Yesterday was a busy day. At 10:30 am, we drove to Greg’s home in Chaska, where Tom dropped me off to spend time with Greg and Heather to do laundry and watch the Minnesota Vikings Game. Then, he drove one hour to meet up with Tammy, Tracy, and a few of their friends at a sports bar in Blaine to watch the Vikings game.
When I arrived, I immediately began doing the laundry to finish it as soon as possible. The grandkids didn’t come from their mom’s home until 4:00 pm, enabling us to spend a few minutes with them before we headed out. It was fun chatting with everyone, and it was a good day.
Tom enjoyed his time with Tammy, Tracy, and friends and had lunch while he was at the sports bar. When we returned to the hotel around 5:30, he wasn’t hungry, but I was. I’d only had two hard-boiled eggs for breakfast. We had leftover meat and raw vegetables from Costco, so I munched on those, which hit the spot. Later, I ate two little packages of Costco’s delicious seaweed snacks (20 calories each with 0 carbs) while we watched more episodes of Formula 1.
In the next few nights, we’ll finish the entire series of five seasons, loving every moment. If you can watch this fantastic series, we’d love to hear your thoughts. Wow! It was a thrill ride!
Ten years ago, we wrote a post about worrying, as shown in today’s “ten-year-ago photo,” it had been a long time since we addressed this bothersome emotion. As time has marched on over these almost 11 years (29 days until the anniversary), we’ve worried less and less about our travels. Although we make booking errors on rare occasions and may find ourselves unprepared for circumstances, at this point, the only time we find ourselves worrying is about our health.
These past years have presented more health issues as we’ve aged, although we do everything possible to stay healthy. In my case, genetics are more aggressive than any lifestyle changes I can make. I continually research to see if I am missing something in this area and if I can add any new protocols that can improve things.
Right now, I am focused on discovering why I get Afib and if I can eventually stop this troublesome event that causes a person to worry when it happens. When it’s not happening, it’s easy to get caught up anticipating another attack, mainly when they frequently occur at night. It’s terrifying when one’s heart is pounding in their chest for hours, especially when trying to get some sleep.
At the end of April, I was in the hospital in Nelspruit, South Africa, for three days, having every medical test possible to see what was triggering it. No conclusion was made. I still have arterial disease, but my heart is healthy, and the cardiac bypass surgery was holding. Nothing pointed to a cause for Afib. I was given a drug that made me deathly ill, which I continue to carry with us but will only take in an emergency, not necessarily every time I get a few hours of pounding and fluttering.
The meds prescribed for this condition make me lethargic and so tired I need to lie down all day. Those types of side effects do not fit into our lives. Nor are we willing to stop enjoying our unique lives for me to lie in bed all day. I’ll take my chances.
As for Tom, his coughing continues to be a concern, and when we get situated in South America, he’s agreed to see a pulmonologist, but then again, the drugs prescribed for such conditions also cause severe side effects comparable to those from chemotherapy. We shall see what we find out and report back here.
At 6:00 pm, we’re meeting up with Tammy, Tracy, and Vincent for dinner and trivia across the parking lot from the hotel at Pizza Luce. We’ll get there early to ensure we get a good table in the bar for the trivia game, which starts at 7:00 pm.
Tom is off today at noon to meet up with old friends/railroad guys in Roseville, a 45-minute drive from here, and will surely get back in time for our evening with family.
In a mere nine days, we’ll be leaving Minnesota for South America, looking forward to a wonderful experience in The Galapagos and four nights in a hotel in Quito included in our cruise fare. If the altitude doesn’t bother us, we go out on the planned walking tours. Otherwise, we’ll hang out at the lovely hotel for low-key days.
Be well.
Photo from ten years ago today, October 2, 2013:
