Medical issues, Trade Days

Mama is taking Grandma and Grandpa to Denton this morning for Grandpa’s doctor’s appointment. I remember one of the older ladies at church telling me a few weeks ago that the only time she got out was for church and for doctor’s appointments. She is 84 years old. I thought that was humorous, because I see it playing out in Grandma in Grandpa’s life. Grandma will not allow Grandpa to go to a doctor’s appointment without her – with rare exception. She says it is because she thinks Grandpa will not do what the doctor asks him to do so she needs to hear the instructions as well. I do not believe that is as true as it may once have been. Grandpa likes his current cardiologist, so he is faithful to the advice he is given. Grandma likes to get out. She likes to hear what the doctor says to Grandpa even though she gets it all jumbled up later. Mama often has to intervene and clarify a discussion by retelling what she heard the doctor say. It’s kind of funny to watch all that play out. So far, the reports from the doctor on Grandpa’s health, his heart, have been very good. They ask Mama to take them partly because Grandpa does not like to drive anymore and partly to keep Mama occupied in their lives. The appointment is early. Before the rain begins in earnest. Mama should be able to get home by early afternoon. Much better than she was originally thinking. Perhaps much drier than she was originally thinking.

Grandma went to the doctor the other day because of severe abdominal pain. She was diagnosed with diverticulosis. A version of colon pain that I suffer from as well. Hers is more advanced, more indicative of deeper damage. She asked the doctor to put her in the hospital, to operate on her, to do something, anything, to relieve her discomfort. He advised her to begin to eat better. That was not what Grandma wanted to hear. Her diet consists primarily of McDonald’s chicken nuggets and breakfast cereal. Diet is the only remedy for what we have. She was thoroughly disappointed with the visit. She was sincerely hoping to have some type of surgery to eliminate her pain. I can wholeheartedly sympathize. Alas, the pain continues – for both of us. Cori, who gets the propensity for the same condition from which she also suffers, now has medical evidence that she gets it from both sides of the family. Sorry, Cori.

On the bright side, my blood pressure – as measured by my H Band – is spot on. 120/80 or below on most readings. I have been checking it regularly for the past three weeks and have not had any readings anywhere near what I have had in the past. That, especially for me, is great news. Believe it or not, that has actually relieved some of the stress in my life. I have always dreaded getting my blood pressure taken. One doctor in New Jersey diagnosed me with “white coat syndrome”. He was being facetious. He was also quite accurate. Mama, even though she is on blood pressure meds, has run some higher readings, but nothing high enough to cause concern.

Pastor actually spoke Sunday morning about how many times our hearts beat per year on average. I could not find the calculation, so I used the number of seconds per year to estimate the total since our resting heartrate is close to one beat per second. 31,536,000. Using that as a baseline, my heart has beat at least 1,986,768,000 times. Probably more than two billion heart beats so far in my lifetime. What an amazing organ. Truly, we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Mama and Kimberlyn are gearing up for Saturday; Trade Days. I am not planning on going with them to Trade Days, but that could change. I certainly am not planning on spending all day. They have amassed a fair amount of stuff. Both homemade crafts and garage sale items. I offered up a small .22 caliber pistol for them to sell. It may draw more people to their table. I do not use it. I do not particularly like it and have replaced it with a much better pistol. It is the only item that I know I contributed. they desperately want to add to the income of each household. I believe they are on the right track to do so. They are praying to do well.

I can join them in that prayer.