The holidays commenced with mostly a minimal amount of madness this year. Christmas was a bit of a let down. Even though I thought that I'd mentally prepared myself to spend the holiday just The Monkey and me, it turned out to be very difficult. I spent a good deal of Christmas Eve night and Christmas day crying. Er...sobbing. Boo hoo. I don't think it would've been quite so depressing if The Monkey hadn't had a sudden recurrance of his sciatica. It was so bad that he was incapacitated. Eventually I convinced him (and myself) that he needed medical attention. We drove out to the medical center (which is about 45 minutes away) to the ER. We chose to do this instead of going to our local hospital because we know the type of ER care our hospital gives and it's NOT what we were looking for. As it turned out, however, we wasted the extra money in gas because the medical center was just as bad! If not worse. The on call doctor refused to call the on call MRI staff (seeing as how it was Christmas and all) and sent The Monkey home with NO medication. He got three shots in the butt before he left: a steroid, a pain killer, and a muscle relaxer. But that wasn't after the on call ER doc practically drilled him about his prescription drug use. (She was very accusatory with her line of questioning asking him how often our GP prescribes him Lortab for pain; how often he takes it... blah blah blah.) The Monkey was being very polite until I jumped in and told her very sternly that the prescription he was currently taking for pain was nearly a year old and that he almost NEVER takes pain killers if he can help it. It would be one thing if he even looked a little like he was faking it. But, I'm sorry, you can NOT "fake" a significant rise in BP (like 20+ points) or a crazy fast heart rate. He was in a LOT of pain! At any rate, the medication they gave him either did him some good or the rest and massages and stretching we did at home did him some good. Either way, on the 26th he was completely mobile again. He isn't in pain anymore, so to speak. His back no longer hurts and neither does his butt or his leg; but his calf and parts of his right foot are tingly/numb. We know it's a low back nerve issue. We are working on getting him setup for an MRI.
So, yeah, Christmas pretty much sucked. But it's just another day on the calendar, right? I certainly can't let one day (regardless of it's cultural or religious significance) ruin an entire year. 2009 certainly wasn't, by any means, a horrible year. It was full of some ups and downs (what year isn't??) but over all, I think it was pretty darn good.
2009 certainly ended well. The Monkey, as I said before, went from being incapacitated by pain on Christmas to being almost completely normal for New Year's Eve. My sister and family came home from their vacation early so they were all here for New Year's Eve as well. I have to say I was quite happy that they cut their vacation short. As selfish as that may sound! At any rate, we hung out over at my mom and dad's for th evening. We'd brought our X-Box and stuff over their house for Christmas Eve but didn't get to play it because we wound up staying at home. But we did play it on New Year's Eve and it was a lot of fun. I had a few Mike's Spiced Apple (YUM!!) and a couple of weak rum and Cokes. I can't really drink much alcohol these days. Not only do I not drink often so I've become quite the lightweight. Not to mention several of my daily medications interact with alcohol (read: I get drunker WAY faster) so just a few drinks does me in pretty quick. Which is actually kind of nice. I'm definitely a cheap bar date! Anyhow, we rang in the New Year playing pool and having a good time. We left shortly after midnight and came home to sleep.
Speaking of SLEEP... the most exciting part of 2009 happened on New Year's Eve. The Monkey and I actually slept together in the same bed all night!! We haven't slept in the same bed for three years because his snoring was just that bad. I finally bit the bullet and jumped through a dozen hoops to get him set up with a CPAP machine. The first night was horrific because his pressure setting was WAY too low and he felt like he was suffocating. But now that we have that fixed I don't even have to fight with him to put the darn thing on! We woke up early this weekend for our usual routine of cuddling and early morning nookie. Afterwards I fell back asleep. And he did as well. Imagine my surprise when I woke up and saw that he'd put his mask back on to do so! He can certainly tell the difference in how he feels. And WOW... so can I! He already has much more energy. He's been sitting down to play video games (both WoW and X-Box) without falling asleep during. I took more naps this weekend than he did! It has been absolutely incredible and I only wish we'd known years ago how good one of these machines would be for him! I have a feeling that he'll start losing weight easier now that his body is getting recouperative rest. We are both looking forward to being healthier and happier in 2010; even moreso than we were in 2009. (In fact, I've set my sights on a NEW weight loss goal. I lost a total of 33 pounds in 2009 -- about seven pounds short of my goal. My new goal for 2010 is to lose at least another 30. Definitely more if I can manage!)
