So many life changes

Today is the first of September 2108 and I feel as if this year has passed in such a blur. There are so many changes in my life that I can hardly fathom it all. Some are good and some not so good. I have finally found some time to blog today after all these months. Right now, it is just my hubby and I who are at home. Football officially started and he is watching a game on tv while I am here trying to play catch up. I am going to start with the good stuff first. It’s just a summary because I am not sure if I would be able to finish a super long blog.

GOOD CHANGES:

1. My youngest son had graduated with his Masters in Electrical Engineering in May and was able to spend the past three months at home. He had multiple interviews with various companies in the West Coast. He was finally able to land a wonderful job and in the next two and a half weeks, he’ll be preparing to relocate there. I pray that the Good Lord bless and keep him safe. I am proud of him for all his accomplishments. He has worked so hard for this.
2. We’d become grandparents in July. My stepson is now a daddy and the baby would be two months next Sunday. I was so thrilled to be part of the birthing process and even got to take out pictures of the first moments. Another good thing about this was that there were no ill feelings between my husband’s ex and her family during this special moment. In fact, I even took pictures of them holding the baby and later on, I sent them copies.
3. I finally was able to get rid of a lot of items that were cluttering the house. Some went to the Salvation Army and some got given away or sold at a consignment store. I still have more to go through.

 

 

NOT SO GOOD CHANGES:

1. My health has gotten worse. I am not doing as much as I used to do. I can hardly spend time at the computer. I have been getting more flares and now I am hardly exercising due to heel spurs. It is getting harder to walk, stand or sit for long now. I also haven’t been blogging much in my health blog Fibromyalgia Undiagnosed . I need to be working on this. If you want to follow my health journey, you can do so at the link above. I also started an Instagram account (@fibromyalgiaundiagnosed) for my health journey.
2. Due to the increasing health issues, I have stopped writing my short stories etc. That is a definite no-no for me because I have some unfinished works to edit and publish. Sometimes, it is hard to remember stuff.
3. I can hardly clean the house without pain. My teenage daughter does help me a lot there. She also helps massage my heel when I am limping and have to sit on the recliner to rest the foot.
4. Because of my not being able to exercise or walk much, I have gained a lot of weight. I feel depressed of seeing a huge middle and not being able to get it down. I am still stress eating. It is hard to eat healthy. I would do good for a while and then backslide 😦
5. I no longer have a doctor who can work with me and my health issues. I have had two nurse practitioners for this year so far. The first one left about a month after she was there. The second one was one I used to see many years ago but now she has retired due to health issues. The one I really loved the most had left last December due to her husband having congestive heart failure and other issues.

 

OTHER CHANGES:

1. It is taking me longer to get things done. I am always behind in something. I have so many thousands of pictures to organize or delete.
2. I was finally able to get my office in a decent order. Now if only I can get to working on my designs and putting them online to sell. I feel as if I am always running helter-skelter and not getting enough time to remember to do things I want to get done.
3. My daughter’s volleyball season has started and we are getting to be busier with taking her to practice and games. Next week, school will be open and it is going to be tougher.
4. Right now, I have a nagging toothache. It bothers me a bit more after I eat. I talked about this issue in my other blog.

MY PLANS?

I hate to make plans because somehow or the other, things seem to fall through. Like today for example. We were looking forward to grand baby coming for a visit but they had to go out to shop for some items. I was really looking for some cuddles. We don’t get to see him as often as we’d like. The good news is that hopefully, they would come over tomorrow after church.

I would really like to lose this weight. My heel spurs hurt so much with prolonged walking and walking is the only exercise I can do. I started to do some soft cardio a couple weeks ago but had to quit after 8 minutes because my heart rate went up so high that I can hardly breathe. I feel so frustrated that I am consistently gaining rather than losing weight.

I need to start making more vinyl decals and tee shirts and put them up for sale.

During the past few months, I was able to buy some woodworking tools and wanted to play around with some designs. Just holding the drill is hard to do. I really want to start again and hope that the pain is bearable.

Every time I tell myself that I need to make a time-table and create a schedule but whenever I plan in my head what I want to do for that day, something comes up and everything else is pushed aside. All I need is to create a routine to include some of these plans and try to stick to it. This is life and life brings so many changes.

 

Spring is in the air!

