mask free walk

 

Today Bonnie and I planned to go to the opening day of the south Bethlehem Farmer's Market. Two days ago, the CDC said you could go out in public without a mask if you were vaccinated and with other vaccinated people. The timing couldn't be better. Today was my first day out of Covid Jail.

It was also National Walk @Lunch Day. We left the house at 11:30. I trailed behind Bonnie since I'm so out of shape. We went up the hill and east on Sioux, down Wyandott and east on Summit. Then we went thru Lehigh's campus and down the stairs.

When we arrived on campus we put out masks on.

The market was missing many of our favorite vendors and we didn't buy anything. Bonnie did get ice cream at The Cup. I resisted. I do not know how.

Then we put our masks back on to go into CVS and get Pat's medicine. We left them on until we passed the bank where there were a lot of people congregating. that's a popular bus stop. The masks came off one last time.

After crossing the five points, we headed out Broadway and up Aunt Dorothy's alley and out Itaska. To avoid Violet we turned up Fiot, and returned home thru the back door.

Miles/Steps:   2 miles
Weather:        76, drizzle, partly cloudy
PPE Found:     5 masks, 1 diaper

diet report from covid jail

 

After my wake-up call I joined Noom. I rationalized spending the money because I succeed at things if I have someone else with me. Eating, walking, exercising, whatever. The more the merrier. I lack support at home, and family and friends are difficult to connect with for support with all the social distancing. Support was one of today's motivations. It suggested you take pictures of yourself (hell no!) Take pics of your food. Take pics of you exercising. This is why Instagram is full of this stuff. My second problem isn't really losing weight. It is keeping it off. I've lost the same forty pounds probably 10 times in the past 30 years. I always gain it back plus a little more.

So my goal today is to share my "journey". I feel sorry for you dear readers. But it will be once in a while. Not all the time. I don't want to write it. You don't want to read it. 

If you're curious I went up several pounds and ten days into it, I'm finally back at my starting point.

I'm logging my food -- the app claims there are no bad choices but honestly when the color coding is a stop light it's pretty ducking clear. I go over my red calories every day. By 1 pm today I had two meals logged and they were all red calories. Plus I've used my calories for the day! First time that has happened. I anticipated that would happen since I drove thru McDs for a breakfast sandwich on my way to the contactless grocery pick-up. If there was a Panera close by it would have been a better choice. But I had to drive thru with my mask and shield. It will get worse. Pat asked for spaghetti for dinner. She never asks for anything. I usually get a shoulder shrug. More red calories!

McD's aside, the bulk of my calories are always red. Occasionally yellow. Very little green. I have found out that if I log things individually I get the same calories but my color breakdown is slightly better. Everything that I think is healthy like eggs, nuts, beans, chicken, etc. comes up as red or yellow.  Fish comes up as green. It's the odd ball. But what's funny is that these are the things they are telling you to eat. I do not understand. I'm pretty sure you have to be vegan to get green calories. Because green foods are not calorie dense. Red food, are very calorie dense.

So far the app has told me nothing that I didn't already know, and in fact I find it's perky attitude and hashtags, and acronyms annoying. One of today's eating tips was to should cook at home. I'm shocked. Let's take that one step further and freeze, can, make double portions ... you get the idea ... to save money, control what you are eating and eat healthier. This family has been doing that since the 1930s. Probably earlier. There have been a lot of days where as adults we have stood around crafting food and dividing it between the participants. Please, please tell me something I don't know. 

The motivation segments are like cheerleaders on steroids. It makes me want to vomit.

Exercise. I have to log that as well. I have my Fitbit synced for the pedometer. Goal is 10K a day plus 4 days of exercise. The app assumes you are a couch potato and starts from there. I'm more of a Zoom potato. This online work has reduced my step count dramatically. I could get 3k steps in during one class, and that didn't include walking from the parking lot. Even before the app I was motivated to get back to walking so this blog would have some interesting content. 

