Not Much New



11 Aug 2011                11 July 2013.

 There isn't much new with me right now. I am still following the Curves Complete program -- 18.5 pounds lost so far! I am still going to see various medical professionals to figure out what all is going on and what I can do to get back to my pre-Hepatitis A energy and concentration.

I am still working on receipts for HAFF, writing/editing HAFF blog posts and writing and editing the HAFF newsletters. And I am still having trouble keeping up with the work load.

Finally, my role guiding prospective HAFF staff through the application process has recently been re-activated, as I have also continued fielding questions for HAFF's current intern, April Lambiotte.

I am looking forward to a visit next week from my HAFF colleagues, Colin, Carla and Becky Wilson. They will only be with me one night, but it will be wonderful to have the chance to just visit as friends, without the pressure of HAFF business or meetings! And, as always, I am looking forward to introducing them to my hometown -- the weather looks like it will be perfect for walking around the neighborhood and the Penn State Arboretum!

13 and Counting

This is another photo from my trip to Seattle. Heidi took this photo of me and the passenger ferry (the boat behind me) from last Monday, the day we walked all over Seattle. The title of this post relates to that trip.

I went to my Curves workout yesterday and when they weighed me, I had lost five pounds in the past two weeks, including the week I was in Washington state. That means in the seven weeks since I started the program, I have lost 13 pounds. I hope I can keep it up!

Still Jet Lagged After All These Days!

     I made another trial run at the end of June, flying to Washington state and renting a car for a week. The trip was spawned by the 100th birthday celebration of dear friend, former colleague and former HAFF board member, Dorothy Eaves. But, while I was in Washington, I took the opportunity to visit with my cousin Phyllis and with former colleagues and dear friends Heidi and Jeff HansPetersen.

    Phyllis lives on the Kitsap peninsula, across the Puget Sound from Seattle. Surrounded by water, mountains and trees, it is a lovely spot. And the drive from Seattle took me through many spots where I found myself saying, "Oh, yes. Washington is indeed the Evergreen State!" The above photo was taken from the small town of Seabeck on the Kitsap peninsula as Phyllis and I drove around to see some of the area.

    I had plently of opportunity to admire the Puget Sound and the mountains, volcanoes, trees and Seattle skyline as I crossed the sound 5 times on ferries! This second photo is of the ferry pulling into Kingston to take me to Edmonds on my way to Dorothy's birthday party.

    I met Heidi and Jeff in Seattle on Sunday to attend church at the historic First Covenant Church of Seattle, founded in 1889, just before the great fire that burned most of Seattle. After church we went to lunch and a walk on the beach. From the beach we were able to see two of Seattle's iconic volcanoes -- Mount Baker and Mount Rainier. Then we took the ferry (ferry ride number two!) to Vashon Island, where Heidi and Jeff live.

Mount Baker in the middle in the distance



Mount Rainier 

    Monday, Heidi and her todler daughter and I took the passenger ferry (ride number three) back into Seattle and "did" Seattle on foot! We walked over 5 miles that day! We went to the Pike Place Market, "where they throw the fish!" said Heidi. And throw the fish they did! Each purchased fish (and they were big fish) got tossed from man to man as they were shown, weighed, wrapped and paid for. It is quite the event and I was not quick enough on the draw with my camera to catch it.

    We also took an hour long harbor tour -- a narrated cruise (another boat!) highlighting the skyline and history of Seattle as well as giving a close up view of drydocks and gantries for unloading freighters. The final photo below is of the Seattle skyline from the harbor tour. Finally, we took a tour of the Seattle Underground -- the remnants of pre-fire Seattle under the streets of current day Seattle. A fourth ferry ride back to Vashon Island brought us weary walkers back home in time for supper.


Seattle skyline from the harbor tour.

       Tuesday was a quiet day of running errands and seeing some of Vashon Island (another lovely spot like the Kitsap peninsula). My final ferry ride took me over to Seattle in the evening to turn in my rental car and to catch the red eye back to State College.

    And that flight from Seattle, starting Tuesday at about 11:30 pm Seattle time and ending Wednesday around noon State College time has told me a lot about my current energy and concentration. I am still dragging today, 5 days after arriving home. I slept most of the rest of Wednesday, did laundry and not much else Thursday and still slept over 10 hours last night and still feel like I want a nap! So, two years after coming down with Hepatitis A, I am still recovering much more slowly than before. But I think I stuck to my diet pretty well, while I was gone and I did pretty well with the walking. I even got in two workouts at the Curves near my cousin and one Friday here. Tomorrow I will find out if I lost any more weight since I was gone.

Eight Pounds and Counting!

I am in my 5th week of the Curves Complete program. I have lost 8 pounds so far! And half an inch to an inch off of various parts of my body!

Thankfully I am not having a problem with the diet -- the food is good and with 3 meals and 2 snacks per day and lots of veggies "free", I am not hungry.

