Small Talk: The Prayer Closet

[Happyfatchick]

Lookey, I hope they find what ails you quickly and you're home before dawn!  If not, I'll come see you, and I'll ask the pink lady what room Lookeyloo is in, and insist there IS TOO a Mrs. lookeyloo when she looks at me funny!

[Love2dance]

1 hour ago, lookeyloo said:

Well everyone. I am in the ER at Emory midtown with chest pain and fever and chills. Been xrayed, two sets of blood drawn. IV inserted. On heart monitor now. Very annoying. I'm hungry and they said no food. Maybe all the Duggars will pray for me. Nah, I'm Jewish. They would try and convert me.  

Oh, Lookey, I am so sorry. Wishing you a quick diagnosis and that you will feel better soon! Many hugs coming your way! Please let us know how you are doing.

[P2C2E]

My summer food is homemade potato salad. As soon as we have a sunny spell, I start craving it. We had a weirdly sunny spring, so I've already made it a few times. I make a big batch of potatoes and eggs, split it in half and then my partner and I doctor our own halves to our specifications. It works out really well!

[lookeyloo]

I am admitted with potential heart attack based on one elevated enzyme. What the F&@$!!!!!  Maybe it is just gas. Cardiologists coming in am. 

I appreciate everyone's kind words 

[GeeGolly]

Yikes lookey, warm thoughts and well wishes coming your way.

[Tabbygirl521]

4 hours ago, lookeyloo said:

I am admitted with potential heart attack based on one elevated enzyme. What the F&@$!!!!!  Maybe it is just gas. Cardiologists coming in am. 

I appreciate everyone's kind words 

Sending good thoughts your way! I was admitted once with chest pains and it turned out to be muscle spasms! I call it my fake heart attack and I hope yours is fake also. But if not, thank god you knew to get yourself to the ER. Women's heart attack symptoms can be so subtle.

[Barb23]

Lookey-  Sending good wishes your way.  Have been in your shoes & it's scary. 

[Lemur]

Good vibes for you, Lookey.  I almost said thoughts and prayers, except for the fact that if I actually care and want you to get better.  

Seriously, if there's anything we can do you for, give us a shout.  Even if it's tell you terrible jokes.

HFC - We drove down to Florida from Pennsylvania every year when I was a kid.  And I've done it several times as an adult too.  The best was the year my aunt had a nervous breakdown, so we piled my folks, my brother, me, my cousin (whom my folks practically raised as their own because my aunt's mothering skills were not the best and she was a career woman), and my nutball aunt into an '88 Plymouth Voyager that was supposed to seat five.  The stories from this trip, from my cousin "running away" in South of the Border, to my father trying to get my aunt to pet a wild alligator ... it's amazing we all speak to each other still.  Or haven't all died lung cancer from the second-hand smoke.

[emma675]

Hang in there, lookeyloo! I thought I was having a heart attack one time (in my 20's) but it turns out I had popped a piece of cartilage loose from a rib right over my heart. And the fun part is, once you've popped cartilage loose one time, it's super easy to do it again over and over. It popped loose again a few weeks ago. It almost feels like a broken rib.

[bigskygirl]

Chest pain and pressure is not fun at all. Sending you lots of gentle frontal hugs. Crossing fingers the doctors will find out what is wrong, and you will feel better soon.

[Arwen Evenstar]

Sending love and good vibes your way, Lookeyloo! Hope you feel better soon!

[lookeyloo]

Thank you everyone, so much. Greatly appreciated. Still no answers. Having an echo and Cath this afternoon. Feeling pretty good. Could be heart attack. Could be related to my long standing pericardial effusion. Could be related to under treated thyroid (thank you new doctor). Could be infection. Its the elevated enzyme that has everyone curious. First time in a teaching hospital. Lots of input from various individuals. Doctor doing Cath is very experienced. As dr Phil would say "not his first rodeo".  I am a little freaked out because of the non answers so far. 

Mr lookeyloo and son and son in law all here.  Don't tell the Duggars!!!!

Will keep you all posted.

