Well, That was an Adventure!

Post # 899 -Who'd a thought, when I started this blog over 7 years ago, I'd still be telling you my stories and showing you my photos? 

I certainly didn't - - -

Now here's the "funny" part - I started my blog so I could keep my family and friends up to date on a "health issue" that I was having - and here, almost 900 posts later, I'm about to tell you a new story of "a health Issue" that came to a head on Monday.

This pretty little orchid?  A gift from a friend, who visited me in the hospital. 

THE HOSPITAL?? Yup, the hospital.- for some of you, this may be TMI - feel free to CLICK HERE

For a couple of weeks I've had problems breathing - several of my co-workers have had coughy-snotty colds - I thought maybe that's what I had - but then, it seemed more like an allergy - and taking an antihistamine did seem to help - till last weekend.  by Sunday night I could barely walk across the room, barely get my breath.

So, Monday morning, I called my Dr.'s office - they could see me at 9:30.  I felt bad leaving work - I am the main phone answering person - I have three back-up people - one was on vacation, one had called in sick.  The other, whose husband is a nurse, said :"You get out of here and find out what's wrong"  -  Little did she know...

My regular doc was on vacation, so I saw one of the other docs in the practice - probably a good thing, because, I think that a new Dr. will often see things that your regular Dr. might miss - but in this case it was pretty apparent - they took my blood pressure - pretty normal -  took my pulse - 140 beats per minute.  ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY???  Well, I said, what is normal?  60 - 100 beats is normal - An EKG was done - I was proclaimed to be in atrial flutter and Dr. M. said "I'm on the phone with the cardiologist office in town to see if they want you there or at the ER - Can someone come get you?  Well, I drove myself here, I said - No, I'm afraid you may be having a heart attack - you are not driving anywhere.  The final verdict - They wanted me to go to the ER ASAP (or is it STAT?) and the Dr's office printed up some official paperwork that would get me in faster than a speeding bullet.

Hrmphhh - The Shepherd was working "out in the county" (translated - about 45 minutes away) - 
                 An ambulance would probably cost me about $750.00
                
I guess I could have called a taxi, but calling my boss seemed to be a better idea.  Bless his heart, he came and got me and took me to the hospital and dropped me off at the ER door - Did I mention that I work for really nice people?

So, long story / I'll try to make it short - I check into ER and they take me back to a little cubicle = by this time, The Shepherd had arrived -  They did another EKG, several shots of medicine (through an IV) that were "supposed" to drop my heart rate - and didn't - a chest ex ray, a CAT Scan (when the lady asked me if I'd ever had a CAT scan, I replied "Only of the four legged feline variety" - she was nice enough to laugh) (Can you hear the "cha-ching" noise running in the background?)

Now on an IV drip of the medicine that was supposed to drop my heart rate - Going down, but only slightly - and then there was that "A-flutter" thing to worry about.  They took me upstairs to the cardio unit and got me settled in a bed and put me on a heparin (blood thinner) IV in the other arm, so I didn't develop a blood clot and have a stroke.   

Everyone kept asking me "Didn't you notice that your heart was beating so fast?" Didn't you feel the flutter"  "Are you in pain?" 

All I could say was "No, I didn't notice that my heart was beating so fast, because I was focused on the fact that I couldn't breath"  And after the 10th time that someone asked me if I was in pain, I just started my conversations with people - "Hi, and NO, I'm not in any pain -  "

Did you know that they do not intend for you to sleep in a hospital - at least not at night - 12:00-vital signs, 1:00 blood draw, 2:00 check the IV's, 3:00 another blood draw, 4:00 - vital signs again - this time she wanted me to get up so she could weigh me - "I just got comfortable" I complained - "Can't you do it later?"  - She allowed as how she could - so, yup, 5:00 - in she comes to weigh me.

At about 7:00 Tues a.m. Dr. D - the cardiologist (young - cute, and looks like I could easily be old enough to be his mother) came in to chat with me and give me some care options -  My heart rate had slowed down to about 107 by that time -

Option #1 - they could load me up on medicines & send me home - hope that it continued to drop - and they would still have to do a procedure called a cardo-version to try and shock my heart back to normal rhythm - I would also continue to have the breathing problems.

Option #2 - do an esophageal ultrasound of my heart, if there weren't any blood clots, then do the cardio-version right then.  If that worked, and my heart beat returned to normal, then I could probably go home within a few hours. 

It didn't seem like rocket science to me - I went for Option #2 - and it worked - my heart "converted" back to normal - After passing a "walk about the halls" test with the nursing assistant to make sure it wasn't going to revert - they sent me packing.

Yay, home sweet home.  And things seem to be getting better - breathing issues are pretty much gone - in fact, we're going to Portland for a wedding in the next couple of days -

They never did figure out why my heart was beating so fast - The Shepherd thinks it's actually been building up to this for a month or so - I guess I just didn't notice until it "smacked me" last weekend.
I took Wednesday off to rest from no sleep the night before - and was back at my desk on Thursday.

