The Midlife Reframe

Category: sick

  • Diverticulitis, Liquid Diet, and I Want a Cheeseburger

    Well, it has been an interesting week.

    A little background:

    About 20 years ago, I was diagnosed with IBS. After meds and a diet change, I was able to control flare ups.

    I then went into remission for years.

    But….

    The past few weeks I have some instances of issues, which I attributed to the return of IBS. I went to the doctor and she prescribed some antispasmodics and sent me off for bloodwork.

    So last Saturday, I went for said bloodwork. Felt a little off. By the evening I started to have intense cramping and feeling unwell overall.

    Took the antispasmodics…nothing.

    I marched myself up to bed, turned in my heating pad and relaxed until bed.

    Sunday, no better, and had switched to a bland diet.

    Woke up Monday, and thought I was feeling better, but I started back with the cramping and nausea.

    Went to the ER Monday afternoon, and they were over capacity. I had a five minute assessment. The doctor told me to come back in the morning.

    Was told to take Tylenol while I was there Monday. It didn’t even take the edge off.

    So, Monday morning my mother picked me up way before daylight. We drove out and I was fourth in line.

    After some tests, and a doctor’s physical assessment, I was diagnosed with diverticulitis.

    I was given a prescription for Amoxiclav and Naproxen, and also sent home with Tylenol 3, was advised on a diet, and told to have a colonoscopy in 3 months.

    I’m not really hopeful on the colonoscopy in 3 months, because our healthcare system is awful and slow and understaffed.

    Got the meds, went home, and went horizontal. The fatigue was unreal.

    So, taking mega antibiotics on a liquid only diet is NOT good on the stomach. It elevated the nausea.

    Long story getting longer, I was horizontal until about Thursday.

    I was able to get up and eat soft foods. That definitely made a difference when it came to the antibiotics.

    My strength started to come back.

    I started feeling human on Friday.

    Starting to slowly introduce food back into my diet.

    I really really really really want a cheeseburger.

    Knowing that this could possibly happen again, not a fan.

    Adjusting my diet again, and reading up on this godforsaken condition.

    This where I’m at.

    I’m hoping this is it for the weirdness that is 2024.

    Stay tuned…I’ll keep posting any other weird events!

  • Post Covid, Vacation, and other Random Things

    Well, let me tell you one thing. Covid wasn’t great. Sickest I’ve been in a while. My taste and smell are coming back, as well as my energy.

    I am currently on vacation, so it was great to have the time off to get better. By the time week one was done I was starting to enjoy my time.

    I was able to get my room sorted with the help of my daughter. My depression had been living in my room for quite some time. Got a full garbage bag full of stuff to turf. Some time this week I’ll tackle my closet, which is a whole different beast.

    Mid clean…I should have done a before shot.
    So much clutter gone!

    Reset my coffee station by my bed. I had lots of pods that were buried in the mess my room had become.

    We have a bunch of stuff that we are purging, so once it stops raining I’ll be lugging stuff out so our downstairs doesn’t look like a bad thrift store.

    Having a mental illness affects so much in your life. I will feel so much better once we’re not surrounded by items we no longer use/that are broken. Clutter in the brain and clutter in the house is not a good combo.

    About a year ago I wrote about my weight gain and my struggles with it. I have accepted where I am with it, and now that my energy is returning I can get back to being active again. Movement is good for the body and the brain. My running may take a bit to come back, but that’s okay. Slow and steady for a full return is better than no return at all.

    I was able to participate in the Pride Parade this past weekend, and was light headed afterwards, so I know what my limit is right now. Thanks Covid.

    All in all, things are okay right now. Taking this break is really making a difference. I am feeling rested.

    Now to continue my de-depressioning of this apartment by finishing up laundry and getting the kitchen sorted.

    Let’s go!

  • COVID

    I learned on Sunday that I was exposed to Covid-19.

    I tested Monday Morning, negative.

    So, I went about my day. My throat was kind of dry as the day went on, but didn’t think much about it, as I find the office air dry some days.

