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Almost

It’s almost here, the weekend that is. I try to blog every weekday, but between work and PanCan yesterday, I didn’t have the time to write. This week was our national registration day, which was a smashing success for our affiliate. We added seven teams and almost fifty participants in one day! Go us! Yesterday did end up being a pretty long day between work and our PurpleStride planning call.

It’s been a tough start to 2024 between the Hubby’s knee injury and the Mayor’s injury. It’s also been quite expensive – thank you co-pays. We did, however, get some good news this week. The MRI, which Cigna said wasn’t necessary showed there was extensive damage to the Hubby’s knee, but not enough to necessitate surgery. Thank god he had the MRI that showed that passive treatment like shots and PT should be enough to heal his knee. I might call Cigna hourly, and become a celebrity with their customer service team until they cover the MRI.

We go back to the Mayor’s surgeon on Wednesday. Hopefully, he’ll have the pins removed. I’m unsure how long that takes, but it sounds like a miserable process. Honestly, I hope it doesn’t cause him too much pain on top of the discomfort. He was hoping he could play at states the weekend after, but the doctor said no at his last appointment. We’ll see if she’s consistent in her answer when he asks again Wednesday.

By the way, I have to give a quick shout-out to my girl Sheri for making my day. This afternoon has been a rough one. And then I got an unexpected package from Amazon. In it was an emotional support pickle, which is just the cutest thing ever. It was such a thoughtful gift.

What advice would you give to your teenage self?

Run! People are who you think they are, so run before they show you who they are. If you don’t, they’ll put you through hell.

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Healing Nicely

The patient’s finger is healing nicely. These simple words spoken by his orthopedic PA were music to our ears. They took some X-rays, removed the stitches, and cast. For the first time since he broke the finger, I saw him wince with pain as they removed the bandages. Unfortunately, he still has the pins in for the foreseeable future. We’re hopeful that they’ll be able to remove the pins at his next follow-up appointment two weeks from today. Crossing my fingers that it’s still healing nicely at our next follow-up!

In the meantime, he’s in a smaller bandaged splint. He’s supposed to remove the splint and work the lower joint on the finer several times a day. This will prevent the joint from getting stiff. Additionally, he still has to keep the cast and his claw, I mean pins, dry. Not that he is one to spend a lot of time in the pool or ocean. He also has to be careful not to knock the pins as they extend beyond the tip of his finger.

What’s the thing you’re most scared to do? What would it take to get you to do it?

I would love to scuba dive but I’m terrified of the water and can’t swim. It’s hard to reconcile my abject fear of water with the desire to Scuba, but life underwater looks so peaceful and beautiful. I’m not sure there’s anything that could convince me to get into the deep.

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Brief Update

I wanted to drop a brief update on the Mayor. He saw the surgeon this morning with the hubby. I’ve been bed-bound since Saturday with some sort of nasty bug, so I attended briefly via FaceTime. The bottom line she’ll be operating on him Wednesday afternoon. Since the break occurred earlier than he let on, she could see healing on the X-ray, it’s going to be a bit more extensive. To be fair to him, there was some swelling when he got home from Pittsburgh, but it wasn’t extensive and he had a full range of motion.

It also sounds like she’s treated plenty of hockey players. The doctor made comments on the toughness of hockey players and continuing to play through injuries. We had hoped that they’d be able to for surgery while he was awake. Unfortunately, given the extent of the damage and healing that has already started, he’ll need to be put under. Naturally, this makes all of us quite nervous. Today, the urgent care doctor I saw advised me to stay away from him until after the surgery to prevent him from contracting the nasty bug I’m currently fighting.

If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?

I wish my pets understood how much we love them. I think they have an idea. However, I would love them to know they’re completely and unconditionally loved. Both Anakin and Arrow have been at my side since I got sick. Anakin hasn’t left my side except to eat and go outside. I crated Arrow overnight since he marks, otherwise he would have spent the night by my side.

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Snail’s Pace

My work computer is moving at a snail’s pace and it’s driving me absolutely bonkers. I hate when the laptop doesn’t want to cooperate. The system is moving so slowly that I’m worried it’s going to drop my calls. Of course, it’s hard to get a call when nobody can reach you via IM, so there’s that. At this point, I’m hatching a plan to try and fix the problem. Hopefully, it’ll stop moving at a snail’s pace and start moving at a cheetah’s pace.

