Hi Friends,
I bet you thought nothing has been happening since we last wrote in July. Well, you'd be wrong! Ben said I have to write this time, since the most "excitement" has been happening to me!
I had all my annual doctor visits two weeks ago; my GP, a mammogram, my dermatologist, and my oncologist. It all went very well... the GP changed a few meds, the dermatologist took off one mole, and the oncologist said I have been in remission for 5 years, and can quit taking my cancer medication the end of October! Hooray.
We visited a bunch of friends in Salem, including those in our Thursday Night group who met at our friend Judy J's house this time. It is always good to catch up with these folks, many of whom Ben worked with. It was nice weather, so we enjoyed the outdoors while we visited.
We decided to leave Salem on Friday, because there were races to go to in Lebanon (Ben does love his dirt track races), and because the wi-fi was miserable at the RV park where we were staying. (They knocked Ben off one day, and he couldn't get back on! Very frustrating, although mine seem to work fine).
We camped out next to the race track where we at least had water and sewer hook up, and we were joined by Baja friends from Eugene. I opted out of the races and dog sat while the poor quivering things tried to figure out what all the noise was about!
When we got to Eugene on Sunday, a pre-dinner drink at Sarver Vinyard sounded like a good idea, so we went there with John H., our Eugene host, and enjoyed the view, the wine, the cheese and bread and all the goodies that went with it. Yum!
On Monday, we got to meet Georgina, our newest niece. She just turned 3 months old! What a sweetheart!
Greg looks like a natural here at being a father. At least he's got a good start!
Then the excitement started! I woke up Tuesday morning with an extremely fast heart beat. What in the world??? I read up on a few things on the internet, tried to count it (18 beats in 6 seconds x 10 = 180. That can't be right!!) I decided about 10:30AM that I should go to an urgent care clinic, and by the time we'd been to the old Sacred Heart on 13th and been mis-directed by the gal at the information desk to an urgent care clinic out West 11th that didn't do heart care, we made it into the new hospital's Emergency Room at about 11:30. They got right to me, asked me a bunch of questions (I felt ok, just a bit light-headed and tired), took my blood pressure and heart rate (175 plus or minus a few). They tried a few non-invasive techniques with me to get the heart rate down (blowing out the plunger on a syringe with one breath), but nothing worked to slow it down, so they took me back to a room and installed an IV. After the ER doctor checked me over, I was given an EKG to help determine the problem, and had constant blood pressure and heart rate monitoring. The doc decided to administer a drug that stops the heart, and then immediately re-starts it. Well!! That sounded exciting. They had me hooked up to the machine that would shock my heart if it didn't start again, so they were prepared! At this point, I was taking a deep breath and saying "go for it". They administered the meds via the IV, I felt a heavy feeling in my chest, and then normal, and my heart rate went right down, and continued to go down to about 80 in the next little while. Phew! They continued to monitor me for another hour (I couldn't go anywhere with all that stuff hooked up to me anyway), talked with me about the problem, and determined that I was fine and could leave. That was about 2:15. My diagnosis was Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT). And thank goodness my Medicare started in May of this year!
The rest of the week in Eugene was fairly quiet. We visited a fellow who had at least one Model A that Ben lusted after, and a few Model Ts. This one pictured below is a Speedster, and Ben thinks that would be a fun car to have!
This is his garage!! He had all kinds of things on display, besides his cars, including old gas pumps, neon signs, antique toys, a juke box, etc. Fun!
We had been inviting people over for dinner on Thursday night before my medical episode, and I was feeling pretty good, so we went ahead with the party. Ben was able to steal fresh corn (not really, he was given permission) from my Malpass family relatives' farm. Delicious! Ben barbecued some fresh salmon, everyone brought a contribution, and we all enjoyed visiting and eating! One guest even arrived in his private plane on John's landing strip. That was fun to watch. Of course, my dogs were dumb enough to try to chase him, on landing AND take-off! Good grief.
We are back in Salem for a couple days, catching up with a few folks we missed the first time, and visiting my doctor's office again! At my appointment today, my doctor and the nurse practitioner decided it was probably the change in my blood pressure medications the doctor made 2 weeks ago that caused the SVT. Hopefully, it is all straightened out and my heart will behave itself now!
Yesterday we drove up to Canby and then Vancouver to visit Ben's sister and my sister. Sharon and I don't look too bad for a 70 y-o and a 65 y-o!
OK. Enough for now. Bet you can't wait for Ben to write then next SHORT POTW! We have pictures in the July 2014 Picasa album and the August 2014 Picasa album. Enjoy! (Watch the video of Bill's landing in the August album...pretty slick!)
Next week, we're heading for the wilderness! Hart Mountain and the Steens, here we come!
Your friends, hoping and trying to stay healthy!
