13

My Grandmother’s high rise in Hallandale did not have a 13th floor.  Well, it did, but if one were to take the elevator buttons at face value it would seem otherwise.  When choosing your destination floor the buttons went thus: …

Have A Heart

Things I have learned in the past week:

1. Buying an old fashioned hair dryer – as in the kind you sit under – can indeed change your life.
2. We need to listen to our bodies.
3. A broken ceramic plate produces just as many shards as a glass bowl does.
4. It is possible to get a discounted price in a store. (See #1)
5. Exhaustion, fatigue and chest pains are not always just part of being a woman of a certain age.
6. The Crockpot was invented in the 40’s by a nice Jewish boy who wanted to observe Shabbat and have a warm dinner the following night.
7. When your husband insists you go the ER, go. (See #5)
8. And when three docs tell you that we did the right thing coming in, thank your husband, even if he might be gloating to himself.
9. Having a father- and sister-in law who are physicians is whatever is better than awesome.
10. Not being able to use one of your hands in the shower makes it very difficult to wash one’s hair.
11. Ruling out the biggest scariest things provides equal parts relief and frustration.
12. My husband is the worst patient ever, but a great caregiver.
13. He also loves to tear recipes out of magazines and share the yummy ingredient list, even while his wife is not allowed to eat or drink.
14. My ex-husband has proven again, that he is a better ex-husband than he was a husband.
15. Even with a normal EKG…
16. And blood pressure and cholesterol levels that are “within range”…
17. One can fail a treadmill Stress Test and…
18. Pass a Cardio Catheterization and…
19. Yet still be diagnosed with Micro Vascular Disease or possibly
20. Syndrome X.
21. Group texts can be annoying AF, but do the trick. Thanks to my core folks for being so responsive (HJR, JGR, JML, DTL, RRL, FRS, PS, SS, MLS, MFKG, AS, KN)
22. My team of all female doctors and all male nurses – cool, right? – took great care of me. The private room notwithstanding.
23. Had to include a 23…which is how old Harrison will be at the end of the month!

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

I am fine.  I have no major blockages, but likely some micro ones.

I have IV and Cardio Cath bruises: one on each arm.

I actually feel no different than I have for the past several weeks, but at least I am out of that damned johnny…

 

I am, for now, anyway, on ❤ meds and baby aspirin.  Special thanks to my father-in-law who has my back and told me exactly what to expect from them…

I am chalking this up to my list of November Distemper:

• 1983: Middle of the night surgery to remove the ovarian cyst that was so large it was pressing against my back. The incision was from hip to hip and the doctor told me that he made it low enough that I could still wear a bikini.  Oh, those were the days.
• 1989: Elective but highly necessary foot surgery. Fun Fact: the surgeon I used operated on the great Larry Bird right before me.
• 2004: The big one: Bi-lateral mastectomy and reconstruction. My family has never eaten as well before or since. (It’ll be 13 years on 11/18)(Please let the fact that it is the 13^th year not…never mind.)
• 2011: See above.

Note: I always hate to think about the recurring shitty Novembers because November, 1994 was the BEST November ever because I became a Mom to Harrison who is a gem of a guy.  In fact, when I called to tell him what was going on he made me promise to take a baby aspirin and never drink a Diet Coke again.  ❤

So…

Ladies: Listen to your body.  I assumed that my symptoms were nothing other than the side effects of life and actually went to the doctor to see if I was anemic or something.

I did not have a ❤ attack…but all signs pointed to it.

❤ issues look very different in women than they do in men.  Don’t think that because the pain isn’t crushing that it doesn’t mean something.

Join me in trying to do something I’ve always sucked at: not sweating the small stuff.  If nothing else, this week reminded me of that.

If you partner insists you go to the ER, go.  (Aside: if you tell the triage nurse about the chest pains, you get taken right away.)

And, yes, as soon as I could get my wrist wet (that is how they got to my ❤ ) I washed my hair, grabbed People Magazine,  sat under my new dryer and took.my.time.

❤