Speaking of problems, were the walking wounded over here. The Mayor sees the surgeon next week for his finger. He’ll likely need surgery to fix it. The hubby has an MRI next week for his knee, which he blew out in Jiu Jitsu. Unfortunately, he’ll likely need surgery as well. And here I am with a bum knee from who knows what. Fortunately, I don’t think it’s a serious issue. Nevertheless, we are a bit of a mess.

Our weather here is sunny and 68, which while cool for South Florida is much better than the weather everywhere else. Up in Tally, they saw low temperatures in the single digits. In Orlando, they were near freezing. I thought we might get a little cooler with this front, but I guess not. At least we can give the AC a rest for a few days.

Can you share a positive example of where you’ve felt loved?

There are so many times in my life that I have felt loved. The time I’ve spent traveling with the kids has filled. That they desire to keep exploring the world with me makes me feel loved. And of course, my puppies make sure I know they love me every second and every minute that we’re together.

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Calm

It was a calm morning in our house today. In contrast with yesterday’s actual shit show. Fortunately, the illness that caused the overnight loss of bowels and bladders is gone. It was a bloodbath yesterday. This morning all three puppies are happy, and healthy and didn’t leave a mess in their crates this morning. I even got to watch Bake Off before starting work. Of course, yesterday morning was also hectic because I had a lab appointment at Quest. It’s never fun going to Quest during the snowbird season.

One of the things that has always bothered me since moving to South Florida is having to go to Quest or Lab Corp for blood work. Thankfully, my primary doctor does it in the office. My Endo also has a lab in the office, but it’s not in my insurance carrier’s network. It’s so mind-numbingly infuriating that health insurance makes it so cumbersome to get care. I hate waking up at the ass crack of dawn to get blood work done. Nor do I enjoy scheduling bloodwork out four weeks because it’s season and every Quest around me is booked for weeks.

I was hoping to have the blood work back today, but no such luck. They’ll likely send the results Monday. This time they ran a test to measure inflammation, so it will be interesting to see what that shows. This particular test, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, is helpful in diagnosing inflammatory diseases like lupus and RA as well as helping determine a patient’s risk of heart disease. My family has a well-documented history of heart disease, so I’m curious to see what it shows. This test can also shed light on whether another autoimmune disease is in play for me. So here I am calm as a cucumber waiting on my test results and working.

Meanwhile, my back is still bothering me on my right side where the shingle patches were. I thought I pulled a muscle in bed, but maybe it’s related to the shingles. The location is certainly suspicious. I’ve been treating it with a mixture of camphor, lidocaine, and balsam. Thankfully, Tiger Balm and Salonpas put all that goodness into wearable patches. Otherwise, it can be a literal pain to use either.

Today’s accountability tracker:

  • Workout: 45-minute spin class, plus 15-minute cooldown courtesy of Apple Fitness
  • Book: Book: Marcel Proust’s  Finding Lost Time. 
  • Blog: done
  • Today’s song is fun and a bit risque! Enjoy Lady Marmalade from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack
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Eventful Evening

Our sleepy Valentine’s Day ended up being an eventful evening when Goalielocks called home injured. I had been texting him and calling him about an Uber eats charge that showed up on my credit card on Super Bowl Sunday. He finally called back when he was leaving volleyball with a dislocated right shoulder. Unfortunately, he was thinking he’d need to go the ER, however, his dad and I were able to convince him the ER wasn’t a great idea.

Consequently, I got up and started looking for in network urgent cares near his apartment. Thankfully, there were two in his area. Better yet, there was one that was still open! Here the urgent cares close at 8:00 pm, which I think is ridiculous. Fortunately, he was able to make an appointment at the urgent care for last evening. I chuckled as he texted and called as he filled out the forms. As a mom, I’ve filled out countless forms for schools, hospitals and clinics. Motherhood is a sea of forms that need to be filled out. Honestly, It was nice to no be the person filling it out.

The doctor took an X-ray as as expected nothing was broken. His shoulder was dislocated with a suspected labrum tear. The doctor put him in a sling and gave him a referral for an orthopedic doctor. I had fallen asleep before he left his appointment, but went to bed comfortable in the knowledge he can competently take care of himself in this situation. Sure enough he sent me a photo of himself in a sling once he got back to his apartment.

So our uneventful Valentine’s became quite an eventful evening, so much for the romance. Goalielocks will be seeing an orthopedic doctor tomorrow for his right shoulder. Although, he probably should have the doctor look at both shoulders as he has a preexisting left shoulder injury. In addition his old injury, the Mayor had dislocated his shoulder two weeks ago as well. Consequently, I had gotten a referral for a shoulder expert here in Palm Beach County. Needless to say, they’ll both be seeing the expert sooner rather than later.