    I woke up early Tuesday and I was not feeling good. Took another rapid test…..and it lit up like a Christmas tree.

    Well fuck.

    I waited until a half decent hour and called my kiddo (who is in the bedroom next to mine) to tell her the situation.

    Her response: “Oh fuck”

    I managed to work from home on Tuesday. But Wednesday was a different story. I slept most of Wednesday. The fatigue and the tightness of my chest was overwhelming. That and fighting the headache. It was just all too much.

    Thursday saw me not as fatigued, but still quite ill. I made it through the day, and started getting head congestion. It seems to be this slow moving virus for me, each day adding something different.

    Friday, I was feeling better. My daughter, luckily, had been testing negative and was clear to go on her planned trip to Montreal. We Facetimed and off she went. I was now able to roam the apartment. The change of scenery was welcome. I sat down on the balcony for my 1 hour of outside time in the early afternoon with a glass of grapefruit juice.

    I took a drink of said juice and could barely taste it. By the time I was halfway through the glass I couldn’t taste it. I had the sensation of the “bite” it has, but no taste. Another COVID hit. Later on I became more congested and a fever started. I took meds and went to bed.

    Here we are on Saturday. I still can’t taste. Fever is gone. Still congested in the head and chest (cough still hanging around). My smell isn’t great either. I don’t seem to be as fatigued, but I am trying to not move around as much as I did yesterday.

    All in all, this sucks. I haven’t been this sick in quite some time. I am so very thankful for vaccines as I would hate to think how much worse this would be if I wasn’t vaccinated.

    Time to take a break and get more rest. Writing has zapped some of my energy.

    Stay safe out there. Wear your mask. Keep washing your hands.

    COVID sucks ass. That is all.

  • Rearranging My Room, The Head Cold, and Why is My Cat Being an Asshole?

    I decided (on Boxing Day) that I needed to rearrange my room.

    It is only the second time I’ve done this since living in this apartment because my room is an L shaped room. It stresses me out to rearrange it.

    I really wanted to move my stuff from one end to the other, but then I wouldn’t be able to open my door. Sigh.

    So, my bed is against a side wall, facing my windows. Not sure if this will last. But my brain wanted change, so this is it for now.

    (If I make it more than a month, I’ll consider it a win. My anxiety will determine juuuuust how long it stays that way.)

    Day after Boxing Day: wake up with boogerhead. Do some shopping. Get home and sit down. The plague arrives.

    Not really what I wanted, especially with the Resolution Run coming up on January 1st.

    I pretty much lived in bed with sinus meds on the 28th. Today (the 29th), I am out of bed and downstairs (woooooo). Still congested, but not dying!

    During all of this, my oldest cat (Nala, pictured above) decided to become a gigantic asshole and meow through the night…in my room…on my bed. Sometimes she just sits by my dresser and meows at the wall.

    I am thinking she may not like my room rearranging. (It’s better than thinking my room is haunted.)

    It hasn’t helped with me getting my rest, and when she’s had enough, she just saunters out at around 3am to go downstairs to her bed.

    She is old. Maybe she’s just being cranky to change. Maybe she’s trying to tell me I was wrong to change my room around. What does she know that I don’t?

    Maybe I need to take more meds and have a nap, lol.

    I am going to win this cold war, one nose blow at a time.

    Not sure about the Nala war. She may win that one, lol.

    Stay tuned to see if my brain decides to rearrange my room, again.

  • Scotland: The End

    The trip of a lifetime.

    Our whole time in Scotland was like a dream.

    Then I got sick, lol.

    This meant some shuffling around of activities, but we had a complete blast the last few days out and about in Edinburgh.

    We took one beautiful day and did some walking tours.

    Our first tour was through a part of the Underground South Bridge Vaults in Edinburgh with Auld Reekie Tours.  These vaults date back to 1700.  They were used as living quarters, brothels and bars over the years.  They were also used for “black magic” and a local coven set up a temple in one of the vaults to banish the negative energy.

    These vaults are creepy, that’s for sure.

