pshaw_raven | Entries tagged with medical

I recently set up a bunch of appointments on the off chance we lose ACA benefits sometime soon. I'd needed to do some of these anyway, and some are much more pressing, like getting things lined up for an IUD replacement. As some of you may know they now advise colonoscopy screening starting at age 45, so I did the initial consultation for that. I'm not thrilled with either the gastro or my GP - the crazy way he makes notes on my chart led the doctor there to ask, "So what are you taking for your cholesterol?"

My what?

After we establish I don't have high cholesterol, she asks, "How well controlled is your diabetes?"

Wait, I don't have diabetes. Do I? Starting to panic now.

Same thing with NASH apparently. So I just forked out a bunch of money to see them in person, when I don't actually have any complications. My GP just notes shit like "HYPERGLYCEMIA - intermittent high readings well controlled with lifestyle." So the other doctor just sees "hyperglycemia" because she's skimming and assumes I'm diabetic. That was no fun at all, and left me much more anxious and off-balance than I should have been.

But we've also been able to open the house again because the temps have dropped. Finally. One of the absentee owners out here showed up recently to mow the grass on his lot. I always get discouraged when I see someone try to build out here because I don't want any more neighbors. But nine out of ten will start clearing or doing something and realize they hate being this far from a town, on an unmaintained road, with no real infrastructure to speak of. This guy really wants to live out here and all the above is a positive in his book, so I'm okay with him. He just stopped work on his parcel when covid hit because he wasn't sure what was going to happen and was kind of afraid to extend himself on building here. He's feeling a lot more confident now and is even starting to draw up building plans. He says he wants to leave as much of the forest as he can, which is what most of us end up doing.

As long as the county values the presence of Camp Blanding we should be fine out here. Blanding's requirements make it so that people can't put up a bunch of obnoxious street lights, you can't build on a parcel of less than five acres, and they have a few other rules that help them run maneuvers, and help us not have to live around a bunch of ugly-ass McMansion low-density housing. If Blanding were to shut down, Lennar would probably swoop in and turn all this into a fucking subdivision.

All that being said, I wonder if I'll start seeing the bear more often now that fall is actually here.

Current Mood: okay

New Kindle Devices Will No Longer Show Up as External Drives - Amazon has removed the ability of users to sideload non-kindle ebooks onto their readers. Older devices can still be used this way but once my current device becomes unusable, I likely won't get another Kindle. Over half the stuff I have is e-pub.

This is what your 2004 home computer was going to look like in the 1950s which would be funny if it weren't a 2000's era photoshop. I'm just glad I never had to learn FORTRAN. What's the wheel for?

Carb Loading Time! Well, not for me, not yet. Not sure how I'm going to manage 2300+ calories a day of just carbs, but I'll figure it out. Though when I ran a half marathon distance last Sunday, I tried more frequent fueling and it seemed to work. I was going for every half hour, but my gut doesn't hate energy gels, so I could get away with every 20 minutes. For reference, the back of the packet suggests every 45 minutes. Every 20 minutes would allow me to take in about 300 calories of carbs each hour I'm running. Every 15 minutes might even work, I just know I would get very tired of the sticky, super-sweet mouthfuls. Plus that requires a lot of water, so a marathon would demand a potty stop.

Doctor appointment went well yesterday. He mentioned the liver specialist's office got back with him and suggested maybe my "elevated" liver numbers were NASH? Which seems ... not right? Bear in mind these elevated liver enzymes have never gotten into three-digit territory, and they can be well into the thousands. I do wish the specialist had said something to *me* but I also think they aren't correct. Here's why - I also have a "too much blood" problem that he says he typically only sees in obese patients. Restricted breathing and lower oxygen spur the creation of extra red blood cells, so it's often seen in people with sleep apnea and things like that. You know what else can mess with your oxygen levels and cause the creation of new red blood cells? Endurance running.

I really have to be more strict with the "no workout" rule ahead of blood tests in the future.

Anyway, the weather looks like it will be decent for Wine & Dine Weekend. upper 60s/70s for lows, mid 80s during the day, so not that bad. It's supposed to be rainy here, so we may shut the house up and leave the AC on set at around 80 or so.

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: The Association - Never My Love

I should finish up the yard today while it's overcast but I would much rather be writing. Alas.

I had to knock down a few Orb Weaver webs, but I left a couple that weren't directly at face level. One is a big, BIG girl who's built a web in between the radio tower guy lines. There's another that has built under the camper shed, between the camper roof and the rafters. Yesterday I picked up four wheelbarrow loads of fallen sticks and branches before mowing, and today all I really need to do is push-mow around the septic tank mound and do some weed whacking around the sides of the house.

