Hi friends,

I'm alive and well in Norwalk! It's been 12 days since my last post and I apologize to all who faithfully read this blog and who are not 'subscribed' to a feed, therefore needing to check daily on this blog site for a new post. Did anyone wonder what I was up to? :)

Of course, as with any story or commentary, there are always details that make a story LONG; I'll spare you all the details and just say that I've been busy with work and even more, I've been feeling "under the weather" the last few weeks. I'll keep the story short, but it begins with a VERY aggravating and painful 'rotator cuff' problem. I've had the same symptoms previously and I'm convinced the current symptoms will pass, but unfortunately the pain is effecting my work and my overall well-being.

In the midst of the rotator (shoulder) problem, my daughter, who moved to CT to spend some interim time with me, decided that a move BACK to PA would be best for her. She moved back to her home in Lock Haven on Thursday, Oct. 30. One positive note is that since her move, she has secured employment in PA and when talking with her on the phone, sounds quite happy and optimistic about the new job.

The day my daughter moved I woke up with a migraine headache, treated it as I always do, with Excedrin Migraine and a heating pad and felt fine within an hour. As the day wore on, I began to feel a strange sense of 'jiggling' just under my sternum/chest with every step I took. If I walked VERY slowly, the pain/strange feeling wasn't there. Friday morning and Saturday mornings I woke again with a migraine headache, but both days the same 'home remedy' relieved the symptoms.

The whole situation was beginning to trouble me a bit and by Saturday afternoon, I felt the strange symptoms were significant enough to get checked at the local emergency room. *I resisted a LONG TIME since I'm WITHOUT health insurance at present time! My plan was to wait until the beginning of the year to subscribe to the insurance since the new plan requires a large deductible which is calculated per calender year. I figured....two months..... what could possibly happen??

Well, the emergency room doctors did test after test, standard blood tests, chest x-rays and more....only to determine that they weren't sure of the problem! Additionally, they COULD NOT conclusively rule out a heart related problem. The ER doctor (and residents) wanted to do additional testing to verify any or NO damage to the heart and strongly suggested I spend the night in the hospital. One particular test required a follow-up blood test 8 hr. after the initial test as well as a walking and nuclear stress test.

UGH....well, I can report that I DID spend the night in the hospital and decided by Sunday morning that I needed to check out and trust God! I wasn't ignoring the medical wisdom, but considering my lack of health insurance and the unavailability of the technician to perform the stress tests, I checked out and went home! The Drs. suggested that the symptoms I presented COULD be a result of the large doses of Ibuprofen/Motrin that I take. (I take it for bone and joint pain from arthritis regularly and additionally I took it round the clock through the summer for a toothache and more recently for my rotator cuff problem) Drs. also suggested that the current symptoms COULD be anxiety related. I came home with a prescription for "Previcid", which may help if the problems are gastric/stomach related. I decided to take the following day off work to rest and recoup and then dug back into the 'daily grind' on Tuesday, November 4. I began my new regime of NO ibuprofen and two Previcid daily.

Today is now Saturday and amazingly, I am feeling quite a bit better as each day passes! I can still sense the 'jiggling' in my "innards" as I walk or move, but am definitely feeling better! (because I don't have a clue what area inside me is being affected, I've taken to using the term 'innards' to localize my symptoms) :) Oh....did I mention that I have not had ANY COFFEE since last Saturday morning??????? I have a small amounts of caffeine, but am trying to stay away from it in large amounts. Nor have I taken any ibuprofen or other Motrin based medication!

Anyway....all of the above sort of explains my absence and lack of enthusiasm for blogging and computer use. I'm slowly getting back into the 'groove' of life and things are looking up! I even had a call from the hospital that eased my mind a bit regarding payment. I will be deemed a "charity case" eventually and my bill will be reduced. (hopefully by a HUGE amount!)

I truly wanted to get back in touch with my blog friends, just wasn't feeling quite up to it this week. I DID think to snap a few photos in the emergency room to share with the blog world! That's not a corpse or anything, just the pillow at the head end of my gurney! :)

Best to all for this Autumn weekend!