Volunteering at the our Community Library

I have been volunteering at the Community Library for a year now.  The person who was volunteering before me, Bob, has been doing if for 15 years.  I worked with him for about 6 months, but unfortunely he passed away from cancer.  It was really quick.  He talked to me about pain in his stomach, and I told him to see a doctor, because of his age (85 years old).  Finally he went, and found out that he had Stage 4 stomach cancer, and he was gone in 1 month.  So then I had to take over for him.  Good thing is, I did get someone else to help me, Judy, which has helped quite a bit.   

The Library is not that big, but we have a lot donations from people that live in our community.  There are over 1350 homes, so yes, that is a lot of people living here.  We don't check out the books, people just bring them back.  We date the books when the come back, month and year, and then put them back.  If books are not checked out in 6 months, we have get rid of them.   Now that there are too many books, so I want get the bottom shelfs empty.

Now, for the books we don't need, I have to load them into my car, and drive them down to the Corona Main Library, and donate them to the library.  Bob has been doing that for many years, so the people down there, so they know us.  I only have to drive down there every 2 or 3 months.  The books fill up my SUV, with the seats down in the back. With getting rid of more books, I will have to drive a bit more.

This is what our Library looked like when Bob was taking care of it.  You can see that the bottom shelfs are all empty.  Judy and I have work to do!

 Wow, it has been 11 months since I last posted.  The last post I did was about swimming.  It was on 6-20-24, and it was at 1250 yards.  Have come along way since then.  Monday I did 1750 yards, and yesterday (Tuesday) I did 1500 yards.  I was really tired after yesterdays swim, but still had to go to the Library to put the books away.

Much faster on the 1750 yards, did it in 51 minutes on Monday.

Yes, I have a new app on my watch/phone.  It measures much more from the swims.  This is the splits of the 1500 yards I did yesterday.  My fastest 50 yards split was 44 seconds.  I average about 1 minute per 50 yards.

This week, I did much better on amount of yards I did in the pool.  On Monday, I did 1250, yards (even though my watch says 1100), I did the extra 150.  I ended the workout too soon.  My bad, lol.  Only problem I had, I did 50 yards of breaststroke, and at the end I was getting a cramp in my right hamstring.  I only get cramps because I don't drink enough of water.  I did not bring my water bottle by the pool.  I have to do that now, because I am swimming for longer times.  

On Tuesday I had to rest my hamstring a bit, so I walked up to the library to put books away.  Swimming is much harder than walking.  Swimming is like running, but with out the stress your leg bones.  At my age, running in not a good thing for me right now.  

So today, I did hit the 1 mile mark.  I mile is 1760 yards, but I 1750 yards is good enough for me. 👍 After 900 yards, I wanted to see what best time for 50 yards for me is now.  Without using a starting block, just from the wall, I did 52 seconds.  I did good for the first 25 yards, but I have to get my endurance much better.   

On the second 25 yards, I lost my stroke a bit, and did not use my forearms correctly.  I wish I had learned that in High School.  I would just use my hands.  Your forearms add at lot to your speed.  You have to use the stoke correctly.  There another thing that I do is, extending the shoulders for every stoke.  As you extend you shoulders forward the stoke is longer.  Watch the below video see what it looks like.

They way I found out my forearms and shoulders, is because I watch a You Tube video that Fares Ksabti makes.  He does a lot of teaching of the right way to swim. He is master swimmer and holds some records for 30+ year old people, mainly breaststroke.   Here is the freestyle video:

Hope everyone is doing good!  Have a good day.

Glenn

Swimming in our community pool

I said I would do 1000 yards, 2 days after I hit the 1000 yards, I did 1250 yards.  After 500 yards, it is a  little bit easier.  Your body gets a little warmed up, which makes easier to swim.  I will stay at 1250 yards a couple more days, and will go for 1600 yards (1 mile).

