April 2 (Thursday) 5:20 am
I decided to do the hospital thing again. As I was driving to work on Tuesday morning (March 31), I began to
feel weak and dizzy. I had been having some discomfort in my back, similar to that when I had my "episode"
last June, so even though I made it as far as Walnut, I returned to Corinth, and went straight to the
emergency room at the local hospital there.
After tests and consultation the decision was made to send me to Memphis via ambulance, and I was
transported from the hospital in Corinth back to St. Francis in Memphis, where I had the stent inserted last
June. I was kept over night for observation, and all tests resulted in negative findings. I do have,
however, a scheduled visit to my cardiologist at the Stern clinic in Memphis for another Thallium stress
test. Hopefully all will go well, and I shall receive a clean bill of health.
Personally, I think my problem now emanates from stress -- too much stress, associated with work and the
animals. With no appreciable time to just "take off" and relax, I am on edge 24/7. Yep, I think my problem is
too much stress.
We shall see.
Please take a moment to read or leave a comment in my Guestbook, or read more about daily life at Willow
Oak in my journal, or email me one of your own stories.
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April 4 (Saturday) 9:45 am
I don't make very many excursions for pleasure on the weekend, but today might be the exception. The
second annual Crossroads Festival and chili cook-off is being held today, and I may make an appearance. I
have been invited to a cookout with friends, and I intend to go to that.
In the meantime my dogs have already involved themselves in some "exra-curricular" activities this
morning. Sam and Fred got into it, and I had to separate them. Thankfully, a neighbor was nearby, and he
scaled the fence and gave me a hand. Fred starts these things, but usually these episodes are triggered
when the dogs get excited about something going on outside the fence. In this case, the neighbor has a
new puppy, and the pup was running loose in the yard, and that got my dogs excited. I do live in the
country, and it is rural; but I do live on a relatively well-used country road, and I do have neighbors who live
across the road. So I am not totally isolated.
April 5 (Sunday) 6:00 am
Fred appears to have recovered quite well from his ordeal yesterday. Grace got caught up in the event
and has a chewed-on ear, which I treated last night with antibiotic. Grace appears to be okay. Sam is back
to his usual cool and calm demeanor. Sam is a very strong dog, but very laid-back; but he showed
yesterday that he can be lethal.
The issue I have, as I have mentioned before, is that the dogs all get along relatively well, but they can get
excited by a person walking by on the road or a strange dog, at which point they could get into it with each
other. So I have to be vigilant, and keep an ear open for anything out of the ordinary. That's what I did
yesterday, and was able to save a catastrophe from happening.
I enjoyed working in the woods yesterday. I pulled a couple of dead tree trunks out and cut some firewood.
Needless to say, I was thoroughly exhausted at bedtime and went to sleep early.
April 6 (Monday) 6:00 am
The weatherman is telling us expect some unseasonably cold temperatures for the next couple of days and
to not be surprised at a little frozen precipitation. I am glad to leave the cold and wet weather behind, but I
do kinda wish we had more snow during winter -- not a lot more, but enough to have enjoyed some "winter
wonderland." Anyway, I have enough wood to keep me warm for several more days.
I have a nice Thallium stress test scheduled for Wednesday, 2:00 pm, at the Stern Cardiac clinic in Memphis.
Joy! Joy! I get to go all that time up until the test without anything to eat or drink. How nice.
I am looking out the window this early morning at some dark clouds gathering. Looks like nasty weather. I
scoured the dog kennels yesterday, so the dogs should be nice and cozy until I arrive home this afternoon.
April 9 (Thursday) 6:40 am
I did the Thallium stress test yesterday and the "unofficial" returns are that I am clear of any blockage in the
heart. The last time I did the test, June 23, 2008, I did a three day in the hospital due to a 99% occlusion of
the LAD (99% blockage of the left anterior descending artery in the heart). A stent was inserted and I
avoided a very bad experience.
Yesterday was not a stellar day otherwise. Without my morning cup of coffee I was simply miserable all day.
Getting to bed by 6:30 pm yesterday and sleeping until 4:00 am today restored my spirits, however, and I
have already enjoyed a good cup of community coffee this morning and am raring to go.
