I worked on that extremely difficult Dr. Who jigsaw puzzle and managed to put in about 20 pieces! That was a record for one sitting for me. Maybe there's hope yet.
Mark had a good day. Although he was 100 degrees when he got up, Tylenol kept it normal all day. His only problem was the blood sugar. He ate normally, in fact less carbs than usual because his morning fasting sugar and all of the ones a few hours after eating were still elevated. Then at 10:20 last night, after a very normal dinner, he was 308. That panicked us both because he has NEVER had a number that high. He drank a shot of whiskey, slugged down three glasses of water, and paced around the house for a solid fifteen minutes. At midnight, he was 230 something, not great but much better than 308. When he got up this morning, he had no fever and 136 blood sugar. He does not feel right, but he is happy the numbers look good right now. He is somewhat concerned that he might get worse during the day.
Last night we were googling what should he do with that sort of number. Is it time to go to the ER? As far as we could find out, no it's not high enough for the ER. Of course, we did not find any specific numbers. Today he plans to send an email message to our doctor explaining what has happened the last two days. If he gets worse during the day, he will call them and see what to do.
We have no idea why he had the fever for two day. He had no other symptoms: no vomiting, no diarrhea, no abdominal pain or pain anywhere at all, no upper respiratory issues, nothing. So where was the infection that has given him this fever? That's a bit unsettling in itself.
Well, since he is normal with all his numbers this morning, we are going to go about our normal day until things might change. Today we have no morning plans, but from 1-4 p.m. we will be doing our volunteer hours in the ANRL Library at the Cove. Our cleaning lady comes during those hours, so it's a good place to be while she's here. If he is not feeling well and we cancel the library, we'll have to go somewhere else anyway.
Friday, October 31, 2014
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Mark is sick.
I can hardly believe that the last blog I wrote was on Monday. Wow!
I'll work backwards. So today we have cancelled all our plans (NARFE board meeting at Beef O'Brady's in Lakeland and dinner with friends at Lakeside) because Mark is still sick.
Yesterday Mark woke up VERY sick. I had gone out early to have blood drawn for next week's medical oncologist visit (routine), and when I got home, I found a very sick Mark trying to do laundry. Crazy, I know. He had hung towels up in the wrong place because he was so out of it.
He woke up with a fever of 101.4 and his blood sugar was 236. The sugar was inexplicably high because he had eaten normally the day before. Of course, fevers can raise sugar, so we figured that was the answer. He took Tylenol and literally slept in bed all day long with brief excursions to the kitchen for meals. I woke him up at 7 p.m. for dinner, or I think he would have slept until this morning. He went into the bed at 2 p.m. after lunch and was zonked!!
We cancelled our dentist appointments yesterday and our SOJC choir rehearsal.
At least while he slept, I got a lot of chores done in the house. I had recently bought a cheap, plastic, five-drawer tower from Wal Mart for the living room because I was accumulating so much new music from Guys and Dolls, Starliters, and the SOJC choir. I sorted it out, alphabetized it, and got it all into the drawers. Much nicer. I also did dishes, laundry, made dinner in the crock pot, and worked on my puzzle. That puzzle is going on its second year. It is just SO DARN HARD!!! I am thinking I should have a puzzle party and bring in five or six more people to just work on it all day until it's done! I hate to concede and just put it back in the box, although that's tempting. I have seven other puzzles waiting for me that look like much more fun.
Well, now that I'm home again all day today, I will be out there again working on it. I will also do the grocery shopping today since Mark is going to stay in and rest again. If Mark is out of the bedroom, I can also put the laundry away. I have three baskets of clean clothes, but I didn't want to disturb him yesterday. There's also ironing to be done.
Tuesday I got my stitches out! YAY! It didn't hurt at all to pull them out, although the surgeon said it would. He joked with me again that I must have no nerve endings in my back. Nothing he did ever hurt, but the thing itched terribly as it healed, so clearly there are nerve endings in there. I told him it was a credit to his skill that nothing hurt. I was only disappointed that I have one more week to wait before I can swim. Next Wednesday is it! I'm definitely going swimming then.
Monday we had a long and fabulous day at the Magic Kingdom. We had our Fastpasses for the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at 9:15 a.m. We got there at 10 (the FP window is an hour), but it had just gone down for some reason. We rode Small World and then the Mine Train was open. Although many people have said it's lame, we disagree. We loved it. I was also thrilled that I fit just fine in the car and with the lap bar. It has the kind of bar that is happy to lock at whatever position fits you. Why couldn't Universal do that for Gringott's? GRRR.
We also had Fastpasses for Peter Pan and Philharmagic. We wanted to see the new Haunted Mansion gift shop, the updated parade, and the special Halloween statues at the hub. Mark wanted to do the shooting gallery. We also decided to try the new process of booking a fourth Fastpass when your first three are over. Worked perfectly, so we rode Haunted Mansion. We had flatbread pizzas at the Pinocchio Haus. As long as we were staying all day, we made sure to do Tiki Room, Country Bears Jamboree, the big afternoon parade, Peoplemover, and Carousel of Progress. Before we knew it, it was almost 6 p.m. It was a glorious day at the Magic Kingdom!!
So now you are all caught up with our lives this week. Sometimes things don't tun out as planned, but as long as Mark gets over this little illness, all is well.
I'll work backwards. So today we have cancelled all our plans (NARFE board meeting at Beef O'Brady's in Lakeland and dinner with friends at Lakeside) because Mark is still sick.
Yesterday Mark woke up VERY sick. I had gone out early to have blood drawn for next week's medical oncologist visit (routine), and when I got home, I found a very sick Mark trying to do laundry. Crazy, I know. He had hung towels up in the wrong place because he was so out of it.
He woke up with a fever of 101.4 and his blood sugar was 236. The sugar was inexplicably high because he had eaten normally the day before. Of course, fevers can raise sugar, so we figured that was the answer. He took Tylenol and literally slept in bed all day long with brief excursions to the kitchen for meals. I woke him up at 7 p.m. for dinner, or I think he would have slept until this morning. He went into the bed at 2 p.m. after lunch and was zonked!!
We cancelled our dentist appointments yesterday and our SOJC choir rehearsal.
At least while he slept, I got a lot of chores done in the house. I had recently bought a cheap, plastic, five-drawer tower from Wal Mart for the living room because I was accumulating so much new music from Guys and Dolls, Starliters, and the SOJC choir. I sorted it out, alphabetized it, and got it all into the drawers. Much nicer. I also did dishes, laundry, made dinner in the crock pot, and worked on my puzzle. That puzzle is going on its second year. It is just SO DARN HARD!!! I am thinking I should have a puzzle party and bring in five or six more people to just work on it all day until it's done! I hate to concede and just put it back in the box, although that's tempting. I have seven other puzzles waiting for me that look like much more fun.
Well, now that I'm home again all day today, I will be out there again working on it. I will also do the grocery shopping today since Mark is going to stay in and rest again. If Mark is out of the bedroom, I can also put the laundry away. I have three baskets of clean clothes, but I didn't want to disturb him yesterday. There's also ironing to be done.
Tuesday I got my stitches out! YAY! It didn't hurt at all to pull them out, although the surgeon said it would. He joked with me again that I must have no nerve endings in my back. Nothing he did ever hurt, but the thing itched terribly as it healed, so clearly there are nerve endings in there. I told him it was a credit to his skill that nothing hurt. I was only disappointed that I have one more week to wait before I can swim. Next Wednesday is it! I'm definitely going swimming then.
Monday we had a long and fabulous day at the Magic Kingdom. We had our Fastpasses for the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at 9:15 a.m. We got there at 10 (the FP window is an hour), but it had just gone down for some reason. We rode Small World and then the Mine Train was open. Although many people have said it's lame, we disagree. We loved it. I was also thrilled that I fit just fine in the car and with the lap bar. It has the kind of bar that is happy to lock at whatever position fits you. Why couldn't Universal do that for Gringott's? GRRR.
We also had Fastpasses for Peter Pan and Philharmagic. We wanted to see the new Haunted Mansion gift shop, the updated parade, and the special Halloween statues at the hub. Mark wanted to do the shooting gallery. We also decided to try the new process of booking a fourth Fastpass when your first three are over. Worked perfectly, so we rode Haunted Mansion. We had flatbread pizzas at the Pinocchio Haus. As long as we were staying all day, we made sure to do Tiki Room, Country Bears Jamboree, the big afternoon parade, Peoplemover, and Carousel of Progress. Before we knew it, it was almost 6 p.m. It was a glorious day at the Magic Kingdom!!
So now you are all caught up with our lives this week. Sometimes things don't tun out as planned, but as long as Mark gets over this little illness, all is well.
Monday, October 27, 2014
Early morning at Magic Kingdom
I don't have much time to write a blog because we need to head out early to Magic Kingdom. We have a 9:15 FP+ to ride the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. We also have FP+ for two other attractions, Peter Pan and Mickey's Philharmagic. Then we'll decide if we want to stay and play in the park longer or come home in time for me to play Mah Jongg.
It's Monday, so I need to report my weight. I've essentially stayed the same this time, 266.5. I guess a half pound up isn't bad. We ate many meals out in restaurants. I had the three kiosks for lunch yesterday. We had dinner out Thursday night and company Friday night. So even though we did walk a lot around the parks, the calories were just right to keep my weight basically the same.
