A Day in the Life of Lois

Where does inspiration come from? For me, it's my everyday life experiences. My relatives give me plenty of ammunition that's for sure; god mother's slapping the bride to be at her bridal shower; another daughter throwing the bridal shower cake in the mother's face, again at the shower. These are true stories that I did not make up. I could go on....but then it would take the fun out of my next book.

I know this sounds inane, but for those of you who do get pedicures; has this ever happened to you? I've been in Texas now for six years. My stylist warned me about health issues at nail salons and I take her advice very seriously since I don't want to get nail fungus. Here's what happened.

I've been going to the recommended nail salon and the owner/manager speaks limited English. She understands what you say but her response is limited. I get it. I can't understand a word of Vietnamese, so I give her credit.

First appointment, I'm pleased. However when I go to pay, she points to the sign which says, "Cash preferred." Even though it's advertised they accept Visa and Master Card...oh well.

The next several appointments go well. I come with cash, but learn the manager gets the tips. No cash to the girls who have worked on me. Okay....

Last appointment (do you notice how I say 'appointment' and not 'walk in'?) It's for 10:00. A mother brought in her four pre teen daughters as walk ins about ten minutes before ten. This took up the entire nail staff. I waited twenty minutes before she filled up the spa. I should've walked out, but I really needed my nails done. Twenty minutes later, I was serviced. The manager then 'played nice' to me by sitting down and talking to me. I felt a little uncomfortable but just played along. In my mind, I'm thinking, she knows that I am on to her. The price of five versus just one pedicure. The tip is not going to be that much.

I go to pay with cash giving her a ten and a twenty, expecting five dollars cash back. She slams the register door shut and says, "We're even. My girls get five dollar tip!" And she walks away to answer her phone.  I was stunned! I tried to follow her but to no avail.

Do things like this happen to you? Why me?

Getting Even...

Getting excited! I just received the final draft for my upcoming book, Intercepted, from my editor! The tentative release date is April 22, 2015. I will let you all know if it changes.

This has been a real hectic year so far for me! I need to learn how to take deep breaths before I tackle things. I do find now that I'm older, I don't tolerate being taken advantage of lately. I used to go home and beat myself up if something happened but not anymore.

Yes, I let the offender have it yesterday. I might be petite, but don't mess with me. Yes, you did offer me something as a compromise and you had to send in the biggest person you employed to deal with me...so what? My husband is six foot five and I've dealt with big people for half my life, so you don't scare me!

What you fail to realize, I am still going to write your boss....so beware! Never mess with an angry woman!!

Getting there....

What a week!

Now that I'm feeling about 90% better (it's true, I don't know how to relax), I have run non-stop this week.

I don't know about you, but have you seen a hospital bill lately? I know when my parents were going through the last stages of their lives in 2007 and 2008, I reviewed them and thought they were astronomical. Well let me tell you, they were peanuts compared to my one night stay in the hospital. I requested a copy of my bill so I can forward it to AFLAC, our supplemental insurance. It almost stopped by heart! And that doesn't even include the surgery and the ancillary charges. I'm broke! Insurance covers the majority of it but with the higher deductibles and co insurance? I'm going to be eating a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a while!

Better news; someone recommended Play for Me for the library book club for next year. Thank you very much! Only drawback, is that currently, it's only in eBook format and not all of the members have a Kindle or a Nook. The librarian wants me to find out if I can get some copies to give to the library.

Next, a local wine shop is hosting a Writers & Wine event on April 30th of this year. It's a chance to sell and promote your books. I have signed up to participate. I used bookmarks to promote When the Runway Went South and I don't know if it was very effective. I am looking to print out business cards and postcards of my books. My creative side lives in my writing, not art. I am going to tap some resources to see if they can help me out.

I just want to thank all of you who support me. I can't tell you how much I really appreciate it!

I Survived!

I survived! I am now SVT - free! I just have to tell you about the surgery because I felt like I was in a hospital of the future.

