GOOD PHYSICAL THERAPY DAY

My PT went really well today. Still painful but constructive.  When L rubs my tendons and ligaments I swear I almost jump off the table. It hurts much less than it did two weeks ago. I spoke to her about my foot cramping issue.  I guess the ligaments and tendons are tightening up since I am not walking much on my foot. I have to roll a tennis ball under my foot to loosen things up.  The only thing is, my dogs keep stealing the ball to play! 

When we adopted the second dog we had to take away all dog toys because the dogs kept get into fights over the toys.  See Happi is a toy hoarder. She doesn't know how to play with toys (you throw a ball and she runs after it, picks it up and runs away with it) but she wants them all for herself. Lucky loves to play with toys and I spent a lot of time teaching her to return the ball but she will get the toy, take it to her cage, growl at you, chew the toy up and eat it.  So all the toys got taken away and put in a drawer.  For awhile there were moments of crying dogs near the drawer but soon they gave up. They did not understand my resolve.

Today I also found out I can go down to using one crutch.  For times like a concert situation I will still use the two crutches for safety but from now on one crutch. Yay!

I rode the stationary bike for 1 hour/10 miles today. Feeling good.

Until tomorrow...

JUST A RELAXING DAY, IT IS DRIVING ME CRAZY

Today I sat outside in the the backyard and I finished my book.  Then I started another. Then I ate lunch. Then I read some more. I rode the stationary bike for 45 minutes and took a bath. 

I know this is supposed to be relaxing and it was for the first hour. Then I got antsy. I am just not good at relaxing.

Until tomorrow...

WATCHED A COUPLE OF MOVIES

Yesterday we watched That Awkward Moment. Today we watched August Osage County.  Tonight I watched Prometheous.

That Awkward Moment was funny. Not fall on the floor funny but cute. It reminded me a lot of a Matthew McConaughey movie where he didn't want to get married and tried to get his group of buddies to stay single too. 

August Osage County, what can I say? I liked it better than the play.  I had a hard time hearing all the dialogue during the play. It is a hard balance to play a drug addict AND be able to speak clearly.  It is easier in a movie because if the dialogue us not clear they just do a retake.  Plus it is Meryl Streep. Need I say more.

Prometheous. This is a hard one. For about one-third of the movie I was lost. What was going on? Then I would figure it out then get lost again.  There were some requisite gory scenes where I covered my eyes.  I didn't dig the story line. 

Today the gardener came by to schedule the work on the backyard. Only a couple of more weeks. Yay! 

Road the stationary bike for 30 minutes today. I am pushing my foot just a little.

Until tomorrow...

COMCAST CONTINUED

Today I took a digital adapter and a cable box back to Comcast. It was quite a quick trip and I got the two new boxes.  I had a problem activating one of hem and that meant three phone calls to Comcast. But now it works fine. Once again I can listen to music or watch TV while I workout in the garage in our workout area.  It helps to have something distracting.

Today I rode the bike for 20 minutes. I don't seem to have any pain from riding the bike.  I have more from walking or driving. 

Until tomorrow...

CHECK UP ON FOOT

Today I went to the doc to have my foot checked. She did not like the bump/lump on top of my foot. So back to x-ray I go. Can you believe I got the same x-ray technician for the third time? Three times he x-rayed my foot.  I asking him if he was the foot guy. Turns out it is a lottery system. I just won the lottery and got him three times out of all the techs doing x-rays. I guess I should play Lotto! 

The x-ray showed no abnormalities just a healing stress fracture. Yay! 

Until tomorrow...

BACK ON ENBREL

Okay, today was an incredibly uneventful day. PT was uneventful. I cleaned out more of my office.  The most exciting thing that happened was I started up my Enbrel again.  I have been off for three weeks due to the antibiotics I was taking.  I am anxious to see if it helps with my fatigue.  I have been quite tired lately and have been falling asleep in the afternoon.  Maybe the Enbrel will help.

Until tomorrow...

MAKING PLANS

Tonite Brenda and I had plans to go to a play. Because I am on crutches I don't want to walk too far so take the bus. Brenda wanted to walk. I missed the bus I was aiming for and had to wait an extra 15 minutes. Brenda didn't see me waiting for the bus when she left the house so she arrived at our meeting point before I did.

Since she didn't see me still waiting for the bus she was confused when I was not at the meeting point first. When I arrived she was not there which left me in a conundrum. Did Brenda continue on to the play or did she go back home? I waited around for a few minutes but then I was worried about time. I continued on to the play alone and there she was outside the theatre. Of course I had the tickets. 