I finally uploaded my pictures from the last two times we went to Epcot's Food and Wine Festival. Enjoy.
It's Monday, so I need to report my weight. I've essentially stayed the same this time, 266.5. I guess a half pound up isn't bad. We ate many meals out in restaurants. I had the three kiosks for lunch yesterday. We had dinner out Thursday night and company Friday night. So even though we did walk a lot around the parks, the calories were just right to keep my weight basically the same.
I finally uploaded my pictures from the last two times we went to Epcot's Food and Wine Festival. Enjoy.
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| The new lumberjack show that is on the same stage that Off Kilter used. |
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| One of the kiosks from last week. They really make them look cute. |
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| Yesterday we watched the new flag waving show in Italy. A huge improvement over the comedy show that used to be there. |
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| We have attended talks on coffee and tea in the pavilion. This Sunday it was on kumquats. There are dozens of recipes in this little booklet. Essentially you can make anything out of a kumquat, according to the speaker! |
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| They are like the size of a large grape tomato. We popped the whole thing in our mouths and ate it, skin and all. The skin is sweet and the pulp is tart, so it's sort of a sourburst type of candy taste in your mouth. |
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| Chocolate sculptures. EVERYTHING in these statues is chocolate. |
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| Finished off the day with a cup of Ghirardelli's "drinking" chocolate. Hot and sweet, sort of like drinking something you'd like to pour over ice cream. |
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Great days!
I've been so busy that I haven't written a blog since Thursday morning.
We had a lovely few hours at the Hollywood Studios with our friends from Maryland. We ate lunch at the Commissary with them, party of 11. Then we went down to the Lights, Motor, Action car stunt show before strolling back to the front and leaving them at the Great Movie Ride. We had to head out to shop in the afternoon and get to the Solivita free movie. It was the Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler comedy, Blended, which I had wanted to see.
Friday we cooked and cleaned house in the morning before heading to the library for our first time in a month. I was busy the entire three hours because a lady from a university in the Tampa area wants to do a PhD in History dissertation on something involving women in naturism or the history of naturism in Florida. She was overwhelmed by the amount of material we have, so she will be coming many times to narrow her focus and do the research. This was her first visit, so I helped her find things. It was fun.
Then in the evening it was the Shalom Club's Shabbat Progressive dinner. Mark and I hosted five people. He made chicken and mushrooms in the crock pot, plus broccoli and salad. We all had kiddush together up at the Village and dessert and coffee up there after dinner. Lots of fun. Very congenial group. This was the second year we participated in this.
Today we went over to Boardwalk for the D23 Fanniversary. It ran about two hours and was fabulous! Then we headed home for lunch before going to the Cove for Nude-a-Palooza. This is sponsored every year as a fund raiser for Breast Cancer. We bought tickets to go to an entire day of tribute bands in concert on the grounds. We got there around 2:30 while the Cheryl Crow performance was going. We also heard Adele, who was absolutely fabulous, and a Tom Petty tribute band. Then we went into Lakeside for dinner and listened to a duo in there who were also great. As we left to head home we caught a little of the Beach Boys tribute band. They sounded great as well.
What a day!
We had a lovely few hours at the Hollywood Studios with our friends from Maryland. We ate lunch at the Commissary with them, party of 11. Then we went down to the Lights, Motor, Action car stunt show before strolling back to the front and leaving them at the Great Movie Ride. We had to head out to shop in the afternoon and get to the Solivita free movie. It was the Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler comedy, Blended, which I had wanted to see.
Friday we cooked and cleaned house in the morning before heading to the library for our first time in a month. I was busy the entire three hours because a lady from a university in the Tampa area wants to do a PhD in History dissertation on something involving women in naturism or the history of naturism in Florida. She was overwhelmed by the amount of material we have, so she will be coming many times to narrow her focus and do the research. This was her first visit, so I helped her find things. It was fun.
Then in the evening it was the Shalom Club's Shabbat Progressive dinner. Mark and I hosted five people. He made chicken and mushrooms in the crock pot, plus broccoli and salad. We all had kiddush together up at the Village and dessert and coffee up there after dinner. Lots of fun. Very congenial group. This was the second year we participated in this.
Today we went over to Boardwalk for the D23 Fanniversary. It ran about two hours and was fabulous! Then we headed home for lunch before going to the Cove for Nude-a-Palooza. This is sponsored every year as a fund raiser for Breast Cancer. We bought tickets to go to an entire day of tribute bands in concert on the grounds. We got there around 2:30 while the Cheryl Crow performance was going. We also heard Adele, who was absolutely fabulous, and a Tom Petty tribute band. Then we went into Lakeside for dinner and listened to a duo in there who were also great. As we left to head home we caught a little of the Beach Boys tribute band. They sounded great as well.
What a day!
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| 11 of us at the stunt show. |
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| Eliot, Jennifer, and Brian |
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| Sherry and Don |
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| Lightening McQueen |
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| The show is always amazing. |
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| Me and Eliot after the show |
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| The group outside the Sci-Fi Dine-In |
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Fun times
We really enjoyed our day yesterday. It started off with using half price tickets from Living Social at Ripley's Believe it Or Not in Orlando. Then we had a super delicious KOSHER lunch at the Kosher Grill only a few blocks away from Ripley's. Mark had schwarma hummus and I had a falafel. All excellent. Then we drove straight to Fort Wilderness at WDW to join our Solivita Disney Fan Club for the Hoop-De-Doo Revue. While everyone else had fried chicken and barbecued pork ribs, we had pasta primavera and grilled salmon with sauteed veggies. We also shared the corn, cornbread, salad, mashed potatoes, and strawberry shortcake that everyone else got. The show was a lot of fun, which we had not seen since we took Lowell there when he was 7. It was definitely a great day!
Today we are heading over to Hollywood Studios to meet up with some friends from Maryland that we know fro Goddard and from the MAD group, Goddard's theater group. We plan to have lunch with them and hang out a little bit before heading home to grocery shop and make the Thursday evening Solivita movie.
Love our life here.
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| The building is made to look like it's sinking into a sink hole! |
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| Portrait of John Lennon carved into a phone book. |
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| Really cool musical car. |
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| Gigantic portrait of Jimi Hendrix made out of playing cards. |
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| Finally, someone who make Mark look short. |
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| Me and the biggest tire in the world! |
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| Me and a chunk of the Berlin Wall. |
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| Mark had fun at the shooting gallery. |
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| Even though this tiny car is road-worthy and driveable, I'm pretty sure neither Mark nor I are going to fit in there! |
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| Perfect table, perfect view at the show. |
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| We enjoyed playing checkers at Fort Wilderness. |
Today we are heading over to Hollywood Studios to meet up with some friends from Maryland that we know fro Goddard and from the MAD group, Goddard's theater group. We plan to have lunch with them and hang out a little bit before heading home to grocery shop and make the Thursday evening Solivita movie.
Love our life here.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Victory Casino Cruise
As mentioned on Sunday, Mark and I joined Susie, Ed, and many others from Solivita on a bus trip to the Victory Casino Cruise out of Port Canaveral. We really enjoyed it. The weather was perfect; the food in the buffet was great; the company was congenial; and the slot machines were generous. LOL! Generous to SOME, not to me. Many people won several hundred dollars in those machines. Part of our package was $20 on a card to play with. I used that 20 and cashed out about $8.50 of it. Then later I put a $5 bill in and cashed that out at around $8.50 as well. I should have stopped there, but I also put a $20 bill in and lost all of it. LOL! Well, I took that money to spend in the slots, so I didn't go over my budget. Mark didn't use any of his own money. He turned his $20 card into $41 of cash to bring home, so he did much better than I did. I was sitting right next to one lady as she made $415 on a slot machine. It was a lot of fun. Mark and I agreed that we wouldn't do it every month, but maybe once a year would be fine. The Relay for Life team gives any proceeds to the American Cancer Society, so it was all for a good cause.
I did weigh myself yesterday morning. I was 266, the same as last Monday. After eating that buffet lunch with Key lime pie for dessert and two free drinks, I am up 2.3 pounds this morning. I bet it's gone tomorrow.
Today I'm heading up to Oak Street to pick up six new mastectomy bras. I'm entitled to six every year with my insurance, but I actually used the last batch for three years. They are now falling apart, so it was time to do it again. I had my appointment last year for a fitting to be sure I was the same size. Despite being up 20 pounds since I was measured in 2011, I did still wear the same size bra. All that weight is below my waist! Anyway, those bras are extremely comfortable, so I'm glad to drive up and get them today. Then at 1 p.m. I have my usual mani/pedi, and tonight Mark and I will go to the Travel Club meeting. He will be busy this morning taking down our succah, which is a lot of work.
Tomorrow we are joining the Disney Fan Club at Fort Wilderness for the Hoop-De-Doo Revue. We haven't been there since Lowell was seven! We took Evey there as a two year old for a character breakfast in 1989, which is literally the last time we were in the building. It should be a hoot!
I did weigh myself yesterday morning. I was 266, the same as last Monday. After eating that buffet lunch with Key lime pie for dessert and two free drinks, I am up 2.3 pounds this morning. I bet it's gone tomorrow.
