Tag Archives: Health

Fitbit, Go Home! You’re Drunk!

Posted on by
8

I’m a novice when it comes to many new-fangled gadgets like Amazon’s Echo but I’ve caught on pretty quick. Alexa has been very helpful to me. Another gadget that I’m not too familiar with is the Fitbit Fitness Tracker. It has my brain doing summersaults.

For example, I thought I had it set up correctly and one day it logged that I had gone swimming for 30 minutes. Um. What? I think I would know if I was swimming. I was NOT. So, I removed swimming and several other activities from the list of automatically detected actions. I can only do two of the listed activities, and not very well mind you; walking and my air walker, which is an elliptical of sorts. Now it’s not detecting either of those two things so if I’m doing one I have to manually clock it.

Yesterday morning, it counted 377 steps from the time I got out of bed, went to the kitchen for coffee, and back to my room to the computer. It’s only 36 steps round trip. Huh? I thought, maybe I had my stride set wrong so I refigured. Nope. Still the same. Measured and refigured again. Same.

I wear the Fitbit on my non-dominant hand. I understand it won’t count steps if my arm is not at my side. Sometimes I’m hanging onto something as I walk; my cane in my right hand and holding onto the counter or chair, etc., as I walk by with my left. I’ve been trying to keep my left arm at my side, but sometimes I’m just not that stable. I’ve counted the steps I take, arm at side, checked my Fitbit’s count and have had it be only one step off and other times, it can register 300 steps when I just walked to the kitchen. Trust me, my house is not that big.

I haven’t got it completely figured out yet but one good thing Fitbit does is to tell me about my sleep patterns. Boy, is my sleep WACK! I’m awake so many times during the night and sleep in such short spurts that I’m surprised I can even function! But I’m not even sure how accurate that data is because it doesn’t even register my naps. That’s when I sleep the best.

Fitbit, I WILL figure you out, you pesky little ticker. Then you will be putty in my hand!

Weigh to Be Healthy

Posted on by
7

I’ve been a bit absent as of late; suffering from quite the “writer’s block” and at the same time, my friend and fellow blogger, Linda, writes about her own ‘slump’ in Why Weight? She writes of her own struggles with getting healthy and losing weight, and how difficult it is to change old habits. When Linda asked if anyone would be interested in getting together to support each other in our weight loss and healthy lifestyle journeys, I jumped at the chance! You see, I’ve been struggling with my weight ever since my first child was born!

If you’ve been following my blog then you know a little of my struggles. I’ve been trying to lose weight for quite some time and when I finally found something that worked for me (Nutrisystem) I lost 60 pounds! The problem was that I couldn’t afford to stay on the full program indefinitely and I started gaining my weight back, slowly.

I keep trying to get back on track… I mean, I keep getting back on the track and then I get run over by the stinkin’ train! It’s hard to change habits. I think it’s difficult for a lot of people and without support, where are we? It’s always nice to hear a “Yay! It’s great that you lost 2 lbs. this week!” or maybe “You look great!” now and again. Heck, even when we fall down it’s nice when someone says, “It’s ok, I’ll help you get back up!”

So, I offered to help Linda work on some ideas of getting together and supporting each other, which led to the opening of a Facebook group. Lisa, from Lismore Paper, wanted to be a part of the adventure as well, so now we’re well on our way to being the greatest weight loss and healthy lifestyle support groups ever!! With YOU along for the ride, we will succeed!

If you’d like to join the group, “Weigh to be Healthy!” you can find it here. This group is all inclusive, meaning that no matter what your weight and health struggles are, we are here to support you! Linda, Lisa, and I are looking forward to this new adventure!

If you’d like to meet the other two wonderful bloggers who will be there every step of the way, you can find links to their blogs below.

Linda at Everyone Else Has the Best Titles 

Lisa at Lismore Paper

Signing off for now, with the hope of seeing others join us in support for the health of it!

Aunt Debbie

The NP & A Little Hope

Posted on by
12

I was unexpectedly and pleasantly surprised by my visit with a Nurse Practitioner today! I went in expecting to be pissed off upon leaving, but not this time! (Seems I always have problems with so-called professionals, so I wasn’t expecting anything positive!)