Now this could have all been avoided if Brenda would carry her cellphone. I could have just called her and said wait at the bus stop. Communication is key especially when one person is on crutches.

Until tomorrow...

RSD INFORMATION

Okay, I did fall into a pit of despair. The information I read yesterday about RSD was tough to hear.

Today I did some more digging and found some testimonials of people who had their RSD symptoms cease.  They were diagnosed and started treatment within 3-6 months from their first symptoms.   I started treatment one month after my symptoms began. This bodes well for my recovery.

I am in a better place now.

Until tomorrow...

RSD RESEARCH

Tonight I did what "they" tell you not to do.  I googled RSD. I was talking to a relative and they told me they knew someone with RSD. So far I have heard of three people with RSD that friends of friends know. I guess this is not as rare as I thought.  

So tonight I googled it. Boy, that was a mixture of scary and depressing. I had to close the window after a few minutes. I am hoping only the people who couldn't be cured were the ones writing into this website and the people who could be cured didn't write in. Otherwise no one ever gets cured. People have been misdiagnosed and living with this for 20 years. Even those diagnosed seem to have it for years. That is not my plan.  I see the foot doc this week, I guess I need some more info.  I got kinda freaked out. 

I guess this is why they tell you not to google things. 

Until tomorrow...

MALEFICENT

We went to see Maleficent today. It was a last minute decision.  A friend and I had talked about going to the movies this week but the iPad debacle kinda took up most of my week. Oh that and the possible UTI. So we never connected.

Today Brenda and I were supposed to do various things but we had all sorts of excuses: it is really windy and we don't really NEED food to eat, heck, you can do that tomorrow. You know how it is. Why complete a chore when you can put it off until tomorrow and go to the movies today? 

The movie was good. As Brenda would say: not what we expected. I am not sure what she expected but I don't ever remember reading the original Sleeping Beauty. I grew up on the Disney versions of life. Because it is the happiest place of earth!  I know this was Disney also but it was a darker Disney. 

Overall I liked the movie. The pace was good. The characters were good. The story kept me interested. Four out of five stars from me.

On a side note: since you have never been to our home, we have a giant framed picture of old original Maleficent in our dining room. I mean giant. Okay not 64" flat screen giant but 3'x4.5' big.  People always comment on it. 

 Until tomorrow...

NEW CHAIRS FOR THE BACKYARD

For years I have wanted Adirondack chairs for the backyard.  As you know we have had the problem with the backyard. In two weeks I hope the backyard will be cleared out to we can use it more.

The chairs match the pillows on the deck. I can't wait to relax on them.

Until tomorrow...

THE SAGA IS OVER

This evening I am a happy girl. I broke the code. Error 5062 did not beat me! It took more than 3 1/2 hours of tech support but I beat it. It took hours to back up and download my iPad but I beat it. 

Okay, here's what happened: this morning I got a recorded phone call from Comcast telling me that my issue with Comcast had been resolved by Comcast. Was it resolved? Yes or no?  I was not near my iPad so I held on for customer service. I got a very nice person from the East Coast. She must be someone high up because she gave me her direct phone number. Who at Comcast has a direct phone number??  We spent 30 minutes once again trouble shooting my problem. Her assessment was that the problem was with Apple and the iPad.  For some reason the restrictions button was turned on. I tried to turn it off but I didn't know the password.  It was time to go to the Genius Bar at Apple.  

I showed up for my appointment at the Genius Bar and had Karl help me. Turns out he is a genius!  He had me open up the restrictions button and I magically tried a password and it worked!  Once the parental controls on the iPad got turned off the Comcast app still didn't work but the Showtime app did. Progress! 

Then he told me the only way to fix it was to wipe the iPad clean and start over. These are words I never want to hear. I had backed up my iPad but still setting everything back up would take some time.  We wiped it clean and I went home and reinstalled all the information. It took awhile because it never goes as smoothly as they say. 

I didn't install the Comcast app until everything was installed. I installed it and it WORKED!  I can watch Orphan Black and Nurse Jackie and Game of Thrones. Yay!  The saga is over.

Until tomorrow... 

COMCAST SAGA CONTINUES

Today I waited and waited for the Comcast tech guy to call. Tick tock. No call.