Today I'm heading up to Oak Street to pick up six new mastectomy bras. I'm entitled to six every year with my insurance, but I actually used the last batch for three years. They are now falling apart, so it was time to do it again. I had my appointment last year for a fitting to be sure I was the same size. Despite being up 20 pounds since I was measured in 2011, I did still wear the same size bra. All that weight is below my waist! Anyway, those bras are extremely comfortable, so I'm glad to drive up and get them today. Then at 1 p.m. I have my usual mani/pedi, and tonight Mark and I will go to the Travel Club meeting. He will be busy this morning taking down our succah, which is a lot of work.
Tomorrow we are joining the Disney Fan Club at Fort Wilderness for the Hoop-De-Doo Revue. We haven't been there since Lowell was seven! We took Evey there as a two year old for a character breakfast in 1989, which is literally the last time we were in the building. It should be a hoot!
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| Our ship! |
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| Me and Susie! Ready to board. |
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| Deck Three as we entered. |
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| Mark, Susie, and Ed as we wait to sail out to the ocean. |
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| Drinking our free whiskey as we sail away. |
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| Susie, Ed, and Arlene. |
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| Canaveral Seashore |
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Epcot and Hair Cut
Simchat Torah services on Friday morning were the best yet at SOJC. They did two things differently that added tremendously to the spirit and fun of the day.
First, instead of dancing around with the Torahs in a tight little circle up by the bima, we went back into the social hall and made a much bigger circle. This was great because it meant we had too many people to fit into the little space and also because the bigger circle meant more people could dance and I didn't get dizzy going around and around in a tight little circle. I even took my turn holding the Torah. Our rabbi knows every possible Jewish song and leads with enthusiasm. He's only 32, so he has LOTS of energy!
The second thing they did was bring out the booze! It's a tradition on Simchat Torah that everybody in the room get an aliyah, a chance to be called up to the Torah to bless it before it's read. Then after your turn, you get a shot of something. The last years we have been here there was no booze. Last year I mentioned this to the rabbi and he said, yes, he came from that tradition, too. So yesterday he told everybody about it and made sure a bottle of nice cold Scotch was put out! Almost everybody went over and took a shot after their aliyah. It just made it seem more like the holiday! LOL!
We also had marvelous fall weather again yesterday and took a half hour walk. People say we don't have seasons here in central Florida, but we do. It's now fall, which means the humidity is mostly gone or at least very low. It's in the upper 70s to low 80s in the day and goes down to the upper 50s to low 60s overnight. It's glorious. There are even some brown leaves on the sidewalk where we have walked the last few days. Not as many as up north but enough to make it crunchy now and then. Fall may very well be my favorite season here. It's perfect for taking walks.
Today the weather will be just like yesterday. We are heading over to Epcot for lunch at a few kiosks at the Food and Wine Festival. Then we'll leave early enough to get Mark to his 4 p.m. haircut appointment. I have taken the three half hour walks these past few days to prove to myself that I could walk into Epcot and all the way to the back for lunch. Last Sunday we cancelled our trip to Epcot for this because my back hurt too much. I'm definitely showing improvement, and I don't think I'll have any problem walking in and out of Epcot today.
Tomorrow is Monday, and I should report my weight. Unfortunately, i will not have time to write a blog tomorrow, so I'll report it on Tuesday morning. Mark and I are going on a Gambling Cruise tomorrow with friends Susie and Ed. We have to leave the house at 7:45 to catch the bus up at the Village. This is a Relay for Life event here in Solivita, so we are participating. We get a bus ride to a ship that sails out of Port Canaveral into the Atlantic for about five hours. The ticket includes a buffet meal on the ship, too. Otherwise I'm pretty sure we are expected to drop some money gambling and drinking! We never did this kind of thing before, so it should be interesting. We won't get home until after 6 p.m., so I probably will just wait until Tuesday morning to write about it. I'm sure there will be pictures, too.
First, instead of dancing around with the Torahs in a tight little circle up by the bima, we went back into the social hall and made a much bigger circle. This was great because it meant we had too many people to fit into the little space and also because the bigger circle meant more people could dance and I didn't get dizzy going around and around in a tight little circle. I even took my turn holding the Torah. Our rabbi knows every possible Jewish song and leads with enthusiasm. He's only 32, so he has LOTS of energy!
The second thing they did was bring out the booze! It's a tradition on Simchat Torah that everybody in the room get an aliyah, a chance to be called up to the Torah to bless it before it's read. Then after your turn, you get a shot of something. The last years we have been here there was no booze. Last year I mentioned this to the rabbi and he said, yes, he came from that tradition, too. So yesterday he told everybody about it and made sure a bottle of nice cold Scotch was put out! Almost everybody went over and took a shot after their aliyah. It just made it seem more like the holiday! LOL!
We also had marvelous fall weather again yesterday and took a half hour walk. People say we don't have seasons here in central Florida, but we do. It's now fall, which means the humidity is mostly gone or at least very low. It's in the upper 70s to low 80s in the day and goes down to the upper 50s to low 60s overnight. It's glorious. There are even some brown leaves on the sidewalk where we have walked the last few days. Not as many as up north but enough to make it crunchy now and then. Fall may very well be my favorite season here. It's perfect for taking walks.
Today the weather will be just like yesterday. We are heading over to Epcot for lunch at a few kiosks at the Food and Wine Festival. Then we'll leave early enough to get Mark to his 4 p.m. haircut appointment. I have taken the three half hour walks these past few days to prove to myself that I could walk into Epcot and all the way to the back for lunch. Last Sunday we cancelled our trip to Epcot for this because my back hurt too much. I'm definitely showing improvement, and I don't think I'll have any problem walking in and out of Epcot today.
Tomorrow is Monday, and I should report my weight. Unfortunately, i will not have time to write a blog tomorrow, so I'll report it on Tuesday morning. Mark and I are going on a Gambling Cruise tomorrow with friends Susie and Ed. We have to leave the house at 7:45 to catch the bus up at the Village. This is a Relay for Life event here in Solivita, so we are participating. We get a bus ride to a ship that sails out of Port Canaveral into the Atlantic for about five hours. The ticket includes a buffet meal on the ship, too. Otherwise I'm pretty sure we are expected to drop some money gambling and drinking! We never did this kind of thing before, so it should be interesting. We won't get home until after 6 p.m., so I probably will just wait until Tuesday morning to write about it. I'm sure there will be pictures, too.
Friday, October 17, 2014
Normal xray. Yay!
I missed the call from the doctor's office last evening because we were taking a walk to see if I could do it. We walked about 25 minutes and then sat by our local pool just enjoying the weather and view. The dull ache behind my left hip is always with me, walking, sitting, lying down. I wanted to see if it got worse walking, but it didn't. Now I feel like I can go to Epcot on Sunday!
I hadn't carried my phone with me, so when we got back, I saw that I missed the phone call. The nurse left a voicemail saying to call back. So naturally, I worried all night that it was something bad. I went back into my patient portal on their website and saw that she had put down a referral to an orthopedic surgeon. What? Now I was SURE something was wrong.
This morning I sat on hold for 25 minutes, but finally the receptionist answered. She said she could give me the results because the nurse and doctor were with patients. She said, "Your xray is more or less normal, but she said if you are still in pain, she will refer you to an orthopedist." Those were her exact words.
So...the xray did not show any reason for this dull ache. My plan now is to keep taking 800 mg. of ibuprofen twice a day and the muscle relaxant at bedtime. I will keep the sleep number bed pumped up firm and go on with my life. In a little over two weeks I have my regular appointment with the medical oncologist. If it's still hurting the same amount by then, I will bring it up with her. If it gets worse, I'll go to the orthopedist. What else is there to do?
Today is Simchat Torah. We celebrate finishing the Torah and begin it again. It's a happy day and also marks the end of all the fall holidays. We will go in a few minutes, but it's one of the holidays that used to be a lot of fun at Mishkan Torah and definitely is NOT as much fun here at SOJC. Oh, well....we will still go.
Ah, almost forgot to mention that my cyst is GONE! I had to wait an hour in the office, and then the procedure took about 45 minutes. But no pain and it's gone. The doctor said he did one continuous stitch, but when I looked at it in the mirror last night, it looks like there are actually 8 stitches. It's bigger than I thought, and there will be a nice big scar. Who cares? It's gone and it doesn't hurt. I'll go back in 10 days to take the stitches out, and then I can go back in the pool. Fabulous.
I hadn't carried my phone with me, so when we got back, I saw that I missed the phone call. The nurse left a voicemail saying to call back. So naturally, I worried all night that it was something bad. I went back into my patient portal on their website and saw that she had put down a referral to an orthopedic surgeon. What? Now I was SURE something was wrong.
This morning I sat on hold for 25 minutes, but finally the receptionist answered. She said she could give me the results because the nurse and doctor were with patients. She said, "Your xray is more or less normal, but she said if you are still in pain, she will refer you to an orthopedist." Those were her exact words.
So...the xray did not show any reason for this dull ache. My plan now is to keep taking 800 mg. of ibuprofen twice a day and the muscle relaxant at bedtime. I will keep the sleep number bed pumped up firm and go on with my life. In a little over two weeks I have my regular appointment with the medical oncologist. If it's still hurting the same amount by then, I will bring it up with her. If it gets worse, I'll go to the orthopedist. What else is there to do?