Speaking of interesting content, the Montco challenge started a couple days ago. I signed up. That will be Pam and my challenge for this summer.  I haven't done it since 2017. There is also a water trail this time. They are having a group 10 mile paddle June 5th that I considered but I already have a commitment that day. Bummer. So I don't really

Getting back to serious walking will have to wait until the 28th when I'm out of Covid jail. I was woken up and raring to go and then had to stop. Being C19+ I can not go to parks and trails and things. (Wait, not allowed to use that word.) Instead, I'm taking a 5 minute walk around the block and crossing the street if I encounter people. I've been going up to Sioux and around but today I went down the alley. I really big, loud dog has moved in. When he stands up on the fence he could easily go over. Alley is off limits. I went to go out Itaska and Violet was coming out of her house. I turned around and headed back to Fiot. No way I could walk past Violet and not chat or be asked to go for cancer sticks.

 I really didn't want to walk on Broadway, it's really hard to avoid people. So I went thru Mary Liz's alley. The people who bought her house added a parking pad. I'm sending her a pic. As I rounded the corner, the twin on the corner is condemned. I'll let her know that as well.

The app has you doing a step count and they started you at 1500. Adding 300 every day till you get to 10K. I'm close to 3K now as my goal. Plus they are all about setting baby goals to achieve the big goal (199 pounds). They want you to mix up your exercise routine -- my choices were running, weightlifting, and yoga. I picked yoga. But I haven't done it. I have zero interest in yoga alone in my living room. But it was the only one of the three choices that I'd even attempt.

But the app is keeping me accountable. I'm drinking a lot less soda, and since I have to write it down, I'm eating a lot less. I also have weeded out most of the food that lacks nutritional value ... the empty calories. But it doesn't stop me from searching for them at the end of the day. I could live on water from the time I get up until I'm trying to settle down for bed because I'm busy. Then I could eat everything in the house that isn't nailed down. Not because I'm hungry but because I'm bored. Or stressed. Especially this week. It was hell. Or emotional. I have made mindless eating an Olympic sport.Maybe I should join Overeaters Anonymous instead. Of course we'd have serious issue when we get to the step about higher powers. News flash, there isn't one.

I'm only 10 days into it, so maybe later it will give me useful information. But I'm in for the long haul. My mother taught me that if you signed up for something you had to see it thru no matter how much you didn't like it. 

My goal for the last 10 years has been 199 pounds. It says that in my bio. The closest I've come is 230. 220's would be nice. Hell, 230 would be okay if it just stayed off. We'll see.

not so "contactless" pickup

 So as I mentioned in my last post I tested positive for Covid19. That means self-isolation for 10 days.Now I 100% believe that I am a false positive, but it postponed my surgery anyway. Every person I personally knew that I was in contact with took the rapid test and was negative. As I told my brother yesterday, I could test 100 times and I'll always be positive. I'm certain of it. (CVS has an at home test now.)

The last time this happened, back in January, I had a fridge full of food and a freezer full as well. I've been actively reducing my inventory. Partly because I'm trying to change the way I eat.Partly because o the way Pat eats. She eats very little. And very specific things. I had made some meals ahead for after surgery. We'll eat those up, because June food is much lighter.

Friends and family members have offered to pick me up food.a and I would have taken them up on that. But the day after I found out, was grocery day and the cupboards were bare. I can't ask someone to do that much shopping. One bag full is enough.

As I mentioned in the last post I tried Rednor's and ended up missing items. The fee was $4.95 and the first order was supposed to be free but they charged me,and I had no where to put my store card number in so I didn't get any sale prices. But all that didn't bother me much. The 15 plastic bags did.During Earth Week no less. Yikes. I won't have to beg for plastic bags for a long time. In addition, the staff member knocked on my window to tell me something. Not quite contactless. I chose Rednor's because I couldn't figure out Giant. My colleague told me the trick and that they used paper bags.

 

Right before class yesterday I had my list and Sharon's, and was fairly confident it would be at least $30. That's the minimum. I signed into Giant (a critical step), and I easily found the navigation.They too were broken down by departments, but when you clicked on dairy, for example, there was a search bar. So instead of searing thru the entire dairy aisle for Sharon's Half and Half, I just wrote in Half and Half and got the choices. Much easier. Plus when you clicked on  Dairy, all the sale items were listed first.

I could also sign up for text alerts when my order was ready. And it asked my the style and color of my car. I picked grey sedan. Again, I had to choose a time slot. It went much quicker than the first time, but I was at $28 and I had to leave for class. I didn't see a save button. I was sure it would vanish when I returned. It didn't. After class it was still all there so I added one more item and went to check out. It wouldn't take my card. I think I left it sit too long. Knowing full well that everything would be lost, I logged out and logged back in. I got a message that said it would take a minute to reload my order. It was still there. And it took my card.

