PrunePicker: Like I said. Growing old is exciting!

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Like I said. Growing old is exciting!

I have been having bouts with low blood pressure. Usually 85/50 but down to 60/40. My vision gets glared, I get dizzy, and I feel punk. This happens at various times in the day. I often think that this is it. I am a goner. If I burp wrong, I think the same thing. A large part of my life is listening to my body and saying goodbye, cruel world. I hope that my underwear is clean and that my house (fifth wheel trailer) is not too messy. I tell you life is exciting with the thought of death just around the corner. You always feel so good when you do not die, and kinda proud. When I turned 60 I said "I have made my 60 years. I can go anytime now". But I have changed my mind, I would like to turn 90. (Next July 20)

Last monday morning I did my 45 minutes of aqua-exercise. Then I did a 1/4 mile on the treadmill. Shortly my blood pressure dropped. Laying down with my feet elevated helps, so I laid down on a bench. Good old John was soon at my side asking if I was ok. I told him I was and drove home. But this bout with low blood pressure was different. It lasted for four hours. That worried me. I did a lot of laying down with my feet elevated. I put a call into my Doctor. Dr Carter had me scheduled for a cardiac stress test in Shreveport the next morning. I was worried about driving 66 miles to the VA Hospital at five the next morning and then maybe passing away during the test due to low blood pressure. I left Dr Carter a message. Then I recovered and sent Dr Carter a message that I was ok. I even went to a volleyball game that evening. Felt good driving to the hospital the next morning. I was sure to tell the medical team about my symptoms. They did not seem concerned and said that they would be monitoring my blood pressure during the test.

Seven years ago (October 2007) I had a stress test at this same facility. Same hall. The test yesterday went good and I drove home. That first cup of coffee in two days sure tasted good!

Later in the afternoon Dr Carter called and said that she had compared my two cardiac stress tests. That is very good medical service, don't you think? She had good news and she had bad news. The good news was that my heart was pumping 50% better that it was seven years ago. The bad news was that my heart had developed some blockages. I might need a heart cath procedure to find what is wrong. I had a stent installed in January 2005 after a heart attack. Maybe I need more stents? The Doctor also cut the dosage of a heart medicine in half. (Lisonopril)

2 comments:

AnonymousSeptember 25, 2014 at 2:24 PM
Hello Mr. Monson - I wanted to send an e-mail but couldn't find a link to do so. I am leaving a comment and hope you see it. I am researching my family history, specifically my Grandfather's line. He and his brothers were in a boy's home around the same time you were. (He was born in 1922 and passed away in 2000). For a while I thought maybe he was at the McKinley school but now it seems that is not right, and I am back to the drawing board. It was when I was researching McKinley that I found your blog. I felt right at home reading it - so many of the places you write about are familiar. My extended family is all Los Angeles County and Orange County California. I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy reading your blog. Your stories mean so much to me. Keep up the great work. God bless! Julie
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My niche in the Blogosphere.

My blog is about me, my family, my interests, my opinions, and my daily activities. My name is Chuck Monson. I am a native born Californian. I worked in the oil exploration and production business and am now retired and living in Ruston, Louisiana. I am a 91 year old widower. I blog because I really enjoy it. Posting gives me a schedule and is a wonderful make work project. I like pictures, both the taking and looking at them. I really like old historic pictures. I enjoy a good photograph. I like putting pictures and text together in a way that is hopefully interesting to others and that will be interesting to me in the future. I like to be silly now and then. It is also putting my memories down on paper. My blog serves as a diary. I have used it for a reference quite a few times.

I do mix it up. Some of my blogs are “what I had for breakfast”, some are just pictures, some are items of genealogical nature, and there are items from my family history. I have a history of the Munson/Monsons in America. The study of this history has led me to the discovery of much American history that had previously been unknown by me.

I have had a lifelong interest in history, archeology, philosophy, religion, politics, architecture, technical subjects, music, food, and sports. I spend time every day reading blogs and posting to my blog. I do not pontificate on religion or politics because I do not consider myself wise enough to try to persuade others to my beliefs. My beliefs are quite nebulous anyway.

