Just took a trip to Dallas to see my B/P specialist. Strange trip!

[DemoTex]

I flew to Dallas on Wednesday evening for my 8:45 AM appointment on Thursday. I left the hotel, on Mockingbird Lane (near Love Field), at 7:15 AM so that I could swing through my old south Park Cities neighborhood. I turned down my old street, and before I could see the house I sold last February, I saw my dear friends and liberal neighbors, the S____s, crossing from my old house to their side of the street. Becky had a big stone under her arm. WTF?, I thought.

I got a little closer and saw. Our house, a beautiful, totally renovated (in 1996) Austin stone Prairie cottage, had been bull-dozed. I pulled up and got out and hugged my former neighbors (who have visited us at the mountain place in NC), and we all got misty. The stone Becky had was a souvenir, for them, of our house and the times we had shared. She said she would get me one and save it until somebody was driving our way. They just couldn't believe that I pulled up twelve hours after the bull-dozers left. Nor could I.

I went on to my appointment. My B/P at 8:45 am in my internist's office was 165/105. I explained the situation. We did the rest of the physical, including a 40-minute chat in his office (where I relaxed a little). My B/P then checked at 150/95. That was still high for morning, but close to evening readings (that I take, with a machine that he has calibrated).

Bottom line: he doubled the dose of attenolol. That was Thursday. My systolic is already down to around 110-115. Diastolic is slightly over 80, but both will probably go down a bit as the titer of the drug stabilizes in my system. I am much more lethargic at the double-dose level, but it sure beats the bronchitis with all those other classes of B/P meds. I did three naps today. That, too will get better.

[GOPisEvil]

1. Somebody bull-dozed your old house?

:wtf:

I bet the new owners will put up some hideous McMansion. :puke:

[DemoTex]

4. The guy that paid me top-dollar ...C-A-$-H.

I should have known what he was up to, when he did not want a home inspection or repairs of stated defects. He kept talking about how much he loved the house and how he would do some minor modifications. Well, it's his now. It's a pile of rubble. All the neighbors are pissed.

If someone can host the pictures fairly quickly, I'll send some. You won't believe what they tore down.

[GOPisEvil]

5. Fucker.

Sigh...

[greatauntoftriplets]

2. Happy to hear that your doctor visit went well.....

Sorry to hear that your old house got bulldozed. My Chicago neighborhood (90-plus-year-old houses) is protected by city ordinances that limit what you can do to a house. Renovations are okay, but they must not change the character of the building.

We fought hard for that. Other neighborhoods just blocks from here don't have the same protections.

[DemoTex]

11. Thanks, G.A.O.T.

"Character" is a word that you and I use, and other educated, erudite people use, that does not translate directly into Texas-speak. In Texas, the word "character" is most often used when talking (not writing) about: 1. High school football teams (especially Odessa's Permian HS); 2. High school football coaches (IF they win 98%); 3. Christian families (IF they are Repubs), and; 4. Fundy preachers ('nuff said).

[greatauntoftriplets]

13. Your house sounded beautiful.

I hope you find someone to host the photos, would love to see the house and the drive is a tad far for me.

As I have been told by an Oklahoman, it is either football or the hardware store. I guess we northern city dwellers have better stuff to do.

Now you have your beautiful mountains to enjoy.

[Ilsa]

3. Bull-dozed a 1996 cottage?

Man, property values must be way up again in the Park Cities area. But then, I haven't lived in Dallas since 1993 when I was privileged to see appraisals on Park Cities property in banking.

Sorry about your BP. My BP went up the last week of my first pregnancy and it was hell! Finally had to deliver the baby to keep me from developing a full case of HELLP syndrome (pre-eclampsia was bad enough). I was on Procardia for about a month. My BP has never been better now at 110 over 70. Glad to hear the atenolol is helping.

[DemoTex]

7. No, it was a 1922 (old for Dallas) cottage, TOTALLY renovated in 1996.

We bought it in 1996. Northern Hills (in the SE corner of Highland Park). In fact, it is 3622 Cragmont, Dallas 75205, for those that might want to take a look-see.

[Ilsa]

12. Oh, cool, near Fitzhugh.

I lived over at Haskell and N. Peak for over three years in some new apartments (my home in Corpus Christi wouldn't sell). Loved that area. I loved that area of Dallas, just north of downtown. I used to eat on McKinney all the time. I miss it at this time of year.

[DemoTex]

15. 4 blocks north of Fitzhugh/Abbott

LT on Cragmont. 4th house (er, pile of rubble below great live oaks) on left. Tell 'em Mac sent you.

[bobbieinok]

6. aren't 'prairie' style houses of historical importance?????

[DemoTex]

8. Yes. The neighbors fought. Texas does not care. Texas law does not care.

Besides, not much you can do after the bull-dozers have done their thing and gone.

What's the best thing to ever come out of Texas? DEMOTEX!

[babylonsister]

9. Unreal-seeing your old homestead razed

must have broken your heart. I'm so sorry about the house but glad you're getting your BP under control.

[Aristus]

10. Hi Mac! Sorry to hear about your house, although I'm glad you

soaked the guy on the price. And I'm glad to hear your b/p's coming down; watch that, will you? Atenolol is probably the best thing for you. Stick with it. And take care of yourself, my friend. :-)

[DemoTex]

14. Atenolol: "So good it should be in the water supply."

Or so a great cardiologist once told me. If you have a heart attack, you will probably get atenolol in the ER. My resting heat rate before I started taking atenolol was between 98-110. The initial dose (25 mg) brought everything down. Things crept up for whatever reason. Long slow curve, in fact.

Now, at 50 mg/day (I split 25/25 morning and evening), the pulse is down to about 62 resting. In other words, atenolol has more of an affect on my heart rate and systolic pressure, than it does the diastolic pressure. That is not particularly good in that diastolic pressure is the pressure during the resting beat. My diastolic pressure has always been relatively high. However, all other tests I have taken (stress EKG, stress-echo EKG, etc) always come up with me being in the top 1/2% of the population vis-a-vis "healthy heart."

BTW: Aristus, it was rude of me not responding to you directly. I thought I might expand the thread there, but did not. I always love seeing that green avatar and "ARISTUS." It calms me. I know truth and fair-speak always come with:



Thanks, Friend!

[Aristus]

16. Why not? Everything else is in the water......

Lead, mercury, Strontium 90. What's a little Atenolol?

B-)

[davsand]

17. That must have been just surreal.

I can't EVEN imagine finding out my old home had been razed--let alone going to the Doc right after to have my BP checked.

I'm just now headed into the entire BP fight. Mine goes Up and down (without meds) and the Doc is getting twitchy that I need to be on some kind of meds. The biggest thing I'm fighting right now is the fact that I have extreme issues with guys in white coats with a BP cuff coming anywhere near me.

I'm monitoring at home and getting readings of about 135/71. I'm aware that it isn't as low as Mayo Clinic suggests, but I'm also aware that the Doc told me that he starts BP meds at 140/90 or at either one of those numbers singularly on a regular basis.

The doc just doesn't understand why I'm so reluctant to start on meds. When I bring up the side effects he just says, "Well, there are any number of drugs to try--we can probably find something to help you that won't mess with you too much..."

Gawd.

Glad to hear you are getting it nailed down, Mac. I hope all goes well with your new treatment plan!


Laura