July 20, 2008

The Week Ahead

Well, today I decided to try a bit of fishing at the lake behind our house. I ignored the fact that it was 94 degrees outside, and that the smog level was at "Code Red", and dangerous to people with breathing issues like me (I have bronchial asthma, but not chronic thankfully.)

Anyway, after a brief jaunt through the woods, I arrive at the lake shore and proceeded to work my way around the cove, looking for a decent spot to fish. The water isn't really deep enough where I was fishing, but I cast out a few times here and there, moving around the cove as I went, watching all the boats and PWCs go by. The humidity was INSANE! I was just standing there, dripping with sweat, looking like I just got out of a shower, and really feeling like I needed one! Shortly after this I decided that I'd had enough fishing for today. Not because I wasn't catching anything, but because I was afraid I might end up throwing my fishing rod into the lake one time while I was casting, due to the fact that my hands were slick and slippery with sweat. I honestly thought that if I kept it up, I'd end up swimming to recover my rod (a thought that was only SOMEWHAT unwanted, because the water was warm, and a swim might have felt good. Not it jean shorts though. *sigh*) So I slogged back through the water and mud at the lakes edge, squelched back up through the woods in my wet sandals, and retreated back into the dark coolness of our home.

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Okay, so this is the week that I go for my echo cardiogram. I go to work at 7:00 AM on Thursday, work until 10:30 AM, and then leave for the doctor's office. I'm not sure what they're going to do exactly; whether they're going to put me through a stress test or just administer the ECG, but I have the rest of the day off from work, as I have a feeling I'll be needing a shower, either to get all the gel stuff they're going to use off my chest, or because I'll be hot and sweaty if they do the stress test. At any rate, I have to go back to the doctor again at the end of this month/beginning of next month, for them to check my blood pressure again. I've been taking a diuretic for the past month or so, and I've been testing my blood pressure at home, keeping a log of it. The next visit to the doctor, after this Thursday, will be to see if my blood pressure has come down any more. I know that I'm getting a lot lower readings at home than they've been getting in the doctor's office, but I don't know if it's because I'm using a wrist cuff instead of an arm cuff, or because the automatic/digital gauge is more accurate than the manual ones the doctors and nurses use, which depend on the hearing of the person administering the test to determine when to stop inflating the cuff, and decide what the reading is. Who knows? These are some things that I will discuss with Nicole on my next visit.
Well, that's about it. I'm at work early every day this week, except Tuesday or Wednesday which will be my normal 8 AM starting time. I can't wait until we get our 4th key carrier at work again. Then I'll be able to go back to my 8 AM start time on a regular basis again. Anyway, thanks as always for taking the time to read my ramblings. Take care, and have a great week. Peace.

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