Augghast!!!

 

morning dew on our red Knockout Rose

I haven't written in nearly two weeks. My 'excuse' (as shared in my previous post) was that I had a stack of books waiting on me.

reading books in progress

I've not completed reading all of the books in this stack. Some are done and on the shelf; others wait for me in the various places scattered throughout the house, wherever I 'land' throughout the day. I read more than one book at a time. I'm sure I'm not alone in that. 

organized collection of books and puzzles

Some books are beside my recliner, as well as my Sudoku, Word Search, and coloring books. They're within easy reach when TV doesn't interest me. 

stopping for water on our bike ride

The hot weather that has affected most of our outdoor activities beyond the commitment to bike riding every morning and the necessary yard upkeep. Plants grow really fast in Florida's summer heat and almost daily afternoon rain storms.

cutting the branches down for disposal

With that said, one fun thing we did was to take a road trip to one of our favorite lunch destinations to meet up with some of our kids. On that day an intermittent breeze helped us to tolerate the heat.

them

There was the usual "I take your picture; you take mine"...

Us

We were seated beside the water under colorful canvas shades to block the unrelenting sun. Yes, people wore sunglasses but I made them remove them for the photo shoot.

Crump's Landing,
Homosassa, Florida

Some tables had those tiki hut roofs that promote the tropical theme.

looking west where the river empties into the Gulf

Our table was literally on the edge of the deck over the Homosassa River with the watercraft passing by. This is one of my favorite things about living in Florida.

a fellow diner

Sometimes the birds at these outdoor restaurants can be a real nuisance, but in the several times we've dined at this place, that has not been a problem. Our daughter-in-law did a quick search on her phone to determine this dinner companion was a Goliath Heron. We had apparently not ordered what he had in mind since he did not bother us.

from my nephew

Back at home this special piece of mail found its way to me. I have obliterated the address for security reasons, but kept how my nephew addressed this card. My sister's son, she tells me he addresses his cards to her as "Gram," so I'm not the only one who gets this fun personalized treatment. 

unexpected footwear

Speaking of Sister, she met with some adversity this month. A trip to the doctor to address one issue revealed another problem and resulted in some fancy footwear. Blessedly for her it was her left foot, so she was able to drive herself home. We're hoping it's all healed before the snow flies in her part of the country -- those toes could get pretty cold!

Some adversity visited me this month, too. Avoiding gory detail, I'll tell you just enough for you to understand what happened. Within less than twelve hours, I ended up in two hospital Emergency Rooms for two different issues. 

I am not one to live dangerously, unless you think swabbing the inside of my nose with a Q-tip is a dare devil act. 

Earlier in the month I was advised by my doctor and others to apply petroleum jelly to the insides of my nostrils because a number of brief nosebleeds had become a problem. Apparently one evening I poked myself, causing a more serious bleed. I nursed it along for four hours before deciding we'd better go to the ER. 

*Note: I have learned since then that after only 15 minutes of a bad bleed, one should seek help.

The ER packed my nostril TIGHT and left a long plastic thing dangling in front of my mouth.  They kept watch on me for well over an hour before releasing me to go home, just after midnight.

One would think at that hour of the night, I would have no trouble sleeping. However, the tight pack in one nostril nearly closed off the other side, so mouth-breathing was my best option for breathing. The packing was so bulky and tight that I wondered if the size of my nostrils would match when this was all over!

I was miserable and could sleep for only a couple of minutes at a time. There was plenty of time for me to consider the more serious aspects of my life as Gary slept soundly beside me. Yes, I prayed pitiful, me-centered requests.

The next morning we followed instructions given the night before to see an ENT (ear, nose, throat doctor). I had high hopes the packing would be removed, but not only had the bleeding not yet entirely stopped, but another problem had presented itself. 

My blood pressure was above 200. The doctor kindly said he did not want to alarm me, but that kind of blood pressure could bring on a stroke. I was dispatched immediately to the hospital ER.

This was a shock to me; to my knowledge I've never had high blood pressure before. We spent several  hours in the ER as they did all sorts of tests in search of the cause for the high BP. All the results came back as normal, so the conclusion was heredity, age, and stress. I was given the appropriate medication and sent home.

The next day the ENT removed the packing and to my great surprise and delight, there was no need to cauterize the affected area. 

from She Shines

It's been over a week since that adventure and I am doing well. Daily monitoring of my BP, taking my pills, and lots of contemplation of changes I should make -- all seem to be helping me to cope with calm.

The above chart popped up on Facebook in the midst of all of this, clearly from the Lord Himself! While it's easy to say I already knew these things, obviously it's time for me to give this advice more thought and application.

I say "farewell" to August, which (with tongue-in-cheek) I'm referring to as "augghast!!!" 

Until next time, grace and peace.

morning dew on our pink Knockout Rose