Gettin' the Lowdown...

on my health, that is...

Having gratefully acquired health insurance after 4 years I'm finally in the position to get caught up on all the tests that a post-menopausal woman of my age requires. Which is a LOT. (this is being written down mainly for my own info, but anyone of you who received it may find it interesting to continue reading...)

Back in February I started the ball rolling with a normal physical. Almost in an undertone during that exam the doc mentions that I have scoliosis. Great, I think to myself. That's what I get for not taking hormones after my hysterectomy.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg...

I finally get to mention to the doctor things that I've been concerned about but unable to look into while I was uninsured. Foremost was the event I had on the plane in 2011.

So the follow-up tests ensue. Mammogram, overdue by 3 years.  Bone density, also overdue by years.  Labs, of course, to determine cholesterol, check glucose levels, etc.  

I can view my test results on the internet so I don't have to wait for the doctor to tell them to me.  If I can decipher their meaning, that is.  So I go look at my cholesterol numbers as soon as they're available.  High.  Dang!  I research how to lower that and take immediate action. Mammogram - fine. Bone density? The doc wants to talk to me about that. Uh oh!  But wait - I'm scheduled for an echo-cardiogram and treadmill test. I'll wait and discuss the outcome of all those at the same time.

When I go in all psyched up for the echo and treadmill test they tell me I won't be doing the latter after all. My EKG indicated I have a "left bundle branch block" and that form of stress test won't work.  

This doctor is interesting. My visits with her are very much like a professional ping pong game:  I ping and she pongs right back, then I quickly ping again and she's right there to pong it back at me. (Unfortunately she doesn't remember a lot of what I ping to her) She gives me a referral for a chemical-type stress test, a Dobutamine type.  

When I get to the imaging center to do that test, as well as an ultrasound on all my organs (to determine gallbladder health specifically but, hey, if you're looking why not just check it all out?), they inform me that I'll be doing a different stress test due to my asthma.  

This was a lengthy, interesting test which, for the most part, was simply that - interesting. There was one part that was downright creepy, though.

They started out by shooting nuclear isotopes into my blood, waiting an hour for them to find their way into my heart, then using a Gamma Camera to take pictures while my heart is at its resting rate. Then I was asked to go eat some fatty food to clear the bulk of the isotopes out of my liver (where they eventually move) so the next pictures of my heart would be clear.  
Here's where it got creepy. They got the director of medicine in there for him to witness the introduction of the drug Lexiscan and my reaction to it.  It opens the blood vessels to artificially imitate the effects of stress or exercise on my heart, the increased blood flow.  But, of course, it doesn't open just those vessels, it opens ALL my blood vessels, from head to toe. Creepy, I was flush, lightheaded, tingley all over. Not a nice feeling.  Fortunately it only lasts about 2 minutes, then coming back down to normal takes about another 2 minutes. In the meantime more isotopes are injected and as soon as I can stand I'm back at the Gamma Camera for a nap while they shoot pictures again for another 15 minutes. The lights in the room are dimmed, I'm laying comfortably and they're playing classical music. ZZzzzz...

That was Monday. Yesterday I was leaving for my also long-overdue colonoscopy and saw that those test results were available. The ultrasound showed my organs all look normal. As for the stress test, I'm no doctor but it sounds like it's saying that there is evidence of a heart attack and some residual damage.  

In readying me for my next procedure a nurse is asking all about my health. When she gets to questions regarding my heart I tell her about the test and the results and that she should go look at them herself. She goes back and confirms what I suspected.

We attempt the colonoscopy but for some odd reason I've just in the last week or 2 developed a low pulse. They sedate me, start the procedure, then abort it because my pulse dropped into the mid 30's.  Grr... the prep for that test is AWFUL!!!

I get a call from the doctor's office that afternoon and the nurse relays a message from the doctor: the test results "came back normal". WHAT!?!?! The very first word in the notes is Abnormal.  I think that means it's NOT normal.  I pretty much jump down that nurse's throat and start reading her what I see in the results and she tells me the doctor will call me.  I get another call later - another nurse with no real news either. But she says the doctor is standing right there and, after mediating between the 2 of us, finally gave the doc the phone. So the doc starts talking about heart movement, etc and throws in the words "the old MI". I stop her and ask "So I had a heart attack?"  Yes.  I reminded her that I didn't know that, that the reason for these heart tests were to determine if the event I had on the plane in Sept 2011 was my heart. She forgot, she thought I knew I'd had a heart attack. So the tests, she thought, were to check for the current state of my heart. Yeah, there's damage, a dead spot, you didn't know that? Do you carry nitro with you?  No! Why would I? I didn't know I'd had a heart attack!!!  Do you have a cardiologist? Again - Why would I? I didn't know I'd had a heart attack!!!  She was so glad that she finally took the phone into her own hands. Then I filled her in on how my colonoscopy went - or rather how it didn't go.  So now she's all hep on getting me a nitro prescription and a referral to a cardiologist. Yay!

