Four Years Later

Since my last post in early 2014:

My son has graduated high school (2015), entered, and dropped out of college. He is struggling terribly with anxiety. It's difficult to get him to simply leave the house.

My husband had a horrific bicycle accident (Sept. 2015). He hit a young deer traveling 40 mph, down hill. Thankfully, he was wearing a helmet, because he would be dead otherwise. He landed on his head. The deer was on the small side. So, when they collided, T flew over the handle bars, taking the bike with him, as his shoes were locked into the pedals. From the road rash, after landing on the top, rear, right side of his head, he landed and slid on the right side of his back. From the weight of the bike, his body was pulled to the left side. Evidently, he was in a horrific skid, because his left hip, leg, and ankle suffered horrendous road rash. According to the read out on the Garmin, he was unconscious, on that back road, for approximately 10 minutes. He rode his bike home (2 miles) with no awareness that he was hurt. To this day, I do not understand how he managed. He was off work for 6 weeks due to concussion.

In November 2015, my husband had surgery on his shoulder. It was a huge success. Thank you, Dr. Bradley!

My Gyn. changed my endometriosis med to Depo Provera. The Lyrica with the Depo created a horrendous weight gain. The combination also gave me my life back. I still deal with the pain and fatigue. However, it is now manageable the vast majority of the time.

Due to the weight gain, I am now diabetic. *sigh*

A couple of decades late, I am a full-time college student. I have a 3.93 GPA.

In addition to the pups, we now have two cats. The first is our mini panther, Ana. She is a love. The second is our Calico, Chloe. She's a work in progress.

I've learned to knit. And, thanks to Prof. S's Humanities class, I discovered the joy of painting.

For recreation, T and I are riding bikes. Just the two of us or with another couple. So far, we ride between 16 and 23 miles. My goals:  ride the first 15 miles of the Gap and ride 30 miles regularly

Finally, T and I began eating a Whole Foods Plant Based diet on February 1. After a few years of not being able to lose beyond .2 pounds, I dropped twelve. T is doing fantastic. His cholesterol and blood pressure have improved tremendously. For now, I have had to add some eggs and cheese to my diet, as my A1C and cholesterol increased dramatically. Waiting for the follow up bloodwork, at present. And, I am down another 4 pounds.

One minute at a time. One foot in front of the other. Here I go...

Best Laid Plans

That cauliflower I wanted to roast, today...didn't get roasted. 

I managed to get the dishes washed and a couple of loads of laundry washed and folded.  Tomorrow, I'll get the piles to where they belong.

Actually, I'm happy with what I accomplished.  It doesn't look like much on the surface.  But, it took everything I had to get done and push through the pain. 

Tomorrow is a new day with new possibilities.

Life, Now

Sometimes I think I am doing well.  Other times, not so much.

Today is one of those days that I'm not so sure about anything.  Sure, I accomplished a couple of things today & still managed to go visit a friend for dinner. 

But, I hurt.  Plus, I've been ready for bed since 9 pm. 

Really, I should not be tired, as I didn't get up until 11:30 am; after almost 12 hours of sleep.  It's ridiculous to feel this tired.

My big plan for tomorrow is to clean a head of cauliflower and roast it.  After today, I am afraid to do much else. 

Today, I struggle.  Tomorrow, I search for hope.

The Green Smoothie Adventures

Recently, Tim read the book Finding Ultra by Rich Roll.  As a result, we are now trying nutrition by green smoothie.

The base is spinach and kale. Kale!  Then, we add all sorts of vegetables and fruits, raw pumpkin seeds, coconut oil and I don't know what else. 

First of all, I can not believe that I am drinking my fruits & vegetables.  I can not believe that I'm drinking something that has kale in it.  Shocking, I tell you!

First time around, we learned that green pepper is an overwhelming flavor.  Ultimately, I think that green smoothie would have made a really good soup.

Next up, the smoothie tasted of celery and citrus.  I liked this one, as much as it is possible for me to like a green smoothie.  While, it was Tim's least favorite.

Today's flavor, I think, was from the oranges added.  It was a bit odd, but I was able to drink a fair amount. 

It has truly been an adventure with mixed reviews.  Tim claims that it's decent enough that it doesn't make him gag.  LOL!  In my opinion, they aren't delicious by any stretch of the imagination. I don't wake up craving the green smoothie.  But, if it will help me feel better, I can manage drinking them just fine, because they aren't horrible.  LOL!

The whole thing is hysterical to me.  Me, with my food issues, consuming Kale.  Yeah, I can't get over that one.  Then, there's the appearance of the green smoothie.  Previously, I wouldn't have even entertained the idea of drinking anything that looked like that.  Instead, I find myself pouring a second glass.  LOL!

