phyllser

Absolutely! My youngest sister, who is also a nurse, told me today that a doctor told her that even they sometimes can't tell the difference between a heart attack and a gall bladder attack. Gall bladder can be difficult to diagnose.

Yeah, Steve is the youngest one. Oldest son is Navy Cmdr.. soon to be C.O. of his unit. Very responsible. Flying up here in the plane he built next week!! I always worry when he flies long distances like that.. over the mountains... and I think he's flying by himself this time. Lots of times son, Justin flies with him, but I think Justin is driving up with DIL this weekend. They're all coming up for a visit and to get DGD from the U of WA. She's about finished with her sophomore year.

Talked to Steve again. I'm thinking maybe he really did have a stroke. Said his left side was paralyzed for a while yesterday and arms and legs still tingly today. First he had severe chest pain. Then he panicked and was hyperventilating. So.. definitely panic made the whole episode worse. But they told him he has high BP and needs to see a dr. He was told that 4-5 years ago when he had to go to ER with an ankle sprain... fell off a ladder at work. And he never followed through. Gave him an Rx, but don't know what it is or what it is for because I think he is spelling it wrong.

Yep, Arlene... the son in OK, not the Navy Cmdr (he's in CA).. Steve is in Grove. He works for a mobile painting company, so he's all over, but back in Grove for the time being. I don't know what to think... yesterday I heard heart attack, stroke, heat stroke and anxiety attack! I am concerned because it started with severe chest pain and numbness in his arm. He says his left side was paralyzed, but today just tingling in his arms and legs. They gave him an Rx, but I don't think he's spelling it correctly... He kept saying, "hydrocholoro... pomoate". Haven't looked it up yet, but my sis did and she couldn't find anything close to that spelling. At any rate, they also told him he needs to see a doctor because he has high BP. He was told that about 4-5 years ago and never followed up. He has no health insurance and does not handle money well. So, of course, he's worried about how much it will cost him. And I worry about his follow through..... if he does get Rx for BP med, what are the chances he will consistently take it and continue to get refills. He is adopted.. and I am convinced, fetal alcohol syndrome. I just can't imagine him having the self discipline to put himself on a regimen of taking even ONE pill every day! And, problem with high BP is NO symptoms until you're in serious trouble. So... that's my story! I had to get up early past two days for Dr. appts... esp today when I had to be there at 8 a.m.! SO I am exhausted and need a rest, but wanted to give you an update. Tomorrow I have to be at PT at 9 a.m. and Friday, LapBand surgeon (radiology) at 11 a.m. and they are about 65 miles away, so that will be an early start day, too. Can't wait for Saturday.. I am SLEEPING IN until at least 7:30 a.m., maybe later! BTW... doc I saw today explained everything on my back x-rays, said the pool PT is perfect and gave me Rx for 12 more sessions. very nice fella, and quite interesting to look at... Indian, I think... fairly young, dark skinned with thick gray hair..but it was curly. Don't think I ever met anyone from India with curly hair. Not kinky, just very curly. Very pleasant personality. My DH says, "you're done already!??" when I came out. But, I think he spent a good 30 minutes with me... very thorough exam and slow, careful explanation of everything... sat me down at desk at the nurses' station and sat there with me explaining each x-ray... showed me bone spur, sliding disc, scoliosis (you were right about that, Laura), and another abnormality on S-1 .... a "breach" of some kind that could be a previous fracture, or maybe congenital defect.

Nothing new on my niece except the jerk is in jail and apparently called her at 1:30 a.m. How do you get to use the phone in the middle of the night when you're in jail.... to call the person you beat up???? Hope they throw away the key. I'll tell you more on that later. She never should've gotten mixed up with this guy in the first place. He has quite a history. Steve.... beginning to get suspicious about what this is all about! First he was crying and in a panic with chest pain and his arm going numb....3X. Then.... girlfriend's mother calls and says it was a heart attack and/or a stroke! Then he calls and say sit was a "massive heat stroke". Then he calls late last night, groggy from medication they gave him, and tells me it was an anxiety attack and he'll call me in the morning. I have to go.... appt with the physiatrist for my back at 8 a.m. Denise... grieving with you over what is going on in the gulf! So sad! And no end in sight. I can't imagine the emotions you must be feeling.

