Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland, yup, that's me.  I fell in a hole, never to be seen again, cept by the hare.  I did manage to crawl out.  It took a while.

Last Saturday night (that's where I'm picking up), I had the second half of my couples tournament... the part where they actually played in the dark with glow golf balls.  Sheila and Mark played with my grand daughter, Chloe, and her partner Carlos.  I don't know how they did it, but evidently they let Carlos keep his own score, cause Chloe and Carlos came in 3rd place in the first flight.  Yeah!  Chloe was soooo excited.  I had planned on playing with Carlos, but Gary decided to bring Chloe up to play with Carlos.  (Chloe and Carlos played as a team the week before, but I wanted to play since I wouldn't have to jack with the food and such.  I was just gonna enjoy myself. Yeah, like I had a chance once Gary found out Chloe wanted to play!)

Mark and Sheila had fun, and I think everyone else did also.  After they all teed off, Don Kennedy, the head of the golf course, a student of his named Jeremy, and I tried our hand at it.  It was so funny.  I used Jeremy's 5 iron for almost all my shots, and Jeremy and Don shared the rest of the clubs.  They were riding together, and it was just easier if I used the same one so I didn't have to keep chasing them while they were looking for their balls.  Don has decided I need to plan one for my "fun friends" and him and his fun friends.  I'm hot sure who he thinks is a fun friend besides "my crew", but maybe I'll figure it out.  That's something for us to do in December.

Sheila and I have been taking turns taking Dawn, one of our golf league friends, to her doctors appointments and radiation treatments.  I will admit it right now.... Sheila does a lot more of it than I do.  Thank you Sheila!  Dawn thinks because I have a daughter and grand kids that I'm busier than Sheila, so she calls her first.  I am NOT complaining about that, but it does keep Sheila hopping.  I'm not going to discuss that any more, but Sheila does stay busy.

Sheila and I did manage to go to the movies Tuesday night.  We saw SKYFALL... the new James Bond film.  It was a little slow the first few minutes.  JUST KIDDING!  I couldn't believe that was the start of the movie.  It's usually like that only in the last 15 minutes or so.  However, it didn't disappoint either one of us.  We both liked the movie.  We would give it a 6 thumbs up if we had that many thumbs.

After that, we tried a new place for dinner, Cha Chas Mexican Food.  There were 3 couples there last Tuesday night.  The waiter said it was a really slow night.  I asked if that was unusual, and he said it is either really slow, or really busy.... never predictable.  Hmmmm.  I did have a good skinny Margarita, and some fabulous salmon with Chimicurri sauce.  Sheila had fish tacos, and really liked them.  I'd had indigestion for several days.  After we left the restaurant, which is maybe 1/2 mile from my house, I filled the car up with gas, and bought a roll of Rolaids to get me home.  UGH!

As you know, I'm gluten and lactose free, at the moment.  On Wednesday, my indigestion was so severe, I called the heart doctor.  A short history..... I've had indigestion like this before, where I had it for a week or so, non-stop.  The first time, I finally went to the ER, and they removed my gall bladder, which was one big stone.  The second time, it was after I'd semi played in a 6-6-6 golf tournament.  I sat out most of the holes in the scramble, and thought  was going to die.  I went to the ER two days after that, and they had to put a stint in my LAD, as it was 99% blocked.  Nuff history.... I decided since I had a cooking class Wednesday night, radiation with Dawn Thursday, and a gastro doctor appointment Friday, that I'd take care of it Wednesday and be ready for the holiday week.  After waiting on the doctor all day, I find out he's out of the office, and his associate called me to tell me to go to the ER.  What?  It's during the day.  He says take a nitro pill and see if that helps.  I don't have nitro.  Oh he says.... well if it doesn't get better, or if it gets worse, go to the ER. Wow.

I decide I'll wait til Thursday and my regular doctor will be back.  Of I go to a gluten free cooking class.  During the class, I was served two-ton pancakes.  I already know how to make heavy gluten free pancakes.  What a disappointment.  They showed us how to make ginger bread cake with lemon sauce.  I had some decent swiss chard quiche.  Then the final dish.... flax biscuits, which were supposed to be light and fluffy.  They didn't turn out.  They were solid gum in the middle.  The instructor said it was because the ingredients weren't what she was used to.  I paid for this?  What a rip off.

Anyway, I'm in such pain with indigestion, I call Angie, my daughter.  She has me go to the closest ER, about 1/2 mile away.  Long story short, they sort of ruled out stomach acid, by giving me a lydacain (spelling????) and Maalox cocktail.  It did numb my tongue, throat, and lips, but didn't help the pain.  They called the doctor, and the asshole taking calls that night never called them back.  Crap!  They released me with an RX for nitro pills, and refer me to my heart doctor.  I am soooo confused on what is the correct procedure.