This week, Old Man Winter took his leave and Spring stepped in his place. Like many others, I would definitely choose Spring over Winter. The bursting of blooms and the chirping of the birds here in the countryside bring joy to one’s heart. I love seeing the beautiful buds and the green popping all over. I have as yet to take my camera to task to capture the new life around me. I did take out pictures of the babies at our farm. Here is a pic.

Next week will be Easter and I am looking forward to seeing my eldest son coming to spend the weekend with us. He’ll also get to meet my older daughter. She lives close by so I see her regularly. My younger son is in France and wouldn’t be here till May when he will be graduating with his Masters in Engineering Science. He has travelled to a few countries from there and sent me pics. Those places (such as Ireland, England, Italy etc) are part of my bucket list. Oh how I wish I could visit there! My health issues would not allow me too so I have to be satisfied that my son gets to do his bucket list. How wonderful to know that he has similar interests to me in some things!

Volleyball season is almost here and my youngest girl is starting to prepare herself in getting her body ready. Yesterday, she worked out and actually drank some green juice I made! The child is so picky and does not like to eat fruits or vegetables. I was floored when she asked me if I could make some juice for her. I used a little kale, some whole leaf spinach, a carrot, a  piece of celery stick and an apple and put them in my juicer. She actually drank half a cup! Now, that is saying a lot if you know her. I hope she keeps it up or at least try drinking some of those healthy stuff every once in a while.

My stepson and his wife are expecting their first child in July and I am making a crocheted blanket. It is taking a while. I haven’t crocheted such a large item in years mainly due to the pains I get with my fingers. Hopefully by the grace of God, I would be able to finish the blanket in time for the baby shower.

I am still having issues with my health. You can read more about them in my other blog here: Fibromyalgia Undiagnosed . In the meantime, I am trying to get caught up with things I have neglected because Spring is in the air!

Counting my blessings

I was waiting on my stress test results before writing on this blog. I had my nuclear stress test for my heart last Wednesday. Hubby went with me. Thankfully, we were able to drop my daughter off at her friend’s house on the way to the hospital so that she could go to the volleyball practice. I was very nervous about the test. When we got there, I was seen to right away and got admitted in no time. When we were led to the room where the technician had to give me an IV, I felt the nervousness coming on. My hubby had to wait in the waiting room next to it. God is so good. The technician was a very nice person. When she found out that I was nervous and hated needles, she got the tiniest one. She was friendly and chatted away with me while doing her thing. There was a moment of anxiousness for me when she said my veins were tiny. When she started pushing the needle into my right hand, she said the vein was moving. I thought, “Oh no! She’d have to redo it!”

Climbing an uphill battle

This has been one of the worst few days health wise. I have been in constant pains especially in the wee hours of the night and early morning. This past Sunday, I woke up just after 2 in the morning with my left arm feeling numb/tingly pain?? The fingers in my left arm was curved in a claw like shape. I had to stretch my arm out and gradually work on having the fingers getting back straight. My chest was hurting. My back was hurting. My left shoulder blade was burning. I rubbed my arm until I started to feel “normal” before heading to the bathroom. Of course, this heel problem I have kicked in and I had to shuffle to the bathroom with my heels feeling as if I am walking on nails. After getting back to bed, I avoided my left side- which is usually how I sleep. I had a hard time staying on my back with the back pains I usually get. I didn’t want to sleep but after a long while, I turned to the right side to help ease my back. I finally fell asleep only to wake up a couple hours later with the same thing happening to my right arm. The numbing feeling. The tingling pain along my arm. The clawed fingers. I have never had anything like that happening to me before. I have had my arm falling asleep but never with my fingers clawed and the pains making it hard to straighten them out.

That day we went to church as usual. My shoulder blades still burned for a long while. Then for the Sunday evening service, I started to get some chest pains while singing in the choir. I had to stop singing and start praying silently. I was getting a bit scared of what was happening to my body. It seemed as if I am just falling apart. That night was the worse night when I went to bed. I woke up again with the entire left side of my body going numb, the tingling pains on my left arm and a strange feeling in my head. It is if something was floating. A weird description, I know. It felt as if the tiniest sound or thought was hurting my brain. I started to pray really hard. I hardly slept after that. I was afraid to. I kept thinking that I do not want a heart attack or stroke. Then that morning when my hubby woke up to get ready for work, I felt a little bit better though my head was still feeling weird. It hurt when I hear the water running in the bathroom. I just wanted him to leave so I could be alone with no sounds bothering me.

