And of course...

 Yeah, another surprise when I went to pay the SDGE bill. It wasn't just the 55.25 there was a 'past due' of 24.12 as well (approximate change but doesn't matter). So luckily was able to get a little extra from someone else and paid both of those with enough to pay phone bill with an extra $10 or so left over. Phone isn't due until the 20th on autopay so won't be spending any money if at all possible.  

Ratsafrackin....  

I got a check in call from my case manager and she asked the questions, how am I doing, sleeping okay, meds okay that sort of stuff. Told her the Sharp app said I had two prescriptions that were due for refill but they were done in the hospital and I couldn't order a refill. One is the blood thinner which cardiologist said was on my permanent list and the other is a beta blocker that lowers my blood pressure and keeps my veins relaxed. Nice. Important when fending off heart attack and A-fib.

She was able to get those refilled for me and we made a late night quick drive over to the pharmacy to pick those up last night.  Jon had to get mostly dressed again because I was going to leave it for the morning but then realized I would need the blood thinner for bed and the next morning. 

I mentioned the leg cramps to Tamara (case worker) and she was trying to puzzle it out, we checked all my important numbers for last labs and all that is fine. I then voiced my concern over the GFR (kidney function) numbers which seemed to be bouncing around and said that sometimes the cramps diminish after I pee. That kind of confused her and we were trying to puzzle things out when I told her don't worry about it I'll check my food logs and see what's going on. She double checked to make sure I didn't want to mention the cramps to a doctor and told her no, I'll figure it out.

Well it turns out, high salt intake can inhibit potassium and magnesium from being absorbed properly. The nights when I had bad cramps were within a day of having at least two bowls of the hams soup that has a TON of salt/sodium in it. When I didn't have that I had other things like processed meats, fried chicken and other things that had high salt content.  So will now watch my salt intake for the next week because I had spasms on and off all night culminating in a zinger at 6 am. I ended up going back to bed and slept in until almost 9:30. Was not in a good mood this morning when I woke up and it delayed everything but felt better after I got some food and a shower.  I don't get spasms when I have to pee during the day so that is likely just a false assumption on my part. But salt/sodium, that's a bigger red flag and not good for the heart either.

At least we have $20 in food money. Need incidental things like milk and maybe get some water flavoring and ice cream.  I just discovered that coke now has orange cream soda. Oh that is dangerous information for me. Jon's out of regular coke but with only $20 that's a luxury we can't afford right now.

Once again, something that happened yesterday and was going to hop on and add to the blog then decided I'd just do it for today and...can't remember what it was.  Maybe I already mentioned it, but obviously not very important or I'd remember right?

Oh, my fingernails are growing out because for whatever reason with my normal anxiety not being triggered I'm not wanting to chew my nails. That may come as a shock but my entire adult life and maybe even before I have always chewed my nails. I guess it was a substitute for sucking my thumb in grade school and so I have rarely ever had nails that were longer than maybe 1/8th of an inch. 

That is considered long in my book. Thumbnails are still being nibbled but not the other fingers and if they get much longer I trim them down. No inclination to chew them to smooth or shorten. That's an odd win for personal habits considering everything else going on. Or due to everything else going on. I don't recommend serious illness as a cure for bad personal habits at all.

Right now it's almost 5:30 and I'm exhausted. Feel like I did gardening and worked out but just cooked an excellent 'dinner' of chicken thighs in pasta sauce. Can't call it chicken cacciatori because no mushrooms. Still delicious and I should have only had one thigh but it was delicious and had already eaten some of the second one. Oh well, so I'm stuffed and want something sweet to drink but nothing left in that category. Strawberry yogurt is about the only thing left I think. 

Anyway. That's it for yesterday and today. Time for another bottle of water.

 

 

 

 

Good news, bad news, good news

 So good news, SDGE bill posted finally and the bill is reasonable, only $55.75. That is excellent and I was double checking to see if it was the last 'catch up' bill but it isn't as far as I can tell. It's really frustrating not being able to read the bill just straightforward, here's what you used, this is your bill, this is your extra on top of that...but noooo. 

Bad news, phone bill is also $55 but that isn't due for another eight days, Devon says he can send me 100 tomorrow when he gets paid which sounded like that was putting a pinch in their budget as well. I feel bad about it really and wish I didn't have to constantly put my hand out for help. So, bad news is, $100 isn't going to cover both those bills so have to go to another friend with my hat in my hand.
 