Today is Simchat Torah. We celebrate finishing the Torah and begin it again. It's a happy day and also marks the end of all the fall holidays. We will go in a few minutes, but it's one of the holidays that used to be a lot of fun at Mishkan Torah and definitely is NOT as much fun here at SOJC. Oh, well....we will still go.
Ah, almost forgot to mention that my cyst is GONE! I had to wait an hour in the office, and then the procedure took about 45 minutes. But no pain and it's gone. The doctor said he did one continuous stitch, but when I looked at it in the mirror last night, it looks like there are actually 8 stitches. It's bigger than I thought, and there will be a nice big scar. Who cares? It's gone and it doesn't hurt. I'll go back in 10 days to take the stitches out, and then I can go back in the pool. Fabulous.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Surgery day
This afternoon I have my surgery appointment to have the cyst finally removed from my back. The stitches will stay in 10 days, and then I'll finally be cleared to go back in a pool or hot tub. Yay! I'll be glad to have this finally gone.
Meanwhile the dull ache in my left hip area is still with me. It's been over a week, but the stiffness that I woke up with last Wednesday is better. Last night Mark suggested I pump up the bed. We have an old sleep number bed, which is essentially a glorified air mattress. I pumped it up a lot more. I do think it helped and that's partially why I wasn't as stiff this morning. Clearly the bed does not stay full of air like it used to. I bet it's got a small leak, and that's another reason why it should be replaced.
Because the ache in the hip is constant, and sometimes feels worse with too much moving, I am still worried about it being something serious. I am now able to log into my doctor's office on their website and view my chart. I logged in this morning and saw that the xray results were in. I was almost too nervous to open it up and read it, but I clicked on it anyway. Nothing. It just said that I had an xray on Friday. Yuh, think? I already knew that. Where's the radiologist's report? So, I sent the doctor an email through their site and requested the results. I will give her two days to get back to me via email and on Friday afternoon I will call and ask. I have to say I was disappointed with that patient portal.
We had a lovely time yesterday. We went to the book talk on Dan Brown's Inferno, which we had read in preparation. That was excellent and very timely since it deals with a mad scientist releasing a viral epidemic on the world. It's going to be a movie with Tom Hanks, so that should be exciting. Then we had our company over around 6 p.m. It rained, so we didn't eat in the succah, but we sure had fun catching up with Jonathan and Susan. We had not seen them since June.
Back in Maryland, we had a huge succah that could seat up to 12 people. Every night for the seven nights we had company for dinner, often the full complement of 12 for dinner. We would go to work all day and come home and make a big dinner for 12....seven nights in a row. Well, some years we would get invited to someone else's succah one or two nights, but it was still a lot of people and a lot of cooking during that week. Crazy. After having just dinner for 4 two nights in a row, Mark and I both said we couldn't have had a third group tonight. And we didn't even go to work all day first. Our age is catching up to us in that respect. At least he can still BUILD it!
I did eat way too much. My calories were around 2850, and the day before when Ed and Susie were here, I had 2500. Naturally I'm up three pounds to 269 this morning. Ridiculous. I even programmed the Lose It! app with what I was going to eat, but then I ate a lot more and also foods that I forgot were going to be there. So on each day with company I ate well over 1,000 calories MORE than I planned to eat. Lack of control....yes, that's my hallmark.
No company today. Back to normal today. I have planned the day's calories at 1300 today.
Tomorrow I will tell you if I was successful.
The Orioles....UGH. Lost the third game in a row to Kansas City last night. Now they are in the unenviable position of having to win the next FOUR games straight. I must say I do not hold out any hope that it will happen. In fact, if "let the best man (or team) win" applies here, then go Royals. They have clearly been the best team so far in this match up. Sad, but true.
Meanwhile the dull ache in my left hip area is still with me. It's been over a week, but the stiffness that I woke up with last Wednesday is better. Last night Mark suggested I pump up the bed. We have an old sleep number bed, which is essentially a glorified air mattress. I pumped it up a lot more. I do think it helped and that's partially why I wasn't as stiff this morning. Clearly the bed does not stay full of air like it used to. I bet it's got a small leak, and that's another reason why it should be replaced.
Because the ache in the hip is constant, and sometimes feels worse with too much moving, I am still worried about it being something serious. I am now able to log into my doctor's office on their website and view my chart. I logged in this morning and saw that the xray results were in. I was almost too nervous to open it up and read it, but I clicked on it anyway. Nothing. It just said that I had an xray on Friday. Yuh, think? I already knew that. Where's the radiologist's report? So, I sent the doctor an email through their site and requested the results. I will give her two days to get back to me via email and on Friday afternoon I will call and ask. I have to say I was disappointed with that patient portal.
We had a lovely time yesterday. We went to the book talk on Dan Brown's Inferno, which we had read in preparation. That was excellent and very timely since it deals with a mad scientist releasing a viral epidemic on the world. It's going to be a movie with Tom Hanks, so that should be exciting. Then we had our company over around 6 p.m. It rained, so we didn't eat in the succah, but we sure had fun catching up with Jonathan and Susan. We had not seen them since June.
Back in Maryland, we had a huge succah that could seat up to 12 people. Every night for the seven nights we had company for dinner, often the full complement of 12 for dinner. We would go to work all day and come home and make a big dinner for 12....seven nights in a row. Well, some years we would get invited to someone else's succah one or two nights, but it was still a lot of people and a lot of cooking during that week. Crazy. After having just dinner for 4 two nights in a row, Mark and I both said we couldn't have had a third group tonight. And we didn't even go to work all day first. Our age is catching up to us in that respect. At least he can still BUILD it!
I did eat way too much. My calories were around 2850, and the day before when Ed and Susie were here, I had 2500. Naturally I'm up three pounds to 269 this morning. Ridiculous. I even programmed the Lose It! app with what I was going to eat, but then I ate a lot more and also foods that I forgot were going to be there. So on each day with company I ate well over 1,000 calories MORE than I planned to eat. Lack of control....yes, that's my hallmark.
No company today. Back to normal today. I have planned the day's calories at 1300 today.
Tomorrow I will tell you if I was successful.
The Orioles....UGH. Lost the third game in a row to Kansas City last night. Now they are in the unenviable position of having to win the next FOUR games straight. I must say I do not hold out any hope that it will happen. In fact, if "let the best man (or team) win" applies here, then go Royals. They have clearly been the best team so far in this match up. Sad, but true.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Nothing to say today.
It's hard to write a blog when you have nothing to say. LOL!
Some people might say that I do that all the time, and they are probably right. Not long ago I mentioned to someone that I write an almost-daily blog. They asked me what it was about. I had to pause and think because I no longer had a ready answer. In fact it was kind of embarrassing to say that it USED to be about weight loss and then it USED to be about breast cancer, but that now it's just about whatever I'm doing.
Yeah, I write a boring blog. I realize that now. I know I have a few loyal readers (and I thank you for that, especially when you send me emails making comments on them or sharing your stories), but mostly it's probably just too boring for most people to read. I'm not sure I would read a blog like this written by someone else. LOL!
When I started this blog, it did have a clear purpose. It's purpose was to motivate me to stay on track and lose the weight for that hernia surgery in November of 2009. I had lost a lot of weight between January and October of that year, but I was starting to lose focus and gain some back. I thought that if I bared my soul (and my weight) online where anyone could read it, including my family, that I could get back on track. It worked at the time. I did go back to my diet plan and lose another 20-30 pounds by February of 2010.
Then it became about Mark's heart condition, our big trip to celebrate my retirement, and our move to Florida, before I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Then for a year or more it was all about the treatment and how I felt about that and how I was doing.
Once the crisis was over and we were moved successfully, the blog lost its focus. I do report my weight, most of the time, but I don't feel motivated to do well just because I'm posting it out here for all to see like I did back in 2009. It almost seems like the weight is just another boring topic that I keep reporting just because....well, there's no real reason anymore. It doesn't motivate me to do well to write that I gained or lost a few pounds. It's just factual reporting with no emotion attached anymore.
I do like writing about our trips and our fun times around Florida. I like posting my pictures of those events. Mark really hates reading about other people's trips and looking at their pictures, so he would never read this blog if it was by someone else. He only reads it because he's in the pictures sometimes, I think! LOL
So today, I'm sitting here and thinking I have nothing to say. I think I'm right.
Well I will do what I always do and write about what I did and what I will do. Here goes.
Tonight is the last night of Succoth, so it's the last night we will have dinner in the succah. We will have our friends Jonathan and Susan over for dinner. Mark is making kosher beef bratwurst with grilled veggies, Brussels sprouts, and salad. It will be delicious. It's supposed to rain this afternoon, but we're hoping it lets up long enough to go outside, otherwise we will eat in the dining room. We did eat outside last night with our friends Susie and Ed. It was a perfect night for that last night. I put the camera in my pocket to take pictures of us out there, but I forgot! Crazy. Then we played Rummikub with them after dessert. That was so much fun. We had not played that game in years.
Tomorrow I have my little in-office surgery to remove the remnants of that nasty cyst on my back. I will have a few stitches and a bandage for 10 days, and then it should all be over at last. This thing has been ongoing since August 21, preventing me from swimming. At least in another 10 days I can go back to the pool.