Not that I wanted to have heart trouble. But I wanted to know, if I did.

So here, in a nutshell, is my health situation over the course of my life thus far:

1961 tonsillectomy to help with constant ear infections, age 4 (why I'm somewhat hard of hearing)
1968 I acquire asthma as a real issue, not just when I get sick, age 12, continues til now
1972ish I start noticing a pain in my upper spine which is now causing me bone spurs in my neck, possibly damaged in a car accident in early 1960's
Allergies and hay fever present themselves in my teens, continue to this day although much milder
5 pregnancies, 5 healthy babies
1991 tubal fulguration (5 babies is enough!)
1991 gallbladder attacks.  I start doing at-home flushes, attacks continue til now, although diminishing.
2002 hysterectomy for cervical cysts, fibroid tumors, endometriosis, adenomyosis, age 45
2011 at least 3 heart attacks, age 54
2013 mild osteoporosis & slightly high cholesterol diagnosed
Let's not forget the depression that crept in somewhere in the late 90's

And I always thought of myself as fairly healthy! Haha!

Road Trip Du Jour

After working many long stretches at a time Rick decided it was time to go for a quick weekend away.  We enjoy our road trips and haven't done one since we went to the Salt Flats in Utah last August.  I suggested the northern coast of Oregon this time.

Rick got home Friday and we hit the road. Kinda. Fridays around here are notorious for AWFUL traffic that's heading out of town in any direction.  We didn't check the time but it was a minimum of an hour that we crawled south on I-5.  Maybe an hour and a half.  We knew it would be there, the traffic, and so it wasn't too frustrating. 

We opted to take the scenic highway 6 west past a few small towns - Pe Ell, Frances, and Labam to name a few.  It was getting dark so we couldn't do much photography along the way but it was definitely photo worthy.  Well have to redo that stretch someday.

We got to the town of Raymond on the banks of the Willapa River and headed south toward the Columbia river.  The towns along that stretch were all interesting as well but it was getting seriously dark by then.  We did shoot a few shots in South Bend. And the low tide that wasn't quite filling the Willapa Bay, along with a slight sunset made for a few interesting tide flats shots.  At one point we headed into a meadow/field area and noticed the fog rolling in like a blanket.  Then we spotted some cows out there in all that fog!

We ended our day in Astoria, Oregon.  What a cool town! Kind of like a mini- San Francisco! Lots of interesting old buildings.  A waterfront.  A trolley (along the waterfront, not going up and down the hills).  Funky, eclectic stores and eateries.  Wild colors on some of the buildings.  We found an inexpensive motel on the outskirts of town - Crest Motel.

Let me tell you about Crest Motel.  First off, don't pay for the "view" room, it appears that all the rooms (or those on the second floor, at least) are view rooms.  Our room had a pretty strong, nasty odor.  But the bed was good, the shower worked well, it was fairly quiet and quietly warm. The strangest thing about it, though, was that the place seems to have switched its entries from back to front.  What greeted me when I open the door was the shower - then the toilet!

We had a delicious breakfast at the Astoria Coffeeshop & Bistro. Its prices were just mildly more than we like to pay but the quality made up for the extra expense.  Rick had a salmon and cream cheese omelette with capers.  It was STUFFED with smoked salmon!  The coffee was superb and as a garnish they had watercress instead of the usual parsley...

Going back through my pictures I remembered a stop worth mentioning - the Astoria Column.  It's a tower with a spiral staircase to the top. It has 164 steps and coming down was huge for someone who's always dizzy anyway!  It was a whole buck for an annual pass!  Apparently it was the 12th and final historical marker of Ralph Budd's (president of the Great Northern Railroad) project to build between St. Paul, MN and Astoria.  So now we'll have to catch the other 11.  

We next stopped at Fort Stevens to check out Battery Russell and the 107-year-old shipwreck of the Peter Iredale.  There are batteries, forts, bunkers and lighthouses that were built to protect this coast during war time as far back as the Civil War.  The battery was very fun to explore. I used the ruins to practice a photography technique I'd like to use in Ireland.  It worked pretty nice!

