DIAGNOSIS!!!

Victory!!!!!

I had a fabulous Zoom call with Dr. Dorscheid yesterday. He looked at my heart tests and explained the results better than Dr. Chen did. He made it crystal clear to me, why my heart was dismissed as the cause of my breathing problems, and he said that the tests tell him my lungs are the problem as well.

I feel very relieved and exceptionally happy to have a diagnosis: pulmonary fibrosis (scarring). This is not unusual for someone who’s had asthma for 65 yrars. I’m starting a week’s course of prednisone (the same medication Sheba is on) and then I’m to write a report to him on how it affects me and my condition. Then we do the same thing again, two weeks later: second course of prednisone and a second report. And Dr. Dorscheid will be asking my medical insurer for permission to prescribe a biologic treatment plan that will last for the rest of my life. I’ll start on that protocol once the second prednisone treatment is over … if the insurers say yes.

“Biologic” medications are made from living animals, plants, or cells, instead of through a chemical process. The biologic medications currently used for asthma are antibodies, a kind of protein that occurs naturally in our bodies. For asthmatics, scientists have engineered a biologic medication to help shut down lung inflammation that leads to asthma attacks. I will get a shot once or twice a month, that is very expensive.

Now my anxiety is focused not on my lungs, but on the insurance agency. I’m scared, of course, that they will say no. But my friend, Angus, who has cystic fibrosis, gets a medication that is that is ten times more expensive. Initially, his insurer said no, but after a successful lobbying campaign, he is on the medication. I have hope.

I’m very happy that this medical quest that has been the focus of my existence for the past eleven months is finally over. And I’m relieved to have a treatment plan in place which I have faith! I guess I’ll know in a couple of weeks if my insurer has said yes. I have another appointment with Dr. Dorscheid coming up once the two sessions of prednisone are done.

Henri came yesterday for the last time. He did a lovely job of my front beds. I think I shall take over the gardening from here on, but I’ll get help from my friends and neighbours for the odd thing that might be too much for me. I might get another gardener. I want to see how I react to the prednisone and the biologic medication (if I get it) before I make more garden plans.

Today I must water and I’ve to make a large sheet cake for Pete and Ali. It’s Ali’s sixtieth birthday party and so they need a big cake because they’ve invited a lot of people. 

I've loved Mimisa since I lived in France!

Busy Times

 monday

Monday was the calm before the storm. I spent the day being careful not to do too much because today is going to be hard on me. I’ve to go to Nanaimo to fetch the gutters for the woodshed, then I get sushi for lunch (YAY!) before coming home, and tomorrow is a group dog walk that always tires me out, and then I have my appointment with Dr. Dorscheid.

But it was a beautiful day to nap in the sunshine, and to enjoy a long, leisurely spa. I am just so happy. I feel it all the time. The blossoms, the birdsong, the sunshine on my skin; everywhere I look I see something that thrills this man who kissed his Lilac tree because it has blooms for the first time.

When we went to walk the Elder Cedar trail, I hear shouts ahead of us and I didn’t like what I heard because for me, the Elder Cedar grove/park is a sanctuary. So, as I walked and heard more shrieks, I got into a rather foul frame of mind, but when I came upon the source, Olive, 11, and Oscar, 7, I was immediately smitten. We talked for about 5 minutes—their mom and grandma were there—and then Sheba and I went on our way.

I love kids. No matter what age, I love them (but not the rare nasty ones). Kids and animals, they’re the loveable ones. Oh, and speaking of loveable, Grayson is coming today. He’ll be putting up the gutters, and I’ll be quietly mentally rhapsodizing over his warm open personality and his magnificent frame. Yes, I’m writing to you form the shallow end.

As the day wound down, I was eager for dinner, a good movie and bed. I love going to bed. I’m a highly trained professional sleeper. I go right to sleep and then am dead until 5:00 am.

•

Pete and Ali are neighbours who have been exceptionally kind and generous with me. Pete reinforced the foundation of my deck and removed all the rotten parts and built some new parts. I gave them a dinner and three nights in a lodge on Quadra Island to thank them. We get along very, very comfortably. 

Two weeks ago, Pete asked me to make a cake for Ali’s birthday party that’s happening this Friday. I was more than willing to make a cake. I’m going to make it on Thursday. Last night, I got an email with instructions on accessing the property, the code for the gate, and parking instructions. 

It suddenly hit me, when I read the email, how many people are going, and it hit me: there’s no way that I’m going to this party. I’m going to make the cake on Thursday, and I’m going to give it to them Thursday night. And I’m going to tell them then, that I can’t go to the party. I can’t be with that many people. I can’t be with that many strangers.

•

I love having the spa again. I love being warm all over. I spent a lot of my time at the Tyrells sitting against the vent where the hot air heated the room. I particularly love it when it’s cool outside, so I like having a spa in the morning. Plus, it’s silent in the morning at six when the sun is coming up.

•

Yesterday afternoon when we were coming home from our Elder Cedar trail, when I turned into the driveway, I had a little emotional shiver. I see that view every time I come home, but yesterday it was like seeing it for the first time. It gives me chills to live in a log home. 

Don Tyrell and his friends built a cabin together on Hollyburn ridge. It was named Ski Heil. (Can you imagine that today?) Don left his photo albums from his youth and young adulthood in the bookshelves of our basement with books they’d inherited and never read. I loved looking at the photos. One was a diary with photos that he put together while he was recovering from a broken leg.

