[Wannabehealthy]

Blood pressure is too high again today and weight is up to 171. Time to knuckle down again.

I changed sheets and now I'm going to clean the bathroom. I'm trying to stay active. I got less than 4 hours sleep last night but I feel good so far. I will probably get tired early so I want to get as much done as I can. I will not take anything every night for sleep. I don't know what is going on. This could all tie in with my blood pressure and weight gain.

I hope to get some exercise in while watching my soaps today.

Trizh,I hope your visit with the surgeon goes well.

[pattygirl63]

Carol Sue We are together with out weight. I weighed 171 at the surgeon's office. If I was at home weighing without clothes it would be 169 I'm sure but I was hoping for less. We ate a snack later than I usually do so I shouldn't be surprised especially since my bs was over 110 when it has been less. I need to get within a IF window too. Interesting to know that we should have the window earlier in the day.

Appointment with my surgeon went very well. I got a lot of good info and learned the maintenance plan I will go on. She said that I could have the one infusion medicine every 3 weeks for up to one year as long as I have no bad side effects with it. I told her I did better when I had the one medicine before and after surgery. It wasn't until they added the second medicine to it for the last chemotherapy that the neuropathy got worse. If I take the infusion every 3 weeks for one year, I won't have to worry about taking a pill. I should be through by then. I will have a CT scan every 3 months. It means I still have treatments for a year but if they go like they have in the past, I shouldn't have any problems with them. I am very happy with the new plan.

She was pleased with how I am doing with exercise etc. and setting goals. Just told me to be careful to be safe.

DH and I left there and went to the local store after he went to Sam's. I really enjoyed going to the store. I got some guacamole dip last week which is the way for me to have avocado which will help with potassium and inflammation. Today I found a pkg of small pretzels to dip in it for a snack. I also bought some Washington apples. I usually like gala or fuji but I like small apples. I hope these are good. I remember when I was in elementary school the school would get these beautiful red Washington apples and they were so delicious. I have to fast tomorrow for the CT scan, so I will start Friday on a diet plan. I will go back to actually eating breakfast. I will alternate days of eggs with toast spread with the guacamole one day and the next day I can have cinnamon apple oatmeal. I will also try to keep my eating IF window between 8 to 10 hrs. I also got some veggies so I can start eating more of them too.

I consider this to have been a really good day.

[Wannabehealthy]

Trish, I believe you are still losing weight because of the fluid retention in which case you weigh less. I'm glad you had a good visit. Did she say anything about that number going up with your blood work? I know it was concerning.

I am not a big fruit eater. Never was. I love apples, Gala, but they spike blood sugar, and I get very hungry after eating them. Thats not good, so they are an occasional thing. I am still trying to eat plain Greek yogurt and I bought some frozen blueberries to put in it. Blueberries are vey healthy but the only way I like the blueberries is frozen. One time I bought fresh ones and froze them! I also like pears but they make me hungry like the apples do. I like peaches and pineapple too and watermelon but for some reason fruit is my last choice to eat. DH loves all fruit. Sometimes when we go out to eat he will get a big fruit plate which some restaurants offer in the summer. That would never be a meal for me.

I didn't make or plan dinner so I guess we are going out.

[pattygirl63]

Carol Sue Yes she said not to worry about the CA 125 going up a little because it fluctuates. As long as it stays within a certain range (which she said it sometimes settles in a range) but the CT scan is what tells us how things are really going. I'm praying for a good report from it tomorrow.

I also asked her why I was getting the extra blood draw tomorrow and she said the do it before I have to drink the dye to check my kidneys before I have the CT scan tomorrow. So I'm good with that. I have to be there by 8:45 am to get blood draw by 9 and then get scan at 10 am.

I eat the fruit because I don't want to have to take laxatives and fruit seems to take care of that.

I ended up eating within a 8 hr eating window. It has been a good day.

[fatmad]

Hi everyone: home for a couple of days and have regular internet again.
I have not been sleeping well. Also not eating well, although weight is steady.
I came home for a Rainbow baby shower. This sweet little family had twins, a little over two years ago. The little boy had hydrocephalus, and though they did corrective surgery, it progressed. While they were trying to figure out how best to treat him, he died at 18 months old.
Now they are expecting a little rainbow baby to help them heal their broken hearts.
We didn't do a shower for them the first time, because she had the twins prematurely, and with the little boy having so many health issues, there was never a good time. They got lots of gifts, meals and loving support, but this will be their first baby shower. Should be a lovely day.

