Much better todaym accomplished!

 Didn't sleep as well as I would have liked but got sleep. Had one minor calf cramp on the right leg but didn't last long and was the result of trying to stretch when I woke up. Overall though, it was a great morning! Breezy wind outside, clear skies, wonderful temperatures, great day to walk in a park or something. Can smell the fresh greenery growing on the hillsides in the sun coming through the open window, just a wonderful spring day really.

 Lovely rose blooming to match the good day so far. I think the tapering off prednisone is improving my mood which is a good thing for sure. Got a message from Sharp that a prescription was due to run out, checked in the app and it's for the prednisone...uhhhh nope. Not going do anything about that.

 Got a lazy start to the day but after my shower managed to change my heart monitor out. I probably should have done it a few days ago but I got it done. Couldn't release the pod from the base for a bit, was almost going to get a knife to separate it but finally came off. Cleaned the area, got it clicked in and green light and got it situated using the handy dandy template in the box. Yay! Medical adulting done!

Still trying to eat anything and everything I can get my hands on. Had two small bowls/cups of the ham soup for lunch, a cup of yogurt, had apple and yogurt this morning after a bowl of cereal... now contemplating whatever else I can eat for post lunch.

Heart seems to be doing okay, not nearly as many hiccups, breathing isn't labored but it seems  I can't draw in a breath as deep as I used to. That could be alleviated by using the inhaler but my oxygen and pulse are good so it's merely an inconvenience at this point. Not like there's congestion just feels like there's a tight band when I get to the top of a deep breath. Managing stairs and walking just fine, so not really a big impact on my overall living.

Oh, side note and just one of those 'old people' kind of things. Our bathroom fan started making a racket again a few weeks back. It did it not long after we moved in and the maintenance guy just tweaked some things and I think replaced the plastic bladed fan with another similar one. Well it took a few years before it started complaining again making a rumbling through the walls sound that made us cringe and reluctant to have it on for a long time, so Jon let him know. Took another two weeks for him to finally get around to taking care of it. Replaced it with a completely new metal bladed fan assembly, more blades and it is SO quiet!  Not whisper quiet but definitely a quieter sound that you can't hear outside the bathroom with the door closed.  Seems like a no-brainer that would be normal right? Apartment living.

 Still need to figure out how to get the extra money for bills. Geico comes out automatically in three days that I need at least $50 to cover (can't postpone an autopayment apparently) and then who knows how much for the SDGE, and then the phone the last week of the month.  Every month  I swear I will be better on keeping track and something always comes up. 

Sigh. Need to check in with Amber see how her new school semester is working out. Devon and Rem are holding steady but need to check back in with them as well. 

So that's it. Semi-boring life again. 

 

And today is better, much

 Last night on the other hand was.... frustrating, painful and exhausting. I couldn't get to sleep, my left foot and calf were threatening to cramp, could not get comfortable. Lay on my side and a back muscle with try to spasm, shift my position and feet would complain.

 I decided to put on my arch support bands that I got for my plantar fasciaitis in the hopes that would help with circulation in my feet. Because that's the only other suggestion from various sites on the reason for lower leg/foot cramps. Well, it didn't seem to help. I had to finally pull off the left one because it wasn't helping and even after that it felt like something was still squeezing my foot. I got up went out to the kitchen, stretched my legs, twisted my torso, waved my arms around, basically trying to get my circulation going. Finally half laid on the couch and tried to relax. By this time it is after midnight. 

After about a minute or two I felt a bit more relaxed and quietly went back to bed. Fell asleep after a short time thankfully. Woke up to roll over a few hours later, needed to pee, sort of, did that came back to bed and again fell asleep easier. Woke up around 7 and did a mental check on legs, so far no inclination to cramp. Had to fight the urge to do a big stretch because that's how they always start and then just rolled over and sat on the edge of the bed. 

No cramps. No twinges, a little fatigue in the muscles but no inclination to cramp up. I did something right the night before! I am now wearing the supports all day just to see if that somehow, magically is what I needed. Will also try and get up and move around more, already been up and down the stairs four times.  

