Here it is, 6 am on a Saturday morning, when most people who get up early during the week are still snoozing away. But, not me...the cat started her "wake up and feed me" routine at about 4:30 this morning. I managed to fend her off until 5:15 which is normal time to get up. And now she is back asleep on the back of the couch and I'm wide awake! But, this time gives me some quiet alone time to do whatever I want, so it's not so bad, I guess.

Bill has had a good week. He has turned the corner with pneumonia. His white count on Wednesday had gone down to 7.9 which is excellent and he looks and feels better. He's still coughing some and yesterday he finally coughed out a bunch of stuff. Of course he was flushing it down the kitchen sink when I got into the kitchen so I didn't get to see it to check for color or consistency. He said it was dark gray, and it could have been, but I think it was more the stainless steel of the sink showing through. But, his white count went back up to 11 after his blood draw yesterday, which could still be due to the steroids. So, she's going to treat the person instead of the symptoms now. She listened and he's moving air well and she told him that as long as he's not getting short of breath moving from room to room that he can start walking again. So, we may try the treadmill again soon, when the weather settles down.

When we were at the dr. Monday, she asked when Bill's last eye exam was and since we just had them the first part of the month I told her and that his eyes had no change. But, when I told her about the small hemorrages in mine that were found, she got concerned and got her nurse to come in and take my blood pressure. It was concerningly high. When it was checked in February, on the day that I was so sick, it was perfectly normal 126/74. I don't remember what it was at the eye dr. I do know I'm usually nervous there because I hate the test for eye pressure and it didn't seem to be extremely high, but in her office it was 172/102. So, she added an additional medicine and wanted to see me yesterday too. I checked my pressure all week and it was still high, no matter what arm I used, but at the office yesterday it had come down to 154 over 90 something, I think. (I could open another window and check my account, but that's too much work right now). And I started paying attention to how I was feeling more this week and...it wasn't good. I felt "jittery inside". No outward tremors or anything, just like my insides were jumping around and having a good time. I also checked my blood sugar and those were good, if not a little low.

So, there are a few possibilities. She is setting up a cardiac consult for a stress test to rule out any problems there (although she said that my heart sounds fine). My potassium was low so she's giving me some pills for that. She is also running a full thyroid panel. I had it tested a while back after a nurse friend told me that hives can be a sign of thyroid problems, and I was treated for an under active thyroid as a teenager. Thyroid problems can also be a factor of sudden changes in blood pressure, so it stands to reason. She didn't balk at testing, and not just for the TSH level, but the T3 and T4 levels also. She also put me on a mild anti-anxiety med. It's a longer acting version of Xanax and I only take 1/2 of the little tiny tablet if I feel like I need it. I've probably needed something like this for years, but since I could take Bill's left over Xanax until it was gone, I didn't ask for anything.

I took the Potassium yesterday and felt a lot better afterwards. I should also tell you that we've both been eating a lot of bananas recently which is good for potassium. I also split all of the little pills up and took 1 in the afternoon and 1 before bed. I slept quite well, although I wasn't groggy and knew when Bill got up to use the bathroom. That was part of my concern about a stronger pill, that I wouldn't be able to hear him if he needed me in the night.

So, Bill gets labs done again Wednesday (he really likes them sending the nurse to the house) and I go back Friday to see if there are any changes. I don't know how long it will take to get the consult for the stress test, that I'm not looking forward to. The Dr. she is wanting to use is the one who told me that Bill was alive after his 4th heart attack when he crashed in the helicopter on the way to Memphis. So, I know him and he's really nice.

That's all from this end. It's had it's moments, but it's finally baseball season so all is well!

Happy Easter!