Numbers. Tests. Plans

It’s been an understated while since I came by, but I am finally here! It’s been a busy year and a busy summer, or so it feels – although, if you want me to give you the laundry list of what we did, I feel like it’s a pretty short one!

 

We ate up two weeks of vacation by going to Romania in the spring, so we had little to no time off left. Thus, we tried to stay close to home and enjoy what’s here, at hand.

I am not sure whether it’s the fresh veggies diet of the summer again, or the fresh, ripe tomatoes, or the increased amount of kale we have been eating – your guess is as good as mine, but my new numbers are amazing. My total cholesterol is at an all time low – 244! I could hardly believe my doctor in August, when she announced that to me, with a raised eyebrow, and a chuckle: “I hope this is yours!” – she said. Indeed, I hope so too. The LDL is 199 – still high, but low for me, of course. The HDL is very low, not a good thing – at 35. The triglycerides are normal again , and that also shows that my diet might have something to do with it all. There was no change in the medication. All the same stuff: Lipitor, zetia, fish oil, atenolol and aspirin. There was a major hike in the stress level, too - more about it in a sec.

It was time for a repeat carotid CT scan – something they do every 2 years, just to make sure my plaque is not “bad enough” where they must do something about it – a stint, balloon, or some other type of surgery, that is. This year, instead of the regular ultrasound of my carotids, they did a full blown CT Scan. My insurance didn’t like this so much, so now, I have a $700 “this is not a bill but it’s the patient’s responsibility” on my desk! I am waiting to see if they really are not paying this. If I have a heart attack, we now know that cholesterol won’t be the reason.

The scan was a bit more “invasive” than the usual ultrasound. Instead of just the goopy gel smeared on your neck, you had to undress from the waist up, get an IV, get some saline (which makes you cold) and then some contrast dye (which makes you hot and feel like you peed on yourself), lay on a table and be pushed in the “turbo tunnel” for the scan to happen. It was not that bad, with the exception of the dye which did make me check my pants just to make sure I didn’t have an accident, and which flushed my face for most of the rest of the day. And of course, without the exception that … I hate IV’s – especially the unannounced ones.

They did an ultrasound of the arteries and veins in my legs, as well, because lately I have had a long, deep pain in my legs. My veins look swollen almost all the time, and with a history of varicose veins, and with a couple of hour commute each day and with a sit down job, I was fearing something might be happening down there. The result for the legs came back as “normal”. The carotid scan showed that the plaque is worse than last time (two years ago), but “the doctor will talk to me about her recommendations of what to do next on my next appointment”. That is in … February. So, it must not be that bad!

Other than the fact that I have noticed my BP higher than normal and more often so, I feel OK. I have been promoted twice at work this year, and life at the office is more and more hectic. More responsibility, more people to be responsible for, bigger “fish to fry”, so to speak, all give me no time for much else, including being actively involved in my physical and mental health!I have not even had a cardio appointment this year. And I put off my regular doctor's appointment for months, till I finally got to it last month!

We have not been camping or even hiking this year. We went for a hike once this year, and fall is here now, so that will be it. I am trying to make the right choices, as always, in what I eat, but we have been eating out and have eaten “quick foods” more than usual lately, too – because there is no time for cooking! I am not proud of that, of course, and I will try to fit some kind of plan in my new, busy life – it requires a complete restructuring of my time in my new “manager” life. But it will happen. It will have to, if I want to live some more.

I have gardened a lot all summer, and that has been the most actively full part of my life. We have had a dry-dry-dry season! I had to water my veggies and flowers virtually every night. Here, in the desert, the water just gets sucked away the minute you sprinkle it! There is no shade! Just scorching sun for 12 hours a day, or more! I am looking for ways to preserve kale and cabbage for the winter, as both have generously produced this summer, and I would rather use every green, beautiful leaf they have given me. We also built a patio and several flower beds loaded with bushes and mulch, all around the house – those were all a labor of love. We were sore for weeks. More proof that I am so out of shape. So, we have not quite been couch potatoes, but we could have done more.

I keep saying “we”, because my husband needs the exercise and the healthy eating too for almost the same reasons as me. I must say that the low numbers do boost my spirit. I think they are a great victory, but I do wonder where they came from, so I can keep doing it.

I am making some grape preserves this week, and freezing up the first batch of tomatoes, too. I already made several batches of basil, cilantro and Italian parsley pesto, too. The herbs were wild this year!

It’s fall now. The air is cooler, and the days are shorter. It not high time to plan to get active, as you can imagine, but some changes will have to happen.  I will have to use the treadmill more, now that the garden is slowing down. We had a good rain today, for the first time in a long, long time. We have rain in the forecast for a couple more days. So, my summer activities are slowly disappearing. 

I am looking forward to new opportunities, and new numbers, in the fall, winter and beyond. I hope I can keep them down, and I hope I can come by here more often. All these plans! Here’s to the burning desire of wanting to keep them!  I do hope, with all my heart, that I can materialize it. And I hope I can find time to see my cardiologist, too, for that buggy BP!