I am up 6.2 pounds this morning. It has been a bad week. I have undone almost all the weight loss of the previous week. I also woke up with the pain behind the right hip, which I now know is pressure on a nerve and muscle from the spinal stenosis. I wonder if these pounds are exactly the ones that put that pressure on. I do not feel anywhere near as good as I did since I started the exercises. I'm also out of prednisone, having taken the last one last Wednesday. Two people told me that the effects can last for months, but I'm worried that it is not working like that for me.
And the worst news of all is that I went out of control yesterday and started binge-eating, something I have not done for quite awhile. We had our lunch at the Thai Blossom, and I did what I said I would. I skipped the spring rolls and shared the one serving of rice with Mark. Sadly, I slept through almost all of the first act of The Odd Couple. Since I can't get coffee, I got a bottle of water and a bag of M&Ms at intermission. The intent was to share and save most of them. I did give Susie a handful and then ate just a few, but halfway through the second act, I finished the bag. The good news is I stayed wide awake through the whole second act. It would have been healthier to have gotten coffee.
Then when I got home, I guess that eating the M&Ms set me off for the rest of the day. I proceeded to finish the raisin challah from Friday night, about 4-5 ounces of bread, before dinner. I ate the good dinner Mark prepared, but then I ate a pumpkin muffin from Friday night. By then I was in full-on binge mode. I ate four Apple Pie Oreos, 8 Salted Caramel Oreo thins, 8 Lemon Oreo thins, and a bunch of candy from the SeaWorld candy bag: an Airhead, two little boxes of Junior Mints, a Smarties, a fruit roll up, a little bag of Skittles, and a bag of Welch's fruit chews. Obviously, I stopped logging things in to Lose It!, but before I stopped, I had already logged in 2400 calories and over 200 carbs. Ridiculous. I'm not surprised to be up more weight this morning.
Fortunately, after all that, my blood sugar this morning was only 108, not normal but far better than I anticipated after such a horrible night.
This morning I have been up for over two hours and yet still not hungry! HAHA! Still too much food and sugar in my system, I guess. I know it's a bad idea, but I'm skipping breakfast. I had my one cup of black coffee, and now I'm drinking water. In half an hour or so, I'l be heading to Barb W.'s house to play Mah Jongg. After that, I'll have lunch at home before Mark and I head out to do a lot of errands.
Our first errand is to go to Dr. Dunn's office to drop off Mark's two years of his records for them to file. Hopefully, Dr. Weinberger also has the insurance form finished for us. Then we are driving to the Kissimmee Ford dealer to drop off my C-Max. It needs an oil change, a recall fixed, and something done to fix our starter fobs because the car doesn't always recognize them. It might be a simple battery change, but we will let them figure that out. The Low Tire Pressure light came on Friday, so I'm concerned about that since the tires are all relatively new. Mark will fill them this morning, but I hope I don't need new tires again.
A run to BJs to stock up on paper products and a run to Winn Dixie for kosher meat will round out our day of errands. My hip is still hurting, so I suspect all these errands are going to be a little difficult, and I'll definitely use the handicap tag where I can. I might have overdone it Saturday and Sunday. I definitely overate. Today I must have a good day because Tuesday and Wednesday night are big dinners out again followed by lunch out on Thursday and Sunday and another dinner out next Monday. Our Florida life has returned and so has the weight. I have got to figure this out, or before I know it the 30 pounds gone will be back.
Monday, October 30, 2017
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Up some more
We walked over four miles at SeaWorld and had a blast yesterday. The trick-or-treat trail wasn't just for kids, so we both came home with a bag of candy. The decorations were very cute, too. At the end of the day, my hips and back were hurting a bit, but I only sat down two times during the entire walking around in the afternoon, not counting sitting at lunch and in the theater. That was better than I have done for years.
Unfortunately, our free pass holder lunch meal was a poor choice for both of us. We went to the Antarctica Expedition Cafe because we had seen before that it had a Gardein (veggie chicken strips) Chinese meal. Sadly, like the veggie chili at the other place, it is now off the menu. There is a Garden Cannelloni meal, so that's what we got. For our side we ordered the Broccoli Florentine. First of all, the cannelloni was huge! Each of us got a tin foil pan with four pieces of cannelloni stuffed with a spinach cheese filling and covered in a thick layer of a blend of other cheeses with marinara sauce topping it all off. It was a pan easily big enough for two people. It was delicious but too much. The broccoli wasn't ready, so they said come back for it. When Mark came back with it, we were both gasping. Each was in a tin foil pan the same size as the cannelloni. There was over two cups of broccoli in each pan easily and it was solidly covered in a thick layer of melted cheese. Everything was declicious, but it was high carb, high calorie, high fat. It's hard to estimate something like that, but I tried. It was easily about 1100 calories and around 77 carbs. Neither of us could finish the pan of broccoli. We felt sluggish and overstuffed the rest of the day. In fact, eventually Mark had one of his heart episodes where he could barely walk, so we had to sit down for him to rest awhile. Ridiculous. We will never order that again unless we get only one and share it.
Consequently, I skipped most of dinner and ate only a tossed salad with some grated Parmesan cheese on it around 9 p.m. At 10 p.m I ate two sugar free Popsicles. With my best guess of the calories and carbs for the lunch, I think my day came to 1600 calories and 144 carbs. We both checked our sugar when we got home, which was about four and a half hours after we ate the lunch. I was 120, which wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. This morning the fasting blood was 104.
Sadly, I am up another pound today to 262.4, a total gain of 3.6 pounds since Wednesday. This is not the way I want to be going, but it happens when you eat big meals out every day.
Today we are picking up friends Hedy and Harvey and joining Susie and Ed at the Thai Blossom restaurant in Winter Garden before we see the female version of The Odd Couple at the Garden Theater. I will not order my usual spring rolls there today, but I'll be having a type of tofu blend with veggies over rice. I have no idea how to count that either. Breakfast was my usual and dinner is going to be a low calorie frozen dinner. I'm hoping I can stay the same or lose a little by tomorrow. Who knows!
Here are a few pictures from yesterday.
Unfortunately, our free pass holder lunch meal was a poor choice for both of us. We went to the Antarctica Expedition Cafe because we had seen before that it had a Gardein (veggie chicken strips) Chinese meal. Sadly, like the veggie chili at the other place, it is now off the menu. There is a Garden Cannelloni meal, so that's what we got. For our side we ordered the Broccoli Florentine. First of all, the cannelloni was huge! Each of us got a tin foil pan with four pieces of cannelloni stuffed with a spinach cheese filling and covered in a thick layer of a blend of other cheeses with marinara sauce topping it all off. It was a pan easily big enough for two people. It was delicious but too much. The broccoli wasn't ready, so they said come back for it. When Mark came back with it, we were both gasping. Each was in a tin foil pan the same size as the cannelloni. There was over two cups of broccoli in each pan easily and it was solidly covered in a thick layer of melted cheese. Everything was declicious, but it was high carb, high calorie, high fat. It's hard to estimate something like that, but I tried. It was easily about 1100 calories and around 77 carbs. Neither of us could finish the pan of broccoli. We felt sluggish and overstuffed the rest of the day. In fact, eventually Mark had one of his heart episodes where he could barely walk, so we had to sit down for him to rest awhile. Ridiculous. We will never order that again unless we get only one and share it.
Consequently, I skipped most of dinner and ate only a tossed salad with some grated Parmesan cheese on it around 9 p.m. At 10 p.m I ate two sugar free Popsicles. With my best guess of the calories and carbs for the lunch, I think my day came to 1600 calories and 144 carbs. We both checked our sugar when we got home, which was about four and a half hours after we ate the lunch. I was 120, which wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. This morning the fasting blood was 104.
Sadly, I am up another pound today to 262.4, a total gain of 3.6 pounds since Wednesday. This is not the way I want to be going, but it happens when you eat big meals out every day.
Today we are picking up friends Hedy and Harvey and joining Susie and Ed at the Thai Blossom restaurant in Winter Garden before we see the female version of The Odd Couple at the Garden Theater. I will not order my usual spring rolls there today, but I'll be having a type of tofu blend with veggies over rice. I have no idea how to count that either. Breakfast was my usual and dinner is going to be a low calorie frozen dinner. I'm hoping I can stay the same or lose a little by tomorrow. Who knows!
Here are a few pictures from yesterday.
Saturday, October 28, 2017
A week that felt like work.
Mark and I are glad last week is over. Every morning we had to rush out for dentist, doctors, or appointments, often as early as 8 a.m. Hey, we thought we were retired! The treadmill continued all day every day until I collapsed into bed at 11 p.m. Next week has a morning activity every day, after all there is water aerobics at 10:30 every day when there is nothing else, but all of them are a lot later than leaving at 8!
The concert last night was spectacular. We saw a lot of our friends there in the full house, and everyone left thinking it was possibly the very best show we had attended in Solivita. The Shabbat dinner last night was also a hit. My pumpkin muffins came out perfectly, and we had a wonderful time just talking and catching up with Susie and Ed.
Today we are heading to the synagogue for Mark to read Haftarah. Then we will head up to Sea World for lunch and Halloween fun. Some rain is called for around 5 p.m., but you never know if it will hit on Sea World or not. In any case, we will be home for dinner for sure.
Although my blood sugar was back in the normal range this morning at 96, and my calories and carbs yesterday were excellent at 1337 calories and 174 carbs, my weight is actually up two pounds since Wednesday. Maybe it's the prednisone kicking in now? I really don't know. I walked once around the Glendora/Shorehaven pond yesterday. It took 17 minutes, and I did not sit down on a bench on the way. That is the most walking I have done since I went to the ER, so I was feeling good about that. I also did my morning and evening back exercises. I have to hope it's the drug bringing on some water retention. Since we are eating lunch at Sea World today, I will not be able to control the sodium, calories, or carbs as well as at home. I can only try to make good choices and hope that all the walking will help.
Here's a picture of my muffins and the group Monday, Monday.
The concert last night was spectacular. We saw a lot of our friends there in the full house, and everyone left thinking it was possibly the very best show we had attended in Solivita. The Shabbat dinner last night was also a hit. My pumpkin muffins came out perfectly, and we had a wonderful time just talking and catching up with Susie and Ed.
Today we are heading to the synagogue for Mark to read Haftarah. Then we will head up to Sea World for lunch and Halloween fun. Some rain is called for around 5 p.m., but you never know if it will hit on Sea World or not. In any case, we will be home for dinner for sure.
Although my blood sugar was back in the normal range this morning at 96, and my calories and carbs yesterday were excellent at 1337 calories and 174 carbs, my weight is actually up two pounds since Wednesday. Maybe it's the prednisone kicking in now? I really don't know. I walked once around the Glendora/Shorehaven pond yesterday. It took 17 minutes, and I did not sit down on a bench on the way. That is the most walking I have done since I went to the ER, so I was feeling good about that. I also did my morning and evening back exercises. I have to hope it's the drug bringing on some water retention. Since we are eating lunch at Sea World today, I will not be able to control the sodium, calories, or carbs as well as at home. I can only try to make good choices and hope that all the walking will help.
Here's a picture of my muffins and the group Monday, Monday.
Friday, October 27, 2017
Busy two days of doctor visits
Yesterday, Mark and I had our first physical with our new family physician, Dr. Dunn. We had seen her and her partner, Dr. Weinberger, for a few other things, but this was the big physical, which included a Pap Smear for me. I have not had one for over two years, so this was a good thing.
We were both very impressed with both her nurse and the Doctor. She was kind and very thorough. It was by far the most thorough physical we have had since we moved to Florida. Now we are feeling better about having switched to this office, even though the office staff and the other doctor have let us down a few times. We still have to go back up Monday to get that insurance paper from the other doctor for the cancelled cruise. That will be TWO WEEKS after it was dropped off. And they lost the original form Mark left two weeks ago, so he had to drop off a second copy yesterday.
My weight is still the same as Wednesday, and my pain level in the back and hip is still low. My shoulder is hurting all the time now, so I'm glad I'm seeing that doctor soon. More and more I fear that I have torn the rotator cuff and will be facing surgery and a long recovery. UGH.
Today I saw my medical oncologist, Dr. Vijay, for my six month check up. She was excited to see that I have lost 25 pounds since I saw her on April 26. She said my Bone Dexa scan did not come back normal this time like all the other times. Unfortunately, it is now showing mild osteoporosis in both forearms and a lot of it in the right hip. Oddly enough, the left hip showed improvement. I have been having pain in both hips when I walk too much. After the ER visit, I figured it was just the pinched sciatic nerve and arthritis in the spine, but maybe it's related to the bone loss, too. Who knows!
Both Dr. Dunn and Dr. Vijay examined my breasts. I have a spot on the cancer side that hurts when i press on it. I think I feel a lump there, but the doctors did not. Anyway, yesterday Dr. Dunn suggested I should have an MRI, and today Dr. Vijay agreed and ordered it. I guess it will get scheduled soon. My mammogram in September was normal, which they have always been, and no matter how many times Dr. Vijay writes on the paper to also have an ultrasound, SimonMed refuses to do an ultrasound. Neither doctor was pleased to learn that, so that's another reason for the MRI.
This evening Mark and I are joining Susie and Ed for a concert in the ballroom by a Mamas and the Papas tribute band. Should be a lot of fun. Then they are joining us for Shabbat dinner. Mark made a crock pot beef stew from Diabetic Living. We'll have a parve tomato bisque, tossed salad, and challah with that. For dessert I got a fruit salad and made some parve pumpkin muffins. I hope they taste good. They certainly look great. I hardly ever bake, so I was pretty pleased with how they turned out.