So alls well that ends well. Now I'm going to go crawl into bed with my husband and go to sleep.
Showing posts with label getting healthy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label getting healthy. Show all posts
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Thursday, November 5, 2009
this is what happens
When depression hits as hard as it has in the past month, things stop getting done. Important things like laundry and scooping the litter boxes. There have been a couple days where I've realized late in the afternoon (sometimes the evening) that I've forgotten to feed the cats.
For the past two weeks The Monkey has had to scrounge for work clothes. I did wash and dry all of the clothes last weekend but I didn't really fold them. And I certainly didn't put anything away (who could be bothered??). So my poor Monkey has had to deal with ironing this week. (Normally he can toss his khakis and a polo into the dryer for a few minutes to "dewrinkle" them.) And searching through heaps of clothes for two matching socks and clean underwear.
Guilt, guilt, guilt.
And so today, the guilt has overtaken the depression momentarily. I've decided that today, I will finish the laundry if it kills me. I will scoop the litter boxes. I will vaccuum and take out the trash. I draw the line at making the bed, though. Pshaw. (And I did remember to feed and water the cats this morning; just so we're clear that I'm not starving my furbabies to death.)
In the mean time, I am babysitting my niece. It's kind of incredible that she is already turning TWO this month. She's a good girl (albeit very spoiled and sometimes rotten). I have to bribe her to get kisses and sometimes she is flat out mean to me for no reason at all. But I guess that's just a toddler for you. My oldest niece was the same way at this age. My nephews, on the other hand, were always loveable to me. So it must be a girl thing.
My whacked out hormones combined with my depression-fueled over eating has caused me to pack on a good 10 pounds. My new jeans are snug. My muffin top is harder to conceal. My face is a LOT fuller. I really and truly need to get back on track with losing weight. I still have two months to meet my resolution/weight loss goal for 2009. I'm toying with the idea of signing us up for Weight Watchers while we still have Cigna insurance. (Cigna offers a discount on Weight Watchers but on January 1st our insurance changes to Blue Cross Blue Shield.) The Monkey is on board for it as long as we don't, you know, fork out the money and then diet for a week or two and quit. Perhaps I'll do some research today in between loads of laundry.
I haven't cooked supper in weeks. So yesterday I went and picked up all of the ingredients to make Philly Cheese Steaks and Tater Tots. We'll see if my Yankee blood shines through.
For the past two weeks The Monkey has had to scrounge for work clothes. I did wash and dry all of the clothes last weekend but I didn't really fold them. And I certainly didn't put anything away (who could be bothered??). So my poor Monkey has had to deal with ironing this week. (Normally he can toss his khakis and a polo into the dryer for a few minutes to "dewrinkle" them.) And searching through heaps of clothes for two matching socks and clean underwear.
Guilt, guilt, guilt.
And so today, the guilt has overtaken the depression momentarily. I've decided that today, I will finish the laundry if it kills me. I will scoop the litter boxes. I will vaccuum and take out the trash. I draw the line at making the bed, though. Pshaw. (And I did remember to feed and water the cats this morning; just so we're clear that I'm not starving my furbabies to death.)
In the mean time, I am babysitting my niece. It's kind of incredible that she is already turning TWO this month. She's a good girl (albeit very spoiled and sometimes rotten). I have to bribe her to get kisses and sometimes she is flat out mean to me for no reason at all. But I guess that's just a toddler for you. My oldest niece was the same way at this age. My nephews, on the other hand, were always loveable to me. So it must be a girl thing.
