“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.”  ~Henry David Thoreau.

Yesterday was the first day of spring. This fact is hard to believe when you look out of my windows and see the amount of snow in my yard.  It did rain for a little while  Friday morning but by 11:45 PM the temperature was down at minus 11 with a wind chill of minus 14. The wind came out of the NNW at 52km/hr with gusts to 67 km/hr.  I could hear the wind howling around the corners of the house as I lay in bed reading.

I broke my resolve this week and let myself become frustrated and discouraged. This is such a silly thing to do since frustration and discouragement prevent me from thinking clearly and focusing on solving my problems.                                                                                   

My appointment with No Name on Wednesday accomplished nothing.  I had gone in with high expectations; certain that No Name would have received the follow up letter from the Old Hippie. This letter was going to outline the Old Hippie’s recommendations on how to deal with my high blood pressure and list the tests he wanted No Name to order on my behalf. I must back track for a moment to explain that the name I have chosen for the hypertension specialist is “Old Hippie”. The deciding factors in choice of this name were his age, his long hair and the earring in his ear. 

No Name gave me six week prescriptions for all of my medications. He is leaving at the end of the month for his second extended overseas holiday in a year. This was the reason for my panic when I discovered that No Name had not received a letter from the Old Hippie.  I am not sure I can wait two more months before a solution is found for my spiking blood pressure. I suppose I will have to take the “bull by the horns” and call the Old Hippie tomorrow to tell him that No Name is leaving on an extended vacation and will not be available to implement his recommendations and tests until the beginning of May.

Thursday morning I had my long awaited appointment with the neurologist. This was an appointment I had been looking forward to; absolutely certain that I would get some answers. The neurologist is the doctor I had seen for years about my premenstrual migraine headaches. The migrane treatment he recommended was both practical and helpful.  To say I was bitterly disappointed at the outcome of this appointment is an understatement. The neurologist was his usual friendly self and we talked about my symptoms. I mentioned the high blood pressure problems, my bone pain, the localized pain in my head and the inability to stay asleep at night. I was very careful to mention only these four problems. I learned a long time ago that doctor’s eyes tend to glaze over if you mention more than four problems at any given appointment. The neurologist looked in my eyes, had me follow his finger with my eyes, had me touch my nose with my eyes closed and put pressure on the location of the pain in my head. I was not expecting him to touch my head so I nearly jumped off the table when he did. He acknowledged that I had a tender spot and concluded that it was the result of an inflammation in my head. The neurologist told me he would write to No Name and tell him of his findings and that was the end of the appointment.

The appointment lasted all of 15 minutes which included the two times he left the consultation room I was in to confer with other patients. I have no idea if an inflammation in a person’s head is something to be concerned about.  I was so flabbergasted by the time the appointment came to an end I forgot to ask. I am beginning to believe that I must have a tattoo on my forehead, visible only to the esteemed medical professionals I see, that says, “I really don’t want a diagnosis; doctor appointments are my form of entertainment.”

My grandson’s hockey team played in the second last tournament of the season this weekend. The tournament was held in a little town about 30 minutes away. We attended the 4:00 PM game yesterday afternoon. Grandson’s team lost that game. We were back at the arena for the 1:30 PM game this afternoon. This time Grandson’s team won 7-0. The win made them contenders for the gold medal and of course we stayed to watch that game at 5:45 PM. Grandson’s team played a great game but did not win. The lose put them in second place and they went home with the silver medal.

This Nana won one of the silent auction prizes which included a black fold up sports chair in a bag, a Wood’s blow up mattress, an all purpose pump (great for bicycle tires and floating devices for the pool), Harley Davidson wrap around sun glasses, (now Papa just needs to get that bike), fishing tackle with over 100 lures and a smart looking rain resistant jacket.  All in all I think I did very well considering I only spend $15.00 on tickets.

Grandson’s Ukrainian Dance recital is on April 4th so I spent time this weekend designing and printing the tickets. This week I have to get the letters out to local businesses asking them to advertise in the recital program. Hopefully we will get as good a response this year as we did last year. I will also have to get the recital programs designed and ready for printing this week. I enjoy designing the tickets, programs and advertising inserts and and these items are my small contribution to the dance club.