Just A Health Update

The last week has been HELL... no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

My wife was sick and two weeks ago I took her to the doctor and she got an antibiotic shot, a Z-pak, an inhaler and cough syrup. One week later, she is actually worse. She gets another "different" antibiotic shot and antibiotic pills plus an x-ray. She is return 24 hrs later.  X-ray shows her lungs as clear but all indications are pointing at pneumonia. They put her in the hospital.

So, one week ago (Sept 24) they do a cat scan to validate the x-ray. Plus, they have her on an antibiotic drip in her saline solution, a daily steroid shot, another different antibiotic shot, plus a lot of of other meds.  She comes around and on Tuesday late afternoon, they release her.

During this time, I'm coming down with a hack, congestion, runny nose and... yeah, I don't feel well.

So, they gave her some antibiotic pills.  They don't want her to take them. I bought them and I'm not about to just toss them.  That's right.  I took them in conjunction with a cold/flu capsule every four hours.  Talk about coming down from that high six days later - what a headache... but I'm feeling pretty good now.  A slight hack to break up the congestion but no real phlegm - I'm good.

Of course, I have to have a blood draw during this time since I have my diabetes doctor appointment after three months to see if my new medication is helping.

When I get up in the morning, my blood sugar is running about mid-70s to low-90s.  Sometimes it will drop below 70, but only 3 times. It is running over 100 in the morning, but not that often and I know why when it is - like drinking OJ at 2 in the morning.

My A1C went down.  I was hoping for below 6.  It was 6.8 and I wasn't too thrilled until I found that my dietitian and my doctor was quite happy with that number.  Anything below 7 is considered good. Plus, my weight is now a solid 245 - I've come down 6 pounds since June's appointment.  I was lower before June but the dietitian's diet was a lot of carbs and my weight went up and up. I decided to go back to my old diet plan and my weight has dropped.  And, with me now taking Victoza, my cravings and over-eating seem to be more controlled.  I prefer small meals, light meals and about every 3 to 4 hours - so I'm getting smaller meals, but more often.  My blood sugar is doing good.

Now, back to my wife. They never really figured out what she had and decided to call it a form of pneumonia.  She is still very weak and just getting out the chair is a major accomplishment.  Like she said, "Getting out the chair is so tiring, I just want to sit back down which defeats the purpose of getting up!"  She sleeps a lot and doesn't eat too much.

I'm now the guy who cooks ALL the meals and is supposedly keeping the house clean. The chickens aren't helping - they're laying 17-20 eggs daily. WalMart is causing issues - they're selling eggs for $.65/dozen.  I've lowered the price of my brown eggs to $1 but still not selling any.  In fact, I'm having trouble giving them away!!  Last week I had 10 dozen eggs to give away.  By the time I feed the chicken, give them water, collect the eggs and get back in the house, I'm whipped. Then I need to figure out a meal and cook it.

We've been eating pretty good - having made Pork Fritters, Chicken & Broccoli, Spanish Rice, Egg/Cracker Hamburgers, Salads, Twice-baked Potatoes, Cottage Fries, Stuffed Cabbage Balls, Cheesy Cauliflowers, and Cheesy Broccoli/Chicken Rice, I even made Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Homemade Tomato Soup (I mean, using tomato juice as the base and jacking it up with spices!) and other healthy from-scratch things.  So far, I haven't stooped to potato chips and/or PB&J sandwiches, but I may consider them down the road.

I'm going to get some of the freezer meals we made a month ago and use some of them. Maybe the next day or two will be Green Pepper Casserole and another day with Egg Rolls.  I'll have to see what is in the freezer.  I know there is some shrimp and I will definitely be using that!!  Maybe a roast, too.

The garden has decided to come to full harvest. I have tomatoes on 8 plants out in garden and there seems to be more red than green.  I green peppers are going crazy with a lot of peppers.  And the green beans for the last couple of months - lots and lots of flowers, but no beans.  NOW?  There are beans on those vines that would choke a horse.  I just don't have the time to get all of it done.

I attempted to start remodeling the RV just prior to my wife getting sick.  So, the RV toilet has been off for over 3 weeks.  I just need to get a couple of pieces and put it all back together - but I need to go to an RV center for the parts and that is an hour drive there and an hour drive back.  So that is going to wait until my wife and I are back to health.  Obviously we don't need it fixed right this minute since we're not traveling.  To put it back together will only take a couple of hours - I just need the time.

Until next I ramble on...