Dogs and cats are doing fine.
April 12 (Sunday) 6:15 am
A nice and clean weekend. Yesterday I mowed the yard; did the laundry; and cooked a big pot of soup,
which I shall eat at work for lunch this next week. The only thing left to do is clean the dogs kennels. Oh,
and I cut sine firewood. The temperatures are still low enough to use the fireplace, and I am sitting near
the fire now. I love the fireplace, but I shall be glad to reach the point where I can stop having to cut wood.
The animals are enjoying their weekend, as they usually do. I have plans to attend an Easter dinner today
with friends, so the dogs will have to be kenneled for the duration.
April 14 (Tuesday) 2:30 pm
I enjoyed an Easter dinner on Sunday with Larry and his family at Larry's In-Laws house. A house full of kids
..., it is definitely the way to go. It is what life is all about.
I made a visit to my cardiologist today, and all is well with my heart as far as can be seen.
Poor Willie. He seemed rather lethargic and downright not feeling well when I left home this morning. He
was that way last night, also, and appeared to have a high temperature. I hated to leave him this morning. I
am anxious to get home and see that he is okay.
April 15 (Wednesday) 1:15 pm
I'll steal a couple of minutes from work. Willie was much recuperated yesterday when I arrived home from
work, which was a great relief to me. Everybody was in good spirits, for that matter. The dogs really do get
excited when I arrive home, and as soon as I let them out of their kennels they hit the ground running and
barking and chasing. The cats appear to get excited also.
I'm still using the fireplace, and I've already burned up half the big oak tree that fell over. I guess I'll be
buying wood next winter.
April 19 (Sunday) 3:25 am
I made it through tax day okay. Unfortunately for me, the net effect of tax day is that my checking account
loses a ground every year. Fortunately for me, my checking account loses ground ever year. At least I
have a checking account and something to lose.
It has been cool enough to keep the fireplace going. I cut some wood yesterday, but it will not be enough
to carry me through if the cool weather persists. Things will warm up quickly enough, however.
I have received encouragement to compile my stories into a book, so I have been working on that. Right
now I have a draft that is 140 pages long. I began writing the stories as posts in an online forum. Only later
did I begin to consider them as stories. So the way they were originally written required that they be
re-written. Some dramatization has been required to make the stories readable.
We shall see.
April 21 (Tuesday) 6:25 am
Another harrowing experience over the weekend. I rescued a neighbor's dog from an attack by a pack of
dogs. I do not have time to relate the details now, but maybe more later.
I continue to use the fireplace at night, and had a good one going last night.
My own dogs and cats are doing fine.
April 22 (Wednesday) 3:45 pm
I arrived home yesterday to find poor Cathy's lifeless body. I can write nothing more about it for now.
Maybe I shall be able to write more later.
I have experienced these things several times in the past few years, and they do not get easier with to
handle. I can only attempt to empathize with one who has lost a human loved one. It must be a terrible pain.
April 24 (Friday) 6:45 am
I buried Cathy on the grounds of Willow Oak. You can visit my Rainbow Bridge page and see that I am not
new at the experience of losing one of my furry friends. It never gets easy, and my hurt for each one is the
same. Cathy was loved and she will be missed. In the meantime I have the others who need me.
April 28 (Tuesday) 6:40 am
The weather has turned warm. I got a good sunburn over the weekend from mowing my lawn. And I have
not had need of the fireplace. I do enjoy the fireplace, but it is work -- cutting and gathering wood, starting
and maintaining the fire.
Grainger did a good job of keeping me awake last night. I had to get up and get after him with a belt. He
settled down after that. He surely is a sweet puppy and very "bouncy." He just can't keep still or quiet. But
he is part of Willow Oak now, so he and I will just have to learn to get along.
I continue to work on my book in my spare time. For now it appears that I am going with a 9" by 6" format,
and with that I have around 160 pages or so. There are about 35 stories. When I began writing I never
considered that the stories would turn into a book, but it appears that is exactly what is happening.
April 29 (Wednesday) 6:10 am
Here is a snapshot of the book cover, which should be coming out next month, or June at the latest.
April 30 (Thursday) 6:40 am
The first proof copy of my book arrived yesterday. More later ...