[zoomama]

14 hours ago, lookeyloo said:

Well everyone. I am in the ER at Emory midtown with chest pain and fever and chills. Been xrayed, two sets of blood drawn. IV inserted. On heart monitor now. Very annoying. I'm hungry and they said no food. Maybe all the Duggars will pray for me. Nah, I'm Jewish. They would try and convert me.  

that is no fun....i hope to read a very positive update today.  BTDT with all the heart tests,

everything-under-the-sun tests. the cath is pretty easy.ask for a double dose of the versed and you will do well and remember nothing. 

Edited June 22, 2016 by zoomama

[pinkie]

huge ((hugs)) lookeyloo! *sneaking you a grilled cheese sandwich*

[lookeyloo]

Pinkie I am looking for that sandwich!!  Cath delayed til tomorrow because of emergency patients. Talk of esophageal echo. Had regular echo. Waiting for results. Can't remember if I mentioned that I also have a long existing pericardial effusion there was some talk of draining. I'm really not interested in that. 

[Love2dance]

1 hour ago, lookeyloo said:

Pinkie I am looking for that sandwich!!  Cath delayed til tomorrow because of emergency patients. Talk of esophageal echo. Had regular echo. Waiting for results. Can't remember if I mentioned that I also have a long existing pericardial effusion there was some talk of draining. I'm really not interested in that. 

Thanks for your updates, LOOKEYLOO. Glad you are getting such good care and family is there. Hospitals can be so frustrating when they delay tests. Ugh. Sending more hugs your way.

[GeeGolly]

Sounds like your in good hands lookey. And even though its frustrating, you're getting a thorough check-up of all things heart and chest related. Hoping that you leave soon with a clean bill of health!.

[Happyfatchick]

My mom had a surgery done once at Emory.  I'd forgotten that - when you're looking for answers, the docs morning rounds and hopefully the exit - except when the doc comes, it's 10 of them!  Totally forgot (blanked out) that experience.  Hopefully there's a Dr. house who sees all, knows all and you'll escape soon!  

[crazycatlady58]

Lookey . Sending you my thoughts and prayers. Please keep us updated, wish I could send you a big bouquet of flowers.

[Arwen Evenstar]

@lookeyloo

???????

[P2C2E]

@lookeyloo

I hope your night is a comfortable one and that you get some answers soon. Hang in there, we're all here for you.

[MunichNark]

Oh goodness, speedy recovery for you!

Different note entirely, but last night's game Ireland vs Italy was just unbelievable. Ireland scored at the 85th minute and are now through........I don't think I've been that excited for a while. Both irish Teams still in.............happens once in a million years

Edit, and grumble, it'll be a bloody scorcher of a day, with at least 30 fecking degrees. Meh. Just meh. Another one tomorrow and then supposedly cooler again

Edit no2, bear with me, it is just 8.30AM here.......

Edited June 23, 2016 by MunichNark

[Arwen Evenstar]

30 deg is rather warm for Munich, but it's often Houstons wake up temperature in the summer months. I've been to Germany and I realize air conditioning isn't common but since it's not usually humid it's far more bearable, particularly when a good dunkel isn't far away.

[MunichNark]

Actually, current humidity varies a bit during the day, but is at this moment very very high - around 60% day, and higher at night. We do have a lot of humidity here - plus it rained so much. I just got in and feel a bit dizzy........sigh

[Jynnan tonnix]

Does it seem to anyone that the weather forecasts are less reliable than ever lately? Since this Winter, when they would change their minds constantly down to the wire on whether and how much snow we were going to get and still get it wrong by the time they could have just looked out of the window to check.

Every week, it seems, they predict some cooler days or some thunderstorms, and we plan on whether we can get out there to do yard work or whether to water everything in the evening. All week, today was supposed to have a high of 74 (F), cloudy, with a good chance of passing thunderstorms, but today they have changed their minds and it's actually going to be 84, but feeling several degrees warmer, sunny and humid with virtually no chance of rain until Tuesday. Ugh. Can't do any yard work in that.

