CONTACTS
SUBJECTS
Default Null Subject Account for Blank Record
0403 -
0403 - ..
0404 - Summary/Objective
0405 -
040501 - Follow up ref SDS 57 0000. ref SDS 56 0000.
040502 -
040503 -
040504 -
040505 -
040507 - ..
0406 -
0407 -
0408 - Progress
0409 -
040901 - Letter to Robin saying...
040902 -
040903 - 1. Subject: Deeply Conflicted at the Moment
040904 - Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2013 01:45:54 -0800
040911 - ..
040912 - 2. Saw a movie recently on everybody pitching in at the start of
040913 - world war II in about 1941. It centered on the lives of
040914 - several people working at Lockheed Aircraft in Burbank,
040915 - California. Their particular stories illustrate how people can
040916 - unite with energy and commitment, setting aside personal
040917 - differences to collaborate that yields spectacular results in a
040918 - common cause. Makes one yearn for the wartime imperative of
040919 - survival as the only cause big enough to bring people together.
040920 - I was drawn to the story because my parents lived that
040921 - experience. My dad worked at the Lockheed Burbank factory,
040922 - which was the main set in this movie. It was fascinating to
040923 - see details of their daily life at home and on the job at that
040924 - time.
040926 - ..
040927 - 3. Family lore indicates my dad evidently thrived rising to
040928 - leadership as a supervisor of some kind, either in design,
040929 - assembly, or testing of aircraft, or possibly administration.
040930 - Since you had a lot more time with my mother than I did, you
040931 - may know more details of these early years in their lives,
040932 - i.e., what happened to that career? Whey did he leave the
040933 - company after the war ended?
040935 - ..
040936 - Mention movies, because Robin commented favorably in her last letter
040937 - on 130218 2220, ref SDS 56 LQ5H, on a movie review in a letter to her
040938 - on 130217 0003. ref SDS 55 K735
040940 - ..
040941 - Letter to Robin continues...
040942 -
040943 - 4. So, this evening going down memory lane again watching "The Big
040944 - Chill." It tells the story of 5 or 6 close friends pursuing
040945 - radical politics at college in the late-60s, who then switched
040946 - sides and achieved financial success all traveling disparate
040947 - paths. In the mid-80s they are brought together attending a
040948 - funeral for one of their fiends who committed suicide. The
040949 - movie tells their separate stories and then weaves a beautiful
040950 - tapestry of self-discovery, renewal and commitment for their
040951 - weekend reunion visit.
040953 - ..
040954 - 5. Thanks very much for transmitting guidance on drinking water to
040955 - reduce risks of coronary artery disease (CAD) [...Robin's
040956 - letter on 130228 2110. ref SDS 57 LQ5H...]. This reinforced
040957 - switching to water with less reliance on my standard "drink" of
040958 - lemon juice, grape juice and Doctor Pepper/Squirt. While
040959 - complete transition is a work in progress, have been pretty
040960 - good sticking with water since your letter. Millie drank a lot
040961 - of water. She bought bottled water at Costco, and encouraged
040962 - me in this direction. Now, 3 years later, so far tap water has
040963 - worked for me, though not without deep and emotional conflicts.
040965 - ..
040966 - 6. When I'm working late at night like now, suddenly the standard
040967 - "drink" seems extremely appealing. Next thing you know, I go
040968 - downstairs like a zombie and start to fix "the drink." Then
040969 - Millie taps me on the shoulder and says: "Gee Rod, you really
040970 - shouldn't." So I stop and go back upstairs, but before
040971 - reaching the 2nd floor, the thought occurs that just one
040972 - "drink" won't be a killer, and turn back to the kitchen. So
040973 - sometimes I return with "the drink," and other times Millie
040974 - wins and it's water afterall. What a struggle. Like when
040975 - people quit smoking, I am deeply conflicted.
040977 - ..
040978 - 7. Sooooo, please pray that water wins the conflict, as
040979 - recommended in your letter.
040981 - ..
040982 - 8. If I can substantially reduce the sugar-laden grape juice and
040983 - soft drink combination, should save money, lose weight, and
040984 - make the cardiologist less prone to heart attack when he checks
040985 - cholesterol labs in 3 months. Clearly, a win - win scenario.
040987 - ..
040988 - 9. The lab on 28 Feb did not go well. There were some bright
040989 - spots showing that ending Rosuvastatin prescribed to reduce
040990 - cholesterol has had the good result of ending and reducing bad
040991 - side effects. Hooray!!
040993 - ..
040994 - 10. One of the best results is near-resolution of peripheral
040995 - neuropathy that causes "pins and needles" (parathesia) effects
040996 - mostly in my right foot. You are correct saying in your
040997 - letter on February 18th, this problem occurred August 5th, when
040998 - you took me to Kohl's in SLO to upgrade my wardrobe (see my
040999 - letter the next day on 130806, ref SDS 11 LY7U). You were
041000 - terrific holding my place in line for the fitting room, while I
041001 - did laps in the store to resolve the episode.
