Did I mention that Siamese-looking cat I gave scritches to at the end of my walk a few weeks ago? Wifey was right about who she belongs to. I ran into her at the start of my walk. She was out with her yellow lab, Sandy, and the cat, Tigger, was following behind.
The Missus probably had yoghurt for dinner while I was out walking (2.13 miles). I tad Trader Joe’s chicken piccata (19 g carbohydrates), two thick slices of Gallo salami, and red wine.
metal mouse, I think you’d enjoy the dog walking. Given your travel hobby and soccer, having a pet would be problematic, but you’d be doing a good deed, getting exercise and critter love. They usually have positions for playing with kittehs too. 
Went to tattoo consult. She’s booked till July y’all, imma forget! (Not really. I’m so excited.)
She gently ball-point-ink me (with full consent) to get some lines down, then we spent a bit of time going over what I wanted - with some dissension from her, which I appreciated (“in my experience, X and Y doesn’t age well” “okay, what do you recommend?”) - so I have a much better sense of what will happen … in July.
Remind me to get that day off.
And possibly, day after. I don’t want Asshole Manager slapping me on the back that day.
What does slapping you on the back have to do with managing your asshole?
That just totally cracked me up. Hubs spent months teaching one of our cats to use the kitty door and I just assumed it was because we had a not so smart cat. I didn’t know that dogs would have doggy door anxiety as well. Soooooo what’s gonna happen when you move and they have to learn about another doggy door? Will they remember that doggy doors are good, or are they not so smart like our cat?
Our medical system sucks. Nobody should have to worry about how to pay for life saving medical treatment. GAAHHH! Jumps off soapbox, runs screaming around the room a couple of times and then pets the fur off the closest cat to calm down.
I hope you get something worked out soonest. We want you to stick around for a very long time.
Yanno…after about the second time I got slapped on the back by someone I thought was an asshole, I would have had loud words about DO NOT TOUCH ME!!!, but all of the “gladhanders” back when I was working never touched me twice after I looked at them. You might need to work on your glare, it seems as though it hasn’t been working lately.
Due to your lack of a good “GDIAF” face, perhaps you should just bring in a roll of surgical gauze so you can have some showing outside your work shirt. This is just costuming, put it where ever it might make people remember that you have an owie.
You are a good person too. Homeless critters need all the lovings they can get. Before I retired I used to be close enough to go to the shelter at lunch and pet kitties (how’s THAT for a nice lunch date?) but now that it’s an hour drive away I’m rarely in the area anymore.
As is normal when it comes to just about anything but my stitching (and weed), hubs took over the planting of the pomegranate tree*. He went to town today and bought a bunch of top soil and filled the hole with top soil, then tree and top soil until that ran out and then shoveled in some of the clay the hole digger shoveled out.
As soon as we walked away, a hummingbird perched on one of the little branches. I squeed.
*back when we were first together, that sort of thing used to just tick me off. I did eventually figure out that he was saying “As you wish”.
If it were me? Do what the ER doc recommended: IIRC, wee little aspirin every day and monitor your blood pressure. Record those BPs. Be sure to read all the instructions with your BP cuff and follow those consistently (arm at heart level, etc) every time.
Make sure your nearest and dearest know to take you to an ER the second you or they notice TIA onset symptoms, cost be damned. Minutes matter.
Over the longer term: get yourself insured so you can be monitored long term. Whether that be through your DH’s coverage, ACA or COBRA. We are all at that age that we need to be insured so we can engage in preventative care as well as the medical surprises. Enroll in Medicare A,B and a supplemental the month you turn 65.
Consider paying out of pocket for a visit to a PCP after you have a BP diary that has a couple of weeks of readings in it, just so they can evaluate you for blood thinners more sophisticated than low dose aspirin. Be working on insurance while you’re doing this.
Get off the couch if you want to. Talk yourself into not worrying. Normal activities aren’t harmful or risky. I’d consider backing away from caffeine if you drink more than a mug or two a day. Spend even more time with your pets, they are relaxing and lower blood pressure. So less coffee, more pets!