My back is still hurting. I'm taking ibuprofen during the day and the muscle relaxant at bedtime. We might have to bump up our timeline for buying a new bed. I'm still waiting for the xray results. Of course, I'll report them as soon as I get them. LOL! Just another boring bit of information about my life.
Hope your day is not boring, wherever you are and whatever you are doing!
Some people might say that I do that all the time, and they are probably right. Not long ago I mentioned to someone that I write an almost-daily blog. They asked me what it was about. I had to pause and think because I no longer had a ready answer. In fact it was kind of embarrassing to say that it USED to be about weight loss and then it USED to be about breast cancer, but that now it's just about whatever I'm doing.
Yeah, I write a boring blog. I realize that now. I know I have a few loyal readers (and I thank you for that, especially when you send me emails making comments on them or sharing your stories), but mostly it's probably just too boring for most people to read. I'm not sure I would read a blog like this written by someone else. LOL!
When I started this blog, it did have a clear purpose. It's purpose was to motivate me to stay on track and lose the weight for that hernia surgery in November of 2009. I had lost a lot of weight between January and October of that year, but I was starting to lose focus and gain some back. I thought that if I bared my soul (and my weight) online where anyone could read it, including my family, that I could get back on track. It worked at the time. I did go back to my diet plan and lose another 20-30 pounds by February of 2010.
Then it became about Mark's heart condition, our big trip to celebrate my retirement, and our move to Florida, before I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Then for a year or more it was all about the treatment and how I felt about that and how I was doing.
Once the crisis was over and we were moved successfully, the blog lost its focus. I do report my weight, most of the time, but I don't feel motivated to do well just because I'm posting it out here for all to see like I did back in 2009. It almost seems like the weight is just another boring topic that I keep reporting just because....well, there's no real reason anymore. It doesn't motivate me to do well to write that I gained or lost a few pounds. It's just factual reporting with no emotion attached anymore.
I do like writing about our trips and our fun times around Florida. I like posting my pictures of those events. Mark really hates reading about other people's trips and looking at their pictures, so he would never read this blog if it was by someone else. He only reads it because he's in the pictures sometimes, I think! LOL
So today, I'm sitting here and thinking I have nothing to say. I think I'm right.
Well I will do what I always do and write about what I did and what I will do. Here goes.
Tonight is the last night of Succoth, so it's the last night we will have dinner in the succah. We will have our friends Jonathan and Susan over for dinner. Mark is making kosher beef bratwurst with grilled veggies, Brussels sprouts, and salad. It will be delicious. It's supposed to rain this afternoon, but we're hoping it lets up long enough to go outside, otherwise we will eat in the dining room. We did eat outside last night with our friends Susie and Ed. It was a perfect night for that last night. I put the camera in my pocket to take pictures of us out there, but I forgot! Crazy. Then we played Rummikub with them after dessert. That was so much fun. We had not played that game in years.
Tomorrow I have my little in-office surgery to remove the remnants of that nasty cyst on my back. I will have a few stitches and a bandage for 10 days, and then it should all be over at last. This thing has been ongoing since August 21, preventing me from swimming. At least in another 10 days I can go back to the pool.
My back is still hurting. I'm taking ibuprofen during the day and the muscle relaxant at bedtime. We might have to bump up our timeline for buying a new bed. I'm still waiting for the xray results. Of course, I'll report them as soon as I get them. LOL! Just another boring bit of information about my life.
Hope your day is not boring, wherever you are and whatever you are doing!
Monday, October 13, 2014
Monday, and company is coming for Succoth
First things first. I weigh 266 this morning, meaning I lost a pound and a half. Considering there was no exercise this week, I think that's pretty good. I'll take it.
My total calories yesterday came in at 1366, making my average daily calories for the week 1559. That is still 41 calories a day over the limit I was supposed to have of 1518. I'm happy I dropped a little bit considering I did exceed the limit and did not exercise. Sweet.
Now that I dropped a little, the program took away ten calories a day. My new limit is 1508. I know that once I get down into the 240s again, the limit will drop to around 1300 something. Yes, it gets harder to drop weight the smaller you are.
Mark and I ate all three of our meals in the succah yesterday, which is pretty usual for him but might have been a first for me, at least this year. Even back in Maryland I did not always go out for breakfast and lunch in the succah. Many days I was gone to work instead. The weather has been spectacular, very conducive to wanting to eat outdoors. Tonight and tomorrow night we have company coming for dinner. We're pretty excited about that. Today's weather will be awesome, but it will probably be raining tomorrow. Oh well.
As for my back, it's still there but improving. We slept back in our own bed, and I do think I was stiffer this morning. I'm convinced we need a new bed, but I just don't want to pay for it yet. I'd like to wait a few months if my back can stand it. I'm getting more hopeful that this is just a muscular thing, probably associated with the bed. I'm still waiting to see that xray result come back normal, too.
This morning I have a bra fitting with the mastectomy bra lady who sold me 8 bras in 2011. My insurance will give me 8 bras every year, but these were so well made that they have lasted well over a year. This past year, though, I have noticed them starting to disintegrate: stretching out, hooks getting misshapen, elastic fraying. It's time for new ones. I hope to bring home 8 new bras today. Then I'll go play Mah Jongg and hope to win at least ONCE. After Mahj, it will be time to tidy up and get ready for the company.
This should be another wonderful day!
My total calories yesterday came in at 1366, making my average daily calories for the week 1559. That is still 41 calories a day over the limit I was supposed to have of 1518. I'm happy I dropped a little bit considering I did exceed the limit and did not exercise. Sweet.
Now that I dropped a little, the program took away ten calories a day. My new limit is 1508. I know that once I get down into the 240s again, the limit will drop to around 1300 something. Yes, it gets harder to drop weight the smaller you are.
Mark and I ate all three of our meals in the succah yesterday, which is pretty usual for him but might have been a first for me, at least this year. Even back in Maryland I did not always go out for breakfast and lunch in the succah. Many days I was gone to work instead. The weather has been spectacular, very conducive to wanting to eat outdoors. Tonight and tomorrow night we have company coming for dinner. We're pretty excited about that. Today's weather will be awesome, but it will probably be raining tomorrow. Oh well.
As for my back, it's still there but improving. We slept back in our own bed, and I do think I was stiffer this morning. I'm convinced we need a new bed, but I just don't want to pay for it yet. I'd like to wait a few months if my back can stand it. I'm getting more hopeful that this is just a muscular thing, probably associated with the bed. I'm still waiting to see that xray result come back normal, too.
This morning I have a bra fitting with the mastectomy bra lady who sold me 8 bras in 2011. My insurance will give me 8 bras every year, but these were so well made that they have lasted well over a year. This past year, though, I have noticed them starting to disintegrate: stretching out, hooks getting misshapen, elastic fraying. It's time for new ones. I hope to bring home 8 new bras today. Then I'll go play Mah Jongg and hope to win at least ONCE. After Mahj, it will be time to tidy up and get ready for the company.
This should be another wonderful day!
Sunday, October 12, 2014
The Os are in trouble.
I went to synagogue, which was fine. The drive doesn't bother me, and a few times I sat down when every one else stood up. I took 800 mg of ibuprofen twice during the day and also the muscle relaxant twice. We also slept in the new spare room bed. I think it made a difference, actually. It's so TALL that I had to put a little stool in there to get in and out of it. I was encouraged that I think my back was not as sore and stiff when I got up, but when it comes time to buy us a new bed for our room, I might try to go a little bit better.
Today we were supposed to go to Epcot for the Food and Wine Festival. I'm not sure I could walk that far, so we are skipping it. Calorie-wise that will be a better choice! I have actually lost a half pound as of this morning. When I logged my weight of 267.5 into the Lose It! app on Monday, it gave me a daily calorie budget of 1518. According to the program, I would lose two pounds per week at that level. Unfortunately, I went over that allotment on two days, making my average calories 1591 per day in the last six days. With only walking on two days (Monday and Tuesday), I guess I should be glad that I'm down half a pound this morning.
Here's the daily calorie total for each day.
Monday 1384, net 1136 after exercise
Tuesday 1269, net 1155 after exercise
Wednesday 1696, no excuse, ate too many almonds as a snack watching TV
Thursday 2341, ate dinner at friend's succah
Friday 1379, ate dinner in shul's succah
Saturday 1481
Sunday so far, breakfast was 258.
I will be eating all meals at home today, so I expect today will not exceed the allotted calories, as long as I don't cheat.
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Shabbat and Orioles in the Post Season
I did make it to the Shabbat dinner in the succah last night. It was lovely, and I did not feel that I overate. There was challah, salad, chicken breast baked with canned onion rings as a topping, broccoli, carrots, and sweet noodle kugel. I ate only what they put on my plate. I took no desserts and no seconds. That's as good as it gets! Well, in all honesty, I did eat most of Mark's kugel because he was afraid it tasted too sweet for him. For that, I am down a half pound today. LOL! Not much, but I'm still holding out hope that there might be two pounds gone by Monday. There are still two more days. Without exercising, I think I'm just holding steady on 1400 calories a day.
