Uncle Cran's 'Farm' Report . . .

Two Strokes!
Putting Him Out Twice!

Google Images

I finally heard from Uncle Cran, and his first line was alarming:

I had my second TIA (Mini Stroke, transient ischemic attack) Tuesday. The first was last November.

I remember that one . . . did I blog on it? If not, here's the story of Uncle Cran's earlier, November 2013 report (and I'm both following on and banking on his good humor in both of his emails):

I thought I should let you know about the last few days. Monday night I woke up about 11:00 pm and remembered I forgot my blood pressure pill, but thought I would take next morning. Tuesday we had a lot to do, so I [AGAIN!] forgot the pill. After a late breakfast Gay and I, with granddaughter Tiffany, took the truck and 6 x 16 ft trailor to the woods and loaded up about 2 ricks of wood, and brought it to the house, about 12:30 pm. I did some weed trimming by the house, burned the trash, and decided to get the ATV hooked up to the wood splitter and split some wood. About 1:30 pm I went to the little garage building to get started. I got on the ATV . . . and next thing . . . I found myself sitting in my living room chair, about 2:30 pm. Gay said I gave her a scare. She said she came to see about me and I was standing by the machines with a gas can in my hand, going from one to the other, looking in the gas tanks, starting the splitter a couple of times, and trying to start the ATV. She said I told her I was mixed up. She said she told me we should take the battery out and put it on the charger, and go to the house. I don't remember a thing about all this.

So far, sounds like an average day with Uncle Cran . . .

Anyway, I ate a sandwich, cleaned up and we got ready to go to family night at the funeral home in West Plains, for the pre-funeral visitation.

Wasn't that sort of jumping the gun?

When we got home, Gay took my blood pressure and it was 176/92 m, way above my normal 125/70. I took the blood pressure pill about 9:00, but it kept going up: 170-101 to 183/99, so I took another b/p pill, about 9:40, then 198/102, then 10:30 218/115.

Obviously, these were pills designed to increase blood pressure!

So I called the hospital, and they said to come to the emergency room, and we got there about 10:30. They did an EEG, which was normal, then a CAT scan, and there was no damage showing, then an EKG and took blood samples. The blood pressure wouldn't come down, so they gave a high powered pill, and the b/p started coming down. There were so many emergencies that I was way down on the list, and the doctor said they would admit me to a room. It was about 4:00 am by then, so Gay went home, and I got to the room about 4:30. Next day they did an X-ray; and kept running tests all day. By afternoon all the tests showed everything was back to normal, so they released me about 6:00 pm. They told me to keep a close watch on my blood pressure, take it easy for a few days, and if anything else happens, get back to the hospital right away. Today, I feel fine. This is a lot of information you likely don't need, but it's kind of important to me, and saves me a lot of phone calls.

In summary, I tell people they checked my brain, and didn't find a thing . . . checked my heart, and it showed I had a hard, cold heart but was as close to normal as they could get. I did get a look at the brain scan, and noted it was signed by the EEG specialist, whose name was AB-Normal.

So, Uncle Cran watched Young Frankenstein, too? Anyway, that was then (November 2013) - this is now (September-October 2014):

Like the other one [i.e., the transient ischemic attack (TIA) back in November], I don't remember anything except for a few momentary things. It pretty much scared Gay, so she called the VA doctor and they told her to get me to the emergency. I don't remember much, except walking into the ER, and the nurse asking me my name, date of birth, and who was President. I couldn't remember.

I sometimes wish I couldn't remember who was president . . .

The nurse said we are sending you for a C/T scan and lab work. I cant remember being wheeled down there and just heard someone say keep your arms across your body. I'm not sure exactly what happened . . . but I kind of think a big black dog came in, sniffed me all over, wagged his tail and left:

That was Mephistopheles . . .

Then a yellow tomcat came in, sniffed me all over, purred, then left also:

That would be - probably - Behemoth . . .

Next thing I remember I was in a room with Gay there. Then the doctor came by and said the Lab Work and Cat Scan was good . . . JUST KIDDING!

Labradors and cats? What else was raining down? Is this the kidding season, Uncle Cran? Do you have goats? Has anyone ever gotten your goat? Other than me?

But the doctor did say there was no apparent damage.

What about the unknown uknowns, as Rumsfeld would put it?

I am going to start taking Plavix for now on, I suppose. They did tell me to slow down on working so much, and it sounds like Gay is going to enforce that order. I feel a lot better today, and this afternoon I worked a crossword puzzle, sudoku, and a jumble puzzle, so I am back to as normal as possible. I just tell people I'm all here, just not all there.

All joking aside, Uncle Cran, we want you to stay healthy and keep sending the occasional humorous email!