Energy is good so far, breakfast was haphazard as I decided I needed to make ham and potato soup before the ham bone and chunk of meat went bad. So, 9 am and I am peeling and chopping potatoes, celery, carrots, a little bell pepper, onion and generally making a mess in the kitchen.  Got everything put together and into the crockpot for the days cooking. Should be ready by around 4 or 5, but as for breakfast, I nibbled on some of the ham, had a banana, a couple of gulps of powerade, two or three spoons of potato salad, a gulp of pepsi (still doesn't taste right), took my pills then had a ham sandwich. All before 11 am and yes am keeping up on plain water as well.   

Geez.  

Lunch is a haphazard affair as well (ham soup is for evening meal). Taco meat from the other day, elbow macaroni, can of Rotel, taco seasoning here, smoked paprika there, lime juice, peperoncini juice and bits, beefy onion soup mix a little flour to thicken... just started throwing stuff together. A little salty, tossed in a bit of sugar and I don't know what else and then topped mine off with some shredded cheese. So Taco Goulash you might say. It's food, hits the spot and fills the void for the moment. The pepperoncini adds a little zing once in a while, nice touch.

Still wish Coke tasted the same. Really want one to wash this down right now. Orange Powerade it is.

When I took Rocky downstairs for his grass time there was a bunch of canned good and veggies on the community table. Someone apparently went for a food pantry run and put out what they didn't want. SCORE! Albacore tuna! Salmon! Broccoli! Elbow macaroni! Red onions, red bell pepper, canned pintos, diced tomatoes and black beans, scored two small bags of things we could use (checked the dates on the cans of course). Oh and a bag of sugar cookie mix too, not sure when I'll fix that but might try and turn it into snickerdoodles.

And after I polish off my bowl of taco goulash... am I supposed to be watching what I eat due to my colitis? NAhh.

Because... I, am an adult, I have had this wonderful dessert three days in a row in the evening. Will continue to do so until the muffins and/or ice cream run out. 

So far, that is my day and it is only just after 1:00 pm. Yes, definitely feeling accomplished and now not as hungry. Might do some knitting on a sweater I restarted, easier than trying to finish the socks. Yeah. Feeling good today.

 

 

 

 

Today was and is, odd

 Once again waking up and have to fight with my cramping feet/calves. It was pretty bad this time. Left leg my foot was completely contorted up and I had to fight getting it to reflex. I had a banana around 7 last night, drank water, did all the things, even stretched my legs when I was out with Rocky. Something is going on with my system that's causing this. Like everything else happening to me. I'm fine the rest of the day with my legs, just trying to stretch them as much as possible.

 Had to go to the store for some milk and bread. Coke was on sale but don't have the money for that anymore. I have enough to pay storage and that's it. Going to be asking for help again this month to cover bills. I had the $89 hospital bill and another $40 on top of that had to by cat litter and one or to other incidentals that can't come out of food money. Not even through the first week of the month and we're sunk for money. Geico is going to bounce on the 11th, SDGE is unknown but isn't due for another week, phone isn't due until the 20th, so we need... about $200 to cover things with a little bit of wiggle.

Between my physical issues and everything else, it's just getting to be an awful lot to handle and am getting depressed again about not having enough money to survive. 

As for the rest of my day today, cooked up the chicken and the marinade is good, I added some other sauce on the rice and chicken so the flavor of the marinade didn't come through as much but it was tasty. Will have to try that with the just the thigh meat for tacos or something. 

Got down to the garden and watered, accidentally skewered a small purple potato with my trowel while trying to move soil to get everything watered. That's a paring knife for size comparison incidentally. The raised bed is going to be potatoes this year, total of five plants have sprouted now so if I manage another tomato on the trellis that's it for the main planter this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With everything else going on I'm counting my garden lucky to have this much happening. Hopefully bountiful potatoes this summer and maybe tomatoes.  

So yeah, gardening... that's my excitement lately in between doctor appointments and stuff. Heart is doing okay, doesn't look like my e-patch needs changing out. I was going to do it after my shower but just couldn't wrap my head around it, hands were shaking too much, didn't want to fuss with it. The tape is still tight so will check it again tonight maybe have Jon help. Or not.