I have my routine doctor appointment tomorrow, and I don't feel like fielding his questions about my other health and wellness stuff. Yes I got that liver thing checked out - the one that turned out to be nothing. But I haven't gotten a mammogram, a pap smear, a dental appointment, or anything else, because I don't have the mental spoons to do this shit. I can tell I'm not going to age well because my tolerance for medical anything is so extremely low that twice-yearly wellness checkups exhaust me to the point of wanting to go live in the woods for six months. OH WAIT I DO LIVE IN THE WOODS

Sorry - I'm just already fed up with peopling today and I haven't even done tomorrow yet. But Fox found his dice bag and lent me a d6, and I found a deck of playing cards, so I'm good to do a quick game of Wires in the Woods. That'll be my reward for doing my stuff today. Fox also suggested I buy a set of my own dice, as the ones he has are from when they used to have regular D&D nights, and some were specifically Kitty's, so I should have my own instead of hand-me-downs. While the Florida Mann set is funny, I found one called Cat's Meow that suits me much better. But I will also likely buy the Rick Roll d20 and keep it on my desk as a fidget toy.

Ugh, it's already past nine. I gotta get moving.

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Tim Buckley - Song to the Siren

*ahem*
IT RAINED LAST NIGHT!

After a long stretch of dry weather it finally rained, and it dumped nearly two inches on us in half an hour. Not only has it been not-raining, but the humidity has been very low, too. It's the time of year when we worry about wildfires starting, especially living in the middle of hundreds of acres of woods made up of what's known as "lighter pine." I don't know if Fox is going to take advantage of the dampness to light up our trash pile, but he might.

I have an eye doctor appointment in Orange Park this morning, fun fun. I go all the way out there because the optometrist allows me to skip the glaucoma test. I know that no one likes the air puff test, but considering I'm jumpy enough that I have trouble putting my head to ANY of the machines, it's a courtesy I and my nervous system appreciate. I get extremely anxious and twitchy when anyone or anything is near my face. Anyway, I'll get fitted for new contacts, and hopefully also get a new set of glasses. The ones I'm wearing are two or three prescriptions out of date, but I typically only wear them around the house, and if I need to go anywhere, I put my contacts in.

I'm having a lot of distressing troubles with my comics. I started a few stories and now can't finish them. I mean, my brain would rather do literally anything than just pick up the fucking stylus, boot up Clip Studio, and just. fucking. draw. And I want SO badly to do it, but can't. I can't just flake out every time I get into the middle of a longer piece - I have a lot more stories about my world that I want to draw up and share, and the fact that I'm bogged down halfway through one is disheartening. My brain doesn't seem to care about any threats or bribes I devise and the only thing I can think of to do is literally try to force myself. Why should I have to force myself to do something I want to do? This is dumb.

Anyway, I've gotten my kanji and kana flashcards back out. I think my Japanese is better than I'm giving myself credit for. I just don't have a good way to practice speaking, and conversation is always my weakest point in language learning. I read French very well, but if you were to drop me in the middle of Paris, I'd likely forget every single French word I know if I had to ask someone for directions. I mean, in Tokyo I can at least remember "sumimasen." LOL

I think it's both funny and very telling that most of the kanji I recognize are related to food.

I don't have a running workout scheduled today but I do need to lift when I get home. My legs are still a little stiff and sore from Tuesday's workout, so I'm going to do mainly upper body lifts. My long run this weekend isn't that long, so hopefully I can get outside and run it instead of needing the treadmill, but if I do have to treadmill it, I can at least watch Assassination Classroom.

Current Mood: awake
Current Music: Blind Melon - No Rain

Friday, I did manage to get ALL my blood work taken. She had to take something like eight vials, but I was able to walk out under my own power. At that point I could have eaten breakfast and had some coffee and been hunky-dory, but I still have the imaging to do, and it was almost 10:30 before I was able to eat. I was also pretty dehydrated at that point, too, since they don't like you drinking a ton of water for these procedures. So I felt "off" the rest of the day, but was still able to generally function.

The GP's normal metabolic panel is all done, and nothing unusual came up. Everything is "green flag." The more specialized liver panels aren't done yet except the hepatitis checks, and I don't have Hep A, B, or C. And it could take a week or so for the imaging to be looked at and interpreted. Also apparently my ferritin is normal, so I have a normal amount of ferrets :D My ceruloplasmin is slightly low, but I'm not sure if it's low enough that he'll want to do much about it. Low is 18, mine is 16.

The garden is coming along nicely except for the pumpkins which aren't sprouting. Almost every garlic bulb I planted has sent up shoots, and my bell pepper has five little peppers on it, and a bunch of new flowers. Some of my citrus trees look a little rough, so I'm going to look at running soil samples over to the county extension office next week.

Dinner came out great and we have a ton of food, so I know what I'll be eating the next few days.
Peri-peri chicken - I found a marinade recipe online and used that. It was a cup of lemon juice, paprika, chili powder, and salt. It called for four split chicken breasts but I had enough marinade to do four pounds of boneless thighs, which we smoked. I dressed my serving of meat with Nando's Peri-Peri garlic sauce which we're able to find locally. The garlic claims to be mild but packs a decent punch.

Nigerian Jollof Rice from a recipe by Kitchen Butterfly, a famous African food blogger. This was good. I did not use the "party rice" step, but instead used a can of fire roasted tomatoes. I could not get Scotch Bonnet peppers and simply used some Tabasco. I also couldn't find African curry powder and subbed hot Indian curry instead. I did still have a slight crust of rice on the bottom of the pot which I scraped off and ate because the little bit of burnt rice is tasty.

