Sunday, March 17, 2019

Quick status update

My blog has not been updated for a while, it's because I been under the weather, so to speak, all month so far.  I have essential high Blood Pressure, meaning, there are no underlying causes other than it is in my genes, thanks to Dad.

BP monitor, O2 sat and pulse meter, Kleenex, disinfectant, water.
And of course Dr Rudy treats :-)


About 30 years ago (1991) after my first cancer (kidney) they figured, oh it must had been the cause of your high BP, so they waned me out of all my BP medications to see what would happen.  Well sport fan, it quickly raised to 220/125.  I was Air Evac to Shearwater (military airport near Halifax) in a Hercules from Greenwood then a short ambulance run to the military hospital on the Navy base in Halifax.  Heather claimed at the time it was the scariest ride of her life :-)

They keep me under observation while trying different cocktails of drug until they found one that worked for me.  I have been under pretty well the same cocktail ever since and it worked.
Suddenly this month it stopped working and my BP shot up to 210/115 with a pulse of 111.
It gave me a hell of a headache, in step with my pulse.  My Beta blockers are supposed to keep my pulse under 60, but it was no match :-(

Of course I have been to the emergency dept. of our local regional hospital in Kentville (30 min drive)
Blood work came out perfect, so no recent stroke or heart attack.  ECG was fine also, so they told me cut coffee and salt see your family doctor to change your meds if required.  Well that does not even come close to explain why my cocktail stopped working overnight and no change all month....
Could not happened at a worse time.  From March to May 6th, it keep running in my head Heather last months of her life, she went down fast in that short period.   And NO this added stress does not explain it, it's been no problem the last three years !!!

Been to my doctor office, but he cannot see me until May 6th !!!  I cannot wait that long, so I saw the nurse at his office and when she took my pressure the first reading was 169/110, but the second reading was 134/84 WTF!!  You try to convince them of the urgency with that kind of reading...  I sure miss being in the military, I got priority service anywhere in the medical field :-(
Could not believed that reading, so I took mine with my BP monitor that I brought in to show her the readings I have been getting, and the first one shortly after her was 134/94, then it shot back up to 180/110 pulse 105, there See!

So, I did some investigation, my last refill from the pharmacy was Feb 14, which meant I would had started on them near the end of the month of Feb and my pressure has been quickly raising up ever since. Hummm, my pharmacist checked back till 2014 this is the first time that I ever had this specific brand of generic for my main BP drug Cardizem 360 mg daily (max dose) (Calcium Channel Blocker).  Not the first time I had generics, all my drugs are now pretty well generic thru the years, but unfortunately, the one I was having is no longer available and there is currently a shortage in Canada of this drug, so I cannot go back on my older type to prove my theory :-(

Friday I went to my local hospital in Middleton emergency, this time my BP readings stayed high, so the attending physician looked at my recent blood work, ECG, etc. and my cocktail and increased my Candesartan Cilexetil from 2 mg to 8 mg for a 3 months trial until I can see my doctor.  That small dose (2mg) was used as a prophylactic to protect my remaining kidney.  Thank you, thank you.  I still run high but my pulse finally came down under the 100 floor, it now run around 70 to 90, my BP is up and down from a low of 117/70 to a high of 179/100, but with my pulse now staying below 100 my headache is finally gone.

With all these visits to hospitals emergency rooms and doctor office and pharmacy (all places full of sick people) I now have caught some virus, running a fever and sick as... Sometimes you just can't win :-(
Sadly its only a short period of time before Jean will no doubts catch it, sorry babe :-(

Needless to say, I have been away from my computer for a while.  Looks like I am getting over that cold virus (??) and doing slightly better but to add to my misery, yesterday I somehow fell asleep on my glasses, and they did not survived very well, the frame is all bent out of shape and both lenses popped out.  So I guess I am due for a new pair, sigh!


The arms are superflex which means fold every which way, 
but apparently, the lenses do not fold flat :-(

I am doing slightly better, my headache is now finally gone, but my BP is still running up and down and I am blind as a bat without my glasses.  On the bright side, it could be worse I suppose !?? :-)

Meanwhile Dr Rudy is on the case, licking my forehead when I sweat and lick my face when I have a headache and look pale.
If you ever wonder, YES, a dog doing that, does relieve some tension (if you let him do it), I got the numbers to prove it :-) it's no match for my essential BP, but it does make a small difference.

