Hubby's Heart: Good News~Bad News

We really have not been doing much or anything too exciting, thus the lack of blogging. But this seems to be the right format for a health update as Curt's heart issues have been the focus for the last two months.

Ever since the last stent procedure the end of October, Hubby has felt things were still not right. He was experiencing angina on occasion when walking and exercising, especially when elevation was added to the mix. He shared his concern with the staff at the cardiac rehab center he has been attending (requirement since the October stent) and the staff shared the symptoms and concern with the cardiologist we were assigned when one was required for participation in the cardiac rehabilitation program here in AZ. We met with the cardiologist on January 16th and he ordered 4 tests over the next two weeks (in mid-January). The nuclear stress test result showed an abnormality. Another angiogram was scheduled for February 16th.

Dr. C shared after the procedure that he thought he had found the issue, but he was not comfortable trying to fix it. At the time we listened and asked a few questions, but did not really know what was found and where other than calcification causing blockage. A second angiogram was scheduled for February 21st, with a cardiologist "who likes challenges" in cleaning out blocked arteries.

Yesterday's procedure was not successful in terms of unblocking the artery. Dr. S shared it was too risky, although he did attempt to bore through the calcified material. But we did get more information, which is always good.

The blockage Dr. S worked on was the reason for the triple bypass surgery in July 2010. At that time that place was a 90% blockage and a vein from Hubby's thigh was used to reroute blood to the heart. (There were 2 more blockages, a 70% and a 50%, and they also had leg vein replacements in 2010.) Today that 90% is now 100% and hard as cement. Two of the three bypass veins are not working. Thus, the reason for the stents to open and keep open the arteries and veins that are working.

The good news is this area was not a new blockage. The bad news was it was not fixable.

Other good news: the angina is not constant and Hubby has learned little tricks to not bring it on, if possible. (He can walk and exercise 95% of the time without any issues.) Other good news: another medication has been prescribed to help with blood flow and angina.

The issue is genetics. Dietary changes have probably lessened the severity of Hubby's heart problems, but we are working with DNA and challenges which were in place long before his first symptom arose in 2010.

Life is a day-to-day operation for all of us whether there are health issues or not. We'll make the best of the situation as it could be so much worse. Thanks for all your prayers and concerns. Truly...All Is Well.

Saturday Morning in the Desert

Hubby, Lil' Red and I went for a ride in the desert Saturday morning in search of some geocaches.

a cool, dreary morning

Weaver's Needle, the pointy peak in the center background

one of the side roads off the old highway

dead cholla

some of the geocaches were called rusting away

not hard to find when the container is an old

two gallon can

someone has been attacking this old gate post

the old highway bed

abandoned bee hives

at first I though vandalized

but there were others along the road

a very dry desert this year

baby pin cushion cactus growing at the base of a dead

or almost dead cholla

Hubby did most of the running

I was the photographer

should have brought my good camera

the rain started as were drove back home

on the real highway

Another Month Closer

In the post titled Catch-Up in November I posted about collecting geocaches which were placed each month geocaching has existed. Earlier this month we went out and collected another geocache to fill another month.

Dead Car cache was supposedly accessible using the jeep and unmarked ATV trails. We really did look for the road, but finally gave up and just crawled over/through the barb wire fence to walk about 400'... as the crow flies.

We had to cross dry gullies/washes, climb up the hills, just to go down again, cross a wash/gully, and climb up again. Three times. We avoided stag horn, cholla and thorny trees to reach the container under a palo verde tree.

an old tin, about the size of a box of soda crackers

we got it

now we have to walk out

this shows exactly how dry the desert is this season

no rain for over 100 days

a walk of .40 mile when we reached the jeep

hard to tell, but that is Four Peaks in the background

the mountain on AZ license plates

the walk was not a problem for the worn-out right hip

I was also able to climb through the fence

Woo Hoo!

One month left! There are only 3 caches in the U.S. still active that were hid in August 2000...Utah, Michigan, and Georgia AND one in Sweden. We have a plan to fill that last box this summer. 

Other geocaching excursions were not as exciting at finding Dead Car. We've also attended some geocaching events and hosted one. 

How Geocachers Spend NYE & NYD

This year Geocaching Headquarters announced two virtual souvenirs would be given for finding a geocache or attending an event on December 31, 2017 and January 1, 2018. Well, we couldn't pass up a deal like that! We attended an event in Tempe on Sunday afternoon, hosted by another geocacher.

location of the event

my first bacon donut

probably my last as there are so may other options

lots of humor on this truck

I like this place for a couple of reasons. Besides delicious donuts, the shop bakes fresh donuts every night for the next day. They give away whatever is left in the case at the end of each day, feeding the homeless.

NYE souvenir

And then on New Year's Day, I hosted an event at a new city park in Apache Junction at 8:45 in the morning. It just so happened there was a geo-hiking event nearby at 10:00 hosted by other geocachers.

we furnished donuts & OJ

more than 55 geocachers attended

there were 4 glazed donuts left of the 6 dozen I ordered

NYD souvenir

Second Half of December or Family Christmas

The time spent is SD included doctor appointments for both of us and our family Christmas. Just an FYI, the temperatures were so nice before Christmas, we were comfortable in fleece jackets. That changed drastically the week of Christmas; below zero temps and some snow.

The highlight of course was our family Christmas, the weekend prior to Christmas. It started with bowling:

the only proof that I bowled

The K & C family got presents from Germany:

a hat for Mcbe

a doll for Miss W

beer stein for OFS

a nutcracker for OFDIL

books for the kiddos of the visit to the Black Hills

Auntie helping Mcbe with his new activity book

a beautiful, delicious cranberry pie for dessert

The church Christmas program on Sunday:

thanks to Liz, the other grandma, for this photo

Mcbe in the white sweater

Miss W is the white top

December 29th

time to head back to AZ

We were able to see my brothers and my mother and one of Hubby's sisters. It was good to be back home and just as good to head back to our winter home.