This morning my slot was 8-9 am. At 7:30 I received a text to let them know when I was OMW. What is OMW? It took me a minute to figure out that was on my way. When I did that, I got another text HERE. I parkedin the special spot, replied HERE and it replied they'd be outin a few minutes. It was maybe three minutes before I saw her coming across the lot

The website said 100% contactless, you showed ID thru the window. I had my ID ready and the associate was doing charades. She wanted me to roll down my window. Duck. I put on my mask, my shield, and I opened the window partly. She had a clipboard and asked if that was me. I couldn't see it. It was in about 6 point type and I had a stupid shield on looking into the sun. I said Gayle Hendricks. Then she told me about a substitution.

Now really, I was well protected, and it was about 30 seconds but that is not 100% contactless.

Verdict. If I have to shop again online I'd probably go with Giant. I haven't tried any of the other stores yet. If for nothing else the lower fee, paper bags, and a search bar. But if I'm100% honest I don't see the appeal of online shopping. It takes me as much time and I get no exercise. It's more expensive because of the fee. I can't use my bags. And most importantly I can still forget stuff, can't make mistakes. Both times I made mistakes. That's a lot of extra money. I always buy Uncle Ben's brown rice. I believe the proper term is parboiled. It cooks in about a half hour instead of a hour. What I chose was Uncle Ben's Prepared brown rice. So basically it's already cooked in a foil bag. Heat's in the microwave in 90 seconds. That's fine if you have a microwave. There's also skillet directions. Once it's open I can throw it in a stir fry and put the rest in the freezer. It's just expensive brown rice.

When I returned home I unpacked my groceries, repacked Sharon's and took them to her building. Masked and shielded I  saw her coming out and I left them on the stairs. Then I ran back to the car. She picked up the bag and went in.

Oh and I forgot Pat's Tastycakes again. I have diet brain.

surgery rescheduled.

Now I get to wait again. Doctor says I have to wait the two weeks before surgery. But with my schedule and hers it turns out to be June 11. I guess getting a summer job is out of the question.

In my schedule for surgery today was grocery day. I even got Sharon's list so I wouldn't have to go twice. That's out. I spent my day rescheduling appointments for myself and Pat, and the craft class at the library.

I decided to try grocery pick up. You pick your groceries online, pay for them, and the happy person runs out and puts them in the car. It gets me away from Pat and it's useful. The fee is $4.95, but first timers get free. 

 

I started with Giant. I had to make an account. A half-hour later I couldn't figure out how it worked. Epic design fail. I didn't want to look at every item in the store. I really wanted a search bar. So then I tried Rednor's. 

There's was much better, but it still took forever. They had category is and sub categories and I even figured out how to search by brand. But everything is helter skelter. For example Sharon wanted Raisin Bran. I picked Grocery, then Breakfast. On each page there was a box of Raisin Bran. But not the plain old 100-year-old version. Frustrating and time consuming. It was taking as long to shop online and I was getting zero exercise.

I just had produce to do, and the phone rang. It was the doctor with the bad news. Pat had an appointment at the urologist tomorrow, and I had to cancel and change that. Then the derm called. A half hour later I went to contiue shopping and everything was gone.

I had a meltdown.

I re-did it. It went much smother. I couldn't find a place to put my card number so I probably paid full price for everything. I finally went to check out and I couldn't get a time slot today.

I had another meltdown.

I really want to make brownies. And eat the entire pan.

update 4/21:

Today I picked up my order. Some items were out of stock. They charged me the $4.99 ppick-up fee. The first order was supposed to be free. I forgot some stuff.

Pick up was contactless. I pulled into the space, called the number and they said they'd be out in a few minutes. It was about five. It was raining so I watched her come out. I didn't want to pop the trunk too soon and get everything wet. 

I saw her come out the door with a cart ... FULL OF PLASTIC BAGS! My grocery order was an eco-nightmare.

My colleague told me that Giant really is easy. The key is to log in first. I tried it today, and I had much better choices. Not just ad stuff. She also told me that their groceries are packed in old-school paper bags. I need to make friends with the Giant app.

just call me typhoid mary

Last night I was feeling good. I walked more than a little. I logged all the food I ate and I ate much better for the last week. Not great. Better. I was all smug and proud of myself. I was back on track. Then I got a text from the hospital app.