We continued on down to Seaside and decided to splurge on a slightly up-scale hotel room, one with a fireplace, kitchenette and a view! It was perfect, we totally enjoyed it!  It was timely for us to get it when we did too, there were only 4 rooms left when we got ours.  We couldn't figure out what all the crowds were about, but the next morning we found out - between the full moon and the extreme low tide it was the optimal time to go clam digging!  The shore was covered with all shapes and ages of clam diggers - and their dogs!

So Saturday we got up and started exploring again.  We saw the shores and cliffs in the Ecola State Park area and hit Cannon Beach to scope out where we needed to be to get the rocks at sunset.  Turns out there was to be no sunset (thick overcast) so that left our schedule wide open.  We explored, went to our room and  vegged in front of our *fake* fireplace, hit the hot tub, ate Subway sandwiches for dinner and had a couple beers.  Good, relaxing day.

Sunday AM we decided to again treat ourselves to a restaurant breakfast, this time in the one in the hotel, since they handed out a 15% discount coupon when we booked our room.  We had much simpler fare this time and our entire meal including tip was under $20!

We decided to drive home by first heading east in Oregon on hwy 30 and catch the bridge across the Columbia to Longview.  Then we took I-5 north towards Mossyrock to visit a tulip field we didn't know existed til we got a message from the Tacoma Photo Society that they were going on a field trip there.  It was a very nice spot that was actually closed on Sunday but everything was still accessible.  We had the place nearly to ourselves.  They even allowed you to walk into their tulip fields!  We first found their Show Garden that was absolutely stunning, lots of perfect blooms in a narrow walled garden with moss-covered trees in bloom and winding pathways.

In the past we've driven up I-5 on Sunday afternoon.  It's worse than the Friday rush out of town... So we used our eastern location (in Mossyrock) and took the scenic route home.  It was great to miss that freeway mob!

So - 'nother road trip under our belts.  Next one to come in 5 1/2 weeks - IRELAND!!!

Another Big Job Done!

This time it was the school library inventory!  I mentioned it in a previous blog but now it's done and it's a relief!  Actually, we all enjoyed it a lot.  The four workers - Danette, a 40ish mother of 3, Kelly, a 53 year old grandma and wife of a disabled husband (so she works 3 jobs), Anita, a 60-something grandma and author of devotional books and myself - all were the right kind of person for this job.  We're all self-motivated and detail-minded.  We all got a lot of satisfaction from doing a good job and seeing the final result.  The libraries ranged from just short of 13,000 to 26,000 items and we accounted for at least 98.5% of those items every time.  Each school was completed in 2 days.  We started in early February, took one week off for mid-winter break and just this week did our final school, the one right here in my neighborhood, Lake View.  

So on Tuesday I was able to see one of my grandsons, Hunter, as his preschool class had their library time...

We managed to wear out our little scanners, they're not used to the intense and constant use and most needed some repair by the time we were done.  And our bodies are sure relieved to be done - they'll be needing some repair as well! (all the shelves sit on the floor so at least 1/3 of the time we were down on our behinds or at least bent over...)

So I got another little chunk of extra money.  This time to pay for my trip to Kauai, get my mom's sweet 16 ring repaired and, I think, maybe a new laptop!  

Bird Brains!

We have so many things that grow, live and/or visit here, along with festivals and fairs, etc. There are events just about every weekend, all you have to do is look. I feel very fortunate to live in such an interesting area. We have mountains, deserts, rain forests, valleys, rivers. lakes, the Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula.  You can do almost any sport somewhere in this state. We have rodeos in the east and surfing in the west.  We have the world's biggest octopus species. And we have birds - lots of birds...

We have Bald Eagles that winter and breed here. We have the Sandhill Crane festival in Othello every year and Great Blue Herons breed right here, almost on our own street. One sight I've personally been wanting to see are the large flocks of Snow Geese. They actually come from North of Siberia to our more temperate climate to breed up in the northern part of the state, right in the same area as the tulip and daffodil fields. 

They're here by the thousands in January and February, along with a few hundred Trumpeter Swans and a handful of Tundra Swans as well, but hunters are allowed in until late January. So February is the photographers' turn - to ready, aim, SHOOT!

We picked another perfect day to photograph in the area, sun and stormy clouds, perfection! When we located the flocks I was surprised by the noise, I don't know why, I've been to enough bird breeding grounds. After analyzing them for a couple minutes I determined that we were looking at families. There were big, white birds and slightly smaller ones with lots of grey. They walked along in family groups. I was curious about the one I found walking alone...


