Some good things

[tenaya]

We had a room addition built 15 years ago and it has two sky lights. It seemed like a good idea at the time.... Yeah, one of them leaks. By chance, there was a knock on the door yesterday and it was this guy who said our roof ridge needed to be replaced. I had noticed those shingles were curling so, we had them give us an estimate, and okayed the work for today. There is supposed to be 4 or 5 days of rain for us starting tonight so we'll know if the roof was repaired appropriately. They felt the deteriorating ridge was allowing water to get under the roof and pool above the sky light so they inserted some flashing. The work is guaranteed so it will be fantastic if works.

The guy's pneumatic hose got away from him and fell off the roof at one point. He fessed up to it and had us look to see what was broke. A two foot Corinthian column lay broke in half. I bought it years ago and don't recall what it cost and asked if he'd replace the front door knob which is wearing out in trade. Mom was ecstatic (I'm the only one that can jiggle the door knob open.) Actually, as I stared at the broken column, I thought, "that works, too." After all, that is what they tend to look like in ruins. *g* Hopefully it's a fair trade.

This isn't the first time that a timely and chance intervention has been very good for us. Mom tends to feel that it's my dad still looking out for her/us (he's been gone for 17 years.) He was a safety first type of guy and I don't doubt it at all.

Of course, if the house springs two dozen leaks, then I'll revise that opinion. *g*


Health stuff:
Also, I've been having swelling around my lower legs. I finally sought out a doctor and had a physical done (it's been three years.) I know he wanted it to be cardiac related because I'm fifty and fat. Well, he sat there confounded because my lab work was all normal and the cholesterol was "at a level usually only achieved by medication." He asked what medication I was on and I repeated I'm not on anything. I know he feels I should be on diabetic meds, high blood pressure meds and high cholesterol meds. In fact, he still hinted that diuretics could help even though my BP is 120/70. Uh, no.

So, then he said there wasn't a treatment for the edema. He called it essential edema, I think. I had to press for a relationship to my gnarly varicose veins and got a referral to a vascular surgeon. I think I shall work at losing some weight while I wait til after all my fun stuff in March and April to pass before I go talk to the surgeon.

Comments

[deej1957.livejournal.com]

Are you getting rain, yet? It's dry as a bone up here...

About time you got that physical! Ouch on the legs :-(

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

No rain here yet.

The legs feel real tired if I have to stand for a while and sometimes I feel little stinging pains. Otherwise, it's not that bad. For now. :)

[brenantrim.livejournal.com]

Don't you just love how they can't figure out what to do when your symptoms don't conform to their expectations? "Uh, your vitals don't support this recommendation, but I still think you should take diuretics, because every woman over 40 who's carrying some curves should have high blood pressure... even though yours isn't... er, still..." Heh. I'm glad your readings were good! You no doubt put your feet up when you get the chance - I've had swollen ankles for ten years, and the only thing they can come up with is edema, too - and no idea what to do for it. I wish you the very best of luck, and also with working on the weight loss. It's always good to be healthier - I just hate that it too often seems the only thing the doctor sees is the weight, not the person.
(((hugs)))

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm trying to get the feet up more. I need to take more breaks when sitting down so much when I'm on the computer and walk a bit more. I think that would help.

Actually, the dr. never mentioned my weight.

And I can't help but feel the pressure and warpness of the pharmaceutical companies in that these doctors want to get us on medication that clearly isn't indicated. It's a bit scary.

Since the doctor was no help at all about the edema, I decided that I'll try again to lose some weight to see if it helps. Losing weight is hard but it'd be better than going under the knife. And if I do pursue the surgery option, it'd be better to have less weight at that point.

Thanks for the support. And good luck with your writing!

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

ooh. I'm so glad that your health stuff is not cardiac related, though. It sucks when they can't really figure out what's wrong, which is pretty much the story of my life.

I go through periods where I just decide I'm not going to the doctor and I really am happier then. *g* I think I'd rather just drop dead from something I didn't know I had then go through all the tortuous tests for absolutely no reason, which is what it seems like to me.

I hope the roof work goes well after this. :-)