My morning blood sugars had been normal for about two weeks. Then yesterday I got a 112 and today it was 107. I have no idea why, although both doctors are blaming the prednisone. I took the big packet of it for the six days and have been off it for 2 days now. Maybe it finally caught up to me. I have heard that the effects of prednisone can last for months after the pills are gone. As for reducing the inflammation and pain in my back, I hope that is true!
Mark is reading Haftarah at the synagogue tomorrow, so we will head over there in the morning. If it's not raining, we are going to Sea World for another of our free pass holder lunches and to see some of their Halloween exhibits. There is even a special Halloween show at the Pet Theater with the dogs and cats! If it's raining, we will just come home!
We were both very impressed with both her nurse and the Doctor. She was kind and very thorough. It was by far the most thorough physical we have had since we moved to Florida. Now we are feeling better about having switched to this office, even though the office staff and the other doctor have let us down a few times. We still have to go back up Monday to get that insurance paper from the other doctor for the cancelled cruise. That will be TWO WEEKS after it was dropped off. And they lost the original form Mark left two weeks ago, so he had to drop off a second copy yesterday.
My weight is still the same as Wednesday, and my pain level in the back and hip is still low. My shoulder is hurting all the time now, so I'm glad I'm seeing that doctor soon. More and more I fear that I have torn the rotator cuff and will be facing surgery and a long recovery. UGH.
Today I saw my medical oncologist, Dr. Vijay, for my six month check up. She was excited to see that I have lost 25 pounds since I saw her on April 26. She said my Bone Dexa scan did not come back normal this time like all the other times. Unfortunately, it is now showing mild osteoporosis in both forearms and a lot of it in the right hip. Oddly enough, the left hip showed improvement. I have been having pain in both hips when I walk too much. After the ER visit, I figured it was just the pinched sciatic nerve and arthritis in the spine, but maybe it's related to the bone loss, too. Who knows!
Both Dr. Dunn and Dr. Vijay examined my breasts. I have a spot on the cancer side that hurts when i press on it. I think I feel a lump there, but the doctors did not. Anyway, yesterday Dr. Dunn suggested I should have an MRI, and today Dr. Vijay agreed and ordered it. I guess it will get scheduled soon. My mammogram in September was normal, which they have always been, and no matter how many times Dr. Vijay writes on the paper to also have an ultrasound, SimonMed refuses to do an ultrasound. Neither doctor was pleased to learn that, so that's another reason for the MRI.
This evening Mark and I are joining Susie and Ed for a concert in the ballroom by a Mamas and the Papas tribute band. Should be a lot of fun. Then they are joining us for Shabbat dinner. Mark made a crock pot beef stew from Diabetic Living. We'll have a parve tomato bisque, tossed salad, and challah with that. For dessert I got a fruit salad and made some parve pumpkin muffins. I hope they taste good. They certainly look great. I hardly ever bake, so I was pretty pleased with how they turned out.
My morning blood sugars had been normal for about two weeks. Then yesterday I got a 112 and today it was 107. I have no idea why, although both doctors are blaming the prednisone. I took the big packet of it for the six days and have been off it for 2 days now. Maybe it finally caught up to me. I have heard that the effects of prednisone can last for months after the pills are gone. As for reducing the inflammation and pain in my back, I hope that is true!
Mark is reading Haftarah at the synagogue tomorrow, so we will head over there in the morning. If it's not raining, we are going to Sea World for another of our free pass holder lunches and to see some of their Halloween exhibits. There is even a special Halloween show at the Pet Theater with the dogs and cats! If it's raining, we will just come home!
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Huge Weight Loss this Week
7.2 pounds lost in ONE WEEK! Shocking. That almost never happens. Weight is 258.8, down from 266 last Wednesday. Nice.
That makes this Weigh-in Wednesday one of the best EVER!
I did everything I was supposed to again yesterday: 1215 calories, 160 carbs, morning and evening back exercises, 40 minute water aerobic routine, active two hour rehearsal mostly on my feet. I was EXHAUSTED in the evening, but it felt good.
Today we are rushing around this morning to get out of here around 9:15 to drive to Sun City Center, FL for Mark to talk to that NARFE chapter about the legislative agenda in Congress. It means eating lunch at Denny's. I plan to order the Veggie Skillet Fit Fare for 330 calories and 44 carbs. That's about the best choice I can make with that menu. Dinner tonight is something Mark made before and put in the freezer, Broccoli Mac 'N Cheese from Diabetic Living. It has 355 calories and 42 carbs.
Tonight I have the SOJC Choir rehearsal, and we are going with our friends, Susan and Jonathan. They always want to stop at Twistee Treat on the way home. A small vanilla cone is 190 calories, although I could not find out how many carbs it has. I'm going to plan to have one of those and not worry about it. That will make my total day only 1115 calories and 101 carbs plus the ice cream cone's carbs. It actually is probably too few calories. I might add another 150 in the late afternoon if I get hungry. We are so busy today, I might not even have time to eat another snack.
Got to run!
That makes this Weigh-in Wednesday one of the best EVER!
I did everything I was supposed to again yesterday: 1215 calories, 160 carbs, morning and evening back exercises, 40 minute water aerobic routine, active two hour rehearsal mostly on my feet. I was EXHAUSTED in the evening, but it felt good.
Today we are rushing around this morning to get out of here around 9:15 to drive to Sun City Center, FL for Mark to talk to that NARFE chapter about the legislative agenda in Congress. It means eating lunch at Denny's. I plan to order the Veggie Skillet Fit Fare for 330 calories and 44 carbs. That's about the best choice I can make with that menu. Dinner tonight is something Mark made before and put in the freezer, Broccoli Mac 'N Cheese from Diabetic Living. It has 355 calories and 42 carbs.
Tonight I have the SOJC Choir rehearsal, and we are going with our friends, Susan and Jonathan. They always want to stop at Twistee Treat on the way home. A small vanilla cone is 190 calories, although I could not find out how many carbs it has. I'm going to plan to have one of those and not worry about it. That will make my total day only 1115 calories and 101 carbs plus the ice cream cone's carbs. It actually is probably too few calories. I might add another 150 in the late afternoon if I get hungry. We are so busy today, I might not even have time to eat another snack.
Got to run!
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
More weight is gone. Stunning.
Everything seems to be going so perfectly in my weight, blood sugars, and pain levels. It makes me kind of feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Ever since the Saturday in the ER, my blood sugars have been normal. This morning was no exception with a reading of 90. Yesterday I ate 1317 calories with 112 carbs. The exercise routine and prednisone, which I started Friday afternoon after seeing the orthopedist has made me feel more flexible, stronger, and virtually pain free. And the best news of all is the weight. This morning I weighed 259.6. YES! That's right! I dropped out of the sixties and down into the fifties. Just a little bit down in there, but it's the first time I have seen a number with a five in the middle in about three years! Now to use all of this as the perfect motivation to continue.
As far as my mini-goals go, I quickly hit the 265, what I weighed when we came back from our South Dakota trip in August of 2014. Now I'm almost at the 255 mark, which is the weight I was at Lowell and Emily's wedding in July of 2014. That was the last time I was in the 250s. Once I went in to the 260s on our South Dakota trip, I never did anything but go up and yo-yo in the 270s and higher for a few years. Wow. What a difference! I do, indeed, feel much better. When we moved to Florida after chemo in Feb. of 2011, I weighed 250. I'm getting so close to that mark next. Then I want to hit 245, what I weighed at Evey's wedding in September of 2011. If I get there in the next few months, I'll be ecstatic, and then I'll set some more goals!
The hard part is to stay here and go down further. I have been lucky because there have been only a few times when I ate out in the last few weeks, mostly because of my back. Starting tomorrow I am facing five meals either out or in at a dinner party in the next seven days. It is almost impossible to lose weight when eating out, and I say that from LOTS of experience. Even if you order very low calorie meals, there is almost always hidden calories in unknown oils or fats added plus far more sodium than I ever use at home. In fact, just staying the same for the week will be a challenge!
Here are my upcoming challenges:
Oct. 25, Tomorrow, lunch at Denny's in Sun City Center as Mark speaks to their NARFE meeting.
Oct. 26, Thursday, dinner out at Lakeside with Barb and Ed W.
Oct. 27, Friday, big Shabbat dinner at home with Susie ad Ed G. after a concert in the ballroom.
Oct. 29, Sunday, lunch at Thai Blossom in Winter Garden with Goldbergs an Flechners before seeing the Odd Couple at The Garden Theater.
Oct. 31, Tuesday, big dinner at the ballroom for the Monster Ball, table of five couples, each bringing fabulous foods to share. We are providing the entree: homemade deviled eggs and pizzas from the Bistro. Way too much food will sit in front of me for hours. THIS is going to be my single BIGGEST CHALLENGE.
So that takes me through the next weigh-in period. And the week after that is just as bad. This is how life usually looks for us here in Florida! It's been a hidden blessing that because my back went out and we didn't go on the cruise that we also had no plans! We stayed home more and ate all of our meals in the house where I can keep good control. And look how well that works! Tomorrow I'll make the official report, and I hope I am at least at this same weight tomorrow, but as of today, I have lost about 8 pounds in two weeks. It's stunning!
Today will be another great day. I have a mani/pedi at Nature Hair at 10. I'm eating a packed lunch afterwards, doing my 40 minute water aerobics routine, leading the Cove Singers rehearsal from 3-5 p.m., and having a lovely evening of reading and TV at home. As you can see from the challenges listed above, there will not be too many days like this in the next week. I really must rise to the challenge and make good choices in those situations. I'll be very unhappy next week if I don't.
As far as my mini-goals go, I quickly hit the 265, what I weighed when we came back from our South Dakota trip in August of 2014. Now I'm almost at the 255 mark, which is the weight I was at Lowell and Emily's wedding in July of 2014. That was the last time I was in the 250s. Once I went in to the 260s on our South Dakota trip, I never did anything but go up and yo-yo in the 270s and higher for a few years. Wow. What a difference! I do, indeed, feel much better. When we moved to Florida after chemo in Feb. of 2011, I weighed 250. I'm getting so close to that mark next. Then I want to hit 245, what I weighed at Evey's wedding in September of 2011. If I get there in the next few months, I'll be ecstatic, and then I'll set some more goals!
The hard part is to stay here and go down further. I have been lucky because there have been only a few times when I ate out in the last few weeks, mostly because of my back. Starting tomorrow I am facing five meals either out or in at a dinner party in the next seven days. It is almost impossible to lose weight when eating out, and I say that from LOTS of experience. Even if you order very low calorie meals, there is almost always hidden calories in unknown oils or fats added plus far more sodium than I ever use at home. In fact, just staying the same for the week will be a challenge!
Here are my upcoming challenges:
Oct. 25, Tomorrow, lunch at Denny's in Sun City Center as Mark speaks to their NARFE meeting.
Oct. 26, Thursday, dinner out at Lakeside with Barb and Ed W.
Oct. 27, Friday, big Shabbat dinner at home with Susie ad Ed G. after a concert in the ballroom.
Oct. 29, Sunday, lunch at Thai Blossom in Winter Garden with Goldbergs an Flechners before seeing the Odd Couple at The Garden Theater.
Oct. 31, Tuesday, big dinner at the ballroom for the Monster Ball, table of five couples, each bringing fabulous foods to share. We are providing the entree: homemade deviled eggs and pizzas from the Bistro. Way too much food will sit in front of me for hours. THIS is going to be my single BIGGEST CHALLENGE.
So that takes me through the next weigh-in period. And the week after that is just as bad. This is how life usually looks for us here in Florida! It's been a hidden blessing that because my back went out and we didn't go on the cruise that we also had no plans! We stayed home more and ate all of our meals in the house where I can keep good control. And look how well that works! Tomorrow I'll make the official report, and I hope I am at least at this same weight tomorrow, but as of today, I have lost about 8 pounds in two weeks. It's stunning!
Today will be another great day. I have a mani/pedi at Nature Hair at 10. I'm eating a packed lunch afterwards, doing my 40 minute water aerobics routine, leading the Cove Singers rehearsal from 3-5 p.m., and having a lovely evening of reading and TV at home. As you can see from the challenges listed above, there will not be too many days like this in the next week. I really must rise to the challenge and make good choices in those situations. I'll be very unhappy next week if I don't.
Monday, October 23, 2017
Tooth Crown
Finally, I am going to the dentist this morning to get my actual crown. I've had the temporary one on for over a month, which I did on purpose thinking that I would be on a cruise through yesterday. HAHA! Didn't go as planned, but I'm still happy to get my real crown today so there will be no more worries about accidentally eating something too crunchy or too sticky.
My exercise and pill routine prescribed by the orthopedist are still working great. As soon as I finish this blog, I'm going to go do my morning routine. Yesterday I had no trouble walking from the car to the movie theater, which was great. We had not been to anything Disney related since my trip to the ER. It felt great to go to Disney and walk in to the movie theater. It felt like I could have my old life back.
My morning blood sugar readings are still great. I got an 87 this morning on 80 carbs, 1419 calories. My weight is staying constant at 262.4. If I am still that weight on Wednesday, it will mean a loss for the week, but the weight popped off on the first day of the week and then stayed the same the rest of the the time. If I only got on the scale once a week, I would not know that it went that way, but I've gotten on the scale every day for years and years. I've seen it do this before, so it's okay. It's going to be a nice loss of nearly four pounds if nothing changes by Wednesday morning. I'll take that EVERY WEEK if can!
