Purple Squirrel

Steve McQueen

• So. Shall I do bullet points? I believe it is my best option right now. 
• Thank you all for your kind regards about my diabetes. Y'all be sweet!
• The change in diet and the additional meds for the diabetes and the cholesterol and the high blood pressure have been a Total Monster eating at my brain. 
• However, it seems to be working. My blood glucose is mostly below 200 already.
• Thank goodness for Wednesdays, which is the day I go to Columbia for therapy and allergy shots. There is also a spiffy Goodwill, and I have found the grocery store of my dreams.
• HyVee is an employee-owned store with a produce section that is bigger than many markets. The employees are polite and ones food is placed in ones cart, unlike certain other stores. Ahem. 
• There is an incredible amount of organic food, as well as bulk buying for things from red jasmine rice to hummus mix. Then there is the bakery, the seafood, and meat departments.
• I spent as much there today as I often do at my local grocery store, especially when I am out of almost everything - and I feel that I got so much more value for my bucks.
• Columbia is not a great huge town; but it the home of Missouri University, aka Mizzou, so it is geared toward a younger, hipper crowd. 
• There is also a vintage JoAnn's shop, not far from any of my destinations, and that also makes me happy. 
• Almost lastly, I have been in my sewing studio for the last few days making hippie clothes, and that has made me happier still. Not making the same stupid feed sack bag over and over.
• I have decided to get a tax # and a business license for my little cottage. 
• It will be called Purple Squirrel.
• I thought it would be an unusual name, to draw in the younger, hip crowd as they travel betwixt St. Louis and points west.
• According to the Urban Dictionary, it is an actual phrase, and not dirty or derogatory. 
• Purple Squirrel
• Actually lastly, I have decided to cut my hair very short and let the grey grow out. I am tired of fooling with it. I would, however, love to find a quality wig ala the B52s. In several colors.
• Time to get my freak on.

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. 

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!

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

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.

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!