12/7/14 Fonthill

I had been planning this trip to Fonthill Castle for a few weeks. Finally, the weather cleared up so the trip was a go. The day before, daughter, Donna called to ask if we could get together on Sunday. I've been hoping to visit Donna for weeks. She's so busy. So, I told her I was going to Fonthill Castle/Mercer Museum/Moravian Tile and asked if she'd like to come along. Three museums. The plan was to leave here at 11 A.M. as the museums are only open until 4 or 5 P.M. and we had an hour drive.  I wanted to get in as much as I could in the afternoon hours. And, of course, I planned to take many pictures.

Donna arrived on Sunday and graciously offered to drive. We got a later start then planned which meant we now would be squeezing in three museums in a shorter time span. I was able to book a tour at the castle for 4 P.M. The only tour of the day because they were holding an open house and there was free entrance up until 4 for the castle and the tile museum.

We started at the tile museum. I was happy to see this tour as I've never been before when it was open. We enjoyed some free hot chocolate, saw Santa ( I wanted to take a picture with him but the line of children grew long so I passed on that plan), we watched demos of tile making and checked out the rest of the museum.

Then we headed over to Mercer Museum. I had lunch figured into the original schedule but since we lost a bunch of time I was hoping to grab a quick snack and continue on our tours. I don't eat lunch so that worked for me. The girls, however, do eat lunch and wanted to find a restaurant. This is where I realized that I am driven to follow my plan and opened my mouth and put my foot in. It was my hope to continue my tour so I suggested that the girls get lunch and leave me at the museum where I could wander until they returned. I wanted to take full advantage of our time so I could leisurely see all I came to see. This trip was one of the two I planned for my Christmas tours before I go away on 12/31. I'm realizing more and more why I go places alone. I'm not a good companion when I'm driven to take full advantage of a trip, I don't have to feel bad if I don't keep up with people because I'm taking pictures or checking out artwork or whatever. I've become a crotchety old lady, not fit for trips with others.

2014 At-A-Glance

I'm making an attempt to bring the Blog up-to-date and current for this year. After going illness free for the entire year of 2013, I started this year with health problems. On January 5, I had what appeared to be a mini stroke. It was freezing outdoors, ice on the ground, so I went outside and picked up a 20 lb. bag of salt to put on the long sidewalk alongside our house. I had the 20 lbs. bag in the crook of my left arm, spreading the salt with my right hand. All went okay, aside from the cold. I came indoors, felt fine, when all-of-a-sudden my left arm went dead and limp. Oh shit! was my reaction. Right away I'm thinking stroke. I did not have slurred speech or droopy lips, tongue, face, etc. Stacy was due home in 10 minutes so I decided to ask her to drive me to the hospital, just-in-case. We get to the hospital and the waiting room is standing room only. There were so many accidents because of the icy conditions. It was even scary driving to the hospital because the roads were that bad. It took a while to get the attention of the receptionist. I'm standing there thinking, what if I'm having a stroke and this girl is not acknowledging me. Finally, when she did look at me, she got me right into the exam room and the tests began. First EKG, then CAT scan. In the meantime, the arm went back to normal. I was kept overnight for observation and had many more tests. MRIs of the brain and spine. Echo cardiogram, Ultrasound of carotid artery, neck and brain. Blood work and god knows what else. They could find no evidence of a blood clot or a stroke. I was given baby aspirin. I learned later that the night nurse was supposed to give me a statin, but never did. I nearly had a heart attack when the phlebotomist came into my room at 5:30 a.m. and yelled my name. I was asleep and nearly fell out-of-bed when she yelled. I mentioned that to one of the many people who came into my room and was told that I would receive a survey form. Never did get the survey form. That was January. It's almost July. I've never heard from anyone at the hospital regarding a survey or a bill. I was visited by people from every department imaginable. I couldn't wait to get-out-of-there. The bed was so uncomfortable. the mattress was constantly moving and I always felt like I was slipping out-of-the bed. Went home the next day and vowed I would do everything I could to not go back into the hospital. That was my first time in a hospital since 1980. And the last, I hope.

Jump ahead to my visit to the Neurologist. She wasn't sure if I had a stroke. She said it sounds like a pinched nerve. However, there's some sort of a calcium shadow on my brain that she thinks was a mini stroke some time ago in the past. So, she has declared that I've had both a mini stroke and a pinched nerve. In doing research on the Internet, I have found that the symptoms could very well be a pinched nerve. Especially because the salt bag was 20 lbs. and held in the crook-of-my-arm. So all the doctors want me to continue with the statin (Lipitor) which I've been totally against taking. I took it for four months and my cholesterol went down to normal with my Internist saying the results were "stupendous".

Lipitor symptoms in the beginning affected my walking. Legs were sore and sluggish. I wasn't happy about that. Then about May, I started to have aches and pains in my shoulder, arm, hand, hip and intermittent other places. I didn't connect it to the Lipitor until June 6, a light bulb went off. Did more research on the Internet and read of many, many people who had experienced the same side affects as me. Stopped the Lipitor and the pain gradually went away. There a couple of lingering issues with my hip and arm muscle but, they are dwindling.

Fast forward now to the cardiologist. He told me that the dose of Lipitor that I was given was high and no wonder I had those side affects. He wants me to take the lowest dose and let him know if I start to experience the side affects again. I also told him that I was considering taking coQ10 as recommended by my Internist and friends. He advised that I should take both. That the coQ10 alone will not keep my cholesterol down. As of today, I haven't taken any more Lipitor. I want to be pain free as my lifestyle was greatly affected from the side affects.

Updates will follow as I find out how my cholesterol is after not taking Lipitor and just exercising and following my usual healthy diet.