It's 2am and I drive to CVS about 10 miles from my house.  I am waiting for my prescription, and to pass time while I'm waiting on my RX, I start wandering the aisles.  I'm at the back of the store, and I head what sounds like someone being slammed against a wall, and profanity is being yelled.  It was something like (I'll use abbreviations)..... You co**-sucking M-Fer... I'm gonna kill you.  I'm sick of your sh**, you co**-sucking son of a bi***".  You get the jest... it went on and on, I hurried up to the front of the store and told the cashier that I thought someone was killing the pharmacist.  They go back and check and say there's no one back there.  It was probably outside.  No, I tell them, it's a brick wall, that was like someone was hitting sheet rock.  Naw, they tell me.  No one is in the store except me and them. Hmmmm

We're standing there, and a man walks up front from the back, gets a coke, says hi and then pays for a coke.  The cashier says, hey John, were you in the restroom?  He says yes.  They say did you hear anything?  Nope he says, and out the door he goes.  Then the cashier turns to me and says, I think it was John you heard.  Screaming profanity and hitting the walls I ask?  Yes, it was probably him.  Sometimes he just needs to relieve his tension.  I could not get my RX and get our of there quick enough.    Got to bed about 3am.  No, I didn't take a nitro, cause I wanted to be awake in case anything bad happened, and I was tired.

Got up Thursday, called the doctor, and they scheduled me for some heart tests.... the week AFTER Thanksgiving.  I also took a nitro pill.  Voila!  My pain was gone within 5 minutes.  Now all I have to do is carry them with me. 

I took Dawn to radiation then shopping so she could get a few things.  First stop, Brookstone.  She didn't buy anything, but I spent $200.  Next stop, Chicos.  She didn't buy anything, neither did I.  It's largest size is a 12 or something like that.  Next stop, Barnes and Noble Book Store.  She didn't buy anything, I spent about $50.  Our final stop... Dillards.  She needed make-up.  She bought nothing, I bought $200 worth of crap.  Now, considering she picked the stores, not me, and she bought nothing, I think we did pretty well.  It just shows that when Christmas gets close, I'm a good person to take shopping.  If Gary says anything, I'll just give him my standard excuse.... it's all Obama's fault.

Today I went to the new gastro doctor.  He is redoing every test I've had done the last 8 years.  He wants a new start.  He doesn't think the other doctor found the source of all my stomach-bowel issues.  He seriously doubts I need to be off gluten.  He is testing for intolerance in addition to Celiac disease.  I sure hope he's right.  He does buy the lactose issue.  He gave me some new meds that he was amazed I hadn't used before.  I am so excited about this.  I have my colonoscopy on Monday, so don't call me Sunday evening, I will NOT be available. 

Today, my oldest grand daughter, Chloe had another surgery.  She's had several through out the years, as she was born with a cleft palate.  They don't do a lot of facial reconstruction when they're really young, cause the face bones continue to grow.  Chloe is now 5'8" and holding, so they did some work on her nose for the first time.  They thought they were going to harvest tissue from her ribs and ears and close a hole in her palate and nose, but they got lucky and didn't harvest anything.  They said the surgery went really well.  She should no be able to breathe normally, and food will no longer go up into her nose at times.  She was a hit with all the first grade boys when she showed them she could blow green beans from her mouth out her nose.  We made her stop that immediately, though it did make her extremely popular in first grade.  Ah.... kids!

Chloe's surgery went really well for her.  Gary was at the hospital after it started, but he hung in there the rest of the afternoon and evening.  She got to go home, and I ran over, but she couldn't wake up.  It's just as well.  At least she wasn't in pain.  I couldn't tell if her face looked any different or not, but it wasn't really about looks.  However, even internal work can cause a difference in the nostril shape.  She has bandages on her nose and lips.  Poor baby.  Poor Gary also.  He gets sympathy symptoms when he's around someone in pain.  He was a nervous wreck.  Angie took it really easy, though she was going to sleep with Chloe tonight.

News flash, Morgan has an over active thyroid gland.  They are testing for the cause, but Angie is guessing Graves Syndrome, because her hair is falling out, and she has most of the other symptoms.  Not the bulging part, not all people with Graves get that.  But, the motor skills issues, eye sight, tiredness, shortness of breath, heart palpitations... on and on.... she has the symptoms.  It is a manageable disease if diagnosed properly.  Keep your fingers crossed that they find out what it is, and it's not a really serious disease.

That's it for now.  It's almost 11 pm, and I've got to get up in the morning and play golf with Sheila.  It'll be her and me against men.  It's a 2 person shamble.  Our golf games may or may not be there tomorrow, but I will be there... with or without my game.  I'll close.  If my life slows down a tad, I'll blog again.