 Today is an off day but then I've had a run of three or four good days so energy runs it's course. I'm walking steadier at least, I think I just wore myself out doing the gardening. But need to get more active and build up my strength...catch 22.

It's the money thing that has me worried all the time now. As usual. 

Another grocery run done

  Slept well for most of the night, at least four or five hours in one shot. Rocky woke up a little before 7 so Jon got up,  I rolled over intending to sleep another hour. NOPE! Both calves/feet cramped up.  

I'M AWAKE NOW! AAAarrrgh!

I've been drinking water, I've been sipping on powerade, I've been taking my potassium, what the heck is going on?! I even had a banana yesterday. I guess I'll have a banana before bed, maybe do some leg stretches and see if that helps.

Jon came back in looking for something and I was already trying to massage my cramped legs, told him to turn the light on I was awake now. Somehow he had slept all night on his reading glasses and they didn't break.  Found 'em under the covers. You see, I sleep under the top sheet, 'bedspread' and the squishy blanket, like a 'regular' person sleeps right? He sleeps on the top sheet and under the other two or just the spread depending on the weather because he likes to cocoon his feet.  He also doesn't toss and turn much unless he's having a bad night so  he likely just barely was laying on them. 

So second Costco run not only done, but easily, under budget and cheap lunch to boot. Jon got a perk from Jersey Mikes for a free regular sandwich so only had to pay for mine, score! Oh and yesterday I wanted chocolate ice cream so picked up two pints at CVS while he was getting his prescription and turned out they were buy one get one ½ off and then we had a $2 off coupon so score on that getting one essentially free. Oh and I was very decadent for dessert. 

Half chocolate chip muffin warmed up, two scoops of chocolate cocolate chip ice cream and a good squirting of whipped cream. Ohhh yeah! Sadly the ice cream is a rather wimpy Haagen Dazs compared to my favorite chocolate ganache ice cream but it'll do. No room in the freezer for a bigger container anyway. 

Food is slowly returning to normal taste as well. Sugars seem to be stronger flavors and savory/protein base is still lagging. The hot dog was horrible, but the sandwich today was great.  Water is starting to taste like water again. Despite what the doctor may have suggested I think the steroids had something to do with it. 

Got hamburger, thigh meat, stew meat, shrimp and they had potato salad back in stock whoo! We always get the big tub of potato salad during the summer. I made sure to write down the price per pound of the meats for reference in the future. Hamburger was still 5.99/lb and the chicken thigh meat was only 2.99/lb so we're stocked good for protein for the month with the other hamburger and chicken still from last month. Fridge and freezer is stocked to the vents which is great to see but it's sill early in the month.  Chicken thighs thawing for tomorrow will probably pull them out and drop theme in a baggie with marinade tonight. 

I've got an appointment in March for sleep apnea testing. Another advancement in technology, it only involves a little monitor on my finger and downloading an app on my phone. No going to a lab or wherever just do it right at home. Technology, ain't it a wonderment. Going to have to suggest Jon do one now that it's this simple. 

Wish my hands wouldn't shake so much when I'm trying to knit. Finishing off the cuffs on the socks and it's finicky stitching so hands twitching at the wrong moment makes for frustrations and it's a dark section of yarn. Grrumble.

I'm feeling accomplished, more alert and human again compared to a month or two ago which is always a good thing. I used to take a full shower maybe every other day and do a simple upper body and face wash on other days. I'm doing full showers every day now because of night sweats and whatever. I think I'm making up for lost time in that category too. Mind you I wasn't going without washing up at all, except when I was seriously, seriously sick. Just some days I didn't sweat as much or do much in cool weather and didn't have the energy for a full shower. But anywho.

Yay for feeling more human!

 

 

 

 

 

Another good day!

 Hopefully this is a new trend! Weather is even reasonable, a bit warm but simple short sleeve shirt was fine for the running around we were doing. 