Feeling much better... no more coughing, etc. One more day on "Z-Pack" for the bronchitis and was using an inhaler for a few days but don't need it now. Being very careful with food.. but not doing all liquids like the surgeon's office told me. Have had oatmeal the last couple of mornings. Had 1 Rye krisp cracker w/lite cream cheese and some smoked salmon for lunch. SF, FF latte this morning and 1 glass of wine this afternooon. Having some of the veggie salad that I made for the party yesterday right now, and Earl is fixing me a boca burger for dinner. Appt to check band placement on Friday. Tomorrow I see physiatrist about my back... which is doing fine. I am doing the PT in the pool 2X a week and I love it. Get a good 1 hr workout... strengthening and some cardio. And today I went upstairs to use some of the gym's machines before I went home. Had dermatology appt early this morning... lesion on my cheek was nothing but a cyst and it's now gone. Dr. used some kind of an instrument that removed the cyst and the Fluid in it. And he took a skin tag off my nose... was right where my glasses rest and it kept getting inflamed. What a day it has been.... text messages first thing this morning... My sister telling me her daughter's boyfriend held her "hostage" for 4 hours during the night beating her up. Said she is unrecognizable.. swelling, black eyes, etc. He is in jail. Then, when I got out of the pool I noticed I had messages on my cell phone... called my voice mail and heard three tearful messages from our youngest son (in OK) saying he had terrible chest pains and was going to the ER (37 yrs old). Then I couldn't get him back on the phone. Then his girlfriend's mother called and told me he had a stroke and a heart attack! I said a stroke AND a heart attack.. she says, well, he had chest pain and his arm went numb! So.. finally I hear from him and he says he had a HEAT stroke. But then the call dropped and I couldn't get him back! So I am waiting for another call from him.. that was almost 2 hrs ago. And his boss called me and said he was headed for the hospital and would call me with an update! After all this I think I might have a stroke and a heart attack! I need a vacation! Plus Earl has been a pill today. So tired of his daily monitoring of the credit card and checking account! Got drilled this morning about what this is and what that is and why is the phone bill so high! So, I"m so mad I"m barely speaking to him right now. I wouldn't be speaking to him at all if Steve wasn't having all these medical problems today! But I had to tell him what was going on.

Feeling much better... no more coughing, etc. On "Z-Pack" for bronchitis and was using an inhaler for a few days. Being very careful with food.. but not doing all liquids like the surgeon's office told me. Appt to check band placement on Friday. Tomorrow I see physiatrist about my back... which is doing fine. I am doing PT in the pool 2X a week and I love it. Get a good 1 hr workout... strengthening and some cardio. And today I went upstairs to use some of the gym's machines before I went home. Had dermatology appt early this morning... lesion on my cheek was nothing but a cyst and it's now gone. Dr. used some kind of an instrument that removed the cyst and the fluid in it. And he took a skin tag off my nose... was right where my glasses rest and it kept getting inflamed. What a day it has been.... text messages first thing this morning... My sister telling me her daughter's boyfriend held her "hostage" for 4 hours during the night beating her up. Said she is unrecognizable.. swelling, black eyes, etc. He is in jail. Then, when I got out of the pool I noticed I had messages on my cell phone... called my voice mail and heard three tearful messages from our youngest son (in OK) saying he had terrible chest pains and was going to the ER (37 yrs old). Then I couldn't get him back on the phone. Then his girlfriend's mother called and told me he had a stroke and a heart attack! I said a stroke AND a heart attack.. she says, well, he had chest pain and his arm went numb! So.. finally I hear from him and he says he had a HEAT stroke. But then the call dropped and I couldn't get him back! So I am waiting for another call from him.. that was almost 2 hrs ago. And his boss called me and said he was headed for the hospital and would call me with an update!