The accountability tracker is back now that I’m better and settled back into my routine!

Today’s accountability tracker:

  • Workout: Spin Class through JRNY alp
  • Book: The Seven Husbands Of Eleanor Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • Blog: done
  • Word of the day: Mohawk. My boys always wanted a Mohawk or a mullet. I always said no. Now that their older, the choice is fully theirs to make.
  • Today’s song: Tennesee Whiskey by Chris Stapleton
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Shoulders Suck

I don’t know about you, but my shoulders suck these days. Perhaps it’s because I carry all my stress in my neck and shoulders. Or maybe it’s the sitting in a desk chair for twelve hours plus daily over the last seven weeks. Whatever it is, it’s not working for me.

After work, I did a yoga practice that targeted the shoulders and neck, which should help. I won’t probably see any real benefits from it until tomorrow. Who knew at level 41 stress and sleeping wrong could cause so many issues in the shoulders? Apparently, being a side sleeper for the last 41 year hasn’t helped my current situation.

I’ve been alternating heat and ice on the neck and shoulders hoping to relax and take down the inflammation. If I don’t take care of the neck pain, it will grow into a massive tension headache. This would be no fun for the last two days of AEP. That’s right, the finish line is in sight. Two more miles, I mean days, to go before this thing is finished. Woohoo!

Speaking of injuries, the Mayor’s stab wound tolerated the hockey well. Amazingly, he even showered and cleaned the wound after his games. This morning, however, he showed up with a hurt hip. He’s struggling to walk. Hopefully, his hip will recover quickly. I’m off to bed. I need all the energy I can muster for these final AEP days. Anyway, did I mention shoulders suck?

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Finally Got Results

Well I finally got results after waiting forever for an X-ray on my foot today. Fortunately, the break was contained to only the pinky toe. Unfortunately, I wasted a total of three hours waiting to confirm the diagnosis. Originally, I was told that I could see the provider last night and just walk in for the X-ray today. The receptionist was implicit that I wouldn’t have to wait when I came back today. Sadly, I waited longer today than I waited last night. Apparently, the urgent in urgent care is not indicative of the speed at which you’ll be seen.

Mom life in a meme

At any rate, I can’t run on the broken toe for four weeks. Obviously, this isn’t great news since I just started running after recovering from a cold. I should still be able to go the BBG workouts with modifications now that my stomach is finally better. Since the X-ray took forever, I ended up working late to make up the time I missed. Hopefully, I’m able to get the workout in tomorrow.

Speaking of results, we finally got results from the Mayor’s PCR Covid test he took yesterday. Naturally, he was harassing me all day to see if I had finally got his results. Fortunately, I was able to get a hold of someone at the lab, who promptly mailed me his negative results!! In fact, we got the results about ten minutes before he had to leave for practice. He was so excited that he was able to go to practice tonight. Naturally, we’re super relieved that he tested negative for Covid.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I’m reading Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel.

*I still can’t run because my toe. It feels like deja vu. I’ll be unable to run for at least four weeks.

*We’re tracking the Tropics here in Florida. The tropics are heating up again. Hurricane Ida slammed into Louisiana today at a Cat 4 storm. That is a scary!

*The Hubby picked up coffee for me today since I was not feeling great this morning.

* I watched the live Safaris on YouTube today. The safaris absolutely inspire me. The vistas are extraordinary and the animals wondrous. I simply have to see it in person!

*For dinner, the hubby had leftovers and I made taco pizza. It was awesome!

*The word of the day and it is fanciful. I had a fancifully wish that I’d be back to running in two weeks.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a. I put on his harness every morning. Otherwise, I have difficulty controlling him on the leash. He’s incredible strong and can pull me off balance.Advertisements

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Broken Toe

So I have a broken toe. Apparently, I broke my toe last night. My poor pinky toes is at least twice it’s normal sized, all red and bruised up. What had happened was I lost a fight with a laundry basket in the middle of the night. It’s hardly the first time I’ve stubbed my toe in the middle of the night, but it is the first time I’ve broken a toe.

Despite the throbbing pain in my toe and anxiety over current events, I had the best sales day since AEP. For the uninitiated, AEP refers to the Medicare annual enrollment period. For us, it’s our busiest and most lucrative time of the year. Most of my calls bought today, but those that didn’t were the nicest and sweetest people. Thankfully, I talk to mostly great people from all over the place. Frankly that’s my favorite part of the job.

