sirdle - 2019

[Michele613]

Hi Sirdle,

Your post re 8 Brocade from MWL September prompted me to also check out your journal. Just catching up on your challenging September....hope this finds you at the healed or healing stage of that scare. I appreciate your uplifting posts on both sites.

Hope your fluid issue is behind you and that you can just become healthily absorbed in your routine leading you to your health goals.

All the best....have a great week! Keep dancin'....gyming and living life to its fullest. Liking your job and having a good helpmate are two great blessings.

[sirdle]

Hi Michele,

Physically, I think I am improving. Hard to tell with the drugs, but I think I am. Emotionally, I am in good spirits and full of optimism. I am eating well, and I'm managing to get in plenty of walking.

Thanks for stopping by...

Cheers,

[sirdle]

Day 18, Sat

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
L: sweet potato w/ cinnamon + salad
S: grapes
D: tortilla soup
S: cantaloupe

Exercise
==============================
Activity - walking (intermittent) 9,500 steps
Cardio - none
Strength - none
Balance - Taiji stepping drills (20 min)
Flexibility - static stretching (30 min), dynamic stretching (20 min)

Rest
==============================
Sleep - 8+1 hr, restful
Meditation - Qigong (10 min)
Stress - very low
Reading - "The New Rules of Posture", Mary Bond

Notes
==============================
General - not much to say. I can sure tell when I forget to take my drugs - I start to not feel right. Hard to describe. No specific symptoms: no chest pain, no fever, no aches and pains, no nausea, no dizziness. Just not right. If I lie down, I'll feel the pressure in my chest, and that reminds me to take my medicine. What a goofball!

[sirdle]

Day 19, Sun

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
L: potatoes w/ salsa, mustard, ketchup + salad
S: blueberries
D: tortilla soup
S: blueberries

Exercise
==============================
Activity - walking (intermittent) 10,000 steps
Cardio - none
Strength - weight training (45 min)
Balance - none
Flexibility - static stretching (30 min), dynamic stretching (10 min)

Rest
==============================
Sleep - 8+1 hr, restful
Meditation - none
Stress - very low
Reading - none

Notes
==============================
Weight Training
week 2

leg press, 45 deg - (90x19)
bench press, iso-lever - (20x14)
hamstring curl, prone machine - (50x18)
row, low, iso-lever - (25x14)
shoulder press, iso-lever - (15x20)
pull ups, assisted - (85x12)
crunches, ab machine - (110x25)

I have reservations about whether it is a good idea to continue lifting weights or walking while I'm letting my heart heal. I always wear a heart-rate monitor and I've been capping my HR at 100... which seems reasonable. However, the pressure in my chest does not seem to be lessening... in the absence of drugs.

I think I'll take a hard look at this tomorrow... depending on how I feel when I wake up.

[Michele613]

It can be unsettling to be in the dark about 'why' some condition is working in our bodies....I hope you get some 'definitive' answers to set you at ease. In the meantime, as you said, be watchful, take it easier and just monitor yourself carefully. Let's here good news from you always!

All the best

[sirdle]

Thanks Michele!

I'll be calling my cardiologist today to see if I should stay the course, or introduce changes.

Cheers,

[sirdle]

Day 20, Mon

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
L: potatoes w/ salsa, mustard, ketchup + salad
S: pineapple
S: blueberries
D: McDougall Ramen soups
S: blueberries

Exercise
==============================
Activity - none
Cardio - none
Strength - none
Balance - none
Flexibility - static stretching (30 min)

Rest
==============================
Sleep - 5+1.5+1.5 hr, restful
Meditation - none
Stress - moderately high
Reading - none

Notes
==============================
Heart Rate - Oh Bother. My resting heart rate was a little high yesterday, up to 52 bpm. Usually it as around 45-50. This morning it was at 60! Often, when I've seen it that high it means I'm coming down with a cold or the flu. This time, I think it confirms my suspicions that I am working out too hard. Also, my chest pressure was worse this morning than any time since my hospital stay. I'm going to stop all the weight training until I can speak with my cardiologist, and I will limit my walking to a moderate pace on flat ground. (This should keep it in the 85-90 bpm range.)

Update - after writing that I went to work but felt very drained of energy. So I came home early ate some lunch and took a nap. Woke up with a low-grade fever, chills, and a heart rate of 72. Good thing I came home, I reckon. Fever lasted for about 8 hours, then broke. Heart rate steadily dropped back down to 52. Weird.

Stress - moderately high due to anxiety about not knowing what is wrong with me. Very frustrating.

Food - remains boringly on-plan. Sometimes it's MWL, sometimes it's SS; I'm pretty much on auto-pilot. As long as I make sure I have enough good food around, I have few temptations. Perhaps 2-3 meals per month are off-plan. I'm at a happy-food-place where I never thought I'd be.

[Michele613]

Glad fever broke and I hope stress level goes down as your heart rate did.

I just finished a candy bar....not 'really' enjoying my indulgences...on autopilot. I look forward to arriving at your non-plus stage about food. I wouldn't mind boring if acceptance of it could come along easily. It's a struggle...especially since I am soooooooo used to eating out as I am a non cooker unless I 'have to'....still avoiding that 'have to' place.

Stay straight and fear not....your health will stabilize especially as long as you hold the course of healthy eating.

[sirdle]

Thanks Michele!

I'll stick with it and hope for the best!