The exercise and the walking, on the other hand, are more challenging for me! Some days, I am fine on the machines at the Curves gym. Other days my hip just does not want to cooperate. And the walking! This week I am aiming for 6500 steps per day. Next week I will be aiming for 7000 with the eventual goal of 10,000 steps per day. Some days I have no trouble getting even 8000 steps in. Other days, I barely get 3000! Trying to get my work done for HAFF AND get my steps in for the day is a challenge I am still working on. I am also working on finding places that I enjoy walking. One of my favorites is the Arboretum at Penn State.

Rainbow caught in the spray from the fountain at the Arboretum at PSU.

One of the woodland areas of the Arborteum -- on a muggy, buggy day!

I am still trying to work out if the diet and exercise are giving me more energy. I don't seem to need so many naps, but I still want lots of sleep at night. And the number of hours per day which I can concentrate on work don't seem to have increased, as far as I can tell. And the exercise and meal planning eat somewhat significantly into those hours! I am still trying to find the balance!

In the mean time, I am enjoying the great outdoors of central Pennsylvania and the cultural offerings that expand to the outdoor venues during the spring and summer. All while continuing to write, edit and lay out the HAFF newsletters, send out the donor receipts and write and edit articles to post to the HAFF blog.

Heritage Brass at a Sunday evening concert at South Hills School of Business.

Nittany Valley Symphony concert at Tussey Mountain Ski area.

Spring Update

I made my decision what to do about diet and exercise. I joined Curves for Women doing the Curves Complete program. It combines diet and exercise and provides coaching for both. I joined two weeks ago and, as of today, have lost 4 pounds already. I am hoping that the program will help me regain my energy and concentration.



My Neighborhood with local flora and fauna!

 Part of the Curves Complete program is walking. Ultimately my goal will be to walk 10,000 steps a day. Right now they have me building up to that – this week my goal is 5,500 steps per day. So I have been walking around the neighborhood – enjoying the Spring flora and fauna.

I have also walked around at the Penn State Arboretum and at Millbrook Marsh a regional park which also contains some Clearwater Conservancy protected land. The park encompasses 3 different types of wetlands including some of the region's last remaining calcareous fen. Calcareous fen is one of the rarest type of ecological communities in Centre County and there are many rare species in this fen.

The park is well provided with board walks and some grass walks. It is a great place for birding and just a wonderful, green space in the midst of highways and built up areas. It is also conveniently located for a stop for a walk on the way home!

I am also still knitting. There has been a bit of a change in the knitting. We are now meeting with other ladies for Wednesday Women in the Word. A group of women get together for lunch, fellowship and to spend time in Scripture. About 10 of us met last week for the first gathering.

So, I am now trying to find the balance of time, energy and concentration to keep up with the walking, exercising at Curves for half an hour four times a week, learning the new diet and doing the administrative work for HAFF. I'll keep you posted on my progress. If this program does what I hope, I may be able to, finally, get back to Haiti in the fall. We'll see what the Lord has in store!

No Worries with my Heart

I met with the cardiologist today. There is nothing seriously wrong with my heart. As a matter of fact, he couldn't even hear the heart murmur that I was first told about probably 18 or 20 years ago. That is all good news.

I do have a mildly leaky mitral valve (between the left atrium and left ventricle in the drawing), but nothing to be concerned about. Nor do I need to worry about my premature ventricular contractions (PVCs). My left ventricle is a bit impatient. Like its owner!

The (to me) sad news is that neither the valve nor the PVCs are likely the cause of my continued fatigue and other issues. The cardiologist does not think I need a stress test, but recommended that, after I see my GP again at the end of the month, I have a sleep test. He did note some things that indicate I might have sleep apnea. And that would account for my fatigue and trouble concentrating.

So, the search continues and I continue to work out how should I now eat and what is the best exercise for me to do! Thanks again for your continued prayers.

I got to see my heart work!



The heart (not mine) in an echocardiogram.

 Yesterday I had an echocardiogram. It was an interesting experience -- I was positioned so I could see the screen. At one point, both sides of my heart could be seen at once and I could clearly see one side, and then the other contract. The test can also allow the sounds of the blood flowing through the heart and the vessels to be heard. Sometimes it was surprisingly gurgle-y! 

I was also able to ask questions, though I asked many fewer than I could have! I was pleased when I was able to recognize some of the views. All those years teaching the anatomy of the heart to Haitian 9th graders was not in vain! I was wishing I could have had the students there to see the screen with me! I guess you can take the girl out of the classroom, but not the classroom out of the girl.

When the technician opened the first image, she said, "Oh, yes. I see your arrhythmia!" Then she showed me on the little green line at the bottom what my premature ventricular contraction (PVC)looked like. Imagine, in the little green peaks at the bottom of the image above, another lower plateau and that was my PVC.

The test yesterday was to diagnose the heart murmur I have known about for many years -- is it a leaky valve or a hole? Tuesday I will see the cardiologist to find out the results.