Every once in a while they'd decide it was time for a move, sometimes being spooked by Bald Eagles. They'd rise up almost as one and the sky became a tornado of geese. A buzzing, flapping, honking tornado. It was awe-inspiring.

We did a little driving around and found more sights - like these curious little guys!

We'll definitely be going back for better pictures next year. I was experimenting with a new lens and it may end up being resold.

Poked and Prodded

So last week Rick had his physical and this week was my turn. After nearly 4 1/2 years of being uninsured I can finally get some questions answered and maybe some problems solved (temporarily, at least).

She did all the usual and then told me I didn't have to have a pap smear done but that she'd do one if I wanted one. Yeah, right...

I wrote about an event I had on the airplane on my way to Kauai in Sept 2011. Well, I got to finally talk to a doctor about it. She had an EKG done (which looked fine) and gave me paperwork and referrals to the Heart Center in Covington. I'm to do a stress test and have an echo cardiogram and chest x-ray done. She seems to feel that the chest pains I was feeling before that event were probably esophageal spasms (sounds possible to me). But that doesn't explain the episode. When she listened to my heart I asked if she heard the murmur that they did an echo cardiogram for 11 years ago before my hysterectomy. She said no, this time she heard a click, which could be a mitral valve prolapse. But that, again, doesn't explain the episode. Hopefully the tests I'm having done will tell us something.

I got a prescription for my depression (which this week is not a problem, yay!), we'll see if it works. Got my asthma prescriptions renewed. And got referrals for a mammogram and colonoscopy. Yippee!

Guys have it easy.  No whining allowed...

The Evolution of a Photographer

I've always been interested in photography. I remember as a teen living on Alakoko St wanting to take a picture of "fire and ice". I didn't know how I could do it so I don't think I ever even attempted it. All we had were instamatic-type cameras and I think I must have realized that that type of camera just wouldn't do the job. I know I wanted to do it in the dark, have the fire shining through the ice, or something like that.

Eventually I got myself a 35mm camera from a pawn shop and took Rachyl's senior pictures for High School. I was finally able to play with a camera. But in the same limited way that everyone could during the film camera era. It was a cheap camera and had a limited life with my gang. 

So in about 2000 I took the kids on a trip to the coast, hiked the entire Dungeness spit and visited the lighthouse at the end. I borrowed my Mom's 35mm camera and was so excited about the pictures I hoped I was getting. I recall having to reload the camera with film as we picnicked at the lighthouse. On the way back to the mainland I took lots of pictures. At one point I accidentally left the camera sitting on a piece of driftwood and Dane and I had to hike back at least 1/2 mile to retrieve it! Then, later that evening, after having the kids pretend to be scaling a cliff face while I lay on the ground to make it look like they were quite a bit above my head, then sunset shots and Keith taking pictures of a slug it suddenly occurred to me that we should be running out of film. I always had a hard time reading the film indicator numbers. Turns out that when I inserted the film it never caught on the wind-up spindle. I got NO shots of our visit to the lighthouse, the long trek back, the kids "climbing" the cliff and the sunset. Agh! 

The next year I was introduced to digital photography via another borrowed camera for a trip to Yellowstone. I was thrilled to be able to take tons of pictures and not have to worry about processing costs! It was not a great camera and my inexperience got even more in my way and some of the most important shots got bungled. 

I, again, bought a used camera, this time off ebay. I chose an Olympus because that's what Mom's camera was and it took great pictures. It was a 2 megapixel digital camera but I enjoyed the freedom of shooting a whole day's worth of shots and then only need to upload them to my computer to be able to view them. And EDIT them! Picture It was awesome! 

When I was preparing to head to Hawaii for the first time in 30 years I had the funds to buy myself something brand new so I got the same kind that a co-worker had bought and fallen in love with, a Canon Powershot. He was right, the camera was perfection! On our last day in Hawaii I drowned it under a waterfall and had to go back to my Olympus. But the pictures were safe on my parents' computer and on the memory card. 

That's about the time that people started commenting on my pictures. I overheard a person in line behind me at the store raving about the nice pictures, she had been peeking over my shoulder. Then a friend's relative told me they should be post cards or calendar shots. Hmm... 

A couple years later I decided to splurge the big bucks on a brand new DSLR and a class. 

I went kinda overboard with my photography, I loved it so much! And then Rick and I had that in common so it was even easier to overindulge. 

Right now we're in a bit of a slump. We had a downer autumn. But my family keeps me shooting, I've become the family photographer. I get requests for maternity, newborn, engagement, anniversary, etc.

