Texas style photography and words
This is an Amaryllis plant my sister gave me last fall she said it was one she had given to my mom.
It has been gorgeous this year. I still have it in the pot but I am thinking about planting it
with some Iris, and paperwhite bulbs at our Livingston house. Then all the bulbs come back to being family members.
These blooms indicate springtime has arrived here in Texas.
Cricket turned 3 years old on February 2.
I never did get her picture posted because I had just gotten out of the hospital on visit 1 and little did I know there would be another visit a few weeks later.
Cricket had to go on a diet. Her body was resembling a square instead of a curve in the hip area. She was eating 5 cups a day now she is getting 4 cups and as you can notice she has a dip in her side which is perfect. Cricket’s body is built deep from the top of her back to the bottom of her stomach. When you roll her over she is so wide.
I hate when I have to cut her back because she is a very big dog but at the same time, big dogs can not function if they are overweight. She can still run right at you like a bulldozer about to knock you down.
I can not believe she is already 3 years old. The next time she goes into heat she will be getting bred again. I think we figured up this should be around May.
I was looking out the french doors at the bird feeders and spotted this pair of house finches.
I have never understood the bird world and how male birds get all the bright colors.
A couple of birds just eating some seed on a warm Texas day.
I went to the specialist’s appt. on Tuesday.
They admitted me to the hospital to get as many tests ran as possible I was released on Friday.
We did a 3D echo of the heart which was the coolest thing I have ever seen. Then a transesophageal echo is also known as a TEE, then a CT of the heart, lungs, and abdomen with contrast and without.
I have a leg doppler later this month and my cardio will discuss if I need a right-left heart cath.
It’s not an emergency that I do the surgery next week but, for my symptoms to go away I have to do surgery. My worst symptoms are dizziness and shortness of breath. Next up would be how worn out I get because of tiredness.
I am not a candidate for a valvoplasty there is too much regurgitation on the valve. I have to have a mitral valve replaced it can not even be repaired.
The surgeon I met with thinks my procedure can be done using robotics and thru the right side of the ribs. This would be a lot less invasive surgery than open heart surgery. He suggests the mechanical valve and coumadin for the rest of my life. With my age, this is the best option.
I already take Coumadin/ Warfarin so that is no change you just have to monitor it closely.
In the hospital, they put me on a Heparin IV drip because my blood was too thick they said a few weeks before surgery I will need to give myself shots in the stomach 2 x a day for a blood thinner. I am not at a therapeutic level at this time. My level is like 1.8 and for surgery, it needs to be between 3.5 and 4.5.
I really like this team of Drs and I love the less invasive surgery which would also mean less recoup time.
I am ready to get back to doing things I love like walking, photography, and playing with the dogs I feel like I have had to take a step back from everything I love. Our house in Livingston is about to be built and I want to be able to enjoy this time in my life.
Right now we are just chilling out about this and will make a decision sometime soon about when we think the best time might be.
The crossvine on the top of the fence runs across the potting bench.
It looked so pretty that I had to grab a picture.
There is something about the junk hanging on the fence boards with the vine as an accent that I really like about this picture.
We call this architectural junk photography.
We thought we had the AFIB under control then I went to Bradycardia my heart rate was super low.
It ranged from 42 to 46 beats per minute. What this does it make you feel cold inside your body like you are standing in a freezer. There’s not much blood moving at all.
I saw the cardio on Friday but he had me quit the Amioderane before I saw him.
I started a new script Warfarin to prevent blood clots.
I will see a heart valve specialist at Baylor/ St Lukes’s/ Texas Heart Institute next week.
This will see if I am a candidate for valvoplasty this is to get the AFIB under control. Evidently, my mitral valve is very small it’s stenotic. This makes my atrium very large and this causes too much blood to pool it is like flooding out the atrium and flooding my lungs.
It seems that the AFIB will continue and get worse each time this happens.
I am grateful we are outside of Houston and have access to some of the best Drs in the world. My current cardiologist has always listened to me and my concerns he is a great Dr.
Over the next few weeks there will be a lot more testing on my heart they have to make sure this will do me some good.
I will update you when I have more information to share.
These pups are registered miniature, long-haired dachshunds they are 3 1/2 weeks old.
This is Cici’s litter of 5 and that is a lot for a Dachshunds to take care of. There is a good shade variation in this group.
Shady Acres Leggett is on Facebook for more information on these beautiful puppies. I know there are deposits on a few of them but I have no idea which ones.
I love puppies they are so so sweet.
Monday night while watching TV, my throat closed up, and my heart started racing.
I found my Kardio Mobile my cardiologist had me buy and checked my heart rate.
It said AFIB I tried it 5 times and all 5 said AFIB. Off to the ER, we went. This thing is great for anyone that has heart rhythm issues.
I walked into the ER and told them I was in AFIB and they took me straight back this was a good thing because there was about 40 or 50 people in the ER.
My heart raced up to 178 beats a minute then down to 130 back and forth never going below 130. It took 3 IV injections of metoprolol and a digoxin pill to get it down to 120 as time went on slowly by 7 a.m. Tuesday it was in the 70s. I had about 12 hours of fast heart rate, and my whole chest felt bruised.
I developed fluid in my lungs from the afib but they kept me until Wednesday evening and finally I could go home.
They upped my metoprolol dosage and added amiodarone to the mix, so far so good. They said the fluid would go away from the fluid pills it was mild fluid in the lungs caused by being in AFIB. My current heart rate is 57 – 62.
It seems the mitral valve that is already damaged gets worse during AFIB, but when the heart rate returns to normal, the valve returns to its previous state.
I feel okay I have been a little more tired than usual but last time it took me about a week to get over the AFIB episode.
I am thankful I did not have to do cardioversion again and everything turned out okay.
We have so many hawks this year I guarantee you will see them several times a day.
This grown hawk the darker red one and the juvenile were together in a tree that fell down this week from the storm.
This was a favorite lookout tree on the fence line for the hawks I am glad it will be gone but this part of the tree is still upright the other half the tree was uprooted.
I do like taking pictures of the hawks they photograph pretty well and their colors just blend in with nature.
Capturing wildlife while posing in nature scouting the next meal.
With our latest cold blast, I lost a lot of plants.
Some will come back and some will not.
What I noticed this time was Azaleas, Crepe Myrtle, Texas Sage, Louisiana Iris,
Paperwhites, Wild Privett Hedge, Fringe, and another hedge I can not remember the name of all survived.
Now the pink showers, purple showers, creeping daisies, succulents especially Aloe Vera and ferns look dead. Some will come back.
The Mexican heather froze but it always comes back so we will see who makes the great come back.
I did put some Aloe Vera indoors just in case.
I love plants so much I collect more than I can protect.
For Livingston, we are ONLY planting freeze-hardy plants because it is always 10 degrees colder there.
Sonya Lira Photography 