Bird of paradise in full bloom downstairs. Had to get a picture and it's not very flattering really, too much other stuff going on.

Third good news.... formerly frustration with the 'OTC' benefits we get on Medicare/Sharp. This new company I have complained about the list of products being woefully shy. Jon needs gauze pads for his after care and we were running low on rubbing alcohol. I was combing through the website and app and then saw that the app on my phone has the ability to scan a product bar code to see if it's covered. Well, that's handy and wasn't really necessary last time but since they can't list every, single, item that's covered it makes sense. So I tell Jon, we go to CVS and of course the listings they have in the brochure are all name brands, so we took a chance. Pick up a box of CVS brand gauze pads scan the barcode, and it's covered! Says so right there on the screen.  WEll that's handy! Scan an other box, that's covered too! Hot diggity! The alcohol was covered as well, so score! Technology for the win, but feel sorry for more elderly people that are worse at figuring out tech stuff than we are. Jon's still moving a bit awkward and worn out more than usual, he apologized and I told him you had a procedure done and almost passed out. You are allowed to be off kilter! The man is trying to be a a'man' and not allowing himself to be human.

Good news personally: Finding the right tool for the project; knitting edition. 

Anyway, so  the other good news is finding what I needed for my knitting project.  I'm making myself a sweater and the issue is having other projects languishing with needles I might need. I was making do with 'short' needles which is very hard on my fingers with the size of the project and the way I knit. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the non-knitters I am using what is called a circular needle, two needle tips connected by a cable, usually plastic, nylon or coated metal. It accommodates larger projects like blankets and sweaters much better. Now, the first challenge was finding a cable that was long enough, still a bit short but working on that soon. Second was finding the right size needles for the project that uses 3 different sizes,  the ribbed collar took one size, the transition to the sweater took another size and then the final size for the main sweater.

So I've been struggling with the needle tips, I had one set that was plastic and awkward not to mention too short a cable. I found another that I could use that is almost long enough but the only needles were the short ones. This makes for thumb stress and hand aching because I like to have a good grip on the project where I'm working on it. So struggling with a tool that isn't quite the right fit for what I'm doing making for slow work.

I went on Amazon (hiss boo I know) and I had saved a circular needle more than long enough with the right size tips in a style that  I'm already using for the socks. It is on sale and only $6.45 with tax and I have $ 7 left in the bank. I cannot justify using literally my last dollars on a hobby. Okay, one last look through my bags of projects to see if there's a project that isn't needful and has what I need.

First bag I pull out of the cubby mostly has balls of yarn but then I see a needle tip attached to the start of a multi color blanket apparently that's only about ten rows in. Is it? Could it be the right size? It's the same make as what I'm using... YES!!! IT'S THE RIGHT SIZE AND NEEDLE LENGTH! The cable not so much but you can see the difference in the picture for the needles. These are also 'interchangeable' so all I have to do is unscrew the tips and swap them out. Whoever invented that ingenious idea has billions of knitters thanking them every day. Knitting is now commencing at a faster pace with less stress on my hands. 

Oh, notice I'm not talking about food as much? Odd that really. I had more than enough food today but am feeling satiated for the first time in a while.  

So roller coaster of good/bad and hoping for more good for the remainder of the month.  CVS had a small flower and decor thing set up near the registers for Valentines Day. Valentines, Shmalentines, don't need flowers when you have a partner for life that makes you laugh.  And sometimes question their sanity. 
Shmalentines, we've got each other and that's all that matters.

It was a good day with a laugh

 I suppose. Didn't sleep well but got some sleep at least, woke up around 4:30 needing to pee then again at 6:30 got leg cramps and had to get up for that, fed Rocky and then went back to bed. Jon got up at that point which was now closer to 7. Dozed for about an hour then decided just needed to wake up for the day. It's been drizzly, cloudy and rainy all day and we had to drive to Jon's appointment across town in the afternoon. It wasn't too heinous, alternating wet and dry areas of road but my windshield wipers needed replacing last year. Didn't have the money when they offered at the tire place and will have to wait until next month. If I remember. Likely won't need them after next month either, but they'll be on there at least.