Going to take my bedtime meds and try to sleep.
I read posts from the last week to catch up.
more soon.

[Wannabehealthy]

Good to see you Mad. I had to Google "rainbow baby.". I never heard that term. Hope all goes well for them.

Your report sounds good, Trish. I hope your scan is good.

My weight and blood pressure are still up. I took my water pill and I'm peeing up a storm. I must be really retaining. I have not been using salt but foods that have sodium. I have to be careful.

I plan on doing laundry today.

I did one load and went thru and arranged my hanging clothes and I'm sweating to death. That will get rid of some of the fluid retention.

I wanted to tell you I got batteries for my blood glucose meter at Dollar Tree. 2 in a pack for $1.25.

[pattygirl63]

Mad It is always nice to hear from you. I had to look up what a rainbow baby is too and I like that term. I pray everything will go well with the new baby on the way.

Carol Sue I have days my Lasix works more than others. I figure I had more sodium than I thought because I seldom add salt to anything. You eat out and some restaurants use more than others. It is good you are staying busy. I walked a lot today at the oncology clinic plus I stood a lot as well. DH offered to get the car and come to the door to get me but I told him I needed to walk. I know that walking is going to also help get the fluid off as well as help the neuropathy.

The CT scan went very well. I guess I forgot that I had to drink two bottles of stuff plus an IV. In fact, when I was in that part of the cli nic which is where they do radiation, I realized that everything looked different when sitting in a wheelchair than it does standing up using a walker because things seemed so foreign to me. But then I have only been in that area once before when I had the CT scan before surgery. I've heard of people complaining about the stuff they had to drink, but today they had flavors I could choose from to add to it. They didn't have the lastit time I had one. I chose the punch flavor and it was pleasant tasting. I don't know if the surgeon will have the results read and posted on my portal by the end of the day or tomorrow. Funny thing is no one seemed to understand why I was having the scan after I saw her yesterday instead of before I saw her. She was surprised about that yesterday. When I told the lab technician. the surgeon explained to me that I was getting the extra blood draw for the CT scan today, had to double check things because it turned out that my CT draw was done last week and this was a CBC. I know the lady had to call me and had already set up the appointments because they were having problems with their computers so I have to assume that got things mixed up. It is done though and that is what is important.

We came home and at our dinner early and then crashed. I will spend the rest of the day drinking water to flush all the dye out of my system and probably take another nap. Neither DH nor I slept good so he is asleep now and I am going to relax in my recliner and join him.

[Wannabehealthy]

We went to Texas Roadhouse and I had shrimp and broccoli again. This time I remembered to request no seasoning. The shrimp tastes so much better without seasoning. They are heavy handed with it. DH had steak kabobs and I ate some steak and peppers. He eats very little but will eat again this evening. I will not.

Before we left I took my clothes out of the dryer and laid them flat so they would not wrinkle. When I came home I hung them all up. I have another load to do tomorrow. I was telling DH that I felt so strong and energetic today. I am surprised. Some days I feel like a wet dish rag. I think the more I do the more energy I have. I guess that's the way it works.

It sounds like your scan went well. It was very different from my scan of my heart. I didn't have to drink anything but got an IV. I hope your results are good. I'm glad you did all that walking. Its very good for you.

[Wannabehealthy]

Blood pressure is much better today. Weight is lower but still up. I didn't sleep as well last night. DH was watching football so I went to bed early and did exercise. I am sore today so I will take Tylenol.

[pattygirl63]

Carol Sue That is good that your blood pressure is doing good today. Mine was up a bit but then I don't know how the stuff I drank for the CT scan affects the blood pressure so won't worry about it right now.

I got a notice from oncology for a new pill to take and no real explanation so I have a call in to my team nurse to see what is going on. Looks like a pill that is taken once a day that can help get fluid/swelling off, but then one of side effects is swelling of face, legs and feet. I don't have the medicine so I don't know if they plan to use this pill instead of the meds that I would have to get in IV every 3 weeks. It isn't the medicine they mentioned me taking before so the side effects wouldn't be as bad as that one would have been. This one seems to help with the neuropathy symptoms I'm having as well as good for kidneys and other things. Friday is a bad day for having to get back to me because she fills in for my doctor because he sees patients in a town 40 miles away so I hope she can call me today. I hate having to wait till I see him next Thursday. The good thing about the pill if they decided to go that way is that I don't have to go in all the time except for labs and tests or infusions. I did read that the doctor may put me on a high protein low sodium/salt diet. I'm working on getting myself back on a healthy weight loss diet so it will be interesting to see what changed since the CT scan yesterday.

