#GoodNews

Yippie!! (Yep, another update!)

/ Marcia Meara / 10 Comments

The dreaded Holter monitor is GONE!! I’m doing the Happy Dance all over the place. (Well, for me, it’s more like the Happy Shuffle, but that’s okay. It’s the “Happy” part that counts!)

I am delighted to have that thing that’s been taped over my heart for a week disappear!! I won’t know the results for a few days, but at least the discomfort is gone, and I can take a normal shower again! Hopefully, they won’t have anything too dreadful to tell me after they’ve investigated the readings.

So for now, all’s well! (That’s my story, an’ I’m stickin’ TO it!) And for sure I’m gonna sleep a lot more comfortably tonight! Yay!!

Sweet dreams, everyone!

#HealthUpdateAgain – #GoodNews?

/ Marcia Meara / 43 Comments

Doing the Happy Dance, here!

My eye medication FINALLY arrived yesterday, and I am pretty sure it’s working. I have to use these drops four times a day for ten days,  or 40 doses, and have only had them long enough for twice yesterday and once this morning. But my eyes do feel better already. I’m taking that as a very good sign!

Hope all of you are doing well, and those who are
under the weather are improving daily.

#HealthUpdate – #SomeGood – #SomeSo-So

/ Marcia Meara / 59 Comments

I reckon I’ll start with the good news. Some of you know that one of the health problems I’ve been coping with is heart-related. I’m on two different heart meds to help with that, and the good news is, we seem to be managing the issue fairly well, so far. I’m hopeful we can continue to do so as time marches on.

I also had an incompetent dentist install a crown crookedly, resulting in a terrible infection beneath it, and some amazingly severe pain issues. The good news with that is, I managed to find a dentist who was able to give me a root canal, which ended the pain, and I’m going back to my old tried and true dentist for a new crown and any future procedures to sort all that out. He doesn’t take my insurance, sadly, but I know I can trust him to do the job right, so it will be worth it. And for now, the tooth is pain free, yay!

There were a couple more issues I’ve had to cope with that are all being slowly cleared up and/or managed well, so that’s all good.

The bad news is I have had a terrible infection in my eyes since October 3, and am still trying to deal with it. How do I know exactly when it started? Because Mark and I were doing some front yard hedge planting EARLY that morning. It took several hours, and when I came inside, my eyes were blood red and watering like mad. And THEN I discovered that we should have checked the news before working out there so long. Florida seldom has severe air quality warnings, but it turns out everyone was advised to stay indoors that day as the fires in Canada had resulted in the air quality being seriously impacted all the way to Miami. (Where the smoke was so dense, it looked like the city was burning.) The notices said anyone with any sort of allergies or sensitivities should NOT go outside at all. Uh-oh.

We didn’t have smoke or other visible signs in central Florida, but we were definitely impacted, and what started out that day as an allergic reaction became seriously infected, and hasn’t let up since. I’ve been dealing with puffy red eyes leaking tears down my face for SIX weeks now, making reading and blogging extremely difficult. (In addition to being irritatingly messy and sore.) I saw my ophthalmologist two weeks or so ago, and she prescribed an ointment that not only made me feel like my eyes were covered in Vaseline all day long, but also totally failed to clear up the issue. (Which she diagnosed as conjunctivitis). We are now in the process of switching to prescription eye drops, in the hopes that will finally clear it all up. Crossing my fingers, here!

I do know in the grand scheme of things, this is ALL relatively small potatoes, especially for someone who will turn 80 in three months. But damn if it isn’t tricky to deal with, and it seems like it’s been going on forever! 

All of this info is by way of alerting you that I know I haven’t scheduled any cool guest posters for awhile, and have been limited in the time I’ve been able to spend blogging, in general. (It’s amazing how tricky that is when you can’t see worth a darn!) But I do feel like we are starting to get things under control again, and by the first of the year (if not sooner), I should be scheduling new guests who might have books they’d like to promote, and be back to my normal blogging routines. In the meantime, I’ll keep up as best I can, though my favorite blogs to visit may have to make do with my “Like & Tweet” routine a bit longer.

For now, here’s to a wonderful fall season for everyone, and a very happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it!

Happy Fall, Y’All!!!

 

 

#HealthUpdate – #VeryGoodNews!

/ Marcia Meara / 77 Comments

 

I’m pretty sure you guys must be tired of hearing about poor, pitiful me, stuck at home while dealing with this or that health issue. (I know *I* am!!) Well, guess what? Today, I have good news. The BEST, actually, considering some of the things I was coping with, or had been warned were on the horizon.  Therefore, without further ado, let me bring you up to date.