Go to ER first hint of symptoms! Cost be damned-worry about that later.
Work on getting insured, the most coverage you can afford (not a Medicare Advantage plan, they are only an advantage to the company). Bite that bullet.
Educate yourself about TIAs and stroke~they can be a little different in women and they can start off subtle. Educate your sweetie too so he’ll bundle you into the car at the first sign (don’t argue as he is bundling you off). Post a little reminder card of the signs and symptoms on your bathroom mirror and your refrigerator.
Now go pet some thing furry or feathered.
Have I told you that I love you lately? If not, I’ve been remiss and I am very sorry. I love and adore you.
Doctor OKed the regular-dose aspirin we have in stock, so that’s what I’m doing at the moment. Wrist BP monitor arriving tomorrow from the Jungle (the usual upper-arm style is quite painful, which can’t be good for accuracy). Will study and follow device instructions once I have them.
I’m only 52, so Medicare is WAY over the horizon. Will be working on the insurance issue. I’m quite sure DH won’t take a recurrence lightly, and we live only a few blocks from a hospital ER (with ambulance-equipped fire station between those points), so assuming he’s home if something goes wrong, should be OK. We’re in agreement that my phone stays VERY close to me when he’s not home. I don’t do coffee, but cutting back from 2 cans of Mt. Dew a day to one is probably a good idea :). I think Allie’s calming down now that weird smells have been washed off, so hopefully more feline attention will be forthcoming.
I’ll spend the weekend on needed symptom research and make sure DH gets an overview.
@Seanette, you’re a star 
patient already!
Those automatic upper arm BPs hurt me too. I’ve gotten crotchety in my old age (72) and don’t let drs offices use them on me anymore. Old fashion manual cuff and a human with a stethoscope I’ll let them do. Some of the youngest techs and aides look at me funny but the pain makes my BP worse than it is. The crotchety snarl doesn’t help either. I let them weigh me-isn’t that capitulation enough?
Here’s one good website:
And one for women:
lol, maybe you got some teenager’s prom dress ?it’s about that time of year for it
I do hope mouse drank a glass of Parthian tiger sweat in celebration … or if he didn’t he went out for ice cream …
Wow nets you were lucky hope ya get better as the wife with cancer mentioned above …
In the last wellness visit I had last year right before I caught covid … where the examiner asked " so when did you have a heart attack? and as far as I knew I didn’t but I never got to follow it up as I caught pneumonia /covid right around Christmas
I just noticed that especially on my upper left arm (apparently the more popular BP cuff victim last night), I’ve got at least one pretty good bruise and some red lines on the inner side (toward my torso). Minor red spots on the right. Is that common, am I over-sensitive, or was there something not right?
You might need to knock a star off that patient rating, since when I popped back over to my Amazon account, I discovered I had not completed placing the order, so will not have my BP monitor until Saturday. (sigh)
We’re not going to get specific about weight :), but I know there’s more of me than there ought to be and I’ve gotten rather too sedentary lately. Think beginner yoga would be worthwhile?
Thanks for the website links. One thing I love about this board, the collective hive mind seems to know nearly everything.
Yes, anything that gets you engaged and moving. Tai chi is also good. In my city the parks and rec folks sponsor free yoga and tai chi in the parks.
I’m famous for doing this. You can keep the stars! I’ll trust you. Throw in some extra feather and fur sessions to bridge the gap til Saturday. DH gets some extra fur and feathers bucket-filling too, for being such a good support person.
Ding! Ding! Ding! My guess? Someone, either lazy or inadequately trained, used the wrong size BP cuff on you. And then when it didn’t work, did it again. Next time, if it starts to hurt, you are within your rights to say “stop! Take it off right now. From here on out only a manual cuff and a stethoscope”.
I’ll keep that in mind. I was trying to be as nice and cooperative a patient as possible, but apparently there should be some limit on that.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 55 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 85 and N.O.S. for the day. No real big plans again today. The cee-mint pond needs a little more work, so I might go out there for a bit. Other than that sloth and day drinkin’ are the order of the day. Sup shall be majick intartoobz pizza and sallit.