How did your workout go?? Party was a lot of fun. Got to see the grandkids, got to hold my puppy, etc. My salad turned out really good!! At least I liked it! There was so much food there.... I didn't see too many eating it... of course, not the kids, and the adults were filling up on burgers, hot dogs, ribs! I ate 1/2 a dog w/o bun and a couple of ribs, spoonful of potato salad, little bit of my salad.... Oh... and a small piece of birthday cake. Very slow... very careful... because everything is going good today and didn't want to screw it up. Had oatmeal w/lots of FF milk for BF, 1/2 cup runny mashed potatoes left over from the other night. So runny I had to drink it! Yeah... gotta rest!! Have dermatology appt early in the morning to check out this weird thing on my cheek.... finally! Dr told me to have it checked 4 months ago! My bad! Then.. PT at the pool in the afternoon. UGH! Exhausted at 10 p.m. so think I'll go to bed early! Couldn't get to sleep until about 4 a.m. I think Albuterol inhaler kept me awake... used it too late. Forgot since this morning, so don't think I"ll use it now... too late again. Not coughing so maybe don't need it anymore. Sent PayPal $$ to Suzanne Lambert ..... deposit check for $200, $804 for balance. You're all good...

Good Morning! Candice.... great site for finding a dog! Thanks. Just did a little research there. Been using Petfinders.com, too. Good for you on the job issue! They are NOT appreciating you, let alone showing you some common decency and respect! Sorry, Karla... I'm a mean mom... tough love type. I'd toss that chick AND her dog out! That's about to happen to our 21 yr old grandson. He won't grow up until it happens and Elyse won't either. He is taking advantage of his folks and disrespecting them. So is Elyse! I would NOT put up with a dog who is peeing all over the house, especially in the bed!! No excuse... new mattress and new carpet!!??? Forget it! OUT!!! Yes, Janet... .I need to rest. Hard thing to do! Earl always thinks I should keep on keepin' on even if I feel like shxxxxx! I really wanted to stay home from church yesterday! But... we're church shopping with Tracy & Jim. We really like the one that meets at the gym where we all go to exercise! Small, laid back, pastor preaches in jeans and shirt tails hangin' out. We like his messages, too. But.. we wanted to try one more before we settled in there. So we planned to do that yesterday. Didn't like it. Back to the gym next Sunday! So... there was that. Then we always go out to lunch. But that was right on the way home... close to home, too. And I had a bowl of navy bean Soup. Then I did rest for a little while. But I get antsy just sitting in my recliner wasting time on my laptop. So I called Tracy! Rode my scooter over to the latte stand... in TWO sweatshirts... put 2nd one on because it is nice warm hooded pullover (from Whistler) and it was drizzling. Came back and got it because my head was getting wet. Anyway, after I got my coffee I rode over to Target and waited for Tracy. We shopped for about an hour. Got birthday presents for party we're having today... Jim's birthday this week, Alisha's today, and one of their little granddaughters. So we had fun in the toddler section ooooing and aaahhing over all the cute clothes! And we got some CDs.... Carrie Underwood and Craig Morgan. So... came out of Target and it was raining harder.... had to steer with one hand and hold my umbrella with the other all the way home! Then I did sit and rest the remainder of the day. Today... mostly sitting... until the multi-person birthday party later today. Will be happy to se Jodie & family, too. They are coming up. Love to see the kiddos! I made veggie salad that I learned at Primetimers a couple of weeks ago... a small bag of frozen peas... the little ones, half of a small bag of frozen corn, half of a small bag of frozen whole green Beans. Then I diced up some onion, celery, and a little green, orange, red & yellow bell peppers. For dressing.. used my magic bullet and put in 1 clove of elephant garlic, about 1/2 cup each of Water and white balsamic vinegar and about 4 packets of Splenda. Added some ground pepper and ground sea salt and some non-salt seasoning... garlic and herb. Put it in the fridge last night to marinate overnight. Should be good. Won't eat much... supposed to stay on liquids! Had some steel cut oats for Breakfast. Earl made about 3X more than I could eat, so I have leftovers for the next few mornings. Lots of FF milk to make it runny. Feeling better this morning and no coughing during the night. Slept good, but I don't think I got to sleep until about 4 a.m. I think I used the albuterol inhaler too close to bedtime. Well, hope you all have a great day. RAINING again here, as usual!! Lets hope we get a dry weekend when you guys come up!!! Forgot one more thing..... if you have to have ice cream around.... I love the new Skinny Cow Truffles. They come in 3 different flavors.. I like the white chocolate mint, I think they're called. 100 calories. I have to keep buying them because every time I go to get one they're either gone or almost gone because Earl keeps eating them! I don't have one every day, just a few times a week. This past week.... no Snacks... too tight. But I had one last night and there was only one more left! I think that was the first one I had out of the last box I bought! Funny how they disappear!!

