Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Well, I just know......

I'm going to regret saying this, but... Things are finally calming down to a dull roar! LOL

We're settling into a routine, of sorts. 
  Mike still has Cardiac Rehab sessions, 3 times a week, doctor visits are down to once a week to every other week, depending.
  He is taking his medication and insuline very faithfully, and keeping track of his blood vs what he ate and adjusting the next meals accordingly. 
  Visits to base are for right now only once a week or so (gas, groceries and updating the boss on Mikes condition) 
  The holidays are slowly creeping up on us. 
  Haven't found (and don't hold much hope that we will) our Christmas Tree, but we have the ornaments.
  Still haven't found my teapot, (or some of our other kitchen things) but in the grand scheme of what's been going on........ I can soak a baggie if I want some tea :-)
  We're celebrating Sinterklaas (Santa Claus) at my sisters house and Christmas at home, just the 3 of us.
  I entered a couple of challenges, and think, that possibly, maybe, perhaps, I can get the pages done before they're due!
  I have my pages done for Ivy, StarSong and The Studio, but I don't seem to be able to post anywhere.... We're working on fixing that.  (Meaning, I send emails, and keep my fingers crossed. LOL)

The thing that really urks me to no end, is that I miss doctors that you can talk to, and who do not have a God-complex. MAN are these guys here a couple of jackasses! I'm not allowed to ask questions, neither is Mike, for that matter. They have their mind made up as to what is going to be talked about, and after that, they just don't care. The cardiologist really took the cake though. He had everything that was supposed to be discussed in the visit, already printed before we came in, including the note that nothing had changed. They made an Echo when we came in, and were told that the doctor needed that, and to give it to him...(Mind you, the room where the echo was taken is 5 feet from the door the doctor was behind!)  He never even looked at it. However, he was going to put Mike on THREE blood thinners, because he didn't recognize the name of one Mike is already taking. When I asked why he was giving him so many blood thinners, he gave me the same look you see when people are really tired of dealing with whomever they're talking to at the moment!  But, he eventually decided that he wasn't going to prescribe the third one.... I wonder what might have happened if I hadn't known exactly what Mike was taking?  Thank god for Web-MD!!!!
I asked him what had actually happened, because all we had been told was "an infarction". Not where (although from reading his records that were thrown on the bottom of the bed while he was in Hospital I figured out that it was on the backside of his heart), how bad, damage, longterm effects... you know, the tidbits that are really nice to know, so you can keep an eye on things?  I had understood that there were 2 reasons for a stent, a collapsed artery, or a blocked one, so I asked which it was and he treated me like you would a slow 2 year old for not knowing the difference, but he also didn't explain. Mike has to bring a doctors note, showing when he stopped working, the reason, and how long, approximately he will be out, so they can plan..... and was told that "they can want anything they like, I'm not writing a note". THAN, we got our hands slapped for not having a family doctor yet..... I almost asked him why we needed one.... we're not getting any questions answered anyway? But I was being nice, and bit my tongue. Not sure why though. The "care" can't get any worse.......

We have an appointment with our potential new family doctor, and that is really my last hope for any kind of information, explanations and general help in dealing with this.  After that, since we're so close to the border, maybe we'll start looking in Germany for help. Who knows, we may get lucky and learn something!

I am sorry, but there are SO many things that bother me about this whole situation, if I don't tell somebody.. I think I'm going to explode!  I just REALLY  REALLY REALLY hope we're not going to regret this move if this is the future when we get sick....

Well, have some mails to get thru so I should quit my bitchin' and get to work :-)

Soooooo, what do you know, I forgot to hit "post" on this one! LOL
Maybe the doc had me pegged right, and I AM slow...... Oh well.

It is now Wednesday, the first part of this post was started  last Thursday! We've had our visit with the family doctor Monday, and I'm happy to say, that there's hope.
  He answered ALL our questions,
  He talked to Mike AND me
  He went online and showed us some things he couldn't explain well in English, and I had a hard time translating for Mike
  He wrote the doctors note for work
  He wrote a prescription for Mikes meds. Something the cardiologist was not at all interested in, but needed to be done, because, let's face it, the initial 30 day prescription was running out.

I was talking to one of the other wives at Cardiac Rehab this morning, and found out the cardiologist we saw is pretty much famous for being a rude ape. (Hope I didn't insult any primates with this comparison.) And she gave me the name of their cardiologist. He has been "in the family" for 3 generations, he answers questions and if he meets his patients outside of the office, he always checks to make sure that even though he's off the clock, they are still doing ok..... I think we may have found our doctor...... :-) All I have to do, is swap the appointment we have in February with Caveman to him, and we're all set.

I am so sorry to go on and on about this, but it is a major part in our lives right now. Mike is doing great, but we DID find out that his heart only operates at 45%.... We were shocked. You would have thought that would be an importatnt little tidbit of information to have, don't you agree? We can work on getting better, and will, but with that much loss of function, we now know it will take a little longer than Mike wants it to be. He has a very optimistic will do attitude about this, so that really will help a lot. He's the kind of guy that doesn't believe in giving up, or in for that matter and that will be half the battle. He loves his job and he's really missing work, and wants to get back to it, so that will be part of his motivation. He IS aware that it won't be easy, but doable and he told me yesterday that he is not going to over do it, because, in his words: "I do not want to die" so that's a reassurance for me, I didn't have yet. Not that I thought he had a death-wish, but he's not used to not being able to do what needs doing and sometimes I'm not sure he pays attention to/respects his limits, and that has been my biggest worry. Now I know I don't have to worry.......