As for the Blade Runner sequel, it was nearly three hours long. It started off very slow and plodding, just like all of the original one seemed to be; however, the sequel picked up in the second half and turned out to be a good mystery. Harrison Ford had a bigger role than I expected, so in general both Mark and I liked it better than the original. Still, at the end I thought there were some big plot holes that we could not explain. So I'd give it a mixed review.
My exercise and pill routine prescribed by the orthopedist are still working great. As soon as I finish this blog, I'm going to go do my morning routine. Yesterday I had no trouble walking from the car to the movie theater, which was great. We had not been to anything Disney related since my trip to the ER. It felt great to go to Disney and walk in to the movie theater. It felt like I could have my old life back.
My morning blood sugar readings are still great. I got an 87 this morning on 80 carbs, 1419 calories. My weight is staying constant at 262.4. If I am still that weight on Wednesday, it will mean a loss for the week, but the weight popped off on the first day of the week and then stayed the same the rest of the the time. If I only got on the scale once a week, I would not know that it went that way, but I've gotten on the scale every day for years and years. I've seen it do this before, so it's okay. It's going to be a nice loss of nearly four pounds if nothing changes by Wednesday morning. I'll take that EVERY WEEK if can!
As for the Blade Runner sequel, it was nearly three hours long. It started off very slow and plodding, just like all of the original one seemed to be; however, the sequel picked up in the second half and turned out to be a good mystery. Harrison Ford had a bigger role than I expected, so in general both Mark and I liked it better than the original. Still, at the end I thought there were some big plot holes that we could not explain. So I'd give it a mixed review.
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Blade Runner
Today we are going to go to AMC Disney Springs to see the new Blade Runner movie. That will be the longest walk I have done in over two weeks, so I'm very interested in seeing how it goes. To prepare for it, we watched the original one from 1982 last night. I thought it was interesting that the original one was taking place in 2019. HAHA! In 1982, I guess that seemed far enough away that all those crazy innovations could actually have taken place. Now it is less than a year and a half away, and it seemed funny to me last night.
This morning I am at 262.3, essentially the same as yesterday. I got up a little bit stiff and with slight pain in the hip, but I'm really not bad. In fact, the whole day yesterday was shockingly good. I think the heavy prednisone doses, the exercises, and the nighttime pain pill and muscle relaxer has been like a miracle. Now I'm just sorry that I didn't go to the orthopedist a week ago, like everybody advised me to do! I could have saved myself a week of pain. Sigh. Well, it's better now, and I'm very excited.
I also didn't test my blood sugar first thing this morning. I was going to skip it, so I sat on the lanai and watched last week's Survivor on my laptop. I didn't eat anything, so when it was over at 9 a.m., I decided to test. I thought it might be high because of waiting the extra 90 minutes, but I got an 89. Perfect. NOT being a diabetic makes me VERY HAPPY!
I did have a new wrinkle going on Wednesday, Thursday, and twice during Friday night. For years, I have had to get up to go to the bathroom once or even up to three times during the night. It happens more frequently when I'm trying to lose weight since that's how the weight gets lost. Since I started under the ENT's orders to help my vocal nodes, I have been drinking even more water than ever. One day I actually drank 14 glasses of water. Since I can't drink anything else and since I'm supposed to keep my throat well-hydrated, I just drink non-stop. So....I'm up peeing three times a night and peeing a LOT.
Sadly, the three nights just mentioned I did not make it to the toilet. I could not hold the urine, and I just basically peed all across the tile floor in the bathroom to the toilet room. I did it once Wednesday night and once Thursday night, but Friday night I did it twice, at both the 2:30 and the 4:30 runs. Let me tell you, mopping up the floor twice in the middle of the night is not fun.
So yesterday I researched nighttime incontinence. I learned two helpful things. One is that online I could actually order a night time adult diaper big enough to fit me. Two is that I should try drinking less after dinner. That's what I did last night. Starting after dinner, which admittedly was late last night, I did not drink any thing else except a few ounces at 11 pm to take my pills. And I'm happy to report that I still got up at 2:30 and 4:30, but I did NOT pee on the floor. YAY! I could tell that there was far less urine in the bladder both of those times than there had been the days before. Maybe that is the answer. I'm going to try again tonight to stop drinking anything by 8 pm.
Or it could have been that special magic that means if you carry an umbrella it is guaranteed NOT to rain. Last night I laid out beach towels on the tile floor so that if I couldn't make it to the bathroom, at least the towels would be down to soak it up. And then I didn't need them. See how that works? LOL!! I'll probably put them down again tonight just to be sure. LOL!!
This morning I am at 262.3, essentially the same as yesterday. I got up a little bit stiff and with slight pain in the hip, but I'm really not bad. In fact, the whole day yesterday was shockingly good. I think the heavy prednisone doses, the exercises, and the nighttime pain pill and muscle relaxer has been like a miracle. Now I'm just sorry that I didn't go to the orthopedist a week ago, like everybody advised me to do! I could have saved myself a week of pain. Sigh. Well, it's better now, and I'm very excited.
I also didn't test my blood sugar first thing this morning. I was going to skip it, so I sat on the lanai and watched last week's Survivor on my laptop. I didn't eat anything, so when it was over at 9 a.m., I decided to test. I thought it might be high because of waiting the extra 90 minutes, but I got an 89. Perfect. NOT being a diabetic makes me VERY HAPPY!
I did have a new wrinkle going on Wednesday, Thursday, and twice during Friday night. For years, I have had to get up to go to the bathroom once or even up to three times during the night. It happens more frequently when I'm trying to lose weight since that's how the weight gets lost. Since I started under the ENT's orders to help my vocal nodes, I have been drinking even more water than ever. One day I actually drank 14 glasses of water. Since I can't drink anything else and since I'm supposed to keep my throat well-hydrated, I just drink non-stop. So....I'm up peeing three times a night and peeing a LOT.
Sadly, the three nights just mentioned I did not make it to the toilet. I could not hold the urine, and I just basically peed all across the tile floor in the bathroom to the toilet room. I did it once Wednesday night and once Thursday night, but Friday night I did it twice, at both the 2:30 and the 4:30 runs. Let me tell you, mopping up the floor twice in the middle of the night is not fun.
So yesterday I researched nighttime incontinence. I learned two helpful things. One is that online I could actually order a night time adult diaper big enough to fit me. Two is that I should try drinking less after dinner. That's what I did last night. Starting after dinner, which admittedly was late last night, I did not drink any thing else except a few ounces at 11 pm to take my pills. And I'm happy to report that I still got up at 2:30 and 4:30, but I did NOT pee on the floor. YAY! I could tell that there was far less urine in the bladder both of those times than there had been the days before. Maybe that is the answer. I'm going to try again tonight to stop drinking anything by 8 pm.
Or it could have been that special magic that means if you carry an umbrella it is guaranteed NOT to rain. Last night I laid out beach towels on the tile floor so that if I couldn't make it to the bathroom, at least the towels would be down to soak it up. And then I didn't need them. See how that works? LOL!! I'll probably put them down again tonight just to be sure. LOL!!
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Making Progress in every way.
I am encouraged and happy this morning with my progress. I'm down two and a half pounds from yesterday; I woke up in less pain than any morning for the last two years; and I'm encouraged by my progress on just one exercise routine last night. Wow!
When I stepped on the scale this morning and got 262.4, I was stunned! I have now passed that second mini-goal of 265 and I'm moving on to the next goal of 255, how much I weighed at Lowell's wedding in 2014. I have not been lower than 275 in over a year, so this is really making me happy. In fact for about six months, I was in the 280s or 290s. I think that I definitely passed a critical number on the weight because my blood sugars have all been normal for about two weeks. This morning I was 99, a perfectly normal number!
I did the five back exercises that I picked out with Evey to do last night. I could not do twenty minutes yet. That's a goal I will work toward. I did 17 minutes, but most of that time was spent flipping through the booklet looking for the next thing to do and reading about it. Then when I did it, if it said hold for 30 seconds, I could only hold it for 10 seconds. I did the right number of reps on four out of five of the exercises. On the fifth one, I was only able to do one rep out of three called for. I guess that one has some work to do! Last night I had exercises on my back, on my tummy, and on my feet. This morning all five exercises are on my back. I don't know if that matters. I just arbitrarily assigned five to the morning and five to the evening and left out a couple from the booklet. When I was doing that, I didn't even realize how I had arranged them.
What I did notice last night was that right after I did the exercises, I walked out to the kitchen virtually pain free! It was wild! It didn't last long, maybe five minutes, before the pain settled back in, but WOW! Five minutes pain free was pretty great and very encouraging. In the morning I'm supposed to put ice on the back for 15-20 minutes and in the evening put heat on it for the same amount of time. I like heat better than ice, but I'm going to go do the morning exercises as soon as I finish this blog, and then there will be ice.
I also took the pain pill at bedtime along with 5 mg (half a pill) of the Flexeril. I am sure that's part of the reason why I feel better this morning. I expect to deteriorate as the day goes along. At 1 p.m. I'll take five of the prednisone pills from the pack, and that is also probably helping a lot. Prednisone is known to cause weight gain, but I am down two and a half pounds this morning, so go figure. I'm not complaining. Maybe I will still be staying the same for a week or so now. That's how things have been going recently. I'll be fine with staying at this weight for a few weeks as long as I don't gain again. I know that if I do the right things, even if it takes awhile for weight loss to occur, it will definitely happen eventually.
The final thing that I learned from the doctor yesterday was that walking is okay. It has hurt so much that I have not wanted to walk, and indeed, I felt that I could actually be doing more damage. The orthopedist said I can not do more damage and the more I walk the better it is. So that's it. Walking through the pain is not a bad thing. I was glad to find that out.
Mark is heading out to shul today, but I didn't get up in time to add exercise and ice time and all this writing of a blog and some lengthy emails this morning, so he is going alone. Sorry, Mark. Once I get my new morning routine established, I can probably start fitting everything in and still get out to shul by 9:30 or 10. Have fun there without me. There's a bat mitzvah this morning, and that's another thing I like to avoid. It's always crowded and there's always a sit down luncheon or at least a lot more food. Of course, we can just leave and eat at home, which is what Mark is most likely going to do, but I always like to sit and socialize with friends during the luncheon. It feels sad to walk away. And then I eat too much. Yah, I know I need to learn to deal with social eating situations outside of the house. Baby steps, right? It's a lifetime of bad habits that have to be changed permanently. So far, I have changed them temporarily every time I lost weight, but I never kept the weight off because I always went right back to my bad habits of overeating at restaurants and parties and social situations. That is really something that takes a lot of will power for me!
Hope everyone reading this has a lovely, restful Shabbat.
When I stepped on the scale this morning and got 262.4, I was stunned! I have now passed that second mini-goal of 265 and I'm moving on to the next goal of 255, how much I weighed at Lowell's wedding in 2014. I have not been lower than 275 in over a year, so this is really making me happy. In fact for about six months, I was in the 280s or 290s. I think that I definitely passed a critical number on the weight because my blood sugars have all been normal for about two weeks. This morning I was 99, a perfectly normal number!
I did the five back exercises that I picked out with Evey to do last night. I could not do twenty minutes yet. That's a goal I will work toward. I did 17 minutes, but most of that time was spent flipping through the booklet looking for the next thing to do and reading about it. Then when I did it, if it said hold for 30 seconds, I could only hold it for 10 seconds. I did the right number of reps on four out of five of the exercises. On the fifth one, I was only able to do one rep out of three called for. I guess that one has some work to do! Last night I had exercises on my back, on my tummy, and on my feet. This morning all five exercises are on my back. I don't know if that matters. I just arbitrarily assigned five to the morning and five to the evening and left out a couple from the booklet. When I was doing that, I didn't even realize how I had arranged them.
What I did notice last night was that right after I did the exercises, I walked out to the kitchen virtually pain free! It was wild! It didn't last long, maybe five minutes, before the pain settled back in, but WOW! Five minutes pain free was pretty great and very encouraging. In the morning I'm supposed to put ice on the back for 15-20 minutes and in the evening put heat on it for the same amount of time. I like heat better than ice, but I'm going to go do the morning exercises as soon as I finish this blog, and then there will be ice.
I also took the pain pill at bedtime along with 5 mg (half a pill) of the Flexeril. I am sure that's part of the reason why I feel better this morning. I expect to deteriorate as the day goes along. At 1 p.m. I'll take five of the prednisone pills from the pack, and that is also probably helping a lot. Prednisone is known to cause weight gain, but I am down two and a half pounds this morning, so go figure. I'm not complaining. Maybe I will still be staying the same for a week or so now. That's how things have been going recently. I'll be fine with staying at this weight for a few weeks as long as I don't gain again. I know that if I do the right things, even if it takes awhile for weight loss to occur, it will definitely happen eventually.
The final thing that I learned from the doctor yesterday was that walking is okay. It has hurt so much that I have not wanted to walk, and indeed, I felt that I could actually be doing more damage. The orthopedist said I can not do more damage and the more I walk the better it is. So that's it. Walking through the pain is not a bad thing. I was glad to find that out.
