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Bits and pieces
As is obvious from my last post, I’ve finally made some progress on writing about our holiday. I wrote most of that a few weeks ago but it was only tonight that I finally edited it in preparation for posting. I fear I will forget much of what I wanted to write as time goes on but there is nothing to be done about it.Â
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I’ve been in a much better state of both physical and mental health over the past couple of weeks. While I don’t exactly feel energetic, I don’t feel like I need to sleep all the time. It seems the thyroxine must have been doing something after all. My tonsillitis episode did mostly resolve after about a week and a half.
This week I had my annual appointment at the immunology clinic in our local teaching hospital. Last year I had a disastrously incompetent doctor, and despite the other doctors being good to great, I was worried about a repeat. Fortunately, it was all fine, although it took longer than I expected. She was rather abrupt and gruff when we first got started but improved as we talked further. She later mentioned that she’d only been in immunology for a week so I assume she’s still settling in and that might have been the reason for the less than friendly start to our discussion. We covered my low thyroid issues caused by being off my medication and also discussed some abdominal pain episodes which had occurred while I was away and for a while after I returned. She examined my hands and found them quite cold, then asked if my feet were the same (which they were). Later she checked my blood pressure and found it was quite low (95/55) and was worried that I might be light-headed (which I wasn’t). She checked my abdomen thoroughly for anything unusual and presumably found nothing amiss. She asked about a couple of spots/rashes on my stomach but I wasn’t able to provide any useful information except that one has been there for a couple of years and the second, smaller one appeared recently. I’ve presumed they were due to some sort of skin condition but the only notable thing about them is the larger one sometimes seems to change color slightly. She had a thorough look at my mouth and throat and noted my tonsils are swollen.  After we covered pretty much everything, she went off in search of the consultant (head doctor) for the department to confer before we finished.
 The doctor was on a phone call for quite some time before she was able to reach him. Eventually he came to the consulting room and they discussed my case right there, which was kind of unusual. I’d seen this doctor at two previous appointments and he’d concluded that my autoimmune condition is Sjögren’s syndrome based on my symptoms and my ANA. I have antinuclear antibodies of at least two types. One type is called anti-coilin and seems to be fairly unusual but mostly is seen in people with primary biliary cirrhosis and Sjögren’s syndrome. The other type is common and also non-specific but also seen in Sjögren’s. This doctor had previously given me lectures on careful attention to dental care and keeping extremities warm (as I have early symptoms of Raynaud’s syndrome). He repeated the dental lecture again even though I’d confirmed I’d had it before. It may have been as much for the registrar’s benefit as mine. Discussion was had over which blood tests I needed to have done and it was decided I’d be reviewed again in a year. Appointment concluded.
In addition to the usual auto antibody tests, I also had tests specific for autoimmune liver disorders along with immunoglobins added in. I found the pathology department at the hosptital was too busy for me to wait so had them done today at a local pathology center. I think I’ve reached a record with seven tubes of blood this time. Apparently I will be contacted by the clinic if any results need any follow up.
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The semester started last week at my university so I’ve started my last class for my degree. It’s an external unit and it seems to be a small class as there has been almost no discussion online so far. Also, the unit outline hasn’t been updated for this semester. I pointed this out to the teacher but have had no response after several days. It would be good to have some interaction with others in this class. It’s already isolating to study by distance education but it’s worse when you feel like you’re the only one out there.
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My favorite band, Crowded House, are coming to Perth in Novemeber and I have purchased tickets for the event. We are fortunate to have them playing at a nearby winery so it will just be a fifteen minute drive instead of 30-60 minutes to reach Perth or Fremantle. The Scientist and I will, however, be trekking down to Freo for a concert with Megan Washington and support act Dan Kelly at the end of the month. Tickets were quite inexpensive as these are up and coming artists…so it should be good value for money. We’ve seen both as support acts for other performers and both were excellent.
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Sick and tired
I am trying to write posts about our holiday but I’ve been exhausted and sick pretty much from the time I’ve been home. I am currently battling tonsillitis, which is always ironic since I had a tonsillectomy when I was five. They have obviously grown back bigger than ever…:) To be fair, the surgery was quite effective for most of my growing up years. I don’t think I got another case (post-surgery) until I was a young adult. I’ve probably had four or five cases as an adult that have sent me to the doctor. Which isn’t too bad when considering this covers over twenty years.
