The House is underway
Bailey scaled down the parts of 'The House' and printed them out as templates. The gingerbread was made, rolled out and cut to match the templates. Jeff melted some isomalt and poured the windows and, now, they are waiting for the chief architect to return from work and oversee the construction. In the meantime, Alesa made Christmas crack with Bridget and is now making peanut blossom cookies but in the shape of dog paws. I was feeling a bit of an irregular heartbeat before we left Florida and with no symptoms, I was waiting for it to go back to normal. After a week it didn't go away so I thought I would have it checked and I am now back in regular rhythm. *****Warning: the following is in some detail because we may use it for future reference. I went to the local VA clinic and since the feeling came and went I could either say I had no symptoms and they would schedule a future appointment or I could say I was having symptoms and they would declare an emergency and call an ambulance. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it or risk being sent to the Phoenix VA hospital. They suggested I call the VA triage nurse to get sent to a facility. The nurse finally called me back after a few hours and walked me through a checklist which required me to answer exactly how I was feeling then. This led to no diagnosis other than I was probably dehydrated. So having good insurance I went to the Dignity Mercy hospital emergency room here in Gilbert about a tenth of mile away from the VA clinic. They diagnosed me with tachycardia and afib. It wasn't too bad so I could go home since I was on blood thinners or be admitted for observation and be assigned a cardiologist. Since it bothered me mostly at night and I wouldn't mind having a cardiologist out here, I opted for admission. They put me on a wireless monitor and started a diltiazem drip. I slept through the night and the cardiologist visited as I was eating breakfast. He confirmed the diagnosis and said he could have cardioverted me if I hadn't eaten breakfast. I also told him that Amiodarone has put me back in rhythm after a day or so. He said he preferred diltiazem and would switch if that didn't work. After lunch I was visited by the doctor that would actually do the cardioversion. Of course, he said that if I hadn't eaten lunch he could have shocked me then but he would do it in the morning if I wasn't back in rhythm and he added an amiodarone drip. I had to have a second IV added since amiodarone and diltiazem shouldn't be directly mixed. I was put on NPO (nothing to eat or drink after midnight) for the morning cardiovert. When dinner was delivered it was only a small bottle of water. After explaining/complaining they did give me a dinner. I was awakened in the morning by a technician setting up the equipment in my room for the cardiovert. The doctor showed up around 8:15, I was sedated and he shocked me twice to restore a normal rhythm. I woke up and they explained all was well and in my groggy state I slept for the rest of the morning. After being monitored for the rest of the day I was discharged before dinner so I could get back and enjoy the Beef Wellington Jeff had prepared that day. I also enjoyed that pulled pork sandwich they brought to the ER on Friday night when they picked up Alesa who did not want to drive in unfamiliar roads in the dark. I am back and doing great. "I warned you!"