Notices

Summer Stress; Guard Against the AV!

Old 06-22-2017, 01:08 PM
  # 1 (permalink)  
Member
Thread Starter
 
wpainterw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,550
Summer Stress; Guard Against the AV!

Easy Does It, Going With the Flow, Stress from the Beachlovers

I live year round in a resort area.. I’m not a beachgoer myself (It would be O.K. without water and all that sand!). But plenty of others are. So doctors’ offices close early and unexpectedly, it’s often hard to get appointments (One cancer surgeon scheduled me for mid August!) And it seems difficult to get the docs to work together (My P.C. asked me to give a memo to my urologist. I offered it to him and he handed it back, said he didn’t need to read it). One doctor is treating me for high blood pressure and the other for low. I suggested that they confer with one another before I change the meds.
Having been sober for 29 years I never think of the booze. But I am stressed and wonder how folks more vulnerable to their AV get along. (When I got back from one doctor I mistakenly took too much Miralax which caused me embarrassing and unpleasant stress!)
So I’m ruminating on the usefulness of not trying to change stuff I can’t change, easy does it, not sweating the small stuff, going with the flow and all the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching (One step at a time and everything gets done; By seeking to do all things nothing is accomplished!).
Is your AV seeking more opportunities in these summer months? I see that car crashes and DUI's have increased greatly in certain states such as Colorado, since they legalized "recreational" marijuana. The death rate from heroin overdoses has also increased in certain areas such as New England.

W.
wpainterw is offline  
Old 06-22-2017, 01:24 PM
  # 2 (permalink)  
bona fido dog-lover
 
least's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: SF Bay area, CA
Posts: 99,671
Honestly, after seven and a half years sober, I rarely have thoughts of drinking, no matter what the weather. I'm so content and happy with living sober that any thoughts of drinking are immediately dismissed.

I would love to live near a beach!
least is offline  
Old 06-22-2017, 02:18 PM
  # 3 (permalink)  
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: London
Posts: 2,040
I have the book 'Don't Sweat the Small Stuff' on my bed stand...theres some great lessons in the book. One I particularly like is 'Wherever you go...there you are'.

I'm thankful that I am not feeling phased by the warm weather...in fact I feel so pleased that I am drinking plenty of water instead of sitting in the sun drinking alcohol and dehydrating myself!!!!!! Much kinder to my body 💜
nova84 is offline  
Old 06-22-2017, 03:59 PM
  # 4 (permalink)  
Member
Thread Starter
 
wpainterw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,550
Hi Least and Nova84:
So glad you're doing O.K. But the gist of what I was trying to get at in my thread was that I've been under a lot of stress getting medical help in the summer here and I've learned to deal with that by relying on several maxims which I thought would help other folks stressed by other stuff. For example, summer days and nights are fun for everyone but there's a lot of drinking. People take coolers of beer, wine etc. to the beach. That's fine but there are often car crashes (two bad ones here in the last 48 hours). A lot of "recreational" drugs, like heroin, fentanyl. A couple of years ago my wife and I were nearly killed by a person going 60 miles an hour on a dark, foggy night and crossing the yellow line to pass us on a curve on a country road.
Summer is fun time, whether you're near a beach or elsewhere. Kids drink and drug a lot as soon as school's out or the "last weekend" before school starts.
I like the various maxims and what I find in the Tao. I'm not venting or complaining. I'm just trying to help folks deal with stuff.

W.
wpainterw is offline  
Old 06-22-2017, 04:25 PM
  # 5 (permalink)  
Administrator
 
Dee74's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,046
Glad both you and your wife were unhurt Bill.

