Okay, so it is raining, and looks like it will continue to rain through the day. Terrific. 🙁
I’ve begun the wash/rinse process for yesterday’s dyes. Learning how to use the cycles of this new machine is interesting. And time consuming.
Got about 6 hours last night, and my numbers this morning are pretty good. I’m still unsure why my body behaves differently one day to the next, even when I do the exact same things each day. I’m trying very much to figure out what works best for keeping my glucose down most of all. I want to stay under 100 if I can, but that’s a rare treat for me so far, apparently unattainable most days. I’ve also noticed that I start to hesitate just before plunging the insulin needle into my belly. I don’t know why. Sometimes it hurts a teensy bit and sometimes the little needle just slips right in. But I have been self-injecting since November, so I don’t understand the hesitation. Hmmmm….
Oh yeah, and this wet raining weather is apparently contributing to my hip/knee joint pains. There’s little I can do about it. The pain meds work sometimes, but only sometimes. 🙁
Didn’t get my best night’s sleep (<6 hours), but I caught a couple brief naps during the day today. My numbers today were surprisingly low, especially this evening. Glucose at 100, and bp at 125/67 on the left arm but 111/60 on the right arm, within minutes of each other. I normally just do the left arm, but the first time I did it it was 115/60-something so I did the left arm again, and then the right. At mid-day the glucose was 124, which pleased me, since I don’t have to do the Novolog insulin injection unless it is over 130. I still have to do the Lantus in the morning, regardless the number, although it was only 105 first thing this morning.
I was surprised this evening because I had a fairly large (for me) lunch, and then had a pint of Budweiser at mid-afternoon while I was working. I’ve always assumed all the carbs in beer would not be a good thing for my numbers, but apparently the lunch and beer didn’t hurt my glucose or my bp. Weird.
I did the custom dye job today, so maybe that amount of exercise countered any carbs….? Hell, I don’t know. I’ve been hurting a lot lately with the hip and knee, but once I got into the dyeing process I didn’t notice the pain too much but after the work was done and I sat to rest a spell, the pain returned. I’ll do the wash, rinse and dry stuff tomorrow — testing the washer to see how the rinse-&-spin cycle works. I have new mesh bags to hold each skein separately, so I hope it isn’t a disaster.
That is discouraging, and I think most of this was preventable. The state pushed to reopen far too soon, plus too many people choosing not to mask or follow social distancing guidelines.
And it doesn’t help at all that Trump is trying to reduce testing, because more testing means more cases, and more cases make him look bad. Ignorant fucker. Hiding the numbers just gives people a false sense of security. We Are Not Okay right now. I would not openly advocate for his soon demise, but …
This definitely sucks. I spent a couple of days on my feet for some dyeing sessions, and then yesterday spent a lot of time standing up the reskein a new collection of Blog Reader Specials — 28 this time instead of my normal 24 skeins. It took most of the day, about 6-7 hours, with good rest breaks along the way.
Yesterday I had awakened around 3:45 in the morning, and didn’t have any naps during the day, so I was plenty ready for bed when 10:00 rolled around, and I assumed I’d sleep 5.5 or 6 hours. Nope. Got 3 hours or so, waking around 1:30 and not feeling ready to go back to bed. I was awake for a couple of hours until I felt sleepy, but only got about 2 more hours of sleep. Both of my waking up was prompted by burning pain in my right hip and knee joints. I took a Tramadol at mid-day against the pain and really didn’t want to take another in the night.
On the days when I’m already up and about I don’t usually take my exercise walks, figuring I’ve done enough, know that all motion and exercise counts. I truly don’t know if enough is enough, or if taking an exercise walk is needed even when I’ve already done the standing and moving exercise around the house. Today I have to be outside photographing yarns, so another good half hour or so of standing (if the rains stay awake long enough). I’ll see how I feel after that.
I am starting to feel disappointed that I’m not able to do what I used to do. I don’t know if I’m exercising enough or not. A lot of things I’m not sure about lately.