I reckon I liked the cabin photos so much for the same reason I liked the ‘fort’, a former chicken cook, in the playground across the street. They were safety houses to me. I always dreamed about them, and now I live in one, and last night, seeing it in Springtime with my plantings all around gave me a major thrill.

tuesday

Tuesday was a normal day for a normal person, but it was a spectacularly busy day for me because I spend so many days doing next to nothing.

Sheba and I boarded the 7:00 am ferry to go to Nanaimo. We went directly to Home Depot and picked up the gutters I bought. (I bought too many.) From there we went to Thrifty Foods for sushi to bring home for my lunch. But on the way home, we stopped at Life Labs, and I got my blood work done for Dr. Dorscheid. I am going back this morning for more tests, and henceforth I am going once a month.

It took forever at the lab, but once out, it was time to go to the vet’s to pick up more of Sheba’s prednisone. We start her on 10 mgs/day today and we watch for any signs of foot trouble. If there’s none, she’ll continue with 10 mgs indefinitely.

Then, finally, we were home for lunch. I fed the brood and then sat down to enjoy my delicious sushi lunch. Grayson arrived as I was about to start, and he got down to work right away. Just as I was beginning to worry about how much I’m spending on his services, I got my income tax return of $1,600. End of worry!

Grayson left at 4:30, and I got into the spa immediately. Oh, how good it felt to get into the wonderful hot water, rest my head on the edge and close my eyes. It was too busy a day for me. I had a dinner I bought at Thrifty Foods, flopped onto the chaise and watched things on YouTube in the evening.

The gardens are looking stunning. I’ve a couple of holes to fill—that’ll happen once things settle down—but the whole yard is looking great. I am, however, going to move the apple trees in the backyard, to the front yard where they will get far more sun.

I’m. still feeling very happy about everything, I’ve stuck to my no-sweets diet, and Grayson is making Pinecone Park look like a Provincial Park. I’m going to pay him to clean up the forest where we harvested the trees to thank the forest for my small fortune in wood for the next couple of winters.

wednesday

Another sunny day. We’ve had naught but sunshine for over two weeks. I’ll be watering today as there’s no rain in sight until next Monday. But the big event of the day will be Zooming with Dr. Dorscheid, my pulmonologist. But first, a dog walk, and another visit to Life Labs.

Voting Day

Sunday was lovely. Of course it was! It was My Day. We left Pinecone Park at 8:45 and got to the Community Hall just as the doors were opening for the advance polls. A friend, Christine, was in line behind me so we chatted the entire time, and once the voting was done, Sheba and I headed off to Drumbeg for our morning walk.

It was glorious at Drumbeg. There were a couple of people there, and everyone was chatty and happy because it was such a gorgeous morning. Birdsong filled the air, and wonderful fragrances thrilled me as we walked. Mornings are my favourite part of the day.

When we got home, I puttered away some time until it was lunchtime, and then I fed the brood. Once done, we were off to the nursery for some soil and peat moss to mix with some fertilizer, all of which I mixed together to nourish the two Clematis I planted to grow on the fence of the edible garden.

When that was done, it was time for our afternoon walk, this time under cloudy skies. We even had a couple of short light showers; I was grateful for the rain. And then the brood and I got comfortable in the living room. I lit a nice big fire because I’d not had a fire going all day, and we had a lovely cozy warm My Day evening together.

This morning has dawned bright and sunny. We’ll walk with our friends and then I will likely do some raking if it warms up. It’s a cool 7° this morning, but it will likely be warmer this afternoon when I want to work.

Tomorrow: Nanaimo. 

Wednesday: Dr. Dorscheid and a chat about my lungs.

Gifting

Saturday began with Stacy, Tenley and Bryce. We all walked with our dogs along the Windecker trail on a beautiful, wonderful morning. When we got home, I loaded a great many old tins of paint that the previous owner left here, and I took them to GIRO. I was not certain that they’d be accepted, but they were, and I was giddy. Pinecone Park is losing all its garbage.

We came home for lunch. I had a peanut butter and banana sandwich; that was my favourite lunch as a kid, and it was fun to have one now that I am focusing on how much I eat and avoiding sweets. Then we did a second run to GIRO with the remaining cans of paint, after which we went for our second walk of the day. This time, to Rollo Park to play fetch.

Then I went to the nursery for the first time this year. I got a tree as a housewarming gift for Dave and Ursula, and two clematis for me, and when we got home, it was time for a wee nap in the sunshine followed by a nice long leisurely soak in the spa. Dave and Ursula were very happy with the gift of the Japanese Maple. It was my housewarming present for them. It was a perfect gift because they’ve just started landscaping around the house.

In the warmth of the late afternoon, Her Highness and I went for our last walk of the day. My dinner was a light one and I’m chuffed to be motivated to stop eating sweets. I’m truly addicted to baking. After every savory thing I eat, my body craves a sugar chaser. But I’m behaving well now. It’s only day three but I feel good about it.

Last night it rained. I am so happy. I don’t have to spend an hour and a half watering all the garden beds. I voted this morning at the advance poll, then Her Highness and I walked in Drumbeg for a change, and now we’re home. I plan to plant my two new Clematis today, and maybe some raking. There will be naps because it’s My Day!