My niece that is DS daughter I helped raise taking care of her while her Mom worked sent me 2 dozen beautiful roses. It was so sweet of her to do that.

Have a great day everybody.
================================================
Got call from oncology and I don't take that medicine. DH said that was the steroid I took 10 of the night before chemotherapy. I do remember the nurse telling me that I don't have to remember to take that one when I am on this 30 minutes infusion. I am glad to learn that I am on the plan surgeon and I decided to do.

[Wannabehealthy]

I posted a long post then lost it. I'll post tomorrow because I'm tired. Good night.

___________

What a night. We went to the local casino. Lost. When we leave the other casino DH gets a hot dog and fries to eat on the long drive home and I eat a few fries. No food court at this other casino. Just a very expensive sit down restaurant. We stopped on the way home and got appetizers. Big mistake. I never eat like that at night and I felt sick half the night. Didn't get sick but felt nauseated. Fingers swelled up. Ring got tight. Finally drank ginger ale and took Tylenol and finally slept. Scale is up, blood pressure is up. Never again. Ever DH said "You can't eat at night like that.".

Trish, I'm glad you found out about the pill and you don't have to take it. You can follow the original plan.

How sweet of your niece to send roses to you! You have a great family to support you and you are certainly loved by them! Bless her.

We had a bad storm Thursday night. We heard it but had no damage. Surrounding areas had flooding and fallen trees. Step son and his in laws lost power and it won't be back on until Sunday.

[pattygirl63]

WOW! I hope your step son and his in laws power gets back on before tomorrow. Must have really been a terrible storm. They are building a lot of new homes out here around us and they are tripling the electricity on the poles on the road between our addtion and the hiway and I am wondering how that is going to work. It lhas just a few years that we don't lose power when we have storms. Looks like they had about 6 smaller transformers than they used to have when I was younger. I know things have changed a lot but I just hope they can provide the power for all these homes.

Carol Sue I'm sorry you got sick from eating so late. Maybe it was what you ate. Sounds like you got a lot of sodium since you swelled so much. Your fluid pill should get a lot of that off today. I don't know what I ate yesterday but I got sick around 8:30 pm. I was tired and slept a lot and then suddenly my stomach hurt so bad. I took some Miralax and finally got enough relief so I could go to bed. I slept good and then slept most of this morning in the recliner but I'm feeling better. I hope you are feeling better too. I think mine was caused by these beautiful multi-colored long peppers I bought the last time we went to the store. They taste like bell peppers and I love eating one a day with dinner. You have to be careful with the sodium and I have to be careful with what I eat especially raw veggies. I remember this one doctor I saw the 1st time I was in the hospital (only saw him once and I liked him) told me "this is where you learn what you can and cannot eat".

Yea I do have a great family support group. I took care of most of my nieces and nephews and great nieces and great nephews while their parents worked. So they are like my own. But this particular niece is special because I had a miscarriage on June 19th and she was born on June 30th and her Mama called me from the hospital and said "Get up here at this hospital and hold this baby". Then when DH#2 and I moved back here I took care of her until she went to Day Care. Our DD had taken our grandkids and lived in a different town and this baby girl filled an empty place in DH and my life.

I've been trying to figure out how I could get in and out of bed by myself. I don't know if I could get in but I think I'm getting close to the place where I can get up if I had my walker by the bed. I was able to pull myself up so DH didn't have to pull on me to help me out of bed last night to go potty. Hopefully another week or two of these leg exercises, I will be able to lift my legs so I can get in the bed without his help and I will be able to go potty and get up on my own. I will be so thrilled when I can be self sufficient again. I am so close so I know I will get there eventually I just want it now. I guess this is where I'm learning to be patient.

Not much happening here today. It is hot out side and I feel it inside so I don't want to do much. All I want to do is sleep for some reason. I think those are healing times but I will try to stay awake so I can sleep tonight. I have done some exercises today and want to do the rest of them before the day is over then I will have 4 days instead of just the 3 days I had planned. DH planned steak for dinner, but I am going to need some softer veggies than he is planning because of my stomach. We will watch the Cowboys play tonight.