Later on in the morning, I felt better and went to my favorite coffee shop where I would do my weekly writings. After running a couple errands, I was on my way home when I called my daughter and she said she wanted a chicken sandwich. My left arm was giving the painful tingling and my head started to feel funny again. I prayed that nothing happened to me especially since I was driving. The rest of the day, I took it easy. I had to later take my daughter to volleyball camp at the high school and we also had a parent meeting there. Thankfully, apart from my shoulder pains I didn’t hurt as much.

Because of my shoulder pains, I try not to sleep on my left side. It is so hard to do that because that is how I usually sleep. It is the most comfortable. Last night, I slept on my right side. Then again, I woke up to use the bathroom and I couldn’t move. This time, it was my right knee paining. It sort of felt as if the kneecap was locked. I had to ease my hand under my knee to draw it up so that my leg could bend. I massaged the knee for a while before I was able to get out of bed to go to the bathroom.

Then tonight, we had midweek bible study. My entire back was hurting-from shoulder blades to hips. Hubby was rubbing it while the preacher talked.I regretted not staying home. It felt as if I was having the flu and getting body aches. I know it is not the flu. Luckily, tomorrow I am going to see my doctor. I am hoping she is going to give me a shot for the shoulder pain. The last time it was burning a lot, I got a steroid and antibiotic shot. and that helped me so much.

I am starting to feel a bit depressed because instead of getting better, I seem to be getting worse. For the past three weeks I have been watching what I was eating and have lost around 5 pounds. I try to walk 30 minutes on the treadmill every day. A slow walk because of my racing heart problem but it doesn’t matter. As long as I am walking. My son is getting married in exactly a month from now. I hope that I start feeling better by then. I know that this life brings its own trials to each of us. I know that this is a phase. It can be very difficult when your health is not improving. I’ve got to stay strong. When you are climbing an uphill battle, you still do not give up.

My newest purchase to help me with a cleaner diet.

Green drink with kale, spinach, cucumber, spinach and greek yogurt.

 

 

My life so far

There are a lot of times when I want to post on my blog but I just cannot seem to get myself to do it. There is always something else to do or I just don’t know what to write (this is coming from someone who has self-published books). Do I write my life out for strangers to see? Do I write only the good parts? Do I write because it is a fact that writing is one of my passions and the more I write, the better I get? When I first started this blog, it was to just write little snippets. I didn’t know if and how many followers I would get. I just wanted to write like I would write in my journals. It’s basically sharing my thoughts and feelings onto “paper”. I am a thinker. Hubby tells me that  I think too much. Maybe so. Actually, I am more an introvert rather than someone who is an extrovert. I grew up being by myself most of the time. I feel comfortable being by myself. I hate large groups. That includes weddings, parties, social gatherings etc. Lately, I have started a trend to go to my favorite coffee shop and take my notebook and write. Where do I choose to sit? In a little nook away from the main area where patrons chat. I like the seclusion. I like privacy. In fact, I cherish my privacy. In my social media, I have just a handful of “friends”. Most of them are my husband’s family. I have deleted a few mainly because they are there to be nosy. I do not personally know some of them but somehow they feel I must add them because they are related to him. Now, I hardly post anything because there is too much drama on social media.

I have had ups and downs these past few months. This evening was not nice. I stepped on the scale and by golly, I had gained 20 lbs since November!!! I am frustrated because I was doing so good in trying to eat healthy. One of the triggers in my stress eating was that I cannot exercise like I used to. My heart rate is high at rest and I use medication to slow it down which isn’t really slowing it down by much. My cardiologist had given me one type of meds for it but it was creating some digestive problems for me so he switched it to another one. This second one is not as good as the first. I have to see him next week so maybe he’ll be able to do something about it. I see myself gaining weight and feel helpless. I know that I am not eating right. Three and a half years ago, I had lost over forty pounds. I watched what I ate and did exercises 6 times a week- from walking on the treadmill at a fast pace, running, skipping rope, running up and down the stairs, squats, push ups etc. My metabolism was excellent. Then my health started on a steep decline. I couldn’t do the exercises without being in intense pains. Now, the only thing I can do is walk very slowly for 30 minutes. I go at 2 miles per hour on the treadmill. Sometimes, I go at 2.3- 2.5 mph. If I go faster than that, my heart races so fast that I get pinches of pain. It beats as if I had done a high intensity exercise. With my echogram I had done last year for the cardiologist, he said my heart was healthy but it beats too fast at rest. I do not have A-fib (as far as I know). I do not know if he is going to do more testing when I see him next week. I’d quit the treadmill for about a month because of the bad back pains. I started back today and only walked for half a mile at 2 mile an hour. It took me 14 and a half minutes!!!