On another note, I had a hard time sleeping, Saturday, Sunday and last night, so I got some things taken care of in Photoshop elements.

I put some of the pictures for GLOW on a page.


Ann, from STAR SONG STUDIO has a new kit out. Actually a couple since I've been MIA, but this is the latest one. Wild Sea.


I just love the kit. It is mainly beachie, but you can use it for so many different things. As with all her kits, the extracted elements are gorgeous. 

One of the challenges I signed up for this month, was the Quick Page challenge at CoolScrap Digital


The kit we were given to play with, is Horizon by MariScrap. The way it works, is that all the Quick Pages made for the challenge, are available for download on our blogs. Go take a look. The pages that were created are stunning. 
You can download my page here


Another one of Ann's kit, is December Dawn
The picture is one of a bundle I took last January after freezing fog settled over the neighborhood. Hope to see something like it here this winter.  There are a couple of places I will be going if that happens :-)




The tags on this page, are recipe cards I made for a friend last year for Christmas. I made 6 different types of cookies, put them in a tin, and gave her the recipes that went with them. I hope, since we won't be around, that when she bakes the cookies, she has happy thoughts about our walks and talks. I know I do. Looking forward to what I call "baking season". Starting tomorrow with a pumpkin pie, I'll be baking at least once a week. It will be a little bit of a challenge (oven, diet etc) but I don't want to lose my favorite part of winter :-)




Also at Coolscrap Digital, is the elements challenge going on. I still have to upload the elements to the forum

but you can download them here  and here

I hope you like them, and are able to use them. I kept them simple, so you can add your own touches.

Well, time to post some things, if the sites are co-operating, a little bit of housework and prepping for tomorrow. We taped the football games they showed over the weekend, and tomorrow will be nothing but football, lounging, and being thankful.

For you and yours, I wish you a great start of the holiday season. Don't forget to count your blessings, and hug a loved one! :-)

Hugs,
Pauli

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Update

Mike is now in cardiac-rehab. Yesterday was the first time, and he was bushed when we got home. They had him riding a stationary bike for 20 minutes, and walk as fast as he could for 6 minutes. We were told that the bike riding will be an every time thing, but the walking is not. Every session the second half will be different, so they can see how he is coming along. He will do this 3 times a week for an hour each time, until December 13th.

Tomorrow we will also have our official check up with the cardiologist. Hopefully he will be willing to answer my questions as well. It really ticks me off that they won't talk to me. I know Mike had the attack, and as such would be the one to talk to, but I almost lost my husband! How can I take care of him if I don't know what's going on? They have to realize that we're both in this together, not just Mike?  Hopefully this one won't look at me as if I'm just being nosy :-)

I missed the LifeBook Chat this morning, as well as making the page, so I think I'm just about where I am with Mikes book ........WAY THE HECK BEHIND!! LOL. Good news is that I'm going to pick up the power-supply for my Mac, so if Mike has energy to play on the computer, I can scrap. Who knows, I may even post a page or 2 in the next week or so.

I just realized I haven't posted my November challenge for the Studio yet... so I may just go for a 6 week challenge... I'll have to think about that. I have a couple of things that I need to do, and one of these nights I'm going to have to do them, but I've actually been sleeping the last week! Lots of nightmares, but no sleepless nights, so I guess that's an improvement. It just cuts into my productivity :-)
This friday morning at 2AM is the Ivy Heritage Chat, so maybe I can stay up after and get some things done.

Last friday night we went to "GLOW Eindhoven" for a little bit. Just to be out of the house, and we managed to have dinner with my sister in the process.  It's really neat. Not sure who exactly, but students put together a light show, with regular buildings as base. I took a bunch of pictures, but there were a lot of them that didn't turn out too great, because of the way the lighting was done, and I still haven't figured out what I flubbed-up on the settings, so there's a lag between hitting the button, and the shutter closing..... Any way, I'll have to make a page with a couple of my favorite shots :-)  I'm hoping Nicky had better luck with hers, because she promised to share!

well, it's almost midnight, and the alarm goes off at 5, so we can make therapy, and I guess I'd better call it a day :-)

Friday, November 4, 2011

Update

Hiya,

Well, things have calmed down, and I'm busier than I ever thought possible :-)
Mike is doing very well, and we both thank everybody for their well wishes, and good thoughts.

Now is when the really big rush starts though. I had no idea what he went thru when I was sick, and I love him even more for it! We have one appointment or another at least every day for the next month, so I won't have a lot of time to come here, but I will keep you updated as we go along.

We had company yesterday for about 3 hours or so, and when they left, Mike laid down on the cough and slept for 2 hours. He didn't hurt or nothing, he was just bone tired. He's also getting restless. This is a good sign, don't get me wrong, but it also makes it harder to keep him from doing too much. Starting today, we'll be gone a lot, to rehab, docs visits etc, so he may be a little more tired and take it a little easier, but the ultimate goal is to be "as good as new". I'm just a little hesitant. I want him to heal, but I don't want him to have another heart attack. I know I can't protect him, but I have the almost unstoppable urge to wrap him in bubble-wrap and keep him quiet! LOL. I don't want to smother him (He doesn't take well to that, to say the least) but I feel so helpless. Other than trying to beat him to every activity I THINK he may want to do next....... I'm going to have to leave him be.  So, if I come back, and make absolutely no sense again... it's probably not that I'm loosing what's left of my mind, but I'm just frazzled LOL.

Well, we're off to rehab, the hospital for a seminar, base and the store........

hugs, and thanks again :-)