Hope everybody has a nice day.

[Wannabehealthy]

Trish, I very rarely eat anything after 4-6 pm other than a bite or two of whatever DH is eating. . After years of that my stomach just can't handle it. Its just a habit I formed way back when watching my weight. I ate an appetizer of fried ravioli and a couple bites of loaded tater tots that DH ordered. It all tasted good but my stomach didn't like it.

When all you want to do is sleep I think your body needs rest. It is giving you a message. I'm wondering if maybe you should have physical therapy. There are probably specific exercises you should be doing so you can lift your legs to get into bed. Even if you had someone show you the right exercises to do it might help. It might not just be leg exercises although they will help your overall mobility.

I have been doing exercises this past week to help my mobility. Yesterday I walked much better at the casino. Today I am walking much better at home. I don't feel as wobbly and my balance is much better. I have electrolyte energy drink mix I put in my water when we go to the casino. I have started using it at home too. I think that's what is giving me so much energy. I question if its healthy to use it but I feel so much better so how could it be wrong? I guess drug addicts feel the same way about their drugs. I'm afraid to ask the doctor about it because I'm afraid he will tell me not to use it. I buy it at Walmart. It is 10 in a package for around $2. I don't use more than one a day. The rest I drink plain water. After the hospital I can no longer drink coffee. I have hot decaf tea in the morning and cold drinks the rest of the day.

All this time we have been friends I don't recall you saying you ever had a miscarriage. That is heartbreaking but you had other children to make it easier to accept. All my life I looked forward to being a mother. When I got married I was older and with 2 step children we made the decision not to have more. It was a hard decision for me at the time but best in the end. I have no regrets.

I want to eat just veggies for dinner but I know DH will not want that.

___________

DH and I made this ground beef and potato dish we like for dinner and I ate one scoop. I cooked cabbage, onion and frozen kale for me, as DH won't eat it. I used to eat it almost daily and my fingernails got stronger and grew very nicely. I think it was the kale. So now my nails are weak and splitting and I'm going to try to strengthen them again. I don't know how long it will take. Last time I ate it just because I thought it was healthy. Then one day I noticed the improvement in my fingernails. I never had nice nails before. It can't be a bad thing to do either way.
​​​​​​

[pattygirl63]

Carol Sue When I was in the hospital there was a lady who came in and taught me how to get in and out of the hospital bed, but I was able to use the bed rails to do it. Although I don't have bed rails at home, I use that method when DH helps me get in and out of bed and can use it to get out of bed, but not sure I can use it to get my legs in the bed. The main problem is that we have a foam mattress on top of the bed so it sits higher off the floor. I will eventually figure out how to do this safely.

The ravioli might have had more but the tator tots shouldn't have had that much sodium but it could have. I know you don't eat at that casino so I'm sure you are right about it being caused by eating later than usual.

I was almost 40 yrs old when I had the miscarriage and I don't think about it much any more.

I used to make a ground beef and mashed potato dish when my kids were young that was cooked in a crockpot. Ground beef was on the bottom, mashed potatoes on top of that and then you put a can of corn or some other veggies on top. It was really good and an easy meal to cook. DH wouldn't like it so I haven't thought of it in years.

[Wannabehealthy]

The dish we make has cooked ground beef which I cook. And fried potatoes which DH makes. Homefries. They get mixed together with diluted mushroom soup. I also like to add green beans. DH will eat the green beans but doesn't like them mixed in. DH loves this but I only eat it because he wants it.

When I had my heart surgery I was not allowed to lift my legs on my own. In the hospital they had to do it for me and when I came home DH had to do it. I don't remember how long before my restrictions were lifted. Lifting my legs pulled on my chest. If I didn't have anyone at home I would have had to go to a nursing home for recovery. I was not allowed to lift more than 5 lbs so that was when we started to buy half gallon of milk instead of a gallon. I was not allowed to run the vacuum. DH still does that 15 years later! I bought a smaller sweeper but he still does it. He is very helpful.

Tomorrow will be a nice Sunday for me to stay home and do what I want. We have no where we need to go. We usually go to Walmart on Monday but I have a list already. I would rather wait til Monday. Lots of people go on Sunday. I hope I have energy.