With me trying to eat healthy and not being able to do exercises to speed up my metabolism, my weight loss is minimal. I think I am too anxious to lose weight and when I don’t lose as fast as I think I should, I stress eat. The sad thing is that I know what not to eat and what to eat but I tend to sabotage all the hard work I put in.

Okay, enough of that crazy part of my life. Now on to the kids. We have two sons who are getting married this year. One in August and one in September. That’s a good reason for me to start losing some of this foolish weight I gained. My youngest son who is in college came home last week since he is finished with this semester. Yesterday, he left to go to Florida to spend the week with some friends before going to the West Coast to do another internship like he did last year. He has so many dreams and I am happy that he is choosing to work at achieving his goals. He already graduated last year with his Bachelors and he is working on his Masters. And our youngest daughter is going to be a freshman in high school in September. Where did the time fly? She had volleyball tryouts last week and made the team again. She is so excited.

I have been trying to work on my crafts because I wanted to regain the joys I used to get doing them. Here are a couple of pictures of what I have done. One is that of me trying out my new machine to create vinyl labels. When I get good at it, I want to sell them. The other picture is a painting of a photo I’d taken in 2015. In fact, I had put it in this blog.  See here for the photo

The last photo is that of my roses in the front yard. I have started doing more of my hobby photography and making digital paintings of them.

I am not done with the painting. I still have more work to do on it. Because of the chronic pains I get, I cannot do much of anything without hurting. I still have lots of stuff to organize in the house. One day at a time.

One day at a time

A belated Happy New Year 2017 to my friends here. Sorry I am late but it has been very hectic here with us remodeling our kitchen and laundry room. The place was very messy and dusty but FINALLY, we got both rooms done! Most of it at least. There are some minor things to do such as get a new blind for the kitchen window, a few outlet switch covers and put up some wall decor. That being said, we still have more work to do in other areas of the house but that is going to have to wait for a while.

The past couple of weeks, my youngest son has been here with us. This is the longest he has stayed since he moved out to go to college. I was thankful that he chose to come home and spend the time with us. I was also able to get some photos of him in his graduation cap and gown. We did order from the photographer who took pictures out at the ceremony but I wanted to have my own since I love photography. The ones I took came out pretty good. I am happy with them.

Well, my health hasn’t been too good lately. I know that I have fallen off the diet wagon during the holidays but it is time to get back on track. I would have failed if I just stayed off so now I am going back to the healthier lifestyle. Anyway, my neck has been feeling very sore and painful these past few days. The back of the neck felt as if there were tight, knotted muscles. My left shoulder has been burning like crazy. I knew that the shoulder burn was from the costochondritis because the pain went all the way to my left ribs at the usual places. I decided to go and make an appointment with my chiropractor, whom I haven’t been to since I went to the cardiologist late last year. I got my back and shoulders adjusted and he adjusted my neck too. The muscles felt better a few hours after that but since then, my head  has been hurting. The neck muscles were fine but now, just below my neck to the upper part of the spine hurts to the touch. Sometimes I feel pain going from the back of my neck to the top of my head. I do not like feeling that way especially when I am driving. This morning, I took some anti-inflammatory pills which my cardiologist had prescribed for me for the costochondritis, thinking that the pain would ease up. Right now, it is 7:15 p.m. and I am still getting the head pain at the top part of my head. I had asked hubby when I got home this evening to take my blood pressure and it was a little high. Praying that this situation rectify itself.