So, Mr. Roll, I don't know whether to thank you or smack you.  I suppose time will tell.

Bottoms up!

Better Day

When I woke up this afternoon, I wasn't too hopeful for a good day.  Amazingly, it turned out to be rather decent.

Jay was home sick from school and still not doing well.  He got up shortly before I did and hit the couch.  Thankfully, I was able to get him to eat some scrambled eggs and half of an English muffin for brunch.

Amongst taking care of Jay's needs, I was able to get the kitchen cleaned up.  Also, I was able to vacuum the kitchen, dining room, stairs, family room, laundry room and mudroom.  Plus...I got the family room dusted!  In addition, laundry was washed, dried and folded and put away. 

We still aren't eating anything beyond scrambled eggs, toast, soup and crackers.  So, I had to brown some burger that I had in the fridge, which then went in the freezer for later.  The smell about killed my poor boy.  :(

To look at the list, I know I didn't really do much today.  But, after the past week, I am thrilled with all that I was able to do. 

Tomorrow...OK, today, since it's almost 2 am...I hope to vacuum the bedrooms, bathroom, hall and living room.  Pie in the sky hope is to also dust those areas, plus the dining room and kitchen.

Jay will still be home from school, as he can hardly stand to be upright from the nausea.  It hits immediately upon standing. 

As happy as I was at his food intake for brunch, the only thing I could get in him for his evening snack was a stick of Colby Jack cheese. 

Here's to hope!  Hope that I will be able to move about freely tomorrow.  Hope that Jay will feel better and be able to eat something.  I hope!

Goodbye, March.

I am so happy to see an end to the month of March.  The last few weeks have been miserable.  We have had far too many snows.  Every time it snows, I hurt for days. 

It went something like this:

Going about my business.  Able to clean and move about as freely as possible, given my diagnosis.  The cold front starts moving through. The pain starts and escalates, until I'm doing as much as I can manage.  Not much more than getting out of bed and showering.  Struggle through a few days.  Begin to start feeling better and moving more.  Increasing activity.  Bam!  Another cold front.  Another snow storm.  Start all over.

Then, last Wednesday, I come down with a stomach virus.  Up all night.  Lost so much fluid that my hands actually looked like my hands.  The Lyrica causes me to retain water and swell.  So much that my hands are so swollen, you can't see my knuckles.  So swollen that I can not get my rings on my fingers and my watch is too small.  Seeing my hands was the silver lining in the whole horrible ordeal. 

Friday, I started bouncing back.  Only to be hit with the pain caused by the darn front that brought the rain over the weekend. 

Sunday was spent taking care of Jay, who came down with the stomach virus.  The fun started at 5:15 am.  Poor kid has still felt poorly all day today.

He and I spent all of Sunday and today on the couch.

Unfortunately, the weather station is showing another cold front headed our way, which means more pain.

Hoping for a more productive day tomorrow. 

A girl can wish.  Right?

Walking, Weigh In & Managing

Friday, March 8

Walked 1:03, 3.20 miles

Walked town, while Jay had tennis practice.  Ended up walking through Airport and climbing a steep incline at the very rear of the development.  I was grateful that I managed to make it to the top. 

Wednesday, March 13

Walked 34:18; 4 laps/2 miles

Difficult walk.  My legs bothered me the entire walk.  Plus, Mother Nature was acting bi-polar.  Snowing to the point of almost white out conditions, followed by bright sun.  Repeat.  Regardless, it was quite cold.

Thursday Weigh In

Considering I only managed to walk 5 miles this week and spent 3 days basically sedentary, I'm quite happy with the scales.  I weighed in at 196.8.  Down .6 pounds.  It's a loss.  I'll take it!

Managing

I am struggling.  I'm hurting and tired.

Last night, my leg muscles felt as if they were solidifying.  It just plain hurt to walk.  My knees and hips, as well as my shoulders, ache. Laying on my side at night, I feel as if my body has no support and I'm folding in half.  The extra pillow gives a small amount of help. 

This morning, I slept in until 11:30.  But, I don't feel rested. 

As a result, today's goal is to vacuum the living room, kitchen/dining room and the stairs.  So far, I've vacuumed & dry mopped the living room, kitchen and dining room.  When I get the stairs done, I'll call it a successful day.

In addition, I'm in the process of washing some laundry.  Mount fold-more is quite considerable. 

Also, I've managed to:

• Make iced tea for Tim
• Wash dishes
• Run the dishwasher
• Empty the dishwasher
• Found the missing bowl--Yay!

So, if I get nothing else accomplished, I'm quite happy with how much I've accomplished today.