Thanks for the discussion about potassium, magnesium, statins, and statin side effects. I'm a believer in getting sufficient potassium - enough so that I ignore the suggestions that eating bananas is terrible for weight control; they sure do have the potassium.

I have a busy week that culminates with the opera, La Boheme if I get through it. A friend saw it this week and says it's a splendid new production. I always spend the opera hoping that Mimi does better this time.

Good Morning! Back at my house - . We have Canadian Thanksgiving coming up next weekend. It'll just be the two of us but I ordered a rotisseried (sp?) turkey anyway. That should feed us for a week and I'm determined to find an afternoon in November to make soup!

Good week all!

Dagmar

Hello! Another week of edging forward. By this time next week I'll be in a better place, I'm sure. I'm glad I can come here for support.

Deep into Nigerian writer Chinau Achebe's No Longer at Ease - a set text for the new exams the DB will be taking. I have taken/been given the English Literature mantle, it seems. If you know the novel, would you like to suggest a question he and I could consider?

Dagmar, I'll come round for soup one day. What are you going to make? You may have just solved the what to eat tonight question! I could make minestrone which always goes down well.

Bill, good luck with how the opera ends. It could be different this time, perhaps?

I was just thinking about Thanksgiving this morning. In the past, my parents would come down, sometimes my siblings, too. And we'd invite all my cousins and aunt and uncle who live a couple hours away. We'd have a huge crowd and I loved it. Except that my Dad and Uncle passed away, so the link to the big party is gone. I don't know if I should consider inviting everyone anyway?

Bill, I tend to get my potassium (and now magnesium) from vegetables rather than fruit. I don't know why, but I don't eat a lot of fruit. But I eat a ton of vegetables.

((sitting here wondering why my spell check changed don't--when I forgot the '--to donut))

Turkey noodle soup is a staple for post-Thanksgiving here. I usually keep the bones and make the broth with those and add lots of carrots and celery along with leftover meat. Yum.

Allison-- I would invite everyone if I were you. When dh's grandparents were alive, we had a big family reunion every summer. After they passed, it just died with them and we haven't seen many of those relatives since-- it's been over 20 years now.

Thanksgiving! Dh's favorite holiday of the year. Not mine so much but I will enjoy having my girls come home....

Dh and I returned yesterday from a weekend in Monterey. As usual, I overindulged in food and my weight is way up. I'm hoping it will come off quickly! I leave Thursday night for a weekend in Arizona to see dd, however I'm not sure how much I'll see her. I'm going because she is getting an award Friday afternoon (dean's list). She will pick me up (late) Thursday night from airport and drop me at hotel. She will work Friday (I won't have a car) and then she'll get me in time for the award presentation. Saturday we will spend some of the day together but she already told me she has plans Saturday night (haunted corn maze that she does yearly) and I'm not (really) invited. And I leave early Sunday morning. So... without a car, stuck at a hotel.... I'll bring reading material and plan on exercising!

Next week is my (dreaded by me, loved by kids) book fair. We usually set up Friday morning before, but since I'll be gone, we are setting up Thursday afternoon. Then I'm racing home to fly out. I will have to be very organized this week. I need to pack and prepare for my trip.... dh is going out of the country Friday so I'll have to get our petsitter again.....

Busy, busy!!

Not an opera fan, Bill, so no comment there. Haven't read the book either, Birchie, sorry....

Hey! I sent back my (ahem) alternative test kit today for detection of colon cancer. Wasn't very difficult at all. I guess we'll see what the results show.

My blood tests showed low vitamin D, so I'm now to take 1000 IU per day.

JayEll, I swear 98% of the U.S. population is low on Vitamin D. If you're low down there in FL, I feel like there's either no hope for anyone north of the Mason-Dixon, or that the supposed "norms" for that vitamin are simply wrong.

I enjoy watching/listening to opera, and especially love Puccini. "I always spend the opera hoping that Mimi does better this time." - that amuses me inordinately. I'd love to change history in a lot of ways, not just with an opera plot.

Today was an especially long day at work. I'm on hospital duty, taking consultation requests from both of our major city hospitals (one has 800 beds and the other 500). I work with residents at both places, but I still need to see and talk to every patient whose primary doctor asks for Neurologic help. Today, I saw 12 new patients and checked in on another 6. That's a lot. I always get a bit anxious on days like this that I'm going to miss something important because I am mentally fatigued by mid-afternoon.

I've been taking 1000 IU of vitamin D for years. No side effects and my D is fine, test-wise.

I'm on day 3 or 4 of magnesium supplements and today my BP was 127/83. Wow. I'll monitor but it is usually 145/95 or more. I'll also discuss with the doctor next Thursday.

neurodoc, it's in part because so many people are fearful of the sun now and wear sunblock so much. Also, older people have trouble making enough D from sun exposure, I think.

In Fla. we do get enough sunlight year round that you wouldn't expect deficiency; however, no one wants to go out in full sun in the summer, especially without sunblock. That wouldn't be smart for anyone. I do try to go out at times of the day when I don't need any sunblock, or I'll wear SPF 15 in the middle of the day. And yet, I'm vitamin D deficient according to those "norms," and I do have conditions that could be related to that.

alinnell, it could be that magnesium supplements are your answer. I hope so.

I think it was either a fluke or my BP monitor didn't work right. This morning I was 141/115 three times in a row.

BP can vary hour to hour. Like any other test, it's a snapshot. Same is true of blood glucose.

And cholesterol.

I have not had my D levels tested (maybe I'll ask for that next visit), but I've been taking the supplement on days I'm inside all day. When I'm out, I don't put sunblock on my legs as a compromise. Skin doc told me that skin cancer on legs is extremely rare.

My young new employee is being very defensive about his poor verbal communication. In data processing, one needs to be very precise to be understood, and he isn't. Too many "it"s and "they"s for me to understand what he means. When I tell him I don't understand, he gets defensive and gives me reasons why I should be able understand him. Finally I said "Hey, maybe I'm stupid, but even if I am, it is your job to communicate in a way I can understand." I know it must be hard for him, but so far he doesn't even seem to be trying to change.

My FIL has been treated for skin cancer on his legs (and arms). It's a benign or very close to benign type. They just use some chemical to peel it away.

That's not right about your new employee being defensive. You're trying to teach him to do the job he was hired to do. I once had a coworker who, when sending emails, tried her best to look intelligent but it was overly verbose and she used archaic words. Our boss called her out on it and she understood the need to use everyday words to make her intent clear.

That's a very challenging test of your mental bandwidth. I hope you'll have a bit of a breather soon. It always amazes me that in this digital day and age, most of our jobs still require us to retain and process giant amounts of information in our heads. Having to work in "real time" so much of the time is exhausting.

Alice,
That employee sounds ridiculous and likely short-lived with your company.


I've had one skin cancer (malignant) removed (so far)-- it was on my upper thigh so I'm not sure about your docs leg theory. I am fair skinned and was not careful at all about sun damage when I was younger. I do now take Vitamin D and wear facial sunscreen daily, and all over sunscreen if I'm out in the sun for long. My dad had many skin cancers removed and I have the same skin type as him so I know I need to be careful.