For the most part uneventful, Jon's appointment was for removing a skin tag from his exit hole (normally wouldn't mention something like that but there's a joke coming up). Anyway, he makes the doctors laugh but he also almost passed out after the procedure. He said he made the mistake of tensing up and then when they were done he relaxed and they saw him go pale and eyes weren't tracking. Vaso-reaction or something he remembered from his cardiology days. They had him sit back and got an apple juice while monitoring his blood pressure. All in all it was maybe a half hour and he came out sucking on a juice box which was kind of adorable. Jon then needed to use the restroom of course, they only had two bathrooms for public use, one was on the floor we were on (second floor), but was occupied and so I thought maybe there was one in the lobby. So we went down a floor, realized the mistake and had to go all the way up to the 5th floor through a maze of hallways. All of this is incidental because really, nothing exciting happened other than his office visit, stopping at the store for some soup, bread and fried chicken for dinner. I had to shorten my pace because he couldn't walk 'normally' he said he felt like he was walking like a duck. I told him I've seen more awkward walking without his excuse of surgery. I should have said something about actual ducks are cuter but missed the chance. We both love ducks.

Anyway. Jon's also been passing gas rather loudly of late and so just a bit ago he went into the bathroom and I heard him cut one. I normally don't say anything, it's body function and I'm just as guilty as he is in making a stink. I said, 'be careful not to rip your stitches out'. Stopped him in his tracks. He was bent over laughing, leaning on the microwave.  'I love you' is his greatest compliment and affirmation of why we were meant for each other. I made him laugh which is always a bonus in my book. He loves to make me laugh as well, sometimes just before we go to sleep at night.  

We were both starving when we got home. He said he was too nervous to eat much before we left and I'm just hungry all the time now. As a preface I had a BLT for breakfast , a chocolate cherry and two spoons of yogurt then a slice of leftover costco pizza for taking my pills and that was around 11. Got hungry again and had a bowl of ham soup and two spoons of potato salad.

We got home from the store and he started heating a can of chicken dumpling soup while scarfing down five of the six pieces of chicken, I ate the lone wing just to take the edge off while he got his food going. While he was eating, I had another BLT, a half cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese and marmalade, then a pause and had a ham sandwich with only mayo and mustard. I think I had something else in there as well but can't remember. 

Drinking lots of water. I want flavored water but will have to scrape some dollars together if I want that now. I used up the last three oranges that were gifted me yesterday, was rather tasty actually. Just cut them in half and squeezed the juice over ice in a glass, added a teaspoon or so of sugar and then water. So essentially 'Hint' water but natural. Pepsi and Coke are still too strong, Powerade is good but expensive even on partial sale.  Last time I bought some water 'enhancers' it was at Target and  discovered the Black Cherry version was great, added it in my coke at the time, then realized it had caffeine in it as well. Oops. Well that's still on the market and there's also electrolyte versions as well. So will have to check that out when I can. Orange-Tangerine is my go to of course with tropical fruit being a second.

Once again, if I'm not eating, I'm talking about eating, thinking about or writing about food. Seems like if you toss a topic at me it will eventually come around to food. Something seriously wrong I think.   

Oh my last labs were apparently much much better for the liver enzymes so oncologist said don't have to repeat them for a month or so. Will see about my other doctors and what they need. I noticed that the one set of numbers for kidney function was slightly high and that sort of tracks with my theory about the leg/foot cramps. Again, doctor wasn't looking at those numbers and I suspect if something were wrong they'd mention it. 

 I focus in on 'bad' numbers because of everything that's happened. If it turns out to be nothing and doctor isn't worried I'll still worry.  Anywhosit, that's my ramble for tonight. More water... pizza for breakfast, maybe bacon and eggs or BLT.

 

Better day, wierd weather again

If anyone doesn't want my daily diary of my life, please let me know. I'm doing this for my own memory and keeping people in the loop about bigger issues. I think there's a setting where I can send it out less frequently or you can just opt to not get the emails. Honest, I won't be offended and judging from what all is going on, you're not going to miss much.

 Got some better sleep, was actually pretty tired last night. Not sure what I did to get sleepy but slept pretty well and didn't have too bad a cramp attack. Today, on the other hand, I got out and did some gardening so will hopefully sleep pretty good tonight. Deja vu... I think I said something like that a while ago and turns out, no I didn't sleep really well. Crossing fingers.