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah.
Happy Firday Y’all!
Nettie - Please, please, PLEASE take care of yourself. There are few enough of us GenXers, and I don’t want to give the Millennials the satisfaction of outliving all of us.
We have found some pretty big differences between leukemia and breast cancer:
1 - The pacing. It was a matter of hours between the leukemia diagnosis and them putting the PIC lines in for chemo. Right now, it’s like “Oh sure, we can fit you in next week for the MRI, what day is good for you?” Only after that, will the talk surgery options.
2 - There are a shitload more support groups for breast cancer than HCL. We can’t throw a stone without hitting at least three.
3 - As a corollary to the above, there is also a lot more to read with breast cancer, which gives you a lot more to think about. I’m -->this<-- close to blocking WebMD in our firewall. Woman needs to sleep.
4 - When you say “breast cancer,” you get a lot fewer confused looks and blank stares than if you say leukemia.
5 - Both, however, let you keep your hair (so far).
Mrs Magill is happy (as far as these things go) that she’s getting her original oncologist back. She did not care for the blood oncology specialist she had to be transferred to last year.
Dinner last night was a crustless quiche with leftover ham. I’m thinking Cubanos for lunch today. I whipped up some sandwich rolls last night, so to put them in my belly today. I pulled out a flank steak from the freezer yesterday for tonight, bit it’s still pretty solid, so I guess that’s for tomorrow.
Mrs Magill picked up a 25 lb bag of bread flour from the Gordon’s last week. I could be a bit slow, but I think she wants me to maker her some more bread this weekend. I finally think I have the knack for the baguette cloche she gave me for Christmas, so it looks like Spike and I will be devouring some fresh bread again tomorrow.
Everyone have a good day, and Nettie seriously, please take care of yourself.
Morning all. Did make it to the gym about 8:15pm, did some weights and biking and finished about 9:15, so then came home and bathed, read and slept until 7am. Swimmin’ and Sauna today and Soccer tomorrow, it’s getting to 83F today and 84 tomorrow with no rain in the forecast–looks like the countdown to turning on the Air Conditioner has begun.
BBBoo. Nettie, I’ll try to remember that about the BP cuff, it has not been a comfortable experience the last couple of years and I wonder if it has affected my BP readings. Didn;t know about a wrist-BP device, may have to look into that.
shoe, if she’s got customers through July, you’ve probably got a very good artist at the needle. We will look forward to pictures in the Summer.
OK, pills taken and paper retrieved, so check on GMM website and my webcomics then search for sustenance. All y’all have a good Firday.
Good morning everyone.
It’s my RDO and I’m very grateful for that. I also managed to stay in bed until 6:00 am. I’ve been dog-tired these last weeks.
I just love how everyone comes together here to help solve a problem. You are all terrific!
I am trying to decide what I want to do today. I keep going back and forth between erranding or staying home. If I run errands today, there will be fewer people. I’m just not a fan of crowds.
I’d like to get to the nursery and I need to get to Wild Birds Unlimited. I need some seed and I like to look at all the stuff in there. I’m thinking of getting an extra set of double arms to add to my feeder, but we’ll see.
I am really super excited to get some flowers in my planters and in the ground. Since I don’t put hummingbird feeders out, I plant flowers that attract the hummingbirds. We usually have quite a few flitting through the flowers and they are a lot of fun to watch too.
Right now, it’s rather wet outside, but it’s not raining. It’s supposed to be dryish with partly cloudy skies today and tomorrow. I’ll need to get the lawn mowed too, but I think I’ll do that tomorrow.
Well, onward with the day. I need to shower so I can face the day.
It’s those damn automatic cuffs. I hate them. They don’t fit well and they hurt, which make the pain go up, which makes the cuff go tighter, which makes the pain go up. I end up bruised too. Some kind nurses have helped me understand which cuff sizes fit better, but I still hate the automatic machines.
My big news here is… we missed taking the trash cans out last night. For the second week in a row. We rushed them out this morning, but I think we’re SOL. They changed our trash day and we’re not keeping up very well.
Happy Firday everyone!