A week ago Friday, our 2005 Prius which had been so wonderful with all its plus features broke down.  We were going out to a late breakfast and made a stop on the way for DH to talk to someone.  When he returned I tried to start it and it would not start.  Instead, all of its many warning lights went on at the same time.  We had to wait over 45 minutes for a tow truck.  At the dealership where we bought it, we'll call him Jordan,  promised to find the the problem and phone us that afternoon.
We were issued  issued a loaner car, and we finally got breakfast at lunchtime.

 

That afternoon Jordan called to say the car was fixed.  It had a dead auxillary battery which they replaced.  He said it was caused by not driving it enough.  For the time we'd had it we only averaged 270 miles a month.  He said maybe we should consider getting an older used auto that didn't have all the computer systems.  We said "no way".  We liked what we had.  So DH asked about putting a pigtail on so it could be given extra charge in our garage.  They talked about that and Jordan said he'd check prices and call us the next morning which was Saturday.  Well the next morning came and we did not get that phone call.  So early afternoon, DH called in to talk to Jordan.  There were hmms and haws and finally we were told Jordan wasn't there.  So we waited until Monday and called again.  Still no Jordan, but after some checking they said our car was finished and we could come and get it.  So we did.

 

When we arrived they were asking for nearly $500 even though we had bought the warrantee package and it was a certified used car which gave ten years warrantee.  DH was furious and I was feeling awful for fear DH would have a stroke, he was so angry.  He asked to speak to the top manager or next to the top.  So this really nice man came out and listened.  Then he told us (you won't believe this but it's true) Jordan had had a serious heart attack late Friday and had to have surgery.  Another person had been given the assignment to cover Jordan's work, but our car had slipped through and was on the lot waiting for us.  Then he checked and they had lost the part that verified our  warrantee.  So he called national headquarters and they confirmed that we had it.  He asked us to wait a few minutes while he made another call.

 

This time when he came out he said they had dropped the cost of the new battery so our bill was only about $150 which included the $99 towing charge which we should be able to get refunded from our AAA.  So DH was pacified, and his ranting paid off.  But after we got home, he went on the net and learned that problems with this battery was a known problem and had been recalled with no charge. 

 

Well we have our car, we love it and we'll talk to a son who will visit next week who knows cars inside and out.  Each family member seems to have a different area of expertize so we all turn to whichever one is needed for advice.  We'll see what he thinks about the pigtail.

I am safe in writing this as my dear husband never reads my blog.  Almost eleven years ago he was diagnosed as being profoundly deaf in both ears in a lot of areas.  We bought good hearing aids for the time that would hide in the ear and not be seen as he was working with a lot of younger men and didn't want anything to suggest his age.  He didn't like them and quit wearing them.  Subsequently he retired, and as the years went by he got much worse.  He would tell me I was mumbling, and ask everyone to repeat and repeat and repeat.  I kept begging him to wear them and he said he could hear fine, it was the rest of us that were off.

 

Well he finaloly decided he needed to get  them going again as maybe he was having to ask people to repeat too much.  So yesterday we went in and he was retested, and of course it was worse.  She said that if you wear them your body adjusts to them but if you don't your hearing gets worse.  So she reworked with them and we headed home.  And the fun began.

 

"What's that clicking sound?"  Ans: It's the turn signals.  "But it's so loud."  At the play last night, "What's that noise?"  Ans: It's supposed to be the old fashioned typewriter.  "I hear my own voice."  ans.  Yes, she told you that would happen.  "How come the security aslarm is so loud?"  Didn't you hear it before? "no."  And so on.  It is fun to watch hime discover the things he'd missed when he thougtht he heard fine.

Well the fiber 35 diet did not work.  For two weeks we counted fiber, and calories, and followed instructions.  We both gained-me 3 lbs, dh 5lbs.  So we went back to our old very good diet and kept some of the added fiber and we are back to square one.  However......

 

I did make a decision and followed through with it today after weeks of pondering, so once again I am hopeful.  I have CSF also known as Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome.  I have had it for years but it got worse 3 or 4 years ago when my MD cut my thyroid medication in half.  I didn't associate these two until I bought a book by a prominent MD who specializes in this.  Then a friend who is a nurse had a few suggestions, and then two others, and then another younger woman who also has thyroid issues.  My MD is an internist and graduated at the top of her class from medical school.  My whole family loves her and has faith in her.  But when I asked her to increase the thyroid med she said no that my tests showed it to be normal.

 

Then last week we had our annual eye exams and this doctor had a talk with me.  She said that she agreed that our MD is very good but there are always some "disconnects with some patients", and it is not the fault of either one.  She said I should go to an Endocrinologist and she called later to give me two names. 
She said when she was in Med school they were told that thyroid tests can give false information and say it was okay when it wasn't.  I also read this was true.  Also I read that if one of the glands is out of sync it effects others.  Then today on the news we were told that glands out of sync could cause cancer.

 

So today I got up enough courage to make an appointment with the specialist she recommended.  I still feel a bit unloyal, but it is no fun to wake up every morning feeling as tired as when I went to bed.  It is no fun to sleep 12 hours at night and then 2 or 3 more that morning or afternoon.  Nor is it fun to think of all the things I want to do while I slip further and further behind in just living.  I have been on thyroid since I was 16 years old.  She cut me from .225 to .125.

 

Actually I have told very few people about this.  My daughter understands.  But now that I have bit the bullet, I am hopeful that things might get better.  Now all of you know my secret.