I have a custom dye session for tomorrow and Monday (redoing the job I messed up last week), so I don’t know if I should rest-and-recover today, or get out and get some walking exercise and then see what tomorrow feels like.
Tomorrow (the 21st) marks 5 months since the surgery. I have no idea how far along my recovery is ‘supposed’ to be. Some days I feel GREAT, and other days I feel like I’m going backwards. I even used the walker around the house a little bit yesterday since I was already hurting and needed to finish the task of reskeining.
Based on how I felt last night I was expecting to get at least my new-normal six hours of sleep. Nope. Got about 5.5 hours, but up since 4:45 and already started the 2nd load of laundry — bedding this time. I’m using different settings to learn how it all works and to learn how these machines decide on the timing of various cycles and options.
As others told me yesterday, these new-fangled fancy machines do take longer than the old-style machines that I am more accustomed to. I guess it’s a learning process. Apparently these new machines use less water, are more energy-efficient, and are gentler to clothes. We shall see.
Most importantly, I think I’m figuring how to prepare my yarns and such so that I can use the washing machine most effectively.
Yesterday when the delivery guys came, they were supposed to haul away the old washer. I told them they could actually haul it away or just put it to the street and surely someone would claim it. And someone did – the next door neighbor lady wanted it. Since I have a dolly (hand truck) I moved it for her, from the street to a space on her side of the yard that she picked out. I probably should not have done that, as I woke this morning with a twinge in my lower right abdomen. Nothing ripped or anything like that, but a reminder that I need to exercise caution.
I just hope she doesn’t leave it in the yard forever as they’ve done with many other things. :-/ But no matter, it is no longer my problem.
Later …. now washing the third load of the bedding laundry. I guess I just have to be content with things taking longer. sigh
I hope to finish the Old Shale scarf today. Just a few more rows and a bind-off. Then blocking. I’m not sure if I want to finger-block it or pin it out for a severe blocking. Also want to re-pot the plants that live in the kitchen window. I brought these with me from New Orleans, so they’re plenty hardy enough, but it’s been a few years since they’ve had new potting soil. I found a whole new bag in the storage unit when I moved the unit to make way for the dryer; now is as good a time as any to use it and make my plants feel better.
So it appears I have the day’s agenda in place. Plus I need to full some yarns for dyeing this week — some Blog Reader Specials and re-doing the custom job. So, into the day I go.
I only got <4 hours sleep, woke before 2:00. Bummer. But I was sort of excited to discover my naked weight was just at 150#, so that’s a good thing. Then my lower tract started acting up, had to take four trips to the toilet (so far) and I’m at 148# now. What the hell? I mean, I’m glad I’m no longer stopped up like I was for a long while after surgery, and for many weeks I’ve been pretty much “regular” and so forth. Apparently today I get to sit around waiting for the next quickstep trip to the bathroom. Seriously, what a pain in the ass, eh?
I found this on Facebook:
Yeah, that seems to sum it up, eh?
It was early fall when I started really going downhill, so about 8-9 months ago. It’s been a helluva ride so far, and I am very grateful that I seem to be generally on the mend, but there are so many things I still don’t understand about my body. Like, how can I do certain things one day and get great numbers, but then do the same things another day and my numbers are all fucked up?
11:00a.m. – managed to get another hour and a half or so nap, slept right through the boys’ feeding time, listening to some classical music. They were apparently none too amused when I put their food out around 8:30, but there was still food in their bowl from last night so they weren’t starving.
I just took a walk up to Manor. My hips were already burning before I got that far, so I didn’t push it up to Longview. It will be triple digit heat index this afternoon, so I’m keeping the blinds and curtains closed and the a/c on. But at least I got some fresh air, sunshine, and exercise, right? I will be sooo glad when I am able to walk to Kroger and back, but I sense that is still a couple months away, since that is a good hour or hour-and-a-half walking. I can dye some, but it’s here at home and I can just sit and rest as needed. Even with the walker, while I can rest with it, I don’t want to be sitting on the side of the road for long periods — too hot and too vulnerable, no real sidewalks and people aren’t always kind.
