No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on October 18, 2018

It is amazing to me how much better I feel now that I know what has been going on with me and how I can ‘fix’ the problems. I have another what I call life annoying problem rather than a life threatening problem. It does create some new limitations and gives me things to look out for but it isn’t killing me.

This morning we have lots of fluffy clouds passing by rather quickly. These are the kinds of clouds that you can spend hours looking for shapes and telling stories based on the shapes. I have been watching them just enjoying the story that is unfolding in my head.

I know I do better when I have control over a situation. I hate it when there are things that I cannot control or don’t know. It is part of what made me a good stage manager. I like conventions where I know the people and the rules for the place so we can slide in and do what we need to do for a good convention.

Now I have control over what I need to do to improve my health situation. I am going to sit down and make a plan of attack that I will then execute. I really feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

I can now plan my life without having to put more Doctor’s visits and worry about what was next in the health rodeo. Next for me is my annual check-up in February 2019 and that’s a good feeling.

The cats had another round of kitty politics over one spot that they all seem to want for some strange reason. Apparently they have worked out some sort of schedule because they seem to be rotating who gets the spot.

I really dislike our internet/wifi provider who has given us nothing but excuses as to why our wifi is very crappy. If anyone has any ideas of what we might do, I am happy to listen. Currently we are told that we are the furthest from the main hub so we are SOL. The modem is provided by Verizon and we haven’t changed it in a number of years. The signal through the house is OK. The problem is the lack of speed. It can take an hour to do what I can do at the library in 15 minutes.

I dislike it when the landscapers for yards down the street insist in parking in front of our house and block our driveway with their trucks, trailers, equipment, etc. Right now I do not have to go anywhere but is annoying that I cannot go anywhere until they are done with their work. If it is our guys, I don’t have a problem because they are good about not blocking our driveway and it’s our yard they are working on.

Still have to get the Halloween lights and decorations up. I think Caroline and I will tackle that on Saturday while Peter is at a one day local convention. Caroline loves to participate in the decorating.
Off to the next project in the long list of things that need to be done.

I am grateful for having my fate in my hands.

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Posted By Kathleen David on October 17, 2018

Usual rules apply. Spoilers behind cut and in comments. Discussion is for “Unearthly Child” through “The Ghost Monument” and no further. Please be polite but y’all are so I am not worried.

The first episode of a new Doctor is tricky enough but the second can be even more so. We have been introduced to the companion(s) and have some idea of what the Doctor is at this point. So now we want to see who everyone is and how they fit together and with this version of the Doctor.

Dumping them into the vacuum of space without a spacesuit was a bold move. Splitting them up briefly was a nice touch as we got to see each set work out the problems they have to solve so they don’t crash into the planet. Shows that the humans are up to snuff for this sort of adventure.

I liked that this was a pretty simple episode so it had more to do with the characters than the plot that was pretty much paint by numbers kind of race with a shiny prize at the end.

Actors did great with what they were given. Jodie Whittaker keeps proving why she was cast into this role and why she was the right person to be the Doctor.

In the end we get back to the point that it really feels like a Doctor Who episode.

(more…)

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Posted By Kathleen David on October 16, 2018

Those are the words I heard from a specialist who finally gave me some solid good news that is such a relief.

This past year had been a series of Doctor visits and a lot of people couching their words so I felt even more in limbo than I did before I walked into their office.

It started with having a hard time catching my breath after carrying a laundry basket from the second floor of our home to the basement where the laundry is. If my head got below my heart for periods of time that seemed to be progressively shorter as time went on, I would be short of breath. This can be very scary.

So I went to my doctor who started a series of tests and sent me to a cardiologist for high blood pressure and something that she heard when she was listening to my heart that had her concerned.

That was a saga in itself. They found a shadow that they thought was possibly my heart not pumping blood correctly. They did a number of other tests including introducing a radioactive dye into my circulatory system and then had to give me a card to give to the TSA since I was flying the next day and still within the half life that might set off the detectors. This all ended in a cardiac catheterization which showed that I have a slow aortic valve leak that most of the population of the planet had and won’t become a problem until I am much older. But the heard was healthy so that was good.

I was told to avoid or reduce stress to help my blood pressure. We got a good giggle over that one.

So one organ down.

I had my mammogram for the first time in about 5 years. There was something that they needed to take a closer look at. Remember I am supposes to reduce stress. That sort of news never reduces stress. I did all the tests and scans that they wanted me to do and it came down to dense tissue creating the shadow. So that did reduce stress.

I have been also having pain in my gut along with some other symptoms. The test for that was drinking barium and getting a CAT scan of my abdomen. My doctor learned something that I have known for years. I have a fatty liver due to chemical usage when I was young. (Safety note: ALWAYS WEAR GLOVES WHEN YOU ARE PLAYING WITH CHEMICALS THAT WILL CAUSE YOU DAMAGE DOWN THE ROAD LIKE ACETATE. They can be absorbed through the skin and then live in your liver forever.) No new there for me.

Then my blood tests came back a little screwy and in the CAT scan there was evidence that my lymph nodes where inflamed which can happen during an infection in the body or can happen for other bad reasons.

