Thursday, July 26, 2012

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Tonight's picture was taken in July of 2008, a week before Mattie was diagnosed with cancer. Mattie appeared happy and healthy, and was experiencing what any child at 6 years of age would be dealing with..... losing a tooth! Mattie was showing me that his bottom tooth was loose and wiggling and within minutes of this photo he pulled it out of his mouth on his own!!! Mattie made all sorts of deals with the tooth fairy. Actually he would write her a note, requesting certain things, and put it with his tooth under his pillow. Mattie never requested money. He wanted hot wheels cars mostly, and one time he requested a necklace made out of uncooked pasta! Don't ask!!!!

Quote of the day: Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. ~  Calvin Coolidge


I spent the day doing chores at home and working on Foundation items. Later in the day, I ventured back to Virginia Hospital Center for a cardiology appointment. I am happy that all the doctors I am seeing are taking my symptoms seriously and are doing one test after another to rule things out. For the next two weeks I am wearing a looping event monitor. The monitor itself basically looks like a small doctor's beeper/pager, and it has two electrodes coming out of it that have to be attached to my chest. The fun part however is each time I feel palpitations or my heart fluttering, I have to press a button on the monitor. The ironic part is when you press the button, a terrible alarm sound goes off for minutes NOT SECONDS. I told the nurse today that if you don't have palpitations, you most definitely will once this alarm goes off. The unfortunate part is the data from this monitor doesn't go back to the doctor's office wirelessly. Instead in order for the doctor to see my recorded episode, I have to call a number from a land line phone of all things, and hold the monitor to the phone. When the monitor is pressed again the phone, you have to press a "send" button, and the sound that this transmission makes is ridiculous and lasts for minutes. Forget being discreet with this monitor, it seems to me that the person who designed this thing thinks that one only has palpitations at home. Because being at work or out in public with this monitor could prove to be interesting especially when the buttons are pressed. The noise will capture the attention of anyone nearby!

While waiting in the doctor's office I began reading a book my parents sent me, entitled, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Though they sent it to me days ago, with my headaches it was impossible to read or concentrate on anything. As I was in the doctor's waiting room today, I began reading and immediately saw that the book is not written in a typical chapter fashion. It reads more like a diary, with one letter or correspondence between people after another. That might not seem like that would work, but it is actually very intimate and engaging. So I have already been swept up into the world of 1946, and am intrigued by the main character in the book. Juliet is a writer, and living in post World War II England. She is desperate to find something interesting to write about for her next column/book and then finds it through a letter someone sent her. The man who wrote the letter to her was a member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The title of the book sounds delicious to me, but I am all about food! The book's descriptions about rationing and what living through WWII were like are fascinating, but I can already see why I like it because it captures the connections between and about people beautifully. Also it gives you a glimpse into a small but meaningful island off the coast of England, named Guernsey!