My back was terrible when I got up yesterday and even more terrible today. I didn't baby it yesterday. I did not take any muscle relaxants. I drove the car to the xray place and to the synagogue. I sat on a picnic table for dinner in the succah, which definitely started to hurt after awhile. This morning I feel in as much pain as I did on Wednesday when I went to the doctor.
Before I went for the xray, I began to get a new sense of panic about this back pain. Breast cancer can return at any time, and returning in bone is a common place, along with chest wall, original breast area, and lungs. What if this is not a muscle, not a disc, but cancer in the bones of the spine. YIKES. I spent way too much time yesterday trying to google that. I learned that it is common. OKAY. I knew that already. Now I will just have to keep dealing with it until I get the xray results the middle of next week. If it doesn't show anything and the pain doesn't improve, I have my six month check up with the medical oncologist scheduled for November 5, just about three and a half weeks away. If the pain has not gone away, I will be asking her for more tests. There could be an MRI or a Pet Scan to look for bone mets. UGH. That would NOT make me happy! LOL!
Now to the Orioles! They have had an awesome season this year. They won their American League East division by a large margin. Then they skunked their competition, Detroit, in three games straight to move on to the American League Championship games. Last night they played the first game, against Kansas City. It was such a nail-biter. They came from behind, tied it up, and lost it by one in the tenth inning. Heartbreaking, but what a game to watch! I was happy that Mark and I were watching it at home, with the comfort of a heating pad on a soft chair. Fans in Baltimore were in a cold rain! The stadium was PACKED, and very few people left early. The game didn't end until about 1 in the morning. Crazy. Today at 4 p.m. is the second game. Go Os! You need to get a win today before you head to Kansas City. Looking forward to that game today.
Meanwhile, I'm up, showered, dressed, and ready to go to the synagogue with Mark. He's reading haftarah today. My back feels bad, but I'm about to take 800 mg of ibuprofen after I finish this blog. That will definitely help. Also, tonight, Mark and I plan to sleep in the spare room on the new bed in there. If I wake up better tomorrow morning on that new mattress, then that will definitely show some of this problem is the old bed. I don't want to spend the money on a new one for us right now, but I will if sleeping on a better one has anything to do with this.
My back was terrible when I got up yesterday and even more terrible today. I didn't baby it yesterday. I did not take any muscle relaxants. I drove the car to the xray place and to the synagogue. I sat on a picnic table for dinner in the succah, which definitely started to hurt after awhile. This morning I feel in as much pain as I did on Wednesday when I went to the doctor.
Before I went for the xray, I began to get a new sense of panic about this back pain. Breast cancer can return at any time, and returning in bone is a common place, along with chest wall, original breast area, and lungs. What if this is not a muscle, not a disc, but cancer in the bones of the spine. YIKES. I spent way too much time yesterday trying to google that. I learned that it is common. OKAY. I knew that already. Now I will just have to keep dealing with it until I get the xray results the middle of next week. If it doesn't show anything and the pain doesn't improve, I have my six month check up with the medical oncologist scheduled for November 5, just about three and a half weeks away. If the pain has not gone away, I will be asking her for more tests. There could be an MRI or a Pet Scan to look for bone mets. UGH. That would NOT make me happy! LOL!
Now to the Orioles! They have had an awesome season this year. They won their American League East division by a large margin. Then they skunked their competition, Detroit, in three games straight to move on to the American League Championship games. Last night they played the first game, against Kansas City. It was such a nail-biter. They came from behind, tied it up, and lost it by one in the tenth inning. Heartbreaking, but what a game to watch! I was happy that Mark and I were watching it at home, with the comfort of a heating pad on a soft chair. Fans in Baltimore were in a cold rain! The stadium was PACKED, and very few people left early. The game didn't end until about 1 in the morning. Crazy. Today at 4 p.m. is the second game. Go Os! You need to get a win today before you head to Kansas City. Looking forward to that game today.
Meanwhile, I'm up, showered, dressed, and ready to go to the synagogue with Mark. He's reading haftarah today. My back feels bad, but I'm about to take 800 mg of ibuprofen after I finish this blog. That will definitely help. Also, tonight, Mark and I plan to sleep in the spare room on the new bed in there. If I wake up better tomorrow morning on that new mattress, then that will definitely show some of this problem is the old bed. I don't want to spend the money on a new one for us right now, but I will if sleeping on a better one has anything to do with this.
Friday, October 10, 2014
X-ray Day
This morning I got up in more pain than when I went to bed. I'm sort of depressed about that because the day had improved a lot yesterday. I even went to Ed and Marian's house for dinner last night and drove the car. I'm going to go get that x-ray today. I have to rule out anything skeletal, I guess. I still feel like it's a muscle spasm, and I know they take awhile to resolve.
Today is the second day of Succoth, so Mark will be going to synagogue services again by himself, like yesterday. I'll go get my xray while he's gone.
My weight is the same today as Monday. I carefully recorded every calorie and exercised on Monday and Tuesday until my back went out. Yesterday, I ate out, so that's tough to calculate accurately. I did the best I could and came up with 2800 calories for the day. Monday through Wednesday were about 1400 or less. Apparently, that's just the right amount to maintain this weight. Yay....I guess.
If I'm feeling up to it, we are supposed to go to the synagogue for their monthly Friday night dinner. We paid for it, but it's not expensive, so if i don't go, it won't be a lot of money lost. With any luck, I will feel up to it tonight after sitting on the heating pad, and taking the muscle relaxant when I get back from the xray. It worked for me yesterday.
Today is the second day of Succoth, so Mark will be going to synagogue services again by himself, like yesterday. I'll go get my xray while he's gone.
My weight is the same today as Monday. I carefully recorded every calorie and exercised on Monday and Tuesday until my back went out. Yesterday, I ate out, so that's tough to calculate accurately. I did the best I could and came up with 2800 calories for the day. Monday through Wednesday were about 1400 or less. Apparently, that's just the right amount to maintain this weight. Yay....I guess.
If I'm feeling up to it, we are supposed to go to the synagogue for their monthly Friday night dinner. We paid for it, but it's not expensive, so if i don't go, it won't be a lot of money lost. With any luck, I will feel up to it tonight after sitting on the heating pad, and taking the muscle relaxant when I get back from the xray. It worked for me yesterday.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Doctor's Visit and Back Pain
Sorry that I didn't blog yesterday, but I was in pain all day. UGH.
I woke up yesterday morning and got out of bed feeling a little stiff. No big deal. I'm 64, and sometimes getting out of bed feels stiff. It usually works itself out in a few minutes. Not this time. As the morning progressed, my lower back started to seize up very painfully, to the point where I could barely walk and even sitting still hurt. We had to leave the house at 8:50 to go to our doctor appointments, so I made Mark drive the five miles. I could barely get in or out of the car.
At least I got to see the doctor on that very painful day. She wrote a prescription for a mild muscle relaxant, which Mark picked up for me later in the day. She also gave me an open-ended prescription to go get a lower back X-ray. She said if I wasn't better today that I should go get the X-ray.
The pills are just one tablet twice a day, with or without food (but make that consistent at every dose), and only 2 mg. I googled the drug, and that's a super small dose. As expected it makes you a bit out of it. I was okay with that because I just sat on the heating pad all day. Before I went to the doctor I took 800 mg of ibuprofen, but I didn't take any more of it because I wasn't sure it would go with the muscle relaxant. Nothing I read said they couldn't go together, so I might do both today.
Meanwhile, I am up this morning and still in pain. I want to say it's slightly better, but if I walk too much it gets worse. If I sit or lay on my back and stay still, it's much better. I really believe it's just a muscle spasm, but maybe I'll go get an x-ray later today anyway. If not today, I'll go tomorrow if I don't see improvement. I feel so strongly that it's a muscle spasm that I really don't have a big desire for the x-ray. I just don't believe it will show anything.
Last night began the holiday of Succoth. Mark built the succah on Tuesday, so we ate dinner in it last night. We found that if we went right out after candle-lighting time, we could get done before it was dark. That was nice. He's out there right now eating breakfast in it, but I'm sitting here typing this blog in the kitchen. My back is starting to hurt pretty badly, so I think I'll stop temporarily to eat breakfast, take ibuprofen, and in an hour take the muscle relaxant. I'll be back before the muscle relaxant kicks in to finish up this blog.
I took a picture of Mark eating breakfast in the succah. It's from my view inside the house, so you can only see his feet at the bottom, but it's something. I made my breakfast and tried to do a few tidying up errands. Big mistake. The more I walked, the worse the back felt. I'm going to finish this blog, eat breakfast, take meds, and sit on the heating pad all day.
Mark is going to go to services by himself. He can also give a heads up to the family that has invited us to their house for dinner tonight in their succah. I still plan to go. I hope by resting up all day that I can do that.
The good news is that in all this back craziness the doctor didn't yell at me about my weight or sugar numbers. Maybe she felt sorry for me. My weight was the highest ever in their office since we moved to Florida, 268.3, which was also four pounds up from my home scale a few hours earlier. She said, "Well, you've been struggling with this weight all the time." Can't argue with that. It was 24 pounds up on her records from April 8. She also was unconcerned about the 106 because she liked my 5.7 AiC. She agreed with me 100% that these 20 pounds make all the difference. When I lose them, my sugars will be normal. So, I'm sticking to my diet now, AGAIN. LOL!