My whacked out hormones combined with my depression-fueled over eating has caused me to pack on a good 10 pounds. My new jeans are snug. My muffin top is harder to conceal. My face is a LOT fuller. I really and truly need to get back on track with losing weight. I still have two months to meet my resolution/weight loss goal for 2009. I'm toying with the idea of signing us up for Weight Watchers while we still have Cigna insurance. (Cigna offers a discount on Weight Watchers but on January 1st our insurance changes to Blue Cross Blue Shield.) The Monkey is on board for it as long as we don't, you know, fork out the money and then diet for a week or two and quit. Perhaps I'll do some research today in between loads of laundry.
I haven't cooked supper in weeks. So yesterday I went and picked up all of the ingredients to make Philly Cheese Steaks and Tater Tots. We'll see if my Yankee blood shines through.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
enjoy the silence? not so much.
My sister and the rest of the family left for Panama City Beach on Saturday. I've basically been trying to convince myself for the last week and a half that I really didn't care that I wouldn't be able to go down to the beach with them. Not even for a quick day trip. After all, PCB is so overrated, anyway. And we didn't have the money. And blah blah blahbitty blah. But, sure enough, when the house cleared out around noon on Saturday I was crestfallen. Sad, even. I guess I really wanted to see the Emerald Coast after all.
The Monkey isn't as thick as he sometimes lets on. I was sullen most of Saturday afternoon. Not even the Spongebob Spongebash marathon was cheering me up. That's when The Monkey gave me surprise, middle-of-the-afternoon-the-house-is-completely-devoid-of-lifeforms-that-don't-walk-on-all-fours-be-as-loud-as-you-want sex. Which, I'll admit, did cheer me up. But what really made my day was when he said if we had the $20 it would cost for gas that we should go ahead and make the trip down to PCB for the afternoon. At least we could get some sun and get our fill of the beach. (Not to mention SALT WATER TAFFY!)
We got up early Sunday and got to PCB by 11:00 AM. Naturally, the weather was less than cooperative. We would get hit with the 20% chance of showers. [eyeroll] But we got to swim for a couple of hours. And we hung out with my mom in my sister's condo for another hour. Then we headed to Pier Park and picked up a little over a POUND of Salt Water Taffy for yours truly and headed home. (I am ashamed to admit that the pound of taffy was gone within 48 hours. Er...maybe less.
What made the whole trip go sour for me was not the less-than-desirable weather, though. No, it was the fact that upon our return, The Monkey became ill. Fluids coming from both ends. YUK. We had a bit of a scare when his poo because the consistency of coffee grounds. Thankfully the doctor said it was nothing more than a stomach bug (even though our GP sent us to a surgeon to find this out and for several hours I was on razor's edge thinking The Monkey was going to be having an emergency colonoscopy). He was much better by Tuesday evening. His blood pressure was close to normal (130/80) and he's already dropped 10 pounds (though I'm not sure how much of that was mere fluid loss). He's perfectly fine today and back on solid food again. We had tortellini and garlic bread for supper tonight after living on soup and crackers for the past two nights.
The house is too quiet. My sister's poor dog was depressed the first two days they were gone. He barely ate and only came down from his bed upstairs to go outside. But he's been spending much more time downstairs since Tuesday. In fact, he won't leave me alone!
The week has been boooooooring. The Monkey has to work, of course, so I'm home alone all day. As tempted as I've been, I have not been sleeping until noon, though. I spent some time over at my parents' house and ran errands. At night, The Monkey and I have been enjoying oodles of DVR'd movies from the pay channels. My sister pays for Cinemax, Showtime, and HBO but they hardly ever watch movies. I also caught up on So You Think You Can Dance. (In fact, it's about time for me to go upstairs and watch yesterday's show so I can watch the results show later this evening.)
Only 12 more days until we leave for Pennsylvania. I am pretty stoked! I have lots of stuff to occupy my coming week. I need to get our cars reregistered. On the 30th I have to travel to Birmingham to see my RE. On the 31st I have a hair appointment. Then it'll be another mad dash to clean the house and pack before we depart on the 4th! I should get started on a list of what I need to bring NOW so I'm not scrambling later. If only I could figure out a way to drop these last 10 pounds by the 4th... hmmph.
