Changes for the better

How lovely to wake up to a clear blue sky and sunshine! Chilly too. After breakfast, I phoned for a taxi to take me to UHW for my ECG heart scan appointment. The auto-booking system used didn't work properly and wouldn't cooperate. It gave me a panic to say the least. I called again, and this time a real human being answered, and a taxi was outside at half past ten. I arrived at the correct destination, relieved to be fifteen minutes early rather than rushing anxiously. Three quarters of an hour later, job done, I was on a slow bus into town on my way home. It was such a nice day, I could have walked, but after losing two and a half hours sleep in eight, I decided not to push myself too hard, and was home again by a quarter to one

A letter from the surgery awaited me when I arrived, asking me to join the 8:00 am phone queue for a 'non urgent triage appointment'. It's probably to tell me the result of blood tests which will report low blood sodium again. I will report how an acupuncture diagnostic indicated that my kidneys weren't working well and how much one acupuncture treatment resulted in restoring my natural energy level, so that I'm now feeling better than I have done for weeks. I think the felopidine anti-hypertensive medication is also working to keep me feeling more stable, less out of control. One way or another, the concoction of meds I take makes me pee a lot at night with a resulting loss of good sleep. 

I wrote to Dr Dyban to report that the medication change had been beneficial and about the improvement following from acupuncture treatment. I delivered the letter to the surgery on my walk after lunch which took me to Thompson's Park as the sun approached the horizon, lighting up the trees with an orange glow. I took a few photos but high contrast ones after editing weren't as good as I hoped for. There may be a camera option I have yet to find that would improve the chances of a better picture. I'm still learning how to get the most out of Olympus mirrorless camera settings.

On the way back home I called at the Co-op and bought a couple of beers to put in the fridge to welcome Owain. Unfortunately I didn't realise that I needed to shop for ingredients to cook supper for him, and the fridge didn't have the necessary vegetables for making a meal. When he arrived at half past six he had to go out again and do food shopping I should have done by way of preparation, so that he could have pasta with courgette, pepper and tomato sugo. What he cooked smelled delicious, enough for two meals.

Clare had an early evening meal then went out to choir practice. Owain and I ate together. After we'd eaten he changed my Microsoft account login details to eliminate use of an email address I'll lose when I close my TalkTalk account. In half an hour he made the necessary login changes and tested them out on both my Windows devices. I was impressed by the discipline and confidence with which he went about the job, and explained what he was doing as he worked. So reassuring! I would have been much slower and nervous about following this process. Poor eyesight makes me more error prone these days, increases the stress, and sends my blood pressure up. Rather than struggle, I'm learning to ask for help when I need it. It's a weight off my mind. I'm free now to focus on changing broadband provider. I should sleep easier tonight.