Saundrie

After much prodding by other bloggers, I set this up for my own writings. The name is in honour of the two women that mentored me throughout my life on politics and intelligence issues, as well as being wonderful family members, now alas deceased. I hope to live up to their standards at this site.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

On a pause here at Saundrie and Canadian politics

I thought those who might be interested should be informed that I may not be around much in the Canadian blogosphere over the next several days to a fortnight, As I mentioned in an earlier post I had a mild cardiac event, well it repeated itself at the beginning of the week and I am currently undergoing tests to find out what is going on here. My doctor does not want me getting overly emotional/worked up, so I am staying focused on the US Dem primaries since unlike Canadian politics I do not have much of an emotional investment. I will be lurking from time to time through this period, but I doubt I will be saying much, at least not until I have a better idea of why I am having arrythemia (I'm sure I'm misspelling this word) attacks pushing my pulse significantly beyond the 200 beats per minute. If something more serious happens I will make sure this blog posts it as I will get either my wife or father to do so. Until then take care all and be well, and I will thank those who offer their prayers in advance, since I do not know when I will be back here. It might only be for a few days, but since I do not know I cannot assume such. My doctor did describe this as something she found had urgency but not emergency level concern/worry for what it is worth, so with luck I will be back in the trenches against Harper's CPC soon enough.

**UPDATE** (Friday Feb 8 4:19pm AST)

It appears my EKG shows an anomaly within the electrical control mechanism of my heart and so I need further testing which I will be getting next week. The good news is that I apparently am not at significant risk for a heart attack (and haven't had one yet apparently), the problem here is the lack of oxygen delivery to the brain during the rapid pulse rate, in fact the cardiologist was startled that I didn't pass out during the first incident (I was greying out though) from that oxygen deficit. So long as I call for an ambulance if it happens again I should be fine, because a defibrillator will reset the electrical misfiring. I am still going to keep it calm and easy though and avoid the politics which causes me to get too worked up, because apparently that will increase the odds of such misfiring starting up. So that is where things stand as of now. Thanks btw Tomm for your well wishes, as well as to the anonymous in the comments section, it is appreciated.

21 Comments:

Blogger Tomm said...

Scotian,

Take care of your health.

Tomm

Fri Feb 08, 02:39:00 AM 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

We will miss your blogs but your health comes first. Best wishes for all going well in the coming days.

Fri Feb 08, 04:38:00 AM 2008  
Blogger Tomm said...

Scotian,

We are fortunate to live in a society where at our base, all care for each other and do not allow political differences to affect core values.

When I took by boys to central Europe this fall, we got the chance to look at some deep cultural history and saw some things (Auschwitz, Jewish Cemetary in Prague) that speak to bone deep divisions in a society.

We need to keep enough Canadian "new world" culture that we do not create that level of division.

So, get healthy and we can return to "healthy" political discourse.

Tomm

Sat Feb 09, 12:37:00 PM 2008  
Blogger Red Tory said...

Scotian — I’m sorry to hear about your cardiac “event” (don’t you love that euphemistic terminology?). I sincerely hope that it doesn’t become anything more serious and that your health returns shortly.

Tue Feb 12, 03:55:00 PM 2008  
Blogger Scotian said...

RT:

Me too, I had to admit I found it ironic when it happened because I thought of you and what happened to you when this all started. The first couple of attacks were really scary because at that point I had no idea what was happening and why, thankfully the EKG and my GP being such a good doctor to me getting me that result literally a couple of hours later helped me to reduce my fears of what was happening. I had another serious hit Saturday evening and then several mild versions, but because I knew it was electrical I was able to use deep breathing and the knowledge reducing my fear reaction to it and got it under control before it lasted long enough to have to call for an ambulance. At least I know a defibrillator will reset me (and a fire station is literally a couple of blocks from me that I believe also has emergency dispatch capabilities so that doesn't hurt either), and so far I haven't suffered severe enough oxygen deficit to pass out yet, although I was graying out near the end of the first one.

BTW, I am the one using the "cardiac event" terminology since it is what is happening and trying to spell out complex medical terms, especially when I am not sure whether they fit in this case yet can be a real pain. Just thought I should defend my doctor on this one since it wasn't she who used that term to me but me for this blog.

Take care RT, and don't worry, I doubt this is going to keep me down for long, but until I am finished with the testing I am going to limit my commenting to areas where my emotional investment/involvement is minimal, although I had to make an exception when I read about that horrible concentration camp tattoo hoax.

Tue Feb 12, 04:35:00 PM 2008  
Blogger Lindsay Stewart said...

scotian, please look after yourself and get well. don't worry about the canadian political scene, we'll be throwing some extra rocks at the rotten bastards for you. get well soon and we'll look forward to your phoenix like return. cheers.

Tue Feb 12, 05:50:00 PM 2008  
Blogger Red Tory said...