[MunichNark]

What is yard work? Do you work in a Garage?

My iphone has a weather forecast app and will happily tell me it'll be grand whilst a look out of the window will confirm that it's lashing out.

It's just not possible to predict weather, especially since we fuck up nature so much

[Minivanessa]

33 minutes ago, MunichNark said:

What is yard work? Do you work in a Garage?

Americans call it a "yard." People in the UK and Ireland would, I think, call it a "garden." So, my "back yard" would be their "back garden."

As I understand it (someone correct me if I"m wrong), a "yard" in the UK/Ireland means an open space attached to a commercial business. Generally a utilitarian work or storage area, not landscaped or intended as a beauty spot. Such as a "breaker's yard" which I think is a piece of ground on which people disassemble or work on motor vehicles.

But in the US, a "yard" means the land surrounding a residence. Often - if not usually - consisting of a lot of lawn plus some other plantings including trees. And in the US, "garden" is typically used to refer to an area devoted to plantings other than lawn, i.e., a flower garden, a vegetable garden, etc.

So, here in the US, I owned a house on a large-ish lot. It had a "front yard" and a "side yard" and a small "back yard." The landscaping included some areas of lawn, and beds of various plants - although no veggie garden in my case. 

"Yard work" here generally means tending to the lawn and garden. Mowing grass, weeding, mulching, etc.

And @MunichNark - about humidity. My family moved to Houston TX when I was a kid and I lived there through college and grad school. It's such a sinkhole of heat and humidity that 60% relative humidity would be a relief. I'm serious. Humidity in the 80% - 95% range was, at least in my memory, not unusual. I moved away to high desert a long long time ago. Now I thrive in relative humidity that's more often than not below 20%. And I don't envy you that 60% humidity, warm to hot temperatures, and no air conditioning. Sending good thoughts and hopes for cooler weather to you!

Edited June 23, 2016 by Jeeves
It's all a memory for me. I moved into a condo long ago and never looked back!

[MunichNark]

Apparently over night it was nearly 100% humidity - shudder. And no air con is such fun. Not.

Thanks for the insight - yep, it would be gardening then.  I didn't realise that a garden is understood entirely differently. A yard to me is a commercial bit of open space..........:-))

[Lemur]

11 minutes ago, MunichNark said:

Apparently over night it was nearly 100% humidity - shudder. And no air con is such fun. Not.

Thanks for the insight - yep, it would be gardening then.  I didn't realise that a garden is understood entirely differently. A yard to me is a commercial bit of open space..........:-))

I have several gardens in my yard, as well as flower beds.  And a garage.  Now you're really confused.

[Happyfatchick]

@Jeeves about the humidity - ugh!!!  I guess because Atlanta is located just at the trail off of the Smokies (the Blue Ridge end, and in fact the foothills trail down the left side of our state as well - we sit in sort of a bowl.  It's relatively flat all surrounding metro Atlanta, but southeast of us is quite hilly (reminiscent of the Ohio farmland area).  It get so sticky stinkin' HUMID, I swear some days you just feel like you're walking around all day in a sauna.   Jynnan, you can't do yard work in 84?  Holy cow, when we get 84, we all run outside to get things done!!!  

[lookeyloo]

Regarding the humidity. We lived in Baton Rouge for over 40 years. The humidity combined with the heat in south Louisiana is not for wimps. 

Had the Cath. New modern way is if arteries good - go in through wrist. Mine are good. I can sit up instead of lying flat for 6 hours. Nice drugs. Took about 15 minutes. No blockages but one tiny area of slight calcification. At my advanced age this is good.  Drs thinking there is a pericarditis going on but resolving since that enzyme level is going down. They are looking into autoimmune diseases as cause. Treatment will be antinflammatories.  Going home soon!!  I appreciate everyone's concern and support. It was awesome. Totally. 

[Absolom]

It was pericarditis that landed me in the ER and I was wondering if it was the same thing.  I hope you get better very soon. 