The Monkey isn't as thick as he sometimes lets on. I was sullen most of Saturday afternoon. Not even the Spongebob Spongebash marathon was cheering me up. That's when The Monkey gave me surprise, middle-of-the-afternoon-the-house-is-completely-devoid-of-lifeforms-that-don't-walk-on-all-fours-be-as-loud-as-you-want sex. Which, I'll admit, did cheer me up. But what really made my day was when he said if we had the $20 it would cost for gas that we should go ahead and make the trip down to PCB for the afternoon. At least we could get some sun and get our fill of the beach. (Not to mention SALT WATER TAFFY!)
We got up early Sunday and got to PCB by 11:00 AM. Naturally, the weather was less than cooperative. We would get hit with the 20% chance of showers. [eyeroll] But we got to swim for a couple of hours. And we hung out with my mom in my sister's condo for another hour. Then we headed to Pier Park and picked up a little over a POUND of Salt Water Taffy for yours truly and headed home. (I am ashamed to admit that the pound of taffy was gone within 48 hours. Er...maybe less.
What made the whole trip go sour for me was not the less-than-desirable weather, though. No, it was the fact that upon our return, The Monkey became ill. Fluids coming from both ends. YUK. We had a bit of a scare when his poo because the consistency of coffee grounds. Thankfully the doctor said it was nothing more than a stomach bug (even though our GP sent us to a surgeon to find this out and for several hours I was on razor's edge thinking The Monkey was going to be having an emergency colonoscopy). He was much better by Tuesday evening. His blood pressure was close to normal (130/80) and he's already dropped 10 pounds (though I'm not sure how much of that was mere fluid loss). He's perfectly fine today and back on solid food again. We had tortellini and garlic bread for supper tonight after living on soup and crackers for the past two nights.
The house is too quiet. My sister's poor dog was depressed the first two days they were gone. He barely ate and only came down from his bed upstairs to go outside. But he's been spending much more time downstairs since Tuesday. In fact, he won't leave me alone!
The week has been boooooooring. The Monkey has to work, of course, so I'm home alone all day. As tempted as I've been, I have not been sleeping until noon, though. I spent some time over at my parents' house and ran errands. At night, The Monkey and I have been enjoying oodles of DVR'd movies from the pay channels. My sister pays for Cinemax, Showtime, and HBO but they hardly ever watch movies. I also caught up on So You Think You Can Dance. (In fact, it's about time for me to go upstairs and watch yesterday's show so I can watch the results show later this evening.)
Only 12 more days until we leave for Pennsylvania. I am pretty stoked! I have lots of stuff to occupy my coming week. I need to get our cars reregistered. On the 30th I have to travel to Birmingham to see my RE. On the 31st I have a hair appointment. Then it'll be another mad dash to clean the house and pack before we depart on the 4th! I should get started on a list of what I need to bring NOW so I'm not scrambling later. If only I could figure out a way to drop these last 10 pounds by the 4th... hmmph.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
just a couple more weeks
Because I didn't continue to steadily and slowly lose weight over the past month, I now have to lose five pounds a week to meet my original goal for August. Since that's obviously not going to happen I am going to lose as much as possible between now and then and hope for the best. I'm really hoping my face clears up before our trip. My mom is talking about portraits and I'd really rather not have to look at this face frozen in time. I have a hair appointment scheduled for the 31st. At least I'll have awesome hair.
So I was going to schedule appointments with an endocrinologist to get new prescriptions for my metformin and Sythroid. But, as it turns out, the only endocrinologist that I can see locally requires a referral from my GP before they'll see me. Then I'd have to fuss around and get records from my RE and everything else. I also wanted to get on birth control pills, preferably before left for Pennsylvania, but my OBGYN couldn't get me in until August 17th. GAAH! So I broke down and called my RE instead. They, as usual, were super nice. They said there wouldn't be a problem managing my PCOS and thyroid. So I have an appointment in Bham for the 30th. It sucks that I have to drive all that way for a 30 minute appointment but at least I'll be able to get all of my meds and my annual pap in one shot. Plus I don't have to wait. So it'll be worth it. Not to mention I won't have to worry about sitting in the waiting room at my OBGYN's office amongst all of the pregnant women. I was dreading that more than the papsmear itself.
