A Year of Ups and Downs

My year has continued to be challenging.

Mid-May found me sick with what I thought was the flu.  I did two Covid tests and they were both negative.  I had contacted my doctor and he told me to give it a few days and call back if I felt no better.  I was worse.  I had a dry cough to the point of coughing up water and could not breathe well. I called back, and he told me to go to a walk-in emergency center.  I could hardly walk I was so weak and faint. I had my husband take me to the hospital ER instead.  I got admitted with what they thought was congestive heart failure.  It was actually a pericardial effusion caused by a micro-bug I had picked up somewhere.  My heart was drowning in fluid and my other systems were trying to shut down.  I had no idea how close to dying I was.  Meds didn't work.  I had to have a needle aspiration done   It drained about 100cc of fluid from around my heart.  I had to be awake for that, just numbed up.  My systems started to recover, and I felt much better. I was still as weak as a kitten and could hardly walk from the bed to chair with someone holding on to me. 

After 8 days, I was sent home with a walker and still have to use it to get around. My balance is still off.  When I came home, Pat had to follow behind me with the desk chair if I was trying to walk to the bathroom or bedroom.  I could only go about 20 feet and had to sit down.  Now, I can go much farther.  I can walk from the car into a doctor's office without taking a sit-down break.  I've not gone to any stores or other places except medical appointments. Going in the car just to get out of the house once in a while is all.  I keep the walker with me in the house but try just touching counter edges or tables sometimes. I am on fluid restriction, and a special low salt diet with many restricted items on that too.  I'm wearing the stylish compression stockings unless I am in bed for the night.  

I also had my annual eye exam, and the cataract is worse, so I need surgery for that soon.

Hubby is feeling better.  Thankfully, he has been able to take care of me 24/7 while I recover.  The hospital wanted to send me to rehab to build me back up, but I refused.  I felt I could do better at home and have,

And my 18-year-old cat has been diagnosed with heart disease and thyroid issues.  She has daily meds for that now.

Crafting took a back seat to all of this, since I still take a lot of naps.  I did finish the cowl from May, spin up a pound of fiber over 3 months' time, knit a sweater, and do some cross-stitching on my projects.  I added a medium one of a cat and have about half of it stitched.  There is a ton of backstitching to do after to it. 

Now the cooler weather is coming, I hope to get more crafting done.