Friday, January 27, 2012

Invest Wisely


I am remarkably calm in spite of all that has gone down lately. I knew for much of last year that there was something not at all right about my health. I mean, my clothes just kept getting tighter and tighter, and my closet choices were getting grim. So when Sweetie got a new job with better health coverage, I used it.

I didn't tell anyone, except my therapist, what my goals were for 2012. I wanted to lose weight, to halve my drinking, and to get more physically fit. I had no plan to make this happen, but by making appointments with the allergist/asthma doctor and with my primary care giver, and submitting to all sorts of pokes and sticks and prods, I knew that we'd find some answer as to what was the cause. Maybe I was allergic to brewer's yeast and needed to quit drinking? I didn't know. (That was sort of my hope!)

My family nurse practitioner Judi and I were blindsided when my blood glucose level was 232 last week. It had been 107 back in March; a little elevated but not problematic. Well, what evs. My hand was forced in a way not expected. 

My goal is to lose 50 pounds in the next year, (a pound a week is not unreasonable!,) to not drink so much, and to be more physically active. I am grateful that the things that are wrong with me are treatable. I am grateful, that unlike some friends of mine, I have not needed hip or knee replacement (yet), nor have I had breast or colon cancer. What I have wrong is pretty damn mild. 


Monday, January 23, 2012

Several in the morning, and more at night.




All of my cholesterols are elevated. I just got the meds for that.

My blood pressure indicates that I am drifting between almost and slight hypertension. I have added a new med into the mix.

I am allergic to dogs, house dusts, ragweeds, pigweed, goldenrod, yellow dock, and red cedar. I begin weekly allergy shots in February.

My blood glucose level reveals that I have Type-2 diabetes. I will see my caregiver tomorrow to begin training and treatment.

Wednesday? I get to see my therapist!




Monday, January 16, 2012

Eyes Right


Wow. Just so much going on; for me at least.

A visit with my primary care provider today, who is a woman that I like very much. Blood tests for cholesterol, and got more meds for my slightly elevated blood pressure. I have gained 20 pounds since April of last year. Three in the last month. Less than I feared, but still. That's five bags of sugar.

Therapy on Wednesday and the allergy/asthma/immunologist on Monday next. Yes, I know, I don't have cancer or any severe disease, but all of these doctor-type appointments are very tiring. 

My girlfriend in Indiana is dealing with the life threatening problems of her husband. He is back in the hospital; the fourth time since his heart attack. He won't quit smoking or drinking, and he won't clean his incision which got infected, which is why he is back for another hospital stay. She is at wit's end. I worry for her, damn it. He is a grown ass man, after all, who seemingly does not want to live past age 58. 

Yet here I am, drinking when I know I should not. Birds of a feather, and suicide bent on a slow track. 

I have hopes that this year I will make and stick with some decisions. But like St. Augustine, dear dog, make me pure but not yet.



Eyes Left

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Soothing Comfort


 Corky update. He has made tremendous health gains since we rescued him. The fur on his feet, butt and ankles has grown back, and much of the horrible redness on his belly is gone. Most of this is due to a new diet where corn is not the first ingredient. 

The tea tree shampoo and spray are things he almost enjoys, because I know it makes him feel better. The ear treatment is slowwwwwlllly working, and again, he submits willingly to my ministrations. What a good little guy!

He and Princess play and the the cats ignore him unless he gets too nosy. 






Sweetie's lap is never empty when he's home.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

You'll feel a little prick.


So.

Yesterday was therapy and then my first visit to an allergy/asthma doctor; or immunologist. Dr. Wes Stricker worked at the Mayo clinic for 6 years before coming to Columbia, MO. He says he is very much dedicated to finding and treating the causes of allergies and asthma, as well as eczema, and not just treat the symptoms. I suffer from all three. 