Off to an oncologist I was sent to sort out what was going on. I was fortunate to get a rather no bones doctor who didn’t mince words and gave me her opinion without sugar coating it. I liked that. I knew where I stood and what I had to do. She did agree that the lymph nodes did look inflamed so she wanted me to wait three weeks and then get another scan but include the chest in the scan so she could see other lymph nodes in my body. It would put the scans about two months apart.

I had to drink that barium again. I hate drinking barium.

Scan was done and I waiting for the results.

Went to see my regular doctor for a follow up and she said I needed to make an appointment with the oncologist because of a thickening of the lung and was seemed to be a mass in my upper right lung.

I made an appointment with the oncologist and got the follow up scans done before I went so she would have the additional information she needed.

Then came the waiting period until the appointment when all the ‘what ifs’ run through your head. So much for reducing stress in my life.

Yesterday I sat down with her and we went over all the results. The mass turned out to be yet another shadow that my body seems to like to create for no reason internally. The thickening of the lung probably came down to not wearing a respirator when I was young and I really should have done so (Safety Note: WEAR A RESPERATOR WHEN WORKING WITH MATERIALS THAT CREATE PARTICULATE MATTER. THAT STUFF GETS IN THE LUNGS AND CAUSE PROBLEMS DOWN THE ROAD. You are not as invincible as you think.)

She said, “It’s not cancer and I hope I never see you again.” Which is probably the nicest thing she could have said to me really.

So the scarring in the lungs was the reason behind all my problems with breathing. It explains a lot that has been going on.

Again I have another life annoying rather than life threating problem to deal with which is really the better of the two.

It finally has come down to what I figured when this whole thing started. Lose 30 pounds and increase your endurance through exercise and diet.

The only other thing that did come out of this was finding out how much more my spine is screwed up by arthritis along with the beginnings of other parts of my body showing signs of arthritis. I know how to deal with this. It does mean that I have managed to keep my core in good shape and now I need to focus on that and the other areas were I will have issues down the road.

So that’s the prescription for my current set of problems. Exercise and lose 30 pounds.

But hearing ‘not cancer’ was such a relief.

I no longer have this shadow hovering over me, which is a great stress reducer.

I am grateful that I know what the heck is going on within me in excruciating detail.

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Posted By Kathleen David on October 12, 2018

We have had a couple of days that I would call Fall weather but this morning is very much a Fall day. The temperature went from about 80 to 60 and the humidity from 80% to 0% in a 12 hours period. I have to pull out my fall jacket for today’s adventure.

I watched Murphy Brown back in the day because I liked the cast and the humor was something that appealed to me. I was not too surprised that they brought it back. I am happy that the original cast is back with a few new characters. It has been good but is still finding its footing which is what happened during the original show.

Today I am going to a taping of Murphy Brown since they film here in New York City. This is due to the generosity of some friends of mine who got tickets for it. I know what I am walking into having gone to other tapings of TV shows.

Getting there is going to be a bit of a challenge with all the rail work both for the subway and the LIRR. I think I have the most direct path sorted out.

So that’s today’s adventure.

Tomorrow Caroline takes the PSAT to see what that test is all about. Then next year is the SAT. I am sure she will give it her all.

Sunday is MST3K thank you Joel.

I have the train ride to sit down and sort out the rest of the year along with some other things that need to be sorted.

I am grateful for these adventures that drop into our laps.

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Posted By Kathleen David on October 11, 2018

The fog last night was the kind of fog that you are warned about as a driver. Limited visibility was an understatement and the one car that didn’t have its headlights on was a true hazard. I picked my way to the bowling alley and home very carefully.

This morning there is a mist/fog in the air which is making the house across the street a bit difficult to see but much better than last night.

I think most of the people I know are OK who were in Michael’s path. There are one or two I haven’t heard from but I think they were still in their summer homes at this point so they would not have been down there. My sympathies to everyone who was. The photos and videos are the stuff of nightmares. I think the death count is going to go up after everything is said and done. The number of people staying put was rather large.

We had another round of kitty politics over this one spot that they all want to sleep on. Fig won but she knows if she leaves the spot, one of the other two will slide in. Inky and Mew have gone to their secondary spots and are napping out.

I got things to do. We haven’t restocked the larder in a while. Tomorrow I am off to the city to see a taping of Murphy Brown with some friends. Saturday Caroline has the PSATs. Sunday we are off to MST3K land for the day. Then we are rapidly heading for Halloween.

I have a lot on my mind these days. I really haven’t had the time to sit down and go through all of it and sort it out so I can get it out of my head. I am having a hard time even watching the comedy shows about politics. I need a break from the whole political morass to find my emotional balance.

Yesterday was World Mental Health Day and the focus was on Youth and Mental Health. I was working on a web log for that one but I really don’t feel like putting it out there for a number of reasons. I have stated before that I know what I put out here is honestly here forever. I will only put things here that I would say in public and this was still a little private. But the paper from the UN was an interesting read and brings up issues that I think do need to be discussed. So entry later based on my unpublished essay.

I can tell when my brain is engaged when I wake up. If I can Sudoku then my brain is working at optimum. If I can’t even get started, then it is going to take me a while to do something. The second thing is my hands. If I can grasp things and don’t drop them, then good day. Shaky hand day is not a fun day. Threading a needle can take half an hour.

I am grateful for the days that everything is still working.

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