I have nothing else exciting going on. I'm looking forward to our trip. My sister is going to the beach for a week. They leave on Saturday which leaves The Monkey and I alone for an entire week. Should be good times. I would like to take a trip down to the beach for a day but I'm not sure if I will.
I am thoroughly excited to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on Friday. I'll admit to being a little bummed that we weren't able to go to the midnight premiere last night but I'll get over it. I have absolutely nothing to do today so I think I'll lounge around and try to breeze through the book one more time. I am such a nerd. :P
So I was going to schedule appointments with an endocrinologist to get new prescriptions for my metformin and Sythroid. But, as it turns out, the only endocrinologist that I can see locally requires a referral from my GP before they'll see me. Then I'd have to fuss around and get records from my RE and everything else. I also wanted to get on birth control pills, preferably before left for Pennsylvania, but my OBGYN couldn't get me in until August 17th. GAAH! So I broke down and called my RE instead. They, as usual, were super nice. They said there wouldn't be a problem managing my PCOS and thyroid. So I have an appointment in Bham for the 30th. It sucks that I have to drive all that way for a 30 minute appointment but at least I'll be able to get all of my meds and my annual pap in one shot. Plus I don't have to wait. So it'll be worth it. Not to mention I won't have to worry about sitting in the waiting room at my OBGYN's office amongst all of the pregnant women. I was dreading that more than the papsmear itself.
I have nothing else exciting going on. I'm looking forward to our trip. My sister is going to the beach for a week. They leave on Saturday which leaves The Monkey and I alone for an entire week. Should be good times. I would like to take a trip down to the beach for a day but I'm not sure if I will.
I am thoroughly excited to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on Friday. I'll admit to being a little bummed that we weren't able to go to the midnight premiere last night but I'll get over it. I have absolutely nothing to do today so I think I'll lounge around and try to breeze through the book one more time. I am such a nerd. :P
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
just get it out of your head
Even though getting pregnant right now would be nothing short of stupid I still, in the back of my mind, never stopped wishing it would happen. Of course, it hasn't. And I never, truly expected it to. Just that nagging hope poking the back of my brain...
but what if, what if, what if??
In regards to my girly bits, this past year has been freakish. I am used to not having a period for MONTHS at a time. It's one of the 'hallmarks' of PCOS, after all. But this past year I've been semi-regular. Maybe it comes from living with my ultra-fertile, set-a-clock-by-her-periods regular sister. She gets PMS-y and, sure enough, a few days later I am PMS-y. But, unlike her, my cycles were still erratic. A few times I bled for WEEKS at a time. I'd stop bleeding and be all THANK GOD and jump The Monkey's bones only to hear my sister say "Ugh, I'm getting ready to start..." and, after a mere week's reprieve from bleeding, I would start right along with her. I have wanted to hurt her on more than one occasion because of this.
Gradually the length of my period has been dwindling. The longest I went was 20 days. The shortest being last "cycle" during which I had a light flow for about a week. Only to start again ten days later. So, yeah, it's a bit annoying. Not to mention MAJORLY inconvenient. And a little expensive.
Without insurance, it was kind of pointless for me to try and get birth control pills to control things. Plus I want to be on a specific birth control pill (Yasmin) because the progestin in it has shown to help lower androgens. And it helped me lose weight in 2007 when we went on TTC hiatus post miscarriage. (In less than three months, I believe, I dropped 12-ish pounds.) However, now that I have medical insurance, there really isn't any reason for me to torture myself with these insane cycles. I mean, it's not like they are predictable. And they're wreaking havoc on my sex life. And I really don't need to get pregnant right now. And birth control pills are good for helping with PCOS symptoms. And, all in all, it's a wise decision.
And yet.
what if, what if, what if...?
