Things are getting better - WHEW

I have just started the 3 and final dosages of the Prednisone - 1 10mg pill per day for the next 10 days. I have had most of the side effects (sleep issues, weigh gain and raging hungriness, agitation, high blood pressure, pounding in the ears and more. Thankfully they are going away.

When this started, I had just begun, again, on a "Get Healthy" regimen. I had contacted the Nutrition and Fitness coach who helped me get ready for my Big Walk in Scotland to start a plan again. I put new batteries in the Blood Pressure cuff, which uses Bluetooth to store the data in an app, so I could get off that medication that started the medical ugliness and I also bought a new scale that also records stats for BMI also via Bluetooth to an app.  I also cleared my Fit Bit and BP History which went back over 10 years - I was going to start new and clean. Additionally I created a new account with my food tracking app.  Then of course I had to hit the breaks hard on all of these plans until we got this thing under control.

​In some ways, now I really have no choice. To be honest I am 30 to 40 pounds over weight and my BMI is just over 30. My BP puts me somewhere between Hypertension Level 1 and 2; it is NOT a pretty place to be.  

About 10 years ago when I worked for the Navy in San Diego I started seriously walking and eating better.  At one point I was walking 4 miles around the harbor, my weight was down 15 pounds and my BP was in the Normal range. Then we moved and I slid backwards, then Erich died and I slid even more and so that is where I am today. 

This week, I am not official on the plan because of the Prednisone but I am doing what I call practicing. I will go for some walks, maybe 2; I will go to the gym for a weight work, once; I will track what I eat to get back into that habit and to make better food choices but I won't try to hit any macros levels.   But come October 2nd when I finish up the pills I will begin. 

Stay tuned, this could be an eye opening and wild ride

Back Story:
In April, I contacted friends who are mineral dealers about selling the majority of our mineral collection. It wasn't about the money despite that happening; it was about getting the specimens to good homes because the members of my family who would have to deal with it when I was gone really wouldn't know who to talk to or what it's real value was. You hear horror stories of grand/parents/sibling collections just being tossed in the garbage!

At that time we made arrangements for them to be here in Texas after the Northeast Summer shows were over, in August as they would then be heading back to California and would detour south. 

As the time grew closer I started looking at what I wanted to keep and set some of them aside. These were minerals we had bought on special trips or occasions or had collected ourselves during the various road trips we took around the west. Erich loved certain minerals and we had many multiples of them - garnets, fluorite, stilbite and more so I figured I would only keep one or two of each of those as well. 

Mid-August rolled around and I cleared my schedule for the weekend they would be here. I gathered boxes, bubble wrap, original labels, receipts, tape, pen and paper so we could get to work.  They arrived late Friday afternoon so we just sat and caught up with our lives and during this time John started to look at and in the cabinets. His evaluation was it was a very good collection; he could see that we had over time we acquired better quality specimens and we had some that were excellent but that overall we had a wide range that would appeal to all collectors. This was very good news and so at this point we decided to go into New Braunfels and have an early dinner and get them back to the the cabin they were staying in so they could rest and get a good night's sleep after driving for 3 days and being on the road for over 2 months. After dinner I told them where to go for a good inexpensive breakfast and to just call me before they were to arrive Saturday morning.

John and Cathy arrived around 10 am and we got to work. Because they had their truck full of show stuff they had said that they could NOT take all of what they were interested in purchasing but would be able to take some as the Denver show was at the start of September and they wanted some specimens for that to start. John would select a mineral, look at the label on the bottom, I would look for the original paperwork, Cathy would document the mineral and then we discussed how much John would offer and even possibly sell it for and then Cathy would record the price and we wrap it up and mark it.  We stopped for the day around 5pm and went to dinner and planned on repeating the days events on Sunday.

One mineral that John was VERY interested in was a Rhodochrosite rhombohedron that's gem quality - he did not take it (yet) he took pictures and measurements and sent it to a friend who could give him a more accurate valuation.

Sunday I woke up around my usual time due to the Boots alarm clock at 7-ish. John and Cathy arrived again around 10 am. We selected a few more minerals and John made arrangements to meet another dealer, in San Antonio in the late afternoon. I suggested that due to a late start to getting on the road home, they stop in Fort Stockton which is a 4-5 hour drive then on Monday get to Tucson which is a 12 hour drive and then Tuesday they could get back to So. Cal in 7 hours (which they did). Eventually we taped up the boxes, loaded the truck and I was handed a check.  