The kittehs stick to me like glue  - I have to take an anti-clotting medicine for a month - it's a "new" one -  my insurance only pays for generics - it was $276.50!! - luckily I only have to take it for a month. 

I have moderately good health insurance - but I figure my part of this adventure will be in the $1000's of $$$ - and I was just about to get my knee replacement from 8 years ago paid off. 

You know what they say - Nature abhors a vacuum...  So it's back to The Salt Mine's I guess. 

Home again, home again - and a Geography Lesson

With the family reunion over, it was time to hit the road to home.  We drove East over Steven's Pass on Saturday morning to get there, and according to The Shepherd, there was quite a bit of traffic delay going over (do you hear me snoring??)  So, he wanted to take a different route home, especially to miss the traffic because of the Memorial Day Holiday and the potential  delays back in Mt. Vernon because of the bridge being out.

You may or may not know that Washington State is split vertically by the Cascade Mountain Range - west side weather is cooler and rainier - east side weather is warmer and dryer - There are four main routes over the mountains - Northern most is the North Cascade Highway, then Steven's Pass, then Snoqualamie Pass and southern most over is Whites Pass.  We decided to go over the North Cascade Highway to get home.

Driving north along the Columbia River from Beebee to Pateros

This involves going down to the Columbia River. and following part of the route that my  grandmother would have come by steamer boat when her family first arrived in North Central Washington.  The drive from "The Ranch"/Mansfield  around to Pateros is outlined on  the map in this book on the best bike rides in Washington State by Mike McQuiade .

BTW, you'll have to scroll down a couple of pages in the book to get to the map, but if you look at the elevation levels that Mike shows on the first page of that ride - the highest point in the ride (McNeil Pass or locally called McNeil Canyon summit) belongs to my family (she says proudly) 

Anyway - back to our trip home - - -you turn off to the Northwest at Pateros and follow the Methow river up to Winthrop, Washington a cute little town that has made a name for itself by going "Wild West" - in fact, that's the only time we ran into any traffic on our way home - about a 20 minute back-up of traffic trying to get through this touristy town. 

Once you get through Winthrop, you are headed over the North Cascade Highway - also called Highway 20, or North Cross-state - 

A road of many names, it is a beautiful trip this time of the year.  The pass is closed during the winter months - it is just too expensive and too dangerous to keep it open 

And even at the end of May, there was quite a bit of snow by the side of the roads

 You are actually going over 3 or 4 "passes" or summits over this route. 

Much of the scenery is just breathtaking over the fifty or so miles of the pass.  . 

Extreme avalanche danger is one reason the road is closed over the winter.  

The mileage from Bellingham to Mansfield is roughly the same (235 miles) going over either pass - but North Cascades is a little harder drive - steeper & curvier plus the 40 miles of rural roads from Pateros to Winthrop - just takes a little longer.

The azure blue jewel of Ross Lake on the west end of the pass greets us - "you're almost home" it whispers.

It was good to be home.  As much as I used to travel, I'm really a home-body any more.

And, the looks of recrimination from the kittehs lasted only as long as it took to put out the food dishes - I figure it's a good trial for being gone a few more days at the end of the month when we go to Eugene.
 

No matter where you go, there you are...

Like the old Johnny Cash song says -


I've been every where, man,










Take it from me - Paradise isn't paradise if it's 104 degrees and there are no trade winds - even the locals were complaining...







The views were often filled with condos and hotels -





I've been to Chinatown in San Francisco, Vancouver, Victoria and I've been to China...










We've seen the trees that reach to the sky and are older than the hills











We've crossed the deserts bare,













And breathed the mountain air...











We've seen the holy -













And the wholly incredible -












Of travel, we've had our share -









I've been to London, Paris, Vienna, Florence, Rome, Athens, Delphi, Germany, Mexico, Disneyland, San Diego, here and there -

But as Jane Austen said:

"Ah! There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort."

Right on, Jane, right on.

Waiting, waiting, waiting

The Waiting - It's driving The Shepherd C R A Z Y!! And me, by default, I guess. Regina is confined to a "jug" tonight (for you "non- sheep" people - that is a smaller pen where the mom can bond with her babies and they are also all safe from any predator or interference from any other sheep - Like an auntie who isn't bred, but has such a strong mommy instinct that she might try to steal one of them - regardless of the fact that there is no milk in her udder - silly old girls) Regina's biggest problem is last year's lamb, Luna, who doesn't like being away from mommy and doesn't understand why she is, all of a sudden getting booted away from her. Life is tough when you're a sheep.

Anyhow - this is who we are waiting for tonight - The Shepherd took this picture yesterday - looks a little on the plump side, no?





So, here are those pictures of our place that I promised you last week - enjoy the visit - & yes, you'll be the first to know when the lambs arrive!