I went to my PT appointment and called Comcast when I returned. I got another helpful customer service guy.  I spent ANOTHER half hour on the phone with this guy and he got me no closer to watching any adult shows on my iPad or computer.  But he was very nice and told me all about the Philippines.  When we hung up a each from Comcast was supposed to call but it is 7 pm and I am not holding out hope. 

I googled the error message and now there are 9 sites dedicated to this error message. Lots of other peoples are having the same issue but it doesn't seem like anyone can figure out a fix. So I am stuck for now. This last guy said I am supposed to get a credit on my bill for the inconvenience but I feel like I need to follow up on that!

PT follow up: the PT "L" told me she is not sure why I am feeling all this pain. She gave me some other exercises to try. She doesn't understand that this is about the time I get bored with PT and stop doing it on my own. I only have so much stamina.  But she did give me the OK to use the stationary bike so I am stoked about that! 

Until tomorrow...

COMCAST

I have been having a problem with my comcast app on my iPad.  About a two weeks ago I stopped being able to watch any show or movie that was rated above a G rating. So I can watch Sponge Bob Square Pants but I can't watch Game of Thrones. I have the same problem on my computer.  I find this  very inconvenient. I watch a lot of shows on my iPad.

The reason this is so concerning is that on the TV our Comcast works perfectly fine. No restrictions at all.  I spent one hour today on the phone with Comcast trying to fix this. Last week I spent 45 minutes on the phone with three different techs trying to fix this.  Seems that Comcast for some reason has put parental controls on my online account but I don't have access to turn them off.  Now the problem has been elevated to a super tech who is supposed to contact me tomorrow to fix it. Fingers crossed.

These types of tech things just drive me crazy. Everything is working fine then, BAM! It all goes haywire. Like when my cellphone updated the Walgreens app and BAM my cellphone stopped working. To this day if I turn on my old cellphone it tries to download the Walgreens app two years later.

Until tomorrow...

PHYSICAL THERAPY CANCELLED

This morning I got up really early to go to physical therapy (PT).  A few weeks ago my physical therapist "L" set up a number of future appointments. One of them was at 8:30 am today. I schlepped all the way to the office (on my crutches) at the crack of dawn.  When I got there they told me I didn't have an appointment. I explained that I did have an appointment scheduled.  It turns out that L made a mistake when she booked the appointment and didn't save it in the computer or something.  I had it on my calendar but they didn't have it on theirs.

They told me I could hang around for an hour for another appointment.  I was not interested in hanging around for one hour at 8:30 am with nothing to do.  I told them I would see them on Wednesday. 

I will be sending them a bill with my cancellation rate.  I do get to charge them a cancellation fee, right??  At least it can charge them for my parking fee.

Until tomorrow...

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Just wanted to say Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there. I bought my father some wine to be delivered to him on the East Coast. When I ordered it I was unsure of his travel plans so I arranged to have it delivered to my brothers home. They live nearby so I knew there was plenty of time for either my dad to go to my brothers house to pick up the box or my brother to go to my dads to deliver the box.

The wine people screw up and ship it to me on the West Coast. Huh?!  Do they not know the difference between the West Coast and the East Coast?  They have to reship the wine to the East Coast. Now it is getting closer to Father's Day. 

They promise me it will arrive in two days; by Friday a week before Father's Day.  So, what do you think? Does it arrive? Of course not!  My poor brother and his family waited around all day for the FedEx guy.  

By this time my father has arrived back home and I could have shipped it directly to his home the second time but it was in transit.  It finally arrives on Monday but no one was home to sign for it.  Since it was alcohol, FedEx will not leave it.  FedEx comes again on Tuesday and the box gets signed for. Finally!!! 

A few days later my brother deliverd the box to our dad.  Such a saga just to ship wine.  I am never using this company again.  My dad has not tried the wine yet so I hope he likes it.

Until tomorrow...

FOOT UPDATE

I hurt my foot back in late March.

Also in medical news, I called my doctor about my sore foot.  My left foot has been bothering me since our vacation.  I am not sure if it is from the bad massage or from banging it on something or just from walking.  My primary told me to see my podiatrist.  She can see me in the morning.  My primary said I am too complicated!  Well, he said my left ankle/foot is too complicated.  That is the ankle that I tore my ligament and walked on it for a year prior to it being found that I tore the ligament and had surgery.  More news on this tomorrow.

 Went to the doctor to hear I have a stress fracture.

The pain subsided then started up again. Turns out I have RSD.

This means crutches and PT for weeks.