The NP agreed that I needed to have a TSH before she refilled my script. She surprised me when she asked how my pain medication was working. I told her that I can tell when I don’t take it, but it doesn’t work like it used to. I’ve been on it for about 6 years and I’m sure my body has built up resistance by now. She agreed. She asked me if I had ever tried anything else and my answer surprised her. I told her how I had tried to get something different from the doctor who prescribed my current meds and that she told me, “There isn’t anything else you can take.” THAT was complete bull squirt. I knew it then and it was confirmed by the NP today. She said that was a stupid thing for her to say. I agreed and told her a little about my background; I worked as a Medication Technician at a nursing home and I didn’t get that job because I was stupid. I got it because I worked hard, studied hard and trained. I may not know it all, but I’m sure as hell not stupid. So, I knew there were other medications for pain that I could try.

So, the NP switched up my medication to something else – also an anti-inflammatory but it works differently than my current medication. I am so relieved to have found someone who actually shows an interest in whether my meds are working for me and actually wants to help!

While I had her attention, I asked her about my sleeping problem. I’m lucky if I get 5 hours of sleep at night and it’s not restorative sleep by a long shot! It’s broken sleep. I might sleep for 45 minutes before waking up to reposition. If I’m lucky I might sleep a whole hour before waking. As if that isn’t bad enough, the intense pain I endure all day long makes my body so tense that it sometimes takes me 2 or 3 hours to even fall asleep. I’ve tried over-the-counter sleep aids and sometimes they help, sometimes they don’t. The NP seemed to understand exactly what I was telling her and suggested something that might help. She said it was originally an anti-depressant (technically still is) but it seems to help people with sleep more than it helps with depression. I’ll try it and if it helps me with the depression, too, then that’s a plus. My depression isn’t as bad as it used to be, thanks to my therapist, but it still resurfaces sometimes.

I’m not sure if I’ll get to the pharmacy tomorrow to pick up my meds due to the expectation of freezing drizzle, as they call it. But I’m excited to try something new! Maybe my everyday chores and personal care tasks won’t be so damn difficult for me.

I’ll even settle for a little less difficult….

So, That Was Christmas

Posted on by
12

I haven’t put up a tree in many years. Christmas had turned into a depressing time of the year for me. This year, I was determined to get into and stay in the Spirit of Christmas and not let past events and disappointments get the best of me.

I have a lot of holiday decor in storage, including a beautiful white tree with purple ornaments but aside from not having room for any of it, I’m just not physically able to decorate like I used to. So, I decided to go with a little table-top tree and very little decor.

0a49097839_10156921263984299_3254880676817666048_n

The entire week before Christmas I was busy baking cookies. I made double batches but I baked only one kind of cookie per day so my pain wouldn’t get the best of me. I made my famous “not-so-famous” popcorn cake the day before Christmas Eve. That was one less thing I’d have to do the next day! One of the most important (and fun) of my family traditions – the making of pizza balls – was saved for Christmas Eve. My son came over early to help. I rolled the pizza balls and he fried them up!

0a48407848_10156912097789299_3458247043275816960_n

I was taking short breaks to rest so my pain – again – couldn’t get the best of me. I had maybe 12 pizza balls left to roll when I decided to sit down in the old office chair I have sitting in the kitchen. After my brief rest, I started to get up…when all of a sudden the chair started to tip sideways…and down…I went. Hard. I landed on my left hip and thigh; the bad side…or more appropriately the worst side.

Once I hit the floor I rolled to my tummy and started making a mental assessment of my aches and pains. The pain was just shooting through my lower body like I had been hit by a bus. When I realized I hadn’t injured myself, I rolled over and sat up. Thankfully, my son was here to scoop me up off the floor! I tried to get up on my own but I couldn’t. If Dad had been the only one home, he would have had to call for help. There’s no way he could have helped me to my feet alone.

When I knew I would be ok to finish those last few pizza balls, my son left to go pick up his wife and my grandbaby. I knew that I wasn’t seriously injured but at the same time, I knew…I felt it in my bones quite literally…that I would be feeling pain the next day.

The evening went very nicely. We had laughs, the exchange of gifts, a Christmas movie, and a lot of good eats! My grandson was full of smiles and near-laughs most of the night. He had his cranky moments, of course. He had been out of his normal element all day and it was taking its toll on baby’s usual easy-going demeanor. He was happy to get home, I’m sure.

