Heart Failure

The following is a true story.

For about a year I was having very irritating sinus issues, most likely allergy related. This January things got worse. I saw my doctor and we decided on a treatment plan. As a result, I spent all of last weekend in the hospital with heart failure. What have I learned?

I have been experiencing sinus headaches that bordered on migraines for the past 12 months. It really hurt. My doctor and I decided on a very aggressive strategy to treat these issues with Allegra-D, Mucinex-D, Nasonex, and Astelin. These drugs work great. However, they do not cure an infection.

In January this year, the symptoms became more persistent and in fact seemed to have moved into my chest. I thought I was experiencing a relapse into a childhood asthmatic disorder related to the allergies. So I went to the doctor thinking I had an acute infection that needed to be treated with antibiotics. I asked the doctor what I should do about the 4-drug cocktail I was already taking, he advised me to continue taking the drugs. Here’s where the trouble begins.

I know and my doctor knows that I have a hereditary issue with hypertension. I have been on blood pressure medications in my past. However, I had been off of the medication for a while (3 years) due to lack of symptoms. If you were paying attention in paragraph two, you realize that two of the drugs in my four drug combo will drive blood pressure through the roof and in a susceptible individual like me… well, I think I may have set a record or two.

Anyway, after I finished the two weeks of antibiotic, I waited one more week to see the remaining symptoms to fade. The ‘asthma’ did not. The shortness of breath which I attributed to the inability to breathe did not fade. I thought I had pneumonia. I went back to my doctor; he wanted blood tests and x-rays. I guess he thought the same thing I did. I saw my doctor early the next morning (Friday). His diagnosis was not what anyone expected: heart failure.

I went to the hospital (Grady Memorial, yikes!) where I spent 2 days consulting with cardiologists (good cardiologist-bad cardiologist!) and lowering my blood pressure by all possible means. I had 4am tests, 5am blood draws, other tests, lots of drugs and no sleep. Let me tell you, the hospital is more like jail than the fancy hotel you could stay in for half the price.

In any event, I got out Sunday afternoon. Lowering the blood pressure seems to have helped tremendously. I will be seeing the cardiologist and my doctor later this week for more testing. We’ll find out how much damage has been done to my heart and how much can be repaired. As for the actual cause, we may not ever find out. God bless modern medicine.

Adorable!

As you can tell by the title, I was going to talk about our President’s address on TV two nights ago. I think I’ll give it a rest.

What I really did was finally read Hemingway’s short story, A Clean Well Lighted Place. I truly believe the short story is the ultimate American art form. Hemingway was a master. I like the simple prose and the layered meaning. I like the unspoken comparison among the 3 men at three stages in their respective lives. I like that the old man never actually speaks.

I have heard music described as the silence between the notes. This story (again) illustrates that the art is in the words not written as much as the words on the page. If you haven’t read it, go do so now.

Democratic leaders hail $780B stimulus deal

That’s an odd definition of victory. Apparently only spending $800B is better than one trillion dollars. So much better that we must declare victory. Why does it seem that no one understands that the government needs to stop giving money away and then the corporations will stop looking for a handout?

I understand the corporation’s position. If the government is giving away money, you only handicap yourself if you don’t get in line for your share. I’m not going to return my stimulus check.

I don’t believe we would be in the position we are now, if Bush had simply let the banks that were in trouble fail, this would be done. By the way I don’t think the banks would really have failed. I seem to recall healthier banks actually suing each other over who actually had the right to buy the failing entity in question. I must believe that the healthier (and theoretically smarter) banks must have seen some value in the failing entity. Oh and just to be clear, I do not buy the argument of too big to fail. Isn’t that a monopoly?

The solution is for the government to stop trying to regulate the free market. The free market works. Conversely, the government can’t do anything efficiently or to make a profit. These people pay $10,000 for a toilet seat for goodness sake. Stick to defending the national borders. If the government must invest, invest in weapons, weapons systems, and weapons systems platforms.

Pop quiz: How much money did the Ohio Department of Transportation get from the Fed last year? Where does the federal government get the millions of dollars it returns to the state? How is it more efficient for the federal government to pass money to the state government to distribute to the district offices to be spent? Answer: It’s asinine.

So now we have much longer recession in front of us, a government that sees an opportunity to own more of the national economy, and a president (The Obamanator!) who is absolutely dedicated to redistributing the wealth.

I can only hope I’m wrong.

Welcome to the Paradise

I suppose I was wrong. The Obamanator has been in office for a little over 14 days and the US has become a paradise. We have high unemployment and a new partisan attitude. An attitude that Chuck Schumer (1st mentally retarded member of congress) practices by stating; “we won’t remove pork from the recovery bill even if it doesn’t really fit because we won’t compromise our principles.” Nice.

I see where the Obamanator has determined what a CEO should be allowed to make. Over the summer he told me that I wouldn’t appreciate a tax holiday on gas because it wouldn’t be enough money to matter to me. I’m hoping that with nationalized healthcare he will be able to tell me how much pleasure I am allowed to derive from a single dump. I suppose if I’m enjoying it too much, I can just “pinch it off” and save it for my next dump. I guarantee that will reduce the amount of pleasure in my life. Don’t believe me? Try it yourself.

Now the great Obamanator can’t seem to appoint a cabinet member with out a tax problem. Is he so much of an elitist that he doesn’t realize that we who work for a living provide the bread on his and every other member of our government’s tables? Or is it as simple as democrats don’t feel the need to pay taxes? That seems to make some sense, they love to redistribute it.

Shall we recap the Obamanator’s 1st 2 weeks? Close GITMO, the Blago controversy, the Daschle controversy, the Killifer withdrawal, an apologetic hand outstretched to the irrational muslim world, and an absolute throwing himself on his sword moment on national TV. This guy is better than Jerry Lewis.

Maybe not.

So Angry

Why am I so angry? I find myself filled with unfocused rage. I can't seem to relax. Maybe my week is just too stimulating. Car crashes, diets, and an ungrateful teenager tend to do that. Let's review:

Yet another car crash.

I was once again rear ended on the way home from work. It’s not fun. I hard the squeal of the tires and looked in my rear view mirror just in time to see the woman in the van sliding into the black sports car behind me. Then he hit me. I suppose he should be livid. He easily got the worst of it. What irked me was the woman who couldn’t control her car got an attitude! Wow.

Once again on a diet.

My wife informed me on Sunday that we were going on a diet. So Monday on my way home to eat the diet dinner after being rear ended it turned out that diet meal one was pretty good. I was completely surprised and pleased. So Tuesday, I’m looking forward to an accident free trip home and another tasty diet meal. The house dragon called me at lunch to tell me she wasn’t going to cook. The one day diet plan I suppose.

The child stops by.

When I get home much to my surprise the child is home. It hasn’t been around for a few days, rumor is it found yet another boyfriend who doesn’t have a car. Standards child! Standards! Fortunately the child was only home long enough to consume the remaining leftovers from Monday’s tasty diet treat, do some laundry, use my computer to print some tax forms, gripe about how it isn’t getting enough money in a return, and take a shower before going back out to see the under employed, non-car having, low rent new boyfriend. Great. How much is this gonna cost me?

Conclusion.

I don’t know why I would be upset. I guess I just gotta learn to roll with punches, right? Maybe I should duck more often?