Now for the rest of the story:
John called me the following week and said that the Rhodochrosite was worth A LOT!! and he wanted to sell it as a commission (80/20) at the Denver show and so could I box it, insure it, and get it mailed to him. I jokingly said that maybe I should hand deliver it to which he said SURE! and to bring some more minerals if I wanted.  Which I said I would and few days after I had second thoughts because of all that I would have to do - stop the mail, get hotels, put Boots in the kennel, and more. Then a few days later I changed my mind again and went for it. Going to the Denver show was on our list of things to do this year because the pandemic canceled those plans.  In 2 days I had my plans made and started selecting more minerals.

The plan was to leave on Tuesday and stop in Amarillo and then arrive in Denver Wednesday afternoon. Setup was on Thursday and I would help and make labels for what I brought. The show would open on Friday and I would assist in the booth but NOT make any actual sales. In the afternoon I wandered the rooms for the location were we were. Saturday I helped open and close  and in between went to the other locations to peruse the wares.  Sunday morning I helped open and at noon, I headed home again via Amarillo.

There is no major Interstate to get from San Antonio to Denver so it was some Interstate and State highways most of which were 2 lane with passing sections or 2 lane passing sections. There were State highways marked as 75 mph then 55, 45, 35 and suddenly you are in a very small town of 2 - 6 - 12 blocks with maybe a single gas station and a fast food restaurant and many boarded up store fronts.  Northwest Texas is FLAT with lots of wind farms, cotton farms, sorghum farms, corn farms and lines of power poles that go on for ever.  After Amarillo I did a quick pass through Oklahoma and into Colorado which added cattle, donkeys, goats, and corn to the mix.  On my way home I did take the I-25 and cut through New Mexico before getting back to Texas and the State Highways.

I HATE being sick, let alone just ill.

​Around August 27, I noticed by ankles getting itchy; I put on some cream thinking my skin was dry and moved on. Over the next few days the itchy-ness grew and when I looked I had a bad rash and it was slowly spreading up my legs! I put pen marks on my skin to see how it grew over time.

I thought about what might be causing it and what was "new" and that lead me to think that it might be an allergy reaction since I had recently added raw sunflower seeds to my diet; I don't normally eat them. I contacted an allergist and in a few days I had an appointment and in the mean time I was dosing myself with an oral anti-histamine but the ITCHING was horrible.  The doctor was quite intrigued, we drew blood for a test but he was uncertain what exactly was causing it and IF it was an allergic reaction at all. The doctor shared my pictures and history with a Skin/Vascular (Dermatologist) expert and a follow up appointment was made with him for 2 days later.

Well, it was pretty bad by then and he was quite surprised. After a lot of questions and answers, 2 punch biopsies were taken, a course of Prednisone (a very strong steroid) was prescribed and a follow up appointment was made for a week later.  The Prednisone worked - kinda; after a few days at a higher dose which did knock back the rash on my lower legs I was to then go to a lower dose to taper off of it and that was when I got more of the rash elsewhere on my body - abdomen, arms, neck, and chest. It wasn't as bad but the itching was horrible.  I should have called the doctor but I was in Denver for the Gem & Mineral show (which will be another post) and I just tried to ignore it all plus my legs were clearing up. 

After I returned from Denver and went to the follow up appointment I finally got a diagnosis. It WAS an allergic reaction but to one of my medications - the ACE (heart) Inhibitor I have been on for 10+ years.  This reaction is not common but not unknown and I guess I should feel lucky as some people go into anaphylaxis shock.  Because I was still taking the medication and the dose of Prednisone was lower, the rash reaction made a slight comeback while I was in my trip. The plan of attack was to stop the heart medication immediately and go on a higher dose and longer taper off of the Prednisone; this would allow for the heart medication to flush out of my system which could take a month, and allow the Prednisone to do it's thing.  Another follow up appointment was made for a few days later.  