041003 - ..
041004 - 11. On Feb 22, met with the team at the VA Medical Center in San
041005 - Francisco to determine what caused these symptoms and prescribe
041006 - treatment. An earlier diagnosis cited spinal stenosis [...
041007 - reported to Robin in a letter on 130128 0212, ref SDS 50 597P,
041008 - and referencing meeting with Doctor Stewart at the VA on 130122
041009 - 1330, ref SDS 49 0S3K...]. However thorough examination on the
041010 - 22nd, determined there is no evidence of spinal stenosis nor
041011 - diabetes, which are the leading causes of peripheral
041012 - neuropathy. Whew! Seemed to have dodged another bullet or
041013 - two, since both are bad news with no actual cure available.
041015 - ..
041016 - 12. This leaves only Rosuvastatin as the cause of symptoms. Since
041017 - parathesia (pins and needles) are an express side effect of
041018 - Rosuvastatin, and since symptoms gradually declined after
041019 - ending the drug on 121206, that seems like "case closed." It's
041020 - not that simple. All the doctors consulted so far resist
041021 - Rosuvastatin as causing my particular problem. The good news
041022 - is that for whatever reason symptoms have nearly ended. Cannot
041023 - remember when I last had an attack.
041025 - ..
041026 - 13. This made for a challenging meeting on March 4th, with the
041027 - cardiologist. Doctor Egan wanted to resume Rosuvantatin to
041028 - bring down cholesterol which had soared after ending treatment
041029 - 3 months earlier on 6 Dec, and hiking only 400 miles during the
041030 - test period. I declined in order to avoid recurrence of side
041031 - effects - peripheral neuropathy, severe dehydration and other
041032 - issues. The doctor didn't have another drug to replace
041033 - Rosuvastatin because it is their best "bullet" for reducing
041034 - cholesterol. I had already taken their other drugs, which were
041035 - only partially helpful, and eventually became ineffective,
041036 - i.e., after dropping cholesterol significantly, but not to the
041037 - target level, cholesterol began to rise again, so we switched
041038 - to Rosuvastatin. However, the same pattern occurred with it,
041039 - along with severe side effects. This is the proverbial "rock
041040 - and hard place" we all pray to avoid.
041042 - ..
041043 - 14. We ended the meeting filled with hope???
041045 - ..
041046 - 15. Hope my body and discipline hold up for getting back to hiking
041047 - 700 miles achieved in October, November and December. While
041048 - cholesterol increased hiking only 400 miles the past 3 months,
041049 - it decreased the prior 3 months. Hope increased exercise along
041050 - with diet change with better portion control, more oats, bran,
041051 - water, etc., can be maintained to drop weight down to 165.
041052 - Hope these changes will bring cholesterol in line with medical
041053 - goals of HDL < 70 for my status as a CAD patient. If so, or if
041054 - not, hope a promising new drug with less side effects and
041055 - better control of cholesterol will be approved for prescribing
041056 - in June when we meet again.
041058 - ..
041059 - 16. Was very pleased the doctor ended the meeting on a positive
041060 - note citing weight loss over the past year since February 2012.
041061 - A week ago on March 4, weighed about 180, down from 195 a year
041062 - ago. Laughed and explained I was down to 170 in mid-December,
041063 - and since then bounced up to 180 in mid January. Then got sick
041064 - for a week and dropped back to 172, only to wind up at 180 the
041065 - end of February. Seems we have another "conflict."
041067 - ..
041068 - 17. Will be interesting to see how things go the next 3 months.
041069 - Have not started well. After missing several weeks of hiking
041070 - leading up the the meeting on 4 March, got out and did some
041071 - laps in very good times, but then work and circumstances have
041072 - again curtailed hiking. Hope springs eternal, tomorrow or the
041073 - next day can get into another sting of going out 16 days in a
041074 - row. Pray for me...
041076 - ..
041077 - 18. Fun project Saturday (now yesterday). Remember we did an
041078 - armoire renovation project last year in January and February.
041079 - This led to having a bunch of computer cables strewn across the
041080 - floor. Today, had a contractor in to finally fix this by
041081 - putting cables overhead in the ceiling, and handling others
041082 - with a better route, so the place looks more like a bedroom
041083 - than a garage.
041085 - ..
041086 - 19. A week or so ago did spring cleaning. Finally, found the
041087 - vacuum cleaner and figured out how to plug it into the wall and
041088 - flip the switch. Moved all the furniture off the floors
041089 - upstairs and down, and did a major spring cleaning thing.
041090 - Millie is smiling now.
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