Next Tuesday, I have to go back to the chiropractor’s to do a BioScan. It is something new he has and he said it is supposed to scan the pressure points in your body to determine how your organs are functioning. I am not sure if it is going to help but we would see. I have tried different tests to determine the root of all these various pains I have and used whatever medications the doctors prescribed. No one can pinpoint the exact cause of anything. It can be very frustrating but I really need trust God in this. One day at a time Sweet Jesus!

P.S. – I am trying to watch my spending this year and to only buy things that are helpful and what we would use. I found a great deal at our local Kroger today. It was for a pack of almonds in the shell. As you can see in the pic below, it was marked down to $0.74 cents! I got me 5 bags so that I can share with friends. What a deal!

The year is drawing to a close

The year is drawing to a close and a new one is ready to show itself in a couple of weeks. It has been one filled with good and not so good. When 2016 had started off, I had no idea what was in store for me and my life. My health has declined to the point that I am using pills for my racing heart and high cholesterol, apart from my asthma meds, eye gel for my dry eyes due to being a glaucoma suspect and another pill. I was never one to like medication. If I could avoid it, I would-even if when my headaches were bad, I hated taking a pain pill. It was only if I could no longer stand the pain that I would take anything for it. Now, I have to carry my medication wherever I go. I am still getting the rib pains from the costochondritis mainly on my left side. I haven’t gone to the chiropractor since seeing my cardiologist.

I think what bugs me the most in my health issues is my racing heart. The cardiologist has given me low dosage pills to slow down the speed. During resting, I am fine unless I am anxious about something or with any increased activity. All I can do on the treadmill is walk at 2 miles- 2.2 miles an hour for 30 minutes. Today, after 2 minutes at such a slow pace, my heart race was already 104. Last night, we went to a meeting at the school and from the time it took to exit the doors and walk to the parking lot in the cold, I was having a hard time breathing. My sternum felt crushed in. When I checked my FitBit (which dear hubby gave me for our anniversary), it showed my heart rate was 126- just from walking to the parking lot! I had to slow down and after getting into the car and hubby warmed it up, my heart rate started easing.I just hope that the cardiologist would not up the dosage. It’s already scary enough using it.

I am thankful that I am at home and can rest whenever I feel like it. I feel very blessed to have that opportunity. I do work online but it is not too successful for right now but I keep on at it. One of my goals was to write three books for this year. I have started a few but never got to finish them so that is still on my to-do list. Speaking of to-do list, we are in the middle of redoing our kitchen and utility room so the place is in a mess. There’s wallpaper to be removed, walls to be painted and shelves to be installed in the kitchen. In the utility room, hubby is getting someone to fix the sheetrock and paint the walls as well as put tiles on the floor. All that needs to get done by Christmas!

This week is a busy one for us with him working in the freezing cold all day. Tomorrow, my youngest daughter is playing the piano for her band concert. She is thrilled because she gets to play in the high school’s baby grand :).  This Saturday, my youngest son is graduating with his Bachelor’s degree. I am so proud of him. He has worked so hard and is very smart. Though he is graduating, he is still staying in college because right now, he is doing his undergraduate for his Masters. I know that I am going to cry Saturday, so I may as well pack a  small rag in my bag. At the moment, my eldest daughter and her hub are spending the night again tonight. They are supposed to be closing on their house in a couple days. So yes, it’s crazy here.

My youngest daughter wanted to put up the little white Christmas tree and that is what we have in our living room with the colorful array of gifts around it. We were going through some stuff and came across her first grade work. She found some Christmas ornaments which she’d made and hang those on the tree also. She was tickled to see how little her handprints were. In the photo below, it does not show all the decorations nor all the gifts we have added since then. She’d just decorated the tree with a few ornaments and put the poinsettia garland (which of course had fallen off the hook).

Day 1 of little one decorating

Yes, we have had some not so good times (with my health issues, the loss of some of our farm animals and my dog), but we have had blessings. I am always thankful for that. I am thankful that the Lord has kept us safe, that our kids are healthy and that we get to see them some time or the other. I am thankful that I got some medical bills being paid. Thankful for my church family. Yes, I even got to achieve another goal of losing weight. Not too much but enough that I am weighing much less than this time last year. I still would like to lose at least twenty more pounds though hubby might differ and say that I am fine. I am thankful that I am more aware of the choices I make to eat. With all that said, I want to leave a recipe I concocted on making a smoothie today. Here goes:

 

2 cups almond milk (I used Almond Breeze cashew milk- unsweetened 25 calories)

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1 tablespoon powdered peanut butter

1 large frozen strawberry.

