Summer 2015

As school was ending this year, I felt really bad.  It had been a difficult year opening a "new" school (going from 9/10 to 9th only with over 1300 students), working with new administration, being the building test coordinator, and dealing with a lot of stress.  I was basically exhausted, but I also began to notice some swelling in my feet.

After school with the kids ended, I made an appointment to see Dr. E.  I had an echo ran then met with him.  Ejection fraction was still in the 60's and the echo showed no issues with the heart, however, he agreed that I was putting on some water and increased my Lasix dosage to twice a day along with the same increase in potassium.  He also prescribed some compression socks, set me up with a Doppler echo of my legs to check the valves in the veins, and told me that I would have blood work in two weeks to check my kidneys with the new script, then again in September.  If all went well, he'd see me in December but if I continued to feel bad to get back with him asap.  After dropping about 5 lbs of water weight in about a week, and finally getting away from work, I felt a great deal better.

Most of the rest of my summer has been spent doing some appointments I had put off such as a mammogram, bone density test, primary doc appointment, eye appointment (gotta love having to get bifocal contacts), taking my folks on a quick trip to visit old friends in Illinois, and going to a conference for the school in Tucson.

While in Tucson, I met some co-workers and we visited with someone we worked with the last year we were a 9/10 center who have moved their after retiring in Oklahoma to "double dip" retirement in Arizona.  The two nights I was there, they drove from about an hour away to show me where they lived, their schools, and a fun trip up Mt. Lemmon where we were nearly stuck by a tree across the road.  Nothing like being 106 when they picked me up at ground level in Tucson, going up about 8500 ft to where it was 62 degrees with 15 mph winds that knock down trees across the road after being in a Jeep with the top down as it rained on you.  Great memories!

Now, I have about 10 days till I have to report back.  I'm trying to get excited.  And I'm trying to find fun ways to spend these last days.  Last week, a co-worker and I went to one of the Casino's here in town...spent 5 hours and wound up making $50.  Plan on going to another one next week...hope the luck continues.  My father has eye surgery on Friday so I'll be going with them to that.  I had hoped to take another little trip someplace but time is running out.  I think, instead, I may take a trip with a friend to Nashville over Fall Break to get away and relieve some of the beginning of the year stress.

That was one of the things I was told when I saw Dr. E....to take better care of myself and not worry about others.  So, this year, my goal is to try to take some time off when I feel stressed, find ways to enjoy myself more, and find some way to be able to afford vacations more often!