REMEMBERING PAST COSTOCONDRITIS ATTACKS

Today I am feeling much better. I spent half the day sitting up watching TV and the other half dozing after taking 1/2 a pain pill.

I am not sure I can remember the first time I got costocondritis. I think I was in college. The doctor didn't call it costocondritis. I am not sure what he called it.  I remember getting Tylenol or Advil (when was Advil invented?) or something. I also remember getting the same pain in my shoulder collar bone area but I was told that was bursitis. I have a feeling it was all the same thing. This was way before I was diagnosed with RA, but as I have said in the past I feel I had RA long before I was diagnosed.

I remember one time I had costocondritis for so long I was sick and tired of wearing undershirts. I had to go out and buy more undershirts.  I think I wore them for a month because I could not wear my bra due to the pain around my rib cage. 

The good thing about getting this over the long Labor Day weekend is I have no where to be. Of course on the flip side, I am doing nothing but sleeping on a glorious long weekend. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY AFTER ER VISIT

After my ER visit yesterday, I had to go get my pain meds. During my drive and wait for the drugs, I felt horrible. I was in horrible pain and quite nauseous.  Once I took the meds I got into bed. That felt much better. 

I spent the day in bed hopped up on pain meds.  I took the one pill and after about one hour I could hardly keep my eyes open. I put on a movie and promptly fell asleep. Then I woke up and put on the Simpsons Marathon and fell asleep again. This pattern went on all day.  Folks kept asking if I was in pain. Well, no I am asleep. 

Now it has been a few hours since the pill has worn off and I am in less pain.  Let's hope this means I am healing.

Until tomorrow...

ER VISIT FOR COSTROCONDRITIS

Yesterday my chest began hurting. At first I ignored it. Right, don't we all do that?  Then this morning I woke up and my chest was still bothering me. It felt like my bra was too tight. As the day wore on I felt tired and a bit nauseous. No energy. I basically sat on the couch all day and read a book and watched TV.  No exercise.  I did surf the web to see what could be wrong. I thought it was costocondritis but it felt different. The pain was higher not in my ribs where I usually have it. Then I got pain on the left side of my back and up into my neck.  I got scared. I had all the symptoms of a heart attack. 

I told Brenda I needed to go to the hospital.  Normally I would procrastinate before going to the ER. Not this time. I packed up my bag and called a cab. I got there and told them I had chest pains. Boy is that the golden ticket. I was swept in the doors. No registering.  Put right on the EKG machine. 

Long story short, it was not a heart attack, it was costocondritis they think. I was sent home 3.5 hours later with some pain medicine.  I had my regular ER doc and she let me choose what type of meds I wanted: more steroids, pain meds, Advil.  I even got to choose my pain meds!   She said I knew my meds and diagnosis better than she did. I like that. 

I was so happy I was prepared. I had my kindle, iPad, and phone. I watched two TV shows and texted with my friend, A.  My cell reception sucked so I could not talk to anyone but I could text.  I tried to read my new book but the elderly woman next to me was hard of hearing and everyone had to shout at her which made it hard to concentrate.  

Until tomorrow...

WATCHING THE CLASSICS

Over the years I have recorded things on DVD from the TV. Some are movies from cable others are programs from other channels. A few years ago PBS had a Fall of Jane Austin.  I recorded almost all the programming.  Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion, Sense & Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice.  There were also some Madterpiece Classics like Cranford. I am excited to watch them.  I have never seen or read any of these classics. I tried to read Pride and Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility years ago but didn't make it far. 

Today was not a good day. I am not feeling that well. I have this tightness in my chest. I am not sure what it is from. It could be from the Zumba I did this morning or from heartburn. I am not sure if it from either.  I was a bit out of breath and my chest feels tight.  I only did 7 miles on the stationary bike on level 3 today. I thought it would be smart to take it easy.  Then I took Carafate before I ate dinner in case it was heartburn.  I will see if I feel better tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

MOST AWESOME SERVICE

While cleaning out my office I found a bunch of stuff that needed to be shredded. At first I tried shredding with my personal shredder. But then I saw the mounds of paper and realized I needed professional help. I found a personal shredding company.  They would come to my house and shred it in front of me but I opted to go to their office because I needed to run some errands.

I pulled up and they came out to greet me. They carried my boxes in and had me choose the type of shredding. Did you know there were levels of shredding? Level six is the highest. Basically it is almost dust. Okay not quite but really tiny partials. I chose the largest particles they had which still seemed pretty small to me. I think he said level four.  There must be half sizes or something because there were a bunch of steps between the level four pieces and the level six pieces.