The latest follow up appointment went well. The rash had cleared, most of the itching has stopped and I am finally on the mend.  I have almost 2 more weeks of the Prednisone to go and after that I get to follow up with my PCP to get them up to speed on what happened.  I am NOT going to replace the medication with a new one; I am planning on managing my heart with diet and exercise which really is the best in the long run. 

​WARNING - The pictures are rather intense; look if you dare

Nope, that the motto for the Olympics.
What I am thinking of is:
   "We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better, stronger, faster."

​The other night I came across the Six Million Dollar Man series on Peacock. I saw it when it first aired but did YOU know that this is one of the shows that influenced by career path???
Go, go on! Go get a cuppa and sit back and enjoy the story!

Let's start with my father. A self-made engineer who said I could be anything I wanted and gently pushed me into STEM because I could tell him how to take apart, put together, improve and fix things​ since I was a wee lass.

Then Star Trek came along (1966-1969). Most women in STEM might say it was Nyota Uhura who showed them that not only a woman in space was possible but they can be very smart too. But for me it was Montgomery "Scotty" Scott. I could see myself as an engineer who could fix anything and I really really wanted to go to space.

Fast forward to the early 1970's I am in high school and I am now pondering what I want to do with my life - should I become an engineer, nurse or doctor; teach science or home economics; become a chef, or..?? I could not decide.

In 1973, I was starting to look at engineering schools and ABC aired a made for TV movie "The Six Million Dollar Man" and I realized it was possible to combine engineering and medicine.  My parents were so confused when I said I wanted to do THAT! 

I went to my guidance counselor Mr. Clarke, who was fantastic in his position, and asked him what sort of engineering program would I study to make medical stuff - prosthetics, equipment, and tools for medicine and he said he would look into it. Sometime later we had a meeting and he said that ANY field of engineers except possibly Aeronautics or Marine, could go to work for a company that researched and made items for the medical industry BUT there was a new field called Biomedical Engineering which was focused on just that - teaching medical science and engineering specifically for the research and development of medical equipment. He handed me a brochure from the Society of Biomedical Engineers and I was ecstatic.   

Mr. Clarke then did more research and passed along a list of schools where I could get an engineering degree but only ONE, at that time, had an accredited undergraduate program specifically for Biomedical Engineering and that was Case Institute to Technology, later to be the Case School of Engineering at Case Western Reserve University. 

Eventually my father and I did tours and took interviews at the schools I was applying to: Case and as fallback schools Carnegie-Mellon, Northeastern, Boston College, Wooster Polytech and a SUNY just in case. I wanted to apply to Rensselaer Poly Tech or Rochester Institute of Technology but they did not accept women at that time.
I was accepted at Case and Carnegie-Mellon but there I would be in a general Engineering program and then use electives to take other medical science courses.

So Case it was and that is where I graduated from. My undergraduate thesis was on the Impedance layers for Ultrasonic Transducers. From there I went to work on Ultrasonic Medical Scanners, Silicone Medical devices, Intravenous Pumps and IV bags, Angioplasty devices, Intercranial Pressure Monitors and Transducers and then I moved into Engineering consulting.

And that ,dear friends is how I became a Biomedical Engineer.

First the HEAT.
Yes it's been a record year for temps over 100 and add to that the high humidity and you have horrible weather.
When we lived in California we could have temps upward of 110 but with the low humidity it was hot but tolerable; not so here. Now, we have not hit 110+ but we have had a stretch of 104 - 106.  I mostly stay inside and keep the lights off until around 8 pm; I do the laundry, run the dishwasher, or some cooking all by 10 am. This helps keep the house cooler and having the A/C set to 76 I would like to think that I am helping NOT max out our electrical grid.

I have finished cleaning the quilt fabric closet as well as the family room which has my sewing corner. During that I found 3 quilt tops I finished 4-5 years ago but never layered and sewed to make quilts PLUS there are the unfinished quilt blocks for Kira's "Wedding Quilt". 

With the heat I am holding off cleaning the sun room (off the family room) and my metal studio both of which are NOT air conditioned and are despite having windows open to allow a breeze.  I will tackle them in September when it cools off, if it does by then.

I decided to finish a quilt from one of the quilt tops I have that is scrap fabric from other quilts and sewing projects. It's for a chair thus it is only the width of it but it is long so it drapes over the back and down the front; this quilt was to started to replace the prior chair quilt that literally wore out after being used for almost 15 years!

