Health Scare

A few weeks ago on a Friday we went out to dinner with my brother and his wife, as we frequently do.

That night I was tired after working all day so I went to bed about 9:30 or so. At about 10:30 I woke up with a pain in the middle of my chest, right below my rib cage. I got up, went into the bathroom and took a couple of Tums, thinking it was indigestion. By the time I got back to bed 10 seconds later, the pain had increased 10 fold and was radiating up into my neck!

I sat on the bed and waited for a  few minutes and the pain only got worse. I thought it was probably indigestion or a gallbladder attack, but the pain going into my neck scared me enough to wake Rich up.  We waited for a few more minutes but the pain was not getting any better. I though if I was having a heart attack then I was wasting precious minutes by sitting there so Rich called 911 and the Canton Rescue came in about 2 minutes. It felt like it took them forever to get there, though!

By that time  my blood pressure was high and I was breathing heavy. I was, in a word,  freaking out! They hooked me up to EKG machine and told me my heart rhythm was good and did not look like my heart was in any distress, but they recommended they take me to the local hospital anyway so they could check me further.

 In the ambulance they gave me 4 baby aspirin to chew, hooked up a IV, then gave me nitroglycerin to put under my tongue. I was still in a lot of pain but my blood pressure was lower and I was calming down knowing I probably was not having a heart attack.

At the hospital they did blood work and took a chest x-ray.  Finally after about two hours the pain went away. The did more blood work, kept the monitor on me for  a few more hours and at about 4:30 in the morning they said I was fine and we finally went home!

I felt kind of foolish for going to the hospital for what probably was indigestion but it's better to be safe than sorry! Plus, being diabetic puts me at higher risk for heart disease so I did not want to mess around.

I followed up with my doctor the following Monday and she already had the report from the hospital. She said it looked like there was nothing to be concerned about but she ordered a stress test just to be sure.

I had that done last Wednesday.

While I was walking on the treadmill the tech asked me if I felt anything and she was pointing at something on the EKG, which looked like Greek to me anyway. She said it was showing "some early beats."

The  next day I got a message from my doctor. She said my heart looked good, had good blood flow and nothing to indicate any trouble. The stress test did show that I had what is called premature ventricular contractions in the lower chambers of my heart, which are early beats or skipped beats.  Those are usually brought on  by too much caffeine,  or stress, or even exercise!   I guess it's pretty common and not dangerous unless it happens all the time.

So that's it. My heart is healthy, which is a relief and one less thing I have to worry about for now!

This was outside of the health center where I went for my stress test. It just strikes me as funny that there is a gurney sitting out there by the dumpster! It even had a sheet on the mattress!

And lastly: Guess who's 11 months old now and starting to take a couple steps??

Until the next time...

It's Been A While

I know it's forever between my posts. I would say I wish I had more time, but then I would make time if I really wanted to! Plus, my life is boring and if I was posting more  than once a month or so I would quickly run out of stuff to blog about!

So lets get on with stuff off of my iPhone!

If you are my facebook friend than you saw this picture of my blooming Christmas cactus! I love when it blooms. We keep it in the guest bedroom and since we never have any guests the room is dark all night and that is the perfect environment (so I've heard anyway!)

I see cars like this one around town all of the time. I always wondered why the owners would want their cars painted like that! Then I learned that they are prototype cars and the auto companies do that to camouflage the lines and design of the car so no one will try to copy it as they test drive them all over the place! The more you know!

I bought a machine from Amazon and have been converting all of my parents old 8 mm films into digital format. The machine was designed to hold the 3 inch reels only so when I had to do two larger rolls that wouldn't fit Rich came up with this idea, a pen taped to a kleenex box! Worked like a charm!

I have to say that watching those old movies that start with my moms wedding shower in 1954 and continue to 1969 has been pretty wonderful! There is a honeymoon video of my mom and dads and they look so young and happy! All of our first birthdays, all of our first communions and a bunch of vacation videos! So great!

Here's a still shot of me and Karen taken in 1964 when we were both 7 years old. It was the summer we met and have been friends ever since!

That's it for now. I'll leave you with an adorable picture of you-know-who!

Such an sweet, happy boy!

Coming soon: A health scare!

Around Town

Well, this year is almost over and I can't believe how fast it flew! It was full of a baby joy!

Here are a few pics from around town!

This is a pot of flowers someone put in the circle of a guard rail on the street.

 

Marie and I walked through a park in the town of Northville one morning and at the end of the trail came upon this scene.

This is a small rapids coming off of a lake into a stream. Can you imagine this being your backyard?

Rich and I were driving through the town of Plymouth and saw this brilliant rainbow. It was rather strange considering it wasn't raining at all!

Today me, Rich, Shauna, Brad and Maxwell walked the Wicked Halloween Fun 5K in Plymouth.  We got a shirt and a medal. It was cold but a lot of fun!

 Especially because this little tiger was with us! He's not used to crowds of people and the music was kind of loud so he's wasn't too happy at first!

But after we started walking he enjoyed it and even took a little nap!

We went to brunch after wards and he was such a happy, good boy!

He's developing in leaps and bounds! He's pulling himself up to a standing position, feeding himself, holding his bottle, and his little noises are becoming babbling now!

He totally has my heart!

Until the next time......

