No Flags

I had my doctor visit with the PCP yesterday and I was very pleased. I felt confident when I went in that I was doing everything I'm supposed to and my bloodwork shows that. I've had good results on my coumadin for the past couple months so my fears about that are over. As the nurse gave me a copy of my bloodwork and I looked through it I saw no flags! Wow, that was a first. At my last check-up in Jan. my thyroid was all out of whack and other things such as blood pressure was not being controlled. This time my weight is down, bp is good, glucose is fine, cholesterol is great and gfr (kidney stuff) is good too. Hey, there's not much to talk about except getting a couple prescriptions and I'm outta here. This was really the first time since my surgery that I actually thought it might have done some good. I still have my cardiologist , or Danny Downer,to see in Aug. so I'm hoping he sees some positive things going on here and not anymore negative. Since I was out and about anyway, I left the office and went shopping, mainly to catch some more sales at the fabric store. What a great day!!!

More harm than good

That's how I feel about the medicine I was taking for my cough. I was on that for 10 days and didn't see much of any improvement during that time. It did seem to relax me enough to get some sleep without coughing all night but during the day it was coughing mania. Then about a week into the medicine I developed a rash on my feet that spread up my legs and even on the inside of my wrists. I was perplexed as to what was causing this but couldn't think of anything different that I was doing, eating or using that would have caused it. It didn't itch but after a couple days it seem to get warm to the touch and swell just a tad. Believe it or not once I finished that medication it started to fade, along with my cough. At this point I'm feeling much better and am almost recovered from my cough, no thanks to the medicine. I realize I put my doctor in a tough position. I went in there in a panic with shortness of breath and he did what anyone would do - appease me with an antibiotic! I usually wait about a week before going to the doctor with symptoms like these but I didn't feel that confident coming off open-heart surgery. Now it's time to make up for lost time and start exercising again.

Problem Solver

I think I'm somewhat of a problem solver in that I try and think through things and come up with a solution or different ways to attack an issue. The same seems to be true of this cold I've come down with. My husband and I both have it but there have been striking differences in how it's progressed. Mine still has not taken that turn for the better that I've been hoping for. Yesterday while we were out shopping I mentioned to him how my legs have been aching really bad. He said his have been too even to the point of leg cramps. I thought that was an odd symptom of a cold. I was trying to wean myself off that cough syrup yesterday so I had just taken my pills. When I got back home I decided to take some cough medicine (around suppertime) and voila - no more leg pain. I certainly didn't expect that. I took more before going to bed but this morning I had the worst leg cramp in my right leg that I've ever had. So far this morning my legs are feeling pretty good but overall this cold has drained the life out of me. I feel like it's set me back about a month and I can't wait to be over it. I find myself analyzing every move I make to see what's working and what isn't hence that problem solving character trait.

Feeling Under the Weather

I really didn't see this coming, what with the flu and pneumonia vaccines I got this spring. My experience in the past has been very good once I received the shots. I had a slight headache yesterday that I couldn't seem to shake, even after a little nap in the afternoon. I thought I was just hungry but after supper I could feel it in my throat. By the time I went to bed I knew it had progressed to my chest. Even with a Tylenol I couldn't get to sleep and eventually got up to lay on the couch where I could get to the bathroom quicker. All I did there was cough so I know today will not be good. I'm hoping this doesn't last long and I'll be feeling better soon.

Being Sick

I've spent most of this week feeling under the weather. This isn't anything new to me at my age but I've been trying to reduce how often I get sick with multivitamins, vitamin D, exercise, etc. so it kind of threw me this week. For some reason, I have this desire to pinpoint the source of the contamination, which I think was last weekend, either the bar on Fri. or the game on Sat. My husband came down with basically the same thing so I'm certain it's one of those. Of course, our ailments take different courses. Mine has always settled in my chest and can also lead to loss of voice. This sounds worse than it is especially with the cough but usually there is little pain. This time I'm achy with a slight headache. We were scheduled for our flu shots today but had to be canceled. I remember while teaching preschool the first year I contracted "something" every month with a few days coming on, a couple weeks in full blown stage and then another week trying to get over it. Once I told the doctor about it and she said wait until summer and if you still get sick it's probably allergies. Well, I was fine all summer so it was just picking things up from the kids. Since then I think I've built up that resistance to most colds and such because I've been pretty healthy. I thought this morning what my routine would be like if I were still working. I probably would have gone into work and started feeling better. For that reason, I'm trying to stay busy at home and even forcing myself to exercise (I just read in a fitness newsletter that it really helps when you're sick). So that's my plan but it sure is nice to know that if I start getting too tired I can curl up on the couch with my afghan and chill out for awhile.