Hi, Didn't feel too great this morning... late night last night. I did sleep like a rock w/o coughing my head off... Didn't cough up anything at all last night. Medicine must be helping... so have to assume doc was right about bronchitis! But surgeon's office told me to stay on liquids until Friday and I'm having a hard time with that. After resting my stomach for a few days, I'm not tight anymore and I"m HUNGRY!! Had my small omelet for breakfast.. ate REAL slow and careful and it was fine. Went out to lunch after church.. had navy bean soup! That was fine too. 2 mugs of hot tea with it. So... stomach seems to be back to normal but I will try to obey my instructions! Carrie Underwood concert was outstanding! Best concert I've ever been to. We all loved it.... Tracy, Jim, Earl, Alisha and her BF. Two lead in groups were good to... Sons of Sylvia and Craig Morgan.... really liked him... Tracy and I met at Target today and I bought their last two Craig Morgan albums... one for me and one for Jim's birthday. And I bought Carrie Underwoods newest album... the one the concert was promoting... "Play On". Do have a lot of aches and pains today.. and think I was running a low grade fever again for a little while this afternoon. But mostly just draggin'. Busy week ahead. So will take my rest whenever I can get it. Hope you all are having a GREAT holiday weekend. Weather here sucks!

Feeling tired and worn out, but coughing has almost stopped. And had 1/2 baked potato w/soup for dinner.... put the soup over the mashed up potato and ate real slow... went down fine. Didn't feel stuck at all.. but will be very careful what I have.... soup, protein drinks, etc. Concert was absolutely the best I've ever been too. Carrie Underwood is awesome! GREAT entertainer!

Checks.... what a GREAT idea!! I downloaded one audio book and one ebook from my local library... and the software that is supposed to allow me to read them on my iTouch. The software synced just fine, but cannot get the books to transfer! iTunes makes it really difficult to sync anything to your device that you don't buy from them. My BIL says just drag and drop, but I can't get that to work either! DD & SIL saw Prince of Persia yesterday and were raving about it today. We have tickets to see Carrie Underwood tonight. Feel lousy but going anyway. Doc says bronchitis. Did I report that already?? Anyway, don't think it is a problem with my band... I was really freaking out about that. But surgeon's office has me scheduled for an esophogram on Friday to check placement.

Hi, Slept well last night but awake a few times, especially 5-8 a.m., coughing, coughing, coughing... bringing up pink-tinged gunk which I finally decided is probably NOT coming from my stomach. So I went to walk-in clinic at my primary care doc's office. Slight fever, hurts deep in my throat when I take a deep breath.. lungs sound clear... Dr. I saw thinks it's bronchitis and gave Rx for antibiotic and inhaler. Probably from too much vomiting all week. I have such a strong gag reflex that even though I wasn't bringing up anything more than slime really, it was causing me to wretch pretty violently... like dry heaves. So... we'll see if this helps. I really feel okay except for a little tired out and slight headache that comes and goes. In fact... about to go to Walmart, and tonight... Carrie Underwood with DD, SIL & DGD & her boyfriend. We're going to dinner too.. I'll probably have soup. LapBand Dr office old me to stay on liquids until I see them next Friday!!! HUH!!?? I will probably have some soup. Last solid food I had was the mac and cheese Lean Cuisine Thursday night. But, not really feeling hungry. Bought a 4 pack of EAS protein drinks but didn't have any yet.

