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