[lookeyloo]

28 minutes ago, Absolom said:

It was pericarditis that landed me in the ER and I was wondering if it was the same thing.  I hope you get better very soon. 

Wow - we are siblings of the heart!  Feeling much better even without the anti inflammatory. Maybe I would have gotten better by myself but that episode the other night was Not Fun and at least I have a lot more information about my body. 

[Jynnan tonnix]

Thanks for sorting all that out for MunichNark...Yes, you'd think I'd be more careful with my terminology, given that I know we have people on this site from all over, and given that I'm well aware (being British by birth) of the differences.

Our property is just under an acre and a half. The front is the smallest part...probably about 1/3 acre and aside from some ornamental plantings right by the house and down the driveway is just lawn with a tree toward the middle and a row of trees by the roadside. The back directly behind the house is mostly lawn as well except for a bit of a formal garden area with a bench and some various plantings close to the back porch, and a flower garden and birdbath out toward the middle, right over where the septic tank is so we know where to find it (Winter before last, we had to have it pumped in the middle of January with 2 feet of snow on the ground and no really reliable way of measuring just where we should dig for it. There's also one decent size maple tree and one small weeping cherry a bit further back.

The side yard behind the garage is all vegetable gardens, and the other side (the property is pretty wide) has a perennial border by the house, and about 20 various fruit trees further out in a couple of rows all down the length of the property and will be a bit of an orchard someday. They are still fairly small at this point. The back of the property is bounded by raspberry bushes.

It's all a real work in progress, though, as we have only been here for about 3 years, and it was all just scrubby grass with a couple of woodpiles (the previous owners had a couple of wood-burning stoves for heat, one of which we have kept) and a couple of areas on which hardly anything was growing as they had kept random machinery, a tractor, and a boat parked on it.

[Love2dance]

6 hours ago, lookeyloo said:

Had the Cath. New modern way is if arteries good - go in through wrist. Mine are good. I can sit up instead of lying flat for 6 hours. Nice drugs. Took about 15 minutes. No blockages but one tiny area of slight calcification. At my advanced age this is good.  Drs thinking there is a pericarditis going on but resolving since that enzyme level is going down. They are looking into autoimmune diseases as cause. Treatment will be antinflammatories.  Going home soon!!  I appreciate everyone's concern and support. It was awesome. Totally. 

Such good news, LOOKEYLOO; you must be so relieved. You were very wise to get it all checked out, and now you can feel relieved that the heart is mostly good! Enjoy your renewed lease on life! 

[pinkie]

woohoo Lookyloo, that's great news that you get to go home soon! In celebration I will sneak in a big bowl of peach cobbler. (The extra helping is to share w/ HFC when she drops in to visit...)

[CherryMalotte]

Very happy to hear that you are on the way out of the hospital there lookeyloo - been having a good thought for you.

After two and a half months...I found my mother's wedding rings my dad got her from Italy.  They aren't anything special, but it's been nagging at me that I didn't know where the heck they were.  Yesterday I was at their house, finishing up some clothes bags to give to Amvets and had moved onto the stuff to throw away.  There they were, just laying there on her swamped and messy piled up dresser.  I have felt intense relief since, let me tell you.  It's another thing to cross off my long long long list - there's another ring I need to find but I kinda sorta know where I'm going to find it, I just need to plow in and start looking.

Can't even tell you how many gift cards I've found, some with nothing, some with just little amounts, but a lot with full or near full amounts.  What breaks my heart into little pieces is I'm finding ones I gave her that were never used.  I knew she needed them...but why on earth she never used them I'll never know.  And all the freaking change!  It's change all over the damn place!  I keep stuffing what I find into my pockets, because before fall hits I'm going to go visit my gal pal again in WI and need the gas money.  And fun money.      

[lookeyloo]

20 minutes ago, pinkie said:

woohoo Lookyloo, that's great news that you get to go home soon! In celebration I will sneak in a big bowl of peach cobbler. (The extra helping is to share w/ HFC when she drops in to visit...)

Mmmmm - sounds yummy!!  It's good to be home. 