Surgeon's office finally called. They have me scheduled for esophogram in radiology next Friday morning.... a week away! Might take fluid out of my band! I hope not!

Add my congrats to that, Jessica! You're doing a GREAT job and making so many life changing decisions!

Problem is the LAP-BAND® surgeon's office is about 60 miles south. The hospital he uses is in downtown Seattle. Holiday weekend traffic is unbelievable! Everyone going to the mountains or across the sound towards the coast. Tracy & Jim had an awful time going to lunch and movie because they had to take a highway that leads over the mountains! So... what I decided to do is wait it out until morning. If things aren't a whole lot better, I'll go to the primary care doc's walk-in tomorrow morning. Don't see any blood in my stool. I think if it as blood I'd be feeling weak. I'm just tired. Did fall asleep a little while ago, though... sitting straight up in my recliner and as soon as I got in to a deep sleep... suddenly woke up with same crap in my mouth again... just a little bit. I did go to pool PT this morning... Almost called and canceled, but thought it would be good for me. And I did feel better after an hour of exercise. So far today.... 16 oz Crystal Lite, 16 oz SF, FF latte, the other half can of tomato soup and just now had a 100 cal Skinny Cow Truffle... Hungry for some food. Might have a little mashed potatoes for dinner. And about to try a glass of wine.... which actually might relax my tummy a little. Wow! Candy just came to sit next to me.... oh... Earl has his legs up on his chair instead of his foot rest up. That explains it. She is really HIS cat! Tracy found me a cute little puppy on the internet yesterday. Geez... to get one of these dogs from a shelter or rescue place, you have to fill out a 2-3 page application and email/send it before they'll even talk to you! I told Tracy I keep getting hung up on the question, "are all family members agreeable to this adoption?" LOL! Uh... no! I think he is weakening. Jim & Tracy bring Gigi over almost every day! Today she jumped in his lap first, then came and sat with me. After about 10-15 minutes he's all.... "Gigi, come and see Daddy!" And she did. And he's giving her cat treats and talking baby talk to her! This is the puppy Tracy found on the internet.

Stupid surgeon's office NEVER calls me back! You'd think with those symptoms, they would have returned my call in a timely manner. They close in an hour, so I'm not holding out much hope of hearing from them before Tuesday now! So... I called my primary care doc's office. They transferred me to the on call nurse. She did not freak out over my story, and said I would have to come in to walk-in in order for them to figure out what is going on. Duh! So... no "nursely" advice or recommendations at all! So....it's late now, but if there is not significant improvement before tomorrow morning, they are open 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. for walk-ins tomorrow. So I'll go in tomorrow morning if I have not had a big change for the better. Right now still have queasy stomach.

Waiting for Dr's office to call me back. I know... kinda scary!

ALERT.....TMI....Read with Caution!!! Not having a good week! Trouble with hard Protein ALL week. So yesterday I did only liquids.... 2 SF, FF lattes, coffee in the morning, 1 cup tomato Soup for lunch (125 calories for 1/2 can, Janet), glass of wine. So... was feeling pretty okay by late afternoon so I had a small mac and cheese lean cuisine for dinner. WRONG ANSWER! PB'd ... well, just slimed, really, and was extremely uncomfortable the rest of the evening..... do you gals get that pain in your shoulders again when you're tight or stuck??? I sure do... thought I was going to die. So I stayed up until midnight and then went to bed with 2 huge pillows and a small one under my head. Woke up coughing up stuff at 1:30 a.m. and that was about the end of my sleep. Have a call in to my band dr because I coughed up brown slime all night long. Hope it's not blood. Earl's been working on taking the stains out of the sheets and my night shirt all morning because a couple of times I dozed off and then wasn't prepared with Kleenex when I woke up coughing and barfing. I went through about a half a box of Kleenex I think! It was horrible. Similar experience about a week or so ago.. but this was much worse this time. And all the coughing made my lungs hurt. So... doing liquids again today. Tracy & Jim are on their way over and they're going out to lunch.. I know they're going to ask us to go with them.. but only if they're going somewhere that I can get soup.

