103º fever that Tylenol would only coax down to about 101º. I ran the full gamut of chills, heat flashes, body aches, and eventually sinus and chest crud. Dad brought me a COVID at-home test that was advertised as having a propensity for false-negatives, so it wasn’t COVID. Maybe.

I remember getting out on Friday with Summer to take Kevin his birthday present to the airport, but we didn’t stick around for pulled pork. I stopped by the old house to check on the fish, and in hindsight I should have left the automatic feeder on. We made it back home, and the next thing I remember doing is getting out late to pick up some burgers from Sonic. The pickle fries were awful.

The fever never let up, but between waves of medication I felt well enough to watch The Secret of NIMH on Saturday, and then out of nowhere, the fever was gone on Sunday morning. Recovery was nearly as rough, with more crud in my chest than anything else. I felt gross and sweaty all day, but I had a shower and brushed my teeth.

Summer had mowed in the morning, so she left it to Eaddie when it came time to walk the dogs. She didn’t mind, but said she couldn’t walk both alone, so I went with her. It was immediately obvious that they hadn’t been properly walked in my two week absence, as the line was taught nearly the entire time. We made it about halfway to my parents’ house, which was already a longer route than Eaddie wanted to take, when she had to stop to scoop some poop, so she insisted that it was my job to walk the dogs alone the rest of the way. She might have reconsidered if I had pressed, but I had more fight in me for the dogs than for her.

We gave them a drink at my parents’ house, and then headed back home. It was a hot struggle, and I was completely drenched in sweat, so I took a cold shower and finished up my laundry. The dogs were fussy outside, and tore into the bags of potting mix on the porch. I went back out to discipline and clean that up, and left the hole they had dug under the north fence for another day.

If you do nothing, bite your tongue when I do.