• About

Grayfeathersblog

~ Diabetes, Cancer Fighter, Father of Twins, Kayak Fishing, Lover of Life

Grayfeathersblog

Tag Archives: Appointment

A Car Accident, Too Many Phone Calls, and a Future Son-in-Law

04 Wednesday Mar 2026

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in bariatric-surgery, Boy Scouts, diet, Family, Fishing, Kayaking, Life, Retirement, Twins, Uncategorized, Weight Loss, Woodworking

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

accident, Alarm, Appointment, Bible Study, Boy Scouts, Breakfast, Car, Coffee, Daughter, Doctor, Engraver, Family, fault, Fishing, health, Interruption, Kayaking, Laser, Life, Marriage, mental-health, Phone, Police, Woodworking, writing

Tomorrow is Thursday, and this week has gone from bad to worse.

My 4 a.m. alarm didn’t go off Tuesday morning, which meant I missed my Tuesday Bible study. That may not sound like a big deal to most people, but it is to me. I haven’t missed one since I started going nearly six months ago.

I woke up around 5 a.m. and immediately realized it was too late to rush around and try to make it on time. The real sign that I wasn’t rushing anywhere was that I didn’t even make coffee first thing. Anyone who knows me knows that’s a sure sign something is off.

After getting cleaned up and eating breakfast, I headed out to the shop and started working on some crafts with my laser. I’ve got a craft fair coming up, and every spare minute seems to be dedicated to getting items ready for it. My breakfast appointment wasn’t until 8 a.m., so I had some time to kill.

I met my friend Rick for breakfast, and of course, the first thing he asked was when we were going fishing. I told him “Soon,” but explained that I had some projects I needed to finish before the craft show. I could tell he wasn’t thrilled with that answer.

During breakfast, my phone kept ringing. No fewer than four people called wanting to talk about Scout-related matters. Even though I consider myself no longer involved in Scouts, apparently, the news hasn’t fully spread yet.

Once I got back home, I went right back to working on my crafts. Before long, the phone started ringing again. More Scout calls.

Running a laser in the shop requires attention. It’s essentially a controlled fire, and if you’re not careful, things can go wrong in a hurry. After trying to juggle phone calls and watch the laser at the same time, I finally decided it wasn’t worth the risk. I shut the laser down.

At 1 p.m., I had a dentist’s appointment.

I have a love-hate relationship with my dentist. I’ve been seeing him for over 30 years, and I trust him completely. But that doesn’t mean I enjoy what he does. I absolutely cannot stand the sound of a dental drill.

Thankfully, I haven’t had a cavity in years, but every now and then, he has to replace a filling that he put in decades ago. Yesterday was one of those days.

After leaving the dentist, things took a turn for the worse.

While merging into another lane, I was hit by a car. The driver had been turning left onto the roadway and collided with me. Before the police arrived, he admitted to me that it was his fault. But when the officers got there, his story had changed. Suddenly, he was telling them that I ran into him because I wasn’t paying attention.

There had been a witness who told me he saw the young man hit me. Unfortunately, by the time I tried to get his information, he had already left. Now I’ll have to wait five to seven business days to pick up the police report and see what it says.

Today was my bariatric appointment.

At one point, my lowest weight was 165 pounds. To be honest, I didn’t look very healthy at that weight. I had gotten too thin. People were quietly asking others if I had some sort of serious illness and wasn’t telling anyone.

My scale at home said 185 pounds this morning. I knew the doctor’s office scale would be a little heavier because of shoes and clothes. Sure enough, it read 191. Still, that’s lower than my last reading at the doctor’s office a year ago.

My doctor would like me to get down to about 175 pounds. He thinks that’s my ideal weight. Personally, I’m pretty comfortable where I am now, but I wouldn’t mind getting down to 175. I just don’t want to go much lower than that.

The next couple of days will be catch-up days.

I have projects cut out that still need sanding. Items that are sanded but need painting. And pieces that are painted but still need to be glued together and assembled.