I also discovered when I saw my doctor on Friday that my thyroid levels were quite low when I had blood tests back in May. In fact, it was worse than they’ve ever been before. I slacked off and stopped taking my medication regularly earlier this year. I ran out and procrastinated about seeing my doctor until just before I travelled. I finally got new tablets, which I then managed to leave behind when I flew off to the US. So I was completely off medication for at least two months in the end. I’d never felt all that different from taking the medication so it hadn’t seemed so urgent that I get back to it…Obviously I was mistaken. Possibly the thyroid function has also worsened. I’ve been taking medication regularly since I’ve been home but it apparently may be a few more weeks until I’m feeling better, assuming I’m taking enough medication now.
Initially I hadn’t really thought I’d been all that tired while I was travelling. But on reflection, I do recall that I was often lethargic while away and prone to having more naps than I’ve had in years. So possibly the return travel just happened to be the last straw. Hopefully I’ll start seeing gradual improvement in the next few days as the tonsillitis clears up.
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Exercise
I’ve been trying to get back into some regular exercise but it just isn’t happening like I’d like. In the past week, I’ve managed some sort of exercise on three days. I walked earlier in the week and then again yesterday. Today I rode my bike for the first time since my minor accident in February. The delay in riding my bike hasn’t been intentional but pretty much a matter of procrastination. I’d intended to take it to the shop to have it checked out and have yet to do that. I rode it today anyway because my left foot was hurting from my walk and I was determined to get outside and do something. Unfortunately, I got home and within an hour I started feeling twinges of pain in my left calf muscle. It’s just a tiny pain but it feels much like the pain I’ve had in the right calf muscle before. It wasn’t a particularly hard ride…about 15-20 minutes each way to a local shopping center. Anyway, it’s very frustrating again. It was a bit cool tonight so my guess is that my muscle didn’t warm up properly…which means I probably should have opted for something warmer than the shorts.
On a more positive note, I also started doing some abdominal exercises on my own today. I’d been doing some of them on the Wii programs but had to stop because they were getting too hard too quickly. I had been really pleased at my accomplishments earlier in the year so hopefully I will get back to where I was before and continue. I’m mostly doing bicycle crunches, modified push ups, and plank exercises to start and managed at least ten minutes today.
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After almost a year…
we have a lost tooth! Lego Lover had an upper lateral incisor that the dentist reported was loose when we saw her last May. It finally came out today, after months of misery. There’s not a permanent tooth coming in, which is at least a partial explanation for the long term wiggly tooth. There are still a couple of his canines yet to be lost so there is more wiggly tooth fun to come.
Both boys saw the pediatric dentist last week and had good reports on their teeth. I had visions of the dentist deciding the tooth had to come out at the appointment, but I am pleased to report the idea was never mentioned. The dentist is the first and longest serving pediatric dentist in Perth and has a very good reputation for working with kids with special needs like Asperger’s and autism. As Lego Lover also has a very crowded mouth, we have been referred to an orthodontist for a consultation as to future treatment. It has been suggested that Lego Lover is not a good candidate for orthodontics so it’s possible we may be looking at a couple tooth extractions under general anaesthetic to reduce or eliminate the need for it. It will be interesting to hear the orthodontist’s opinion before decisions are made.
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Hair
Last week I got my hair cut for the first time in possibly two years. I tend to procrastinate about getting this done but I don’t think I’ve ever let it go quite that long. Apparently I only had about an inch of split ends and the hairdresser was amazed when I told her it had been at least a year and a half since my last cut. She said I must be doing something right to keep it in such good condition. I’m not sure what has kept it from getting bad but it later occurred to me that I don’t use a hair dryer, which might be the key. Anyway, it is still pretty long but I think about two or three inches eventually came off.
The second part of my hair change is the henna treatment I did today. I specifically waited until after the cut so there would be less to cover but it still was a lot. I’d done this for the first time a couple months ago and it went pretty well for my first time using it. It brightens up my hair into a reddish-brown (auburn is the official color) and makes my grey hair go a bit blondish, which I find interesting. It mostly just looks like I’ve streaked my hair a bit. The best part is it will eventually fade and I don’t have to touch up roots or do another treatment if I don’t want to.
