7 Quick Takes Friday #11

Time again already to contribute to the 7 Quick Takes Friday meme hosted by Jennifer at Conversion Diary, but first let me report on Ray's condition after thanking all of you for your prayers. The doctors told Noelle this morning that Ray's eyes were moving, and therefore they believe he is dreaming, which is a sign of brain activity even if he is not yet conscious or responsive. One day at a time. We wait and pray for what is best for him.

It had been so quiet a week, relatively speaking (all things being relative), until Ray had his heart attack that I had to consider whether or not I even had seven “takes,” quick or otherwise, to share. I finally decided that yes, possibly, I did. Here they are:

(1) Saturday evening I attended, as is typical when I am in town, the Saturday evening mass at Old Mission. Fr. Terry, of whom I am very fond and who has been my de facto spiritual advisor, was the visiting priest. I had not seen him for some time, so it was a delightful surprise to find him there; we made plans to get together for dinner after I return from Lithuania and he returns from New Zealand (planned trips for the latter part of January). After Mass, I spent some time talking with Sr. M and this other person, whose name I promptly forgot (my memory is simply not under control lately). This other person has a friend, Cecilia Willis, whose very serious problem I also promptly forgot. I just know that I was asked to pray for her, so I have been doing that. Fortunately, my bad memory is of little concern here. God knows what ails her, so it is not all that important that I remember. I would also ask you to pray for her, too.

(2) Sunday I spent some time talking to an elderly friend who has no local relatives. Donnie and I visited her the weekend before Christmas, and Donnie had to go get some lights the weekend after Christmas, so he visited her again. When I called her on Sunday, she bubbled on and on about that surprise. I try to call every day, but I only succeed in talking to her a couple of times a week at best because of my travels. When I blogged about her deteriorating and isolated condition in October (7 Quick Takes #5), Pinksy 82 (Stranger in a Strange Land), who is a social worker, suggested a geriatric assessment. Wow! Thank you! We asked her daughter for permission and were given it. The assessment was done, and now the county sends someone there every day for a couple of hours to check on her, help with the housework, and assist her with daily living needs. In addition, the family has now set up a person to check on her every evening and bring her medicine and groceries. After work, a neighbor couple, who works with me and gives me a periodic report, comes by for socialization. And then, there is my daily (uh, weekly) phone call. The situation is much better now.

3) On Monday evening our prayer group at the Old Mission met. There I learned that Sr. M was planning to travel to Idaho. I asked her about how warm a coat she had, and she said she had no winter coat at all. In fact, she had not given a thought to the fact that Idaho would have winter weather that differed from California's sunshine. I have a very warm goose down coat that I wear in places like Siberia and Lithuania, and I would not need it until the 18th, when I have to leave for Lithuania. So, after the group finished our prayers for the evening, I ran home, then dropped by the convent to give the coat to Sister.

(4) Tuesday at the end of the work day, I had an appointment with a cardiologist. There is a bit of a story behind that visit. When I went to the clinic a few weeks ago to get some medicine re-prescribed, there was a new doctor who heard a heart murmur. It is not big deal. I have had a heart murmur all my life, including the eight years I spent in the military service. I have a strong heart. The murmur is functional, not structural, and therefore innocuous. The doctor would not listen to me, however, and sent me to a cardiologist, who panicked at my EKG, and wanted me to get an echo cardiogram and a blood test to check cholesterol level. The conversation went something like this:

Beth: "My heart murmur is no big deal. It's a functional thing. I've had it all my deal. It is innocuous."

Doctor: "Well, your EKG shows that your heart is not keeping up with you." (Hah! Donnie says that nothing and no one can keep up with me! Silly guy!)

Beth: "I'm really sure it's nothing, but okay, you're the doctor; I'll get the echo cardiogram."

Doctor: "And a blood test to check cholesterol level."

Beth: "Oh, I don't need that. My cholesterol level is fine."

Doctor: "You told me your heart was fine!"

Beth: "Okay, give me the details, and I'll go." (Actually, I knew that my cholesterol level was okay because I had had a test about a year ago, but the doctor was only doing his job, so off I went.)

Tuesday I was back in the doctor's office for the results. It turns out that the cholesterol level was on the high side of normal, but the doctor prescribed a diet change rather than medicine. As for my heart, he told me in surprise, "The echo cardiogram shows that you have a very strong heart." (Yeah, I knew that -- even if it does not keep up with me!)

That experience reminds me of the time that Noelle fell at school many years ago. The story is too long to repeat here, but if you have a bit of a sense of humor about medical matters, you can find it on Clan of Mahlou: The Episode of Noelle's Wrist. Sometimes doctors know best, but sometimes patients know best.

(5) On Wednesday, I found myself on a plane once again and once again with no notice. This time I had to make an urgent trip to Washington. Donnie listened to the weather reports for Washington. Oh, oh! Unseasonably cold temperatures – and I had just given my warmest winter coat to Sister, already enroute to Idaho. Well, I did have a winter-ish jacket that would keep me from freezing, and I could use taxis, rather than the metro and walking although I generally prefer the opportunity for some exercise. Regardless of the changes in my itinerary, Sister did need the coat more than I.

I had more important issues to worry about, anyway. As the plane from San Jose landed in Phoenix, I tried to pull out my Phoenix-Washington ticket, but could not find it. I had only one ticket: San Jose-Phoenix. I involved the man sitting next to me and the people in front and back in looking on the floor to see if I had accidentally dropped my follow-on ticket. Nothing. Then I realized that I should not have the San Jose-Phoenix ticket. That should have been taken at the gate in San Jose. Ah, hah! Powers of deduction told me that the ticket agent took the wrong ticket. (I’m no Sherlock Holmes; Holmes would have realized that the first time he pulled out the San Jose ticket.) That, I was pretty certain, would be an easy fix once I got to the gate for DC. It was.

However, as in most cases where there are problems of some sort (at least, with me), a number of people had become involved in my ticket issue. As we were all standing in the aisle, waiting to debark, everyone started talking about my ticket dilemma and similar things that they had experienced. Of course, there was some concern that I had been able to get on the plane with the wrong ticket!

(6) In Washington, I had two days of meetings. On Thursday, I visited our Washington office and laid to rest some potential animosities and certainly some unbased suspicions coming from the head honcho there. It always feels good to change a potential enemy into a current friend. Then, on Friday, I visited the organization where I worked when I was an employee of the U.S. Department of State. Actually, the call was not personal but work-related. I wanted to introduce one of our new supervisors to people who had greater knowledge of some of the international issues with which she was dealing. Of course, though, I took the opportunity, being an extrovert, to renew old acquaintances. After the formal meeting with that head honcho, it was on to informal meetings, with hugs and kisses all around!

(7) And now Friday is drawing to a close. I have all my business done, and I will be off in about an hour to visit a dear friend, the person who helped me with the spiritual needs of Shura when he was having his surgeries at the University of Virginia Hospital. Oh, and it's not just a Friday evening that we will be enjoying together. My friend is on vacation right now because is Orthodox Christmas. We will have yesterday's Russian-Christmas-specialties leftovers tonight. So, I will have two Christmases this year! Now how could this week end any better even with the worries about Ray! A second chance to celebrate a special birth! How often does that happen?

So, in this case, in closing, I will wish all of you a merry Christmas -- again!