D
Dee74 is offline  
Old 06-22-2017, 05:52 PM
  # 6 (permalink)  
Member
Thread Starter
 
wpainterw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,550
Thanks Dee:
I feared that this might happen when I put up this thread. I guess some folks figure that I'm complaining about living near the beach and there are some people who don't have a beach and I should be happy living here. As I have written I have been under severe stress both in the ER and with my doctors not getting together to diagnose me properly and figure out my medications. I sympathize with their workload during the summer and also with the very legitimate and worthy wishes of their staff to have fun. If they want to close the office early or limit call backs on the phone then that's their business, not mine. But mine is this (1) making sure that Doctor A is not undermining what Drs. B or C are doing, making sure they are communicating with one another, and (2) if they fail or are tardy in doing so, benefiting from what I have learned on SR, in the rooms and in the Tao, namely Go with the flow, Don't try to change what you can't change, Don't sweat the small stuff, Easy Does it, and One step at a time. I want to tell others that these have been useful for me and if their AV's are lurking in the summer holiday season, as AV's seem to do, then these aphorisms may be useful to avoid stress, drinking, drugging, whatever! I am very fortunate to live where I am. But living there my wife and I had two home invaders arrive a few years ago, tie us up, both heroin addicts searching for pills. All they got was my wife's engagement ring and $40. We "went with the flow," I said, "Hey, you guys need money more than I do. Take whatever you want. As far as this house is concerned you can go shopping". We "went with the flow" and survived.
If this thread is interpreted as my not being thankful for living near a beach then I think I'd like to withdraw it.. I've got enough stress on my plate already.

Bill
wpainterw is offline  
Old 06-22-2017, 06:08 PM
  # 7 (permalink)  
bona fido dog-lover
 
least's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: SF Bay area, CA
Posts: 99,671
Oh no, Bill! I wasn't thinking that at all. Just good advice for summer weather.
least is offline  
Old 06-22-2017, 08:20 PM
  # 8 (permalink)  
Member
Thread Starter
 
wpainterw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,550
Originally Posted by least View Post
Oh no, Bill! I wasn't thinking that at all. Just good advice for summer weather.
I guess I'm really stressed out. The latest development is that since my P.C. doc decided that I had low blood pressure and wanted to cancel the high blood pressure pill described by my cardiologist, I decided to get myself a new blood pressure monitor at the druggist. I spent $80 for the best one they had. Back home I took my pressure with it and found it was 175/82. The reading on this machine was even higher than the one I was using all along! So what's next. A trip to the cardiologist as soon as possible carrying both of my monitors in hopes that I don't get caught any more being pulled in two directions. On this SR site I have been advised to get another PC. The reason why I got this one was that my former PC said outright that he "didn't call other doctors" and I had to sit in his office with two of my helpers from the agency and say that I was not going to move until he called my urologist to update himself on my prostate surgery situation. Since it was near closing time for him he called. He didn't feel like calling the cops to throw the three of us out when he could solve it by humbling himself by a simple phone call,
So I changed to this new doc who had excellent references but is hell bent on the theory that I have dangerously low pressure. I'm not budging an inch until they sort this mess out and I have sent letters around to that effect,
So I'm very edgy. Very upset, Very....

Bill.
wpainterw is offline  
Old 06-22-2017, 09:00 PM
  # 9 (permalink)  
Administrator
 
Dee74's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,046
I don't see anyone was judging you Bill or considering you thankless

I saw your thread as you trying to do a good turn for the newcomer, based on your current and past experience

Its weird for me to read of Drs closing up for the summer. It must be hard for folks with chronic conditions.

It is hard to get Drs to talk to each other here tho - even doctors in the same practice.

In one week I was not diabetic, definitely diabetic, and not at all diabetic depending to who I talked to

For that reason, I'm all for getting second opinions if people feel there's something not being addressed, but if you're happy with your primary care physician I see no reason to change

I hope the summer gets progressively less stressful for you

D
Dee74 is offline  
Old 06-22-2017, 09:15 PM
  # 10 (permalink)  
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 74
Hello Bill, I'm so sorry to hear of your medical struggles. The stress alone is probably enough tonraise your blood pressure.