Got a call from my GI Dr. Keller, just checking in on me and reporting what he saw in my last blood tests. No TB which is good and I think I would have known by now if I had it. My liver numbers and potassium were much improved from before, which I already knew and praised the wonders of medicine. He also saw that I was not immune to Hepatitis A or B and suggested I contact my primary to get those vaccinations done. As a matter of 'people our age' as he said, we didn't get those automatically with the rest of our vaccinations when we were little like they do now. He also mentioned getting the second fecal test for the calprotectin (marker for Crohn's/Colitis) done but he has to request that to the labs and when I went in today for the regular blood draw it wasn't on the list. I told him how things were going with stools and food but was still tapering off the prednisone. He understood and even though I seem to be doing okay he doesn't want to 'sweep anything under the rug' and then discover something later on. Totally on board with that but waiting to see how things shake out after I'm off the prednisone entirely.

So the weather... heavier overcast today with possible rain in the early morning hours tomorrow. But it's in the mid 70's and breezy. Not quite jacket weather but not short sleeve only.... so double shirt it is. Then after gardening I was sweating like a horse and my second shirt seemed like too much but then what would you expect right? 

So anyway. Once again there was a point I wanted to make but can't remember what it was now. Senior mental moment again. Jon has his minor surgery thing tomorrow over in Kearny Mesa, next week is trip up to Scripps Ranch for boob doctor check in. 

Just all the things.... sigh. boring stuff now. Interesting stuff later. 

  

And of course, then they don't.

 Had a not so good night. Could tell I was getting cramps in my calves when I was getting into bed. Was feeling off, certainly had enough to eat, probably not enough water so taking care of that today. Woke up to pee around 4 something and got a cramp in my right calf, slight one in my left foot. I think though, the cramps are somehow connected to bladder build up. I don't know honestly but it seems to correlate.

So needless to say didn't sleep very well, was able to sleep in until almost 9 after Jon got up around 7. Wasn't very good sleep because I had wisps and vestiges of my dreams throughout the night. If you remember dreams, it wasn't very good sleep, at least for me. So today is a kind of off day, breathing is a bit labored not feeling as hungry or munchy, plenty of food to fix but it's sort of in the background. Which is some of the side effects of coming off prednisone, lack of appetite, fatigue, lightheaded, so that tracks.

The weather is odd too, breezy but high weird wispy clouds that kind of smudge all over the sky so the light is subdued and it's holding temperatures a bit high. So almost a blanket type feeling despite the breeze. 

So it's just an odd day that feels off. Trying to do knitting on a sweater for myself, had to pull out four rows because I dropped a marker and lost track of where I was. All fixed now. Hands are still trembling under use making for more frustration when trying to manage stitches oh and fingertips are feeling odd. Can't tell whether they're losing nerve endings or being over sensitive. Another layer to an odd out-of-sorts day.

Chicken veggie teriyaki for lunch today. Used a package of the thigh meat chopped/sliced up the veggies last night. There was more broccoli but when I opened the baggie this morning it seems there may have been a worm because there was brown mushy holes in about six of the florets. Didn't tell Jon of course he would have tossed all of it out. It was tasty and filling over rice with more teriyaki sauce with just enough left over for snack later. Trying to get more brave about using higher heat to sear meat in the pan but with inadequate ventilation I'm reluctant. Oh, yeah. The 'vent' for the hood is a double filter fan the pulls the smoke/air up and then just vents it out over my head into the kitchen. That's not venting, that's filtering air and not very efficient at that. 

I should really get out and water the garden but it's now 3 pm and not sure I have the energy to do that today. I peeked at the beds when I took Rocky out but that's it. Such a chore to pull the hose out and unreel it and all that then put it all back again. 

 That was two days ago before I watered but looks about the same today. Waiting for another crop of tomato seeds to sprout different than my usual Roma type, big slicer type. Timing is everything in gardening, by the time those seeds (hopefully) are big enough to plant, those cauliflower and potatoes may be ready to pull. 

That's my life. 

This is February and traditionally it's Valentines month. Don't need to splurge on a special dinner when you're secure in your relationship. It's a nice bonus but not necessary. Haven't been on a Valentine's date in decades but for us, a fancy dinner is a sandwich for each of us at our expensive shop. Decadence would be Olive Garden or Texas Roadhouse. We always end up looking at food videos late at night and it's always when we're broke. But it's fun to day dream about monster Italian subs at a shop across the country.

There I go talking about food again so maybe not so much lack of appetite. Going to do some knitting while Jon snores in the other room. 

