A tale of two doctors–NOT a healthcare rant

Posted on December 9, 2009 by ruthek

One of the most difficult things, when you move to a new city, is finding new doctors. In New Jersey I had five doctors in eight years; some years I didn't go to a doctor. When I got to Pittsburgh Steve recommended a geriatric practice, and I've been very satisfied with them. Fast forward to my heart problem, which I am still trying to manage. I was in the ER in what I thought was probably the best hospital in the 'burgh, (it was the hospital of choice for the recent former mayor,) hooked up to several beeping machines and my heart did it's thing, stopping for eight seconds. Within minutes I had a cardiologist, a diagnosis, a surgeon and a few hours later, a pacemaker. I left the hospital with instructions to return to the cardiologist's, Dr. C1, office and medications. The pacemaker keeps my heart from going too slow or stopping; the meds keep it from going too fast. Shortly thereafter I went to China and Japan reassured that everything would be OK.

Unfortunately, it was not, although I got through the entire trip without any problems. In the year since, I've been told I may have some blockage, which was not a surprise, and I have afib–atrial fibrillation, not a good thing. Dr. C1 gave me a bunch of scenarios and and then assumed I rejected all of them. I was just confused. After a couple of visits, which added to my confusion, I asked Robin to come with me to an appointment; she concurred–he was not being clear about what I should do. I had the feeling I needed to make the decisions–I don't know enough to do it. I like Dr. C1. He's charming and has a great bedside manner. But I needed more guidance. I got a referral from my primary care doc and another, very strong recommendation, from a doctor friend and went for a second opinion.

To some extent this was prompted by a bad experience I had on one of my walks. I set off for a two to three mile walk. By the time I did the first mile I was having a bad time with afib. I went into Trader Joe's and got a drink and bought something I needed–I don't remember what. Then I went into Mellon Park and sat for about twenty minutes. The afib didn't abate, but I began to feel somewhat better and finished walking back home. I would have been happy to take the bus, but there wasn't one. I didn't like this at all, and it made me begin thinking about what else I could do for myself. I'm not ready to slow down.

The new cardiologist, Dr. C2, asked for copies of my records. My PCP's office sent the records. When I called the C1 office they wanted a letter to release the records. I immediately sent it, noting clearly that I was looking for a second opinion. A few days later I received a letter from Dr. C1 saying goodbye and wishing me luck. Somehow it seemed to exemplify all of my problems with him.

Dr. C2 is now my cardiologist. He has no charm and seems to have the personality of a drill sergeant. But he is a model of clarity and has let me know exactly what he expects and what I can expect. Tomorrow I go for another stress test to investigate the possible blockage. He's got me on Coumadin, which I was resisting with Dr. C1. (Did you know that stuff is rat poison?) I'll keep you posted on what happens next.

Dinner for ten

Posted on December 7, 2009 by ruthek

I spent most of last week worrying about making a dinner party on Sunday. When I lived in Chicago I made frequent, large parties. I had a wonderful kitchen, large dining room table and all the other necessary paraphernalia. Most of it went bye-bye in the big house sale before I left. I made one party, not a sit-down dinner, in New Jersey, celebrating my birthday, getting a master's degree and being laid off and retired from a job I wanted to quit. Since then, very little cooking and no parties.

My neighbors have been wonderful to me and I wanted to reciprocate in some way–thus the dinner party. I have a terrible kitchen, but a nice size dining room with a table and six chairs I acquired after I moved. My first problem was a table cloth or some other table covering. Since I was going from a comfortable six to an intimate ten, placemats weren't going to do it. I looked at table covers and runners in IKEA; nothing pleased me. Finally decided to go through my stash of fabrics and found three yards of something I had originally used at least thirty years ago to cover my dining room chairs in Chicago. The selvages were fringed so I finished the two ends by fringing them and used it wrong side up, which made it look more like a table cloth. I only had seven dinner plates, having split those with my EX. IKEA had glass plates for a dollar each–I used five of my old white plates and five of the slightly smaller glass plates. Fortunately, I still had enough glassware and silver. Then there was the menu.

Robin and Steve were invited and they would not eat meat at my house; I don't keep kosher. I thought about making an all vegetarian dinner, but wasn't sure about the rest of the guests. I also considered small appetizer kinds of things; decided it was too much work. My energy will only go so far. After a week of deep thought I decided on salmon with yogurt sauce, squash and pear crumble, bulgur wheat pilaf with dried apricots and a green salad. I made three shopping trips, but did all the work on Sunday and even had time for a nap. My recipe ideas came from the internet. I don't know where I'd be without my computer. And it makes me feel great to know I can still do it.

Hanukkah bush

Posted on December 1, 2009 by ruthek

Alice, the bush, as I promised, and aren't I terrific not to take the day off.

Once upon a time (my favorite story opener), when everyone
wanted to melt into the pot, when Hollywood stars had no ethnicity and being a
wasp was the ultimate goal, when Christmas meant color and lights and not so
much commercial frenzy, Jewish children wanted the same kind of celebration,
lights and color and trees with beautiful ornaments and presents.

Many Jews wanted to forget the war, forget the holocaust,
melt into the blond, blue eyed, Christian melting pot so they said, “The
Christmas tree is not a religious symbol. We can have a Christmas tree and we
will call it a Hanukkah bush.”

Hanukkah is a minor Jewish holiday celebrating the victory
of an army of religious Jews against their Greek rulers, 2200 years ago, who
wanted them to adopt Greek culture.

