I had my first nephrologist visit yesterday. I really liked his Physician's Assistant. I would have actually rather had her be my doctor. He was okay though.

He sent me for blood work this morning and an ultrasound of my kidneys this afternoon. I go back to see him in 2 weeks to find out the results.

He put me on a low-dose blood pressure medicine. I was doing everything I could to try to avoid another BP med, since the last one caused me so much grief, but I guess it wasn't to be. My BP was 155/100 at the office. He said we'll increase the dosage little by little until we find the minimum I need. It's Lisinopril and I've made sure to check the side-effects out.

It's an ACE inhibitor that is supposed to relax the blood vessel walls so the blood flows more easily and it also reduces the blood volume. It must be working because after only one dose about 8 hours ago my BP is 114/76. I haven't noticed as many irregular heartbeats either today.

He told me that my sodium levels are low so he cut out my one diuretic (the one I JUST paid for 3 months worth ). I'm kind of nervous about that because this was the one I ran out of last week and missed 3 doses and immediately gained 4.5 pounds. Then once I took 1 pill when they came, I lost 3 pounds overnight. So I weighed today to make sure I know my starting weight with it and will know if I start retaining fluid. I'll need to weigh every day to keep track.

He also said I've been drinking way too much water. I normally drink between 100 and 200 ounces a day. He doesn't want me to get any more than 1.5 liters a day. He said that was contributing to the low sodium levels. That's really going to be hard because I am always thirsty. It has been nice not running to the bathroom constantly though. LOL! He said that I've been drinking so much that I've made my thirst indicators think that I'm just always thirsty.

So I won't know if they find anything until I go back I guess. At least he's looking for the cause of the edema and high blood pressure and not just treating the symptoms.

I did our taxes last week and despite our changing our number of exemptions last year, we are getting a huge amount back from the government. It is mainly because of the 2 college kids.

So now we are trying to decide what to do with the money. I know that most here would automatically say to pay off the Discover card. I would love to do that, but we also have a house that needs some major renovations. We've been doing a bit here and there a little at a time but it's not making much of a difference. We still have no heat in the kitchen and several days this winter have gone out to find the cat's water frozen! Garage and porch need a new roof, one bedroom is still bare bones (sheetrock, plywood floor, no ceiling, etc.)

One thing we are going to do is finish paying off DH's truck loan. Some of the money we want to put aside for the college kids so that we can help them out when they have a need and no resources to meet the need.

Endless possibilities, but what is wisest?

Suze Orman's newest book, Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny came into the office a couple of days ago. Knowing that I'm the only one of the library personnel that is interested in it, I didn't bring it home until today. It has a release date of February 27th, so it will be available to the public on Tuesday.

I've only had a chance to glance through it but it looks interesting and has a great incentive for saving money. Perfect weekend reading!

I got a call from our Zander insurance case worker yesterday that my approval for the term life insurance has been postponed due to my recent medical problems. I sort of figured that was coming.

She said that in 6 months I am free to apply again. I told her that I didn't know if I wanted to go through this whole thing again in 6 months. I never dreamed that it would take this many months for them to come to a decision.

No word yet on DH's application.

DH and I had gone to a church conference to hear a well-known radio/TV personality speak on the middle east and afterwards were to go to a couple's house for coffee. We were just pulling into their driveway when DH's pager went off saying that an ambulance was needed at an address on our street for seizures. We both sort of held our breath when we heard the address, but ours is different by one number than the address given so we figured it was our neighbor across the street.

As we walked into our friends' house they said that her mother said we had just gotten a phone call. I knew then that 911 had been told the wrong address. The caller ID showed that my mother had called. DH called the house and talked to the EMT that was on scene and we took off for home. We made it home in 10 minutes, in what normally would have taken 15-20.

Just as we got here they were bringing DS#2 out on the stretcher. He is 16 years old. DH (who is an EMT) jumped in with the ambulance and I drove my mom and I to the hospital. The paramedics met us halfway and got in and started an IV. DH said that DS quit breathing at least twice on the way there. They had inserted a nasal canula and were prepared to bag him if they had to.

By the time we got to the hospital, he was a bit better. And if that was better, I definitely did not want to see how he had been. DH said that DS would definitely have a bruised sternum because the EMT had to give him a sternum rub to get him to respond at all and really had to use a lot of pressure. DH also had to do the same on the way to the hospital.

At the hospital he was barely responsive. His eyes were rolled back in his head and he could barely squeeze fingers or move his feet to push on your hands. His blood pressure was high and pulse was rapid (over 120). Of course, they asked about alcohol or drugs and we explained that he's had this happen before and that it is a migraine, but I don't think any of them had ever heard of a hemiplegic migraine before. They took blood and tested for all kinds of things, including the alcohol and drugs. All the tests came back normal.

By the time they were done with the CAT scan, which was also normal, he was much better. Within 2 hours of being there he was back to his old self, joking with everyone but very tired. They couldn't believe what a difference a couple of hours made compared to the condition he was in on arrival.

He has a sinus infection so they gave him a Z-pack and told us to follow up with the neurologist on Monday.

The EMTs and ambulance crew were all very concerned. Of course, they all know DS since he's a member and spends most of his time helping out at the ambulance building and firehall. He wants to become a paramedic.

We ended up having the follow-up with the neurologist on the day of the Valentine's Day '07 blizzard! We did not want to cancel the appointment since we really wanted him seen as soon as possible.

The neurologist says that he thinks this was a complicated migraine (hemiplegic migraines are a type of complicated migraines) and that it caused a convulsion this time. He said that the severe chest pain that he experienced this time was from the migraine. Migraines can cause pain not only in the head, but elsewhere in the body.

He is starting him on a new type of migraine/seizure medicine that he is hoping won't have as many side effects for him as the Topomax. He has also ordered a 24 hour EEG to see if he is having any mini seizures that we're not aware of.

He offered to send us to a neurosurgeon to get his opinion on Chiari Malformation but is confident that he does not have that. He said that any time we want a referral to just call. We are waiting on that to see if this new medicine works.

So...hopefully this weekend will be a bit tamer than last weekend!

Just a quick note to say I'm still here and still working on whittling down the debt. And still working on getting approval for mine and DH's term insurance. I never dreamed it would take so many months! I got an email that mine is close to being approved and the hold-up with DH's is the driver's report from the DMV. I don't know why that's taking so long!

It was the blood pressure medicine that caused my sudden health crisis in December. I've been off the medicine for over 4 weeks now and feel like a different person.

I was searching one day and found the side effects and symptoms of an overdose of Benicar: fast, pounding or irregular heartbeat; joint pain, stiffness, or swelling; swelling of feet or lower legs, flushed, dry skin; general feeling of discomfort or illness; trouble sleeping; bloating or swelling of face, arms, hands, lower legs, or feet; difficulty in moving; rapid weight gain; tingling of hands or feet.

All of that was exactly what I experienced.

Well, I certainly got a very thorough physical out of the whole thing: 2 MRIs, EEG, nuclear stress test, etc. I'm good for another 100,000 miles I think!

Good news is that I joined Weight Watchers on-line 2 weeks ago and have already lost 6 pounds and 5 inches around my belly!!! I had told them that the weight gain was really unusual and that most of it was centered in my abdomen. They just brushed me off though.

I guess I really did know what I was talking about.

I just made the payoff on the balance of our Bank of America credit card. This is the one that I transferred the balance to the new Discover Card so that it was interest free for a year. It wasn't much but it feels like an accomplishment to me.