The cardioversion didn't work.
I had Babs Bunny by my side, but they wouldn't allow me to play music on my phone. They kept increasing the power, but they still couldn't get my heart rhythm to stabilize. Now my cardiologist wants to do more tests, and he also brought up the subject of "ablation" - that's a procedure where they use electricity to burn out the conductive pathways
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The cardiologist started me on an anti-arhythmic drug. As far as I can tell, these treat cardiac arrythmia by inducing a different arryhtmia that interferes with the existing one - they can put a patient into a fatally irregular heartbeat. So I have to let him take an EKG to make sure the medicine isn't going to kill me. And we have to discuss when, and how, he can get me an ablation, when hospitals canceled all of their "elective" (not emergency) procedures.
Now, the heart failure, the diabetes, and a few other factors put me into the high-risk group for COVID19. But I've been letting my husband run all the errands (he drove for a limousine company, which has pretty much gone out of business now), washing my hands a lot, and I made us some masks. Halfway through making the masks, my sewing machine broke, so I ordered a new one online. I haven't had a chance to set it up and figure out what kinds of tricks I can make it do.
I could also spend some time on cooking projects - when I get this bored, I bake. So far it's mostly been bread, but I want some cookies (biscuits).
And I have also been having my T'ai Chi lessons via Skype, a group T'ai Chi lesson on Zoom, a conference with my cardiologist on Zoom, and a "bardic circle" with the usual suspects on Zoom. It's kind of fun, but it doesn't let me hug any of my friends. I'm also sorry that I never signed up for any of the movie services on cable TV, and I'm utterly frustrated that I can't go to a bookstore or a library.
So how have you been? What adventures have you been having? ;-)
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Well then.....what have I been doing? Where to start......
In the U3A , as you know I study Spanish and have also started to run a Beginner's Spanish class (it keeps my hand in and the theory is that it will encourage me to do more work at the Advanced level!!). I am also co-leader of the Drama group and we have so far put on 2 performances and were in the middle of rehearsals for the next play when THE VIRUS and all its consequences caught up with us.
At the moment, the Drama Group is producing a weekly Comic to circulate around the members, full of jokes, cartoons, stories, anecdotes, poems etc and also ideas for sketches for our next Revue. So this has meant that I have been trying to write a few things, as well as setting lessons for the Beginners Spanish group.
In the local Church - where I went a couple of years ago to help feed the hungry and then became "entangled" in many of their Community Outreach activities - I run a Knit and Natter Group where we make things for various charities:- to date 565 bonnets for premature babies/23 Twiddle Muffs for Dementia patients and 6 blankets for Children in Crisis. Since I have a lot of the wool in my house, much knitting continues in spite of lockdowns.
I have done "some" general cleaning and tidying of the house and the garden, but cannot at the moment get any seeds or plants for further planting, however my next door neighbour has an allotment and is growing seeds in a greenhouse, so I will get some things a bit later on.
i believe I told you that this lovely little house is just around the corner from my daughter, so they have been visiting from time to time with random stuff - knocking on the door, leaving parcel and retreating to the other side of the front garden so we could have a chat at the appropriate "Social distance" In this way, many cakes and baking goodies have been swapped, birthday presents delivered etc. but the saddest thing was not being able to give her a hug on her birthday. I miss hugs!!!
In addition to all of this, I have of course been reading (loaded bookshelves and Amazon Kindle) and our Personal Trainer has set a programme of exercises to be done at home - some of which are JUST TOO MUCH!!!! We are allowed to go out for 1 walk each day, but I don't always do that as the exercises are enough to exhaust my physical stamina some days.
Fortunately, when Paul came over to visit he brought extra clothes and "stuff" just in case he got caught out and so he has been quite happy writing a new book - this time on Cinema - and corresponding across the world via email with readers of his previous books - on Theology and Philosophy- about which topics we also have some very interesting conversations from time to time.
He is also an excellent cook and so I am able to cede my kitchen to him several times a week and have some one else do all the thinking about mealtimes.
And that, I think rather sums it up for now. It is likely that we are going to have another 3 weeks of this lockdown announced by the Government today, so it will be almost summer before we are all free to go out and about again. I do hope that my favourite theatres, cafes and restaurants are still in business by then!!
Take great care of yourself. Love and hugs.
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