    The Wiccan Temple

    Outside the vault entrance of the Wiccan Temple

    The cursed stone circle

    Looking out of the vault

    After being creeped out by the most excellent tour guide, we bummed around town a bit before our evening walking tour.

    We checked out Holyrood, Arthur’s Seat, Scottish Parliament and of course we had burgers, lol.

    Loved all the little “secret streets” off the Royal Mile

    One of the quotes on the wall down to the Scottish Parliament

    Arthur’s Seat

    Side Gate at Holyrood

    Scottish Parliament

    Entrance to Holyrood

    Tea with the Queen anyone?

    You can see the Abbey in the back

    Back up the Royal Mile

    The Heart of Lothian (you spit on this…for real)

    St. Giles Cathedral

    Our evening tour was one of the free walking tours held by SANDEMANs.  We chose this Dark Side tour to hear more about Edinburgh’s creepy history.  Our guide was awesome.  He was really funny and gave us multiple opportunities to stop and take pics along the way.  The most amazing views were from Calton Hill.  Calton Hill is the home of the National Monument and Nelson’s Monument.

    Nelson’s Monument

    The National Monument (also known as the National Shame)

    Going down Jacob’s Ladder (they moved coffins up and down these stairs)

    Walking Tours are a great way to learn about the city and the guides are great for giving you tips and tricks for food and attractions.

    We were lucky enough to be staying close to the Edinburgh Zoo, so our next day was spent with the animals, after some food at the Cocobean Cafe.  We were lucky enough to see one of the pandas 🙂

    YUM

    Meerkats

    Red Panda

    Sleepy Tiger

    Kangarooooooooos

    Rhino

    Heeeeeeeeeey

    Hi Panda!

    Bye Panda!

    Our last day of running around Edinburgh was spent in town gathering goodies to take home and making sure TeenThing had motion sickness meds, as the plane ride over was not fun for her.

    So, before we packed it in, we had to go to The Scotch Whisky Experience!  We did the Silver Tour and had a great time.  I wish I had gotten a video of TeenThing’s face when she tasted her whisky, lol.  The tour ended in the largest whisky collection (3,384 unopened bottles of whisky).  It was amazing.

    Off in a barrel we go!

    I am so sick in this picture, lol.

    We both chose to taste whiskey from the Speyside region

    The walls were alllllll bottles

    The oldest whiskey in the collection

    The man who donated the 3,000+ bottles

    Our Sunday was spent resting and getting ready to head home to Nova Scotia.  We had to be in bed early to get up at 4:00 so we could grab the bus into the Glasgow Airport.

    On our way, we talked about “the next time we visit”, and I sure hope we do get over again.  I am in love with Scotland!

    Thanks for coming along with me on our little adventure.

    Bye bye Edinburgh. Until we meet again.

    @crazymamaruns

  • And Then I Got Sick

    Yes, sick.

    Coming off my BlogJam high I went into work on Monday.
    It came and went with it’s usual routine.

    Then Tuesday.  Tuesday I woke up and felt like a slug.  Dragged my butt into work and made it through the day.

    What time did I get to bed?  8:35pm.
    Like a BOSS.
    Needless to say I was laid out Wednesday and Thursday with sinus pressure and total grossness.  No physical activity was had last week.

    The cats were checking in on me constantly.

    Time to re-evaluate…

    So, because I have a mental illness, there are times that my immune system is not at it’s best.  I mean, depression and anxiety = long term stress.  So the days leading up to my first speaking engagement, they were some super stressful days.  Exciting stress, but stress all the same.
    As I took care of myself those two days I was at home I started to think of my food, hydration, meditation and wondered if I needed something else to bolster my immune system so that I would not be as easy to infect.
    I decided to go back on a multivitamin.   A women’s multivitamin, because let’s face it, I am over 40 😉

    Now I know what some people think.

