A New Room Mate

Dealing with bureaucrats, private or public, is often time consuming and frustrating. (I define a bureaucrat as anyone who has in his job some measure of control over your life.) My adopting a cat is the exception that proves the rule.

The apartment rules said, “no pets.” The on-site administrator said, “Well, normally that’s the policy. But sometimes they’ll make an exception, such as if the renter’s doctor claims the companionship of a pet could be important to the renter’s health.” So I discussed it with my doctor, who agreed that a pet would be helpful. She promised to write a letter to that effect, to Apartment Management

She was quick, as was Management! Two days later I had permission to adopt a cat, and the day after that I met Martini at the Carolina Animal Rescue & Adoption (CARA). Martini and I hit it off immediately, and a day later it was a done deal. I must have been meant to have a cat, for everything worked to make that happen quickly! Apartment Management even waived the $250 cat fee!

Most cats hide out a few days when introduced to a new home. My last cat, some 10 years ago, slashed a hole in the fabric under my bed and made a hideout in the space. Martini looked around, said “This’ll do, and staked his claim. He generously allowed as how I could stay there too, as long as I behaved myself. Thank you, Martini. I am grateful.

So now it appears my fate is sealed for the next 20 years or so. I’m almost 76, but I don’t dare kick the bucket — Martini would kill me!

Time to Play Catchup

Well, here I am, obligated (in my mind) to make a post, and darned little to post about. I feel obligated because it’s been a long time since I’ve posted, and I feel guilty. And now that I’ve sat down to do it, three subjects come to mind:

Comments,
9-1-1, and
The Cat
Comments: Blogs live on comments; without them I feel like I’m talking to the wind, and that’s discouraging. When no one talks back I feel like bagging this whole blogging thing. Then some one does talk back and I’m hot to go again. Solution? Keep on posting! But sometimes that’s hard to do. For example:

9-1-1

A couple of Mondays ago my dialysis nurse decided I was losing ground in my fight against excess water. I was gaining weight because I wasn’t getting rid of the water I was taking in while eating and drinking. This results in water in the lungs (a stupid way to drown), high blood pressure (a stupid way to a stroke or heart attack) and a water-soaked expanded body (a stupid way to have clothes that don’t fit) — “stupid” being not bothering to do anything about it.

So she decided to take more water off me in dialysis. I had found over a period of months that when more than 3.5 kilos were taken out of my blood, excruciating leg cramps would ensue, so I objected loudly when she told me she was going to take 4.5 k. But she gave me a medicine to hold off the cramps, and went for it. And what-da-ya-know, no cramps! But the session left me very weak. When it was done, I made it to the pickup, drove the 2 miles to my apartment, and barely made it on foot from the pickup to the apartment. Inside, I tried to sit down in an office chair. Once started, my knees buckled and I went down, missing the chair. I wasn’t hurt, but I couldn’t get up — couldn’t even crawl to the telephone.

I had a cell phone strapped to my belt, so called 9-1-1 on that. It’s area code is west coast, and I now live near the east coast, and that caused some confusion. After that was straightened out the EMS folks got there, along with the police to break in if necessary. Luckily, Apartment Management was available with a passkey.

A check for blood/sugar gave a reading of 55, which should have knocked me out. If it were still going down, things would have become much more serious. As it was, I spent the afternoon in the hospital’s emergency room.

A couple of changes have come from this: now I always carry sugar pills on my person, and I am going to change my cell-phone number to a local one, tied to my current address.

The Cat
I live alone. This was ok up to a couple of months ago, for I had enough energy to keep busy. I’d go fishing alone, work on some home business projects, and do a number of other things that I found interesting. Then I had an energy loss that I hope is temporary. The result is I’m bored. I find I really need a pet to keep me company. My apartment lease says “no pets,” but I’ve heard there are some exceptions to that. So my doctor wrote them a note, saying that a pet — such as a cat — has a physical and mental benefit to people with my condition.