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More grumbles…
Not a lot has been happening over the past week or so. I took it easy for several days and I’m feeling a lot better. I still have a sore shoulder/upper arm and upper thigh…I guess these must be bruises but it’s hard to see the evidence of them. I fell on a snow scraper in 2002 where I never saw much of a bruise but it was sore for ages. Even now I get the occasional pain there so I don’t know what that’s all about. My grazes are healing…the big one is still covered and the Flexi-something or other still hasn’t fallen off. It’s kind of bugging me to have it on but it looks nicer and probably is protective now that the itchiness is really kicking in.
I’m feeling like my body is truly failing me at the moment. I was into such a good exercise routine and that’s all messed up. So now I’m craving sweets again. I really think the exercise helps keep that under some control. I’d have started back exercising but the calf pain is just not getting better. I’m accidentally pulling that muscle quite regularly, just going about my business. I’m making decisions about whether to return to the physiotherapist I saw a few years ago or start with someone new and probably will see about an appointment in the next day or two.
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Bruised
It’s a couple days since I had my little bike accident and I think today was worse than yesterday. Yesterday I was a bit sore and uncomfortable but I didn’t feel the aches and pains. This morning I had the aches and pains. Just after my last post, I found the neck soreness was getting worse much faster than I liked. I was pretty sure it was just muscle and nerve stuff happening but I was a bit nervous about it so called the Health Direct line…which, as usual, said to go to the hospital. They say that for almost everything. I think there has been one instance when they didn’t tell me…actually two…Once was when I had a centipede bite, I think. Last time I called was when Lego Lover had the rash breaking out everywhere and I was allowed to wait until the next morning.
I managed to wake the Scientist in the worst part of his sleep cycle. There was very little traffic on the way to the hospital but there were middle of the night roadworks going on closer to our destination. It was a rather bewildering journey through the detours and orange lane divider thingies…used to be cones but these are much more upright. The parking lot seemed pretty quiet when we arrived. This could have been deceptive like the last visit we had. But fortunately the waiting area in triage was all but empty. I got in and was seen pretty quickly by a junior medical officer. The nurse came and asked the usual questions and then took my blood pressure as the doctor came in. My blood pressure was 160/95 or thereabouts, which is very high for me. The doctor said it was probably the stress of being there…fair enough. After some poking and prodding and heaps of questions it was determined that I was okay. Aside from soreness, I had felt okay up to that point…but then I started to feel a bit sick and woozy so the doctor had me lie down instead of sitting on the bed. At the time I thought perhaps it was hunger as it had been many hours since I’d eaten much of anything.
The doctor went away to check with the senior medical officer and to write a letter for my gp in the event I needed follow-up. Meanwhile the nurse came to do a proper clean of the graze that runs from my elbow halfway down to my wrist. I obviously missed a few spots of dirt when cleaning. It stung rather badly but I ended up with a bandage that covered the entire area, unlike what we concocted here at home. It seemed it was going to continue to sting and throb through the night but it did eventually ease.
About an hour after we had arrived, we were on our way home. By that time, the waiting room was a bit busier but still pretty quiet. When we got home, I checked my blood glucose and it wasn’t low at all. When it goes low enough the body will kick in so that it rises…Hard to know about that. I also checked my blood pressure because the high readings were of concern to me. My blood pressure was back to being pretty low at 100/60, I think. I checked it again to be sure and it was the same. So my theory on the wooziness is perhaps my blood pressure had a sudden drop, which made me feel ill. It’s kind of curious they didn’t check it a second time at the hospital, especially seeing they had left the cuff on my arm the whole time I was there.
I’ve taken it easy the past couple of day and this afternoon I had a headache so took some ibuprofen and went to lie down for awhile. I ended up dozing off and napping off and on for a couple of hours. I hadn’t expected that today because I’d gone to bed reasonably early last night. But I think my sleep was rather broken due to waking often due to discomfort from both the bruises and being overly warm. Last night the temperature was cool enough that the air conditioner hardly came on. But the humidity was high enough to make it feel unbearably warm at times. I’m hoping to be a bit more active tomorrow. Unlike yesterday, the aches and pains don’t seem as bad tonight so I’m hoping that’s a good sign.
