a young heart

It is hard to get old. This year I am 58. Oh my lord. Along with just the number of the years getting larger, aches and pains and other old age symptoms crop up. I have known that I have degenerative disc disease which causes pain. Probably some arthritis. Asthma, sinusitis, and through not fault of anyone else, except myself and maybe genetics, obesity.

But I have been having vague chest and back pain. So, I thought I would see if the doctor could figure out what was causing the pain and discomfort. I thought maybe I was having bad heartburn, ulcer, pulmonary problems, or spinal problem. Okay, I did wonder if maybe I was having heart problems. Anyway, I went to the doctor. He did see where I have hardly any cartilage left in my left knee (yes, the painful one), degenerative disc disease in my back, possibly causing numbness and pain in my right leg and foot, inflamed eardrums (chronic sinus drainage). He suggested a shot of steroids to stop the inflammation and possibly a test to see if I was having heart problems. I agreed.

The steroid shot helped for a few days. During that time, I had a cardiac CT. The test needs to be done with contrast and since I have had a reaction to contrast before the doctor gave me the prerequisite prednisone and benedryl before the test. The test was pretty easy. I was done and out of there in about one hour. But my face and neck felt warm to me, although the nurse didn't seem to think anything of it. By the evening, my face and neck were pretty flushed. By morning, I was wheezing and not feeling well. So back to the doctor I went. He gave me another steroid shot and a script for more prednisone. The test was on Wednesday and I was finally feeling better by Saturday, except that my mouth and throat still felt funny. But Sunday, my mouth was burning, especially the tongue, and my throat was sore. Sunday night I realized that I had thrush. So on Monday I had to call the doctor for a script for treating that. I think it is almost gone now.

Sheesh, I starting to think it wasn't worth going to the doctor for answers. Dave is thinking I am nuts. I think that if my ct scan is normal, then I am going to stay way from the doctor and try to figure out my aches and pains on my own, since it seems to be that I just keep having reactions to therapy/tests.

Luckily the results of the cardiac ct were good. I have completely clear arteries and veins around my heart and my heart's function is health, as good as young heart. This is kind of amazing since I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, am obese, and lead a sedentary life.

So with the worry of possibly cardiac problems out of the way, I can safely exercise if I want, watching out for the arthritis, and try other home remedies to self diagnose/treat my silly ailments. Because I am NOT going back to the doctor.

the flowers

Such a simple thing - log onto the hospital website - navigate to the gift shop area and choose a floral arrangement to send to my grown daughter who just had emergency surgery in Michigan while I am sitting here helpless in Oklahoma. Easy enough to pay for the flowers and I feel confident that she will get them. I don't know what else to do, except maybe call her as often as I can without bugging her, monitor facebook to see if she says anything on there, and be supportive when I do talk to her. Oh and send a prayer. I am so thankful that she has other supportive people around her and a loving, caring husband who is there by her side. I almost forget about sending the flowers until she tells me the next time I talk to her that having the flowers there helped her remember that I love her and that I am there in spirit with her. Who knew that just a simple thing would help her not miss me so much. I certainly didn't.