{"id":552,"date":"2010-07-11T20:54:39","date_gmt":"2010-07-12T03:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/hultquist\/?p=552"},"modified":"2010-07-11T20:54:39","modified_gmt":"2010-07-12T03:54:39","slug":"sunday-dog-days-of-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/?p=552","title":{"rendered":"SUNDAY — Dog Days of Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Please note that Monday is the 12th<\/sup> of July.\u00a0 In 1969, the 12th<\/sup> was on a Saturday and we married on that date \u2013 41 years ago.\u00a0 So, \u00a0Happy Anniversary to us!<\/p>\n

[from John <\/em>:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wikipedia < http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Dog_Days<\/a> > has an interesting write-up of the Dog Days of Summer which references Sirius, the Dog Star, and \u201ca time period or event that is very hot or stagnant, or marked by dull lack of progress.\u201d\u00a0 As a side note, years ago Nancy named one of our Britts \u2018Sirius Sashay\u2019 and the puppies we now have are her great grand children.]<\/p>\n

from Nancy<\/em>:\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0John reminded me I am supposed to write an update on my health for the blog, as promised last weekend.\u00a0\u00a0 I must say sadly I don\u2019t have a lot of good things to write, except that I\u2019m alive and still kicking but I\u2019m not ready for the Rockettes, just yet.\u00a0 My energy level has not returned, and I find myself only good to gear up for a couple of hours for an event, and then I have to rest.\u00a0 It could be that sleep during the night being interrupted with puppy care is part of the problem.\u00a0 They usually have us up at midnight and then 3:00 and finally when it is light, we can put them out in the backyard as early as 5:30 (this morning).\u00a0 They turn 7 weeks tomorrow.\u00a0 We transferred a sweet puppy today to her new owners (more on that later).<\/p>\n

Back to my health and lack of energy.\u00a0 At first we wondered if the change in meds might have prompted some of the problems \u2013 that may still turn out to be the case, and tomorrow is a doctor\u2019s visit to my family physician in Cle Elum.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I was scheduled last week at the hospital here in town for blood draws for various lab tests.\u00a0 I had them all done right after playing fiddle with my group for a little over an hour.\u00a0 I did not drink during the playing time.\u00a0 I guess I should have and should have been hydrating my system all along (I thought I was doing this).\u00a0 I drink an awful lot of lemonade that John makes for me from powder.\u00a0 However, a call from my family physician\u2019s nurse indicated my lab tests showed I was dehydrated and needed to intake more liquids.\u00a0 That said, I did.\u00a0 That probably explains why I had a headache and was feeling so lousy. \u00a0I missed my Friday afternoon exercise class because I didn\u2019t feel up to getting there and doing it. It\u2019s from 1:30 to 2:30 MWF and in an a\/c room with a bunch of supportive ladies (and one man).<\/p>\n

The other tests were apparently okay, although one was still being processed.\u00a0 I do not know if the results will be back before my appointment right after lunch tomorrow.<\/p>\n

The new medication affects my potassium balance and that was one of the tests.\u00a0 I called my pharmacist Saturday morning (who also is my fiddling buddy), and she ran all my medications through the system to alert them\/us to any possible drug interactions.\u00a0 None were found except for the concern with this new medication and the potassium imbalance, and the need to keep an eye on the potassium.\u00a0 That was my cardiologist\u2019s concern for this doctor\u2019s visit and the labs drawn, 3 weeks after my last visit with him.\u00a0 He wanted to stay on top of that.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m still on a diuretic (Bumex) and that pulls fluids from my system, contributing to dehydration.\u00a0 It\u2019s to keep the fluids from piling up in my lungs or my legs.\u00a0 The potassium was cut back because of the interaction with the new drug that actually helps shed sodium (the Na of salt) and retain potassium.\u00a0 This means I have to be aware of something called hyperkalemia, or \u201c higher than normal levels of potassium in the blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hormone aldosterone regulates kidney removal of sodium and potassium. Lack of aldosterone can result in hyperkalemia with an increase in total body potassium.\u00a0 Hyperkalemia may be caused by medications, including medications that affect kidney function (potassium sparing diuretics, such as spironolactone, amiloride, or triamterene) and potassium supplements (especially intravenous potassium).\u201d (Taken from a Mayo clinic site<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Spironolactone is the new med I am on.<\/p>\n

My pharmacist continued to counsel me from her records and outlined the symptoms.\u00a0 My cardiologist had also mentioned some of these and said if I had any such signs of severity that I should check myself into ER immediately.\u00a0 These are the symptoms in her literature:\u00a0 muscle weakness, cardiac Arrhythmia (which I have anyway), and hypotension (low blood pressure).<\/p>\n

The symptoms mentioned in the Mayo Clinic report are as follows, \u201cHyperkalemia often has no symptoms. Occasionally, people may have the following symptoms:<\/p>\n