Now we all know how much I love the ducking app from the hospital. It is as annoying as hell. It beeps constantly since I've had all this testing done for my surgery on Friday. And I have a lot to do -- Grading, clean the house, shop for groceries for my sister and myself, and come up with some other plans for laundry. I have to make my worst case scenario lists for my niece. (I've already set up this blog and email account to self-destruct in three months if it is idol.)

When I read the pre-surgery book early Monday morning (They gave me a whole 24-page book. 8.5x11.) it said I might not be able to lift anything or clean for 6 weeks. Shit. That's a long time. I wanted to check out some services. Well more like independent people to pay to clean a couple times. Six weeks for the kitchen and bath is a long time. And I'm still struggling with what to do about laundry. I took the trash out last night, thinking I'd be good for two or three weeks. My trash person probably wondered what the heck was up.

At dinner time the phone beeped. I had a "new test results" text.  I figured it was my covid test. I've had covid and the damn vaccine, so it should be negative, right? WRONG.

 

 

Last night I was mad. Today, I've been trying to reach someone to talk to. Do I take another test? Is it a false positive. Do I really have to self isolate? And what about my sister. Should she be tested? What about her catheter. I was hoping it would come out tomorrow. I can't even take her to the doctor and is she even allowed to go? So many things to think about.

If I have this again, I know I got it at the ducking hospital ER. Every time I take my sister to the ER I test positive. I firmly believe that hospitals make you sick. For me, it is no coincidence that I got the scabbies after my D&C.

 

If my surgery is rescheduled I'll have to do all these stupid tests again--blood work, chest x-ray, ekg, covid. What if it comes back positive the next time? 

 

My reaction last night. Hell, you know me well enough to know that I'm a stress eater. I ate what little crap food was left in the house. Two creamsicles, two peanut butter Tandykakes, and a 30 ounce coke. After minimal sugar for a week, I'm surprised I was not sick. On the positive side I did not pull out the Girl Scout cookies from the freezer. I did not log these things. I share my shame here instead.

Now I wait for people to call me back. I'm not good at waiting. Too bad most of the junk food in the house is gone. Maybe I could make Brownies or cookies. But I can't. I'd eat them all before they were cool.

the hoover mason trestle has reopened!

On Sunday I got a surprise email. It asked me what the bathroom status was on the volkssport Bethlehem South route. I replied with a "Why?" Turns out there is a walk Thursday. Now Friday is my surgery. I have no time to lead a walk. I've got to get this whole house clean. I won't be able to do it for 2 to 6 weeks depending on what they do.

 
Before replying again I decided to check if the HMT was open. It's been closed due to COVID for a year plus. And to my shock it was.  For the first time in a long time I was excited to go for a walk. I replied that I'd check it out, plus there was a couple new murals, I'd check out those locations as well.

Monday I did some work and about 10 am I headed out to walk. The plan was to park at ArtsQuest, go to the HMT, and then walk the Greenway to find the murals. Driving home I'd stop at the Comfort Suites and remove the detour stickers from the instructions.

 

I parked and the trestle was open. But the rest rooms were not.

Look! the stairs are open!

And the gate is too. Look there's other people. (Who clearly were never there before. They were still up there when I came back from my walk.)

I had so much fun. I could have spent an hour up there. Things looked so different after not seeing it for a year. But alas I had to go and do more walking.

I came down the stairs and headed up Founders Way to check the hours on the ArtsQuest building. They are not conducive to walking times. Much shorter than before. Then I went up to Second Street and took the to the Steel Front Gate. I went out the gate and crossed Third and went to Morton. I walked out Morton to Taylor and then back to Third to go to C-Mart. I had taken my purse and wanted some veggies. Their prices were sky high and there was no dragon fruit so I left.

 

I walked up to the Greenway and headed east. When I arrived almost back to Filmore, I saw the figure mural (top) on the side of Victory House. I thought the other one was at Cafe the Lodge and it was. It's on the fence and much easier to see headed west. Going east it is blocked by the Little Free Library and the Cafe the Lodge sign. You actually have to go up the path and look on the fence.

I sat on a bench and I texted the walk coordinator. I also told her about the piano and the murals on the school. I stopped at Starbucks and got a small dragon fruit drink (and refilled the cup 3xs with water. It lasted till dinner time.) Then I retraced my steps and headed back to the parking lot. 

