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.

 

Energy and sunshine

 I have mentioned a few times how I hate naps. I decided to forego them for a few days and didn't seem to make a difference in my quality of sleep. Then I started getting shin and foot cramps that were annoying because they were trying to pull muscles in opposite directions. I'm taking potassium and magnesium is good so can't be that, and then I realized, I hadn't been drinking nearly enough water. 

We were getting low on bottled water so I was subconsciously rationing and I had run out of powerades. Not a good combo, but we got money yesterday and did the first half of shopping including three cases of water. I made a point of taking a gulp about every half hour or so during the day and after a few hours noticed a difference in my calf muscles. Stupid simple fix and is not happening again because that affects alll manner of internal systems that's already screwed up right now.

 One of the roses starting to bloom in the complex. I think it's called Tiffany and smells wonderful.

So meanwhile back at the nap. I was feeling like I needed to recharge so took off my jeans (which are woefully loose now because I've lost like 10 lbs in the last six months), and relaxed into a nap for two hours. I woke up so disoriented and fuzzy brained it was horrid. I decided to cook some shrimp and made some quick soft tacos because that sounded like a good idea. Didn't help. Took me three hours to finally lose the fuzzy brain feeling and by that time it was almost 8. Ridiculous for sure. I suspect it was also partially due to still being slightly dehydrated. I still have hand shakes a lot but it varies and usually is more pronounced after sleeping or resting. Bought two powerades today one for me and one for Jon, will see if that helps a bit with the electrolytes. 

I slept really well last night for a change. Was relaxed, still had to get up and pee like four times but was able to get back to sleep without too much delay and no leg cramps. Felt amazing this morning and damned if it was likely dehydration causing issues. I had a slice of leftover pizza from yesterday and half a chocolate chip muffin for breakfast with a small glass of milk. That hit the spot for sure, got my shower still had good energy and feeling almost human again.

We had to run to Harbor Freight and the store real quick today and by the time we were in the store I was starving. Cranky hangry starving so Jon picked up an 8 piece chicken carton at the store to supplement lunch came home and I scarfed down four pieces with half a powerade. 4 pieces = breast, thigh, leg and wing but puny pieces and frankly more bone than meat, certainly not KFC quality but it was food. Anyway, finished that off then had another half muffin and more powerade (filling a 10 oz glass with ice and powerade then water). 

Took Rocky down for his grass time and knew the garden needed watering because it's 87 degrees outside and wonderful weather.  Checked on my energy level and felt good enough to do the watering, with a new pair of garden gloves from Harbor Freight that I needed.

It's the little things you know, 1.99 for a pair of dipped gloves to keep my hands clean sure thing! So got the watering done, pulled some weeds put everything away and came back upstairs. Another glass of powerade on ice and relaxing now. 

Don't feel the need for a nap and don't doubt I'll sleep well enough tonight. Just have to keep up the hydration and snacking on those last two pieces of pizza for later. Might do food shopping tomorrow but everyone else in our area that gets ebt will likely also be out and it will be Sunday so double whammy. I have a 3pm appt with cardiology tomorrow so not sure if we can fit in some shopping as well. Will have to see and maybe postpone to Tuesday with only a quick stop for necessary staples.

So that's it for today. Good energy for the most part, resting and relaxing after morning excursions which seems to be the norm now. Feeling good though, it was an amazing feeling waking up actually rested. 

 

 

And now it's sunny

 Didn't sleep well again but still feel okay for energy. It's much warmer today and completely clear blue skies with no wind, ah the fickle weather of So Cal spring. Really is beautiful outside and already took Rocky for his outing after we drove to the water store because we're out of bottled water until the weekend.  

 Obligatory sunny picture of the jade bush in the corner of the garden, again, sky is not nearly as blue as that. Practically doubled in size from six years ago when I first started gardening there.