Got the kitchen mopped yesterday, and this morning I washed all the dye-mop towels, so in the morning when I’m fresh I can start the dyeing that I have set out to be done.
But now, I’m sweaty from the walk, and need to do some research on some foods. I definitely believe that food intake plays a large role in how my body functions, but I need to get a better understanding of which foods combine for best results. No normal foods are off-limits, really, but I have to balance the fats and carbs and proteins.
Short version: no glaucoma, no cataracts, no blood leaking from the retina, and no new Rx required. Basically my eyes are fine, haven’t changed since my last exam 2.5 years ago. So that’s cool. After all the other shit the last 6-8 months it is a joy to discover at least one part of my body isn’t presenting a new problem for me to deal with.
I ended up not taking my rollator with me after all. It was starting to rain as I was leaving, and I didn’t want to mess with having to fold and load the walker into the trunk of a car while it was raining. I managed to do okay getting where I needed to go just with my cane.
Since the exam was scheduled as a “Diabetic Eye Exam”, there was no co-pay. I don’t know if that is a regular Medicare benefit, or a special benefit as part of diabetic care. Whatever, I don’t care. I was expecting and was prepared to pay a co-pay. I stopped on the way out of the clinic to get a cup of coffee and a fruit cup. They have a mini-Luby’s cafeteria and a mini-Starbucks kiosk inside the clinic. I couldn’t see well and was about to grab a prepacked container of something reddish, but I asked a worker what it was — oops, it was a cup of potatoes. She was kind enough to guide me across the cafeteria to the fruit cups. 🙂
And I enjoyed a pleasant Lyft ride home with a nice young woman. We chatted this-and-that the whole ride home, which was nice.
But now I’m home and waiting for the dilation to subside in my eyes.
Not sure what the day will bring. Got to bed just around 10:00 and woke just before 4:00. That seems to be a growing habit, I guess. Six hours (+/- anyway) sleeping is much better than waking every hour or hour-and-a-half. I’ll still need a nap later, except that at mid-day I will be in clinic.
I just did my morning (5:30) numbers — glucose at 84 and b.p. at 129/73. Those are good numbers for me. Really good, in fact. I don’t know if I will ever understand how my body works, except to know that everyone’s numbers fluctuate up and down all the time and that what counts is the trend over time. I can be relaxed about it but can’t get lazy about keeping track of it.
I do feel somewhat good this morning and walking well. But I’m still going to take the rollator anyway today, I think. I’ll come back and give a report at day’s end.
It is 88ºF feels like 94ºF, 3:00 in the afternoon, and I’m hurting at the moment.
I just took a walk to Manor, my hips were hurting too much to bother going up to Longview. BUT, it’s the muscles and not the joints, so I can deal with it.
With the enforced isolation continuing, and the current political bullshit following the murder of George Floyd, I have allowed my depression to dictate my actions. Or rather, my inactions. I’ve neglected my regular walks, and I can certainly feel it today. I just had to get out and walk or go crazy, so I took a short walk, got the “fresh air, sunshine, and exercise” routine done. I feel a little better for having done that.
The distance from here to Manor and back is not much different from the distance from the clinic building entrance to the actual Fourth Floor clinic I have to visit tomorrow. I am definitely using the rollator tomorrow when I go to clinic. Not only will it enable me to get there with somewhat less pain, but it has a seat where I can sit if I need to instead of sitting where someone else has just sat — social distancing, and all that. 🙂
I know better than to just sit and mildew as I’ve done the last many days. I just need to keep moving more, which makes me feel better and nearly always does, even if it makes my body a little sore along the way.
I am, of course, grateful that my pain meds seem to be mostly doing what they are supposed to do in keeping my hip and knee joints from screaming. Feeling soreness in the muscles is a good thing, so I’ll keep doing it.