PART 1:
Some of you might know we had a change in insurance a couple of years ago that meant I could no longer see the wonderful dentist I’d been seeing for about 20 years. Before I could find another dentist that would take my new insurance, the pandemic hit, I had COVID twice, and in general, wasn’t doing my best. After three years stuck at home, I managed to get a couple of broken teeth, and realized I had to have help. I found a new dentist very near to our house, and he proceeded to install a crown over the first tooth that was bothering me. Only problem was, he installed it incorrectly, and it immediately got infected. He basically pitched a fit and said “Go find an endodontist,” and walked out of the room. 

Suffice it to say, I struggled to find another dentist, during which time the infection got worse and worse. It was extremely painful, and didn’t go away, even with four courses of antibiotics, and another dentist taking a look. I finally realized it was worth going back to my original dentist and paying out of my own pocket to get the problem addressed. Guess what? NO MORE PAIN. From June 1, through all of July & August, and into mid-September, I struggled with this excruciatingly painful mess, but thankfully, the infection has finally been defeated, and I have a wonderful dentist in charge again.  I’m so happy, I can’t being to tell you, and I am considering the lack of pain a miracle of the highest level!

PART 2:

In addition to trying to get the dental issue under control, I had to find all new doctors to replace all of my old (and greatly respected) ones. So far, this has been a much more successful endeavor than trying to find another dentist. I think I’ve struck gold with each new doctor, in particular, my new cardiologist. From the moment he introduced himself, I was impressed, and felt he was going to work out fine. He had received all my records ahead of my visit, including imaging forwarded to him (supposedly) from my last cardio doctor’s exam. It showed significant thickening of the heart walls and he diagnosed it as Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (or HCM). He ordered two new medications and asked me to curtail many of my favorite activities until he could get new imaging done for a better look. 

Long story short, they were finally able to do the new imaging last week, and the doctor went over it with me yesterday. He was dumbfounded that the new imaging looked nothing like what he had been sent. (He doesn’t believe the image that had been forwarded to him was of my heart at all!)

He said there is only the slightest thickening of my heart walls, and everything else is clear, and looked good. He’s not worried about HCM at all, and has taken me off of “house arrest” completely. In fact, he wants me to get out for daily walks, fifteen minutes of which should be fast enough to elevate my heart rate a bit, and build some strength. 

BOTTOM LINE:

I’m apparently in darn good shape for someone who will turn 80 in a few months. Combine that with the fact that I’m no longer dealing with extreme pain, and I’m a very happy camper, here! I’m feeling energized, too, though I probably should get back into the swing of things one step at a time. I’m feeling so upbeat right now that I’m even planning to see if I can make some progress on my half-finished Riverbend tale that I shelved a few months ago. 

In other words, Miracles Really Do Happen, and I have just experienced another one!

Last but Definitely Not Least:
Here’s to Good Health and Many Miracles
for each of you, my friends! 

 

#GoodNews! – #HealthUpdate

/ Marcia Meara / 49 Comments

Some of you know it’s been  almost 9 months since I first developed Long Covid, and I’ve only recently found out that science has determined LC can cause all sorts of damage to our internal organs. In my case, it has done some permanent damage to my heart.

Where’s the good news, you ask? Well … here it is: since I started on the heart medication about ten days ago, my symptoms have all disappeared! I’ve had exactly ONE dizzy spell, the day after I started the meds. ONE. (I’d been having rolling dizzy spells all day long, nearly every day, and  including numbness in my right leg, and other discomforts.)

Since my new medication does nothing to ease Long Covid, I suspect that my Long Covid had already disappeared some time back, leaving me with the heart damage that caused my fatigue and extreme dizziness. And now that I’m taking medication to help my heart, the symptoms have pretty much disappeared!

I will, of course, be discussing all of this when I see my cardio guy again for my 30-day follow up, but I’m beyond happy to be feeling more and more like normal every day!

Again, my purpose in sharing this with you is to remind you if you have Long Covid, you need to have your doctor(s) monitoring you for possible organ damage, and proper treatment should they find any. And you should understand that if you have suffered some organ damage, your doctor may be able to treat it and make your life much easier.  Mine sure is! 

And that’s a wrap, folks! Will update you again if there are any important changes, or I learn anything new about LC. In the meantime, PLEASE STAY HEALTHY & SAFE!