Clinic Visits and Knee Bends

I had my 6 month check up with the clinic this week.  The one where you give them about 9 vials of blood and get slathered with that cold gel for the echocardiogram.  The clinic seems to be shifted somewhere in the hospital every time I come in to visit now so I had to wind my way around to finally find it in Cardiology of Tulsa's offices.  After going over what I have been doing (and they weren't really thrilled to hear that I'd taken on another job) and haven't been doing (enough exercise although they were happy I was doing some strength training) I spent some quality time with Dr. T.

The good doc had been battling a cold last week so he kindly wore his mask while visiting with all of us.  Bloodwork results and echo results were great and I was released to come back in 3 months for more bloodwork and 6 months for my annual.  Even my "regular" doc was happy with my glucose rating (which had dropped 1.2 points since May) but sadly had to inform me that he was retiring in December.  His 61 year old wife was just diagnosed with Alzheimer's and he and his son decided it would be best to spend whatever quality time they had left in Arkansas surrounded by family.  I truly understand that.  So, when I see him in November I'll be meeting my new primary care doc (someone in his office) and establishing a new relationship.

My strength training has been going pretty well if inconsistent.  I've been trying to get at least 30 minutes in with Mike every Friday but sometimes he has church related events and sometimes I have school related events.  Yesterday my knee begin to get that old twinge of bad ligaments so we stretched out my quads and hamstrings to see if that would help....and now I can hardly move!  Crestor will cause your muscles to cramp up and we thought maybe that was part of it...maybe we overstretched a little??  All I know is that trying to sit down on the "john" has become a lot of moans and groans...and I don't see too much relief in sight.

On a good note, however, OSU beat A&M today! 

Sometimes, you just have to end with a good note.

New Year, New Challenges

It's been a busy beginning to this school year.  I finished my summer by spending a few days with my parents in Branson - time I will never regret taking.  Reported to work the next Monday and soon my poor partner discovered her Mother had what is hopefully going to be manageable cancer-related issues.  (Prayers for the Stone family will be appreciated!)  Naturally she had to be away to take care of family issues but it also meant busy days for just one.  Fortunately the wonderful staff at my school stepped in and helped in any way they could.

An opportunity then developed for me to try something new in addition to my "day job".  My district is starting a virtual school as well as a night school.  Students who are on long term suspension come to night school and do online learning as part of their suspension.  Students who cannot function in a school setting come to go through the virtual learning in order to graduate.  And soon we'll be adding students who are needing to make up credits in order to graduate.  Students in middle school and high school are eligible to attend.

I was asked to consider being the counselor/backup administrator 3 nights a week for 4 hours each night.  After much discussion with my own administrator at my site, I decided to go for it.  This should prove that the transplant should not be an issue in my becoming an administrator because I'll be working pretty much the same hours as an administrator who supervises extra-curricular activities does.  And, I believe that virtual learning is the wave of the future and getting the experience now will make me more marketable to other districts, which I could possibly be exploring in the near future.

In addition, I'll probably be doing drug education classes for suspended students and parents.  Now, that should keep me busy for the year!  I wouldn't have done it without the support of my administrator and my brother because I want to be sure my parents are covered should anything happen to them.  And, with the extra pay, I hope to take a really nice vacay next summer!  Now, I'm not sure how the transplant clinic is going to feel about it...although I believe they will say to do whatever I feel up to doing. 

In addition, I'm continuing my upper body strength training every Friday to gain some upper body strength.  While it would be nice to drop a few pounds, I'm most proud of the fact that I can tell my core strength has improved and I'm gaining strength in my arms, chest, and lower back.  After being sliced open and sawed, it is nice to be able to lift a little more than 5-7 lbs for a change.  My trainor, Mike, is very careful in how we proceed and great to work with. 

So, my days are full, my nights are full, and football season approaches.  Not a bad life right now!