Mark is heading out to shul today, but I didn't get up in time to add exercise and ice time and all this writing of a blog and some lengthy emails this morning, so he is going alone. Sorry, Mark. Once I get my new morning routine established, I can probably start fitting everything in and still get out to shul by 9:30 or 10. Have fun there without me. There's a bat mitzvah this morning, and that's another thing I like to avoid. It's always crowded and there's always a sit down luncheon or at least a lot more food. Of course, we can just leave and eat at home, which is what Mark is most likely going to do, but I always like to sit and socialize with friends during the luncheon. It feels sad to walk away. And then I eat too much. Yah, I know I need to learn to deal with social eating situations outside of the house. Baby steps, right? It's a lifetime of bad habits that have to be changed permanently. So far, I have changed them temporarily every time I lost weight, but I never kept the weight off because I always went right back to my bad habits of overeating at restaurants and parties and social situations. That is really something that takes a lot of will power for me!
Hope everyone reading this has a lovely, restful Shabbat.
Friday, October 20, 2017
Visit with the Orthopedist
This morning Mark and I went to Dr. McDonald, one of the orthopedists at Celebration Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Clinic. I had put this off because the family doctor said I didn't need to see an orthopedist if I didn't want surgery, but everyone else, including Evey, said that was crazy. So I finally did it, and boy, am I glad!
He was great, very friendly and very thorough. He read my CT scans and the report and went over all the meds that I've been on. He said the amount of prednisone that the ER doctor prescribed was just a baby dose and probably didn't help at all. He prescribed a big packet where I take six pills today, five tomorrow, etc. for six total days until the last day it is just one pill. Several people actually thought that was what I had done and were surprised when I said no. It was just one little pill a day for five days. Dr. McDonald also said to cut the Flexeril in half and take it only at bedtime so that I'm not so out of it all day. And he said it was safe to take the Tramadol with it, but only at bedtime. So I will do that.
He also gave me a book of back exercises, which I have just gone over in detail with Evey. I am supposed to do twenty minutes in the morning and twenty minutes in the evening. The doctor said to pick different ones. Evey helped me pick out the appropriate ones to do. She was super helpful about that. YAY for her Athletic Training degree and her years working as a PT Asst. She is very knowledgeable on this subject.
And I am following up with him in two weeks plus three days. I have an appointment on Monday, Nov. 6, so he can re-evaluate how I am. I feel so much happier about my long term prognosis now.
The other good news today is that I was down another pound and met the goal of 265, how much I weighed when I came from South Dakota in 2014.
He was great, very friendly and very thorough. He read my CT scans and the report and went over all the meds that I've been on. He said the amount of prednisone that the ER doctor prescribed was just a baby dose and probably didn't help at all. He prescribed a big packet where I take six pills today, five tomorrow, etc. for six total days until the last day it is just one pill. Several people actually thought that was what I had done and were surprised when I said no. It was just one little pill a day for five days. Dr. McDonald also said to cut the Flexeril in half and take it only at bedtime so that I'm not so out of it all day. And he said it was safe to take the Tramadol with it, but only at bedtime. So I will do that.
He also gave me a book of back exercises, which I have just gone over in detail with Evey. I am supposed to do twenty minutes in the morning and twenty minutes in the evening. The doctor said to pick different ones. Evey helped me pick out the appropriate ones to do. She was super helpful about that. YAY for her Athletic Training degree and her years working as a PT Asst. She is very knowledgeable on this subject.
And I am following up with him in two weeks plus three days. I have an appointment on Monday, Nov. 6, so he can re-evaluate how I am. I feel so much happier about my long term prognosis now.
The other good news today is that I was down another pound and met the goal of 265, how much I weighed when I came from South Dakota in 2014.
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Flexeril and Rotator Cuff
Since we got on the coast-to-coast train on July 10 to visit Evey and Eric, I have had a painful right shoulder. I suspect I picked up the heavy backpack one-handed at some point along the five day train ride. In over three months, it has shown no improvement.
Yesterday, after water aerobics, one of the regulars, Diane, suggested it might be a rotator cuff tear. She's a recently retired RN and had rotator cuff surgery herself, so I believe her. I tried to call her orthopedist in Celebration to get an appointment, but they only had an answering machine. No one ever called back. I hope to have a chance to call them back later today.
I was in a good bit of pain when I got up yesterday, so Diane suggested I really should start the Flexeril, a strong muscle relaxer. Since I had no other plans for the day, I took one at 1:45 p.m. after lunch. It made me kind of queasy to my stomach, and I also got very, very sleepy. In fact, I slept in bed from 3-5 p.m. Then, in the middle of the night, at 2:30 a.m., I took another one. Diane was right. I got up this morning in far less pain than at any time in the last two weeks! Of course, I can barely keep my eyes open as I t type this blog. LOL!!
Susie is picking me up at 8:45 to go to Mah Jongg until noon. After a fast lunch, Mark and I are going back to another lecture in the ballroom at 1 p.m. This one is "History of Film Through the Decades: 1900-1920s." Even though it sounds great, I am afraid I'm going to doze through it. LOL
Then tonight we are going put to the ballroom again for the movie night. The Hero is a movie Mark has been wanting to see for awhile, so he's excited for it. I hope I stay awake. LOL
I'm not going to take anymore Flexerils until 11 p.m. at bedtime because then I can just go to sleep and wake up more limber and in less pain. That's what Diane does and it works great for her. She also takes the Tramadol right along with it at bedtime with no problems. I haven't tried that yet, but I am considering doing it tonight.
My blood sugar was a perfect 98 this morning on 1234 calories and 142 carbs. My weight was still exactly 266, like yesterday. It was a good day in that respect.
Yesterday, after water aerobics, one of the regulars, Diane, suggested it might be a rotator cuff tear. She's a recently retired RN and had rotator cuff surgery herself, so I believe her. I tried to call her orthopedist in Celebration to get an appointment, but they only had an answering machine. No one ever called back. I hope to have a chance to call them back later today.
I was in a good bit of pain when I got up yesterday, so Diane suggested I really should start the Flexeril, a strong muscle relaxer. Since I had no other plans for the day, I took one at 1:45 p.m. after lunch. It made me kind of queasy to my stomach, and I also got very, very sleepy. In fact, I slept in bed from 3-5 p.m. Then, in the middle of the night, at 2:30 a.m., I took another one. Diane was right. I got up this morning in far less pain than at any time in the last two weeks! Of course, I can barely keep my eyes open as I t type this blog. LOL!!
Susie is picking me up at 8:45 to go to Mah Jongg until noon. After a fast lunch, Mark and I are going back to another lecture in the ballroom at 1 p.m. This one is "History of Film Through the Decades: 1900-1920s." Even though it sounds great, I am afraid I'm going to doze through it. LOL
Then tonight we are going put to the ballroom again for the movie night. The Hero is a movie Mark has been wanting to see for awhile, so he's excited for it. I hope I stay awake. LOL
I'm not going to take anymore Flexerils until 11 p.m. at bedtime because then I can just go to sleep and wake up more limber and in less pain. That's what Diane does and it works great for her. She also takes the Tramadol right along with it at bedtime with no problems. I haven't tried that yet, but I am considering doing it tonight.
My blood sugar was a perfect 98 this morning on 1234 calories and 142 carbs. My weight was still exactly 266, like yesterday. It was a good day in that respect.
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Another morning of good news/bad news
Let's start with the good news. I did FOUR activities yesterday! I went to water aerobics at the Cove in the morning and managed to do it stronger and harder than any day since my back went out. Very good news. Then we ran home, scarfed down lunch, and made it to a 1 p.m. Art Lecture in the Ballroom. It was extremely interesting and entertaining. We left about 10 minutes early from that in order to run back to the Cove for a two hour rehearsal with the Cove Singers. I was still feeling very well! It was a great rehearsal, and I even stood up for a good bit of it and even sang a little, although I probably should not have done that. LOL When it was over at 5 p.m., we ran home where I read a few pages of Hamilton on the lanai while eating a plum and some decaf coffee before heading back up to the Ballroom for the Travel Club meeting. We signed up and paid for an overnight trip to Fort Myers in April to go on the Mystery Train and the Edison and Ford Estates. Susie and Ed are going, too. We also paid for a trip in March to the Dali Museum in Tampa and a boat tour of the harbor of the Tampa along with a bus tour of Tampa. Travel club activities are just so easy to do! Everything is taken care of.
The other good news is that I finally dropped a little weight. I've essentially stayed the same for three weeks, but this morning I hit 266, a drop of 1.4 pounds this week. I'm pretty happy about that.
I keep having little milestones to hit. The first was 273, the weight I was when we left for Aulani in 2015. The next one is 265, the weight I was when we came back from South Dakota in the summer of 2014. I'm only one pound away from that, so that's exciting. The next milestone is ten more pounds down, 255, the weight I was at Lowell's wedding in 2014. I feel confident I can reach both of those numbers within the next two months. Slow and steady is how it's going. I'm okay with that. I have now lost THIRTY pounds since March 14 when we came back from the cruise on the Eclipse. That's impressive!
Now for the bad news. I woke up in a lot of pain this morning. This was depressing because yesterday I woke up feeling pretty close to normal with just a minimum amount of pain. It might have been overdoing it yesterday, but I did take the pain pill at bedtime like I did the day before, and yet I had a bad night and woke up in terrible pain. So at breakfast I took another pain pill along with the anti-inflammatory. Now an hour later, the pain has definitely lessened. These pills work!
The other bad news is that even though I ate only 1382 calories yesterday with 93 carbs, my blood sugar was 104. I would claim it was pain except that for the week that my back was its worst, my blood sugars were all under 100. As I have said before, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to my sugar readings. All I can do is keep eating right, exercising as I'm able, and keep testing. Losing more weight is going to be the answer to all of my problems, I think.
And the third bit of bad news is that I seem to be developing a stye in my right eye. Just what I don't need. I don't ever remember having a stye, but there's a red bump in the inner corner of my right eye. I noticed it around 4:30 this morning when I got up to go to the bathroom and rub my eye. I felt a lump there. This morning I looked in the mirror, and sure enough. There's a red lump. I hope it doesn't get too big. I don't even know what I should do about it, but I'm going to do what all modern people do, Google It!
The other good news is that I finally dropped a little weight. I've essentially stayed the same for three weeks, but this morning I hit 266, a drop of 1.4 pounds this week. I'm pretty happy about that.
I keep having little milestones to hit. The first was 273, the weight I was when we left for Aulani in 2015. The next one is 265, the weight I was when we came back from South Dakota in the summer of 2014. I'm only one pound away from that, so that's exciting. The next milestone is ten more pounds down, 255, the weight I was at Lowell's wedding in 2014. I feel confident I can reach both of those numbers within the next two months. Slow and steady is how it's going. I'm okay with that. I have now lost THIRTY pounds since March 14 when we came back from the cruise on the Eclipse. That's impressive!
Now for the bad news. I woke up in a lot of pain this morning. This was depressing because yesterday I woke up feeling pretty close to normal with just a minimum amount of pain. It might have been overdoing it yesterday, but I did take the pain pill at bedtime like I did the day before, and yet I had a bad night and woke up in terrible pain. So at breakfast I took another pain pill along with the anti-inflammatory. Now an hour later, the pain has definitely lessened. These pills work!
The other bad news is that even though I ate only 1382 calories yesterday with 93 carbs, my blood sugar was 104. I would claim it was pain except that for the week that my back was its worst, my blood sugars were all under 100. As I have said before, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to my sugar readings. All I can do is keep eating right, exercising as I'm able, and keep testing. Losing more weight is going to be the answer to all of my problems, I think.
And the third bit of bad news is that I seem to be developing a stye in my right eye. Just what I don't need. I don't ever remember having a stye, but there's a red bump in the inner corner of my right eye. I noticed it around 4:30 this morning when I got up to go to the bathroom and rub my eye. I felt a lump there. This morning I looked in the mirror, and sure enough. There's a red lump. I hope it doesn't get too big. I don't even know what I should do about it, but I'm going to do what all modern people do, Google It!
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Kind of a bad day walking yesterday.
By the end of the day yesterday I could barely stand up and walk. I noticed as I walked past the mirror that I was very bent over. It really hurt. Around 10 p.m. I finally broke down and took a Tramadol for pain. At least I did sleep pretty well.
This morning I got out of bed and was able to stand up straighter than I did at all yesterday. Maybe it was the good night's sleep or maybe it was laying in the bed, but I definitely did not hurt as much when I got up this morning.
I'll do water aerobics again today and see how it goes. I have a 3 p.m. Cove Singers rehearsal for two hours and then we are going to the Travel Club meeting at 6:30 to sign up for some trips. I just hope I can get through the whole day in less pain than yesterday.
I might have done too much yesterday because I did drive the car up to the doctor and back, about an hour and 15 minutes, without getting out of the car. I waited in the car while Mark took the paper work ih to drop it off. Then I went to Publix and shopped with Mark. In fact, when we were in the store, I commented to Mark that it was the most walking I had done in a week since I left the hospital. It might have been too much too soon because after we got home was when I noticed how much pain I was having and how bent over I was walking.
I have a lot of pain pills, so if I need to take one each evening, I'll just do it. I also have the entire bottle of Flexeril, a muscle relaxer, which I haven't even started yet. Mostly I have been afraid to do them since they don't mix well with Tramadol. Two pharmacists said that it's probably okay since the doses are low, but I figured why take the risk if I don't have to.
Yesterday I ate 1162 calories with only 89 carbs. My blood sugar reading this morning was 100. Reasonable, but still it doesn't ever seemed tied to the total carbs or calories eaten the day before.
This morning I got out of bed and was able to stand up straighter than I did at all yesterday. Maybe it was the good night's sleep or maybe it was laying in the bed, but I definitely did not hurt as much when I got up this morning.