Combine everything and blend in a blender. No sugar needed because it tasted just right and was very filling too!

Life in the fast lane

Life in the fast lane. This title seems fitting to what it is like here. December is already upon us. Soon 2016 would be gone and 2017 would take its place. Where has the time flown? It seems as if it was just yesterday that I was making New Year resolutions. This year had its share of gladness and sadness, but we have made it so far. I am thankful for all the many blessings the Lord has bestowed upon me. Each day is a gift that I gladly receive.

This past Thanksgiving, I was very happy to have another get-together with the kids. Though a couple of them could not make it, we were still able to get some time in with them at my mother-in-law’s house on Thanksgiving Day. I had my dinner the Friday after Thanksgiving. There was so much to eat that we still have leftovers. I’d  made a baked whole chicken, green beans casserole, cornbread, creamed corn, sweet corn (these were left over from the cornbread)baked beans, deviled eggs, rolls, potato salad, baked potatoes, jalapeno macaroni and cheese, roast beef. For dessert, we had oreo pudding pie, chocolate cream pie, bacon cheese roll with crackers, egg nog and a pumpkin cheese cake. The kids enjoyed themselves. We were even able to have a family photo and some silly ones too. I did watch what I was eating though the food was high calorie. I did not overeat. I wish I had more time to make healthier meals that they kids would love (not all of them but some), but I was already hurting from all the cleaning and packing I had to do to get the place organized.

Speaking of health, I am taking the tablet for my racing heart and the cholesterol meds. When I first took the heart tablets, I had a couple days adjusting to it. My blood pressure started to drop. The first day, hubby had to keep an eye on me because my blood pressure read 68/58. He called the pastor whose wife had problems with her blood pressure skyrocketing and dropping really low. The pastor told him to let me drink lots of water and to keep moving about. It actually helped bring my blood pressure up. I’d felt very weak that day. Hubby kept monitoring me. Thank goodness all that is over with now. I still get a little off feeling every now and then but my blood pressure is getting to normal. I do still occasionally suffer from the racing heart especially at night. One night this week, I was asleep and was woken up by a scratching at my bedroom window. My heart started pounding and hurting. I looked at my fitness tracker which records the heart rate and it was 103. The noise actually was from some high winds we were getting. It took quite some time before I was able to get back to sleep.

My cardiologist has suggested for me not to go to the chiropractor for the rib pains I keep getting from the costochondritis. He gave me a prescription for some anti-inflammatory pills which he told me to use for 10 days straight. I did and it has helped a lot. He ordered for more than 10 days so that I can have whenever the costochondritis flares up. It is something that seems not to go away. Apart from all that, I have started to walk a little more frequently on the treadmill for 30 minutes- not fast. Sometimes it is 2.2 to 2.5 miles per hour. I do not want to go very fast to trigger my heart racing and hurting me. I tend to hurt when it beats very fast. I am still watching what I am eating and have been doing well to maintaining my weight. I still have at least fifteen pounds to go, though I would be happy to lose more than that. If I was able to lift weights or do resistance exercises without hurting, I know I could lose the weight much faster but I just cannot do them. I’d be in pain for days afterwards.

Yes, life is going by fast. My youngest son is going to graduate with his bachelor’s in two weeks time. Christmas is right around the corner. I have started shopping for deals. This year is ending with me taking medications that I never thought I would have to take. I am thankful for still being alive, for my husband who always tries his best for us to have a better life, for our kids, our church family who are always praying for each other and last but not least for my Lord, who gives me the strength that I need each day. I am thankful. I am blessed.

Health Matters

I know that I haven’t posted some months now but it has just been very hectic here and apart from that, I have been having to deal with some health issues. Pain is becoming a daily event and doing much around the house takes a lot of strength. It can be very depressing at times because I am seeing the clutter around me and when I try to get things organized, it is wearing me out and by the time I get to bed, I am hurting. I am trying to get things decluttered where I can sell some stuff and give away some. It is taking me much longer to get anything done.