In the mean time, I did get the results of the blood test. My magnesium and iron levels are fine. My cholesterol is a bit high. I don't need medication, just to watch my carb intake and increase my excercise. So now, I have to figure out how to watch both carbs and fat -- it seems that food which is low in carbs is high in fat and vise verse! And I am looking into either swimming at Penn State or joining Curves for Women. I will keep you posted, and in the mean time, thank you, everyone, for your prayers.

Heart and Flowers

Or Flowers and Heart, as the order will actually be! Spring is advancing in State College. The Muscari is out and blooming (first photo below) and the little wild violets are popping up in lawns and even between sidewalk blocks (second photo below)! Enjoy the photos and then scroll down to the Heart part.

This is the diagram I used to use in my Biology classes in Haiti, and that I presume is still being used. I have known for a number of years that I had a heart arrhythmia and for even longer that I had a murmur. No one ever indicated to me that there was any reason for concern about either. And I still have no indication that there is reason for concern.

But I was able to get an appointment with my new primary care physician this morning and spent most of the morning in the office. She gave me a thorough going over and talked to me for quite a while. There is still no definitive answer for my fatigue, but there are going to be more tests! One is done already. I had an ECG this morning and will have more blood tests tomorrow and will be scheduled for an echocardiogram and a consult with a cardiologist to see if the heart murmur or the arrhythmia are responsible for the fatigue.

So, I will be in State College for a while yet. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors and technicians and for the causes to be made clear. I still only have about 4 to 5 hours of the day with decent energy and concentration to do my work. Thank you all for your prayers.

I got back from my trip Friday the 12th and was very tired.

Spring arrived in State College while I was gone – this photo and the next show what greeted me as I drove in the driveway that afternoon.

I took a nap that afternoon and slept 11.5 hours that night! Saturday I was dragging all day, but got 2 loads of laundry done. Then Sunday I went to church (no choir or Sunday school) and then took a nap. The folowing week was pretty busy, so I didn't get the tests the doctor ordered till Tuesday the 16th. They took 3 vials of blood, instead of the 2 vials they would take last year. The phlebotomist told me that they were going to run tests for blood chemistry, sedimentation rate and thyroid stimulating hormone level.

 

Left to right, August 2011, August 2012 and April 2013.Sorry,
 I am not very good at the self-portrait setting on the camera!

Thursday the 18th, I got the results of the tests. All normal. The nurse told me that they were the best numbers she had ever seen for me! So, thankfully, no inflammatory disease, neither an under active, nor an over active thyroid and no liver troubles. All good news. But the nurse agreed with me that there still needs to be an explanation for my continued fatigue, yellowing (or bruising) around my eyes (see photo at left) and concentration problems. Friday I had an additional blood test for B12. I just got the results of that test and it is normal as well.

So, now I am looking at finding a family doctor in the area so I can get a thorough going over. I may also need to see a gastroenterology specialist, if the family doctor doesn't find anything.


In the mean time, I keep working on the stateside administrative tasks that I have taken on for HAFF. Thanks for all the prayers for me. God is at work and has His purposes for this season in my life. And I am enjoying another Spring in Pennsylvania. It is exciting to see what bulbs will come up and what trees will bloom next.

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

Greetings from Syracuse, NY! But that story is for later in this post. Spring is trying to come to Central Pennsylvania. I have one snow drop up (the squirrels moved the other 10 or 11 to my neighbor's front yard the previous winter) and my forsythia and lilacs are preparing to bloom. My poor little snowdrop gets snowed on, or gets cold, and falls flat, then stands back up again. It has been up and down several times for about 3 weeks or so now!

Easter was less elaborate this year, than last. But I still sang wonderful music with the choir (the red arrow in the photo shows where I am in the choir loft) and celebrated the risen Savior with friends.

Good Friday I called the doctor to ask about my lingering fatigue, yellow staining around my eyes and trouble concentrating for long. He was not in the office, but his nurse said she would would ask him the questions for me.

The day after Easter, I packed up and drove three hours to Tunkhannock, PA and spent two nights with friends from HAFF and ECHO. Then I drove on two hours to Ithaca, NY, and spent a night with friends and supporters there. Finally yesterday I drove an hour and a half to just north of Syracuse to spend several days with friends and supporters here. I have had a standing invitation since last summer to speak to their church missions committee. So, I am here on a trial run and will speak to them Sunday after service.

In the mean time, I spoke to the nurse in the doctor's office today. She said the doctor would like me to get more lab work and once we get those results, we'll see where I am and if a follow-up appointment and further treatment are necessary. I will travel back to State College next week using the same stopping places and will arrive home on Saturday, Lord willing. Then I'll go get the lab tests Monday the 15th.

So, while I am here in Syracuse, I will be catching up on work for HAFF that has been piling up during my travels. And once I am back in State College, we will see how I do. Will I be fine or will I crash? Only the Lord knows and time will tell!

Thank you all for your prayers. I'll post updates as I have them!