Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Feeling Better, But Feeling Sad

  I have had so many things keeping me from posting lately. First of all, there was all this stuff with my heart. It now looks like it wasn't my heart that was the trouble. That's good news...I think.  I had to wear an overnight monitor last week, and today the doctor's office called to verify that nothing irregular showed up on the monitor. (I felt some flutterings that I was sure would show up on it,but they assure me that all was normal.) I think a lot of my problem was stress. I will say that I am feeling better too. I still have a stress test coming up, and there are still issues with my neck that need sorted out. I have to see the primary care doctor for that though. The nurse I saw at the cardiologists suggested I might need my thyroid ultrasounded. Now I have to get the doctor to have that done. He's a worthless dud though,which I have mentioned before. He's the one who makes all the fat cracks and has basically said that I'm fat because all I do is sit around all day and eat chocolates. He also pretty much said that nothing is exercise unless I have paid for a gym membership. (He said my mowing the yard for two hours with a non motorized push mower is not exercise! Let him try doing it!) I'd love to get another doctor,but I didn't think that was a good idea with all this stuff to be sorted out. So I still have to see him again,(Great!),and find out what's going on with my throat/neck.
  I did find out tonight that the reason my cholesterol was higher the last time I had a blood test was probably because my thyroid had worsened. Apparently that happens. I wondered what was going on, because I haven't had meat or animal fat for 30 years next month,and my cholesterol has always been perfect.
  Now that my heart is more or less normal and I am feeling better I should be posting more often.
  My Aunt Edna, who was my mother's only sister,passed away last week. She was one of those cases of someone who pretty much gave up after going in a nursing home. She was quite old,(almost 86),but was in pretty good health before suddenly having a small stroke about a year ago. Out of my mom and her 4 siblings, there are now only two brothers left.


My aunt Edna, (Left) and my mom Lelia,(Right) with their brother Curtis's wife Janie.
Emma and I went to my aunt's funeral yesterday. I really don't believe in 'viewings'. It seems barbaric to me. I know lots of people of my aunt's generation approve of it, and her daughter held a viewing for her. I knew my dad believed in viewings, so I had one before his service. But I had the funeral directors make sure he was in a separate room where those who wanted to see him could, but those of us who didn't want to didn't have to. I just prefer not to see my loved ones that way. I would rather remember them as they were. Emma and I tried to avoid seeing my aunt,but it was difficult.

My Aunt Edna,(Left) with my cousin, and my mom on the right,with me. The little girl is my sister.
  It's a shame that a lot of family members only see each other at funerals. I'm guilty of that too,as there were many second cousins there that I had never met or hadn't seen since they were tiny.
  The saddest thing was that my aunt's two sons didn't even show up for the funeral. There had been attempts made to contact them and let them know that their mother had passed away, but they didn't respond. Nobody knows if they even found out she died, let alone when the funeral was. She raised them as a single mother for most of their childhoods. They were handfuls too. Nobody was really surprised they didn't show up,and their sister admitted she preferred it that way. (You may have read about these guys before, in part 2 of my posts on How I Coveted My Cousin's Toys.)
  To return to happier thoughts,I have some fun Goodwill finds to share with you soon. See you then.

14 comments:

  1. My uncle says that American funeral customs seem designed to inflict as much pain as possible on the bereaved, and I have to agree with him. The last memory I have of my grandfather was him lying in his casket. It was a little bit of a relief since he was so sick for so long, but it also hurt. I want to remember him as the funny, wise old guy that always stuck a camera in my face whenever we kids were over. Your old pictures are very nice, by the way; I love those old styles, and your mother and her sisters are lovely. Can't wait to see your Goodwill loot; Goodwill can be such fun! Hang in there!

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    1. I totally agree! We tried to stay as fr from the casket as we could, but at the end the funeral directors made everybody file past the casket to leave! We could have all just got up and walked out from where we were,but he said he was going to 'release one row at a time', and made us all walk up there! I know people who photograph the deceased in the casket too. my family has done that and I have accidentally seen the pictures while looking at photos with someone. I never want to see anybody like that. Some people say they need to, to have closure, but I would rather remember them as they were My son has trouble with things like that and wanted to remember my dad as he was when he was still the lively Papa joking around with him. he didn't even come to see him at the nursing home when he was failing, and there was no way he was coming to the funeral. I don't like funerals at all, and I don't want one. I want to be cremated and they can have a party.I had one for Dad because that's the way he wanted it, but I only go to funerals if I really feel I have to. It has to be someone very special to me. I've only been to 7: my mom, my dad, my best friend's mom,one of my best friends, Ken's dad and step mother (I only did that for Ken.),and my aunt.
      Yep. Mom was very pretty. unfortunately, I look like my dad!