I was started on blogging by my late son, Christopher David Monson. Chris wrote the blog "snaggletoothie of the Loyal Opposition" There is a link to his blog above. I look at Chris's blog often. I have read most of his posts.

My adult years.

I married Jackie Lois Ireton in 1944 in San Luis Obispo, California. I met her on a blind date when I was taking amphibious training at Moro Bay. We have been blessed with four children, nine grand children, and nine great grandchildren. They are an exceptional group. I love them and I am proud of them.

I was an army combat engineer (infantry with shovels) during World War II. I served in the Pacific. I was wounded on Peleliu Island helping the marines on Bloody Nose Ridge. I was shot in both legs just above the knees. The wound locations indicate that I was not running away.

I received a BSME in 1950 from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California. Jackie received a PHT. (pushing husband through.) I retired from oilfield work in 1985. Jackie and I moved into a fifth wheel trailer and enjoyed the RV lifestyle until Jackie's health failed. We traveled across the continent 3 1/2 times. We spent a summer as volunteers at Acadia National Park. For 17 years we helped build an Escapee RV park in Chimacum, Washington. Jackie passed away in 2007. We had been married 63 years. We were married on June 3, 1944. I still live in our fifth wheel trailer. It is parked in the yard of my daughter Kerry's home in Ruston, Louisiana. It is by far the nicest RV park that I have ever lived in.

My teen age years.

I was born in 1925 in Pomona, California. Pomona is on the east edge of Los Angeles County. It is halfway between Los Angeles and San Bernardino and halfway between the mountains and the beach. I thought that it was great to be an hour from snow covered mountains and an hour from the ocean surf.

In my days of growing up, Pomona was completely surrounded by orchards and truck farms. Oranges, lemons, grapefruit, peaches, apricots, olives, persimmons, and walnuts. Watermelons and strawberries. During the depression I had many meals from the orchards.

They say that you cannot go back home. That is true of the Pomona Valley of my youth. Because it is no longer there. Most of it is now covered with asphalt and stucco buildings.

My ancestors.

I am getting more and more into genealogy. I have a trove of information on the Munsons/Monsons. My father is buried in California. His father by adoption (He was an uncle.) is buried in Kansas. His natural father is buried in Kentucky. So I have two grandfathers. I have a grandfather and four great grandfathers buried in Kentucky, one great buried in New Jersey, and three greats buried in Connecticut. I have two greats buried in Rattlesden, Suffolk, England. I have been led to believe that my ancestors before that came from Denmark and Normandy.

Captain Thomas Munson was the first Munson to move to America. He was baptized in Rattlesden, England in 1612. The baptismal font is still in use. He served in the militia in the Pequot Indian Wars in 1637. He served in the militia all his life and reached the status of Captain. His signature is on the founding document for New Haven, Connecticut.

In 2011 I visited New Haven and took pictures of his gravestone. In May 2012 my oldest daughter Nancy Ann escorted me to England and France. We visited Rattlesden and I took some pictures of the Captain's baptismal font.

Why is the old prune picker living in Ruston, Louisiana?

In 2006 my wife Jackie was in poor health. Jackie had kidney failure and was on dialysis. She had heart problems for some time with A-fib. She had fallen and broken her hip. She had broken ribs and vertebra just moving around normally. My family thought that I needed help caring for Jackie. My daughter Kerry and her husband John offered to park our trailer in their backyard in Ruston and help. Jackie and I accepted their kind offer. My daughter Nancy accompanied Jackie in an airplane flight from the Olympic Peninsula in Washington to Ruston. My son Mike took time off to help me pull our trailer for five long days to our new home. We were and are grateful. We enjoyed our new home very much.

Unfortunately and sadly, Jackie passed away in six months. I had sold our truck and was permanently parked. I was ready to give up full time RVing anyway. It is very pleasant in Ruston and I am close to family. So that is why I have been living in Ruston, Louisiana since October 2006.