Reby's Weight Loss and Breast Cancer Journey: Health issues

We went to shul, as I said we would, on Friday, and it was delightful. Then when we got home and I stepped out of the car, my left leg hurt terribly. It felt like the back of my knee was tight, stiff, and sore. Then when I stepped on it, the pain radiated down the calf muscle and into the back of the ankle. I couldn't figure out any reason for it. I was barely able to hobble into the house from the garage. I took 800 mg of Advil and went to bed with it hurting, even not walking on it. When I woke up Saturday morning, it still hurt like crazy. I took the Advil again with breakfast and tried to stay off of it all day. I spent the day reading, watching TV, and just keeping my leg still as much as possible. By bedtime there seemed to be no difference in the pain level, and I admit I was getting worried. Sunday we canceled our plans to go the Studios all day and bumped it off to the following Sunday. I felt there was a small amount of improvement. I also noticed that when it was worse when I got up from a chair and started walking, it showed improvement the more I walked. If I leaned on a chairback or counter as I walked, that helped, too. So we decided to go see the new Mission Impossible movie in the afternoon and stop at Walgreen's to buy a cane on the way. Once I bought that cane, I felt like a new woman. Just that little something to take a small amount of pressure off the leg and a little something to add some stability made me feel GREAT! I used it to walk in and out of the movie theater and felt that I had done the right thing. I took two doses of 800 mg each of Advil at breakfast and dinner again. Then Monday morning when I woke up, BOOM, nothing! Yes, that's what I said. The leg was perfectly normal as soon as I got out of bed yesterday. Oh, yes, it's because I bought that cane. The perversity of inanimate objects always rears it head when you least expect it. LOL

So Monday I played Mah Jongg in the afternoon and won two games. It was the first time I had played with my Barcelona Drive group in a month, so that was fun to see everyone and get caught up on the news. In the evening I went to SOJC for the choir rehearsal. THAT'S another whole story for later.

Meanwhile, around dinner time, I noticed a painful feeling in my lower abdomen, pressure, bloating, a heaviness. That's all I can say to describe it. It seems to be a GYN problem, not an intestinal problem. The pain continued all night and is still fairly intense this morning. I have not been to the gynecologist since January of 2014. The recommendation now is to have that regular exam about every two years at older ages. I was going to wait until two years went by and then try to schedule an appointment in early 2016. Maybe I'll call today instead and see what I can get. Both times that I saw a GYN down here in Florida, which was only twice, I had a cyst on my left ovary. It had not changed in those two visits, so maybe now it's doing something. Honestly, when I was 14, I had a cyst on the right ovary which made the doctor think I was having appendicitis. I had an emergency appendectomy to take out a perfectly fine appendix and a ruptured cyst on the ovary. I have to say that this pressure and pain does NOT feel like what I remembered that other time to feel like.

Meanwhile, my new car, Candy, let me down last night. I hopped in to go to the choir rehearsal, and a big warning came up on the screen that an Oil Change is Required! I got out of the car and took Mark's car instead. So today I need to take Candy for an oil change. In the afternoon I have a mani/pedi scheduled for the first time in four weeks. Boy do I need it! It's going to be in the upper 90s today, so I plan to spend as much time as possible in the pool, too. After that mani/pedi, if it's not raining, I will be enjoying the pool and ambiance at the Cove!

The weight is staying the same. Yesterday morning was Weigh-in Monday, and I was 273.4, essentially the same as when we left for vacation. I did not eat particularly well Friday or Sunday, but Saturday and Monday were great. I only had 1300 calories yesterday, but I had essentially no exercise for three straight days. Hence this morning I am up a pound from yesterday. I don't really know why. I plan to eat well today, so I hope to see that extra pound gone tomorrow morning.

I will close today's blog with another set of vacation pictures. Here are pictures from our second day at Disneyland.

Waiting for the bus outside of our hotel. This little ART bus was a lifesaver everyday, cheaply and efficiently taking us to and from the parks.

Then we went to the River Belle Terrace for breakfast. Walt used to have his Sunday breakfast there every week. I enjoyed watching them make the Mickey pancakes, although I did not order one.

We have pictures of us and the kids out at this outdoor table area. Now it's just us here. We do this every time we come to Disneyland, though.

We rode the Storybook Canal, which is unique to Disneyland.

Adorable miniature villages and houses look lifesize in this picture.

Heading under the topiary arches.

Next it was time to go to Small World, which looks completely different on the outside and somewhat different inside, too, than in Florida.

Mark LOVES the Shooting Gallery.

21 out of 21 shots hit the target. He never misses.

We went to a special Frozen show. It was cute and unlike anything in Florida.

These two men were very funny and portrayed all the parts in the show except the grown-up Anna and Elsa. They played the young girls with puppets!

At 6 p.m. we staked out this bench on Main Street to wait for the evening parade and fireworks again. They were so spectacular that we wanted to see them again. Mark got us dinner from the nearby Starbucks.