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.

Another Year Down

I can't believe I went a year and a day without writing anything here. Actually, I can believe it. There are a lot of things I didn't do in the last year that I wish had been possible. I'm not going to start a list, because the list would be too long and it would depress me even more than long COVID alone does. 

I didn't make any resolutions for 2024, so there's no progress for me to check in on. Most days I float through somehow, accomplishing nothing. While I am no longer taking non-trivial morning and afternoon naps, I still need at least one or I am essentially useless the next day. I read the paper on and off. Look at social media. Occasionally write emails. Lately, I've actually been able to read for more than 15 minutes before I can no longer focus, so I've actually finished some books. I did start taking walks again, under the guidance of a physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor. That more than anything else has helped lift the major depressive disorder I was feeling. The doc also had me going to physical therapy. One's balance takes a hit after sitting or lying down for a whole year. 

Between the walking and the physical therapy, the slight lower back ache I had had on and off turned all the way on. Some days I had trouble walking without pain. The physical therapist thought it might be due to the scoliosis she said I had. The doctor thought that if I got my hips stronger, that would take care of the pain. After he had me lie on my back and be unable to lift my left leg due to pain, he sent me for x-rays. The good news is that they showed what the cause of the back pain is. The bad news is that it's not clear what can be done about it, though more information coming out of an MRI on July 19 should shed more light on that. 

It's called anterolisthesis. My L4 vertebra is sliding forward on my L5 vertebra. The sliding is somewhere between 25 and 50 percent, meaning it's Level 2. Level 1 is better; Level 4 is not. This may be something my mother had. At one point, she had a rod put in her back to hold her back straight. That's one of the last-resort treatments for anterolisthesis that I refuse to think about until after then MRI results are in and explained to me. 

So, this has been an enlightening post, hasn't it? Let me finish with the horoscope from The Washington Post that tells of the year ahead for someone born on July 1.

You are adventurous, imaginative and impulsive. You have an excellent memory. This is a year of learning and teaching. You might take time to renew your spiritual or religious beliefs. Explore philosophies that will give you a better self-awareness and understanding of the true meaning of your life.

 I'm not at all sure how to interpret all that. I do not, for example, feel very adventurous, imaginative, or impulsive. I'm too tired for any of that. And what is the true meaning of my life? A friend told me I did not seem upset enough about the anterolisthesis on top of the long COVID. Without really thinking, I told her I had both so other people did not to have either. The fates could have given two people one thing each. By giving me two, at least one other person has stayed healthy. Gotta laugh because the alternative doesn't accomplish anything. 

I'll try to get back here before another year passes, not that anyone has asked where I was this year. And for what it's worth, I'm now 68. Sixty-seven could have been worse, but at least it was a prime number.I don't have another prime age until 71.

The View from the Hermitage, Day 412

India's new daily record is over 400,000 new cases in one day. When will we ever learn? Oh, when will we ever learn?

Two pie crusts in the works, then updating my quilt guild on the website I updated just yesterday, and The Professor and Sons on their way home from the 100km race The Sons finished this morning. I am not at all sure when I would find time to post something real, so count this surreal post as today's.