I'll do water aerobics again today and see how it goes. I have a 3 p.m. Cove Singers rehearsal for two hours and then we are going to the Travel Club meeting at 6:30 to sign up for some trips. I just hope I can get through the whole day in less pain than yesterday.
I might have done too much yesterday because I did drive the car up to the doctor and back, about an hour and 15 minutes, without getting out of the car. I waited in the car while Mark took the paper work ih to drop it off. Then I went to Publix and shopped with Mark. In fact, when we were in the store, I commented to Mark that it was the most walking I had done in a week since I left the hospital. It might have been too much too soon because after we got home was when I noticed how much pain I was having and how bent over I was walking.
I have a lot of pain pills, so if I need to take one each evening, I'll just do it. I also have the entire bottle of Flexeril, a muscle relaxer, which I haven't even started yet. Mostly I have been afraid to do them since they don't mix well with Tramadol. Two pharmacists said that it's probably okay since the doses are low, but I figured why take the risk if I don't have to.
Yesterday I ate 1162 calories with only 89 carbs. My blood sugar reading this morning was 100. Reasonable, but still it doesn't ever seemed tied to the total carbs or calories eaten the day before.
Monday, October 16, 2017
Can't figure out the sugar readings!
Yesterday I reported that I had a blood sugar reading of 107, the first time it was over 100 in a week. This morning the reading was 99. That made no sense to me, since I overate at dinner at our friends' house. My best guess is that I ate about 250 carbs for the day and 2,000 calories! I fully expected a reading in the upper 120s this morning, but no. 99. Weird.
I got through the whole day yesterday with no pain pill or muscle relaxer. I am happy about that. I did take the NSAID, Meloxicam, at 8 a.m. and again when we got home last night at 10 p.m. I will take them until they are gone, which will be 8 more days. It says "as needed" on the bottle, but I fully believe that the anti-inflammatory properties are very helpful not only to my back but to my right knee. I have had stiffness from arthritis in that knee for several years, and currently, that knee has never felt better!
Mark worked very hard to print out the last two years of medical records for me from the CD we got from the previous doctor's office. Today we will take that up to the new doctor's office and hope they will use it to look through and fill out the insurance claim form correctly.
I sat and read through the records and found something interesting. Before my eyelid surgery, I had a pre-op chest x-ray. I was never told the results, but I read them for myself in the files. It said I have "degenerative change about the shoulders and along the thoracic spine with mild kyphosis." WOW!
I did not know the word kyphosis, so I looked it up. It can mean a fracture from arthritis. I wonder if that happened back in 1991 when I had that wall collapse on my head, although they told me in the ER that day that they didn't see anything on the X-rays, so it probably is something that happened since then. The radiologist also recommended a followup, although that was never ordered. That seems like something I should have been told. I've had tingling on and off for years in my right hand. I also sometimes have stiffness or pain in the back of my neck. I bet I have arthritis in there, too, but no one ever told me. Interesting. I'm going to ask Dr. Dunn about a follow up when I see her on October 26.
Our plan for today is to go to water aerobics again this morning. I hope it's helping. I'm sure it's not hurting. Then we'll also take a giant box of Mark's old work papers from Goddard up to the shred truck. Every time the shred truck has come to Solivita, we have been unable to get up there. Finally, he had the time to go through the box and take the box up there today. I'm excited to get a box of paper out of the garage!
I got through the whole day yesterday with no pain pill or muscle relaxer. I am happy about that. I did take the NSAID, Meloxicam, at 8 a.m. and again when we got home last night at 10 p.m. I will take them until they are gone, which will be 8 more days. It says "as needed" on the bottle, but I fully believe that the anti-inflammatory properties are very helpful not only to my back but to my right knee. I have had stiffness from arthritis in that knee for several years, and currently, that knee has never felt better!
Mark worked very hard to print out the last two years of medical records for me from the CD we got from the previous doctor's office. Today we will take that up to the new doctor's office and hope they will use it to look through and fill out the insurance claim form correctly.
I sat and read through the records and found something interesting. Before my eyelid surgery, I had a pre-op chest x-ray. I was never told the results, but I read them for myself in the files. It said I have "degenerative change about the shoulders and along the thoracic spine with mild kyphosis." WOW!
I did not know the word kyphosis, so I looked it up. It can mean a fracture from arthritis. I wonder if that happened back in 1991 when I had that wall collapse on my head, although they told me in the ER that day that they didn't see anything on the X-rays, so it probably is something that happened since then. The radiologist also recommended a followup, although that was never ordered. That seems like something I should have been told. I've had tingling on and off for years in my right hand. I also sometimes have stiffness or pain in the back of my neck. I bet I have arthritis in there, too, but no one ever told me. Interesting. I'm going to ask Dr. Dunn about a follow up when I see her on October 26.
Our plan for today is to go to water aerobics again this morning. I hope it's helping. I'm sure it's not hurting. Then we'll also take a giant box of Mark's old work papers from Goddard up to the shred truck. Every time the shred truck has come to Solivita, we have been unable to get up there. Finally, he had the time to go through the box and take the box up there today. I'm excited to get a box of paper out of the garage!
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Weaning off the pills
Today I'm not going to take any more of the pain pills or the muscle relaxers. I took the NSAID, Meloxicam, this morning and will take it again this evening. That's it. I'm hoping there will be no change in how I feel.
Yesterday and so far this morning, I am not pain free or walking completely normally, but there certainly has been a huge improvement. I don't think the pain level is high enough to warrant a narcotic pain pill anymore.
Also the muscle relaxer, Orphenadrine, that I got from the ER ran out last night. The doctor called in a refill for the Orphenadrine, but it's a drug that requires him to call my insurance for a pre-authorization. He refused to do that, which I cannot understand at all. Since it cost $94 for a month's supply, I refused to take it and asked him to call in something else. He called in generic Flexeril, which also required pre-authorization that he did not do, but it's cheap, only $12.59 for a month, so I took it. Then yesterday, when I read the fine print on the drug, it says not to take it with Tramadol, the pain pill I take. Hm...in fact, it says to be off Tramadol for two weeks before starting Flexeril. I conferred with my pharmacist friend Ginny and also went back to CVS and talked to that pharmacist. I was a little upset that the CVS pharmacist did not mention this drug interaction when I was picking it up. So CVS pharmacist said that since the doses are on the lower end, that if I'm not prone to seizures (I've never had one.), and that if I stagger taking them by four hours, the risks are low. Hm....so I plan to make the risk ZERO by not taking either of those drugs at all.
I really do think it was both the doctor's office and the CVS pharmacist's responsibility to have warned me about this possible negative drug interaction. Another notch against going back to Dr. Weinberger, EVER.
So my plan now is to use the NSAID until they are gone, see my own family doctor, Dr. Dunn, on October 26, and see how things go. I'm hoping I don't get worse than I am today, which is a tolerable pain level. I still would not be able to walk very far, but I can walk some without too much discomfort.
Now for the good news/bad news. My weight is down a bit to 266.2 this morning, which is very nice. My blood sugar was up to 107, which is not good. I had 7 straight days of perfectly normal blood sugar readings and then today I'm above normal. There is no rhyme or reason for it. I had a good day, all meals at home. I ate 139 carbs total yesterday and had the two Oreo thins for a snack at 10 p,m. with my last Orphenadrine. With less carbs than that, I had normal readings, but with MORE carbs than that, I also had normal readings.
Why am I not normal now? Why did I get a full week of normal readings after six weeks of above normal readings? I have no idea! And I suspect the doctor won't have any idea either when I see her on October 26.
My plan is just to continue counting carbs and calories, testing in the morning, and trying to lose more weight. You can never go wrong with that!
Yesterday and so far this morning, I am not pain free or walking completely normally, but there certainly has been a huge improvement. I don't think the pain level is high enough to warrant a narcotic pain pill anymore.
Also the muscle relaxer, Orphenadrine, that I got from the ER ran out last night. The doctor called in a refill for the Orphenadrine, but it's a drug that requires him to call my insurance for a pre-authorization. He refused to do that, which I cannot understand at all. Since it cost $94 for a month's supply, I refused to take it and asked him to call in something else. He called in generic Flexeril, which also required pre-authorization that he did not do, but it's cheap, only $12.59 for a month, so I took it. Then yesterday, when I read the fine print on the drug, it says not to take it with Tramadol, the pain pill I take. Hm...in fact, it says to be off Tramadol for two weeks before starting Flexeril. I conferred with my pharmacist friend Ginny and also went back to CVS and talked to that pharmacist. I was a little upset that the CVS pharmacist did not mention this drug interaction when I was picking it up. So CVS pharmacist said that since the doses are on the lower end, that if I'm not prone to seizures (I've never had one.), and that if I stagger taking them by four hours, the risks are low. Hm....so I plan to make the risk ZERO by not taking either of those drugs at all.
I really do think it was both the doctor's office and the CVS pharmacist's responsibility to have warned me about this possible negative drug interaction. Another notch against going back to Dr. Weinberger, EVER.
So my plan now is to use the NSAID until they are gone, see my own family doctor, Dr. Dunn, on October 26, and see how things go. I'm hoping I don't get worse than I am today, which is a tolerable pain level. I still would not be able to walk very far, but I can walk some without too much discomfort.
Now for the good news/bad news. My weight is down a bit to 266.2 this morning, which is very nice. My blood sugar was up to 107, which is not good. I had 7 straight days of perfectly normal blood sugar readings and then today I'm above normal. There is no rhyme or reason for it. I had a good day, all meals at home. I ate 139 carbs total yesterday and had the two Oreo thins for a snack at 10 p,m. with my last Orphenadrine. With less carbs than that, I had normal readings, but with MORE carbs than that, I also had normal readings.
Why am I not normal now? Why did I get a full week of normal readings after six weeks of above normal readings? I have no idea! And I suspect the doctor won't have any idea either when I see her on October 26.
My plan is just to continue counting carbs and calories, testing in the morning, and trying to lose more weight. You can never go wrong with that!
Saturday, October 14, 2017
Shabbat Shalom
Mark will be reading Haftarah for Genesis (Bereshit) at shul this morning. It's always exciting when we start the Torah over! I'm always so proud to listen to him reading because he sounds beautiful and gets lots of compliments.
I am up two pounds from Thursday, and I'm not sure why. I have kept my calories around 1300 every day and went to water aerobics yesterday. My weight was 268.8 this morning, which is two pounds higher than Thursday and one pound up from yesterday. That is not going in the direction I want. I guess 1300 calories is not low enough if I'm not exercising much. I had a lot of pain behind my right hip yesterday during the water aerobics, so I didn't really move very fast or very much. I probably didn't really burn many calories.
This morning my hip is hurting, but honestly, it is the least it has hurt first thing in the morning since this whole thing started last Friday. I am grateful for that. The pain is entirely coming from the sciatic nerve radiating out behind my right hip and into the buttock. It's annoying and hinders walking a little bit, but as I said already, it's actually less painful right now than it has been the last week. All the pills are helping!
My blood sugar reading this morning was 96, perfectly normal for the seventh day in a row! WOW! I still have no idea why it was elevated for six straight weeks and now it's normal for an entire week. Absolutely no explanation for this. I ate 183 carbs yesterday, too, the most I've had for this week, and I'm still normal. My plan is to keep testing first thing in the morning at least through October 26 when I see my family doctor again. I am just hoping I could drop these two extra pounds and maybe one or two more by then as well. I know Dr. Dunn would be very happy with me!
I am up two pounds from Thursday, and I'm not sure why. I have kept my calories around 1300 every day and went to water aerobics yesterday. My weight was 268.8 this morning, which is two pounds higher than Thursday and one pound up from yesterday. That is not going in the direction I want. I guess 1300 calories is not low enough if I'm not exercising much. I had a lot of pain behind my right hip yesterday during the water aerobics, so I didn't really move very fast or very much. I probably didn't really burn many calories.
This morning my hip is hurting, but honestly, it is the least it has hurt first thing in the morning since this whole thing started last Friday. I am grateful for that. The pain is entirely coming from the sciatic nerve radiating out behind my right hip and into the buttock. It's annoying and hinders walking a little bit, but as I said already, it's actually less painful right now than it has been the last week. All the pills are helping!
My blood sugar reading this morning was 96, perfectly normal for the seventh day in a row! WOW! I still have no idea why it was elevated for six straight weeks and now it's normal for an entire week. Absolutely no explanation for this. I ate 183 carbs yesterday, too, the most I've had for this week, and I'm still normal. My plan is to keep testing first thing in the morning at least through October 26 when I see my family doctor again. I am just hoping I could drop these two extra pounds and maybe one or two more by then as well. I know Dr. Dunn would be very happy with me!
Friday, October 13, 2017
Learning to Cope
I am up a pound today for some reason, but my blood sugar was 79 after eating 139 carbs yesterday. I have no idea why I got high sugars for two months or why I'm suddenly getting normal readings, in fact lower than I got for years from Quest, for the last six days. I should not complain.
Back is the same. Tolerable pain when on the meds. First thing in the morning is the worst because all the meds have worn off, and I don't take anything else until about an hour after I get up when I take the NSAID at 8 a.m.. Then three hours after I get up, at 10 a.m., I take the pain pill and the muscle relaxer. About 10:30 or so, I'm feeling relief.
Relief means I walk with less pain. I'm never pain free or standing entirely up straight, and I can only go a little ways before needing to sit down. It's not optimum yet.