[sigh]
So I guess it's time to make an appointment with my OBGYN for a slightly overdue annual exam. And it's time to seek out an endocrinologist to have all the routine tests done for hypothyroidism and insulin resistance / PCOS. And it's time to focus on getting The Monkey's back pain under control, even if it means potential spine surgery. And it's long past time for both of us to get our health under control. Especially The Monkey's sleep apnea, weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol.
It sort of feels like closure. It wreaks of finality that I'm not sure I'm ready to go through but know that I need to go through anyway. Hopefully children are still in our future. Hopefully this time next year I'll go back to my RE, get things rolling again, and be knocked up within a few months rather than a few years.
I know it's the right decision. I know it's the adult and smart decision. But that doesn't change how absolutely wrong it feels.
but what if, what if, what if??
In regards to my girly bits, this past year has been freakish. I am used to not having a period for MONTHS at a time. It's one of the 'hallmarks' of PCOS, after all. But this past year I've been semi-regular. Maybe it comes from living with my ultra-fertile, set-a-clock-by-her-periods regular sister. She gets PMS-y and, sure enough, a few days later I am PMS-y. But, unlike her, my cycles were still erratic. A few times I bled for WEEKS at a time. I'd stop bleeding and be all THANK GOD and jump The Monkey's bones only to hear my sister say "Ugh, I'm getting ready to start..." and, after a mere week's reprieve from bleeding, I would start right along with her. I have wanted to hurt her on more than one occasion because of this.
Gradually the length of my period has been dwindling. The longest I went was 20 days. The shortest being last "cycle" during which I had a light flow for about a week. Only to start again ten days later. So, yeah, it's a bit annoying. Not to mention MAJORLY inconvenient. And a little expensive.
Without insurance, it was kind of pointless for me to try and get birth control pills to control things. Plus I want to be on a specific birth control pill (Yasmin) because the progestin in it has shown to help lower androgens. And it helped me lose weight in 2007 when we went on TTC hiatus post miscarriage. (In less than three months, I believe, I dropped 12-ish pounds.) However, now that I have medical insurance, there really isn't any reason for me to torture myself with these insane cycles. I mean, it's not like they are predictable. And they're wreaking havoc on my sex life. And I really don't need to get pregnant right now. And birth control pills are good for helping with PCOS symptoms. And, all in all, it's a wise decision.
And yet.
what if, what if, what if...?
[sigh]
So I guess it's time to make an appointment with my OBGYN for a slightly overdue annual exam. And it's time to seek out an endocrinologist to have all the routine tests done for hypothyroidism and insulin resistance / PCOS. And it's time to focus on getting The Monkey's back pain under control, even if it means potential spine surgery. And it's long past time for both of us to get our health under control. Especially The Monkey's sleep apnea, weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol.
It sort of feels like closure. It wreaks of finality that I'm not sure I'm ready to go through but know that I need to go through anyway. Hopefully children are still in our future. Hopefully this time next year I'll go back to my RE, get things rolling again, and be knocked up within a few months rather than a few years.
I know it's the right decision. I know it's the adult and smart decision. But that doesn't change how absolutely wrong it feels.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
time for damage control
For the past year The Monkey and I have been pretty careless about our health. While we were actively TTC (and both employed) being relatively conciensious about our health came easily. We did the South Beach Diet twice with much success. And, in fact, we were still on the "diet" when we both lost our jobs and moved, etc etc etc. (I don't need lectures -- I know we were stupid.)
The Monkey actually does pretty well with his weight. Or, he used to. Over the course of a year I noticed some weight gain. But who am I to bring up such things when I had also gained weight. (In fact, there were months at a time when I moaned and groaned at the scale because my darling, wonderful husband weighed LESS than I did.) When The Monkey quit smoking we expected him to put on some extra poundage. Not to mention he wasn't very active because walking causes him a pretty good amount of pain. And yet, I allowed him to eat whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. It was bound to catch up with him, I suppose.
