Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #1 – A Good Week and a Bad Week!

 

Sunday, January 1^st., 2023……  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!   Weather is not too bad today. No rose parade (they don’t do them on Sundays) but there were still games to watch on tv, so I was good. I am also working on my list/binder for the races and auctions in 2023. I have them so far for motocross and Nascar and Mecum but still need to find F1 and IndyCar. I am bummed that some of the races are only going to be on streaming service (i.e. Peacock). I have Peacock but it’s on a different tv (still have to see if I can get it on others) but I don’t like that! Still have to get printer ink cartridges before I can print and assemble.

Monday, January 2^nd., 2023……  The guys were back today and did some cutting on the posts.

They need to attach the brackets on them but they needed to laser level and then cut to finish height. Looks good!  The weather is better today. It’s still pretty cold and off and on rain but they will work through that!  I have been feeling better.  Still have some coughing and labored breathing when I walk.

Tuesday, January 3^rd., 2023……  The guys were back today and welded all of the brackets in place. Pics later. Next step is installing all of the glue lams. I am feeling much better but still some issues with breathing. She has me using the pulse-oximeter to record my oxygen level and my heart rate.  Cathye called her daughter in New Hampshire because she is a respiratory therapist and wanted her opinion on my condition. She recommended that I at least go get a chest x-ray so it will be on file, even if it’s clear. I know I’m feeling better each day but I’m up against a wall!  So, I sent a message to my doctor via MyChart to ask for an x-ray and maybe a Zpak. We’ll wait to see…..

Wednesday, January 4^th., 2023……  Today was my drs. Appointment. They responded to my MyChart message and called me first thing to set up an appointment later this morning. We went in together because Cathye has never met Sally.  She checked out my lungs and said they were clear and I probably had the newest virus out there (I think she id’d it as RSV), but she says it looks like it has already run its course on me. A Zpak wouldn’t help at this point. But, she wanted to run an ekg on me. She came back in and shocked both of us saying I have afib! I’m sure everyone knows what that is but her explanation is easy for me to remember – the two upper sections of the heart are pumping out of sync with the bottom two. Could result in blood clots which could lead to a stroke. Well, that was a shock! She printed out the symptoms. Actually, in addition to shortness of breath, I have felt a little bit of all of them to some extent over the last 20 years or so. I am told that everyone will have afib if they live long enough. There are over 12 million people with it in the US! Anyway, once I was over the shock, I got some more advice. She wants me on aspirin, and a mild level blood thinner and scheduled labs on the way out plus set up a 48-hr. heart monitor plus she wants an echo as well. I did the labs and later she added Lasix because they showed my BNP levels were too high. I got the call to come in for the monitor later in the day. We went off and did that. Took less than 15 minutes.  So, I now have this little thing hanging around my neck with 4 snap-on leads taped to me. I was given instructions for wearing and for removal on Friday. She said the results would go to a review panel and then be forwarded to Sally, with recommendations. My echo is not until next week so I anticipate that she will wait on that as well and then get me a referral to a cardiologist. A cardiologist!  Welcome to getting old! The good news is that I don’t feel any different than before my virus, and Sally says she is being proactive and added that she is not overly concerned at this time and she’s happy we caught it early. Me too!  With the added lab results, she is being even more proactive. Cathye feels a lot better just knowing that I am being treated. Me too. I am actually looking forward to meeting with a cardiologist to get all of this in context and plan for next steps.

When we got back from the monitor install, we saw that the guys had been busy! The glue lams are going in!  I took this photo at the end of the day! 

Next step is the ridge beam.

Thursday, January 5^th., 2023…… Today is Cathye’s turn to see her doctor. Her previous guy has taken a new career path (in Nephrology – and will most likely be working with Lydia’s old team of drs. in Corvallis - how ironic!).  Also, this new guy for her came out of my office here in Lebanon and is now her new FNP at her clinic in Brownsville. I recognized his name!  He saw Lydia whenever our dr. was out of office.

When we got back, we saw that the beam install is now complete! Here are pics.

Next step should be the roof trusses and roofing. We will have two skylights going in to help with added light. Electricians are now contracted as well. I’m not sure when they will want to come and see where the guys are along in the job because they can’t complete the electrical at this time. But they can work under the house and bring the power out to the deck. We’ll see…  

Friday, January 6^th., 2023…… Guys did not show up today. ?  Cathye worked on her new desk. She has refurbished the whole thing while I have painted and re-installed the handles for her. Once it was dry, we got it carted in and set up. She’s got most of her stuff in already.

Not bad for $25.00!  We still need to get some hanging file folders so she can use that feature. I hung around the house while Cathye headed off to the 11:15am massage appointment. I will go to the second appointment later after I go return my monitor, which I can’t remove until 11:35am. I was on the phone with Treasa when it was time. She got to hear me wince whenever I pulled the sticky tape off of my chest!  Ok, Cathye called from Emily’s office. Emily says she doesn’t want to move muscle around since that will also force blood around inside.  So I have to pass on my appointment this time. No worries. I left and took the monitor back to the hospital check-in desk and all was good again. Except for the itching from the tape and from the shaving of that area!

Later, we headed off to Cathye’s appointment. We met and talked with her new FNP and discussed her health and meds and upcoming tests and treatment. She likes him! We came back and hung around the house, had dinner and watched tv until bedtime.     

Saturday, January 7^th., 2023……  I was up and out early this morning. I’m feeling 100% again! We walked the dogs and then I took off for a day trip up to Wilsonville (80 miles) to go to Cabela’s. I had a few things to check on plus I wanted to make sure my info for my rewards card was up to date. Turns out their customer service wasn’t much in the way of service! They didn’t want to (or know how to!) go into their system and change my old California home phone number over to my cell phone. “You have to do that yourself online!”  Thanks for nothing! I also needed to stop at Walmart and/or Staples and get ink cartridges for our two HP printers. Talk about big bucks when you buy for both machines at the same time!  I am seriously looking into those newer models that claim to have eco tanks or reservoirs that allow 5,000-7,000 pages before refill. Maybe an Epson this time? But for now, I just bit the bullet and got through it and paid for them and also got Cat the folders she needed for her desk and headed home. No workers today either. I spent time working on my blog and watching football and hanging around the house. Cathye has her room all set up now and it’s what she wants. We had leftovers for dinner and watched our taped programs before calling it a night.  Heck of a week!