That rather grim title arose yesterday when there was a moment when I thought it might be possible that death had come. Let me set the scene, though. First of all I am not a foodie in any sense (I eat to live rather than the other way around). But having snagged a bargain the other day on a bag of frozen shrimp, I decided to treat myself for Saturday lunch. Well, I hadn’t realized the things were raw, so then I had to look uo how to cook them. I was rather proud of myself for accomplishing that task and I did enjoy the change of pace meal.
I spent the rest of the afternoon reading political blogs quite happily—not for the horrific news but with the fact that so many people are rising up in resistance. Anyway, just after 4, I got out of my recliner to make my afternoon tea. OMG I got the worst attack of angina that I have ever had; luckily I have been wearing my tiny bottle of nitroglycerin around my neck for years and that miracle compound came to my rescue. The acute pain subsided, but I still felt very lightheaded and wobbly on my pins. When my gentleman called about an hour later, I gave him the details. He offhandedly asked whether I was by chance allergic to shellfish. “Not that I know of,”I answered, because I have eaten shrimp for years, although not very often because of the price. We chatted for a while, but after I hung up I did what I always do and researched the question. Lo and behold, here’s what I found:
In rare cases, an allergic reaction to shellfish, including shrimp, can trigger a condition known as Kounis syndrome or “allergic angina,” which involves chest pain and other symptoms similar to those of angina.
I guess the rest of the bag of shrimp will have to find another home. A very dear friend suggested that the local feral cats might appreciate a treat.
And now on to another extremely odd occurrence, which may have something to do with current politics. When I went to my mailbox yesterday, I just grabbed the pile and came back indoors. As I sorted the envelopes, I found a number all from the same entity, all marked Confidential To be opened by addressee only. So I opened the first one and it was a pro-forma report from the lab that had tested my recent Pap smear for any evidence of cervical cancer. The result was negative (which I think I had already noted in MyChart). This single sheet of paper was not dated. I then proceeded to open the rest of the envelopes, and I now have NINE identical letters. Would you consider this fraud, waste or abuse in the health care system? Or perhaps technology run amok? All I know is that the letters all had postage of 54 cents, so by my reckoning that’s $4.86 that could have been saved—well, maybe one hard copy at 54 cents to back up the electronic results, leaving $4.32 overspent by this private company.
Somehow, though, my daily calendar for yesterday sums up my day quite nicely: “Life is worth living as long as there’s a laugh in it.” Credited to L. M. Montgomery, Canadian writer!
RESIST ALWAYS
TTFN
Usually when I receive a bunch of letters marked "Confidential to be opened by addressee only" they are form letters from an insurance company hawking life insurance.
‘I spent the rest of the afternoon reading political blogs quite happily’. I get no happiness from anything political.