For the past month or so I noticed a trend. Instead of sleeping through the night, The Monkey was going to bed around 10:30 - 11:00 then, almost like clockwork, getting up at 2:00-ish to pee. He's never had this problem before so, like a good wife, I immediately made him an appointment for a physical. I was expecting bloodwork and other routine stuff, to include a prostate exam. (Let's face it, The Monkey ain't getting any younger. :P) What I wasn't expecting was to see the scale tip as far as it did (he's put on 25 pounds in the four months he's been a non-smoker) and I was terrified when the nurse said his blood pressure was 140/100. So, our GP put him on Zestoretic for his blood pressure and he's going in tomorrow for labs. They're testing his cholesterol, blood sugar, thyroid, etc. And they're going to test for something regarding his prostate.
I feel like a bad wife for allowing him to continue his unhealthy lifestyle. He already has sleep apnea which increases his chance for heart attack and stroke by so-many-fold that it's terrifying. His weight increase is exacerbating the apnea and, of course, not helping his blood pressure or cholesterol, I am certain. So, instead of being proactive I have to do damage control. [sigh]
Of course, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. (The fact that we HAVE to pay close attention to our health, not the fact that things are not going well.) I'm going to see if I can find a place for us to swim. That's the only exercise I can see him taking to because it won't hurt. We'll be taking things one step at a time. First and foremost is our diet and his blood pressure/cholesterol. Once those are under control and he's doing better in that respect, I'll see about making him another appointment to see about a CPAP machine. Eventually we'll see about getting him into a back specialist to see what can be done about his sciatica. (Of course, we could get reeeeeeeeally lucky and have that become a non-issue once he loses weight.)
In the mean time I am forced to be the worry-wart that I am. I am also tasked with making meals that reflect a healthy and well-balanced diet. If anyone has suggestions on recipes or some type of meal planner, by all means!
The Monkey actually does pretty well with his weight. Or, he used to. Over the course of a year I noticed some weight gain. But who am I to bring up such things when I had also gained weight. (In fact, there were months at a time when I moaned and groaned at the scale because my darling, wonderful husband weighed LESS than I did.) When The Monkey quit smoking we expected him to put on some extra poundage. Not to mention he wasn't very active because walking causes him a pretty good amount of pain. And yet, I allowed him to eat whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. It was bound to catch up with him, I suppose.
For the past month or so I noticed a trend. Instead of sleeping through the night, The Monkey was going to bed around 10:30 - 11:00 then, almost like clockwork, getting up at 2:00-ish to pee. He's never had this problem before so, like a good wife, I immediately made him an appointment for a physical. I was expecting bloodwork and other routine stuff, to include a prostate exam. (Let's face it, The Monkey ain't getting any younger. :P) What I wasn't expecting was to see the scale tip as far as it did (he's put on 25 pounds in the four months he's been a non-smoker) and I was terrified when the nurse said his blood pressure was 140/100. So, our GP put him on Zestoretic for his blood pressure and he's going in tomorrow for labs. They're testing his cholesterol, blood sugar, thyroid, etc. And they're going to test for something regarding his prostate.
I feel like a bad wife for allowing him to continue his unhealthy lifestyle. He already has sleep apnea which increases his chance for heart attack and stroke by so-many-fold that it's terrifying. His weight increase is exacerbating the apnea and, of course, not helping his blood pressure or cholesterol, I am certain. So, instead of being proactive I have to do damage control. [sigh]
Of course, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. (The fact that we HAVE to pay close attention to our health, not the fact that things are not going well.) I'm going to see if I can find a place for us to swim. That's the only exercise I can see him taking to because it won't hurt. We'll be taking things one step at a time. First and foremost is our diet and his blood pressure/cholesterol. Once those are under control and he's doing better in that respect, I'll see about making him another appointment to see about a CPAP machine. Eventually we'll see about getting him into a back specialist to see what can be done about his sciatica. (Of course, we could get reeeeeeeeally lucky and have that become a non-issue once he loses weight.)
In the mean time I am forced to be the worry-wart that I am. I am also tasked with making meals that reflect a healthy and well-balanced diet. If anyone has suggestions on recipes or some type of meal planner, by all means!
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