My BP was high, for me. It was 158/75. I'm usually low. Four months ago it was 108/55. We all chalked it up to the pain, but maybe it's the extra weight, too. I have no idea. Also she loved my cholesterol numbers, which were truly remarkable. And I got a FLU SHOT! YAY!
Mark also got a great check up. She loved all his numbers, and he got his flu shot.
OK, breakfast is done. Time to take some pills and move to the arm chair with the heating pad.
I woke up yesterday morning and got out of bed feeling a little stiff. No big deal. I'm 64, and sometimes getting out of bed feels stiff. It usually works itself out in a few minutes. Not this time. As the morning progressed, my lower back started to seize up very painfully, to the point where I could barely walk and even sitting still hurt. We had to leave the house at 8:50 to go to our doctor appointments, so I made Mark drive the five miles. I could barely get in or out of the car.
At least I got to see the doctor on that very painful day. She wrote a prescription for a mild muscle relaxant, which Mark picked up for me later in the day. She also gave me an open-ended prescription to go get a lower back X-ray. She said if I wasn't better today that I should go get the X-ray.
The pills are just one tablet twice a day, with or without food (but make that consistent at every dose), and only 2 mg. I googled the drug, and that's a super small dose. As expected it makes you a bit out of it. I was okay with that because I just sat on the heating pad all day. Before I went to the doctor I took 800 mg of ibuprofen, but I didn't take any more of it because I wasn't sure it would go with the muscle relaxant. Nothing I read said they couldn't go together, so I might do both today.
Meanwhile, I am up this morning and still in pain. I want to say it's slightly better, but if I walk too much it gets worse. If I sit or lay on my back and stay still, it's much better. I really believe it's just a muscle spasm, but maybe I'll go get an x-ray later today anyway. If not today, I'll go tomorrow if I don't see improvement. I feel so strongly that it's a muscle spasm that I really don't have a big desire for the x-ray. I just don't believe it will show anything.
Last night began the holiday of Succoth. Mark built the succah on Tuesday, so we ate dinner in it last night. We found that if we went right out after candle-lighting time, we could get done before it was dark. That was nice. He's out there right now eating breakfast in it, but I'm sitting here typing this blog in the kitchen. My back is starting to hurt pretty badly, so I think I'll stop temporarily to eat breakfast, take ibuprofen, and in an hour take the muscle relaxant. I'll be back before the muscle relaxant kicks in to finish up this blog.
I took a picture of Mark eating breakfast in the succah. It's from my view inside the house, so you can only see his feet at the bottom, but it's something. I made my breakfast and tried to do a few tidying up errands. Big mistake. The more I walked, the worse the back felt. I'm going to finish this blog, eat breakfast, take meds, and sit on the heating pad all day.
Mark is going to go to services by himself. He can also give a heads up to the family that has invited us to their house for dinner tonight in their succah. I still plan to go. I hope by resting up all day that I can do that.
The good news is that in all this back craziness the doctor didn't yell at me about my weight or sugar numbers. Maybe she felt sorry for me. My weight was the highest ever in their office since we moved to Florida, 268.3, which was also four pounds up from my home scale a few hours earlier. She said, "Well, you've been struggling with this weight all the time." Can't argue with that. It was 24 pounds up on her records from April 8. She also was unconcerned about the 106 because she liked my 5.7 AiC. She agreed with me 100% that these 20 pounds make all the difference. When I lose them, my sugars will be normal. So, I'm sticking to my diet now, AGAIN. LOL!
My BP was high, for me. It was 158/75. I'm usually low. Four months ago it was 108/55. We all chalked it up to the pain, but maybe it's the extra weight, too. I have no idea. Also she loved my cholesterol numbers, which were truly remarkable. And I got a FLU SHOT! YAY!
Mark also got a great check up. She loved all his numbers, and he got his flu shot.
OK, breakfast is done. Time to take some pills and move to the arm chair with the heating pad.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Diabetic at last?
Today I am considering the fact that I might actually, finally be a Type II Diabetic. Here's why.
Mark and I registered with Quest last week to have our test results emailed to us. Mark's came in yesterday, and he was pretty happy with them. His cholesterol is excellent; his fasting blood sugar was 156; his AiC 7.0. These are good numbers for someone like him who has been a Type II diabetic for 38 and a half years.
My results came in over night around 2 a.m. I got up to go to the bathroom, checked the time on my iphone, and noticed the email was there. I was so curious that I tried to open it right away, but it didn't work too well on the phone. I went to the computer, opened it up, and was stunned.
My fasting blood sugar was flagged as high at 106. 99 is the upper limit for normal. My AiC was also flagged as high at 5.7, claiming 5.6 is the upper limit. I don't really even believe that because anything in the sixes used to be considered fine, and Mark is thrilled with a 7. His endocrinologist in MD told him that no diabetic complications really set in until a person is running in the 8s on a long term basis.
Anyway, in March of 2012 I got a 100 fasting blood sugar and weighed 265. That was my first visit with this family doctor since the previous one had left the practice in between my visits. She was quite adamant with me that day that I was a diabetic ON the day the blood was drawn. She said she did not believe in pre-diabetes. You either are or are not.
Well, today I am a diabetic. My fasting blood sugar last week at Quest was 106, so this morning I had Mark let me test myself with his monitor. I had an excellent day yesterday, a bit under 1400 calories and a two mile walk. I am down three pounds from yesterday (264.7 this morning), and yet I just got a 104 on his monitor.
I think this means that I AM now a Type II diabetic and that this extra twenty pounds is the reason. I think that now that I'm 64 my body cannot handle a weight in the 260s. I bet that if I lose twenty pounds or more and stay in the 240s or less, I will have perfectly normal blood sugars again. That is so typical for Type II diabetics who get the disease as an older, overweight person and can make the symptoms (high fasting sugars) go away with weight loss. It happened to both of my parents in their 50s, and I've always been surprised that it hadn't happened to me YET. Well, now it's happened.
Tomorrow morning I have an appointment with the doctor to go over these numbers. With any luck and wearing light clothing, I will weigh in the low 260s at her office. That's still going to be a twenty pound gain from my visit with her on April 8. She will have a FIT. She will YELL at me. That's the kind of lady doctor she is. She will not be happy that I've gained twenty pounds in the last six months or that I got a 106 fasting sugar. She will tell me to lose weight.
She will be absolutely RIGHT!
Meanwhile, I did have an excellent day yesterday. I used my Lose It! app and walked two miles in an hour. That's a pretty slow walking pace, but it was the best I could do. In fact we walked 25 minutes and then sat on a park bench admiring the lake view for about 20 minutes and then walked 40 minutes around the lake and back home. It was fun, but we were both tired.
Today I will have another excellent eating day and log everything in. I will take a walk later in the day again. In the middle of the afternoon I have a mani/pedi, very relaxing and very necessary. It's been three weeks, so the toenails are starting to grow in and get painful. UGH.
Also yesterday we went to the new furniture store that opened in Poinciana and bought a new mattress set for the spare room. It will be delivered tomorrow afternoon after we get back from the doctor's office. The spare room bedroom set is the furniture my parents used when I was a little girl in the 1950s. It's lovely, antique furniture. The mattress set on is probably about 40 years old! It is the same mattress set that was on the bed when my mother died in 1983. I really don't know when she bought it. It has been our spare room bed for most of that time, although there were a few years here and there when Evey used it regularly in high school and one year in college. Yes, I agree with her that it's time to get a new one. This new one should give our guests a much nicer experience in the spare room. I'm also planning to put up some light blocking drapes because that spare room is in the front of the house near a street lamp. It's always kind of light in there with just vertical blinds.
Final good news/bad news:
Bad News: I played Mah Jongg yesterday and did not win a single game. Bummer. There were only five of us playing, and I could not catch a break. Oh, well....next time.
Good News: My cholesterol and triglycerides were excellent. Total cholesterol is 186; HDL 76; LDL 86; ratio 2.5.; triglycerides 123. These are all excellent numbers, smack in the perfect range. Lipitor does work! Also I don't eat much meat.
Mark and I registered with Quest last week to have our test results emailed to us. Mark's came in yesterday, and he was pretty happy with them. His cholesterol is excellent; his fasting blood sugar was 156; his AiC 7.0. These are good numbers for someone like him who has been a Type II diabetic for 38 and a half years.
My results came in over night around 2 a.m. I got up to go to the bathroom, checked the time on my iphone, and noticed the email was there. I was so curious that I tried to open it right away, but it didn't work too well on the phone. I went to the computer, opened it up, and was stunned.
My fasting blood sugar was flagged as high at 106. 99 is the upper limit for normal. My AiC was also flagged as high at 5.7, claiming 5.6 is the upper limit. I don't really even believe that because anything in the sixes used to be considered fine, and Mark is thrilled with a 7. His endocrinologist in MD told him that no diabetic complications really set in until a person is running in the 8s on a long term basis.
Anyway, in March of 2012 I got a 100 fasting blood sugar and weighed 265. That was my first visit with this family doctor since the previous one had left the practice in between my visits. She was quite adamant with me that day that I was a diabetic ON the day the blood was drawn. She said she did not believe in pre-diabetes. You either are or are not.