Didn't get a really good nights sleep but got enough. Ended up waking around 4:30 but couldn't get back to sleep. Finally got up when Rocky was making noise and fed him around 6:30 tried to go back to sleep again but failed.  Both of us just decided to get up around 7 which is highly unusual since my alarm goes off at 9:30. 

 By the time my alarm went off Jon was already heading into the shower so I got up and made some breakfast. Scrambled eggs, ham bits, green onions and cheese. Yummy! Got my shower, energy was still doing okay, made sure to be careful around my new heart monitor while showering. 

Still thinking constantly about food. Not as ravenous as yesterday but we went grocery shopping, was rather conservative with the list, since we haven't been doing a lot of cooking still. The soup aisle was decimated! They had a sale on the Campbells chunky soups and it was practically empty! Will check it again tomorrow but that was a shocker. Frozen shrimp was either small size or jumbo and the price for our usual mid size bag felt too expensive. Eggs were on sale, we got yogurt, more water, canned tomatoes, some veggies and fruit. I'm actually looking forward to getting back in the kitchen and cooking again. That in itself is remarkable after being sick for so many months. Bought a 'Cuban Mojo Criollo Marinade' at the store I had seen recipes for and looking forward to using that on some chicken thighs.  It's sort of a citrus based marinade with spices so will be interesting to see how it tastes, pair that up with some rice and should be good to go.

Planning on going to Costco tomorrow to see what their frozen shrimp is like and maybe pick up more hamburger and some chicken thigh meat. See what I mean? Foods always on my mind now, making up for lost time I suppose or the side effects of the steroids. I finally bought some bologna and had a bologna sandwich for the first time in forever. Just two sliced of meat with mayo and mustard because...hungry. Debating on having one right now. MMMM fried bologna sandwich.... dangit!

Heart is doing okay, hard to tell when it's acting up to write down anything. Is it a 'palpitation'? Flutter? Should have asked for a description at the office. Oh, got a message about making an appointment for the echo stress test and set that up for April 18 but marked the box if they have an earlier time/day come up. Amid everything else going on that month and in between.  

Other than that, finishing up the socks, minding the garden, planted some new tomato seeds in the peat pellets, will probably try and water tomorrow.  Depends on how the day goes with shopping.

So that's my new 'boring' routine now. Sleep, eat, shop, eat, consider eating, gardening, knitting, nibble again.... 

 

Today was a good day

I might go as far as to say it was a great day. Got a great nights sleep, which was to be expected after the exhaustion and whatever was going on happened. 

 No shopping really done but wasn't expecting to but my energy was good, mood was level, ravenously hungry of course (but not HANGRY thankfully). Had light breakfast in two parts, ¼ chocolate chip muffin and a fried egg on toast. Got my shower lazed around because we didn't have to leave until around 1:45 so Jon got in a little nap, I did my things and then Jon woke up from his short nap I decided to head out a little early. Jon broke the plastic litter scoop last night so we needed to find a replacement. (Typing while snacking/hungry so may be jumping all over the topics of today.)

Food 4 Less had no pet supplies to speak of. Don't know where they were hiding them but weren't on the pet food aisle, you know, like you'd expect minimal things other than toys to be. So, went to Santee Costco to get gas and a hot dog for quick lunch. Which to me, tasted bleh. My taster was just off, they had powerade at least (Mountain Berry which will not be getting at the store). After lunch, stopped over at Walmart the next block over and the only choices for litter scoops was INDUSTRIAL METAL scoop lava rock scoop for $13 or light plastic half size shovel that wouldn't last five minutes at the beach in dry sand. Industrial strength it is.  

We were still a wee bit early to leave for the appointment but headed out anyway because better early than late of course. As for the NP Emily, she's good, listened well,  her assistant Juan(?) was great and  it was agreed that I needed to be on an E-patch heart monitor for 14 days. 

