May 11: Vacation, general update

There seems to be less to say, and less time to write about stuff.  This is a good thing, because it means that I'm doing stuff instead of being on-line. 

Last week I took a planned week off (planned time off--what a concept!) and stopped in DC to visit with Susan, Emily and the other cousins.  Then I went down to Williamsburg to visit with Bidge and his significant other, Sue.  If you remember I had planned this trip last fall, it ended up being the second week after the storm damage, so I had to stay up here to cope with stuff. 

In DC I went with Susan into the city, went to a few of the Smithsonian museums, she took me to a lampshade place to replace the ones which already had damaged and then got worse with all the moving around when things were all topsy-turvy.  Dinner with the rest of the cousins there, not seen over Thanksgiving due to my being sick and having the cats in the hotel. 

Then down to Williamsburg to see Bidge, whom I haven't seen since he moved down there about 3 years ago.  He & Sue were most welcoming and showed me around their lovely and historic area.  The highlight for the history nerd was being at the Jamestown Fort the day after the huge announcement of survivalist cannibalism.  Gross, yes, but historically important.  I lucked into a talk by the archaeologist who made the discovery of skull, and a historian who was very involved.  Planned on spending about 90 minutes there, ended up being over 4 hours!  (If you are curious then look up Jamestown cannibalism Jane for the news story.)

Made it back to DC in time to see Grease, which Emily was involved with at her high school, then after a run to the Container Store with Susan (wish there was a close one here besides southern NJ where I never go) and returned home.  Sunday stayed in to rest and try and catch up, plus a relaxed walk on my favorite trail in VF Park.

And then I had to go back to work....

Things are stable, there was no discussion.  I've started exploring different things, most obviously disability if needed for a fall-back position.  Here's a good news-bad news finding: my heart looks so good on echo that there is no support there.  Even more surprising was that my new cardiologist informed me that there is no documentation of any increase infections in health care workers with mechanical valves.  My suspicion is that this is due to the tiny fraction of us who this would apply to.  He says that he believes me that I'm tired, but now has himself fixed on the idea that it's sleep apnea because I told him that on the really bad days I wake not feeling rested and remain tired.  But I don't snore, and when I come home exhausted and go to the couch I don't fall asleep but feel better with just resting quietly.  Nevertheless, I'm going along with ruling this out and then will push for what I think it is, which is more complicated than I want to go into now, except to say this: tiny mitral valve opening trying to cope with increased demand and unable to let enough blood through >> back up into lungs causing pulmonary hypertension >> exhaustion with increased heart rate or cumulative when trying to work full days. 

Worked four days this last week, constantly busy.  Complicated by a power outage on Thursday, unfortunately on the day that Rick and Kim had come down just to be seen in my office for cardiac clearance for him.  Rick is, by his own admission, a caffeine addict, and the test requires no caffeine for 24 hours, which then extended well into the afternoon.  This lead to a VERY unhappy Rick!  Anyway, exhausted by yesterday evening, stayed in today to rest. 

Will try to update after pulmonary appointment on Tuesday......

Thanks for checking in,   Laurie