Okay Janet.... here's my food for yesterday. BF was the last of leftover breakfast from last Saturday... It was a "Joe's Scramble"..... eggs, fresh spinach, mushrooms, onions, ground sausage.... they were pretty stingy with that. So... I had it Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and it came with hash browns which I split up over the four days, too. Impossible to figure out the calories. But probably 3-4 eggs to start... so no more than 1 egg each portion. OH... there was a little grated Parmesan cheese on top... very little. Lunch... Primetimers.... 3 small BBQ ribs... not much meat on them, about 1/3 cup baked Beans, 1/2 cup cole slaw (with too much mayo) and 1/2 chocolate chip cookie. SF, FF latte in the afternoon... probably about 6 oz of skimmed milk. 4 oz glass of wine, 1 oz cheese. dinner was lean cuisine penne Pasta w/chicken... I think it was 290 calories. Got stuck. PB'd, so NO snack in the evening. oh... forgot... I had about 1/2 cup of MY cole slaw with my dinner. VERY little mayo in it.. I used white balsamic vinegar and splenda for the dressing with just a little Best Foods mayo. I think I might have a little with my wine this afternoon. It's almost gone. Felt miserable when I woke up this morning. Still in pain from last night dinner. So... only coffee in the morning. SF, FF latte in the late morning. Tomato soup for lunch.. 1/2 can = 125 calories, 6 crakcers = 120 calories. Mid-afternoon... since I had only liquids so far today... had another SF, FF latte. And I'm about to have my glass of wine. Don't know about dinner yet. Picked up a couple more small Lean Cuisines and might eat one of those. Or... bought 4 cans EAS Protein drinks.... might have one of those.

I've been threatening to get a tattoo.... DH says NO! But he says NO to most fun things!! LOL! Like I"m begging for a puppy lately. But.... have to tell you about the funny birthday card I saw today.... Two old ladies sitting on the front porch... On the front it says... 'I had a rose tattooed on my boob when I was younger." Inside it says, "Now it's a LONG-STEMMED". Hummus is a good snack.... beef jerky, okay.... now my mind went blank... but that's a start!

Don't worry about it! No offense taken! Had a Lean Cuisine Penne Pasta and chicken dinner last night. Did not go well! Still feel terrible. Barely getting my coffee down this morning and can't even think about eating anything!

welcome back!!

OMG!! You are NOT a BAD MOM for not insuring your GROWN UP kids!! For heaven's sake.... get over it! It's the RIGHT thing to do. They need to learn to be responsible for themselves!! I think Tracy & Jim & I might go puppy shopping while Earl is off getting the electrical work done for the tow bar on the new car tomorrow! May check out some local shelters... and maybe even the one that is east of the mountains!

So.. who do you think will win tonight??? AI, that is! Last week I was rooting for Lee... but he didn't do so good last night. Crystal was amazing, though, so I voted for her. I think she has more "star quality", but they are probably both quite marketable! Will be interesting to see who wins, but I think Crystal was the clear winner last night. Thought we'd go to costco after Primetimers today but Earl said no because we don't need gas! Okay.. so we'll just sit hear and watch the rain ut the window the whole rest of the day. Wish Tracy wasn't working today. I may go to Kohl's by myself. Better than watching the rain and listening to Earl snore all afternoon! And I was going to remember to look for the Cabot cheese, too. Earl says we have to big chunks of cheese in the refrigerator and when they are gone, I can pick whatever cheese I want! Yeah, right! Like Mr. Control Freak is going to let ME pick out the cheese. I did journal all my food for a long time. I got burned out, I guess. Just can't find the discipline to do it right now. I'll tell you what I eat.... YOU can write it down!! :smile2::biggrin::laugh::biggrin: