Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The Office weigh-in



Did anyone catch the season premiere of the Office? It was pure comic genious. If you missed it, please do yourself a favor and watch it online on NBC.com. I won't spoil it for you if you haven't seen it [or finished all but the last 15 minutes.. Drew, you are really putting a strain on communication in our marriage. please, finish it.] The episode was all about weight loss as an office and essentially that meant adopting a healthy lifestyle, but really the focus was on the pounds. Each person had some 'great' strategies for trying to shed the pounds.
As one of about five women in the US who wants to gain weight I am trying to brainstorm the opposite problem... how to put the pounds on. It's harder than it seems, well at least to do it in a way that is healthy, i.e. not just eating junk food. If anyone has any tips on how to gain weight feel free to pass them along. Otherwise, just don't hate me for asking and watch the Office for a good laugh to forget I even mentioned it.

K

Friday, September 19, 2008

Our Neighbor Skip

Digory and I made a new friend.. well, technically we made two. Skip and his dog Blue. Skip lives down the street and rules the neighborhood from his red truck or preferably from his riding lawn mower, which he frequently rides up and down our busy street. In either vehicle he prefers to be sans shirt and is accompanied by his shepherd mix dog with one blue eye. Blue walks leashed beside the mower proudly and Skip waves at everyone he sees. I wave too if I'm outside. It's a one-man, one-dog parade. He's probably in his sixties, retired and is extremely hospitable, honest, and kind. I have yet to meet his wife, but from the praises he speaks of her I am looking forward to it.

Blue and Digory are officially best friends. Really, while I've tried to get Digs to befriend my friends' dogs he just hasn't quite bonded as quickly to them as he has to Blue. He and Blue are both boys and about the same age and they run and chase each other and just have a grand 'ol time. Some days I walk by Skip's house and he is sitting out front with Blue and Digory drags me across to play. Skip pulls up a chair and we talk about dogs, birds, churches, and of course the neighborhood. Skip really does rule the neighborhood in my opinion because he seems to know everyone and everyone knows him. He's a great resource. I now know the ethnicity of most of my neighbors. I also know that one of my neighbors has a temper and I should be careful of upsetting him. I learned not to pet a certain neighborhood dog because it bit Skip on the hand and there used to be chickens and roosters living across from Skip, but someone complained [not Skip] and they're gone now. Oh, and I also learned that souring milk isn't bad for dogs to drink... Skip had some out for Blue and Digory decided it was his. That was fine except Digory is very furry and food tends to stick around his face. You probably see where I'm going with this...

So, after a lovely visit with Skip yesterday I saw a hummingbird, some swallows, learned a lot, and I left with a tired dog, four very muddy paws, and a very sour smelling dog in desperate need of a bath.

K

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Movies!

My latest hobby has been making myself dizzy while doing internet research on POTS. It is loads of fun as long as I don't have to get up afterwards. I may have even found a specialist in North Carolina today, but I have some phone calls to make to see if it is accepting of our insurance. So yippy skippy.

If you feel inclined to watch, this two-part video gives a pretty good description of my current life. If you want to understand me better, this is a short [approx. 10 minute] way to understand more about what I have so much trouble explaining. I didn't make them, but I'm glad "chronicallyKyli" did.

K

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Mystery solved??

Maybe this will be the last 'medical' post for a while and we can get back to posting about more interesting things, like Drew's new job or our cute little dog. But, for now, since I don't want to explain what my doctor said several times over the phone because I am still napping a lot.. here goes. I have POTS. No, they, aren't just on the cool pot rack Drew built me for Christmas last year..

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome plus vestibular migraines. So, I was already being treated for the migraines, which can cause dizziness, but the POTS explains my low blood pressure, fatigue, inability to walk straight, and it also explains the randomness of the episodes. Well, that's the hope at least. I was told I had this a couple years ago, but then told maybe I don't, and once the migraines were treated it seemed a little clearer that I do have it. So I guess that makes me a winner. My prize? A new prescription AND just because I was so patient (pun intented), I also got a prescription for thigh high medical support hose. It is supposed to keep blood from pooling in my legs and help it flow to important places like my brain so I don't pass out. Fun. Feel free to google it yourself or check here for more info on POTS http://www.potsplace.com

I am really thankful that we are starting to get some answers and hopeful that this new treatment for POTS will work better than the last one I tried a couple years ago. My current doctor seems much more educated on POTS and willing to try the latest treatments for it. So, we will just continue to pray that I will be back to normal soon. Then I can stop posting about napping and start writing about looking for a job.

K