John says that the little blue Glory of the Snow will be taking over here soon - (click on the picture to biggify and you'll see what I mean)






I think this is one of my favorite sights on our farm - it is right inside the gate and it means I am Home! I also am in love with these two Japanese birches - they are beautiful any time of the year.










Coming down our driveway, you would be hard pressed to believe that 12 years ago there was nothing here but the house. (and one scraggly looking rhody)









The Shepherd has planted lots of daffodils - they are so cheerful this time of the year.






The "mounds" are untilled composting mounds. He plants directly in to the mounds - he'll have (from the closest to you) - one row of pumpkins, two rows of sunflowers and two rows of corn. There are also two rows of Japanese iris that are just starting to come up at the very back. It is very colorful around here in the summer!

If you biggify the picture, you'll also see the dafs that he has planted all around the perimeter of the yard.






I'd invite you to come in for tea, but I am not a very good housekeeper so it's kind of a mess right now. Too many fiber projects going at one time, plus my "stuff" - I think I could turn into one of those old ladies who filled their houses with "stuff" Aargh!








Here's the expectant daddy - still looking kind of rangy/mangy from his spring hair cut. Kind of skinny to be holding up that big rack.



Well - Work will be calling way too early in the a.m. and I promised The Shepherd that I would check on Regina before I come to bed.

Time flies when you're having fun...

When we left the Grand Canyon, we returned to Flagstaff and back to Kathy and Ralph's where Kathy and The Shepherd proceeded to evaluate everyone in the barn - whether whey wanted evaluated or not! We had another couple of fantastic dinners out and Kathy, the Master Spinner, gave me some helpful hints for a beginning spinner (yes, that would be me).







We really felt like we were leaving life long friends - and made big hints as to appropriate areas that we thought they should retire to (Wisconsin not being among the chosen places...)



Sunday a.m. before we left town, Kathy fixed us the best biscuits and gravy you've ever tasted as a "going away brunch". We bid them farewell - but who is that on the table? Could it be Penelope? No, I think it was Penelope's sister.













At any of the "Scenic stops" on tribal lands, there are many tables of vendors. I'm kicking myself, because the ones at the Little Colorado stop had these great ceramic Christmas ornaments that looked like they had been sand painted - between my inablity to choose "just the right one" and thinking we'd see them again, I didn't buy one - and of course, we didn't see them again - (you'd think I'd learned that lesson when I was in China years ago)



The quality of the goods at these vendors was generally quite good and much less expensive than in the stores "in town" - -plus you knew your money was going to the vendor/artist and not just to a "shop keeper".



We followed the Oak Creek Canyon route down through Sedona - which not surprisingly was one of Arizona's first "officially designated" scenic highways. Every turn brought a view more spectacular than the last.










We drove through the little town of Jerome - an abandoned mining town that, according to legend, was re-patriated by the hippies and artist types in the 60's. It's a harrowing, tight windey road - trailers and motorcoaches are not allowed on the highway because they would never make the turns.





We left Jerome, went "Up and Over" the mountains to Prescott - where we planned to have lunch - they must have some kind of laws banning restaurants in the city of Prescott - we drove around looking and looking, for about 45 minutes - finally ended up back out at the freeway interchange at a huge mall and gratefully found a Wendy's. (I don't think my bladder could have stood another mile! It certainly didn't like all the speed bumps in the mall, ha, ha, ha)



Lunched and rested we headed off to the last stop on our vacation - the town of Wickenburg, where The Shepherd lived as a child. The school he attended is on the national registry and has been preserved. The house he lived in has been replaced, but some of the neighboring houses were still there and occupied. He has a very uncanny sense of direction and was able to find all kinds of landmarks he remembered from the 5 or 6 years that they lived there.


The church where his parents worked as caretakers was still there. Seeing it again, he suddenly remembered the old fellow who was in charge of "ligurtical matters" and realized why he feels so strongly about ceremony and patterns of worship - apparently this gentleman ran the church with somewhat of an iron fist - because those traditions are still ingrained in his memory.



Wickenburg is a town where the cowboys load their saddles up in the Ford and take it to "Ben's Saddlery" on main street for repair.

It's a town where the store called "Ranch Dressing" is not a restaurant, but "A Clothes Store for Cowgirls".

It's a town where some of the kids he grew up with are still listed in the telephone book. It's a town that has a lot of restaurants, and we happened to pick THE WORST ONE for dinner :-(

It is also a town that is growing like topsey. There were huge tracts of land north of town that had been cleared and were very clearly "staked out" for subdivisions.



So there you have it and so ended our vacation - not much between Wickenburg and the Phoenix metro area. The little towns that used to be "Out in the Booneys" are now all connected. In 2006, Phoenix was the 5th largest city in the US, and the 13th largest metropolitan area in the country with a population of over 4 million people.

But you know what Dorothy said in "The Wizard of Oz"? "There's no place like home, there's no place like home"

Grab your ruby slippers, Shepherd, we're outta here!