Dear Kids,
Well, as is the way with all great ideas, this one has lapsed a bit.
Funny enough, SBR started rewatching “Good Luck Charlie” from the beginning, and it reminded me of why I started this blog in the first place (see “And Away We Go” for more details). So, here I am trying to get things back on track.
A lot has happened since my last post, and some of it, I’m not sure I want to include in a semi-public forum as this one. Perhaps, I’ll still write the posts and keep them private, and I’ll leave the password in my will so, , you can read them later. Honestly, some of it is probably stuff you won’t forget, and it’s possible that you still talk about/deal with them.
I’ve tried to at least keep the bulleted notes we’ve taken of our trips here; right now they’re still all marked as private. My plan was to convert them to a narrative and make fun posts, but since it’s July 2023, and I still haven’t finished our Alaska trip posts, I’m thinking I’ll just publish as I have it and try to restart this fresh; if/when I have the time, I’ll go back and write the story…but it’s been so long, I’m worried I’ll miss the details.
I’m going to try to get us back on track starting today.
I guess the biggest thing I need to talk about is my health. When I turned 50, I committed to getting back on track with my health and going to the doctor regularly. I am proud to say that I did go to the doctor last year, and got pretty bad news all around. My cholesterol was dangerously high, which was a bit of surprise. So, per the doctor’s orders, I started taking medicine and vitamins. At last check, it was back down to decent numbers. They also discovered that my heart wasn’t beating correctly…something about my right chamber not pumping as strongly as it should. Again, I didn’t waste time and headed over to the cardiologist. They did an EKG, echocardiogram, and a stress test and told me all seemed ok, and that this issue is rather common and nothing to be concerned about. Just the other day I went for a follow up appointment (yes, it’s been about a year with this), and at that appointment, they told me that my heart rate was unusually low, as was my blood pressure (I generally have had low blood pressure). They suggested I come back for a heart monitor that I’ll wear for 72 hours so they can get a better idea of my heart rate than a 10-second EKG. I go tomorrow for that…We’ll see what that brings. [UPDATE: The monitor showed that everything was OK, and I’m good to go. Apparently, the weird heartbeat is just me and nothing to be concerned about.]
The general doctor also told me that I needed to do a colonoscopy, which I still haven’t scheduled and need to…Bubbie, Zaidy, and your elder aunt all had polyps, so it’s a pretty good bet that I have some too. I promise that I’ll get that done before the new year.
Let’s see, going back in time to this past April, I started a new job. It’s kind of fun; I am trying to build a completely new outreach program from scratch. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s really the right fit, and I’m now looking for a new job. Hopefully, I’ll have good news on that front soon.
Going even further back…I was in New Orleans back in January for that same program that took us all to San Francisco, Kodiak, and Seattle. While there, I tried to relive my adventures from the last time I was there (which was about 12 years earlier) and made the dumb choice to get on a mechanical bull. Sadly, I didn’t fare as well, and hurt my hip quite badly. This caused me to lose a lot of time running, but I’m in PT now and back to running (except the heart thing is concerning me, but they told me I could keep running, so I am). Also, my heel has been bothring me, and I fear it’s plantar fasciitis…I need to check in with the doctor about that one.
That’s all for now. Hopefully, I’ll be better about keeping this blog up-to-date. (And if I think of anything else I missed, I’ll come back and update this post.)
Love,
Aba