Apartment management declined to pass the note to corporate, because, it seems, such requests must be typewritten on the doctor’s letterhead. The note I submitted was hand-written on a prescription form. Also it must be faxed, rather than hand delivered.

So I’ve asked my doctor to submit it again. Hopefully, she’ll do it, and hopefully, apartment management will allow me a cat. Then comes the search for the right cat.

A Milestone (sort of)

At my age, I have to put milestones close together to better the odds of making it to the next one! Anyway, under those rules last Friday was a milestone — three weeks without a cigarette! For a non-smoker, I’m sure this doesn’t sound much like a milestone. But I’ve smoked cigarettes for the better part of 60 years, sometimes up to 4 packs a dayl Four packs means there are very few moments in the day without a cigarette in my mouth.

About six months ago I tried to quit gradually, and for a while I was down to a little less than a half pack a day. Then my usage began to climb until the day I quit three weeks ago, I was up to a pack-and-a-half. Gradual wasn’t working, so I just quit.

The physical need is gone, but the habit is still with me. I often find myself absently fishing in my shirt pocket for a cigarette that isn’t there, or wishing for an after-dinner smoke. But then I get busy with something else, and I’m ok again.

I’ve had my last cigarette! (I hope, I hope, I hope)

I’m Still Interested!

Well, the results are back from the tests mentioned in my previous post. They’re encouraging, but leave some questions unanswered. The mammogram and ultrasound indicate that the lump is merely a fat deposit and (hopefully) will go away on its own. The chest x-ray does not show a problem, but indicates more tests are in order. So my doctor is setting up an appointment with a lung specialist. Hopefully, he’ll find nothing wrong.

In the meantime, I’m trying once again to quit smoking. I’ve purchased a “quit kit” from CigArrest to give me a leg up on this new attempt. I’m sure I can do it. I was off cigarettes for a year before I took it up again on my cross-country trip a year or so ago. Then I found that, like potato chips, you can’t have “just one.”

Friday — the Best Day for Dialysis!

And why is Friday the best day for dialysis? Because it’s the last day for dialysis — for the week, anyway!

And today was especially good. I got there before anyone else scheduled for 6:30, and so was the first to be hooked up. I was online by 6:45, and the session ended at 10:45 — a half hour earlier than usual. Even more important, I was able to sleep for three of the four hours on the machine. This made the session even shorter, from my perspective.

And I came out feeling great, so I did not have to waste the afternoon sacked out. I was able to put up another steam engine on Ebay. My last one sold for $100, so I have good hopes for this one. (In a previous life my hobby was desktop machining, specializing in miniature steam engines of my own design. $100 isn’t much for an item that took almost 100 hours to design and build, but I was building them for fun, not money, and $100 is about $100 more than I expected!) We’ll see how this one goes. If it does well I have about 10 left to unload. If it disappoints me, there’s a Dempsey Dumpster nearby. In either case, they’re taking up too much room in my apartment.

Anyway, it’s been a good day!

More on Ambulance Chasers

In a previous post on this subject, I talked about attorneys suggesting we sue the makers of Heparin if we have any of a list of symptoms while (or after) being treated with that product. A problem with that list is that it includes many symptoms that are simply a part of life. A common cold includes half the symptoms listed. If you have a cold and have had Heparin, should you therefore sue the maker? I think not, but that is what they are implying. I think it’s wrong.

This is not the only thing some attorneys are targeting. Any manufacturer or service provider can be sued for (it seems) any reason, and this drives up the cost of the product or service. You and I pay for it.

Most attorneys provide a necessary service, and are valued members of the communities they serve. In my opinion, however, those who suggest we sue simply because we may be able to squeeze some money out of someone are doing a disservice to their community.

Lung cancer victims who may have been exposed to asbestos 30 years ago are a case in point. Who knew then that asbestos could cause cancer? It was a valued product in common use. How can we justify suing the user of asbestos at a time when it was generally thought to be safe? Yet some attorneys are suggesting just that. I think it is wrong.