I'm heading over to water aerobics this morning in the hopes that it helps. I'm sure it doesn't hurt!
Today is Simchat Torah, but we are not going to services. It's not as much fun as it was in Maryland, plus I can't stand up or carry a Torah or dance. No fun for me at all. Water aerobics in the morning will be more beneficial today.
Back is the same. Tolerable pain when on the meds. First thing in the morning is the worst because all the meds have worn off, and I don't take anything else until about an hour after I get up when I take the NSAID at 8 a.m.. Then three hours after I get up, at 10 a.m., I take the pain pill and the muscle relaxer. About 10:30 or so, I'm feeling relief.
Relief means I walk with less pain. I'm never pain free or standing entirely up straight, and I can only go a little ways before needing to sit down. It's not optimum yet.
I'm heading over to water aerobics this morning in the hopes that it helps. I'm sure it doesn't hurt!
Today is Simchat Torah, but we are not going to services. It's not as much fun as it was in Maryland, plus I can't stand up or carry a Torah or dance. No fun for me at all. Water aerobics in the morning will be more beneficial today.
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Handicapped
Up until that crippling moment getting out of the car on Friday morning, I considered myself a fairly strong, active senior who could walk the theme parks, swim for over a half an hour at a stretch, cruise, dance, play mini-golf, travel, and participate in almost any activity I chose.
Now I'm not that person.
Now I have a handicapped tag and walk with a cane in constant pain.
Now I can barely make it the length of my house, and I'm not sure I can walk the two doors down to my neighbor's house to play Mah Jongg on Mondays.
Now I think twice before getting up out of the chair to do anything.
On the plus side, my blood sugar numbers are insanely good. It's like I just suddenly stopped being a pre-diabetic and went back to being normal.
I have counted the carbs and calories almost every day since August 29 when I got my first high fasting blood sugar reading of 120. Every day I got something between 103 and 129 first thing in the morning until five days ago. My last five readings were 96, 88, 86, 79, and today's reading of 84.
A couple of those days were mornings after a fairly low carb day, but others were not. For instance, yesterday I ate over 150 carbs and about 1600 calories. The 96 reading followed a day of only 1200 calories and 72 carbs. There's no pattern.
It also seems odd that the sugars became normal two days after I started on 20 mg of Prednisone, which is supposed to raise the blood sugar. I've been in constant pain and moving far less on all of these days, too, and normally pain raises blood sugar. I don't understand it, but I'm going to continue to plan and log in all my carbs and calories as well as check my sugar first thing in the morning.
This morning I'm down almost a pound to 266.6. Nice. I did do the water aerobics yesterday as well as walking into the doctor's office and going to the DMV. I actually drove myself to the DMV and did that whole tag thing on my own. It hurt the entire drive to Winter Haven and back, but just being in my car and driving somewhere felt so normal that I was able to push through the pain.
Today and tomorrow are Jewish holidays to conclude the fall holiday of Succoth. Today is Shemini Atzeret with Yizkor service and tomorrow is Simchat Torah. Mark and I had already decided we would not go to Simchat Torah services either tonight or tomorrow because it's just not as much fun here as they make it up at Mishkan Torah. We have always gone to that service here until this year, but with me in so much pain, I'm not going to be up happily singing and dancing with the Torah anyway. Today's Yizkor service is more problematic. It's a somber service to remember our dead relatives and friends. We have never missed that service either, as far as I remember anyway. Mark said I don't have to go if I don't want to go, but I'm not sure how I feel. Yizkor is one of those services that I could just recite here at home, but it seems so defeatist, like giving in to the handicapping condition.
If I'm going to be handicapped, I want to be the kind of handicapped person who doesn't let their condition stop them from doing what they want to do. It might moderate my activity it a bit, for instance, walking less, using a scooter at a theme park, or doing only one big activity a day instead of two or three, but I don't want to stop all my activities. I'm too young to be giving up on my life yet.
Now I'm not that person.
Now I have a handicapped tag and walk with a cane in constant pain.
Now I can barely make it the length of my house, and I'm not sure I can walk the two doors down to my neighbor's house to play Mah Jongg on Mondays.
Now I think twice before getting up out of the chair to do anything.
On the plus side, my blood sugar numbers are insanely good. It's like I just suddenly stopped being a pre-diabetic and went back to being normal.
I have counted the carbs and calories almost every day since August 29 when I got my first high fasting blood sugar reading of 120. Every day I got something between 103 and 129 first thing in the morning until five days ago. My last five readings were 96, 88, 86, 79, and today's reading of 84.
A couple of those days were mornings after a fairly low carb day, but others were not. For instance, yesterday I ate over 150 carbs and about 1600 calories. The 96 reading followed a day of only 1200 calories and 72 carbs. There's no pattern.
It also seems odd that the sugars became normal two days after I started on 20 mg of Prednisone, which is supposed to raise the blood sugar. I've been in constant pain and moving far less on all of these days, too, and normally pain raises blood sugar. I don't understand it, but I'm going to continue to plan and log in all my carbs and calories as well as check my sugar first thing in the morning.
This morning I'm down almost a pound to 266.6. Nice. I did do the water aerobics yesterday as well as walking into the doctor's office and going to the DMV. I actually drove myself to the DMV and did that whole tag thing on my own. It hurt the entire drive to Winter Haven and back, but just being in my car and driving somewhere felt so normal that I was able to push through the pain.
Today and tomorrow are Jewish holidays to conclude the fall holiday of Succoth. Today is Shemini Atzeret with Yizkor service and tomorrow is Simchat Torah. Mark and I had already decided we would not go to Simchat Torah services either tonight or tomorrow because it's just not as much fun here as they make it up at Mishkan Torah. We have always gone to that service here until this year, but with me in so much pain, I'm not going to be up happily singing and dancing with the Torah anyway. Today's Yizkor service is more problematic. It's a somber service to remember our dead relatives and friends. We have never missed that service either, as far as I remember anyway. Mark said I don't have to go if I don't want to go, but I'm not sure how I feel. Yizkor is one of those services that I could just recite here at home, but it seems so defeatist, like giving in to the handicapping condition.
If I'm going to be handicapped, I want to be the kind of handicapped person who doesn't let their condition stop them from doing what they want to do. It might moderate my activity it a bit, for instance, walking less, using a scooter at a theme park, or doing only one big activity a day instead of two or three, but I don't want to stop all my activities. I'm too young to be giving up on my life yet.
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Weigh-in Wednesday
Last week I gained some and this week I lost exactly that same amount, making me weigh 267.4 this morning, exactly the same as two weeks ago. I will take that, although I admit a bit of disappointment. I've been on Prednisone now, so that can definitely cause weight gain. I'm happy I actually lost some this week. Now to push even lower!
I picked up another new drug yesterday at CVS, an NSAID that I've not had before, Meloxicam. It made me a little foggy headed just like everything else I'm taking. On the plus side, my back feels much better this morning! It's not perfect, but I can walk at a more normal pace through the house, and I'm not using the cane. Definite improvement.
I talked to my friend Susan, so yoga instruction should begin next week. I'm actually excited for that, and I went to water aerobics yesterday, which was fun. I was able to do the entire 40 minute routing with only a few modifications. I could not do the twisting motions, so when it said jump and twist, I just jumped up and down straight. I know I also did it slower than the tempo set, and I was not jogging in the water as fast as I used to. Doesn't matter. I was in the water and moving for 40 minutes, and I was very happy.
Today we are heading back to do water aerobics again. Then we are going up to the doctor's office to pick up the two forms he filled out. One is for the Travel Guard insurance claim and the other is to get a handicapped tag from the DMV. If we have time and energy, we will go to the DMV today to apply, but we might put that off until tomorrow. No rush on it, especially considering how I feel this morning.
I'm shocked that I feel this good this morning because I felt like I overdid it yesterday. After aerobics, we went to CVS for the new med, and then we had only an hour at home to eat lunch and plan a rehearsal before going back to the Cove for a two hour rehearsal with the Cove Singers. I love doing those rehearsals, but my right arm was almost useless by then. I couldn't move it almost at all without severe pain. This arm has been hurting since we got on the train on July 10. I have no idea why and all these anti-inflammatories, pain meds, and muscle relaxers, while working great on the back, don't seem to help the arm at all. When I got home from that around 5:30 I was seriously DONE IN! I couldn't move my arm; my back hurt; and I could barely stay awake. At that point, I just sat in my chair with the heating pad and took more drugs and went to bed at 11.
Then there is this morning. My arm is hurting less. I can lit it up without much pain, although it still doesn't want to reach around behind my back. And my back feels nearly normal! I realize this could all just be a manifestation of the many drugs I'm on, but I'll take it.
Barbara K, if you read this blog, here is my drug list. I know you are on a great Canadian cruise right now and I am not. Maybe you'll have some wi-fi and check up on me or maybe you'll see this later. But I'm listing the drugs just for you to check that these can all co-exist nicely together. I don't think I've ever been taking so many things all in one day! I'm going to send you an email as well to check on this. Thanks. Love you!
I picked up another new drug yesterday at CVS, an NSAID that I've not had before, Meloxicam. It made me a little foggy headed just like everything else I'm taking. On the plus side, my back feels much better this morning! It's not perfect, but I can walk at a more normal pace through the house, and I'm not using the cane. Definite improvement.
I talked to my friend Susan, so yoga instruction should begin next week. I'm actually excited for that, and I went to water aerobics yesterday, which was fun. I was able to do the entire 40 minute routing with only a few modifications. I could not do the twisting motions, so when it said jump and twist, I just jumped up and down straight. I know I also did it slower than the tempo set, and I was not jogging in the water as fast as I used to. Doesn't matter. I was in the water and moving for 40 minutes, and I was very happy.
Today we are heading back to do water aerobics again. Then we are going up to the doctor's office to pick up the two forms he filled out. One is for the Travel Guard insurance claim and the other is to get a handicapped tag from the DMV. If we have time and energy, we will go to the DMV today to apply, but we might put that off until tomorrow. No rush on it, especially considering how I feel this morning.
I'm shocked that I feel this good this morning because I felt like I overdid it yesterday. After aerobics, we went to CVS for the new med, and then we had only an hour at home to eat lunch and plan a rehearsal before going back to the Cove for a two hour rehearsal with the Cove Singers. I love doing those rehearsals, but my right arm was almost useless by then. I couldn't move it almost at all without severe pain. This arm has been hurting since we got on the train on July 10. I have no idea why and all these anti-inflammatories, pain meds, and muscle relaxers, while working great on the back, don't seem to help the arm at all. When I got home from that around 5:30 I was seriously DONE IN! I couldn't move my arm; my back hurt; and I could barely stay awake. At that point, I just sat in my chair with the heating pad and took more drugs and went to bed at 11.
Then there is this morning. My arm is hurting less. I can lit it up without much pain, although it still doesn't want to reach around behind my back. And my back feels nearly normal! I realize this could all just be a manifestation of the many drugs I'm on, but I'll take it.
Barbara K, if you read this blog, here is my drug list. I know you are on a great Canadian cruise right now and I am not. Maybe you'll have some wi-fi and check up on me or maybe you'll see this later. But I'm listing the drugs just for you to check that these can all co-exist nicely together. I don't think I've ever been taking so many things all in one day! I'm going to send you an email as well to check on this. Thanks. Love you!
Meloxicam 7.5 mg twice a day, taking at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Tramadol 50 mg, two times a day, taking at 10 a.m., and 6 p.m
Orphenadrine 50 mg, twice a day, taking at 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Prednisone 20 mg, once a day, taking at 1:30 p.m Wednesday is the last one. it was a five day course.
Those are my new meds. In addition to all of those new ones, here is what I take every night all at the same time at about 11 p.m.
Allopurinol 300 mg
Tizanidine 4 mg
Atorvastatin 10 mg
Anastrozole 1 mg
Vitamin D 1000 units
Vitamin B6 100 mg
Ranitidine 300 mg
Flonase 50 mcg
Tums, two extra strength for 1500 mg
Gummy Multi-Vitamin
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Trying the pool today.
Let me start with blood sugar readings. I have had three normal readings in a row: 96, 88, 86.
Those are the first normal readings that I've gotten since August 29 when I started testing regularly. The first two I explained by eating under 100 carbs a day and having a small 10 carb snack at 10 p.m. with my bedtime muscle relaxer.
HOWEVER, this morning there is NO reason why I should have had the lowest reading yet because we went out to dinner and I binged. The whole dinner was nothing but carbs, which I ended with five chocolate chip cookies and a bowl of fresh papaya. When I got home, I ate the last black and white cookie at 11 p.m. for a bedtime snack with my last pill. Ridiculous. I have estimated that I probably ate well over THREE HUNDRED carbs for the day yesterday. And still got my lowest reading.
No answers for why on that.
And despite the fact that I must have eaten nearly 3,000 calories yesterday, I also did not gain any weight this morning. Still at 267.4. Some times there is just no explanation for what my body is doing. LOL!
I went to my family doctor's office yesterday for my follow-up from the ER visit. My regular doctor was not there because her son got married over the weekend, so she was out of town. We saw her partner, Dr. Weinberger, who actually wished us a L'shana Tovah. Cute.
I was not overly impressed with him, so I'm glad we chose the lady doctor to be our regular doctor instead. He mumbled a lot, causing us to ask him to repeat himself several times.
He disagreed with the ER doctor. So he does not recommend any PT, no MRI, no reason to see an orthopedist unless I want surgery. Evey disagreed with all of that.