    You need to sweat that shit out.  Sweat out those germs.
    NO.
    Putting extra stress on my already weakened immune system?  Sorry, not an option.
    I learned a looooooong time ago, when TeenThing was a wee one, that pushing through being sick is not always a good thing.
    When she was just over a year old, I ended up in the hospital for a week.  My body was in shut down mode.  They had no idea what was wrong with me.  To this day, there is still no explanation as to what was wrong.  I was jaundiced, fatigued, and I hurt.  I was in isolation for the first few days.  They took 6 vials of blood every morning.  I saw so many different doctors and they wanted biopsies, yuck (which did not happen – yay).  Finally, I just started to feel better and was able to go home (in a raging snowstorm, but taxis were out and I was NOT staying in there any longer than I had to!).

    Lesson:  My life, my body, my child, are the most important things.  When you are sick, rest dammit. 

     

    And hey, getting better means apple picking baby!

     

    I’ve said it before, self care ROCKS.  Not only mental self care, but physical self care as well.  Being a person is hard these days.  We need to remember that just because the world is going a gazillion km per hour doesn’t mean WE have to keep that pace.
    So if you are sick, take care of yourself.  We have sick days for a reason.  Not using them is not going to win you any brownie points.  Same with exercise/training.  Taking a couple of days to rest is not going to set you back so far that you will suffer any major setback.
    Stay home.
    Get better.
    Then go and kick some ass.

     

     

  • Something Serious…

    I’ve talked about it before.

    This whole issue surrounding mental illness and it’s stigma.

    I told my story in a previous post (the short and sweet version) but still I hear of so may of those suffering and who are pushed aside.

    These aren’t celebrities.  These are your everyday people.  Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, lawyers, doctors, police officers, men and women who serve our country, and I could go on.

    To belittle a mental illness takes us back to the days where they would not bury mentally ill people in the church yard because they had “demons”.

    This illness is real.  To ask for help is hard.  To accept you are ill with something no one can “see” is harder.

    When someone shares the fact that they have mental illness, they trust you.  Trust you enough to not turn away in disgust or pity.

    And even if help is given and accepted, we have setbacks.  Just like every other illness.  Sometimes treatment is a life long thing.  The battle is a daily one.

    People with mental illness need to know they matter.

    We don’t want to be treated differently.  But we do want people to understand.

    Sometimes our bad days are really bad.  To go outside and face the world too overwhelming.

    We didn’t chose this.  We didn’t ask for it.  We don’t want to “stay that way”.

    We are sick.

    We are human.

    We matter.

       

  • When Life Gets in the Way….

    Like this past week.

     

    Yep, that was my look when last Tuesday hit.

     I’ve had an EVIL cold.  Not just a regular old head cold.  It is accompanied by this lovely hacking cough.

    And of course it’s that really random cough that happens at the most inappropriate times:  on a long bus ride, laying down, sitting up, during regular breathing, when you are trying to have a regular conversation…..you get the idea.  I sound like seal.

    I only wish I looked this cute!

    Fluids, rest, get what fitness I can in during my day, and rest some more.  This has been my agenda since last Tuesday.

    Now I know some folks would think…

    Hey fitness chick, sweat that puppy out!

    If it was a head cold and a week later, I would agree.  I would have been moving and grooving once the head cleared up.  A cough is a different story. Especially with running.  I need the lungs in good shape!! (even with my gimpy short runs right now) This has, of course put a stop to my hot yoga classes and any other group oriented fitness.  I don’t want to spread that love around.  Besides, I’d scare the living crap out of everyone in Savasana!!

    Since I am older, wiser and not AS stubborn

     

    I am taking the time I NEED to get better.  I am walking, I am moving and I am RESTING.  I am no good to anyone else, especially me, if I don’t take the time I need to get better.  

    That last statement goes for any situation that life throws at you.  Take the time YOU need to deal with it.  Not what anyone else (outside of the medical profession of course) tells you is the appropriate amount of time.  AND DON’T FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT EITHER!

    I remember when I was diagnosed with depression, asking the doc how long would it take for me to “feel better”.  She told me not to worry about “how long”.  Everyone is different.

    So, I am hoping my cough makes it exit and I can get back to it sooner rather than later.  If it gets worse, off to the doc.  If it doesn’t and disappears soon – all good.  Just have to patient, and take care of me 🙂