AAM Monday: Project Life Weeks 9 & 10

More of life has involved doctors and health issues round here. Scrapping is a nice escape but still my mind is cluttered with wondering about the future.

AAM Monday: Project Life Weeks 7 and 8

Not quite caught up yet but I see light on the horizon. Back when it was still seriously winter weeks. Valentine's Day came and went with no fanfare. That's ok, but the various medical issues were a bummer. But two weeks done and one more snow fall.  Almost the end of February!

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he  can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

REMEMBER THE 3 STEPS  / STR   Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by  asking three simple  questions:  
                                                                     
1.  S *Ask the individual to SMILE.
2.  T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)(i.e. It is sunny out today.)
                                                                                                                             
3.  R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

                    If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number
                    immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

n.b. Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue. If the tongue is crooked or if it goes to one side or the other it is also an indication of a stroke.

AAM Monday

Intention isn't everything. Or so I've come to believe. Kind of.

Last December, I had come to the realization that I was a couple months into my 65th year, and feeling tired and much less than fit. The clothes were getting tighter, the muffin top had obviously had some yeast added to it, and I did not want to continue on this path. I really didn't want to change my lazy, carefree ways but carefree was not so free anymore.

So I made a mental decision, and went off to London where I did get back to some walking. Not a lot but I held my own during that trip, and didn't expand out of my clothes at least. That in itself was good. Shortly after I got back, I heard about a new city gym from my dear friend Judy. My dh was away and I promptly went over and signed up. I had a session with a personal trainer and started going daily. I liked having the option of bikes, treadmills and ellipticals to vary the workout every 10 min. It was still too dark and cold to walk outside in the am. A week or two, and I was enjoying it. Then it snowed. Oh man did it snow. February was kind of a lost month with a lot of white all around our house. A lot.

However, with my dh away again, I did the shoveling for snow round 2. I took it in measured stages, rested flat on my back - ok, on the couch, in front of the fire, watching Netflix between shovel sessions. We had a LOT of snow, blizzard level snow this February, but I and my back survived. I ate less too.

My dh returned and I finally was able to get the car out of the driveway. Yeah! Freedom!! I went back to the gym, to the same workouts I had done and went home feeling great.

The next morning I could barely get out of bed, and had to get my dh to put my shoes on for me so I could go to the Dr. for some periodic blood work following the annual physical. My life became a heating pad and a back as tight as I'd hoped for my stomach muscles. (ok, I never hoped for that much...I know me and sixpack abs are not on my Wishlist.) In the physical, I had mentioned periodic pain in my right knee. The Dr. said it seems to be arthritis behind your knee but I'll send you for an e-xray to be sure. She also said stay off the bikes and eliptical. What???? this leaves me only the treadmill...ugh.

The back pain (locked tightness) continued and at the prodding of my dh...insistence!...I went back to the Doctors. I was given a set of back exercise, an appnt for a back x-ray, and a referral for a physical therapist. It is now March and where is the progress I had hoped for?!?!? My intention was there but somehow there was a disconnect between my head and my body. However...diligent daily repetitions of the back exercises, and walks on the beach or sessions in the resort gym have me back to relative normalcy. I found that my knee hurt more when I only walked so I added the recumbent bike and short sessions on the elliptical. I still have a tight back and hips in the am but I can dress myself and use the toilet with ease. Yes, the latter was an issue with a stiff back. Men can just shake but women wipe. Think about it or don't.

So here it is the real Ides of March, and have I made any progress since January? Well, holding my own is about it and in some ways I guess I'll have to be ok with that right now. I am eating less, and not enjoying that but I am sticking to some exercise every day unless I am sitting in a car on I-95 for 10 hrs.

Oh, I forgot to mention that my cholesterol #s had gone up according to that blood work. No relation to what I decided to do but a good reason for sure to pay more attention to my health. I guess I'm just starting a life habit and it feels like a lot of unintended roadblocks along the way.But it is what it is. It just isn't what I wanted it to be.

Tests are Good

So all my blood work and gall bladder ultrasound say there is nothing wrong. Was it F.E.A.R - false evidence appearing real? Whatever, I am glad to have had a pain free night and clearance to go ahead with our plans.














It looks as if life has some sparkle again.

Oh what a time

December means mammogram time for me. Not the ideal time imho but how it works out short of waiting till January to start the bit by bit delay with the insurance people. It has to be at least one year since the prior test, and once I was literally on day 365 and had to reschedule.

Well this year I was told by the call center that I didn't need a referral! Yeah. One bit of bother out of the way. So yesterday, in I go and I am asked for a referral. Turns out the call center didn't know that my doctor requires a referral. Not the insurance company, not the radiologist, but my doctor. I really like her but... so now I have an appnt to see her in ....February, so that Dec mammogram willl now be a Valentine's treat not a Christmas present.

But wait...there's more. I go to bed last night, and wake up at 3am with a sharp pain in my right chest with itching 'inside' my right back. The weird itchy feeling is how I feel when I get bronchitis. I get out of bed, debate about getting dh to take my to the hospital, but I don't think it's my heart. Wrong side. The burning pain is intermittent and after doing some energy work, I get drowsy, the pain is gone, and I go back to bed.

Come morning, I tell dh, who gives me the look I would give him if the tables were turned, and I say yes, I'll call the Dr. Turns out my Dr. is out today, so I see another Dr. who examines me and considers it may be gall bladder pain. hmmmm. No pain all day but tonight I'm not at a dinner with dh, I'm staying home, fasting in the am and having a gall bladder sonogram.

Such a week it's been, and it's only Tuesday!