I’m a little bummed about the toe since I just got back to running after my cold. According to Dr. Google, I’ll have to rest it at least two to three week. And as we all know, Dr. Google is never wrong. Although I should have consulted all the medical experts on Facebook. They’re definitely never wrong.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I’m reading Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel.

*I skipped my run since I broke my toe. I’m crazy, but even I’m not crazy enough to run with a freshly broke toe. There wasn’t even a tangled shoelace involved in my car injury. I always worry my shoelace will get caught in the treadmill belt.

*We’re tracking the Tropics here in Florida. The tropics are heating up again with Ida and two areas of concern.  

*Since Goalielocks is home sick, I ordinarily would have driven to pick up my coffee this morning. Since my toe was throbbing and my legs still sore from leg day, I ordered it via Uber Eats.

* I watched the live Safaris on YouTube today. The safaris absolutely inspire me. The vistas are extraordinary and the animals wondrous. I simply have to see it in person!

*For dinner, the hubby cooked the stir fry I was going to make before I injured myself. 

*The word of the day and it is canvas. At work, I think of every day as a blank canvas. I don’t want one bad day of derail my week or month.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a. I put on his harness every morning. Otherwise, I have difficulty controlling him on the leash. He’s incredible strong and can pull me off balance.

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It’s Been Crazy

It’s been crazy around these parts hence the several month hiatus from the blog.  While the kids went north this summer, the hubby and I worked.  Oh and I tore my posterior tibial tendon, which has been so much fun.  Needless to say I didn’t do much this summer but work and elevate my leg.  Now I’m bootless, scooterless and ready to write!

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I did take on a new, super girl like identity as the summer ended: Scooter Girl.  You know like Avril Lavigne’s skater boi just older, with a boot and a lot less coordination.  I spent eight weeks in a boot and on my glorious scooter.  Whoever invented the scooter, also known by its significantly less sexy name as a knee walker, is my hero.  I can’t imagine having to spent eight weeks in a boot and on crutches – I wouldn’t have gone anywhere.  The scooter was a complete lifesaver.  It helped, of course, that my scooter was pimped out with a basket, a cup holder (how else would I carry my coffee), a memory foam padded knee pad cover and a bell (thank you KB.)

While I was on the scooter, I noticed that people were much nicer and helpful.  Even the snowbirds near me were sweet – amazing.  It was, however, a little demoralizing when a woman in her 80s told me she had been in the same boat and that I’d be okay.   She was so sweet.  Seriously, the snowbirds were sweet and if you lived in S. Florida you’d understand how amazing that really is.  It also sucked having to put on a cast bag to go outside or take a shower.  Having a cast during rainy season isn’t awesome.

The scooter also got us VIP entrance and upgrades at a couple of concert.  I definitely was not  looking forward to being on the law at an amphitheater with my scooter.  However, nothing was going to stop me from seeing the Imagine Dragons or Lindsey Stirling and Evanescence.   I think maybe that’s the lesson in all of this.  No matter what life throws at you, don’t stop living.  P.S. The Imagine Dragons with shirtless Dan is a must see show!

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Thankfully, I’m off the scooter as the craziness of hockey season is in full swing. I did have a scooter buddy at the beginning of the season, but I’m happy to report we’re both off our scooters!   It was a challenge to fit my scooter and their gear in the car.  Not too mention it’s tough to navigate the rink and find a comfortable viewing place for the games. I’ll admit that the bell prevented several potential collisions as I glided down the ramps at Ice Den.  Fortunately, the breaks on the scooter were quite effective.

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Perhaps the hardest part of the boot life is the inability to really exercise.  For eight weeks I was relegated to water workouts only.  We don’t have a pool at home, so I was at the mercy of traffic and the weather.  It’s been tough to be outside my normal workout habits.  It’s also tough to be passed in the pool by a geriatric swimmer, but I digress.  I’m still not cleared to run or do Zumba, but spent sometime on my TRX this past week.  It felt amazing.

What progress looks like

What progress looks like

At any rate, it feels good to back at the blog and bootless!

P.S.A.

While I won’t be able to run this year’s Purple Stride, I am still captain of Team Deb Force Five and am taking on an expanded role at the event.  Please join the Fight by joining Team Deb Force Five as a participant, donor or virtual strider!  Together we can help PanCan double survival rates by 2020.  Here’s the link:  Join Team Deb Force Five