TIL - that chest tightness and shortness of breath isn't allergies!

This is exciting.~ I've had a health-tracking watch for ages. Mostly I ignore unusual results because they usually return to normal. Lately, I've noticed my resting heart rate has increased a little into the low 70s. I'm aging and working out less intensely so maybe that's why. I've also had some chest tightness so I was using my inhaler since it's been a really long allergy season. It hasn't been working well but it does eventually work. Also, I've been fiddling with the ECG feature on my watch and sometimes it gives an abnormal result. Oh well, it's a watch so the accuracy could be off. Again, things return to normal. 

This time I went to calibrate the blood pressure sensor on my watch and whoa - first time ever I've had a warning light. And not on the traditional systolic number but the diastolic one that generally stays stable. I took a picture of the reading and called my doctor's clinic. I actually managed to get one of the emergency appointments for the next day. Then, after 4 days of shenanigans, my BP returned to normal in time for the appointment🙄.

Of course, at the doctor's office, my BP was normal. We chatted a bit then I showed him pictures of my BP reading from the previous day. Well, that changed everything. Lie down for an abdominal exam and there are questions about aneurysms in the family as my aorta feels big. My lungs are clear but my heart sounds a bit swishy. Oh yes, my last ECG was not normal. So now I'm off for more bloodwork to see if anything has changed since October, and an abdominal ultrasound and cardiogram. 

Even with all the monitoring tech, when you have a reasonably healthy lifestyle, it's easy to ignore warning signs when you feel well. I don't have chest pain (my dad found out he needed a quad bypass during a medical and had no chest pain). I don't have increased shortness of breath when exercising. I'm lucky Fred wants me to check this stuff out for his peace of mind.

I hope this is nothing or easily resolved with surgery. TAVI for the valve and some kind of vascular support if a vessel wall weakness is discovered.🤞🏼

Aging Parents #BoomerLife

I read an article the other day about people choosing to retire in their homes rather than going to retirement facilities or care homes. I know my Dad loved his house and didn't want to leave it. Fortunately, he didn't have to. Our neighbours are in their mid-80s and make noise about moving but instead end up changing their yard to make it easier to manage. Like us, they live in a raised bungalow so everything you need is on the main floor.

The in-laws', very reasonably, don't want to leave their home. We don't want them to either but it came out that bills weren't being paid and there was forgetfulness so options had to be explored as none of us live in the same city as they do. They need companionship and a housekeeper more than medical care so that's what was looked for. Despite their hometown being a huge draw for retirees, there are surprisingly few service options...like 1. As part of the service, the elders get audited by Alberta Health Services (or whatever they become) to see what reimbursements they are eligible for.

And we're next - though not for a couple decades with any luck. What will services look like for us? 

End of an Era

Yesterday we sold our two inflatable Hobie kayaks to a nice family in Calgary. They've been great for hauling all over but it's time for a 2 seater. This ends the era of being based out of my dad's house and kayaking different places in the lower mainland with Milo and Duffy. 

As you age, these losses are more drawn out. First Duffy, then Milo, then my dad and selling his house and now our last link, the kayaks.

On to new adventures with the new kayak. Maybe we'll be able to get Bennie out with us when we go to more local lakes.

Worried well or health minimizer. Why not both?

A bunch of stuff has been happening lately that is confounding until I find examples in my life which bring things into focus and help me understand, at least a little.

A lot of it is COVID-based. Because COVID is still a novel virus and we don't have a lot of data on the long-term effects of getting it once or multiple times we continue to get shots, wear masks based on risk assessments based on how crowded a location is and how good the ventilation is and generally take care. This doesn't seem like a big deal - it's very transmissible, I hate to be sick if I could avoid it and if I got others got sick...I would feel horrible.

MIL has COVID - she was sick enough to be bedridden for a couple days but didn't bother to let anyone know. FIL can't drive and doesn't cook so I'm not sure what they actually ate for the couple of days. SIL went to look after MIL. SIL is staying with a friend and not wearing a mask or isolating. SIL has recovered from a mild case of COVID already. All of them take a daily assortment of pills.

