March 4: Update for 2 weeks

Again, I plead lack of time and exhaustion for not posting. Obviously, I usually do this on the weekends, and last week was very busy. Got a lot of stuff up to the new place. Mom came over and helped pack breakables. Last weekend was the first time I could access the garage, and several friends pitched in to drive up there with fully loaded vehicles. Thanks to Ellen, my real estate agents and their son, and Carole & Stan. That big 2-bay isn't looking so big anymore! My friend/contractor is proceeding amazingly quickly with the renovations. The place is all torn up: rugs are out and hardwood exposed and set for refinishing in a couple weeks, the horrid dropped ceilings are out as of today and will be replaced with drywall so I don't feel like I am in a hospital or office, the brick pillars inbetween the kitchen/dining rooms are out, walls starting to be covered with drywall to get rid of the dark paneling, the stackable washer/dryer is there, old stove and range and cabinets ripped out in preparation for redoing the kitchen, a doorway is partially moved and I ordered the stove and microwave hood yesterday. Moving is set for the second week in April. Worked every day this week, only one of them a full day, which my bank account will appreciate. The house is due to go on the market on Wednesday, so that will be on everyone's screens for house hunters next weekend. Has been shown three times, to one person twice, but nothing heard. But I am hopeful, because that is interest just within the local office of the realtors, not even listed yet. All three times I took my "attack cat" in the car, drove to another part of the development and waited until the "all-clear" from the agents. The other three cats are fine. Now that I have done it three times I am happy to report that I have found a location near a bird feeder, which keeps Chester happily occupied.

OK, Boston. Didn't go as well as I would have liked. My lung pressures are not any better than before the surgery. My left atrial size is not better. No one is happy. So, they switched me to a different beta-blocker to slow the heart rate down and allow more time for the left ventricle to fill in-between beats. I'm tolerating this one, Coreg, better than the other ones, but only the tiniest dose. My BP is now running 100/60, sometimes lower, and that is when I get dizzy and lightheaded. I can't say I feel any better, however. Will not be able to take the diuretics while taking the beta-blocker because then my BP gets too low. And although I have lost 12 pounds in the last four months, they want me to lose 15-20 pounds more, and without exercising. And don't get too tired. Yeah, right. You come down and move me. Anyway, the follow-up was initially three months (late May), but they just e-mailed me Friday that the cardiologist up there wants to see me in April, more like six weeks. So, we'll see.

Thanks for checking, Laurie