Thursday 10/22/2020
Started the day with Veronica’s aerobics. Then tidied up because today was the long-delayed day for maid service in unit 621. You know, clean the place so the maid won’t think you’re a slob?
At 10:30 I walked the mile to PAMF for my flu shot appointment. Flu clinics at PAMF in prior years had involved standing in line in a hallway, going into a room with a dozen close-spaced desks. In the pandemic, it was set up in the underground garage, with crowd-barriers meandering all over the floor to shot stations 20 feet apart. Walked back in plenty of time for lunch. Looking at the phone, I walked 9000 steps, just over 3 miles today.
At 1:30 I drove back up to the PAMF auxiliary on Encina avenue for a heart to heart with Dr. DiBiase.
First topic I wanted to talk about was my chest pains. These small (1 to 3 on a scale of 10) have been consistent since the weekend after The Event on day 1.297, approximately an eternity ago. They vary from a general tenderness around the breastbone to a stabbing or pinching twinge in my left armpit. DiBiase’s take: don’t worry about it. The original dissection could have leaked some blood into the medical word, or lots of other things. As long as they don’t get worse with exercise (they don’t, in fact getting warm as I did in aerobics this morning makes them better) or with posture (again, no), don’t fuss.
Next we talked about the meds the surgery team prescribed. She disagreed with them, and changed one prescription for blood pressure. B.P. is an important topic, and keeping it under 120 is a target to avoid aneurisms going forward. My home BP monitor has been reporting 130s and 140s; but when the nurse took it at PAMF, it was 119. Hmm. Anyway, she thought taking Metoprolol Tartrate morning and evening was not the right way; she prescribed the slower-acting Metoprolol Succinate to be taken at bedtime only. A new prescription forwarded to CVS.
We talked about the future prospects of the dissection, without any conclusions. On examining me she heard some “new noises” in my neck, and directed me to ask Dr. Watkins if there is any carotid involvement. Actually she plans to confer with Watkins directly.
And we talked about my 18-year-old aortic valve. It could last two months or two years, she said, no telling. The current technology is “valve in valve” where a new valve is installed by way of a catheter up the aorta, just like my recent stenting. However, the placement of the stents might or might not interfere with that process. In the meantime, focus on getting over this event and getting stronger.
Back home, I took my BP monitor down to the nursing station on the first floor, and we ran a comparison to their professional one. My said 137, theirs said 122. I went back upstairs and ordered a new BP monitor from Amazon.
Then I walked over to CVS on University to pick up my new metropolol prescription, and then back to the bathroom to carefully remove all the one kind of tablet from the morning and evening pill cases, and put the other kind of tablet into the evening case only.
Codgerville 