Cheers,

[sirdle]

Day 21, Tue

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
S: asparagus
L: potatoes w/ salsa, mustard, ketchup + salad
S: pineapple
D: tortilla soup
S: blueberries

Exercise
==============================
Activity - none
Cardio - none
Strength - none
Balance - none
Flexibility - none

Rest
==============================
Sleep - ?? hr, sporadic
Meditation - none
Stress - low
Reading - none

Notes
==============================
Vitals - greatly improved over the last 12 hours. Morning blood pressure: 98/65; temp: 97.8 deg; pulse: 52 bpm. Chest pressure much less. Left a message for my cardiologist with all my current symptoms, asking if I should stay the course, of if she thinks we should re-evaluate. She replied: stay the course.

Sleep - very hard to get any sleep. It hurts my shoulders to sleep on either side and I can't sleep on my back. So, I'm getting sleep in bouts of about 30 min each, then I have to get up and move around. Maybe today I'll turn the corner?

[sirdle]

Day 22, Wed

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
L: sweet potato + artichoke hearts
S: pineapple
D: tortilla soup + steamed mixed veggies
S: cherries

Exercise
==============================
Activity - none
Cardio - none
Strength - none
Balance - none
Flexibility - none

Rest
==============================
Sleep - ?? hr, sporadic
Meditation - none
Stress - low
Reading - none

Notes
==============================
Sleep/Rest - eating well. Resting.

[sirdle]

Day 23, Thu

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
L: tortilla soup + Brussels sprouts
S: blueberries
D: potatoes w/ salsa, mustard, ketchup
S: pineapple

Exercise
==============================
Activity - none
Cardio - none
Strength - none
Balance - none
Flexibility - none

Rest
==============================
Sleep - ?? hr, sporadic
Meditation - none
Stress - low
Reading - none

Notes
==============================
Sleep/Rest - turned the corner last night. The pain in my shoulders dropped low enough that I could sleep on my side. This allowed me to get sleep in blocks of 2-4 hours at a time. Feeling well rested this morning... and very optimistic.

Mad Magazine - did you ever read Mad Magazine as a kid? Sometime in the early 80s there was an issue that had a flexible record inside (anybody remember those?) which, instead of having a single track had 7 or 8 tracks (parallel grooves). Each time you played the record a random track was selected based on wherever the stylus landed. All the tracks had the same begining, but with a different ending. I can't remember how many times I listened trying to write down all the verses, and I don't even remember any of the endings, but the begining has stuck in my head. It's how I feel this morning:

It's a great big, beautiful, wonderful, incredible, super-spectacular day
And your heart is humming with good times coming
And you got that happy feeling things are going your way
All the bells are ringing and a little bird's singing while he sits on your windowsill
Singing yessiree, I can surely see, it will plainly be, most definitely
A super-spectacular day!

[sirdle]

Day 24, Fri

Food
==============================
B: oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed
L: potatoes w/ salsa, mustard, ketchup
S: blueberries
D: split pea and yam soup + grapes
S: mixed fruit

Exercise
==============================
Activity - none
Cardio - none
Strength - none
Balance - none
Flexibility - none

Rest
==============================
Sleep - 9 hr, restful
Meditation - none
Stress - very low
Reading - none

Notes
==============================
Sleep/Rest - rest and recover. First day without pain killer since my stay in the hospital. Still a slight pain in my chest when I breath very deeply, and I can sleep on my right side (but not my left). I'm very optimistic.

Weather - cloudy and rainy-looking, but I don't think we'll get any rain. This is my favourite weather. Well... actually, fog is my favourite weather, but gloomy-rain is my second-favourite. Sep/Oct is the hottest time of the year where I live, so the gloom is a very nice change. I'm a natural-born cave-dweller, I am, and I don't like being in the sun. If I was a worrier, I'd worry about my vitamin D... but I'm not, so I don't.

Food - I was feeling better today and thought I deserved a little treat. So, after many months of contemplation, I tracked down and purchased an immersion blender. I have a food processor that I use to blend soups, but because it is so small, I always end up with food all over the counter when I try to transfer soup back and forth between the pot and the processor. It makes cooking a drag, when it should be fun.

I used the blender last night when I made Cathy Fisher's "Split Pea and Yam" soup (or, as my wife calls it, "Green and Gold" soup). It will take some getting used to. I ended up blending much more than I wanted and the result was not as chunky as I like, but it was very easy to use and -- more importantly -- very easy to clean. I look forward to using it a lot this winter.

[moonlight]

Hi Sirdle,
I bet you'll love the immersion blender. Once you get the hang of it (learning to keep it fully immersed while it is running!), it's so much easier than transferring soup to a stand alone blender. If yours came with a container, cup-like piece, it is great for blending salad dressings, too.

The split pea soup sounds good. I love split peas. Did you get the recipe from Cathy Fisher's cookbook or her website? I love cookbooks but I have so many. With all the recipes available on the web now, it's hard for me to justify another cookbook. I've started reading Joanna Macy's book, Active Hope. Are you familiar with her work? This book deals with the challenge of climate change and how to approach changing our behavior. I'm becoming more aware of my consumption habits. Buying books may be too wasteful.

[Michele613]

Hi Sirdle,

Liked your Thursday post in particular. Happy you have seen some relief from your shoulder pains.

What positive energy you put out there.....I remember MAD....didn't remember the the words you posted but they were also VERY HAPPY, SUNSHINY and POSITIVE. Keep the momentum going!