The next morning, I was hurting so bad from the fall that I was walking with 2 canes and even slower than normal. The “massive” bruise I had on my left hip was ridiculous! It was literally the size of a nickel. WTF? After such a hard landing and all the pain I was experiencing (not to mention the pain all night long) I expected a much larger bruise! I mean seriously. That’s all I get? A tiny bruise?

Anyway, I knew I still had a ham dinner to cook so I asked my son if he could come help. He had planned on coming by anyway, but he came by a bit earlier to help. We had (store-bought) cinnamon rolls and then we started thinking about what time to start the ham. Unfortunately, he had to leave before he could even help me get that started, so I had to rely on Dad to help me if I needed it. (I don’t like to rely on him too much because he’s nearly 82 now and sometimes a bit unsteady on his feet himself.) I managed to get the ham done BUT I forgot to add the glaze at the last 30 minutes of cooking. Oh well. It was still good.

Here it is Friday, the last Friday of 2018, and I’m still using 2 canes off and on. I’m still feeling the “after-shock” of that stupid fall. I guess the pain will subside eventually, but for a few days longer I’ll take it easy.

I hope your holiday was a fantastic one, with no injuries, fights, falls, or any other mishaps to put a damper on things. Here’s to a wonderful 2019 to us all!

happy-new-year-1900587_960_720

 

 

Suffering With Chronic Pain

Posted on by
11

Most people don’t understand chronic pain and how it affects a person’s life. They will never understand until it happens to them. I don’t wish that on anyone! Most chronic pain sufferers have at least one well-meaning friend who is always trying to find a cure for their ailment or pain. The effort is much appreciated but it’s all in vain. Most of us with chronic pain have tried just about everything…because…do you think we WANT to live with debilitating pain? Of course we don’t! We have tried almost everything we can to make our lives more bearable, to no avail.

I have Osteoarthritis and Degenerative Bone Disease, specifically in my knees. I am in Stage 4, which results in the loss of cartilage in the joint. There is NO CURE, only treatments to manage the symptoms. The bone-on-bone friction associated with this can cause severe symptoms, such as:

  1. Swelling/Inflammation – Synovial fluid can increase, which normally helps reduce friction with movement but large amounts can cause swelling in the joint. Fragments of broken cartilage can cause increased swelling and pain.
  2. Severe Pain – Pain during movement, and during rest and sleep. By the end of the day, after use of the joints, more swelling occurs and pain is increased.
  3. Decreased Range of Motion – Movements are slow, with stiffness and pain making it hard to enjoy daily activities.
  4. Joint Instability – The joints become less stable; knees can “lock up” or just plain give out, which can result in a fall or injury.
  5. Weakened Muscles – As joints continue to wear down the muscles become weaker, bone spurs can develop and bone deformity can occur. (My legs are bowed, more so the left.) With weakened muscles also comes an increased risk of falls.

Some of the words I have used to describe my pain are sharp, gnawing, throbbing, stabbing, burning, excruciating, grinding, locking, stiffness, dull, tightening, and debilitating. Sounds fun, ‘eh?

This disease causes severe pain but also affects your life in other ways:

  1. Sleep Disturbances – Interferes with restorative sleep. It’s difficult to find a comfortable position, and it’s painful to even move.
  2. Weight Gain – With chronic pain, you tend to move less so it’s easier to put on extra weight. Pain makes it difficult to exercise or just have an active life.
  3. Anxiety and Depression – With chronic pain you tend to have difficulties performing normal everyday tasks like cleaning and laundry, showering, dressing, grocery shopping, walking, reaching, cooking, stairs, standing in lines, and much more. These are things we take for granted when we’re physically able; we don’t even think twice when doing them. When those simple little tasks become a struggle, it has a negative effect on our mental health. Enter depression and anxiety. It’s all so exhausting!

So, I guess I’m just trying to help others understand the struggle of living with a debilitating disease and chronic pain. Everyone’s struggle might be different but we are all the same. We are suffering, even if we don’t show it on the outside. We try to hide it from others. We try to be “normal” like everyone else. Some days we try. Sometimes we succeed. Sometimes we fail.

Some days, we just CAN’T.