I received about 40 pricks of allergens, and the good news is that cats and dogs dots didn't swell up, and neither did mold or feathers. The ragweed and goldenrod ones did. I lived among fields of ragweed and goldenrod in Indiana. 
I'll go back in 2 weeks for tests and the beginning of the game plan. 

Today was off to the dentist again, to redo an old filling. Painless, but a set of noise-deadening ear phones would have been great. The whine and grind of the instruments wear me out.

Tomorrow? I don my Domestic Goddess robes for a day of making neat and cooking. I'd like to get into my sewing room, too. Thursday, it's back to work.

As for knitting, I ripped out the pair of half-made socks without a qualm after I discovered they were a bit too small for me. I think I was using size 0s on 80 stitches; the gauge was 10 spi. Cast onto size 1s with 80 stitches again and am a couple of inches into the pair.

Thank you for the kind comment, Pam, about my new header photo. I took that one Christmas day; the sky was just so big and beautiful!

Thursday, January 05, 2012

Use gloves provided.


This story may begin when I was 17, and my mother died. She never really fooled around much with my hair, save to give me those foul smelling Toni Perms when I was 7 or 8. Blouse-less, in her brassier, with a cigarette hanging out of one side of her mouth.

I had girlfriends in junior high and high school, and as far as hair went, it was all about braiding about a thousand little braids in our hair, to get some sort of wavy look. This was the early seventies, and we did not have access to today's fancy appliances for straightening or crimping and who knows what all.

Then I moved far away from my girlfriends, and not having any sisters or kind gentle women nearby, my girlie genes almost withered and died. I didn't care for fashion or make up or hair styles. And in the eighties, that was not necessarily a bad thing.

Now, I have friends that love to give pedicure parties and they also offer to help the 'fussing with my hair,' (since I am becoming more and more grey and so need regular 'treatments.' Ahem.)

I am gradually shortening my locks as well as lightening them. Tomorrow? First time ever High Lights.

I am thinking about going dramatic. Why the fuck not?

Also? Can I again say how happy I am to have moved here and to have found such wonderful wimmin friends?

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

A Voice of Reason


So. 

I have survived the human construct that is the New Year, and the sun has decided to return to glory yet again. Unlike many years past, this year Sweetie and I went out with friends to celebrate at midnight at Montgomery City's oldest bar. It's a tiny joint and has been in operation since 1962. It was fun, we wore silly hats and beads and leis, and there were noise makers available. 

We returned on New Year's Day for free Bloody Marys, black eyed peas, and Hoppin' John. Free! (I did leave the wonderful bartender a nice tip, though.) The TV was tuned to American Top Gear, and everyone had a good time mocking that as well as the commercials. It's a good bar, need I say, one that opens at 9 am, with an older clientele. Like me. It's a safe place for women to go either alone or in a group.

It's been a nice holiday, with Sweetie having 8 days off over the past two weeks. Still, I hate having my schedule disrupted for so long. Not that I have much of a schedule really, but I do love my alone time and I haven't had that recently.

Corky is improving daily! I bought some Tea Tree Oil shampoo and spray, along with ear mite medicine from 1-800-Petmeds.com and it has made a huge difference! That and the new diet of lamb and rice or chicken and rice where the first ingredient isn't corn. So many animals are allergic to corn, and I may be, too. 


Tea Tree Oil is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. I think that Corky was afflicted with both in different areas of his body, and all that was complicated by his corn allergy. He has become one with the family, and even Reece's has finally learned to tolerate him and his herding instincts. Several swipes with claws to the nose has helped.

I don't do resolutions, but I would like to lose weight this year. I 'blossomed' this past year, in more ways than one. Only a very few of my clothes fit anymore. On the other hand, I have made strides recently towards 'taking better care of myself.' The therapist, eye exams, teeth exams, well-woman exams. My bone density is good! Yay me! Also, I don't have signs of glaucoma or macular degeneration, and I only have one cavity to fret about. 

It is a sobering (hah) thought, though, that in a mere fifteen years, I will be seventy - should I live so long.