Here is the indoor pool.  It has 4 lanes and 25 yards.  I use the far left lane, it is the greatest depth - 5 1/2 feet.  The 2 right lane are mainly for people that come, just to walk in the pool, it is 3 1/2 feet.      

 

Well I did two more swims.  Last Saturday was 750 yards, and Tuesday I did hit the 1000 yards.  It is much better after I hit the 500 yards, body gets a little warmed up and it makes it easier to swim. Did it in 26 minutes but it should improve as I continue to swim.  

Imported post: Facebook Post: 2024-06-05T16:13:29

Well after 7 months since my heart transplant, decided to give the pool a try. Not too bad, yes it is 525 yards. Former swim teammates don’t laugh at me. lol. After the transplant at 63 years old, 500 yards is not bad at all! Will do better next time.

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Imported post: Facebook Post: 2024-06-01T13:41:50

Today I was the 2024 Discover Trilogy at Glen Ivy Community. Lots of things to do at Trilogy. I singed up for Technology Help Session. They meet once a month, and I told them I will work just on Computers. They said that was ok. :) I got a free wireless keyboard that will work up to my Ipad.

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Imported post: Facebook Post: 2024-05-30T12:47:11

Spring is here! The hibicus is blooming😀

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Imported post: Facebook Post: 2024-05-09T15:34:28

Here is the library. Books are free to lend out to the members of Trilogy at Glen Ivy Community. We get a lot books donated and we have to take the extra down to the Corona Library.

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Imported post: Facebook Post: 2024-05-09T12:34:27

It has been 6 months now from my heart transplant. It was done on 11/9/23, and now it is 5/9/24 so it is 6 months. Could not do much after the transplant, so I walk up to the library where they do puzzles. Not only does it give me exercise, but it gives me something to do, out of the house. So after 2 or 3 months helping putting the puzzles together, I got recruited to help put the returned books back on the shelves. LOL.

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Imported post: Facebook Post: 2024-02-25T13:20:55

I finally got a Car! It has been 9 years since I had my own car. This is a Mazda CX-30. :) It will so much easier on Rufina, because she won't have to drive to UCLA every time.

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Imported post: Facebook Post: 2024-01-05T09:59:01

Our house on Chattanooga Dr from 8 years ago. I liked that house. 😊

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Day 5 at UCLA Hospital

Another day here, only thing happening today is that I am getting a MRI on my hips and lower back to check out my arthritis.  Because I have a pacemaker it is much harder to get he MRI, and the pacemaker has to compatible to the MRI, luckily my pacemaker can do it. 

Since it is Friday, Rufina, Maria, and John came in to say hello.  They were here to chat with the Social Worker who helps with the after care from the transplant procedure.  This is important because I can't do anything after the transplant for 3 to 6 months.  I need to have a 24/7 person here until I am able to take my medicine, make my meals and help washing the clothes.

Rufina's work is help out tremendously and let her work from home for the first 3 1/2 months.  We will see how I am after that.  Hopefully everything works out fine.

The weather here today is very foggy and cloudy, and the UCLA football team will be at the Rose Bowl playing, I will probably watch them on TV.  :)

Bye Everyone

Day 3 and 4 at the UCLA Hospital

I am a little late updating from Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday I met with the Neurologist to go over my stroke from 1/2012 and the Seizures I had the following months of that year. I have not had a Seizure since 2012 and he checked my legs and arms on how they are moving and my speech. 

Then the Dietician came in and we talked about what to eat after the Transplant. At about 5pm the lungs doctors came in and I had to take breathing tests to see how my lungs are functioning. They came out good and no issues there. And finally the Rheumatoid doctor came in and told me that I DO NOT have Rheumatoid Arthritis, but it is Osteoarthritis. This means that the cartilage in my hips are breaks down. Will have a MRI on my back and hips to look at the Osteoarthritis. 

