The weather, and other short stories.

We received over one and a half inches of rain this week over a period of two days.  What a difference that made in our garden!  I had just planted beet seeds, carrot seeds, and turnip seeds when the rain came; I believe every one of those seeds came up, which is a lot different from the way it's been all summer.  And the green beans that had just started bearing now have beans twice as long as they were before.  So the health of my garden is much improved, except for certain vegetables for which rain came too late.  Every tomato plant has some degree of blight, but so far we're getting quite a few tomatoes.  I have forgiven the state of Iowa for taking all our rain away because the little girl we used to babysit has a grandmother in that great state who showed up with quite a large amount of very good sweet corn which I promptly took off the cob (after blanching) and froze at the very same time my own home-raised corn was ready.

Like the garden, I'm apparently healthy too.  I saw a cardiologist who instructed me to get an Electrocardiogram and to stop taking my water pill, which was one of two prescriptions I've been taking for high blood pressure.  He also told me to take my blood pressure standing up until my next appointment.  For some reason, my blood pressure improved!  In fact, my blood pressure monitor even stopped telling me my heartbeat was irregular, which it used to do about half the time when I took my blood pressure.  At my second (last) appointment the doctor informed me that my Aortic valve was functioning well enough that it definitely wasn't the cause of my light-headedness and almost passing out so often, so I had no reason to worry about it.  I'm just going to have to be more careful about getting up and hurrying someplace.  He explained it this way:  "We rate the condition of the aortic valve from 4, which is perfect, to 8, which is the  worst.  Yours is 4 1/2, and it took you 78 years to get to that point.  The bad news is, you won't get to see me any more."  He also told me not to go back to taking my water pill, since it obviously wasn't doing anything for me.

I liked the doctor, and now I don't have to worry about my frequent lightheadedness;  I just need to take my time after I get up from a sitting position.  So it's a win/win situation.  The good news?  I managed to get off all the stomach pills six months ago and can eat anything I want; now I'm only taking one prescription blood pressure pill (Amlodipine).  I only wish energy came in a bottle, because I'd like a little more of it... but that's how it is when you reach a certain age.

Now for Cliff:  He has lost almost all his hearing, practically overnight.  Suddenly he can't hear anything, no matter how loud I speak, even with both hearing aids in.  Since it came on so quickly, the ear doctor (whatever ridiculously long name those guys are given) had one thing to try; if that doesn't work, he will need a cochlear implant.  If a person loses his hearing all at once like Cliff did and gets to a doctor within a month, sometimes Prednisone will fix the problem (about 60% of the patients get relief that way).  Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be doing anything for Cliff.  He'd had the deafness longer than than a month anyhow, more like six weeks.  But it was worth a try.  He is ready and willing to get the implant, and Medicare covers most of the expense.  He sees the doctor again this coming Tuesday.  It is not an instant fix.  I understand they don't even hook it up until a month after the implant.  But it is a solution to the problem.  What an age we live in!

We are going to St. Joseph, Missouri to watch the Kansas City Chiefs practice on Monday.  Cliff doesn't want to go, but he's happy to take me anyhow.  He said it isn't like they are playing a game, they just run around throwing and catching the ball.  I told him all I want is to see them once in my life in person, even if they are at a distance; this is the only way that will happen.

Covid is spreading quite a bit around here.  It's easier to catch this time, but everyone seems to be getting very mild cases, even those who have never had it.  I'll still wear my N95 mask when I shop, but I'm not going to worry a lot about it any more.  Actually it's been around so long, I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it anyway.

And that's the way things are on this beautiful day.  Peace.