I saw your comment over at CC's place. I've been trying to avoid too much partisan mudslinging (at my place at least) but also had to make an exception yesterday. I posted a film that was produced shortly after WWII describing in detail the horrors of the Holocaust. It seems some people have forgotten and feel that it's the stuff of comedy. I certainly wasn't laughing. It made me mad as hell. (And by the way, I've got no time whatsoever for Kinsella — he's a nasty little douchebag in my opinion).

Tue Feb 12, 06:11:00 PM 2008  
Blogger 900ft Jesus said...

Scotian, we're no good for anyone if we don't take care of ourselves first. Don't worry, we'll hold back on saving the world a little and leave some for you once you're ready!

Wed Feb 13, 03:31:00 AM 2008  
Blogger Cathie from Canada said...

Just dropped by and leaving a note to say we miss you.

Wed Feb 13, 11:47:00 PM 2008  
Blogger Somena Woman said...

be well my friend...

best wishes to you.

mww

Sat Feb 16, 06:58:00 PM 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Scotian I'm sorry to hear about your health. I just found out this evening Feb.21. I know that we do not agree when it comes to politics. We have had big disagreement about it in the past. But when it comes to health we should all unite. I do wish you a speedy recovery.

John

Thu Feb 21, 07:55:00 PM 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Scotian, dear friend, I started taking 750 mg niacin with 1000 mg vitamin C some years ago for my heart palpitations and they have stopped. If I run out of niacin, they start right up again. I have a friend who has had the same experience. Be sure to take the niacin with C or you will flush badly. Hope it helps.

Sharon

Sat Feb 23, 11:05:00 AM 2008  
Blogger Scotian said...

Sharon:

I appreciate the suggestion, but I have a rather complicated medical history and one that is full of atypical reactions/responses to many drugs. So I am not one to add new factors in without first discussing it with my doctor first, although I will add I started taking vitamin C supplements as of last week and the frequency of the arrhythmias has significantly dropped off after the fourth day. I started taking those supplements because I had realized I wasn't getting much Vitamin C in my diet for the past 2 years or so (I used to drink lots of OJ, but my stomach started reacting badly to it, even the low acid type, and aside from the odd container of apple cider (non-alcoholic, I am not a drinker which given some of my meds is a good thing) I wasn't getting any and I started to worry about that deficiency since I know Vitamin C deficiency can cause some fairly serious consequences beyond just scurvy.

General:

As to everyone else that has wished me well, thank you, and so far things seem to be going reasonably well. On Friday I get a 24 hour heart monitor to wear and then get the results discussed with me as well as other tests done the following Tuesday, so hopefully I will soon be back onto the Canadian blogging scene. I have stuck with the American side because it doesn't stress me out anywhere near as much as the crap I see from the Harper government does, but that is only logical given that this is my government we are talking about and I am someone raised with a deep abiding pride and respect for what we as a nation have accomplished and represented.

So until then everyone thanks again and I hope to be seeing you all in the not too distant future.

Sat Feb 23, 10:29:00 PM 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am a new visitor to your site. I am glad to hear that your heart is healthy enough that heart attack risk is not on the table. I had a heart scare myself last year that, after many months of EKGs, Echocardiograms, and stress tests, proved to be all in my head! I wish you the best, and am glad that you are getting good medical care.

Sun Feb 24, 03:39:00 AM 2008  
Blogger Karen said...

I'm so sorry to hear this Scotian but really glad that you're getting the help that you need.

Take good care and know that many of us are thinking of you.

Thu Feb 28, 04:51:00 PM 2008  
Blogger Gayle said...

I echo the many good wishes here.

Sat Mar 01, 04:11:00 PM 2008  
Blogger Scotian said...

Well, I had the heart monitor rig for 24 hrs the other day, and come Tuesday March 4th I get the results and hopefully get a better understanding of what is going on with my heart. Once I know something I will post it, however I have come out of self imposed exile over Canadian politics thanks to the Cadman affair, and I suspect I may well put together a post on it before then. Needless to say I am very disgusted (although not surprised, the Grewal fraud showed me the depths to which Harper and company will go) over it.

Sat Mar 01, 10:48:00 PM 2008  
Blogger Dr.Dawg said...

Scotian,

Thought I'd posted my best wishes up here, but maybe I was having a senior's moment...update please?

Thu Apr 10, 01:57:00 AM 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Scotian, leave the whole mishegoss behind. There's nothing to be done but survive it.

Take care my friend

Thu Apr 10, 11:51:00 PM 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Scotian. Hope your tests are going to be positive. We have missed you. There have been so many issues that you were not able to blog because of your health, but now we hope you can get on board again...yes Cadman, yes the detainees and possible torture..well the lists go on and on. Sheila

Mon Apr 14, 04:25:00 AM 2008  
Blogger Alison said...

Hey, Scotian, how are things goin with you now?

Wed Aug 27, 02:08:00 AM 2008  

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