Miles/Steps:  2 miles
Weather:        50's, breezy and mostly sunny
PPE Found:     3 masks

new beginnings --day 3

 

Today, Pam and I walked at Franco Farms in Salisbury. I wanted to stay close to the house, but that's a story for later. 

We arrived and took the outside trail, first stopping at the pond. We hadn't planned on entering when I saw a red winged blackbird. Which I thought at first was an oriole. Weird, right? Looks nothing like it. But I couldn't dwell in my error because Pam saw another and I saw a third.  So we entered the gazebo and bird watched. There were many. I don't know the types. (This picture is from Wikipedia.)

Then we crossed the big lawn and entered the woods taking the outside path. The paths here aren't well marked and when we got on the power trail we went the wrong way.  It became obvious that we were not going right so we turned around and went back.  It was easy to find the trail back to the car. 

Miles/Steps:  2 miles
Weather:        high 40's, breezy and damp
Wildlife:         3 red wing black birds, a kettle of vultures -- there was probably 6, many singing birds. It was downright noisy.

Yesterday I woke at around five to use the bathroom.  Shortly thereafter I heard my sister in the hall. I yelled good morning and buried myself in my covers to go back to sleep. She gets up at that ungodly hour. In a few minutes she appeared in the doorway. "I think we need to go to the hospital", she said. I asked why. I haven't peed since yesterday.

Thankfully this trip to the hospital was different than the last two. First, we didn't have to wait. Second they didn't take us into trauma where it looks like a TV show. We went to the way back will the non-life threatening cases. They took blood and we waited. They came in and they put a catheter in and took a sample and we waited. And we waited. It's after 8 and I've had no food or water. Neither has she but she doesn't eat or drink. Finally, I went to the doorway looking for a nurse. I needed to find a fountain or a machine. Instead she brought me this eco nightmare filled with ice and water. I filled it several times in the sink in her room.

They left us go at about 10. She has a catheter in. Taking care of her is becoming way above my pay grade. We have to go to the urologist Wednesday. I hope this isn't permanent. It's a PIA.

In the afternoon I felt comfortable enough to leave her alone for a half hour to go for a short walk. It was beautiful out. Much warmer out then in. I walked up to Sioux, down Clewell, crossed Broadway and went to Cherokee. Then I headed back Cherokee to Bishopthorpe and home. Not far. But I felt much calmer logging into class.

Miles/Steps:  3/4 mile
Weather:       high 50s, sunny, bright blue skies
PPE Found:    There was so much trash. Chief among it was ppe's. I counted seven masks, one reusable, and then I lost track. There was four on one block.

new beginnings day 1 -- hamilton street

Today I had a hair appointment. It's near 10th and Walnut in Allentown. Sharon also comes, so today instead of chatting I decided to walk around downtown for thirty minutes.

I went up 10th to Hamilton and headed toward Ninth. Almost the entire block had changed on one side. The just bull dozed everything and built new buildings. On the other side many had zoning notices in the window. With the rate of redevelopment in Allentown it will no longer have any charm. It will be generic office Park number 10 Zillion. Glass and steel.

I went down 10th to Linden and out Linden back to 10th. The cemetery is in horrible shape. And there in front of someones house was a tombstone like thing but there were no words. Maybe at one time it had a plaque. The front was distressed. The back was not. Maybe it was art? 

The block with the Stonewall had a lot of character. I don't remember these doors on the Stonewall's brownstone, and they've also painted the stairs a rainbow. This person dispensed with the sign company all together and just airbrushed the sign.

Then it was back out Hamilton toward 11th. There I discovered that AAA was for sale, and that the ILGWU building with the beautiful Art Deco letters was empty. But this former dry cleaner has great glass. And I bet the neon is nice too.

Then it was back down 11th to Walnut and back to the car for our purses, then on to the salon.

cleared for surgery

As I mentioned in my last post, I hate the hospital app on my phone that alerts you to when test results are in. It does a zillion other things as well.

I only have medicare so I have to pay the 20% myself. I've been searching for something I can afford and understand. I've spent about $1000 on costs related to the D&C and was figuring that the hysterectomy would be at least three times that. Maybe four. So I applied for FAP again as soon as my taxes were done. The clerk at the testing center said they thought another 10% would be covered. 