The good thing is that he did call in prescriptions to extend the pain pill and muscle relaxers beyond Wednesday, and he also called in an NSAID more powerful than Advil. I'll pick them up later today.
He said swimming or water aerobics was a good idea, so I'll be off to do that at 10:30 this morning. I'm very curious to see how that goes.
He said lose weight. DUH. I know that, but not just overweight people get stenosis and arthritis in the back. I have suddenly been talking to lots of people who have it. All of them are normal weight. Still, I am obviously trying to lose weight because I agree that will help.
I have an appointment with our regular doctor at the end of October for a check up and pap smear, so I can get re-evaluated by her at that time. I have not ruled out going to an orthopedist. I have the name of an excellent one in Celebration to see.
I talked to Dr. Weinberger about the pain in my shoulder. He was unconcerned and recommended nothing for it. Geez. It has been hurting since mid-July, and he had nothing to say except that I wasn't pointing to a joint in the shoulder, so it's not arthritis. Fine. But what is it? If I end up going to an orthopedist anyway, then maybe he can help me figure that out.
I also have a friend who is recently retired from being a PT Assistant, and she's a yoga instructor. She is going to start giving me and my friend Judi special, personal yoga instruction to help us strengthen our core and back muscles, which I'm sure will help a lot. She was quite excited to do this for us.
At 3 p.m. I'm going to lead a Cove Singers rehearsal, so we'll see how that goes. I can sit on a stool while I direct, but it will be two hours of some movement and time on my feet. Today will involve the most activity I've done yet, so I'll see how that goes.
Learning to live with a new condition that I did not know I had is quite an adventure!
Those are the first normal readings that I've gotten since August 29 when I started testing regularly. The first two I explained by eating under 100 carbs a day and having a small 10 carb snack at 10 p.m. with my bedtime muscle relaxer.
HOWEVER, this morning there is NO reason why I should have had the lowest reading yet because we went out to dinner and I binged. The whole dinner was nothing but carbs, which I ended with five chocolate chip cookies and a bowl of fresh papaya. When I got home, I ate the last black and white cookie at 11 p.m. for a bedtime snack with my last pill. Ridiculous. I have estimated that I probably ate well over THREE HUNDRED carbs for the day yesterday. And still got my lowest reading.
No answers for why on that.
And despite the fact that I must have eaten nearly 3,000 calories yesterday, I also did not gain any weight this morning. Still at 267.4. Some times there is just no explanation for what my body is doing. LOL!
I went to my family doctor's office yesterday for my follow-up from the ER visit. My regular doctor was not there because her son got married over the weekend, so she was out of town. We saw her partner, Dr. Weinberger, who actually wished us a L'shana Tovah. Cute.
I was not overly impressed with him, so I'm glad we chose the lady doctor to be our regular doctor instead. He mumbled a lot, causing us to ask him to repeat himself several times.
He disagreed with the ER doctor. So he does not recommend any PT, no MRI, no reason to see an orthopedist unless I want surgery. Evey disagreed with all of that.
The good thing is that he did call in prescriptions to extend the pain pill and muscle relaxers beyond Wednesday, and he also called in an NSAID more powerful than Advil. I'll pick them up later today.
He said swimming or water aerobics was a good idea, so I'll be off to do that at 10:30 this morning. I'm very curious to see how that goes.
He said lose weight. DUH. I know that, but not just overweight people get stenosis and arthritis in the back. I have suddenly been talking to lots of people who have it. All of them are normal weight. Still, I am obviously trying to lose weight because I agree that will help.
I have an appointment with our regular doctor at the end of October for a check up and pap smear, so I can get re-evaluated by her at that time. I have not ruled out going to an orthopedist. I have the name of an excellent one in Celebration to see.
I talked to Dr. Weinberger about the pain in my shoulder. He was unconcerned and recommended nothing for it. Geez. It has been hurting since mid-July, and he had nothing to say except that I wasn't pointing to a joint in the shoulder, so it's not arthritis. Fine. But what is it? If I end up going to an orthopedist anyway, then maybe he can help me figure that out.
I also have a friend who is recently retired from being a PT Assistant, and she's a yoga instructor. She is going to start giving me and my friend Judi special, personal yoga instruction to help us strengthen our core and back muscles, which I'm sure will help a lot. She was quite excited to do this for us.
At 3 p.m. I'm going to lead a Cove Singers rehearsal, so we'll see how that goes. I can sit on a stool while I direct, but it will be two hours of some movement and time on my feet. Today will involve the most activity I've done yet, so I'll see how that goes.
Learning to live with a new condition that I did not know I had is quite an adventure!
Sunday, October 8, 2017
Not in Canada this morning....
No, we did not wake up in Quebec City this morning. We were able to get in contact with our travel agent, so the cruise, the airline tickets, and the shore excursions are all canceled. We were already refunded the shore excursion money and the port fees and taxes from the ship. For the rest we have to submit a claim form to Travel Guard after we see the family doctor to get her to fill out the form.
Tomorrow morning I will call the family doctor and try to get in right away for follow up. The ER doctor said to get an MRI. I also want a scan of my shoulder because it started to hurt while on the train to Evey in July. In three months, it has only gotten worse. Now I'm wondering if it isn't also arthritis in there, too.
Once I was on the muscle relaxer, pain pill, and prednisone yesterday, I definitely got some relief. I was not pain free, but there was relief. Then this morning, when all the drugs were out of my system, it was just as painful as ever to get out of bed to get going. At 9:30 a.m. I took the pain pill and the muscle relaxer after eating breakfast. An hour later, I am definitely feeling that the edge of the pain is dulled. I still can't walk pain free, but I'm sitting still in front of the computer pain free, so that's something.
I am eager to move on to the rest of the learning curve for managing this. I talked to Evey for quite awhile yesterday. When she worked in the PT clinic, she saw many people with this exact diagnosis getting some relief from the PT. I fully expect either the family doctor or the orthopedist, whom I also hope to see this week, will send me to PT. I also have a good friend who is a yoga instructor and her husband is a massage therapist. I might be able to use their services in the future, too, to help manage this condition. I plan to ask the doctor if these things are safe to pursue.
Unfortunately, there is no cure for this. There are ways to manage the flare ups and try to have more good days than bad. Since I didn't know I had it, I have just allowed it to progress to this critical point where the flare up is especially bad. Now that I know I have it, I will do what I can to be sure I never allow it to reach this point again once it calms down.
Weight loss and exercise are always the answers! I know that trying to increase my movement, especially non-weight bearing exercise like swimming or water aerobics will help build muscle strength as well as burn more calories. I also am working on slowly losing more weight, but that is not going to be fast.
I had an excellent day yesterday. I had 1500 calories but only 76 carbs. My blood sugar reading this morning was NORMAL, 96, for the first time since mid-August! I was thrilled to see that. Now I'm going to try hard to keep the daily carbs around 80 or less every day. I also had one Oreo thin, which has 5.2 carbs and 35 calories, at 10 p.m last night as a little snack to have something in my stomach when I took the muscle relaxer at bedtime. Mark thinks having a little carb at night is the way to have a better blood sugar reading in the morning. Often I have not eaten any carbs after dinner, so maybe that little bit did help.
I also was down in weight this morning. The scale said 267.4 this morning, which is where I was about two weeks ago, so I was quite happy with that. Let the weight loss continue!
Tomorrow morning I will call the family doctor and try to get in right away for follow up. The ER doctor said to get an MRI. I also want a scan of my shoulder because it started to hurt while on the train to Evey in July. In three months, it has only gotten worse. Now I'm wondering if it isn't also arthritis in there, too.
Once I was on the muscle relaxer, pain pill, and prednisone yesterday, I definitely got some relief. I was not pain free, but there was relief. Then this morning, when all the drugs were out of my system, it was just as painful as ever to get out of bed to get going. At 9:30 a.m. I took the pain pill and the muscle relaxer after eating breakfast. An hour later, I am definitely feeling that the edge of the pain is dulled. I still can't walk pain free, but I'm sitting still in front of the computer pain free, so that's something.
I am eager to move on to the rest of the learning curve for managing this. I talked to Evey for quite awhile yesterday. When she worked in the PT clinic, she saw many people with this exact diagnosis getting some relief from the PT. I fully expect either the family doctor or the orthopedist, whom I also hope to see this week, will send me to PT. I also have a good friend who is a yoga instructor and her husband is a massage therapist. I might be able to use their services in the future, too, to help manage this condition. I plan to ask the doctor if these things are safe to pursue.
Unfortunately, there is no cure for this. There are ways to manage the flare ups and try to have more good days than bad. Since I didn't know I had it, I have just allowed it to progress to this critical point where the flare up is especially bad. Now that I know I have it, I will do what I can to be sure I never allow it to reach this point again once it calms down.
Weight loss and exercise are always the answers! I know that trying to increase my movement, especially non-weight bearing exercise like swimming or water aerobics will help build muscle strength as well as burn more calories. I also am working on slowly losing more weight, but that is not going to be fast.
I had an excellent day yesterday. I had 1500 calories but only 76 carbs. My blood sugar reading this morning was NORMAL, 96, for the first time since mid-August! I was thrilled to see that. Now I'm going to try hard to keep the daily carbs around 80 or less every day. I also had one Oreo thin, which has 5.2 carbs and 35 calories, at 10 p.m last night as a little snack to have something in my stomach when I took the muscle relaxer at bedtime. Mark thinks having a little carb at night is the way to have a better blood sugar reading in the morning. Often I have not eaten any carbs after dinner, so maybe that little bit did help.
I also was down in weight this morning. The scale said 267.4 this morning, which is where I was about two weeks ago, so I was quite happy with that. Let the weight loss continue!
Saturday, October 7, 2017
PAIN UPDATE FROM ER NOW INCLUDED
UPDATE FROM ER:
First of all, kudos to the Poinciana Medical Center ER and staff. That was by far the best ER experience I've ever had. Saturday morning at 9 a.m. is an excellent time to arrive as I was the only patient at that point and was taken right back.
All the nurses and the doctor who took care of me were excellent. We were in and out in under two hours.
They did a CT scan of my lower back and gave me a shot of a strong muscle relaxer and a narcotic pain med by mouth and sent me home with three prescriptions: 5 days of Prednisone 20 mg, 15 days of the narcotic pain pill, and 15 days of the muscle relaxer in pill form. None of these have refills. Currently, Mark is heading to CVS to get these meds.
The diagnosis was spinal stenosis and degenerative arthritis of the spine in L3/L4 and L5/S1. There is no actual cure, and it will continue to flare up and subside the rest of my life.
This WAS NOTHING that I suspected it might be. The doctor advised against going on the trip. At this point, Mark is taking the Travel Guard insurance papers back over to the doctor to have him fill them out, since he said don't go on the cruise. The nurse said she did not think we would get our money back on this diagnosis, but it's worth a try. Otherwise, the $4,000 already spent is just gone. We are okay with that. The ship might refund the shore excursion money at least. The airfare is probably lost, too, but we will call Westjet and try to find out. I've already called the travel agent about cancelling the cruise, and I'm waiting for her to call back.
This is a terrible diagnosis in that it means flare ups and debilitating pain for the rest of my life.
THIS ALL SUCKS!
We went to shul yesterday for second day Succoth services, and when I got out of the car, I had intense pain in the lower back and was unable to stand up straight and barely able to walk. Occasionally, in the past month I've had some lower back pain, but it was never this intense and usually went away with just a little time sitting down.
NOT THIS TIME!
I couldn't even stand up during the services. I made it to the end of services by just sitting them out. Then we left and went home. I took three of my muscle relaxers (that is 6 mg of Tizanidine, not a huge dose), more Advil, and lay on the couch with the heating pad. I fell asleep for a few hours, and then I fully expected to get up and be fine.
NOT THIS TIME!
Now it is morning and I'm still the same. I got up four times during the night to go to the bathroom, and it was sheer torture each time to stand up. I started using the cane from back with the knees just to help stabilize me as I walk.
We may have to cancel this entire trip to Quebec. At least we have travel insurance! It will pay us back if a doctor says I'm not fit to travel, so as soon as Mark is dressed, we are going to the local ER across the street. I want to know if this is just the lower back muscles spasming or something worse in the spinal cord. I am hoping they can do some x-rays or scans to see what is the problem and give me an opinion on whether or not I can actually do this. Right now, I don't think I could even walk from one end of the ship to the other, let alone do all the shore excursions we have planned. I know that the airport can provide wheelchair transportation to get me out to the plane, but getting in and out of a cab? Carrying my luggage? Getting anywhere hurts, so I really don't think I will enjoy this cruise if something doesn't change.
Unless the ER docs think that some stronger muscle relaxers and/or pain meds and some time will cure this, we will probably have to cancel.
I will update this blog when we get back from the ER with the results. Stay tuned.
First of all, kudos to the Poinciana Medical Center ER and staff. That was by far the best ER experience I've ever had. Saturday morning at 9 a.m. is an excellent time to arrive as I was the only patient at that point and was taken right back.
All the nurses and the doctor who took care of me were excellent. We were in and out in under two hours.
They did a CT scan of my lower back and gave me a shot of a strong muscle relaxer and a narcotic pain med by mouth and sent me home with three prescriptions: 5 days of Prednisone 20 mg, 15 days of the narcotic pain pill, and 15 days of the muscle relaxer in pill form. None of these have refills. Currently, Mark is heading to CVS to get these meds.