 

I think things are improving nicely

 Definitely feeling a LOT more human and normal than I have been in the last three months. Only had minor cramp in my calf this morning, the sun is shining, breeze is blowing, made some yummy red beans and rice. Almost lost Rocky on his walk....

Kitty in repose from yesterday.

We were out, getting his enrichment as usual. Guys at the table (regular Sunday thing) donuts and chat, asked if I wanted a donut, asked if there was a chocolate one, they said yes. So I glanced to where Rocky was before walking over to the patio, by the time I got the donut, cat is no where to be seen. Great. Wonderful. 

At least I know he wouldn't head for the gates but he could have been anywhere. Called Jon to come down because I lost the cat. Luckily I know Rocky's usual patterns and eventually I headed over to the fence line where we usually park and there he was. Jon had headed over to the garden, which I had already checked and knew that wasn't a spot Rocky would gravitate to. Rounded up the cat, hollered to Jon and got back upstairs again. 

Only a mild panic really but even in our complex as small as it is, anything could happen. He always has his harness on with his name tag DANG! I need to get a new one with my new number on it! Yikes. Well he's chipped also but need to update that phone number too. Am now going through the process of trying to change that and it had no record of my account, put in the info and it wants me to sign up for pet protection for $50/year. 

And guess what? That's the wrong site! Similar named site but I registered through the vet at PetLink.net not Pet Link.... So now trying to find out how to change phone number on that account.  No way of updating phone number for some reason but they have my info/email and Jon's phone and email. Okay that's done for now.

But other than that, he's still safe and sound, snoozing on my side of the bed, Jon is watching the superb owl show whatever. Not really sports minded but when he found out that the Seattle Seahawks owner is female and despises the current president, he was a bit more interested.

We had a bit of a hiccup in the internet yesterday. Rather annoying for about two hours, Jon had gotten behind the tv and messed around with the antenna but then about an hour later I couldn't get a connection even though the wifi said it was connected. Hmmph. Of course the only way to contact support was on my phone and Jon was already frustrated so trying to go through their troubleshooting did not produce results. Went through the troubleshooting and said I needed to contact a technician to come out and look at the problem. 

No. Jon sat and stewed for a little bit, I sat in the bedroom and knitted then went back out and asked if he had unplugged the modem and waited 15 seconds then plugged it back in. No, he hadn't. With all the cables and boxes and stuff he has to get on his back and go find the cable from the modem and follow it to the outlet... I stood quietly knowing there was a TON of dust and fur under there. 

Okay so he did that, modem light was blue and blinking. Sigh. Not going to call for technical help. Sitting and doing knitting for about twenty minutes and I see that the wifi symbol is up again....It's a miracle! Wifi worked again. He said he retraced his steps didn't do anything different, I told him it was a dust bunny that got in there. 

Oh and simple comfort sandwich since I bought bologna. 2 pieces fried bologna, mayo on the bread,   mustard and pepperoncini in between with some lettuce. Goes down fast but it's a quick comfort food with just enough zing from the peppers and mustard. When I get beef bologna I'll do a full on fried sandwich with tomato and lettuce. Beef version is still almost $8 a package (16 oz) for the Oscar Mayer at my usual store, slightly less at Vons. Sigh. Deli sliced at Vons is WAY more expensive for the Dietz and Watson, 2.75/ 1/4 lb. That's $11/lb! Gadzooks! Well anyway, bologna is no longer a 'cheap meat' it's now a 'luxury meat' if I want the good stuff. 

So if I'm not eating, I'm thinking about eating, talking about cooking, thinking about food.... and still haven't gained any weight. I'd like to think cutting out the sodas is keeping the extra ten pounds off but I think I permanently burned some mass being so sick. I've been eating ice cream and chocolate muffins, yogurt and the occasional powerade, not lacking for sugar in my diet for sure.  Even getting a bit more active, not feeling as wobbly when I walk, getting down to the garden more often so here's hoping.

Oh, I have car insurance covered thanks to Amber, but still waiting for number on the SDGE before I message Devon again. I think.... I think this is the last inflated bill! Hard to tell what the actual number is, could be $90 something could be half that, billing cycle doesn't close for another two days.

So, after that we coast for the month like usual. Jon has his appointment on Wednesday I see the plastic surgeon on the 19th, so yeah, old people stuff. 

Food, doctors and money. Not necessarily in that order. 

 

 

Much better today feeling 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.