Yesterday I opened the app and it said there was a message. Went into fill worry-wort mode. It was financial aid telling me I qualified for 100%! Now this doesn't mean I'm totally off the hook. This will pay the rest of doctors, test, labs, that kind of thing. It will not cover surgery and the ER.

I also mentioned in my last post that I was dreading the doctor visit. I was sure that he would not clear me for surgery. My sugar and cholesterol was higher, and I had something weird on my urine and liver analysis. He now has line charts and spun the computer around. My sugar and cholesterol was a fairly straight line until that set. He just told me to clean up my act. No new pills. I would have refused anyway.

Then he gets to the liver test and spins the computer around again. Straight line and then Mount Everest. I braced for the bad news. He said these test were fasting, correct? I said yes. Looks like you might have Gilberts Syndrome. I'm think this is life threatening. My brain is going a mile a minute. Then he says nothing to worry about. Gilberts "is an inherited (genetic) liver disorder that affects the body's ability to process bilirubin. Bilirubin is yellow liquid waste that occurs naturally as the body breaks down old red blood cells. People with Gilbert's syndrome don't produce enough liver enzymes to keep bilirubin at a normal level."

Hey family—anyone else got this? He's not worried. Therefore I'm not worried. And the urine analysis never came up.

Then he says you're on medicare now. and they want you to have annual wellness exam. I have time, let's do it now and you don't have to come back for your regular visit in November. Sold. I also received my pneumonia shot and scheduled my first bone density test. More notches in the "old lady" belt.

In closing I signed up for Noom. I've being toying with Weight Watchers and Noom for a long time and I always leave money hold me back. I know the nutrition. I know the exercise. I just have to do it. My blood test wake up call was it. So I promised myself that if the FAP came thru I would sign up for Noom. 

Jury is still out. Right now it's the same old BS. Log your food. Water and protein are magic. And they say it in such a cheerleader way that it makes me want to vomit. I hate logging food because the things I eat are never in there. I immediately got a robot notification from someone named Laura saying she is my coach. It's bad enough having the stupid program be a cheerleader. I don't need a person. I just need to be accountable. That's it. I can do that with My Fitness Pal, but frankly I didn't like that either. 

And I am a firm believer that you should NOT weigh yourself everyday. For Zoom you have too.

Bottom line is I can do any diet or program. I have. My problem is keeping it off. I've lost the same weight over and over again. The half pound when my reproductive system comes out is not going to be much help. I picked Noom because they are supposed to deal with the psychology. We'll see

I'm stuck with this till mid November. That's when I'm supposed to reach 199 pounds. I'll be happy with losing 20 and keeping it off.

wake up call

Friday I went for fasting blood work at about 1 pm. I only drank water all morning. 

I hate going for blood work so I took the pre-surgery blood work sheets, and the ones that the doctor gave me back in November. I figured several were repeated and I could save money. But I really need to get a medicare supplement. I wish I knew someone who understands this shit. I don't know what to get. And my saving will be drained if I don't get something. I applied for FAP again. I was told they might cover 10% of the 20% not paid by Medicare. We'll see.

The hospital has an app. It is still encouraging me to get vaccinated. Even though my vaccine is in the chart. But that isn't why I hate the hospital app. Test results come back and I get them. I have no idea how to read them. I've been told not to by two doctors. That's why they went to medical school. But if you send it I look. Oh and the notifying email has lots of disclaimers. I guess it's to stop you from looking. The only thing that will do that is you stop sending me notices that they are there.

One set was bar graphs and the two ends are yellow and the middle blue. I figure that if I'm in the blue zone, I'm good. 

The next set is all numbers. Some words I recognize. Like negative. I like that word. After months of stress eating and not exercising regularly they weren't pretty. My sugar was 101. My combined cholesterol was 250. All much higher than normal. YIKES. If the doctor wants to try and push drugs, I'll say no thank you. I can easily make this change by going back to eating better. Stop the 20 good/80 bad and go back to 80 good/20 bad.

The other numbers I don't understand. There's two that trouble me. I'll find out Monday at the doctor's when I go for my pre-surgery appointment. And I hope that these bad numbers don't jeopardize my surgery. Because I'm ready. And I don't think I'll go thru with it if it changes.
. 

friday in the park

I have not been walking much. Partly because of lack of interest. Partly because I'm better walking with others. Partly because taking care of my sisters and work is all-time consuming. Pretty much it's an excuse sandwich.

