“O, wind, if WINTER comes, can spring be far behind?”
~ Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792-1822

School was cancelled today; the second day in a row.  Yesterday it was cancelled due to extremely cold temperatures; the reason today was a blizzard.  I was supposed to drive into the city this afternoon for my appointment with a Rheumatologist but thanks to the weather conditions I got a reprieve.  The appointment has been rescheduled for February 16th.

My mom called me yesterday morning at 10:00 AM to tell me that her heart rate was 150 and that she was worried.  Because of her heart condition these episodes are particularly worrisome.  I called her doctor and then went over to spend the day with her.  Her doctor wanted her at the hospital this morning for an EKG so we braved the blizzard to keep the appointment. The doctor took time this morning to explain what we should do if my mom experiences another high heart rate episode.

It is becoming more difficult for me to handle the stress of emergencies.  I wonder if my low cortisol levels can have such a pronounced effect on how my body handles stressful situations.  The nausea, dizziness, feelings of disorientation and of not being able to cope that occur as soon as a stressful situation unfolds are very annoying.  I never use to be like this.  It takes several days for the extreme fatigue that occurs after a stressful situation to run its course.   Mind over matter doesn’t seem to work as well as it once did.
My forgetfulness is becoming a real drag.  Last week Wednesday I took my mom to her doctor’s appointment.  I put my cane on the back of her car for a few minutes while I was helping her get up from her wheelchair.  Of course I never gave the cane another thought until we reached the clinic.  On the way home after the appointment, we saw my poor old cane, in several pieces, lying in the middle of the street.  Hopefully these episodes of forgetfulness are just a sign of old age and not something more sinister.  I swear I would forget my head where it not attached to my neck.

In my last diary entry I neglected to mention one of the highlights of our 10 year old grandson’s trip to Seattle.  It happened while checking through security at the airport on the day we were flying home.  No one paid any attention to the pants Grandson was wearing that morning.   Because of the buckles and zippers on them he set off all the security devices from “here to kingdom come.”  The female security guard escorted him to a chair and told him to remain seated until she could page a male security guard to come and search him.  My husband was the next one to be checked through security and as soon as he saw Grandson sitting on the chair he informed the female security guard that he was the boy’s grandpa.  She was not impressed and said, “Sir, please step away and go stand over there.”   After a few minutes a male security guard arrived, asked Grandson to remove his shoes a second time and did a thorough search of Grandson’s backpack, jacket, shoes, socks, pockets etc.  He patted him down and actually checked under his T-shirt.  The security guard finally completed his search and Grandson was allowed to join us on the way to our departure gate.  Grandson had been very quiet as we made our way to the departure lounge but once we got there he said, “Nana, do you really think they thought I was dangerous?”  Before I could answer him, he said, “Wow Nana, I can hardly wait to go back to school so I can tell all my friends that I was searched at the airport.  They won’t believe me so if they ask you; you tell them that it really happened!”  Kids; instead of being concerned or upset he thought the whole experience was “cool”.