But even with all the chaos this week, there has been a bright moment.

My wife and I had dinner with one of my daughter’s boyfriends. During dinner, he asked us for permission to ask my daughter to marry him.

It felt strange even writing that sentence.

I can hardly believe that soon I may have a married daughter and gain a son-in-law. He’s a good young man, and I truly believe he cares deeply about her. I know she feels the same way about him.

She had been worried that I might not give my permission. But I would never stand in the way of my daughter’s happiness.

That moment was a candle in what had otherwise been a pretty dark and stressful week.

Now I’m hoping the rest of the week goes by quietly and uneventfully.

After all the doctor’s appointments, the phone calls, and a car accident, I think I’ve earned a couple of calm days.

Under the Microscope… Again (Apparently I’m Now 5.9% Banana)

06 Friday Feb 2026

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in bariatric-surgery, Diabetic, diet, Life, Uncategorized, Weight Loss

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

addiction, Appointment, Bloodwork, Change, Coffee, craving, Doctor, Food, health, labs, labwork, Life, lifestyle, pottassium, relationships, Surgery, writing

Lab results are in, and just like that… I’m under scrutiny again.

When I got the email with the results, the first thing that jumped out at me was my potassium. High. Again.

This isn’t new. It was high before, then magically went back to normal on the retest. Go figure. But here we are again. My doctor called yesterday and told me my potassium was elevated to an “extremely high” level. Naturally, I went digging through my past labs, and I noticed a pattern — since my weight-loss surgery last April, my potassium has been slowly climbing.

And I have absolutely no explanation why.

For those who don’t live their lives waiting on lab portals to refresh, high potassium — or hyperkalemia — means there’s too much potassium in your blood. Normal is between 3.5 and 5.0 mEq/L. Mine? 5.9 mEq/L.
Apparently, that extra .9 is where doctors start using their serious voice.

Now here’s where it gets interesting.

The only real lifestyle change I’ve made since surgery is that I’ve apparently developed a full-blown relationship with coffee. Before surgery, I had never enjoyed a single cup in my life. Not one drop. Loved the smell. Hated the taste. But after surgery? My body apparently said, “You know what we need? Coffee. All of it.”

Those pre-surgery classes warned me this might happen. Foods you hate, you’ll crave. Foods you love, you might hate. They never warned me I’d wake up one day emotionally attached to a coffee mug.

I’ve asked other doctors if coffee could be the culprit. Most said, “Probably not,” though they also gently hinted that maybe I shouldn’t be drinking coffee like it’s my full-time job. This latest doctor, however, seems less convinced.

The nurse asked how much coffee I drink in a day.

I was honest.

  • 22 oz before breakfast
  • 22 oz with breakfast
  • 22 oz sometime after supper

Apparently, this is not the answer they were hoping for.

And it doesn’t stop there.

If I go somewhere, I have a freshly made 22 oz riding with me in the truck. I also have what can only be described as a coffee emergency kit — a toolbox with all the fixings — just in case I get stranded somewhere that doesn’t have a coffee shop with my brand of coffee.

Yes. I know. It’s really sick.

Some people say caffeine keeps them awake. Not me. I can drink coffee at 9 PM and be asleep by 11 like a toddler after a long day at daycare. I’m not wired all day. I’m not bouncing off walls. I’m just… caffeinated and functional.

Her suggestion?
Limit myself to one cup per day.

Not one 22 oz cup.
One. Cup.

Friends… that is simply not going to happen.

Today I tried. I drank only one 22-oz cup. And I spent the rest of the day thinking about coffee like it was an ex who still had my hoodie.

I go back to the doctor next Tuesday for more labs. Hopefully, I can make it until then. And maybe — just maybe — they’ll tell me it’s not the coffee doing this.

So now I wait. More labs. More monitoring. More trying to figure out what exactly my body is doing and why it suddenly decided potassium is its favorite hobby.

In the meantime, if you see me walking around slightly jittery but emotionally stable, just know I’m doing my best… and possibly negotiating with myself about a second cup.