The feed the paper into the machine and out comes confetti. Huge amounts of it.  Then I had to sign some papers and pay and off I went. I don't think it took 15 minutes.  The most awesome service ever!  I can't wait to have more shredding.  It was so worth it. It would have taken me days and would have burnt out the shredder to even put a dent in this pile.

Rode the stationary bike for 60 minutes on level 3 for 10.75 miles.

Until tomorrow...

FINDING SOMETHING LOST

Last week I could not find something. What it is is not important.  It was very important. Without it something else was going to stop working so I needed to find it. I searched everywhere.  When I could not find it, I called the place that sold it to me.  They said they had a problem with this. Many of this product were shipped without it.  I thought, Wow, I hadn't lost it. It was never given to me.

Then today I was cleaning up some stuff and low and behold, I found what I was looking for. I had it all along.  I just misplaced it.

Here is a photo of my delicious dinner: zucchini log, tofu, green beans, baked beans, orzo salad.

Today I tried Wii Fit for 30 minutes.  Then I rode the stationary bike for 60 minutes for 10.75 miles on level 3.

Until tomorrow...

TASTY FOOD

Made some great food today.  I made these burritos that I freeze and then take out and nuke when I need a fast lunch or dinner. I wrap wild rice, grilled peppers, grilled squash, black beans, salsa in a tortilla.  They are really good.

Then I made a summer orzo salad.  It has fresh corn, green beans and cherry tomatoes.  I used the basil from the garden.

Then I made stuffed zucchini logs. I didn't take a photo but they were really tasty.  They had the zucchini insides, red pepper, carrot, cashews and wild rice. I was uncertain at first but it was really tasty.  I liked the crunch from the cashews.

I will have very tasty food for the next few days.

I rode the stationary bike for 60 minutes for 10.75 miles on level 3.

 Until tomorrow...

RODE A REAL BIKE TODAY

Today I decided to go to a local event where the streets are closed off so folks can walk, bike, skateboard, etc. without getting run over by a car.  I rode my bike to the event mostly because it was all downhill. Then I rode from one end of the event to the other.  It was about 3.75 miles.  I knew I would probably not be able to ride home so I put my bike on the bus. I was nervous at first about putting my bike on the bus but some folks helped me out and now I am a master.

I was real proud of myself for attending alone. Someone was supposed to go with me but it got complicated. He didn't really understand that I am a beginner and this was my first time on my bike after a long hiatus due to my foot injury.  He wanted to go on a long 2 hour bike ride at a place that was far away (we were going to have to bike to the place and then bike for 2 hours and then bike home).  I had a decent time on my own plus I could go at my own pace.

I am back on two wheels!!

Until tomorrow...

HAWK?

The other day we looked out of the window and we saw a bird. It was a big bird. It looked like it was eating an animal. We looked a little closer and the bird looked like some sort of hawk. 

If you are a frequent reader you have read about our menagerie of animals in our backyard: raccoons, egrets, rats, fish, skunks, hummingbirds, dogs, cats, etc.  Now we can add some sort of hawk.

Later in the morning we looked out and the hawk was back. It flew around and caught a small bird.  It landed with the bird in the fence. After a bit it flew off.  Brenda insisted I get the very dead bird and dispose of it.  A few hours later the hawk returned and seemed confused. It's prey was gone. I have not seen it since.  During this whole incident the dogs were going crazy. They went outside with their noses in the air, running around trying to find what smelled.  It added some excitement to their lives.

Went for a walk today.

Until tomorrow...

PACKAGE LOST

My brother and I have been upgrading my computer for a week now. We thought we were close to being done but then we decided to change backup systems.  Two days ago I ordered a better model.  Today the website said it was delivered. Huh? Delivered where. I called the delivery company (it was not one of the big three) and it took them a while to figure it out.  Here's the story:

The company that I ordered the back up system from made some sort of mistake in the shipping address.  I know it was right because it is also my billing address and my credit card would have never gone through.   The delivery company had a substitute on the route that day. He was only working 1/2 of the day. The sub delivered the package to who knows where.  I called to find out where the package was and the delivery company could not track it down because the sub had gone home and would not be back until Monday. No one knows where the package is and I doubt it will still be there on Monday.

If it is lost, the company I bought it from will have to send me another one.

I rode the stationary bike for one hour on level 3/4 for 11 miles.

Until tomorrow...