I particularly enjoy shooting "outside the box", in this case meaning not your average poses and scenery. I had an idea for my granddaughters, I wanted an old-fashioned tea party shot. Rach and I got together to do it and it came out PERFECT!! 

Rick and I had been toying with the idea of joining a photo club and finally did when he signed on with Boeing, we joined their club that meets on Wednesday evenings. We've been going for about the last 6 weeks. 

For me it was a bit discouraging. They have a judging and then a critiquing session for all the weekly entries. Well, my stuff was all getting judged basically mediocre. While I don't consider myself an outstanding photographer I also didn't think my work was "mediocre". Last night was print night, meaning that our pictures were to be printed and presented on some kind of mat. I chose my picture for the night but also decided to include a copy of my little Tea Party granddaughters' picture since I had it available, I had printed new copies for the moms since the first ones came out rather dark. Well, my chosen shot again came in at a mediocre score but my Tea Party girls was a big hit! I was shocked and thrilled! They told me I should be a portrait photographer, if I wasn't already. 

So, wow! I'm happy to finally have some recognition from other photographers. Only problem is: from here it's all downhill...

All Quiet on the PNW Front

Yep - not a lot of excitement going on right now.  For the most part everyone seems to be getting along, no one is pregnant and there are no weddings in the plans.  We're all working and paying our bills.  But here's the few things that have come along that are worth mentioning:

Dad had a heart attack a couple weeks back that could have been a much bigger, life-changing event but thanks to being informed they did everything right and it became somewhat of a non-event.  I know that it wasn't and still isn't a non-event for the folks but at least there isn't any major happenings going on because of it.  They handled the attack right, got to the hospital quickly and dad's doing good in spite of a 100% blockage that could have been a real tragedy.  He still has to find out what they want to do about the remaining blockage and has to correct some diet and activity.  But all in all, it was mostly a wake up call.

Both granddaughters are now walking.  Elise is much more mature in spite of the mere 5 months age difference, she walks like a long-time walker.  Taylor is still getting her walking legs.  But they're both extremely cute little girls.  It's been so long since we had girls that it's surprising how cute they are!  Sure, the boys are all definitely cute as well but girls are just different.

Rach is planning major surgery for the end of the year and is going through all the tests, etc, that are necessary before it can be done.  She'll also be my companion on my annual trip to Kauai this year so I get to be the tour guide once again!  Yahoo!  It's no fun to go see places I've seen before by myself.  Let's see, Waimea Canyon, Polihale Beach, Salt Pond Beach Park, Kalalau Valley, Secret Beach, Queen's Bath, Hanalei, Kilauea Lighthouse...

Rico and I joined the Boeing Photo Club and got to share some of our shots for their critiquing.  This last week Rick shared a shot of a globe thistle with a bee and actually got really good comments and 2nd/3rd place in the popular vote.  The competition has begun!

Rick's done with his training at work and actually got to work OT this weekend.  He's supposed to do that every 3rd weekend but with an impending strike he's gonna see if he can do it more often.

Oh!  Denny recently tried to get a new truck and I ended up as a cosigner or something and got a real credit rating for the first time in my life.  For once I got an actual number, I've always just gotten records of my on-time payments month after month.  This report said; "Scores range from a low of 300 to a high of 850".  Then on another line: "Your credit score: 000826".  WOW!!!  Nice number!

Right now and for the next couple months I'm part of a 4 member team whose job it is to inventory the Auburn School District's elementary schools' libraries.  All 14 of 'em!  It's actually a fun job except for the fact that the bookshelves are situated low for the little kids.  We're crawling around on the floor half the time.  I'm a Grandma - that crawling on the floor stuff is exhausting!  But I'm paying for my trip to Hawaii and getting my mom's "Sweet 16" ring fixed with the $$$.

I'm rather excited about our upcoming trip to Ireland.  I have our itinerary set up, maps to all the places we'd like to see and included maps to thrift stores ("Enable Ireland") and Kingdom Halls.  I have rooms for all but 4 nights, 2 are at hostels, one at a hotel, one at a CASTLE, one at a B&B and one at a "guesthouse" on the NW coast.  I've been driving around on Google maps to see what we'll be facing when we go to find some of the more obscure sights that I hope to see, castle ruins and the like.
  
Oh, and speaking of Google maps, Rick went to Google Earth and looked at our place and saw this:

They managed to get "the Stump" while it was in the extraction process (the other red circle is the dead neon in the driveway).  Kinda funny...

So, while no news isn't great for blogging purposes, it means life is just moving along - peacefully...