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  2. I'm very sorry for your loss of your auntie, I send my condolences.
    I'm glad that you're now getting answers to your health problems but I really don't like the sound of your doctor, what a dick! To say that the only exercise is paid for exercise is a load of old baloney. I have recently lost lots of weight and most of it was done through walking, just brisk walking every morning with my dog for a minimum of an hour. I have lost more weight this way than I'd ever lose with a gym membership.....sounds like he's getting a cut from the gym LOL.
    But I do agree that for the time being, whilst you're having your treatment, it's probably better to stick with him, but I'd certainly look elsewhere once you're sorted.
    xx

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    1. Thank you.
      That's the same thing the nurse at the cardiologists said! I was already looking for a new doctor. We used to have such a good doctor. he was young, but he listened to everything you had to tell him, and he sat and explained everything to you: what was wrong, what you'd be taking, what it did,etc. Unfortunately he moved to another town and this guy took over his practice. So we didn't even choose him! We got him by default!When they recently found that my thyroid had worsened, he raised my medication by half a pill one day a week. The cardio nurse thought it was hardly worth it. When I told him about the problems I've been having in my neck,the trouble swallowing and feeling like I'm strangling, he checked my EARS! He didn't see problem because my ears were fine. I'm finding out that thyroid trouble causes trouble swallowing and breathing (check!) and heart palpitations!(Check!) Have to get rid of this guy!

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  3. I am sorry for the loss of your aunt. I too don't like "viewings" I would rather remember the person as they were when they were well and full of life.
    Your doctor sounds like an idiot, very rude and tactless. I hope you get another doctor as soon as you can as that guy will never help you to feel well.

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    1. Thanks so much.
      I am hoping to get things straightened out as soon as possible. I have an appointment in about 2 weeks,and if he brushes off the thyroid problems again he's history. I would have gone to a new doctor to begin with, but I figured that starting as a new patient with all these problems would be harder than going to somebody who knows my history.Of course, this guy might prove that theory wrong.

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  4. I am sorry to hear about your aunt.
    We do not have viewings in Norway. But I have seen 3 dead persons. When I was 6, my mum wanted us to see my dead sister, and it was nice because it confirmed to me that she was dead (she looked peaceful). When I was 16, I saw my father's mum. We walked into the hospital chappel before the undertakers came to take her to church. Her daughter had asked to see her, and the lid was off. She was 88, and her face looked like she had been in pain, so it was a bad experience. When I was 20, I saw my mother's dad. My sisters and cousins went and saw him, so I did too. He looked peaceful, but very gray. I wish that I had not seen him. The fact that we had all sat with him on the day before he died and knew his pains and panic, made the whole thing worse, even though we felt relief that his troubles were over. :-(

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    1. Yes, some people need to see the person to confirm to themselves they are really gone. Some people find it a closure for them. I'm not that way.

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  5. You should get another doctor asap. Excercise is excercise! Recently there was a report that 10 000 steps each day is not good enough, unless your pulse was up a lot. I think that the conclusion was that we should have a couple of brisk walks.

    Anyway, no doctor should make their patients feel bad. They should be able to give the right messages in a nice way!
    It might be easier to get the pulse up in the gym, but a good doctor should be able to recommend ways to train without a gym membership (stairs, hills...).

    If the point is to move fast, I am not sure mowing the lawn is good. I have tried a manual lawn mower in my childhood. I seem to remember that it is possible to move fast and get the pulse up... But my stamina made me be slow very soon + I am allergic to grass and feel bad close to newly cut grass 😶

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    1. The mower is a fairly slow steady thing, but it is constant back and forth arm motions,(To get a good cut you have to go back and forth a few times.),and constant leg stretches as you move the mower.By the time you've been at it for a while you're getting quite a workout. I have always done it all in one go until last summer, and by the time I finished my legs were wobbly and I was all tired out. The next couple of days my arm and leg muscles were always sore.

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  6. I'm sorry your health is still bad, but it's probably good that your heart is not affected.

    You really should get another doctor! My eldest daughter is having doctor issues as well. She finally got a really good one, who is a dead ringer for Peter Capaldi (that's not the reason why he's good.) Unfortunately, he's a specialist, who my daughter shouldn't have even been referred to in the first place. I think she was meant to see him, though.

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    1. I'm very tempted to go back to our original doctor, even though it means driving all the way to London,Ohio.

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  7. So sorry about your aunt, Tam. I am a new reader, having just discovered your site--what fun! I am a collector of many kinds of dolls (too many, says dear hubby), from vintage to modern. I am also a frequent thrifter--your finds are fascinating! Thanks for the entertainment! --Beth in West Virginia

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    1. My husband says the same thing! And yet he buys me more! He's an enabler! Thanks for joining us.I'm glad you're enjoying it.

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Thanks in advance for your comments.