I have been seeing the chiropractor regularly now. This past week, it was friends and family day so the chiropractor was giving free adjustments. Yay! It saved me some money. Though that may be so, I was sore all week and hurting when my ribs are touched. My back has been hurting and so were my hips. My legs are going numb a lot too and my upper left arm had been hurting all day yesterday. The most pain was from the burning of my left shoulder blade. I know that it is inflamed from the costochondritis. My darling hubby went to the pharmacy this morning and got me a heating shoulder pad. You know, the one to plug in and you can adjust the intensity of the heat. I have been using today while I sit here at the computer. Last night, he had rubbed some Ben-Gay on my shoulder but that did not help too much.

Well, volleyball is over and we are finally able to have a reprieve from running back and forth to practices and games. This past week, we attended her chorus performance. My eldest son came and spent the weekend last week and we had a nice time fellowshipping. Last night, my youngest son came to spend the weekend and he is leaving tomorrow. I am so lucky to get to see both sons in two week’s time.

Last month, my doctor did another set of blood work and she said that my cholesterol is still high. She’d put me on statins but I hadn’t taken any because I wanted to control my cholesterol by diet (which was what I was trying to do for the past six months but apparently it was not working). She said that I had to see a cardiologist due the high cholesterol and  my high risk of heart disease with family history. My blood work is also showing that I am pre-diabetic. She made an appointment with the cardiologist and I went to see him last week. He’d asked me why I was not using the statins and I told him that I wanted to control the cholesterol by diet but he said with my family history, diet would not help me so he recommended that I take the statins. I started the statins that night. Not only that, but he said that my heart rate is way too fast during rest- 100 and more. I know that it had been that way for a while and my doctor had me taking down the pulse every night for 30 days. I do not know if my blood pressure monitor was not working right but my heart rate seemed normal. I questioned it a lot because many times my heart would be pounding very hard- usually waking me up from my sleep. When I take the blood pressure reading, the heart rate would seem normal. It was only when I went to the cardiologist that I found out it was not so. He said that he would have to put me on some medication to slow down my heart. That did not sound too great but I yielded. I haven’t gotten the prescription yet so I do not know how that would work for me.

I hadn’t been eating too much junk food lately and lost a little weight but still ate my protein bars for snacks. My meals were good but since I have found out that I am pre-diabetic, I am watching my sugar intake especially since the protein bars did have some high sugar content. The cardiologist wants me to go on a diabetic diet. He is also sending me to the hospital this Tuesday to get an echocardiogram to see what is going on with my heart. I pray that nothing serious is found. I do not know if with my fast heart rate is the culprit for making me feel tired all the time. I used to think it was my insomnia, which still may be a contributing factor, but it could be the quick heart rate.

So here I am- sitting at the computer trying to write this long overdue post. The clutter is still around me. I did work on getting a bookshelf in my office and packed my books there. I know that I have to take it one day at a time. If I do too much, my ribs and shoulder hurt but I know that God is good and He takes care of me like no other can. I have to remember that health isn’t about the weight I lose, but about the life I have gained.

Jesus is the answer

It is the beginning of August and the weather here has been really hot for the past few weeks. We do get some rain every now and then but not enough. It is muggy and if you stay long outside, you’d want to run back inside in the coolness of an air-conditioned room. Not only is it hot weather-wise, but in general with all the election campaigns going on. This one against that one and names are being slung in the mud at every opportunity. Heated debates are the norm and the general public are like sheep going astray. I’ve even seen someone passionately telling others do not vote Trump and they gave a reason why they think he shouldn’t be president and vice versa. I am not going to be putting my two cents in this politics tit for tat because it is sad to see what this country has become. God is taken out from schools and the pledge. Families are broken. Morals and values are gone to the dogs. Atheism is rampant. Christians and their beliefs are being targeted and ridiculed while others of different faith are being upheld and respect demanded. Innocent lives are taken- no matter their race, beliefs or lifestyle. Hate is being promoted. All I can say is wow. Is this what we have become?

I do not want to go into a long drawn out post but I do want to say no matter who becomes president, that person is not the answer to our problems. Jesus is the answer. He is the One who loves us so much that He gave His life for us (including the presidential candidates) so that we can have a place in Heaven. Jesus is Love. He is the Light. He is the Way. He is the One who can heal our land-not anyone else. Praying for this country.