While we were watching the movie this evening (we loved it! so funny!) I received two phone calls one with good news and the other with some worrisome ones.
Let's tackle the bad first. Asthma runs in my family, particularly in my dad's family because his dad had really bad asthma all his life. And then I had it too, starting at age three and continuing until I was basically "cured" when I went vegan for 10+ years (I'm not anymore, but try to at home the best as I can). My boys were also diagnosed, although their asthma is pretty mild compared to what mine was like as a child.
Well... and now, at 76 years old my dad started having pretty bad asthma attacks when he's exposed to lots of dust (or even a little of dust!). This past Sunday night my mom ended up in the hospital with him but I didn't find out until today. I had called mom on Saturday, but not since then. He didn't have to be admitted or anything, but they gave him some intravenous medication and breathing treatments. And now I'm worried about him. I wish he could go on daily asthma prevention medications such as Flovent or Advair (both made by my husband's former "big pharma" employer that turned our lives into such a turmoil back in 2007-2009... sigh...) -- but I don't know if these are available in Brazil!
My mom plans to take him to an allergist so he can get tested and then they can figure out how to prevent his asthma from flaring up (I mean, he never had asthma, so these could be just "reactive airway disorder" and not a chronic condition -- hopefully!!).
Oh, yeah... and my mom had forgotten to tell me that when she had her recent colonoscopy they found and removed some polyps. Scary! Could have become life threatening in a few years. And I found out that my mom's paternal grandmother died of colon cancer, as did two of my dad's uncles & dad's dad died after a botched colonoscopy. Sigh.... I've already had one done to diagnose IBS and I know I have to get this test done periodically with this kind of a family history... sigh...
But then my dear friend Heidi called me! (it was actually before I talked to mom, but I wanted the "bad news" first) And she had wonderful news that her husband got a job!! And they're moving to TX (I can remove location, H, just let me know). Not only that, but they will be working with a very very dear friend of us, a wonderful musician, trumpet player and band director who moved to the U.S. from Brazil a year or two after we did so we never saw him & his family again.
What a small world! How happy I was that my friends now have work and a new place to live. I hope we get to see them when they come to retrieve their possessions that are in storage here in the area.
Well, I guess that I can keep praying about my parents' health and hoping it will be good. At least they are very diligent about doing check-ups and getting treatment.
And I guess we'll be going to TX again at some point to visit more friends (and we have family there too, particularly K's uncle who moved there from Africa last year)!
ok, gotta go to bed now!
Yes, I think you should come visit!
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