...there I was, at 10,000 feet, and I had just gotten tone on the MiG lined up in my sights, when I spotted two more MiGs coming up from behind...
...no, wait...
...that's the wrong story...
Well, I'm more or less back. The new year has been a bit of a challenge thus far. On 2 Jan, I went in for a cranial MRI and two days later I was sidelined by a hell of a lot of symptoms that, at first I thought was a very bad cold or flu. The symptoms lingered for well over a month and pretty much laid me low. They finally went away, but then I developed severe pains in my hands which rendered me unable to do much of anything, much less typing. The pains subsided a little less than a week ago...
Getting back to the MRI, I had an appointment with my regular clinic, who had ordered the MRI, at my insistence, this past Wednesday, 26 Jan. I hadn't heard anything from either the clinic or the MRI imaging people, so I have been going on the idea no news was good news. There was that incident a couple of weeks ago, when I received a letter, out of the blue, from my Medicare insurance carrier; they were asking if I had given consideration to creating an "Advance Medical Directive" a politer sounding name for a DNR, better known as a "Do Not Resuscitate" order. At first, my reaction was "Hmm... Say, I wonder if they know something I don't?...", but I just figured their systems had figured out I'm an old geezer and spat out what it felt appropriate, so I just put it the back of the list. When I got to the doctor’s office, I found out they also had not been given the results of my MRI; there was a bit of a scramble, with several phone calls back and forth, They were able to get the results sent electronically and my doctor reviewed them and left to consult with some other doctors; then he came back...
It seems the MRI found some sort of damage to some of the smaller capillaries in my brain; it has been deemed to be irreversible. My doctor said it may or may not be an indicator of early onset Alzheimer’s and he is referring me to a neurological specialist to make further tests. Until the neurologist makes his determination, I guess I’ll just have to be patient...
I want to thank all who have expressed interest or concern about my whereabouts and for some of the kind words or thoughts; it is very much appreciated. I may or may not be here on a regular basis going forward, but be assured I regard you as friends and will do my best to minimize any concerns…
Again, many thanks…
I noted how some of the comments in this thread edged closely to eulogistic…
Hmm… Say, I wonder if you guys know something I don’t…
<O>