These honey cornbread muffins are a tried and true recipe. If you want sweeter muffins, use AP flour. Whole wheat gives a nuttier flavor. I had enough batter to make six jumbo muffins. These are good with extra honey and butter, or pepper jelly depending on your tastes.

The rice should develop its flavor overnight so we'll see how the leftovers are tomorrow. I plan to warm some up and plop a fried egg on top. And now if you'll excuse me, I had a long day and I'm going to go turn into a pumpkin.

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Bob Dylan - Odds & Ends (take 2)

It's been a busy time for us recently, so I haven't been checking in here as much. Nothing bad is happening, just busy, yanno?

I made a trip down to Palm Coast to consult with a gastro about my liver enzymes, and he thinks my GP is overdoing it by asking for a liver biopsy. So this is good news for me, because I didn't want to get a liver biopsy, either. New doc recommended stopping vitamin D supplements, and said I may have a genetic predisposition to fatty liver. I must have looked at him weirdly because he explained that my dietary and exercise habits are likely to be holding worse problems at bay, since fatty liver often occurs with other lifestyle diseases as "metabolic syndrome," none of which I have. I did explain the reason I am still on blood pressure meds is that my body seems to have become dependent on them and I get massive rebound hypertension when I try to quit. Anyway, he's ordered a set of blood tests specifically looking at liver stuff, along with an imaging procedure to look for damaged tissue. I hate this.

Fox's physical therapy has finally started, and she wants him to do strengthening exercises. LOL I've been telling him that, too, but I'm also not going to rub it in. I am going to encourage him to keep up on it, and will let him know when I'm doing my lifting workouts so that hopefully it prompts him to do the stuff she's prescribed. I also need to take some video of his running for her so she can look more at his running gait. I think she did some gait analysis already but not a really deep dive or anything.

Today we're going to try to get more yard work done. I need to mow and trim again, and Fox is going to put the brush hog on the tractor and cut our walking trails in the Wayback again. I also have more garden plants to set out, though the colder weather at night right now is making me wonder if I'm too much ahead of myself, but I think they'll be okay. The potatoes are thriving for now, and I looked up when to start mounding dirt around them. Garlic is going to take a longer time. Some tomatoes are good to be planted, some aren't really sprouting, and I bought a bell pepper plant. I'm also going to get my soil tested soon, maybe run the samples over to UF and schedule that metabolic test while I'm there.

I never had a ton of social media accounts in the first place, but I'm considering deleting Facebook. I already tried deleting Instagram, which for some reason won't happen until the end of next month. I guess they need to send a tech into the server to hand-delete the data, and he's got to ride over to the office on a pack mule leaving out of Wichita with the next wagon train. Anyway that's obviously no big loss, and FB won't be either. My initial reason for having it was keeping up with some family members, but for the most part they have stopped posting, and they rarely, if ever, interacted with me when they were on. I don't know why I even bothered in the first place, they don't care, I don't either. The only social I'm thinking of keeping is Reddit and I'm honestly not sure why.

Once it gets into the 50s here I'm going to head out and run, then try to get my yard work done by around lunchtime. I don't want to be out there all day and burn myself out, so I plan to split things up between today and tomorrow.

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: John Prine - Angel From Montgomery

I am amazed at the way optometrist's appointments can be streamlined now. My doctor has some fancy retina-scanning machine, and if you're willing to pay the small upcharge for the service, it takes away the need for most of the annoying eye doctor procedures, like having your pupils dilated, staring at their ear while they shine a flashlight into your eyes, and it seemed to shave a lot of time off the "read this next line" test. I've been in glasses since I was eight, and I tend to dread eye exams because they were always tedious and took forever.

I mentioned the issue I'd been having with close-up reading and she says it's likely not a test problem - I'd said I thought I had maybe answered some of the reading test questions wrong because it seemed like as soon as I got my new lenses, I couldn't see anything close to my face. She says it's a very common, almost universal phenomenon where a part of your eye that focuses close up loses its elasticity, and it can be corrected with ... multi-focal lenses!

It's a fancy way of saying "bifocals," and "Bird is absolutely ancient." Someone pass me a cane so I can wave it threateningly at teenagers.

On the other hand my changes in diet and routine are helping my body recomp go along nicely. I've managed to get my metabolism running well enough that I'm hot much of the time - not hot flashes, just continuous, lower-level warmth. It's much better than constantly freezing. It makes sleep worse, because it's difficult to actually "turn off" but the overheating thing wakes me up during the night. I bought myself a bamboo fiber blanket, which ought to allow me to sleep cooler while still having the weight and pressure of a blanket. But I'm eating enough calories to continue to lose fat while still nailing my workouts and not feel like death.

The Crows found that beheaded rat and made off with it, LOL.

I honestly kind of want to go back to my old contacts just so I can get a pair of reading glasses that would sit on the end of my nose, and I could peer judgmentally at people over the tops.

Current Mood: silly
Current Music: Lady Gaga - Born This Way