Last Friday I removed the paper (from the piecing), ironed the top, pieced the batting to give me the length, and found a large piece of fabric (in the quilt fabric closet) so it's one whole piece for the back. I then laid it all out on the floor and pin basted the layers together. Saturday I started sewing by doing the straight line horizontal quilting, Sunday I did the vertical quilting and yesterday, Monday, I bound it. I HATE binding a quilt and since I have not bound a quilt in over 10 years this was a bit of struggle but it's done. The quilt is has now been wash and shall be placed on the chair I now use for watching TV (it was Erich's chair). 

Next up, finishing Kira's quilt.

I am feeling rather normal these days and so I am going to try to resume a normal life and not mope around the house and do only what's necessary. 

Last week I vacuumed the carpets which I admit hasn't been done in 6+ months. I also vacuumed and washed the main floor tiles.  The next big task on the list is (was) to clean/organize the walk in closet in the bedroom. I am leaving that for next year as I have maxed out the amount of donation dollars I can claim on my taxes. I am moving on to the Family room now which has bookshelves, my knitting and sewing stuff but I am not going to spend 2-3 solid days on it. Over the next week I am going to only do about an hour and then relax and work on my knitting.

To also return to normal, I am going to speak to the nutritionist I worked with in 2021/2022 to get into shape before I did my walk in Scotland.  Let's just say all the gains I made have rolled back and then some. We are talking next week and I will attempt to get some early morning walking in despite the massive heat wave and drought we are having at the moment. This will also help me when I am at the gorge as I am quite tired after a work session and can't keep up with the guys.

I am also going to do a very short term web project for a friend and get paid!

To close, here's a photo of Cowboy Boots

It's now been six months and life slowly creeps forward. 
I still miss Erich, tremendously. I want to find him reading in the living room; bringing me a cuppa coffee when I am working on the computer; asking me to go with him grocery shopping; watching our favorite shows together and discussing them. 

But, no, he's not here.  So...

• I continue to clean, organize, purge and make various repairs around the house. I am almost done with the rooms that are lived in then I will tackle the loom room, my studio, and the sun porch which is a mess of spider webs, leaves and misc. dirt that has blown in when I keep the outside door open.
• Cowboy Boots is now MY best buddy - sleeping with me at night, waking me at sunrise to feed her, snuggling on my lap while "we" watch TV. 
• I continue to slowly reading the letters Erich sent to his mom while he was in the Navy - it is a way to learn about him when he as younger that somehow he didn't share or I didn't ask about. I find things that have influenced and shaped him into the man I married.
• I continue volunteer at the Canyon Lake Gorge 1 day a week and I expect to keep this on my schedule for quite a while as it get's me out of the house and I am making new friends.
• I go to a gathering of fellow knitters 1 or 2 days a week, one is here in Canyon Lake and the other is down in New Braufels and again, I am getting out of the house and interacting with other people and make new friends.
• I go to lunch, dinner, concerts or other events with Gylver & Joan. I have known them for over 40 years and who moved here, also from California, are very supportive and always up for something. 
• And I am again working on my software project which I can do to avoid everything else.

So I kinda have a routine and a normal life but there are so many things I am still not doing (again/yes) but are planning. I see a road trip or two in my future; finishing a weaving project that has been on the loom since before the pandemic; finishing the Great Wedding Quilt for my niece; making metal stuff; hiking some Texas trails....

There were two things left on my "Death" To-Do list that I decided to take care of last week and OH BOY did I wander into TWO clusterfucks. The first was getting the name on the DirecTV account changed and the second was getting the autopsy report and the items the police took almost SIX months ago; so sit back and enjoy the saga. The .5 CF is detailed at the very end.