 

It's an amazingly little thing (slightly different and smaller than the picture even), sticks to my chest over my heart with miniature leads that is constantly recording my heart activity. 24/7 for two weeks to catch any abnormalities that an EKG wouldn't catch in a short read. Change the patch part out about every three or four days when the glue starts wearing out and pop the little monitor back on. If I detect any abnormal activity there's a little booklet to mark what happened, time and what I was doing. When the test time is done, I take it off, put it in the little plastic thing, in a UPS approved mailer bag, drop it off at the UPS store and done with it. Takes another month or two for them to process and download the information and all that. 

30 years ago this would have been a monitor with multiple leads and a thingie hanging on a belt that was uncomfortable, inconvenient and all that. Now look at it! Jon was happy they wanted to do that because my little 'episodes' are so random that it really needed something long term. Oh the other thing is they want to do a pulmonary stress test aka treadmill test. Will be getting a call from that department soon enough to set that up. It was difficult to describe all the little quirks and things that have been happening the last few weeks to the doctor because I don't know if it's related to my heat, my GI the meds or everything combined. Will see how things go as I taper off the prednisone and she said unfortunately once you get A-fib you've got it for life. So blood thinners are going to be a constant med but not sure about the others. The potassium and other one are related to my liver so not sure if those will be renewed, that's under a different doctor entirely.  

So we stopped at In N Out for dinner, scarfed that down with fries (still no Coke...sadness, will buy a bottle of pepsi at the store and see if that's also weird). Then proceeded to finish off the guacamole from dinner last night with some chips. What I really want though right now is either yogurt or jello. Need to add jello to the groceries and make sure it's not sugar free. 

Hopefully energy and mood will be conducive to shopping tomorrow. I think I'm full right now, but still have the munchies. I bought Ritz crackers on an impulse at Walmart so might have cheese and crackers later. 

Okay, crazy post is done. Have not had an ounce of caffeine and am wired.  

 

Not so good night and today

 I think I overate but with my heart issues have no idea if it was related to that at all. I ended up around 8 or 9 pm with what felt like a huge gas bubble in my stomach that ached around to my back. Heart was beating fine, I checked with my little pulse meter. It was rather uncomfortable and would come and go if I moved and stretched. This was all sitting up and just playing on my ipad or phone. Still hadn't subsided consistently even by 11 which would be when I normally would lay down. Didn't really feel comfortable laying down until after midnight and then it was alright even laying on my side. Disconcerting to say the least.

 So kind of slept fitfully most of the night and of course by the time I really could fall asleep Rocky woke up had to go pee, dealt with that then went back to bed. That turned out to be around 4:30 and then fitfully slept until around 7 when Jon woke up. I changed my morning alarm to 9:30 because I wanted to split my morning and bedtime pills closer to 12 hours apart. Of course I decided to just give up and sat up in bed a half hour before alarm went off. So just overall was not a good night sleeping and morning wasn't that good either.

Mood is off, system feels wonky, we got food money but I told  Jon I was not in a good sate to be dealing with other people right then. I told him I was going to make taco meat and do burritos then gave him instructions on how to chop up the tomato and onion for putting on the burritos, he said he threw out the lettuce stuff because it didn't look good. Great. So much for burritos. He wasn't comfortable cutting stuff up right so it was just not a good lunch to make. I ended up making some pico de gallo anyway, hamburger is still thawed in the fridge, will cook that later. Ended up going to Pollo Loco and using some of our ebt money for food. I was hungry. Tostada bowl and a taco with chips and guac which tasted off to me but that could just be me. Everything tastes off to me now, even water. Like my taste buds are all separate entities and there's no main highway to my brain to mix them all together correctly.

So right now I'm tired, technically should have taken a nap but Rocky is on  my side of the bed napping and it's now almost 5 pm. Not nap time at all. In fact need to go down to the garden and cut some cilantro and pull some onions to trade for other veggies tomorrow. Friend Margaret is going to meet me after my appointment and trade potatoes, lettuce,yellow onions and some oranges for the green onions and cilantro, a huge bag of yarn and some bento style lunch boxes I'm not using anymore.  Going to be a long drive home unfortunately being after 4 pm heading East on the highway. 

Destashing and trade for the win.  Okay need to get outside before it gets too dark.