Woke up by bladder alarm earlier than my phone so had a nice lay in bed afterward and planned my breakfast. I had the idea of fixing a double PBJ for breakfast on wheat bread with a glass of milk and boy did that hit the spot!  I was hungry this morning and suspect my appetite will be going all day. Got my pills after the sandwich sat in bed, got my shower after Jon got his, still doing good for energy even after running errand and having a snack of spiral slice ham. Pulled out the bone and chunks from the freezer last night and enough was thawed I warmed it up in the microwave and scarfed it down. Planning on cutting some more off and then fixing the scalloped potatoes on the stove and will toss some bits of ham in for later lunch.

Hand tremors aren't as bad this morning but then I didn't try to measure out ingredients for a recipe this morning. It's not really tremors but micro shaking and it usually dissipates after having enough food. I am definitely hungry if that's all I'm talking about right now. Have a craving for a coke but none available and I would only have a few sips anyway. Jon's having to make do with coffee for his caffeine right now. 

The view out my bedroom window from my desk is mixed buildings, hills and the flight path of the planes landing at the little municipal airport five minutes away. I can tell it's toward the end of the month because all the pilots are doing rounds to get their flight time in before the new month. I'm assuming as much from what I've heard,  have to keep certification hours up or lose their license. Interesting that cars and boats aren't that way, but totally different mode of transportation rules. Anyway.

Boiling some eggs for either deviled eggs or egg salad sandwiches later on. I guess due to higher expenditure of energy yesterday it makes sense I'm hungrier today, this is a good thing. Feeling much better today and that makes me feel better.... you know?

 

Worked a bit harder today

 Thought the weather was going to be warmer and sunny but it was overcast and sort of warm. Not quite single shirt temps, not quite sweater. Weird.

 Determined to fix one of my favorite chicken meals today, Chicken with Peruvian green sauce. Only ingredient I was missing was jalapeño so we popped down to the store and picked up two of those and another loaf of bread. 

Took my time in the morning as I have learned to, had an egg and pastrami sandwich (single half slice of pastrami, nothing extravagant) but noticed that my hands were shaking really bad in the morning. Have been for a while and had to look up why that would be. Possibly low sugar, which is plausible because previous to all of this happening I would have a bowl of cereal or egg of some sort but then top it off with a coke. Never noticed my hands shaking when I had a soda in the morning. So knowledge is power and will amend my morning food routine (and maybe evening snack) to adjust for that. Slept pretty good last night, after having a maladjustment after peeing at 1:30 am. 

One of those things where you were comfortable but then had to get up and pee, then get back in bed and there's a wrinkle in your skin or your hip or back tweaks then roll over and shirt gets twisted. I had to get back out of bed, readjust shirt lay back down, get readjusted on my side... gods took me a full ten minutes to get comfortable again. Luckily got back to sleep easily after that. 

Today though, probably pushed it a bit much. Had to go to the store, not too stressful, came home, made the green sauce for the chicken, had Jon cook the rice. Spent the next hour cooking chicken but resting for ten minutes here and there. Chicken and rice was delicious but not as good as previous versions but I ate two thighs and a good helping of rice so that's a good thing. Settled on the bed after eating hoping that Rocky wouldn't want to go down for his grass time too soon but of course, five minutes later.... So took it easy and went downstairs with him but really wanted to just sit for a while. And then, the garden needed watering. 

So brought Rocky back upstairs, took a deep breath and went back down to deal with the garden.

San Diego rain is great for greening things up, had to of course not just water but pull weeds I knew would be three or four feet tall in a month. So that was extra energy expended, along with digging in the dirt with my hands to make sure the soil in the raised bed got watered sufficiently.

 

Not much going on, the green onions are salvaged from one of the other ladies just tossing failed ones onto the compost bucket. I already have some cut up in the freezer from ones I planted, more in the fridge for using fresh. In that raised bed are three cauliflower, two puny Romaine lettuce and two potatoes. At the back is a languishing tomato I rescued from the opposite side that somehow ended up growing. It's still early in the season so it'll catch up hopefully.