I have lots of PT homework. Some days my foot looks like it is getting better and other days it looks like my recovery is going in reverse. Today was a reverse day. My foot ached all day long. I tried to keep off it for a large part of the day.

I am sure it will feel better tomorrow.

Until tomorrow....

GOT A HAIRCUT? NO, I GOT THEM ALL CUT.

It is an old joke.

I got my haircut today and it made me SO happy.  It made psychologically happy. I had no idea how much the weight of my hair was weighing me down. I had not had my haircut since before my vacation. That would mean mid-March. That is just about three months ago.

My hair grows fast. I don't just mean normal fast. I mean super fast. If I were wealthy (and really care about these things) I would get my hair cut every 4-5 weeks to make it look good all the time. Maybe even three weeks to keep it tight. At 6 weeks I look shaggy and anything beyond that I look in desperate need of a haircut.  This morning my hair was so long it was in my eyes. I actually used a clip last night so I didn't have to keep wiping it out of my eyes every five minutes.

Now it is nice and short. I find myself still wiping it out of my eyes even though there is nothing to wipe. It will take a few days.

Until tomorrow...

THE MORNING CHECK

I don't know about you but every morning I do the Morning Check.  First I check my hands. Are they swollen? Do they hurt? Then I check my feet. Can I step down on them? Do they hurt?  Then I check the rest of my body.  Does anything feel inflamed? In pain? Weird?

Then I step down on my feet. Since I have RA significantly in my feet, it is always a test to see the pain level when I take those first steps. My days of bounding out of bed are long gone. While I walk to let the pups out does the pain subside or do I want to climb back into bed for a bit longer. 

For the majority of the days the pain level drops as I move around or take a hot shower. But for a smaller percentage of the days, I do climb back in bed and get a little more time. For an even smaller percentage I get back in bed for a majority of the day. I haven't had one of those days for some time. But with this foot I have had so many days laying on the couch.

I read about this great book China Dolls by Lisa See. She also wrote Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. It sounds like an interesting story of three women who danced at a Chinese-American club in San Francisco in the 1930s. I plan on reading it in the future.  I just finished reading Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore. It was such an entertaining story. I can't even think of how to describe it other than to say it was a treasure hunt of sorts. 

Until tomorrow...

PT UPDATE AND COOKING

Went to PT today and once again she pushed and poked my foot. I am happy I won't see her for five days. This will give me a chance to rest my foot a bit.

Today I made two delicious items.

End Of Summer Vegetable Soup. It is very tasty with the dill and very easy to make. Also very quick to make. I used vegetable stock instead of chicken.

Spring Asparagus Couscous.  This was a little harder to make but not by much. It just had more moving parts. It is super delicious but I did leave out the feta cheese. I chose Italian parsley to be my fresh herb. I can't wait until tomorrow to eat some more. The asparagus and kalamata olives worked really great together.

Until tomorrow...

STARTED ON MY OFFICE

I started in ernest on cleaning my office. I emptied out six bags/briefcases/computer bags. I have a bunch of clients and when I get really busy I just grab a bag to put my work in for a client. So I end up with a different bag for each client. Now that work has slowed, I spent the day cleaning out the bags.

I found about 10 pens, a bunch of post-its, many paper clips, and tons of junk to recycle. I kept about 3%.  I am going to wash the cloth bags and I cleaned off the leather bags. 

This week I want to clean off my chair. I have this great wing backed chair that is wonderful to read or work in. Right now it has a ton of junk in it and I want to clear it off. 

My foot was less painful this morning but now it is throbbing. 

Until tomorrow...

THE TEST SAYS: UTI

This morning things went from bad to worse. My symptoms got worse. I called the doc first thing. He called me back right away.  I got some Cipro. So now I can get rid of an UTI and Anthrax poisoning.

With two pills in my system, I feel like a new person.

I went to PT today. I was feeling really good about my foot. It has been feeling better the past two days. I am doing all the excercises religiously.

Then came PT. Since I am feeling better it is time for PT to get more aggressive. What fun! She rubbed and poked my foot. It was all I could do not to scream in pain. She kept telling me to breathe. My face was turning a lovely shade of beet red.  She said she needs loosen up the tendons in my foot. Since I have not walked on my foot in months the tendons have tightened up.  They need to be relaxed. Lots of fun "relaxing" them. Seems more stressful to me.

Until tomorrow...

IS IT A UTI?