I wanted to let you know that your post came at a perfect time for me. I am very newly sober, at the end of day six, and am getting ready to spend my first weekend alone in weeks, let alone sober. I'm looking for ways to help plan getting through the three days by myself, including Monday morning being my daughter's birthday and I don't see her until after lunch. Your advice will be incorporated into my preparations for getting through what is going to be a challenge (the wine usually comes out Friday evening and doesn't get put back until Sunday night.

I'm really grateful that you took the time to offer your years of sober wisdom to newbies like me. I'm apprehensive about the weekend and your post is a source of strength and comfort.

I really hope your doctors manage to get it together and that you get the care you need.
Beedebea is offline  
Old 06-22-2017, 09:40 PM
  # 11 (permalink)  
Member
Thread Starter
 
wpainterw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,550
You know,Beedebea, it's times like these and posts like yours which make me so grateful that I have all these folks on SR in times of crisis. As you see I've been pretty jumpy, edgy, upset about the medical situation here. I didn't have all this trouble down in D.C. where we lived for many years. (Except for one incident in the recovery room after open heart surgery when the nurses kept me up most of the night gossiping about their boyfriends, and other personal stuff. When I got too difficult they put me on a morphine drip to shut me up and it did. The next thing I recall was my surgeon making the rounds. He looked at my chart, gruffly said, "I see you didn't much like our recovery room!" and moved on to the next patient. I was real glad to get moved upstairs with better trained nurses except that I had mood swings from the operation (the greatest risks are in the recovery period). They sent in a psychiatrist who asksd me who the President of the U.S. was. I felt like saying "Tippicanoe and Tyler Too" but I feared they would put me in the looney bin.
Good luck on the weekend. Just remember that the AV has plans for you and you'd best focus on heading him off. Say you're going to take a walk, Fresh air. I always headed for the kitchen and escaped by the back door, Try sparkling water or quinine water, tomato juice with worcester sauce and/or tabac. If they try to get you to drink as they well might, just say "Can't! Interferes with the meds you know. Something I picked up on an African jungle tour, Highly contagious. Ebola I suppose! Got to attend a leprosy support meeting! Good luck!

Bill

Last edited by wpainterw; 06-22-2017 at 09:51 PM. Reason: Confused and Upset Grateful for all your help
wpainterw is offline  
Old 06-23-2017, 06:17 AM
  # 12 (permalink)  
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 74
One thing that I have quickly learned in my short time here is that we are all in it to support each other. It sounds like you've had a ghastly time with your medical issues; what I find truly inspiring, though, is that in your time of greatest stress your thoughts turned not to drink (inspiring enough in and of itself), but to helping others. Thank you for your example, you give people like me a lot of hope.
Beedebea is offline  
Old 06-23-2017, 08:24 AM
  # 13 (permalink)  
Member
Thread Starter
 
wpainterw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,550
Originally Posted by Beedebea View Post
One thing that I have quickly learned in my short time here is that we are all in it to support each other. It sounds like you've had a ghastly time with your medical issues; what I find truly inspiring, though, is that in your time of greatest stress your thoughts turned not to drink (inspiring enough in and of itself), but to helping others. Thank you for your example, you give people like me a lot of hope.
That really cheers me up and I was feeling quite blue today. Anything I can do to help, please let me know. Remember, there are several paths up the mountain of recovery and it's best to have as many people as possible on the rope. It often happens that you may slip but they can help pick you up and keep climbing. And I guarantee you there is sunlight at the top and the path gets less steep. The tough part comes when you start out, take that first step So good luck to you!

All the best,

Bill.
wpainterw is offline  
Old 06-23-2017, 02:45 PM
  # 14 (permalink)  
Administrator
 
Dee74's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,046
I hope you feel 'less blue' by days end Bill

D
Dee74 is offline  

Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off




All times are GMT -7. The time now is 06:41 PM.