Dr visit, classes, and more classes, moving

My doctor’s visit on Tuesday went well. I liked this doctor much better than the one that I had seen in Decatur. Not that there was anything wrong with the doctor in Decatur, other than I did not have confidence in her approach to my overall health. At the time I saw the doctor in Decatur I was not feeling as poorly as I do right now so the symptoms of an ongoing problem are accelerating more rapidly than I had thought they would. The doctor I saw this week has recommended a heart catheterization. I agreed. He did not recommend the procedure based on my EKG or the other heart tests I have recently had. He recommended the procedure based on the symptoms I am having and the fact that those symptoms are getting progressively worse in very short order. Shortness of breath and a debilitating lack of energy are the primary issues. I do have some chest pain, but it is very minor. At least I consider it minor. It is difficult for me to distinguish between inner chest pain exterior chest pain – which comes from the heavy lifting I have to do here at the farm. Not being able to work for more than an hour followed by a thirty-minute rest before I can try again is an issue for me. Almost always, after the second hour, I am done for the evening – or the weekend. The procedure is scheduled for Aug 18^th.

The risks are real but fairly minimal. Death – 1 in 1000. Heart attack or stroke – 1 in 100. Infection – 1 in 100. Other limited risks were discussed, but the reward outweighs the risks. Meanwhile at work, I let my immediate supervisors know that I would not be available to teach the class scheduled for the 19^th of August. I hoped to give them enough time to get a backup scheduled. In the email chain I followed yesterday, that is not going to be an easy replacement. One instructor is retiring Friday, the other instructor in the company will not be available because he is going on vacation the 7^th through the 10^th and will be required to self-quarantine through the 20^th.  I have not been told if a hospital visit will require me to self-quarantine for ten days following the procedure. That would make things interesting. However, I will be required to be tested for COVID-19 on the 14^th as part of my pre-op work. In any case, it brings to light the fact that the entire Instructor Led Training program, which we are aggressively expanding, is supported by only one instructor. A very shaky foundation in the best of times.

Next week I have three classes to teach. All online classes. The third was squeezed into the schedule yesterday. Fortunately, I will have all that behind me when I have to take time off for the heart cath. The week before the procedure there is only one class scheduled. A face-to-face class at the Conference Center here in Decatur. An easy week.

Tomorrow is a big day across the family. Cori, Nate and the kids leave Honduras to begin a furlough in the States that will last a couple months. They will fly through Houston to Chicago where they will meet up with Nate’s family. From there they will begin a very far flung church visiting schedule. Also tomorrow, Maggie and Aaron will begin the trek to Aaron’s new duty stating in Northern Michigan. The mask wearing capital of the United States. They have planned the trip to take four days. It is a good time to travel. I t should be fun for them if they let it be fun. They already have home base set for the new location and their personal belongings are being packed for shipment – if that has not already been completed. Brittany, Andrew and the girls will relocate to the base housing at his current duty station tomorrow. Selling their home at a very good time. Hopefully, that will work out well for them. Mama is set to go up to Brittany’s as they finalize packing and vacating their home in preparation for the closing. Mama will endure the “hardship” of keeping the three girls as Brittany devotes herself to other chores required for the move. Lots of moving in the family. I guess my children inherited the need to move from me and Mama. Hopefully their kids are not counting up the moves they make through their childhood as my children did.

Since the new restaurant opened, Alex and crew have been incredibly busy. So much so that they asked Mama to sit in the restaurant and answer the phone. Just to take orders so they could be free to fill those orders. The food is amazing. And it seems all the locals are excited about the Chinese food as well as the sushi available on the new menu. Right not the restaurant is set up for carry out only but even at that their lunch orders are nearing 300 over the four-hour lunchtime window. That is a lot for only seven people to prepare. Unfortunately, Mama was not able to give them the help they needed. She is mask averse and she is hurting too badly to be able to sit at the counter all day taking orders.

Being that busy is a great problem to have.