Of course there are legitimate reasons for suing in these examples. My problem is with attorneys who encourage people to sue at the drop of a hat, and then provide the hat.

My Daughter — My Hero! (Heroine?)

Wow! Two posts in one day! I just took a look at my daughter’s blog –
http://stitchingwithashimmy.com/
and found she was touting this one. What a concept! I should have touted hers long ago.

My daughter is an extremely talented young lady who is very much into needle art and belly dancing. She teaches belly dancing at a local college, and her blog discusses that and various stitching arts — cross stitch, and a number of others that I don’t understand. Her day job is technical writing, and her computer skills far surprass mine. They should! She’s been playing with computers since she was 11.

Her blog is entertaining, and she shows some beautiful pieces she has for sale. Take a look; even if you don’t go for these crafts, you’ll enjoy the read!

A funny thing happened on the way to the post office …

Well, it wasn’t really all that funny. I got out of dialysis about 11:30, feeling good but hungry. I drove home and fixed myself a ham and cheese sandwich. After eating, I drove to the post office to find some boxes to ship a couple of things I’d sold on Ebay. While there, I suddenly felt faint and had to sit down. People noticed, and suggested calling 911. I figured I could wait it out, so I nixed that idea. After about 10 minutes I felt better, so shuffled out to the pickup and drove home. The fainting came on again and I barely made it into the house. I went to bed, and a couple of hours later I woke up feeling okay.

On looking back on this, I realize I was a danger to myself and to others, and so I have made this vow: if someone thinks they should call 911 on my behalf, I will let them do it.

On another note: last week my dialysis machine started giving me a yellow light, indicating there was something wrong with my fistula. So the nurse scheduled me for a hospital visit to have it reamed. This was the second time in six months. My daughter drove me in, as I was not allowed to drive myself home after the procedure. I mentioned to the surgeon that the first time was painful, so they gave me a bigger dose of whatever it is they give you to relax. I relaxed so much I didn’t feel a thing. In fact, it’s probably the best sleep I’ve had in a week! (g)

Ambulance Chasers

Today I saw yet another ad suggesting I could make a great deal of money by virtue of being administered heparin during dialysis. Most dialysis and surgery patients are given heparin to thin the blood prior the procedure. Dialysis patients are given it to prevent the blood from clotting in the machine.

The ad suggests that this medicine could be causing great damage, up to and including death, and advises that if a loved one has died while taking heparin, next of kin may have a case for a large cash award. It goes on to say that if you, while taking heparin, suffer, among other things — shock, chest pains, vomiting, organ failure, skin redness, fatigue, low blood pressure, fainting, and/or increased sweating — you may be a victim of heparin poisoning.

I had organ failure before taking heparin, so there’s no case there. Before kidney failure and during these years of dialysis I have had and continue to have all of the symptoms listed above. They are common to an aging and weakening system, but if the owner of that system has a greedy streak, he may be tempted to give the advertiser a call.

I don’t know how I would prove a case against heparin — or even why I’d want to, since this blood thinner makes dialysis possible for me, and dialysis is what keeps me alive.

Murder by dialysis

I just read a chilling article from Associated Press about a nurse at a dialysis center in Lufkin, Texas who is alleged to have injected 10 patients with bleach. Five of them died. I knew there was a reason I try to be nice to those charged with my “oil change” three times a week. They’re always stuffing something into my veins. So far it’s been good things — like an iron booster, or antibiotics when I had a mild infection. News like that makes one realize how vulnerable we are!

On the other hand, most people who become nurses or dialysis technicians do so because they have a need to help people. They can’t be doing it for the money, for there’s not that much of it. It’s hard work, and their patients are often cranky — sometimes even resentful of the hand that has been dealt to them.

I am fortunate, in that the crew at my dialysis center are dedicated people who are committed to keeping the procedure safe and their patients comfortable.

So although that article was disquieting, I’m secure in the knowledge that it can’t happen here… can it?