Well, today I am a diabetic. My fasting blood sugar last week at Quest was 106, so this morning I had Mark let me test myself with his monitor. I had an excellent day yesterday, a bit under 1400 calories and a two mile walk. I am down three pounds from yesterday (264.7 this morning), and yet I just got a 104 on his monitor.
I think this means that I AM now a Type II diabetic and that this extra twenty pounds is the reason. I think that now that I'm 64 my body cannot handle a weight in the 260s. I bet that if I lose twenty pounds or more and stay in the 240s or less, I will have perfectly normal blood sugars again. That is so typical for Type II diabetics who get the disease as an older, overweight person and can make the symptoms (high fasting sugars) go away with weight loss. It happened to both of my parents in their 50s, and I've always been surprised that it hadn't happened to me YET. Well, now it's happened.
Tomorrow morning I have an appointment with the doctor to go over these numbers. With any luck and wearing light clothing, I will weigh in the low 260s at her office. That's still going to be a twenty pound gain from my visit with her on April 8. She will have a FIT. She will YELL at me. That's the kind of lady doctor she is. She will not be happy that I've gained twenty pounds in the last six months or that I got a 106 fasting sugar. She will tell me to lose weight.
She will be absolutely RIGHT!
Meanwhile, I did have an excellent day yesterday. I used my Lose It! app and walked two miles in an hour. That's a pretty slow walking pace, but it was the best I could do. In fact we walked 25 minutes and then sat on a park bench admiring the lake view for about 20 minutes and then walked 40 minutes around the lake and back home. It was fun, but we were both tired.
Today I will have another excellent eating day and log everything in. I will take a walk later in the day again. In the middle of the afternoon I have a mani/pedi, very relaxing and very necessary. It's been three weeks, so the toenails are starting to grow in and get painful. UGH.
Also yesterday we went to the new furniture store that opened in Poinciana and bought a new mattress set for the spare room. It will be delivered tomorrow afternoon after we get back from the doctor's office. The spare room bedroom set is the furniture my parents used when I was a little girl in the 1950s. It's lovely, antique furniture. The mattress set on is probably about 40 years old! It is the same mattress set that was on the bed when my mother died in 1983. I really don't know when she bought it. It has been our spare room bed for most of that time, although there were a few years here and there when Evey used it regularly in high school and one year in college. Yes, I agree with her that it's time to get a new one. This new one should give our guests a much nicer experience in the spare room. I'm also planning to put up some light blocking drapes because that spare room is in the front of the house near a street lamp. It's always kind of light in there with just vertical blinds.
Final good news/bad news:
Bad News: I played Mah Jongg yesterday and did not win a single game. Bummer. There were only five of us playing, and I could not catch a break. Oh, well....next time.
Good News: My cholesterol and triglycerides were excellent. Total cholesterol is 186; HDL 76; LDL 86; ratio 2.5.; triglycerides 123. These are all excellent numbers, smack in the perfect range. Lipitor does work! Also I don't eat much meat.
Monday, October 6, 2014
New Year and back to reality
It's Monday, and my weight is 267.5. That's a pound up since last Monday. Even though I fasted 28 hours, I had a huge meal before and after the fast. Guess that did it.
I have not used my Lose It! program on the phone for so long that I can't remember the last time. I logged the weight in today and noticed that I'm now up four pounds on the app since I started it. I began on Mark's birthday, March 12 of 2012. So essentially, over the last two and a half years, I have gained four pounds. Ridiculous.
Even sadder is that it shows that last year I was down 27 pounds at 239.7. It's been a bad year for my weight. I'm also noticing that this is the longest stretch that I've stayed in the 260s EVER. Each time in the past that I got this high, it was after a vacation or cruise or special event, and then I immediately got back on track and dropped it within a month or less. Well, this time I went this high on the trip to South Dakota. I came back the end of July around this weight and have stayed put every since.
What to do about it? Hahaha. Stupid question! I know what to do about it. It's getting my head in the game that is hard. I think that getting into the Lose It! app this morning and logging in my weight and my breakfast is a start. Also around 4 p.m. after I play Mah Jongg for the first time in a long time, Mark and I will take a long walk. That will also be good. Even though we have taken some long walks around theme parks last month, we also ate out a lot of meals in the parks. That is never conducive to losing weight. Looking ahead on my calendar, I see that I have no meals out until Oct. 20 on a day-long cruise with some friends. That's two full weeks when I should be able to control everything I eat at home. I had better take advantage of it.
I have not used my Lose It! program on the phone for so long that I can't remember the last time. I logged the weight in today and noticed that I'm now up four pounds on the app since I started it. I began on Mark's birthday, March 12 of 2012. So essentially, over the last two and a half years, I have gained four pounds. Ridiculous.
Even sadder is that it shows that last year I was down 27 pounds at 239.7. It's been a bad year for my weight. I'm also noticing that this is the longest stretch that I've stayed in the 260s EVER. Each time in the past that I got this high, it was after a vacation or cruise or special event, and then I immediately got back on track and dropped it within a month or less. Well, this time I went this high on the trip to South Dakota. I came back the end of July around this weight and have stayed put every since.
What to do about it? Hahaha. Stupid question! I know what to do about it. It's getting my head in the game that is hard. I think that getting into the Lose It! app this morning and logging in my weight and my breakfast is a start. Also around 4 p.m. after I play Mah Jongg for the first time in a long time, Mark and I will take a long walk. That will also be good. Even though we have taken some long walks around theme parks last month, we also ate out a lot of meals in the parks. That is never conducive to losing weight. Looking ahead on my calendar, I see that I have no meals out until Oct. 20 on a day-long cruise with some friends. That's two full weeks when I should be able to control everything I eat at home. I had better take advantage of it.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Yom Kippur at DVC's VGF
Really, if you live 25 miles from your synagogue and you have to fast for nearly 28 hours anyway, it's SO much better to do it at WDW and especially GREAT at the Villas at the Grand Floridian. We have done this at the All Star Sports the last two years, but using our DVC points at the VGF was even better.
For dinner, we made a delicious one pot meal of chicken, potatoes, and fresh string beans. Mark also made matzo ball soup and another fabulous low-carb honey cake. Of course, there was also raisin challah. It was a great dinner, and we stuffed ourselves silly before heading out to shul.
I checked the time and mileage. From the parking lot at VGF to shul was 8 miles in about 20 minutes. So much better than 25 miles in 45-60 minutes! In the middle of the day we went back and had a whole 90 minutes to lay down for a nap. If we had to drive home, we would have had only about 30 minutes before heading straight back, not even worth the drive for that.
After services, we ate left overs as well as hummus and other things for break-the-fast. Around 9:15 we walked over to the main lobby and listened to the band play. When they finished, we walked out to the end of the dock and watched the MK fireworks. We could even hear the music being piped out of the deck at Narcoossee's. It was a good view!
This morning we had a great breakfast in the apartment, too. After we checked out, we walked around the resort for awhile and even took the boat to the Polynesian Resort and to Magic Kingdom and back to VGF, just for fun. We had lunch at the Gasparilla Island, the counter service restaurant. It was a lovely time.
This afternoon we went to the Democrat Club's meeting because they advertised our Congressman Ala Grayson was coming to speak. He was a no-show due to some family issues with his kids. Oh, well... We listened to the other candidates anyway. We wore our NARFE gear, so Mark had a chance to talk to Grayson's designee instead about NARFE issues. It was an interesting meeting anyway.
Now it's time to watch the Orioles beat the Tigers. They WON!! They advance to the AL championship game against either Kansas City or the Angels.
Here are some pictures of this weekend.
For dinner, we made a delicious one pot meal of chicken, potatoes, and fresh string beans. Mark also made matzo ball soup and another fabulous low-carb honey cake. Of course, there was also raisin challah. It was a great dinner, and we stuffed ourselves silly before heading out to shul.
I checked the time and mileage. From the parking lot at VGF to shul was 8 miles in about 20 minutes. So much better than 25 miles in 45-60 minutes! In the middle of the day we went back and had a whole 90 minutes to lay down for a nap. If we had to drive home, we would have had only about 30 minutes before heading straight back, not even worth the drive for that.
After services, we ate left overs as well as hummus and other things for break-the-fast. Around 9:15 we walked over to the main lobby and listened to the band play. When they finished, we walked out to the end of the dock and watched the MK fireworks. We could even hear the music being piped out of the deck at Narcoossee's. It was a good view!
This morning we had a great breakfast in the apartment, too. After we checked out, we walked around the resort for awhile and even took the boat to the Polynesian Resort and to Magic Kingdom and back to VGF, just for fun. We had lunch at the Gasparilla Island, the counter service restaurant. It was a lovely time.
This afternoon we went to the Democrat Club's meeting because they advertised our Congressman Ala Grayson was coming to speak. He was a no-show due to some family issues with his kids. Oh, well... We listened to the other candidates anyway. We wore our NARFE gear, so Mark had a chance to talk to Grayson's designee instead about NARFE issues. It was an interesting meeting anyway.
Now it's time to watch the Orioles beat the Tigers. They WON!! They advance to the AL championship game against either Kansas City or the Angels.
Here are some pictures of this weekend.
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| Mark is making us some coffee Sunday morning. |
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| The bungaows at the Poly are coming along nicely. You can see the plunge pool hanging below the deck on the left. |
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| At the Democratic Club Meeting in all his NARFE gear. |
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