Whew, what a day!
It all started yesterday, really. Shortly after I posted, I realized I just felt awful. I thought it was due to lack of sleep, so I went on to bed around 6:30. Turns out, that wasn't it. It would seem I've picked up some sort of stomach bug.
I don't really feel bad, per se, other than just a bit weak and shaky. I just can't seem to stay out of the bathroom. Even so, I got up at my usual 2:45 and went on to work. I made it through the day, but I had to run to the bathroom every 30 minutes or so. Sometime after lunch, ummm...TMI warning, things started to ...um....solidify just a bit. I mean, I'd still consider it diarrhea, but more of the soft serve variety than the brown water variety.
As if that weren't enough, I'd noticed over the last week or so I was having little dizzy spells, along with slight headaches across my temples and forehead. Knowing hypertension runs in my family, I dug out my trusty blood pressure monitor and took said blood pressure. Yep, it was a bit high -- 145/90. I also noticed my heart rate was a bit elevated as well. And I know my cholesterol is high. I've been trying to get that down naturally for a while now, but after my last screening in September, I decided it just wasn't working. I'd need to go to the doctor.
This afternoon, when I got home, I took my BP once again, and it was still reading in the 145/90 range, so I picked up the phone and called my doctor, the same one I've used for nearly 29 years, to make the appointment.
Now, let me step outside my story for a minute to tell you I'm an introvert, and as such, hate making phone calls. Last night, as I lay in bed having my nightly conversation with Jesus, I said, "Lord, I need you to keep poking me until I call the doctor and make this appointment." Sigh, aren't I pathetic? Needing divine intervention just to make a phone call.
OK, back to my story. I picked up the phone and called my doctor, only it's been so long since I've been, they'd deleted my medical records. The receptionist told me they couldn't take me on as a patient without having my medical records sent over. "But they were all there," I replied. I explained to her that Dr. Armstrong has been my doctor ever since I moved to Grenada in 1994. After a few rounds, she spoke to another doctor in the office, Dr. Reid, whom I've also seen as a patient, and he gave the OK for me to come in and see him. We set up my appointment for next Wednesday morning.
While I had her on the phone, I asked about my blood pressure, and if it was high enough I need to go to urgent care or something. She asked a nurse, and the nurse said it would be OK until next week. So, finally, after putting this off for far too long, I'm getting my old ticker checked out. Really, I'd meant to go in after my brother had his heart attack in 2018, but kept putting it off. I need to get it done, though, as I feel like I'm already on borrowed time. I'm 58 years old, and my mother had already had 2 or 3 heart attacks by the time she was my age, my brother was 55 when he had his, and my grandmother had had a major stroke when she was 53 or 54. I don't know why I thought I was going to escape all this. I guess I hoped I'd be the lucky one, but it appears I was not.
Well, the deed is done and the appointment made. That's a load off my mind.
But wait, there's more.
There I was at work, along about 4:30 AM, when one of my coworkers came running over to the department in a panic, looking like she was about to cry.
"Miss Mary done passed away!" she yelled to all of us.
"Miss Mary?" we asked a bit befuddled.
"Miss Mary who works right there!" my coworker said, point to the TXV table where Miss Mary had worked. "I've got [her sister who also works at the plant, just in a different department] on the phone right now."
We don't really know what happened. She'd gone home early one day last week, so weak she needed her sister to take her home, but said she'd felt better and was going to come back to work today. Her husband went to make her some breakfast, and when he went back to the bedroom to get her, she was gone.
Nobody could believe it. She was a bit on the odd side, but she was always nice to me.
And just to add insult to injury, we've got severe weather expected tonight, including the possibilities of a tornado. I'm feeling like I can't catch a break here...
What with all that has happened, this was what I call a Whelming Flood Day*, so I think I'm just going to go to bed early tonight.
*The Solid Rock, third verse
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