Today I had the UTI-type symptoms again. I don't know what is going on but I am calling the doc first thing in the morning. This has got to end.  Going to the bathroom every five minutes is exhausting. 

Sleeping in a real bed was wonderful!!! I slept like a baby.  Little Lucky seems confused. She didn't want to get in her bed. (The same bed she slept in upstairs) then once she did, she got up in the middle of the night and slept somewhere else. Tonight she will be leashed to keep her in her bed.  

Until tomorrow...

WE GOT OUR HOUSE BACK

We spent the whole day cleaning the bedroom and bathroom so we can move back downstairs. It probably is not good for my foot but in the long run it will be good for my foot. And my back. And neck. 

We washed down the walls, baseboards, windows, doors. Took off all the plastic covering all the furniture. Vacuumed the floors and curtains.  Then we moved our stuff downstairs. 

We also used this time to move some furniture around. I have always wanted my jewelry cabinet by my side of the bed so I can access my jewelry easily. I can also use it to plug in my cellphone/iPad/Kindle.

I can't wait to go to bed.  Plus I can watch TV in the TV room with On Demand. Yay!

On a sad note: Poor California Chrome. He just didn't have it in him to run that far. 

Until tomorrow...

NO ANSWER

I called the doc first thing in the morning and was sent to the lab at lunch time to have a urine test. Unfortunately my doc didn't call me back with the results I am not sure if that is because the lab work didn't come back or he got too busy on a Friday afternoon or the lab work is fine and he just didn't call me. I am feeling better than I did on Thursday night.  Let's hope it stays that way.

Until tomorrow...

ANOTHER UTI?

I don't know what is going on. I have chills and feel like I have another UTI.  But how could that be?  I am going to call the doc in the morning. I need to figure this out.  I am tired of running back and forth to the bathroom!

Until tomorrow...

DOC RETIRING

Today I went to see my RA doc. The last time I saw her I was rushed to the emergency room. Since then I have had a CT scan, fractured my foot, another scan, colonoscopy, 2 x-rays, an MRI and RSD in my foot.  I have also had a flare. It has been a busy three months!

Then she dropped her bomb shell. She is retiring at the end of the year. I know doctors retire. I just was unprepared that she would retire so soon. She is quite young and vibrant but she had a challenging year with family and health issues.  I understand.  She said she would make sure I had a new doctor.  It is just unsettling.  When I told Brenda she asked me if I thought she would be my doctor forever.  Well, no. But I thought I would have more notice. Like when she was 75 or something!

Other news: the bathroom is complete!! We can move downstairs tomorrow!! Yay!!  I miss my bed.

Until tomorrow...

SLIDING INTO HOMEPLATE

We are sliding into homeplate with the bathroom renovation.  Yesterday and today they tiled and grouted the bathtub. They have to finish the jacuzzi door and silicone around the top of the tub and seal the whole thing. Then they are done!!!

This is the way it used to look.

Quite an improvement!!  Can't wait for it to be done.

Until tomorrow...

FOOT PHYSICAL THERAPY

Today was my first day of physical therapy for my foot.  It is agreed, I have RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome).  The PT was okay.  There was light rubbing of my foot, some easy exercises and lots of discussion about what to do and not to do. 

I will be going to PT twice a week for the new few weeks.  Seems I have a serious case. Not the worst case she has seen but it won't get better in a week. 

Someone told me about an ABC TV show Black Box episode a few weeks ago where a patient had RSD.  I am going to watch it tomorrow. 

Until tomorrow...

ORGANIZING HEALTHCARE STUFF

Over the past few days I started cleaning out my office. First I took our used batteries to the recycling spot. Then I took all my healthcare stuff and organized it. I don't know about you but I get authorizations for treatment, stsements that show how much the insurance company has paid, lab results, and various other correspondence.  I decided to organize this and put it all in a binder so I can find it if I need it.  

Now you might ask why would I want to keep it? I hear you. With a chronic disease it is quite useful to keep this information. Especially the labs. I go back and look to see if there have been changes. I sometimes catch things before my docs.  The statements help me at the end of the year with my taxes and also with my yearly co-pays.  I have found many mistakes with The-Insurance-Company-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.  Their accounting department sucks. In 2013 I met my $4,000 deductible in January.  In November of 2013 I was told I had not met my deductible for 2013. They are crazy! 

So I feel like I have accomplished something. My medical stuff is organized and in one place for a change. Now I need to figure out where to put the binder.  What do you do with your medical stuff? 

Until tomorrow...