Thursday I emailed Pam and asked if she wanted to walk Friday and she said yes. I had already done my pre-surgery EKG and chest x-ray when I had Pat in for a test on Thursday so I no longer had a Friday appointment. We chose 8:30 at Illicks mill.

The following exchange was begun because of auto correct.

We met in the parking lot and headed down the path of the nature center. When we reached the railroad tracks there was a long train, so we decided to go check out the creek. There was a well worn path running along the creek. So we took it. It's funny how you can live your whole life in a city and discover new areas of a park. At the railroad bridge there was another path and we took that and ended back up at the railroad tracks. I'm not sure if it's because there was no tree cover, but we saw the "Monocacy Way" path and took it to Paint mill Road, then turned around and took the path back to the nature trail, following the path back down to the creek. Then we followed the creek, past the people fishing, to the parking lot.

When I returned home, I took a shower, dusted off my dress shoes and went to my cousin Lucy's funeral. After the funeral it was time for blood work. It might have been around 1  pm. By dinner time the results were starting to come in. They weren't pretty. It was the wakeup call I needed.

Miles/Steps:  less than 3

Weather:       mid-50s,  overcast, breezy

Wildlife:        6 mallards, woodpeckers heard in the distance. Actually few geese. Maybe they were on a drug run.

national walking week

The AVA is celebrating National Walking week. It's a Hallmark holiday for walkers. It actually began as National Walking Day by the American Heart Association. Clubs are expected to hold walks each day. We're only doing four days. Our club doesn't hold walks on holiday weekends.

So they held a walk Thursday, and today. And will hold walks Tuesday and Wednesday.

Today we did the Bethlehem North walk. Only five people attended, though frankly that's five more than I thought would come.

The walk showed how out-of shape I am. It was a real wake up call. Will it be motivating? I'm not sure.

Miles/Steps:  5k
Weather:        37,  sunny, blue skies, breezy
PPE Found:    I didn't count, there was a lot. And so much trash.

short walk and creepy diseases

 

Wednesday I did a short walk in Bethlehem. I had to collect the numbers for my volkssport group. I was surprised I got my butt out there because I had a class at 11. But I made it home in plenty of time.

Sadly, I did not follow thru. So much for my walk everyday before my bloodwork plan.

After weeks of no sleep I finally broke down and called the doctor. I itch. I itch to the point where I scratch it open. But you can't see a rash. During the day I am busy enough that I don't notice. At night my head hits the pillow and it takes over.  It's around both ears, my hairline both arms, the backs of my shoulders and started appearing on meh butt and waist. And my vagina.

I have tried moisturizers thinking it was dry skin. I've tried hydrocortisone. Nothing worked. I even ripped apart my bedroom looking for bed bugs.

But still I didn't sleep. I tossed and turned. I got up and worked. I watched late night television. Finally when I was exhausted at 4 or 5 am, I'd fall asleep. That's not good. I walked up at 6.

I finally had enough. I could only get a video appointment April 1. I almost cancelled. How am I going to show an invisible rash on a video call? So I explained my symptoms. I showed her the scabs on my face from where I scratched things open. She asked if anyone I was close to was in the hospital recently. I said Pat, and I also told her about my D&C. Then she dropped a bomb I didn't expect: Scabies.

Scabies is an itchy skin condition caused by a tiny burrowing mite called Sarcoptes scabiei. Intense itching occurs in the area where the mite burrows. The urge to scratch may be especially strong at night. Holy shit. 

Apparently there is a huge breakout in the Lehigh Valley  ... at hospitals, nursing homes, and rehab centers. From what I read it's related to the coronavirus. When I thought about it the itching in my vagina didn't begin till about a week after my D&C. I thought it was some funky discharge related to the upcoming hysterectomy.

The doctor decided to go for the most comprehensive treatment. I have a tube of cream that I use twice. I slathered it all over before bed, and then when I got up I had to rinse it all off. Then wash my pj's and be clothes in hot water.

Before getting dressed, I have a  huge tub of stuff to use that looks like moisturizer. I have to "slather" it all over my body twice a day for a week. Then repeat the process next week.  Oh, and take Benadryl.

Hopefully two weeks is enough. She would like it cleared up before I return to the hospital for my surgery.

Me too. All I know is that for the first time in weeks I put my head on my pillow and went to sleep. And slept all night.