On Thursday, it is a follow up with the doctors that did the tests on Wednesday. Everything looks good. Had a quick chat with a Psychologist to make sure I am suicide person (lol) and that I am doing ok. After that not much going on. I managed to get a good night sleep, and hopefully I will find out more on Friday.

Bye for now. 

Glenn

Day 2 at UCLA Hospital

Ok, this what they did to me on Tuesday 9/12. First was a CT scan of my brain and chest. They are looking for any abnormal items. Next thing was X-ray of my hips, hands, and feet. They are checking for arthritis in my joints. I know I have arthritis in my hips, but hands and feet are fine. 

The next items was an echocardiogram of my veins in my neck and legs. After the transplant they will biopsy of my heart looking rejections of the new heart. They want to make sure I don’t have a blockage in my veins. Good news my veins are wide open and no blockage. 

The weird thing they did, was that 2 dentists came in and did X-rays of all my teeth.  I guess that it was they are checking anything that can cause rejection to the new heart. No cavities and everything looked good with my teeth. 

I did talked to the GI doctors and they are not doing a Colonoscopy, because I have not had a flare up Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) in over 3 years and they don’t want to put extra stress on my body with the transplant coming up. 

So being in the hospital is hard getting sleep. They wake me up every 3 to 4 hours to take my blood pressure or draw some blood. Last night I managed to get about 3 hours of sleep. Hopefully tonight I will get more. 

That is it for now. Tomorrow I will update what they did today. 

Bye everyone. 

1st day at UCLA hospital

 9/11 is the day I begin evaluating my heart for a heart transplant at UCLA hospital. I have been seeing my cardiologist in Corona, Dr Tuqan,  for the last 11 years. I have congestive heart failure and as time goes by it has gotten worse. 

Basically my heart does not pump enough blood coming out, going to the body. For normal people, of the blood that goes into your heart, about 65% comes out going to the body. When I first saw Dr Tuqan back in 2012 mine was about 45%.

Over the years it went down. In 2016 it was at 29%, and now it is at 16%. To help with this issue, the first thing the cardiologist do is put you on medicine. I am on Beta Blockers. They decreases the hearts need for blood and oxygen and therefore reduces the work the heart has to do. It also helps the heart more regularly. 

Last year they started giving me Entresto.  Entresto work by relaxing blood vessels so that blood can flow more easily, which makes it easier for the heart to pump the blood to your body.  Right now I losing breath just walking. If I don’t take Entresto I will lose my breath just laying down. If I take the medicine it makes it easier on my heart. 

Last year Dr Tuqan realized that my congestive heart failure was getting too bad and he had to refer me to a Congestive Heart Failure specialist. He knows Dr Cruz from UCLA who specializes in CHF and heart transplants and sent me to him. Over the last year I have been doing tests and trying using medication to help CHF. 

I did physical therapy for CHF, MRI on the heart, a stress test on my heart, and finally a Right Heart Catheterization. With the medication not improving my CHF he suggested that I go get an evaluation for a heart transplant. This is what I am doing now. Many blood tests, colonoscopy, and checking to see how my body is. They will have a team together on Friday to see I am able to get on the list for the heart transplant.

Will see how it goes! 

Highlight: (WR) Subnautica Below Zero: Speedrun: All PDA's (Survival, Gl...

On Tuesday I went to see the eye doctor.  They wanted to do a new test on a "binocular" device that will take a picture of the iris.  Good thing, is they will give you $100 for doing the test.  They have to dilate your eyes, and I had Rufina drive me home.  

I managed to take a picture of the results.  They put this device on your eyes and take pictures.  They will send the results to my primary care doctor and I will get the results.  

 

Well summer is here, but the flowers are still blooming.  These bloomed on Monday.  They are hanging out in the backyard.  Will have to see how much they will last.  

Have a good weekend everyone.  

Thunderstorms in Riverside!  Downtown is getting the most of the rain, but we are just getting a few sprinkles here at home.  Hey, any rain is a good thing!

We are getting lightning and thunder though.  Sound really close.