They put me on a special magnetic table where I was hooked up with magnets on my heart to simulate the electrical system of the heart. Then there was a very large computer screen that showed a three dimensional display of my heart.

I was given gas for the procedure because I'm so hyper, I needed to be knocked out. However, I wasn't totally knocked out when they were trying to locate the errant tissue. Within ten  minutes in, the surgeon found it immediately. Of course I looked at my heart. I could see the blood running through the chambers of my heart in a fast moving red stream. Sure enough, there were tissues that stood straight up during the flow, literally knocking things out of place.

Then I was heavily sedated while they cauterized those tissues. Don't remember any of that. I had to lie still for six hours and then they kept me overnight for observation. Let it be told, you never get rest at the hospital. I guess it's okay because the nurses only are checking up on you for your well being.

The surgical nurse, who was excellent by the way, told me it is not uncommon to experience 'phantom' attacks. I will feel the symptoms of one about to occur because the brain still thinks that tissue is there. It never happens, thank goodness!

Also, one of my father's favorite antique clocks which fell off the wall two years ago, has been repaired! It's now hanging and ticking away happily. I know my father is smiling down at me from heaven!

Since this has been a really quiet week, I was able to get working on my next book. Excited about it!
Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!

I am the worst patient ever....

I am basically, a healthy person. I have had my share of colds, headaches, sinus infections, female ailments etc, but this SVT is really getting to me. For those of you who don't know what it is, it's Supra Ventricular Tachycardia. A really fast heartbeat that is triggered by caffeine, stress or dehydration. It is a congenital heart condition which I inherited from my mother. (Thanks, Mom!)

The best way to describe it came from my current cardiologist. Just think of the electrolytes in your heart as a NASCAR race. Everyone is making a left turn making sure the blood in your heart is moving along. All of a sudden, there is a rogue group who decides to make a right turn...chaos erupts! Nothing goes right and your heart begins to pump even faster trying to straighten everything out. Hence, the heartbeat races to about 250 beats per minute.

What do you do? At first, it usually rights itself with in a couple of minutes. Dodged that one. But as time goes on, they become more frequent and the episodes last longer. The best way to stop them is to stick your face into cold water. The shock usually slows the heart rate down.

If that doesn't work, you 'bear down' as if you were having a baby; holding your breath to try and slow the rate down. If that doesn't work, try blowing through a straw. Usually, that will help.

The next step is to be put on a beta blocker. This is usually taken at night because it not only lowers your heart rate, it also lowers your blood pressure. In other words, it kind of knocks you out and when you do have an episode, it's not as severe.

When that stops working, the next step is to have a 'pill in the pocket'. When you feel an episode coming on, you take this pill immediately and it usually takes about an hour for it to kick in and slow your heart down.

I don't know about you, but when that happens, I get kind of scared thinking, when is this thing going to slow down? Your stomach becomes distended and begins to push on your diaphragm causing shortness of breath. The blood pressure drops so low, you see stars. Yes, I was rushed to the ER when the episode lasted for over two hours.

The last step which my cardiologist tried to prevent, is a Catheter Ablation, surgery. What happens, is the surgeon goes through your groin with a catheter to reach the heart tissue. He/she will try and simulate an episode to find the heart tissue which is causing the arrhythmia and zap it. This procedure is 98% successful. If it doesn't work, they will try again. If that doesn't work, a pacemaker will be implanted

.Guess what I'm having done tomorrow? Yes. I am petrified. The only surgery I've had is a colonoscopy.

Usually, it is an outpatient surgery; the recovery time is about 7 - 10 days, with no heavy lifting. In my case, they are keeping me overnight because the time of this procedure is later in the morning and I have to lie perfectly still for six hours. For those of you who do know me, I'm as hyper as they come. Yes, I will be sedated which is why they are keeping me overnight.

I've tried to keep my mind off of it by working on my next book....but I've lost all concentration. I'm writing and then all of a sudden, I have a question about this procedure and I go to google and then my concentration is shot! I'm so bad.

Please keep me in your prayers! Thanks!