Now, as for the George Floyd thing, and the subsequent unrest all over the country … What The Actual Fuck is going on? There are legitimate righteous protests against police brutality. And for the most part they are peaceful marches and protests. Outside instigators, however, have taken advantage and come in to create riots, looting, vandalism, and worse … all with the intent to cast blame on the peaceful protesters and the Black Lives Matter movement. It’s disgusting.
And yesterday’s bullshit photo op was just insane – President Trump ordered tear gas to be used on the protesters so that he could walk across the street to a church he does not attend, hold up a Bible he does not read, and threaten American citizens with military action. What The Actual Fuck is that about??
I’ve had some pretty good days lately, health-wise. My numbers have been pretty good and I’m adjusting to the additional blood pressure medicine as well.
This morning I put the boys’ food bowl out, and came back inside with the door open for a while. Not long after I noticed Two-ie mewing under the coffee table but not patting my foot for attention. When I finally glanced down, there was a pile of bird feathers scattered, and Two-ie had a bird by the neck, wings still flapping.
What the fuck, Two-ie?? I shooed him out the door and he took his bird with him. By the time I got the camera back outside, somehow BigBoy had the bird, so I shooed him down the ramp. And then I got to vacuum feathers up off the carpet.
Nope, not amused. But I think that was still the highlight of the day.
I confess — I am mentally and emotionally exhausted. The world around me is far too full of bad news, and it is wearing me out. I had a couple good nights of sleep, but last night I woke after only an hour, and in that hour I had some weird and disturbing dreams. I can’t remember them now, but they were enough that I woke and wasn’t ready to try going back to sleep right away. I did eventually, and got maybe 4-ish hours of sleep.
Today my brain has been trying to do what needs doing, like paying bills and packing an order of yarn. I am nearly finished with the Old Shale scarf, like maybe an inch or two more before I can bind off, but it’s staring me from the coffee table and I don’t give a shit about it. Nor do I give a shit about frogging the blanket I started last fall. I know I won’t finish it so I decided to frog it and make something else that I might like more, but the blanket still sits there waiting for me to frog it.
And today my numbers are noticeably up, and I don’t care. And, considering how much energy and effort I have put into getting my health in order the last several months, it’s not that I truly don’t care. It’s that I don’t have the energy to care **today**. I just don’t give a shit today.
There have been protests and probably some rioting and looting downtown this week, following the murder of George Floyd. It happened in Minneapolis, but he was from Houston and much of his family is still here, so it is garnering a LOT of local attention.
I have to go into town on Wednesday for an eye exam that I’ve already put off twice and there are things I neeeeeed to have checked out with my eyes, so I really can’t put it off. But the idea of riding with a stranger in a Lyft ride anywhere near downtown is somewhat worrisome. I am not looking forward to it at all.
So I just looked at a full-page calendar and realized that yesterday was 18 weeks since surgery, so last week was only 17 weeks.
Last night I slept fairly well, about 6 hours. The night before was a struggle, since there were some loud thunderstorms over head and I had really poor quality sleep.
A couple weeks ago my doctor asked me to track my blood pressure more often, since it was high recently, and he wanted to adjust my meds accordingly. So I was taking b.p. readings 3 times a day, same time that I do the finger-stick for glucose. It’s just easier for me to do these things at the same time. Yesterday I sent in 2 weeks worth of 3x daily b.p. readings, and he thanked me for my diligence in tracking the numbers (which struck me as odd, since that was what he asked me to do), and then told me which direction he would adjust my meds.
In most respects, I am feeling pretty much recovered and heading toward being okay. Most days are pretty good, and I manage to get done most of what I want to do. It’s getting better, anyway, although there are a few things I’m watching still; nothing serious, but just some things that don’t feel quite right.
But onward into the day I go. I have a few things that need doing and I expect to get them all done by supper time.