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey
I bet you thought nothing has been happening since we last wrote in July. Well, you'd be wrong! Ben said I have to write this time, since the most "excitement" has been happening to me!
I had all my annual doctor visits two weeks ago; my GP, a mammogram, my dermatologist, and my oncologist. It all went very well... the GP changed a few meds, the dermatologist took off one mole, and the oncologist said I have been in remission for 5 years, and can quit taking my cancer medication the end of October! Hooray.
We visited a bunch of friends in Salem, including those in our Thursday Night group who met at our friend Judy J's house this time. It is always good to catch up with these folks, many of whom Ben worked with. It was nice weather, so we enjoyed the outdoors while we visited.
We decided to leave Salem on Friday, because there were races to go to in Lebanon (Ben does love his dirt track races), and because the wi-fi was miserable at the RV park where we were staying. (They knocked Ben off one day, and he couldn't get back on! Very frustrating, although mine seem to work fine).
We camped out next to the race track where we at least had water and sewer hook up, and we were joined by Baja friends from Eugene. I opted out of the races and dog sat while the poor quivering things tried to figure out what all the noise was about!
On Saturday, we took a drive on Highway 20 east of Lebanon through Sweet Home, and then up to Green Peter Dam. Ben said he's never been there, and I vaguely remember going there with Mom & Dad years and years ago. (My Dad did love to inspect dams!) Beautiful place, and lots of boats and campers and fisherpeople. The picture below is on the Dam; the water behind us is Green Peter Lake.
When we got to Eugene on Sunday, a pre-dinner drink at Sarver Vinyard sounded like a good idea, so we went there with John H., our Eugene host, and enjoyed the view, the wine, the cheese and bread and all the goodies that went with it. Yum!Greg looks like a natural here at being a father. At least he's got a good start!
Then the excitement started! I woke up Tuesday morning with an extremely fast heart beat. What in the world??? I read up on a few things on the internet, tried to count it (18 beats in 6 seconds x 10 = 180. That can't be right!!) I decided about 10:30AM that I should go to an urgent care clinic, and by the time we'd been to the old Sacred Heart on 13th and been mis-directed by the gal at the information desk to an urgent care clinic out West 11th that didn't do heart care, we made it into the new hospital's Emergency Room at about 11:30. They got right to me, asked me a bunch of questions (I felt ok, just a bit light-headed and tired), took my blood pressure and heart rate (175 plus or minus a few). They tried a few non-invasive techniques with me to get the heart rate down (blowing out the plunger on a syringe with one breath), but nothing worked to slow it down, so they took me back to a room and installed an IV. After the ER doctor checked me over, I was given an EKG to help determine the problem, and had constant blood pressure and heart rate monitoring. The doc decided to administer a drug that stops the heart, and then immediately re-starts it. Well!! That sounded exciting. They had me hooked up to the machine that would shock my heart if it didn't start again, so they were prepared! At this point, I was taking a deep breath and saying "go for it". They administered the meds via the IV, I felt a heavy feeling in my chest, and then normal, and my heart rate went right down, and continued to go down to about 80 in the next little while. Phew! They continued to monitor me for another hour (I couldn't go anywhere with all that stuff hooked up to me anyway), talked with me about the problem, and determined that I was fine and could leave. That was about 2:15. My diagnosis was Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT). And thank goodness my Medicare started in May of this year!
The rest of the week in Eugene was fairly quiet. We visited a fellow who had at least one Model A that Ben lusted after, and a few Model Ts. This one pictured below is a Speedster, and Ben thinks that would be a fun car to have!
We are back in Salem for a couple days, catching up with a few folks we missed the first time, and visiting my doctor's office again! At my appointment today, my doctor and the nurse practitioner decided it was probably the change in my blood pressure medications the doctor made 2 weeks ago that caused the SVT. Hopefully, it is all straightened out and my heart will behave itself now!
Yesterday we drove up to Canby and then Vancouver to visit Ben's sister and my sister. Sharon and I don't look too bad for a 70 y-o and a 65 y-o!
OK. Enough for now. Bet you can't wait for Ben to write then next SHORT POTW! We have pictures in the July 2014 Picasa album and the August 2014 Picasa album. Enjoy! (Watch the video of Bill's landing in the August album...pretty slick!)
Next week, we're heading for the wilderness! Hart Mountain and the Steens, here we come!
Your friends, hoping and trying to stay healthy!
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey
I'm with the dogs on the noise - also don't like the gas, exhaust smells. What a scare with the ER, glad you know the problem. Always enjoy your blogs, just haven't taken the time this summer to keep up.
ReplyDeleteYou write a beautiful blog.
ReplyDeleteMy Husband would love those old T's...
How do you like our hot weather?