CF#1
On Tuesday I called DirecTV to get the name on "our" account changed to my name because every time I logged into the account to change the profile it said "You are being redirected to AT&T" and when the AT&T website would load I was immediately redirected to DirecTV and then I was in an infinite loop. Way back when, we did have an AT&T account for my mobile phone and so when AT&T bought DirecTV, the accounts where tied together so we only got one bill. Last year I cancelled my AT&T service and moved over to Mint to save beaucoup bucks which I think was the root of the problem as we (I) no longer had an AT&T account despite the fact that the bill for DirecTV still came from them. I called DirecTV and spoke to customer service (person #1) and they transferred me to billing (person #2) who proceeded to tell me about the flag which tied the two systems together and that it was tech support who would have to change that and I was transferred again and was put on hold and then the call was dropped. I called back and recounted the entire process to the person (#3) on the other end and was transferred, again, to AT&T billing and they said since I could not get into the account they (#4) would help me reset my account user name and password (of which I did not have) so once again I explained that I need to only get a DirecTV bill as I no longer had an AT&T account FOR A MOBILE PHONE; so they was transferred back to DirecTV and dropped AGAIN <GRRRRR>. I went to get another cuppa joe and call again though I thought hitting myself on the head with a hammer might be less painful. I tried a different tactic when I called back this time; after getting a customer representative on the phone (person #5 and call #3 and an hour later) I said I was going to explain the issue and what happened and that I needed them to repeat it back to me so I knew they understood the problem which I did and they repeated back and seem to understand. I then said that IF I had to be transferred again, I expected her to stay on the line so she could feel the pain I was going through too and could she do that; the response was "Yes". She asked me to hold while she contacted billing to see it the mystery flag could be removed and 10+ minutes later DirecTV said it was an AT&T issue. She then put me on hold again while she spoke to AT&T billing and another 15 minutes later it turns out they couldn't but it would be their tech group to talk to as this might be an actual into the database change.  So I was put on hold a third time while she spoke to someone else and another 15+ minutes later (45 min so far) my person returns and says Nope, can't be done and that the solution was to create me a new DirecTV account, move all my existing equipment info and my username/password and account details to it and delete the current account. At that point I agreed and it was done with no interruption of service - CF total: 3 calls, 5 people I spoke to, 2 call drops, 3+ times put on hold and TWO HOURS of time!!

CF#2
The other task I did was to call the Detective who was handling the details of Erich's case. I had been told that I could get his effects back after the autopsy was completed. I called in February and Detective F. told me that the autopsy was being done by the Hays County Medical Examiner office because they were contracted to do so by Comal County and that I could take a month or more since it was not a criminal case. I called again in March, April and May - usually in the first week of the month. Since it was the end of May I decided to call again to follow up as I was getting rather annoyed that it was almost SIX months! Well, Detective F. did not answer the phone but Detective B did and he informed me that Detective F. had left. I asked who was handling my case and he looked it up and it had not been assigned to anyone but he would try to assist. I recanted what I had done with my calls and asked when would the autopsy report be completed and could he call Hays and find out. He said that they don't call and that when they know then I will be called. At that point I asked for the Hays County Medical Examiner office telephone number so I could call them directly. Which I did. The person on the phone said that 1) the report had been completed on April 28th (WTF!! since I spoke to Detective F after that) and that 2) the reports are NOT sent to the Sheriffs office but to the Judge for my area to have an inquest sign off, 3) the Hays County computer system does not talk to Comal County, it is email to the Judge's office and 4) she gave me the Judge District office to call; which I did. Upon calling the District office, I spoke to Shirley who said yes, she had it and could come by and get a free copy and no, they don't send it to the Sherriff's office they call for it and no, the computer systems don't talk to each other such that a Sheriff would be automatically notified it had be entered and completed. I asked Shirley if should be so kind as to email it to Detective B. so everything could be closed and I could put this all to rest (yes that is a pun) which she agreed to do.  I received a call from Detective B later in the day that I could go to the Sheriff's office and talk to the Evidence department to get Erich's things. And thus I found a major gap in the Comal county system - my case was not reassigned (Issue #1) and the sheriff is the one to make called and find that the autopsy report has been completed by the Judge's court. Why don't the systems talk to each other (Issue #2) so so many people don't have to make so many calls?? 
 