3/29/2020 Update

29 Sunday Mar 2020

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Cycling, Diabetic, diet, Gym, Weight Loss

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Appointment, Exercise, Flu, followers, health, Sick, Tests, treadmill, Yard Work

How is everyone doing during the quarantine? I’m doing fine I guess.  I did something stupid the other day and I really hope that it doesn’t come back to bite me.  I’m expecting a house painter to come early next week to start painting my house.  In order to do the front, I had to get rid of my hedge bushes.

IMG_20200328_134444

They’ve been there for years and have grown quite big and tall. I took a chain saw to them which made for quick work and after the front was exposed I noticed a large hole that went underneath my front stoop.  I had to purchase some bags of dirt to fill it in before the painters showed up.  The stupid part is when I went to Lowes to purchase the dirt.  The place was packed.  It looked like they were going to have some sort of give-away.  I should have turned around then but I didn’t. When I went to check out the line was over twenty people long.  With my health the way it is, I should’ve turned around but instead, I stood in line with all those other people.  I won’t be doing that again.

IMG_20200326_125054

The house looks bare now but at least they’re cut down now.  The only thing I have to do now is pull up the stumps.  I’ll do that later on.  The grounds too wet to get in there with my truck and I don’t want to ruin my yard with ruts or worse get my truck stuck.

IMG_20200328_134453
IMG_20200328_134450

As of this morning, I’ve lost 9.2 pounds.  I’ve got to get back on my treadmill so I can lose the other five pounds so I can get on my bicycle.  Plus, with the virus going around and us being quarantined, I’m making more and more trips to the refrigerator which is not good.  I’ve still got this nagging cough which when I get out of breath makes it hard for me to breathe and I have a coughing fit.  I’ll either start back this evening or wait until Monday to start.

I have a doctor’s appointment come Wednesday.  I’m sort of excited about going.  I’ve been keeping up with my sugar and it’s down from 9.9 to 7.2.  I’ve already seen the medical test report.  So I’m pretty excited about that.  My triglycerides are high and I need to do something to get it lower.

I’m near to 400 followers now.  When I started this blog I never thought it would be this high.  I’m about to go through and delete a few because some I have found are nothing but spam and sex promo sites.  I have no idea how I got those followers.  Anyway, thanks for following me.

Stay home and stay safe everyone!!

365 Day Photo Challenge 273/365 “Half Day Tomorrow”

29 Tuesday Sep 2015

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Photography

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

365 Day Photo Challenge, Appointment, Cancer, Cats, CML, Diabeties, Doctor, Leukemia, PTO

005

I have a doctors appointment tomorrow with my general practitioner.  I see him every six months and have been every since I’ve been diagnosed with Diabetes.   If you don’t have a regular doctor I would highly suggest that you get one.  If it wasn’t for my biannual checkups my CML would not have been diagnosed until it was too late.

I’ve got to talk to him about several items that I’m having problems with so it might be a longer visit than normal.  I will not be going back to work after my appointment.  I’m sort of looking forward to a little time off.

365 Day Photo Challenge Day Twelve “Corn Bread”

12 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

365 Photo Challenge, Appointment, Corn Bread, Doctor, Food, Photography, Skillet

DSCN2432

Can you tell that I’m board?  Now I’m down to taking pictures of my food.  I made some corn bread for dinner last night and I’ve always having trouble getting the corn bread out of the skillet whole.  Looks like I did a pretty good job of it last night.  It’s all gone now.

I get to get out tomorrow to go to the eye doctor so it looks like I’ll be going back to work on Wednesday.  I’ve really enjoyed being off and I’m really looking forward to retiring from my current employer even more.  Just three years and six months to go.

I promise that tomorrow’s picture will be something other than food or my cats.

Blog Stats

  • 12,491 hits

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 497 other subscribers
Follow Grayfeathersblog on WordPress.com

2015

March 2026
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  
« Feb    

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Grayfeathersblog
    • Join 497 other subscribers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Grayfeathersblog
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...