A New Year Approaches

Not wanting to pay the increased fee for having a website I did not update nearly enough, I let Weebly/Square un-publish it. I'll try to do more here but that, as so many things these days are, may or may not come to pass. 2024 has been that kind of year with surprises all around. Long COVID led to my seeing a sports medicine and rehab doc who started me on a walking program and some related physical therapy out of which it was discovered that I have anterolisthesis (my L4 vertebra is sliding forward relative to my L5 one) and stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal column. For almost six months, I have been battling pain from the stenosis including one ambulance ride to and morning in the emergency room when the pain was so bad I could not stand up. I'm headed to the Pain Management Center Wednesday to see if they can offer some relief. 

At the same time, Spouse admitted to having some minor (he said) chest pains when working out after which the family doctor sent him for a stress test. The results of the stress test sent him for a possible cardiac catheterization and placement of a stent. The result of that procedure was discovering that there multiple blockages around the heart, one of which is in the left anterior descending artery otherwise known as the "Widowmaker." He had two follow-up exams after he came back from the cath, and will have three more tomorrow, after which we meet with a surgeon to discuss further options. I'm imagining that they will suggest a bypass, but we shall see. We have a second meeting with the surgeon on Tuesday, though I'm not totally sure why Spouse is scheduled for visits with the same doctor on two consecutive days.

On the brighter side, we managed to make it to Maine for the total solar eclipse in April. I required a wheel chair to get through airports. I tried walking on my own, but the jetway leaving the first flight bitch-slapped me and I admitted defeat. The eclipse was great; even greater was seeing it with dear friends we hope to see more of after Spouse retires. That is right now planned for May 31, 2025. He is supposed to teach one more class in the spring, but the prospect of cardiac surgery may suggest otherwise. We hope to do more travelling once he's officially retired, starting with a 15-day Viking river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest followed by three days in Prague. 

The Maine trip also gave us the chance to visit the Duck of Justice in the Bangor Police Department lobby. If you're on Facebook, you can look that up. That's my brother Jon in the background. He lives in Bangor, so the trip also gave us a chance to see him. 

Well, this has been pretty painless, so I hope I get back to writing more regularly. The next couple of days, though, are dedicated to seeing how the rest of the year might come to pass medically.