CF#0.5
After the events earlier in the day, I went to the library for a knit and sit meetup. While there I was working on my big chunky sideways knit sweater which I had not touched in over a month because I had be working on a baby sweater. I had already knit the right sleeve and shoulder and done the split for the front and back plus I had knit the front half. I was working on the back when I put the project down. To resume, I laid the project out on a table and verified where I was on the back with the instruction and realized that even though I though i was ready to start the increases to then rejoin the front on back the number of rows on the back was wrong. I then looked at what was going on with front - between the actual knit and the pattern and it was wrong so I figured I would rip out rows on the front to the mid-point there and get the front and back even. As I was putting the stitches back on the needles, I realized the stitch count on the front half was wrong; then I counted the stitches on the back and it was wrong too PLUS when added together the total count was also WRONG. I was not having a good day and since the 3 hours of the meeting was over and everyone else was ready to leave I decided to go home and sort this out on the kitchen table. When I got time I took some time to calm down with Boots as petting and scratching her always helps along with a glass of wine. I cleared the table and laid out the sweater and looked for where I had messed up and could not find it so my assumption was that I did the split and decreases wrong; it was time to rip out both the front and back to that split point; it was time for a second glass of wine. Some time later I was done and had the correct number of stitches on the needle along with the stitch markers; I was one row back/before where the split was to occur. I had a large pile of yarn on the table so I left it and then made dinner as it was now 6:30 pm and I went upstairs to relax and watch TV. This was Tuesday, I spent the weekend re-knitting the front and now I am half way done with it (again). The pulled out yarn is on the swift to allow the yarn to relax and the kinks to disappear. I also re-wrote the instructions for the front and back with the increases and decreases so I can easily track where I am and not make the same mistake again. 

Today was my first day as a Trailblazer volunteer at the Canyon Lake Gorge. I signed up in March and I had orientation at the start of April and then I had to take a Red Cross CPR class last week; now I can be a volunteer for the trailblazers who help maintain the trails in and around the gorge and be a docent for the tours.

Today, we (5 of us) - the Trailblazers, removed plants that grow on the edges of the water channels in the gorge along with several invasive species along paths. We were at it for 2.5 hours and then it was too hot. I got to see some fossils and petrified marks in the stone that were at the end of the gorge and some tadpoles in the water. 

In a few weeks we will assist with the flushing of the water channels to remove the silt buildup. This is done with a fire department pumper and some very long hoses; we then use brooms to push the water and silt down the channels and out of the gorge.

Earlier in the month I took a long break from cleaning/sorting/purging the house. I was very tired and overwhelmed and found myself falling asleep on the couch in the afternoon; I took the hint.

I decided that it was time take a break and to (re) watch the newer Star Trek series - Discovery, Picard, and Strange New Worlds and knit along with taking a nap if I found myself sleepy. 

Note: I am a Star Trek fan having grown up with it; I like Star Wars but I came out when I was at university so it had less of an impact on me. I should say it was NOT Uhura that influenced me as many people would say due to her being the lead female on the show; no, it was SCOTTY and SPOCK - the engineer and the scientist that resonated with me.

I started with Picard where I rewatched the first season and I found a scene where Picard says:
    "I haven't been living. I've been waiting to die."
Oh, did this hit home. Not that I have been waiting to die BUT I certainly haven't been living the past few months; I have just been going through the motions of living. 

Next I watched Discovery, again starting with the first season which I had seen when it first came out and after that I watched Strange New Worlds and Boots would watch the TV whenever Pike was on.

All the shows helped me get involved with the characters and experience a wide range of emotions where I cried, laughed, yelled at "people", said their lines before they did, and cuddled with Boots and started to heal.

My routine was (is) - Boots wakes me around 630am but I would stay in bed until 7 or 730. Then we went downstairs and I fed her, made myself a cup coffee, make breakfast, read the news and take care of a few tasks: finances, laundry, dishwasher, litterbox, garbage, email, etc. Then it was go upstairs to the family room and watch the morning news and weather and knit, then turn on Star Trek. At mid-day it was time for lunch and give Boots more food and watch more ST and possibly take a nap for about an hour followed by dinner for me and Boots and return to what ever series and season I was on. I would stop about 10 pm, watch the evening news and weather and then to bed! On Tuesday I would go to lunch with Gylver and Joan and do the grocery shopping or some other errand in town on my way home. Thursdays was "stitch and bitch" at the knitting store and then over to Gylver and Joan's for dinner and either a board game or a jig-saw puzzle (this would take a few weeks for us to do) until dark then home to feed Boots and go to bed.

I am now, emotionally feeling much better; there is still a ways to go but that hole is much much smaller