That was a great amount of energy expended and yet it felt okay. Heart was beating fine, no hiccups, just can't tell whether the exhaustion is because of my lack of exercise for the past year or health condition or combination of both. So went upstairs, settled on the bed, slurped down some water and relaxed. Still don't feel the need for a nap, which is okay because as a friend said, knitting is better than napping in some cases. It's relaxing, meditative and low stress for the most part. Play on my ipad a little bit, scroll on phone a bit, go back to knitting, repeat and cycle through. Take a break and close my eyes for a moment to breathe deep, in a sense catch my breath.

So an active day that felt rather productive and tomorrow will be low key leftovers or something for food, nothing big to cook. Everything in moderation these days. Like I said, hard to say tired feeling is typical for not being active or everything else. 

A few more days and we'll have money to go shopping again.  Making grocery list while Jon watches evening news for an hour or two, have to close the door but still can hear it perfectly clear through the door because he has to turn it up when he's in the kitchen. Then he plays video game for three or more hours, which is all good. We have our routines and am not feeling separated at all.

So evening settles in, I'm on the computer and will try and drown out the sound of the tv. News is on repeat for two hours from different stations so same stupid stuff. 

'Nuf said, picking up knitting, turning on music. 

Today was better

 Despite going to get blood draw, went to Santee instead of the La Mesa lab and they only request from Moeller and can't remember the other but it wasn't my primary or the GI Dr Keller. But got word back to stay on the prednisone and taper off as directed as liver numbers are better but still a bit high. Might have to get the next one done when I see the Cardiologist NP on Monday. 

Random picture of tree against blue sky. That is all.

As far as energy goes today I think I worked out a system. Jon is usually awake and up by the time my alarm goes off at 8:30 so I laid in bed as long as my bladder would allow then did my bio and then got under the covers and woke up for an hour or so. That gives my system time to wake up and get energy level up. Fixed a fried egg on toast for breakfast and a half spoon of peanut butter, gladly it didn't taste like roasted/burned peanuts anymore. That's good, means my system is recovering more and taste buds are getting back in line. Still not gaining weight, a bit concerning as far as that's concerned. Prednisone is supposed to increase appetite and make you gain weight, I'm still around 205 according to home scale with clothes on. 

Still had enough energy to fix chicken with stuffing whatever. Tasted great and barely remember what I  put in it. Just cooked off the top of my head as usual, but have plans for chicken thighs tomorrow. Meanwhile, I didn't take a nap today. Jon took his but I sat in bed and knitted, played a little on my ipad, did some more knitting and basically just relaxed. Hoping that without the nap I'll be able to sleep a bit better. I could not turn my brain off last night and Jon's snoring, which I can normally sleep through, kept me awake. There's nothing he can do about it but had to be honest with him that for some reason  I can't sleep through it lately. Will see what happens tonight. 

According to Moeller (oncology/hematology) she said to repeat the blood check in two weeks but Yusefian wanted me to do it every week and then Keller wanted his own check for Tb and Hepatitis and there's a whole slew of side effects for heart and liver issues. So that's why I think he's holding off on doing it because it's long term. I don't consider my colitis/Crohn's to be severe and am hoping to get some answers on Monday on alternatives. 

Still working on the grey socks for Devon, that seems to be a constant now when I get 'bored' with my games and phone pick up the knitting. This is a good thing. The sooner I can finish those the sooner I can finish another pair and another scarf and get projects off needles. 

One of the things keeping me up last night was clearing out storage. All the beading stuff I will not ever have the room for, wanted to ask Kathleen if she would be interested in any of it, as well as some of the yarn. Check with the local library to see if there's a crochet/knitting group or charity that meets there and find out if they want yarn donations. I really want to try and get to storage once a month, maybe twice a month and pull a few things out to donate. I have an entire hanging file box full of cross stitch patterns I have never done. Books and cross stitch magazines I will never re-read that could go to the library. Furniture. The cabinet that Katy left behind in storage can go back to her if we can coordinate a day and time. So many things I could clear out but it will take time and energy. 

So those are less pressing but still mentally taxing things on my mind that keeps my mind tossing. 

Time for another snack. Something.