It rained!!

HOLY SHIT, IT RAINED YESTERDAY AND TODAY! I just took this pic from our deck 5 minutes ago, noon time here. I couldn't believe it. Notice the sky--it's overcast. It hasn't been like that since I've been here. It started raining off and on starting yesterday when I was in the hospital (a whole story in itself.) It hasn't been a torrential downpour, but more like scattered showers. Enough that we needed the windshield wipers. Amazing. And the wind is blowing, it's in the mid 70's, just all in all BEAUTIFUL weather. This is the time to live in this country, let me tell you.

And then there is the hospital story. Everyone knows that I hate hospitals, blood and needles in particular. So I have been avoiding this trip like the plague. My excuse before was that I didn't have health insurance, but now I do so I couldn't avoid this trip any longer. So Rachel, Josh, and I venture to Bahrain International Hospital (the one Josh just got out of) to meet with the cardiologist. I was absolutely petrified. When they took my initial blood pressure it was the same as before, around 190/110. They took my family history (thanks, Dad) and started with the tests. First they did an EKG, which was strange, but I could handle. Next they did a sonogram, or at least that's what I think it was. They had me on my side and prodded my chest with this stick that allowed them to see my heart up on the screen. That hurt like hell, but Rachel thought it was cool as hell because she could see my heart on the screen. That lasted for quite some time because they took measurements of the thickness of my heart's walls and such. Next I had another consultation with the cardiologist--who was extremely cool--and he told me that I'm not diabetic, but it was strange for me to have such high blood pressure at such an early age. So he ordered more tests to find out why. 8 tests, to be exact. The first was the one I was dreading more than anything--the blood test. I lay down, turn my head, grip Rachel's hand like I was going to break it, and start shaking like crazy. They finally got their sample, but not before Josh and the other nurses had some fun at my expense. Josh, you're an asshole. I probably would have been a whole lot better had it just been Rachel and I. Oh well. So next was the piss test, the only one that I wasn't nervous about. The next was a vision test so they could look at my arteries and test the pressure in my eyes. That was NOT fun. I couldn't see straight for hours after I left the hospital so I finally got pissed and just went to bed. Saw you called, Dad. I was sleeping. Sorry. Back on track. So they said my pressure in my eyes was borderline high so I have to undergo more tests there as well. Great. I have to go back Monday for the vision tests and the rest of the original 8 that the doc wanted to do because they either had to get approval from the insurance company or it took time to set up the tests. So, as I left I picked up the two meds the doc prescribed--Norvasc and Aldactone. He said he's going to step up the medication gradually to reduce the pressure because it would not be beneficial at all to suddenly just crash it down. The shitty news is that I have to be on medicine for the rest of my life. I'm looking forward to that. Not.


The good news is that I think I found a car. I'll keep it secret until it goes through and I actually get it...