After three years of fighting, in
the year 3597, or about 165 B.C.E., the Maccabees victoriously reclaimed the
temple on Jerusalem's Mount Moriah. Next they prepared the temple for
rededication — in Hebrew, Hanukkah means "dedication." In the temple
they found only enough purified oil to kindle the temple light for a single
day. But miraculously, the light continued to burn for eight days.

Because of its gift giving tradition and proximity to
Christmas, Hanukkah has become an important Jewish holiday in the US. As
awareness of the Holocaust grew, and people like Steven Spielberg and Mel
Brooks took pride in their Jewishness and didn’t become
WASPS, I think we have become more conscious of our Jewish culture and less
likely to have Hanukkah bushes with their mixed messages.You can find more information about the Hanukkah bush at
Wikipedia.

I get a gold star

Posted on November 30, 2009 by ruthek

I did thirty consecutive posts.

Renee went back to NY this morning, ending my holiday. I really like having her here, but I also find I need time alone. I guess that comes from living alone all these years. I still have classes on Tuesday and Thursday and my ESL students. I'm planning a small supper party next Sunday so that should keep me busy all week. If I don't post again for awhile, you will understand.

Sunday in Butler

Posted on November 29, 2009 by ruthek

When I say to Renee, "How would you like to go to…" she says yes before I tell her the destination. She loves driving anywhere and sometimes get very excited about the most mundane occasions. Today we took a trip to the Maridon Museum in Butler PA. It's about an hour from Pittsburgh and mostly was easy driving. The museum has a lot of high class, very expensive ivory and jade carvings, largely 20th C. stuff. I enjoyed seeing it, but it wasn't what I had hoped for.

Butler is an interesting looking town. We spent a little time looking around. Here is the tower of the Court House.

Detail on the front of the building:

Beautiful Lutheran Church across the street:

Robin and Charna with Darcy in her favorite position: looking for belly rubs.

We did a lot of dog walking over the weekend. Renee and I both needed the exercise.

Eating again

Posted on November 28, 2009 by ruthek

Another beautiful day in the 'burgh. When I left the house before 11 am I thought it would be cold and wore a heavy coat. We walked the dog, and it got warmer. Then we took a walk in Schenley Park and I was sweating by the time we finished. It stayed warm for an hour or so, then cooled off just as quickly. I think I need two coats for this kind of weather.

Renee and I went to lunch at Hokkaido, a seafood buffet, recently opened that I've been wanting to try. I still need an eating companion to go to restaurants with me, so I'm taking advantage of Renee's visit. The restaurant was good; I enjoyed the Chinese dim sum kinds of things and the sushi. I'd like to go back again soon. I try not to overeat at buffets; I just like the chance to taste lots of different things.

Day after

Posted on November 27, 2009 by ruthek

Alice, you owe me a gold star. but, I'm just barely making it. It's 11:25 pm, I just got in and my eyes are closing. Went over to Robin's about 12 hours ago, had lunch (mostly not the left overs), then Renee and I went to a movie–An Education. We had trouble understanding the dialog–British accents, bad sound system–but the acting was good enough to hold our attention regardless. Came back for Shabat dinner (mostly the leftovers) then dessert (really great cakes) at a friend's. All in all another good day.

Mage, I was taking the picture; I'm not in it. My hair is still not entirely white.

I'll explain about Hanukah bushes next week.

Great dinner

Posted on November 26, 2009 by ruthek

We had a lovely, small Thanksgiving: Robin, Steve, Charna, Renee, my Chinese ESL student and wife, and me. As usual Robin made enough great food for two or three times as many people. We'll eat well for the rest of the week. It was nice having my Chinese friends; they learned about American customs and we learned a lot about Chinese customs. I think I enjoy my ESL tutoring so much because I learn at least as much as my students. Here are some pictures from yesterday's visit to the farm:

The two donkeys were the cutest.

Black Angus pets.

Renee photographing our hostess's kitchen.

Thanksgiving eve

Posted on November 25, 2009 by ruthek

Renee works as a volunteer for a large, national non-profit; she knows people all over the United States. Each time she has come to Pittsburgh she's mentioned friends she would like to see. Today was the day. We walked over to one friend's apartment then friend 1 drove us to friend 2, a farm on top of a mountain about 45 minutes out of Pittsburgh. There are cows, goats, donkeys, a horse, a dog and fish on the farm; all are pets. Another fun day.

We have much to be thankful for, including the fact that none of us had to prepare Thanksgiving dinner. Happy Thanksgiving, and Happy immediatist potlatch to you, Eli.

Visiting Cleveland

Posted on November 24, 2009 by ruthek

We went to Cleveland today, Renee and I, taking my Russian ESL student along with us. It's not a bad drive–about 2 1/2 hours. I've been wanting to go to the Westside Market since I read about it in Kathryn's blog. We were hugely disappointed to find the market closed on Tuesday.

Our second destination was the art museum. Google directions took us on secondary roads across downtown Cleveland and about eight miles east, the slow way. We finally got there and had a somewhat nondescript lunch at the botanical garden across the street from the museum. Then on to the Gauguin show. What did I like best? A beautiful van Gogh drawing and a Kuniyoshi print. I know this sounds a little down, but we really had a good time, talking, laughing, looking at the city.

100 Books Before I Die

Ruthe Karlin