Last Week's Thrifty Moves

 

This is not going to be like my regular weekly post because last week was anything but my normal routine.  Not at all what I was expecting.  But, thankfully, all is well right now and that is the most one can hope for.  Sorry if this is a little too long, but I needed to get some things off my "chest".  Ha, ha, ha.

 

Sunday was Easter and we had a lovely day beginning with small gifts and a wonderful brunch of French toast and breakfast sausages.  I gave each of my girls a vintage Campbell's Soup Cookbook and a chocolate bunny.  They gave me dark chocolate and some black licorice.  The black licorice is definitely not Keto, but a nice treat on occasion nonetheless.  I sure hope you all had a nice Easter.

 

I spent the day on various tasks around the house, did a little bit of sewing and prepared a lot of delicious food.  It was almost like Thanksgiving.  I roasted a chicken with carrots and broccoli, sautéed green beans with onions and sliced mushrooms, fixed some rice for the girls and made gravy using the pan drippings.  I had made deviled eggs earlier in the day and we also put out a can of black olives.  My youngest made dessert by whipping up a quick Keto vanilla mousse and we had that with fresh strawberries.  My oldest was able to come for dinner and we were very happy about that.  It was a short visit, but we enjoyed seeing her so much.  A very lovely Easter Sunday to be sure.

 

Monday was like any other day, but Tuesday threw me for a complete loop when I had another heart attack at work.  It was mild and I immediately called my cardiologist's office before heading off to the ER per their instruction.  No one at the ER suspected I had actually had another heart attack because I looked good and my age as well as the fact that my EKG appeared normal, but the resident on duty said he had a gut feel about it and sure enough when my blood work came back I had kicked off those enzymes that show up in the bloodstream whenever your heart sustains damage.  The cardiologist on duty was a woman (she is now my new cardiologist) and she didn't mess around.  They admitted me and she got to work to figure out what the heck is going on with me.

 

Wednesday morning at 3:00 a.m. I had a mother of another attack and I was super happy to be in the hospital and not at home.  It hurt!   And my neck was so stiff.  I also had a bad reaction to the nitrous patch they had placed on my chest and had a murderous headache.  It was so bad they gave me fentynil for the pain.  That stuff works, holy Hannah! 

 

Wednesday and Thursday was all about tests and my new cardiologist is digger!  She was determined to find out the cause.  She did an angiogram and searched for blood clots and checked for a possible blockage on Wednesday morning and was mildly surprised that she didn't find anything.  But based on my health and blood work results she said not completely.  So she sent me for a CT scan and kept digging.  Between the cardiologist and the internist (also a woman) they began to come up with some ideas and an MRI Thursday confirmed that I had a viral infection to my heart muscle.  After my first attack on January 30 I came down with a mild head cold a week later, but because I had a tiny amount of damage in my heart the cold virus settled in and made itself right at home.  Over time it just stayed there and wreaked havoc until it did enough harm to cause me to have the attack at work on Tuesday.  So secondary circumstances to the first one.

 

So why did I have the first heart attack in January?  Good question!  And ironically, not because of the electrical issue, but rather another issue entirely.  When I was 19 years old, almost 20, I had a stroke.  At the time no one was ever able to determine why that happened, it was a mystery.  I recovered with minimal damage, or so I thought, and over the years I have done quite well.  However, not only do I have the ischemic markers in my brain, but also there are some in my heart, which apparently will happen.  Who knew?  Not me.  And then as time goes on that damage in the heart starts to cause problems especially once a woman is post-menopausal.  That would be me right now.  Never in a million years would I have thought that even possible.  But there it is.  Prognosis at this time remains unknown and we just have to wait and see how I do in the next few months.

 

Friday afternoon they cut me loose and I was super happy to finally get to go home.  I immediately went home and jumped (not really, carefully stepped) into the shower.  Best shower I've ever had!!!  It felt so good to get all the hospital scrubbed off and then to put on my comfy clothes.  I spent my afternoon with lots of cuddle time with my kitties.  Best medicine right there, let me tell you.  When my daughter got home from school we took a short walk in the fresh air and sunshine and I got her all caught up on the latest events and what my stay was like.  Then we had a little dinner and watched a movie from our home DVD collection.

Chicken salad (using up leftover roasted chicken)

Saturday morning I woke up after a really good night of sleep and felt even better.  I hadn't slept at all the first two days in the hospital so my sleep deficit was pretty significant.  The only "chore" I had to do all day was to go to the pharmacy and pick up my prescriptions and then to rest and recuperate.  That is pretty much what I did too.  I did do some modifying of my recent meal plan and made one specific or me.  Although I think I do a really good job on my meals I thought I'd tweak it some and see if I could improve on it a bit.  Let me know if you are interested in know more about what I am planning to do.

 

I am off work for a little bit and in full on rest and recovery mode.  I have several appointments coming up and I am hopeful for good news and an excellent prognosis because, darn it, I have stuff to do!  At least now we have some answers and ones that make sense too.  Hopefully I'm not sharing too much, but that is currently my life at the moment.  I know a lot of you have your own heart and health issues and have found my situation to be of help. 

 

Breakfast

THINGS WE ATE LAST WEEK:  Roast chicken with veggies, rice & gravy, deviled eggs; taco salad; chicken salad, loads of leftovers.

 

THINGS I (actually my daughter did half of this for me) CLEANED IN 15 MINUTES OR LESS: 

Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - vacuumed floors.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Kitchen & Dining Room -  Cleaned microwave, vacuumed & spot mopped floors.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - Vacuumed & dusted, mopped bathroom floor.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Other - one large load of laundry.  Vacuumed & dusted living room, hallway & both entryways, washed living room window.

 

How was your thrifty week?