A friend had COVID and was bedridden for 5 days while the spouse had barely any symptoms. She also has health problems. She doesn't know if it would have been worse had she not been vaccinated and has no intention of getting any more shots because she doesn't like how she feels after.

Our neighbour. He's well over 80 and his mom is nearing 100. He's getting his flu shot but not the COVID one because he's heard the flu is what's going around right now🤦‍♀️ I don't know where he got that info but not from any provincial site (sparse as it is).

One thing that has been shown with SARS-COV-2 is it's much more contagious than the flu, people can be asymptomatic and contagious and there can be some very bad outcomes. Other than the vascular damage there's an increased risk of Parkinson's Disease.

BUT then...

I have low neutrophils. I have them intermittently and the last time there were noticeable was when I was in my 40s. We did some extra tests but it seemed to be my normal so I left it at that. Fast forward 20 years and my new doctor is concerned my neutrophils seem to have been low for a couple years - I suspect the last time I was a low normal it was close to a vaccination date. He wants to refer me to a Hematologist but it's my decision. I say no, I've had this before and it's resolved itself. I mentioned the neutropenia to the eye specialist and he did a very circumspect side-eye when I said I wasn't planning to be referred. Then he said he'd be writing my GP advising him to suggest a little harder that I take the referral. I've already called my doctor for a phone appointment.

So what was I thinking? Referrals aren't offered for nothing. Part of it was the softness of the offer - it's my decision. Part of it was I feel fine - much like the people who've had COVID and got better. Part of it is fear that it will turn into something - much like people who don't go to the hospital when they're really sick.

I've put myself into the referral queue and we'll see what happens. If nothing else, I'll find out that I just don't make a lot of spare neutrophils.

Thoughts on the 6 month Moratorium on the Alberta Renewable Energy Projects

This moratorium is living rent-free in my head even though I am definitely not on board with companies getting to set policy by default. Communities should be able to appeal to the government to regulate the industry - even though it's an industry that I support. I expect they're so used to O&G demanding provincial funding that they didn't realize energy companies could thrive without it and by the time they did - welp a hard brake is a good way to get rid of competition. The UCP is all about perception. The perception they're helping rural communities while forgiving debt owed to them by oil companies. Allowing leaks into the waterways feeding First Nations because they're pretty isolated. Air pollution is no big deal because it's mostly invisible and by the time it's noticeable the polluters can create all kinds of plausible deniability. 

These complaints are from southern Alberta. In Medicine Hat, Smiths's riding, there's a turbine quite close to a road on the edge of town that people regularly see. People who are heavily invested in being Gas City with the accompanying low utility rates. Imagine having a turbine this close to a road you regularly drive on... Plus in Alberta, wind farms have lots of turbines. It seems the standard is lots at different angles so only a few are active at a time. But the perception is the possibility of ALL of them running at the same time.

6 months is actually not long to review material and provide a report and any new regulation will take longer to implement. If Smith's stand on COVID is any indication, the sources they look at will cite a bunch of misinformation so it will be a quick hammer smash making it onerous to comply with new rules. Projects in the planning stages are easy to relocate. This isn't like oil where there are physical constraints - you can do solar anywhere. The US has a big push on and even SK has a range of projects coming online. I hope the Solar industry that remains is ready to capitalize on distributed solar in urban areas because rural projects are likely to be dead until O&G decides to enter the game.

10 years ago today - life changing incident

 

10 years ago today, Fred had left town for a week at an isolated work site and I was looking forward to a week chilling with the dogs. The weather was going to be good, and month-end at work meant a structured week full of "stuff" which I enjoyed. It was not to be. I was hit by a car while walking across the highway at a controlled intersection. When I regained consciousness I called work and Fred's work to let them know what happened - you can use a cell phone without moving your head and neck!