On My Phone and On My Mind

First I want to say that I am so thankful that my friends that live in Florida came through hurricane Irma OK. Especially my friend Celia who lives in Southern Florida and was one of the hardest hit. I will keep them, as well as everyone affected by Irma, Harvey and the awful wildfires in Northwest in my thoughts and prayers as they continue to suffer the effects of these natural disasters.

Never been so glad to live in Michigan as I am now!

Anyway, here are some things on my phone lately.

Rich and I went and walked around the State Fair a few weeks ago.

This cow belongs to the Michigan Milk Producers Association, where my mom worked and retired from. She was a lab tech testing milk from the local dairy farms for bacteria and antibiotic levels. She loved it! Speaking of my mom, today would have been her 85th birthday. I miss her so much still!

This cow and calf made of butter. I wonder if its solid butter or just butter smoothed out over a form?

In keeping with the cow theme, all of the cows were tied so close to the fence that they could not move. I know next to nothing about cows so I assume it was to keep them calm, even though this one looked anything but!

It's a little hard to see but this is an entire miniature farm built on a wagon.

 Last Saturday we went to the Eastern Market, which is a gigantic farmers marked in Detroit. All of the produce you see above cost less than $25. I love going to the Eastern Marked but usually only make it there once a year!

These jack fruits are so intimidating looking! I have never bought one but I hear they are hard to work with and taste something between a pineapple and a squash!

I had to do some patient chart training at work and I just had to take a picture of this part of it. It may be hard to see but in the first red outlined box where you are supposed to mark the patient's gender identity is  the usual man-boy, woman-girl, trans man, trans woman but also it says "Two-Spirit". What the he** is a Two Spirit?! I wouldn't even want to guess! 

I'm only going to say that things are getting beyond ridiculous any more! 

Lastly here is a picture of my all-boy little grandson, Maxwell! He's starting to know me really well and gets excited when he sees  me!

He's totally captured my heart!

Until the next time!!!

Summer Marching On

Between working and trying to spend as much time as I can with Maxwell the summer days are flying by!

When we moved my dad out of his house I kept a few things that had some meaning to me. One of those was my moms old hand mixer. I have many memories of my mom making cakes with it and licking the frosting off of the beaters.

When I took it from my dads house it worked just fine, but when I went to actually use it to make a cake the motor seized and that was that! I took a few pictures for the memories and off it went into the scrap pile!

Last weekend I flew to Florida to celebrate my friend Celia's 60th birthday with her. I flew to Ft. Myers, rented a car, drove from Ft. Myers to Cape Coral (only about 11 miles), rented a hotel room all by myself. My friend Karen, who knew Celia as long as I have was going to go with me but changed her mind because her elderly mother is in and out of the hospital and she didn't want to take the chance she would buy a ticket and then not be able to go.

When I checked into the hotel this gift bag was waiting for me.

It had snacks, sunblock, aspirin, sunglasses, candy and a sea shell. It was a nice surprise!

Friday night there was a party in a hall and on Saturday she had a bunch of people over her house for a luncheon. It was good to see her as I hadn't seen her in 25 years! As a matter of fact, she lived in Houston at the time and after I visited her there we lost touch. Thanks to FB we reconnected!

On Sunday morning before I headed to the airport to fly back home I went to a local beach so I could stick my feet in the ocean!

The water was so warm I wish I would have had time to go swimming!

I really enjoyed spending time with my friend and traveling by myself for a short time. I would have like to spend more time going places but I had to get back, plus Florida  in the summer gives humidity a whole new meaning! Jeez!!!

Lastly but most important is my little Maxwell!

He's 7 months old already! He rolls all over the place and in just the past few days  learned that he can motivate himself forward by tucking his legs under and then pushing his body forward! Plus he laughs and sings and yells, and also is developing a little bit of a temper!

I am watching him on Thursday and Friday next week while Shauna and Brad work and I can't wait!

Until the next time!!

Maxwell Grayson

My little grandson Maxwell is already 6 months old!

He's got two teeth.

He loves green beans, sweet potatoes, bananas, peaches and apples!

He hates peas!

He's a perfect combination of Shauna and Brad.

In the above picture he looks a lot like Brad.

But in this one he looks just like Shauna!

He's been rolling from his stomach to his back for a while not but he just learned to roll from his back to his stomach.

He's drooling like crazy right now so we expect those top teeth to break through anytime!

He's totally got me wrapped around his cute little finger!

Until the next time....

Off My Phone

I'm on vacation this week so I figured I probably should post something, and there is always random pictures off of my phone to show so....

I made a rotisserie chicken in my slow cooker that came out really good!

Saw a group called Magic Bus at a outdoor concert in a park by my house. The play 60's music if you can't tell that from the stage. The singer in the black dress got over heated half way thought the concert and had to leave. It was pretty hot out!

Giant hippie at the park!

All my sibs went along with some friends! Here we are waiting for the concert to begin. You see how crowded the park is? Those Friday night concerts are very popular!

Spent one night in Tawas just to get away for a bit. This is a scenic overlook of the Au Sable River. It was so pretty! We have canoed a few times down this river.

A bird landed on the windowsill and about drove Zoe nuts! You can't see it well but it's right above her paw!

This pretty porch Marie and I walk by every Saturday morning.

Lastly, remember these old things? This was in a restaurant we ate at on our way home from Tawas.

I want to tell you all about my grandson but I will do that in the next post so I can devote the whole thing to him!

Until then......