Dr Rudy at work

Dr Rudy in his office

In other news, on a recent trip to the city, I bought a froe and mallet at LV, in preparation to rive a bunch of oak billets.  Hoping to resume my woodworking adventures in the near future

LV froe and Sam bat (Ottawa MLB maple bat maker) mallet.
Once chew up, I will turn my own following this pattern

Bob, sick and blind as a bat but without any ranging devices built in.
Per Ardua Ad Astra. Thru adversity to the stars, my RCAF motto

14 comments:

  1. Hope you're feeling better soon and you get that non-generic Cardizem. Best wishes.

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  2. Damn Bob,

    Getting old sucks.

    I know it doesn't but 3 months to see your Doc, sounds like your medical system sucks almost as much as ours.

    I always sleep wearing my glasses otherwise how could I find 'em when I wake up :-). My frames are Flexon brand.

    Take care,

    ken

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  3. I hope you will soon get better.
    Sylvain

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  4. Jeez 3 month to get to see your doctor? I was believing the worse was here but I still can have an appointment with a 1 or 2 weeks notice.
    Wish you to recover and get everything sorted out.
    Take care and take it easy!

    The Wood Butcher

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  5. Thanks for the well whishes everyone. Just to clarify, its not 3 months wait to see my doctor, its roughly 1-1/2 months. The 3 months trial is to cover me in the mean time. The reason for the doctor delay is because he has been sick and he is now slowly taking back more work. But compounding the issue, a lot of our local doctors are now retiring, putting more pressure on the remaining ones, until new ones arrived...:-(

    On a happier note, my optometrist managed to unbent my frame and order a new one under warranty, should be here in 2-3 days, yeh

    Bob, who can see again

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  6. I feel your pain Bob, several yrs. ago my BP was 220/128 until my aorta ruptured, somehow I managed to survive. A aneurysm lower in my aorta collapsed my left renal artery killing the kidney. The BP drugs I'm on now keep my BP in check. Just recovering from a bout with cancer now. I was forced to retire and am now on social security.
    I'm sure you know this, but stay after those doctors, with your BP numbers serious trouble is probably headed your way. Good luck to you Bob.
    Stephen

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  7. Wow Stephen you were lucky in your predicament. Both grandpa and dad ran thise kind of numbers mist of their life. Grampa passed at 70 heart attack, dad just short of his 81 birthday, having been under control for about 30 years, i should be good to at least 80 :-)
    But yeah, im keeping an eye on my numbers. Right now im swinging up and down from a hi of 179/100 to a low of 123/79, it looks like the change they made is having an effect.

    Bob, the eternal optimist

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  8. Bob doesn't the 38 years of service give you medical at any Military hospital? I hope that you get the BP under control and someone can figure out why the meds suddenly went south.

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  9. Ralph, Nope
    I am on the military medical system, and into the wonderful world of health care. We have VAC hospital wings here and there, there is one right here at my local hospital, but those are for long term care.
    My BP seems to be coming down, still fluctuate but at least it does not goes too high. Today I can breath thru my nose, headache gone and got my glasses fixed. Things are looking up. All I need now is energy :-)

    Bob, dying to play with his new toys

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  10. &**?*&%% meant to read OUT of the military medical system. And yes, I sure missed it :-(

    Bob

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  11. Hey, Bob! I hope you get everything sorted soon.

    Cheers!

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  12. Hope you're doing better soon, Bob. My advice to everyone is to try NEVER to have to take any medication of any kind. Diet and exercise can heal as well as, or better than any man-made chemicals/drugs. OK, maybe diet and exercise can prevent things - after things go south, it's harder for d&e to fix them. But I have two brothers who have gotten off medications through diet.

    Whoo - glad I didn't get into how I REALLY feel about doctors and pharmaceutical companies in this country ...

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  13. I hear you Matt, but diet and exercise etc, is no match to control my BP, trust me...
    Currently down to 119/79 P67. Now I have to keep an eye to make sure I don't go to low... sigh

    Bob, on a roller coaster

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  14. To the first paragraph of this post..........good to know the 14Wing does house calls of sorts.

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