I have an important conference call for work on Thursday morning, so this morning I asked mom if we could go into town today instead of Thursday to get her hooked up to the portable monitor that I THOUGHT was called a harness. HAHA. The thing is actually called a "Holter monitor." I thought mom was saying "halter" as in horses, because it has straps like a horse halter, and somehow that morphed into "harness" because a horse harness also has straps...oh well, nevermind. Anyway, she grudgingly agreed to do it today even though she told me that it was "a lot more hassle" to do it today than wait till Thursday. :-)
I didn't see ANY spells this morning, and none on the drive to town. I did notice that her mouth has been very dry all morning, and I know that when she is more dehydrated her heart works better (although her kidneys are worse). So maybe that was why she had no spells on the way to Dr. Kubac's office. His assistant Shonna got her all hooked up, and even took care of mom's complaint about the wires getting in her way, by bundling them together and strapping them under the velcro of the monitor. The goal is for mom to wear the monitor for 24 hours to catch any heart abnormalities. Shonna gave mom a sheet of paper where she is supposed to record anything unusual, like a spell, or pain, or racing pulse, etc.
Mom had one very mild spell just as we were driving out of town, and she dutifully recorded it at 11:05am, but that was the only one. I really hope that she has some spells, and even she admitted that even though she wishes they would stop, she hopes they don't stop till after the 24 hours is up.
When we got home, I lit a fire for her and she huddled near the wood stove commenting on how cold it was in the house and how glad she was that she had a nice fire. I checked the thermometer (which is clear on the other side of the room from the wood stove) and told her that it was 76 degrees. She said, "Oh that thermostat doesn't work! It's always wrong!"
She was going to eat her lunch and have a nap, so I figured I'd update the blog even though there's no news at the moment. We have to go to Medford tomorrow to see Dr. Kim, her primary care doc. I asked her what she is hoping to get from Dr. Kim, and she didn't really have much of an answer except that she trusts him and wants him to see her blood test from last Friday. Her 24 hours with the Holter monitor are up at 10:24am tomorrow, and her appt with Dr. Kim is at 11:15, so I guess we will be removing the electrodes in the rest room at Dr. Kim's office. After that appt, she wants to go to Costco, then when we get back home, I have to drive into KF to return the monitor so they can download the data prior to her appt on Friday with Dr. Kubac. I asked if we could just bring the monitor in on Friday and Shonna said yes, but then there won't be time for Dr. Kubac to review it prior to her appt. WHEW!!! It's gonna be a long day tomorrow.
(It's kind of amazing how a 20-minute doctor appointment in KF requires 2 hours of time.)
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