The diagnosis was spinal stenosis and degenerative arthritis of the spine in L3/L4 and L5/S1. There is no actual cure, and it will continue to flare up and subside the rest of my life.
This WAS NOTHING that I suspected it might be. The doctor advised against going on the trip. At this point, Mark is taking the Travel Guard insurance papers back over to the doctor to have him fill them out, since he said don't go on the cruise. The nurse said she did not think we would get our money back on this diagnosis, but it's worth a try. Otherwise, the $4,000 already spent is just gone. We are okay with that. The ship might refund the shore excursion money at least. The airfare is probably lost, too, but we will call Westjet and try to find out. I've already called the travel agent about cancelling the cruise, and I'm waiting for her to call back.
This is a terrible diagnosis in that it means flare ups and debilitating pain for the rest of my life.
THIS ALL SUCKS!
We went to shul yesterday for second day Succoth services, and when I got out of the car, I had intense pain in the lower back and was unable to stand up straight and barely able to walk. Occasionally, in the past month I've had some lower back pain, but it was never this intense and usually went away with just a little time sitting down.
NOT THIS TIME!
I couldn't even stand up during the services. I made it to the end of services by just sitting them out. Then we left and went home. I took three of my muscle relaxers (that is 6 mg of Tizanidine, not a huge dose), more Advil, and lay on the couch with the heating pad. I fell asleep for a few hours, and then I fully expected to get up and be fine.
NOT THIS TIME!
Now it is morning and I'm still the same. I got up four times during the night to go to the bathroom, and it was sheer torture each time to stand up. I started using the cane from back with the knees just to help stabilize me as I walk.
We may have to cancel this entire trip to Quebec. At least we have travel insurance! It will pay us back if a doctor says I'm not fit to travel, so as soon as Mark is dressed, we are going to the local ER across the street. I want to know if this is just the lower back muscles spasming or something worse in the spinal cord. I am hoping they can do some x-rays or scans to see what is the problem and give me an opinion on whether or not I can actually do this. Right now, I don't think I could even walk from one end of the ship to the other, let alone do all the shore excursions we have planned. I know that the airport can provide wheelchair transportation to get me out to the plane, but getting in and out of a cab? Carrying my luggage? Getting anywhere hurts, so I really don't think I will enjoy this cruise if something doesn't change.
Unless the ER docs think that some stronger muscle relaxers and/or pain meds and some time will cure this, we will probably have to cancel.
I will update this blog when we get back from the ER with the results. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Succoth is coming.
Let's start with the Wednesday Weigh-in Report. Not good. This morning I was 271, a gain of 3.6 pounds for the week. Fasting for one day is not helpful when you overeat the rest of the time.
At my appointment about the pre-diabetes, my new family doctor thought that I was not eating enough calories. Interestingly, Evey also said that. I have tried to keep the calories around 1200, and when I did that, I lost weight. This week I was averaging closer to 1800. The family doctor said that at my current weight, if I ate about 1800, maybe even as high as 2000, I would still lose a pound a week. I told her that was not going to happen because I've been on and off diets my whole life, and I have a pretty good idea of where that weight loss threshold is. Well, I think I proved my point. Averaging 1800 calories a day for this week caused a gain of 3.6.
Sadly, I didn't set out to do that in order to prove her wrong. I was just binge-eating the Halloween candy a couple of nights and generally overeating snacks several other evenings. We also ate out a lot this week with the Yom Kippur meal at Landry's Friday night, the break the fast Saturday night, and the Food and Wine Festival for lunch on Monday.
Today we are having company over to eat in our Succah for the first night of the holiday of Succoth. This couple, Steve and Betty, have never eaten in a succah, so we had promised them the opportunity to do so in our succah this year. Mark is making a Diabetic Living recipe, so the entree will be fine. I have to watch myself on the challah and dessert. Betty is bringing wine and fruit. I'm still not drinking alcohol, so I'm not worried about that. I would love to see a pound gone by tomorrow morning.
Friday night we are having dinner in the synagogue's succah. They are having Make Your Own Tacos, but we aren't sure if they are going to be meat or dairy. In either case, there is a big chance of over-carbing that night.
Sunday morning early we are flying to Quebec City and will begin 15 days of eating out. OY! 2 nights in Quebec City and 12 nights on a cruise ship is NOT conducive to weight loss. My goal for this trip is to have a good time, eat and drink in moderation (or less), and come back home weighing the same as when I left. There was only one other cruise when I came home at the same weight as when I left. Usually I'm that typical cruiser who gains a pound a day on a cruise. That would be so depressing to return from this cruise up15 pounds! OUCH.
In any case, the holiday of Succoth is a happy one. It is also called the Festival of Booths, which is what the succah sort of is, as well as called the Time of our Rejoicing. This is truly a happy holiday! I hope everyone who celebrates it is rejoicing.
At my appointment about the pre-diabetes, my new family doctor thought that I was not eating enough calories. Interestingly, Evey also said that. I have tried to keep the calories around 1200, and when I did that, I lost weight. This week I was averaging closer to 1800. The family doctor said that at my current weight, if I ate about 1800, maybe even as high as 2000, I would still lose a pound a week. I told her that was not going to happen because I've been on and off diets my whole life, and I have a pretty good idea of where that weight loss threshold is. Well, I think I proved my point. Averaging 1800 calories a day for this week caused a gain of 3.6.
Sadly, I didn't set out to do that in order to prove her wrong. I was just binge-eating the Halloween candy a couple of nights and generally overeating snacks several other evenings. We also ate out a lot this week with the Yom Kippur meal at Landry's Friday night, the break the fast Saturday night, and the Food and Wine Festival for lunch on Monday.
Today we are having company over to eat in our Succah for the first night of the holiday of Succoth. This couple, Steve and Betty, have never eaten in a succah, so we had promised them the opportunity to do so in our succah this year. Mark is making a Diabetic Living recipe, so the entree will be fine. I have to watch myself on the challah and dessert. Betty is bringing wine and fruit. I'm still not drinking alcohol, so I'm not worried about that. I would love to see a pound gone by tomorrow morning.
Friday night we are having dinner in the synagogue's succah. They are having Make Your Own Tacos, but we aren't sure if they are going to be meat or dairy. In either case, there is a big chance of over-carbing that night.
Sunday morning early we are flying to Quebec City and will begin 15 days of eating out. OY! 2 nights in Quebec City and 12 nights on a cruise ship is NOT conducive to weight loss. My goal for this trip is to have a good time, eat and drink in moderation (or less), and come back home weighing the same as when I left. There was only one other cruise when I came home at the same weight as when I left. Usually I'm that typical cruiser who gains a pound a day on a cruise. That would be so depressing to return from this cruise up15 pounds! OUCH.
In any case, the holiday of Succoth is a happy one. It is also called the Festival of Booths, which is what the succah sort of is, as well as called the Time of our Rejoicing. This is truly a happy holiday! I hope everyone who celebrates it is rejoicing.
Monday, October 2, 2017
Monday, Monday
The High Holidays are over, and they were excellent. Our synagogue does have very long services, but they are excellent ones. The spirituality and the friendships among the people are heart-warming. My little choir of 11 singers did a wonderful job, even though some of the time it was a little less than the total for a variety of good reasons.
We did do what we said we would do at Landry's for the Friday night dinner. We had no appetizer or dessert. I did take a small piece of the excellent garlic bread and ordered a Crown Royal Apple on the rocks to help lower my sugar. Our entree was blackened grouper, string beans, and a baked potato. The potato was huge, and I did not eat all of it. During the fast, because I needed to take Advil for my knee, I did eat two hard boiled eggs (no carbs!) in the morning but then nothing else until the break the fast, which came at 8:15 p.m. I even did very well at that meal, but my sugar numbers never seem to be affected by any of that. I was still around 110-120 every single day.
Yesterday I made a huge boo-boo. We checked out of the hotel, went to Winn-Dixie to shop, and then got home. A neighbor came over to talk about the auto train, and a friend called to talk about something that had happened to her over the weekend. Finally, I started to unpack....YIKES. I left my laptop in the hotel room. GEEZ. I called them, and they had it. We immediately drove over and got it, so that's a credit to the honesty of the housekeeping staff at the Comfort Inn! What a scary moment.
Now last night I was BAD. I had an excellent day all day right up until about 10 p.m. when I began to binge on my Halloween candy. I started out counting it and logging it in. I had three Milky Way minis and a large Lemonhead. If I had stopped there, the day would have been fine in both calories and carbs, but I did not stop. That just set me off. I sat the candy bag on the coffee table in front of me and kept reaching in over and over for nearly half an hour until Mark noticed and took the bag away from me. Geez, like a bad kid, but I deserved it. I have no idea how much I ate, how many calories, or how many carbs. Ridiculous. This morning my sugar was 121, which is not horrible. It wasn't the highest or lowest morning sugar reading, so I was somewhat relieved because with all that candy so late at night, I thought I might have had a very high reading.
Well, I just have to try harder today, although we are having lunch at the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. The good thing is that all the walking helps.
On another topic, I had sent a letter to my sister Flyn about things that I did that were less than sisterly towards her and for which I felt I needed to ask forgiveness before Yom Kippur. She called last night and we talked for an hour and a half. It was a great conversation, and of course, she forgave me. And I forgave her for the slights she felt that she had done to me. It was one of the best conversations we have had in a long time. I felt wonderful after it. Yeah, and then I binged on candy, so go figure!
All day long I had a horrible pain behind my right hip. It felt like a terrible muscle spasm. In fact, I could not straighten up at all the whole day and even got my cane out, which really didn't help much. Even sitting it just was a dull ache all day long. Then when I went to bed last night, I found that lying on my left side completely took away the pain on the right side. Weird. I was up at 3 a.m. with the horrible inner thigh cramp on the right side and the tops of both feet running up my shins also cramped. I was in terrible pain for about ten minutes. I hobbled to the kitchen to drink some quinine water and then settled into my living room chair, which usually helps me get the cramps out. After about fifteen minutes, every muscle had settled down and I fell asleep in the chair until 6 a.m. At that time I went back to bed to lay on my left side until I got up at 7:30. My hip is still hurting this morning, but it feels far less painful than yesterday. I hope I can get through the day and all the walking at Food and Wine!
Meanwhile, I am hosting the Monday morning Mah Jongg group at my house, so I need to close this blog, finish breakfast, and tidy up a bit before they arrive.
We did do what we said we would do at Landry's for the Friday night dinner. We had no appetizer or dessert. I did take a small piece of the excellent garlic bread and ordered a Crown Royal Apple on the rocks to help lower my sugar. Our entree was blackened grouper, string beans, and a baked potato. The potato was huge, and I did not eat all of it. During the fast, because I needed to take Advil for my knee, I did eat two hard boiled eggs (no carbs!) in the morning but then nothing else until the break the fast, which came at 8:15 p.m. I even did very well at that meal, but my sugar numbers never seem to be affected by any of that. I was still around 110-120 every single day.
Yesterday I made a huge boo-boo. We checked out of the hotel, went to Winn-Dixie to shop, and then got home. A neighbor came over to talk about the auto train, and a friend called to talk about something that had happened to her over the weekend. Finally, I started to unpack....YIKES. I left my laptop in the hotel room. GEEZ. I called them, and they had it. We immediately drove over and got it, so that's a credit to the honesty of the housekeeping staff at the Comfort Inn! What a scary moment.
Now last night I was BAD. I had an excellent day all day right up until about 10 p.m. when I began to binge on my Halloween candy. I started out counting it and logging it in. I had three Milky Way minis and a large Lemonhead. If I had stopped there, the day would have been fine in both calories and carbs, but I did not stop. That just set me off. I sat the candy bag on the coffee table in front of me and kept reaching in over and over for nearly half an hour until Mark noticed and took the bag away from me. Geez, like a bad kid, but I deserved it. I have no idea how much I ate, how many calories, or how many carbs. Ridiculous. This morning my sugar was 121, which is not horrible. It wasn't the highest or lowest morning sugar reading, so I was somewhat relieved because with all that candy so late at night, I thought I might have had a very high reading.
Well, I just have to try harder today, although we are having lunch at the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. The good thing is that all the walking helps.
On another topic, I had sent a letter to my sister Flyn about things that I did that were less than sisterly towards her and for which I felt I needed to ask forgiveness before Yom Kippur. She called last night and we talked for an hour and a half. It was a great conversation, and of course, she forgave me. And I forgave her for the slights she felt that she had done to me. It was one of the best conversations we have had in a long time. I felt wonderful after it. Yeah, and then I binged on candy, so go figure!
All day long I had a horrible pain behind my right hip. It felt like a terrible muscle spasm. In fact, I could not straighten up at all the whole day and even got my cane out, which really didn't help much. Even sitting it just was a dull ache all day long. Then when I went to bed last night, I found that lying on my left side completely took away the pain on the right side. Weird. I was up at 3 a.m. with the horrible inner thigh cramp on the right side and the tops of both feet running up my shins also cramped. I was in terrible pain for about ten minutes. I hobbled to the kitchen to drink some quinine water and then settled into my living room chair, which usually helps me get the cramps out. After about fifteen minutes, every muscle had settled down and I fell asleep in the chair until 6 a.m. At that time I went back to bed to lay on my left side until I got up at 7:30. My hip is still hurting this morning, but it feels far less painful than yesterday. I hope I can get through the day and all the walking at Food and Wine!
Meanwhile, I am hosting the Monday morning Mah Jongg group at my house, so I need to close this blog, finish breakfast, and tidy up a bit before they arrive.
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