I wrote about the incident as soon as I got out of the hospital and 10 years is long enough to assess the long-term effects. We can start with work. I didn't return to work until October with some restrictions. However, I feel like the lucky one. My Plant Manager at the time started having health issues so July 31 was my last routine day at work. I met up with him at a clinic and he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer after that visit. He transferred back to the US and passed away very quickly. I reduced ladder climbing a lot as most locations had been changed to stair access and could do most of my job until my planned retirement date. 

We didn't move as desired because, with the O&G downturn our home lost 30% of its value while our desired location rocketed in value. On the upside - housing is affordable here. One thing that would be hard to match? I can easily walk to the vet, dentist, preferred coffee shop and gym. The city continues to change. There are a LOT more pedestrian-controlled intersections - including the one where my incident occurred - and new trails for bikes and people are being built all the time. There are lots of activities, albeit not on the scale of big cities, including Pride events and Indigenous recognition.

But what about the long-term physical effects. I changed a lot of my activities and stopped spontaneous sports through work after a mud run. I am relieved I don't have to think of running as a pass time - I had a love-hate relationship it. I gave up golf and no longer play any racquet sports, since we used to play squash I could see us trying pickleball or me playing with others. Post-injury, I switched to spin for my cardio challenge but since COVID have given that up. I've been doing Zoom or outside workout classes and don't feel like buying a spin bike. Yoga was impossible to return to as I had to do a lot of adjustments due to uneven abilities. Total flexibility never returned - I'm not sure if I could have done more to get there. While I've been aware of my injury all along, recently it's been stiff all the time. My balance is off but is it age or injury? Can't tell but I'm looking for a resolution to that. I'm also pretty sure I had a longer-term brain injury than recognized. My appetite didn't return for years plus it's always hard to tell if the reaching and not catching words is simply aging but I feel like I've gotten better so...

...that's it. I learned what "you will have arthritis in that ankle" means🙂and don't grumble or yell at the sky too much.

Rhubarb Pie experiment

We have a couple rhubarb patches so pie and crisp are mainstays during the summer. We have a pastry rhubarb pie recipe but lately we've been trying graham cracker crusts so it was decided to do a streusel crust for the top. To the Duck Duck Go! I found a crust that seemed reasonable on Crazy for Crust and Streusel recipe on Sugar Spun Run. I'm really putting this here so I can import it into my recipe app🤞🏼 I'm using metric weights where possible because I trained as a chemist and it's just way more reliable. I'm using cups and Fahrenheit because I'm Canadian😁 

I find our oven runs cool so you may want to drop the temperature 25F.

RECIPE

Graham cracker crust

154 g crushed graham crackers

50 g brown sugar

2.5 g cinnamon

pinch of salt

99 g melted butter.

Combine and pack well into a 9" pie dish. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes then let cool

Filling 

4 c rhubarb cut into 1-2 cm pieces

2 tbsp flour (60 mL)

3/4c white sugar

2 eggs

1 tbsp melted butter/margarine

1 tsp lime juice - or lemon if you have some cut)

Mix flour and sugar then set aside ~1/4 c. Mix eggs, butter and the rest of flour/sugar together. 

Streusel

78 g flour

50 g golden sugar

33 g white sugar

pinch salt

42g unsalted butter/margarine melted

Mix dry ingredients well. Drizzle melted butter into dry ingredients and cut in to make chunks. Do NOT mix them together into a paste.

Assembly

Preheat oven to 425F

Sprinkle reserved flour and sugar on the cooled crust then put rhubarb into crust. Pour the egg mixture over the rhubarb then sprinkle the streusel top as evenly as possible. Place a cookie sheet on a lower shelf under where the pie pan will be then place the pie in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes at 425F then lower the temperature to 350F for 25 minutes.

Serve cool.

Let me know how it tastes as this is a fasting day so I couldn't taste as I went. Should be fine though...right?