[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.
10/3/26
Aloha Fellow Time Travelers!
Despite the dire warnings of certain doom, Nolo came and went with very little effect. At our house, as with most of the leeward side of the island, the wind and rain amounted to bupkis, nada zilch, nothing, It's tempting to excuse the overhype by saying it is always better to be safe than sorry. I'm not so sure that's the case. The predicted track of the storm NEVER showed it coming to within 100 miles of the south shore, and the actual path it took followed the predicted one almost exactly. Radar showed areas of heavy moisture extending out from the center that did indeed include the southern portion of our island, but hardly the entire island, as the news seemed to imply. Further, the arrival time of a hurricane's effects are generally predicted fairly accurately, yet county offices, schools, libraries, and beach parks were shut down days before it was necessary to do so. This amounted to alarmist fear mongering, not rational risk assessment. When dire effects don't materialize it may make people less likely to heed legitimate future warnings. Hmm. I believe there's an old folk story about this -- something to do with a chicken and the sky falling. Ok, stepping down from my soapbox now.....
One effect of Nolo that was real was that it jumped our heat and humidity to very uncomfortable levels for almost a week. I have an indoor/outdoor thermometer/hygrometer in our bedroom that objectively ocumented our steam bath conditions. At times the humidity hung at 88+% with temperatures near 90 degrees. The peak during the day was in the mid-afternoon, when doing anything outside except going in our pool was out of the question. Consequently our usual gardening activities and house maintenance projects were put on hold. As I mentioned last week, thankfully we have three rooms in the house that have a.c.,and we have a photovoltaic system to cover the cost of running the a.c. units.Even without hurricane-driven weather this year, it has been much warmer than in our previous 25 years here. Meteorologists attribute this to a recurrence of the El Nino weather pattern, which is predicted to continue into next year. Ugh!
The Geezer Gazette news this week is mostly positive. First, on Tuesday my visit to my eye doctor went well. Acuity improved a smidge in my left (good) eye, and my injection in the right went smoothly, as
usual. Pressures were good, too. We're holding off on doing the SLT procedure on my left eye so that I can have a preemptive shot before my trip to Bascom-Palmer. Moving to other body parts, my heart continues to behave itself after my ablation in February. According to my self-monitoring devices, I haven't had an Afib episode for 7 months. As you recall, my cardiologist said I could stop my blood thinner as long as I continued to stay in normal rhythm. After about two months my bruising and bleeding problem has greatly improved -- I no longer look like I have leprosy. A third bit of good news is that my blood pressure has lowered enough that I'm almost off the control medicine. I'm not sure why this has happened, but for several months now my readings have gradually lowered. I will be seeing my regular doctor in a week or so for my routine 6-month checkup and I'll ask him about trying to go off the medication entirely and see what happens. Finally, the inhaler he prescribed the last time I saw him has definitely been helping with my emphysema symptoms. The improvement was very slow and subtle, but it seems to be much easier to breathe now and I don't get out of breath as badly as before. My blood oxygen level, which is tracked by my Fitbit, has ticked up a couple notches, too -- although it was ok to begin with. Who knows, maybe the lung medication is what has lowered my bp, too. Better living through chemistry!
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| Ono on Ono |
usual. Pressures were good, too. We're holding off on doing the SLT procedure on my left eye so that I can have a preemptive shot before my trip to Bascom-Palmer. Moving to other body parts, my heart continues to behave itself after my ablation in February. According to my self-monitoring devices, I haven't had an Afib episode for 7 months. As you recall, my cardiologist said I could stop my blood thinner as long as I continued to stay in normal rhythm. After about two months my bruising and bleeding problem has greatly improved -- I no longer look like I have leprosy. A third bit of good news is that my blood pressure has lowered enough that I'm almost off the control medicine. I'm not sure why this has happened, but for several months now my readings have gradually lowered. I will be seeing my regular doctor in a week or so for my routine 6-month checkup and I'll ask him about trying to go off the medication entirely and see what happens. Finally, the inhaler he prescribed the last time I saw him has definitely been helping with my emphysema symptoms. The improvement was very slow and subtle, but it seems to be much easier to breathe now and I don't get out of breath as badly as before. My blood oxygen level, which is tracked by my Fitbit, has ticked up a couple notches, too -- although it was ok to begin with. Who knows, maybe the lung medication is what has lowered my bp, too. Better living through chemistry!
Ok, that's it for this week. I'll leave you with a question to ponder. Which of the following is optional: Being a Geezer or being a Curmudgeon? Take care and Carpe Vitam!