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Curse of the newly resurfaced road
Back when I was a kid, I only three or so bicycle accidents. I don’t remember the first but apparently I ran into our mailbox while going down our driveway. That was probably when I was new to the bicycle. The two I do recall both occurred pretty much in the same place on a newly resurfaced road. I’m not quite sure why the road had to be done twice in close succession…but I had a spill while going around a bend on the road.
Fast forward over thirty years…this evening I had another spill while trying to move from a newly resurface road onto a newly replaced footpath/cycle path. I had moved to the road to go around a couple who were walking and didn’t turn enough when moving back to the footpath and went flying…I’m now sporting some lovely scrapes on the left arm, hand and knee. My neck and shoulder have started hurting more recently and seem to be getting worse rather quickly…So will leave this for now and go rest the battered body.
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Viscious cycle of injury
A few weeks ago, I managed to injure myself in the form of a mild calf strain after several weeks of exercise. I dropped my exercise back to just walking for most of the past couple weeks. I also cut the number of sessions back so that I had more rest between sessions. After taking it easy on the exercise for a couple weeks, it was much better and seemed to be pretty close to being healed as of Friday. At least, I felt it was just about healed because I no longer experiencing any pain.
I guess I was wrong though. Friday afternoon, I had an earache and had gone to lie down after taking an ibuprofen. After I’d been resting a while, there was a knock at the door so I rushed to get to the door. That’s when I felt another popping sensation on the back of my leg and had to hobble, or perhaps hop, my way to the door before the person left. Turns out it was the delivery of the board games I’d ordered a couple days earlier. I signed for the package, then had to hobble back to the bedroom where I could collapse.
This business of injuries is very frustrating. When I exercise, I try to take care by warming up and cooling down. And yet, I seem to struggle with minor injuries. Sigh…
I felt a bit more mobile today so thought I might try to go for a walk this evening. The weather has cooled down enough that it’s quite pleasant in the evening. I had to put that idea out of mind because I am simply not up to it. The Scientist had already expressed doubt as to whether it was very advisable this morning, but I found out the hard way after a trip into Perth. Lego Lover and I had met up with a friend and her young son for lunch at Annalakshmi (a vegetarian Indian restaurant in Perth where you pay what you want). The area was a bit of a mess because they are setting up for the Perth International Arts Festival and streets were blocked off in various places so that regular parking wasn’t possible. I was driving down past one parking area and the road was blocked, well past the entrance to the paid parking lot, so that cars had to make U-turns to get out of there as it had stopped where the exit to the parking lot came out. Anyway, I ended up going back in the opposite direction to find free parking and we had to walk a fair ways to get to our destination. Every time I tried to hurry to cross a road I’d end up in pain from straining the muscle further. The walk back was much easier because we weren’t in such a hurry to be anywhere and could take advantage of benches and rest occasionally as we walked alongside the Swan River. I think I’d had enough exercise for one day by the time we reached our car. In hindsight, it would have been worthwhile to pay the parking fees and limit myself to a shorter walk.
I’m contemplating seeing a physio to help figure out a better plan before I do any further damage. And this time I might actually do it…
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It was bound to happen
I”ve been keeping a decent exercise regime for the past six weeks and feeling pretty good about my fitness. I’m doing exercises I never thought I’d be able to do (even when I was a decent size and younger) and I’m getting fit again. The health benefits are the bonus right now. So I was going through one of my Wii fitness programs and had to do some jumping jacks. I still don’t care for jumping exercises but I’ve been getting through the lot of them when they come up. I had done a few of them when they started becoming rather painful in my right calf…the pain that had been lingering for a week or more obviously was catching up. I had to skip a few of the exercises after that but finished a decent routine. This was on Monday so I opted to rest on Tuesday after three days of workouts. Wednesday I was at the pool and did my water walking and pseudo swimming laps again. I didn’t feel quite as satisfied but I did get some decent exercise.Yesterday I went out for a bike ride, under the assumption I’d be using different muscles. That went well enough…
So late last night I stepped outside to dump the tea leaves in the tea maker and made a sudden rush to get back inside. And that’s when I felt the pop in my right calf along with some pain. It did ease after a little while but obviously I’ve torn something. So now I’ve got the dilemma of how to get a good workout without exacerbating the injury.