[Arwen Evenstar]

@lookeyloo Glad to hear that you're doing well and that the tests didn't reveal anything that couldn't be resolved. You must be so relieved.

[Tabbygirl521]

Such great news, LookeyLoo!! Glad all is well!

[Happyfatchick]

Lookey doesn't need peach cobbler right now, she has a heart condition!  (Sigh).  I guess I'll have to eat hers, too.

[MunichNark]

Oh so good to hear! Get well soon.

It's a fecking roaster of a day - tomorrow, it should be cooler and then half decent. I hope. Meh.

I wish I had a yard/garden/lawn/grass/green/shrubs/whatever........but that's the price for urban living. Sigh.

Did anyone follow Brexit? They've voted yes to leaving the EU - I thought they might. Wonder how that will pan out for me in future, should I really return to Ireland........I've always lived close to the border and mostly worked up North. It's all over the news, but I think it'll pan out right enough. The UK needs the rest of the world after all.

[Jynnan tonnix]

12 minutes ago, MunichNark said:

Oh so good to hear! Get well soon.

It's a fecking roaster of a day - tomorrow, it should be cooler and then half decent. I hope. Meh.

I wish I had a yard/garden/lawn/grass/green/shrubs/whatever........but that's the price for urban living. Sigh.

Did anyone follow Brexit? They've voted yes to leaving the EU - I thought they might. Wonder how that will pan out for me in future, should I really return to Ireland........I've always lived close to the border and mostly worked up North. It's all over the news, but I think it'll pan out right enough. The UK needs the rest of the world after all.

I haven't followed it all that closely, but my cousins are all in England, so I've followed via their facebook posts more than anything. They all seem to be LIVID this morning.

[lookeyloo]

4 hours ago, Happyfatchick said:

Lookey doesn't need peach cobbler right now, she has a heart condition!  (Sigh).  I guess I'll have to eat hers, too.

What? Wait!!  Peach cobbler is very therapeutic!!  And this heart thing is supposed to go away!! You can come share, HFC.

[Lemur]

2 hours ago, MunichNark said:

Did anyone follow Brexit? They've voted yes to leaving the EU - I thought they might. Wonder how that will pan out for me in future, should I really return to Ireland........I've always lived close to the border and mostly worked up North. It's all over the news, but I think it'll pan out right enough. The UK needs the rest of the world after all.

I've been following it out of habit, back when I worked for the Swiss bank, I used to work on valuation of securities and we had the whole drill when Germany threatened to leave.  Now that I work for a US company, it's not that big a deal work-wise.  As I don't want to get political, I'll stop there.  

[kokapetl]

The Brexit is certainly a stunning/baffling outcome. Americans who might be embarrassed about American politics should feel considerably less so now. 

[Love2dance]

I have obviously been paying too much attention to the Duggars, and I'm completely confused by the Brexit event. Time for some research.

[NewDigs]

Went to bed last night happy that Brexit failed. And woke up this morning... Wow. Not happy.

Hubby and I are different-temp people and I'm the one who hates ac. I am perfectly happy at 80 degrees and refuse to have the ac so low that I need to put on long sleeves. But love a fan moving the air around. Especially at night. I'm in Florida and had a 94 degree day with 200% humidity. Hey, it felt like it!

So sorry for your troubles lookeyloo and happy that you're comfortable and and on the upswing!

HFC, will you adopt me? Thanks for sharing your life. 

[kassygreene]

Another advantage to the fan is it keeps the mosquitoes at bay - I have a fan running through the night over my bed.  No skeeters, gorgeous white noise, and memories from my AC-free childhood.

[Jynnan tonnix]

2 hours ago, NewDigs said:

 

Hubby and I are different-temp people and I'm the one who hates ac. I am perfectly happy at 80 degrees and refuse to have the ac so low that I need to put on long sleeves. But love a fan moving the air around. Especially at night. 

Well, considering that I don't generally start wearing long sleeves until the temps get below the 50's, it's really hard to set the a/c to where I feel as though I need extra layers! lol And, yeah, the more air blowing around me the better!