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CLAIREHASGOALS's Recent Blog Entries
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Monday, September 19, 2011
Earlier this year, I cleaned the walls in my daughter's house - I mean every single inch of the walls - in an attempt to get rid of cigarette smoke residue. She has all kinds of medication, plant, food, and chemical/odor allergies, so she really couldn't be at the house until the smoke was out of there. And that left me pretty much on my own washing walls. Two weeks 9 hours a day of hauling water up and down the ladder, reaching out in all directions with sponges and rags.
I have never ever had back trouble. When I was younger, I did a lot of swimming and wilderness canoeing, paddling like hell or carrying that 80 pound canoe on my back. I had a strong core! But, then, I got married and had a baby and got busy and lazy and did nothing for exercise for the next 30 years. I paid attention to my back, though, always careful to pick things up from a squat rather than bending over and so on.
When I was washing the walls, I was careful about carrying the bucket and twisting and all that stuff and it wasn't until the 8th or 9th day that I started feeling my back. I knew I needed to stop but I couldn't. I had a drop dead due date; her move date was scheduled. So, I pushed through, being more vigilant about weight and motion and moving the ladder more often so I didn't stretch as far. By the last day, I hurt round the clock and couldn't turn at the waist.
I wasn't able to help move her into the house - out of the question. But, even still, I didn't think much of all this because I just did 90 hours of heavy work after 30 years of doing zip. Who wouldn't be hurting? I was there another 2 weeks and it got a little better, but when I hit the road to drive the 2,000 miles from Michigan back to Arizona I still couldn't twist enough to look over my shoulder to back up. Not good, but I had to hit the road. Four days of road vibration did nothing for my comfort.
That was in May. It's been 4 months and I can finally do the look over my shoulder twist to back out of a parking space but not without pain - it just doesn't take my breath away any more. It twinges all day - not baaadddd but ever constant. I half wake up when I'm turning in bed at night. When I sit in chairs, I've gone back to all the etiquette I learned from Mom in the 50's and 60's. I sit on the very edge with my feet flat on the floor, compelling my back into a straight(er) posture. I've been carefully doing stretching exercises and what not.
So, I've acknowledged that my worst fear has been realized; I now have chronic back pain. My entire life I was vigilant about good back health because the people around me with chronic back pain were so unrelentingly uncomfortable. I can piss and moan about it but I did it to myself and I'd do it again because my daughter needed me to. Even with what I accomplished, she reacted strongly to the smoke still on the ceilings and absorbed into the wood cabinetry. Oh, yeah, I forgot. I shampooed all the carpeting 3 times within the 2 weeks in the middle of all of this.
Ok. Life goes on. I've got so many other health issues, what's one more?! From now on I have to get someone else to do the lifting for me - is that such a bad thing? I need to look at it as pampering rather than limiting!
I had a DEXA bone scan a couple weeks ago and unfortunately, I've got osteoporosis now and I've lost an inch in height. I been doing some reading about the risks of fractures - I had always thought that hip fractures were the biggies. No. Back fractures. The bones in your back are already spongy when they are healthy. Add osteoporosis to the mix and the bones in the spinal column are like crackers - they break and crumble easily. As they crumble, height is lost. Conclusion: I broke my back washing walls.
How easily done! As I read further, I'm learning that I'm now capable of breaking bones from sneezing. How scary!
My primary doc prescribed Fosamax to help. I have chronic kidney disease and lots of meds are bad for kidneys so I called my kidney doc to get an ok. Nope - can't take it once a week, can only it once a month. Another conflict between kidney disease and osteoporosis is calcium and vitamin D. Osteoporosis: get lots of calcium! Kidneys: watch that calcium, it can create kidney stones and generally gums up the works.
Just like my diabetes, if there is a conflict between what is best for my kidneys and what is best for my other condition, the kidney therapy always wins. My doc's directive is that I can take a pill to control my diabetes, but kidney disease will kill me. That leaves me with mostly hyper vigilance to control my osteoporosis. And that's just not gonna get it if I can breaks bones by coughing!
I've got more research to do, of course. I need to set another appt with my primary doc to talk about alternative drug therapy for osteoporosis. I know there are a bunch of different kinds of drugs, so perhaps there is a class that is not lethal to kidneys. I'm going to find a SparkTeam for osteoporosis so I can learn from others in my situation. I'm sure I'll get some great advice. I got a pamphlet from the DEXA testing place that gave me easy exercises to improve bone health. I need to find out what I should and should not do at the gym. I have no muscle tone whatsoever and I have no clue how to measure the line between healthy bones from free weights and fractured bone from too much weight.
Getting old is a bitch.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Yesterday I got good news - my kidney function is improving.
Today, I learned my A1C (blood test that tells us how well we do at stabilizing our glucose levels) is worse - I'm still pre-diabetic but only a few points away from full blown diabetes.
This past year, I've focused on learning how to manage my kidney disease. Now I need to do a better job of folding diabetes management into my routines and Stop. Eating. Sugar.
When I stop eating sugar, I lose weight right away. I've dropped 3 lbs in the last week by just saying NO.
~~~
I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again
CHORUS
Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman
You can bend but never break me
'cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer
'cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul
CHORUS
I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
As I spread my lovin' arms across the land
But I'm still an embryo
With a long long way to go
Until I make my brother understand
Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to I can face anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman
Oh, I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong
FADE
I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong
I am woman
(Words and Music by Helen Reddy and Ray Burton)
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
I got great news from my doctor - my kidneys are working much better! This amazes me since I've not taken control of my sugar habit.
But, all the other dietary changes I've needed to make I've done. I'm eating the right vegetables and fruits in the correct proportions. I'm doing well at keeping my protein under 35g a day (not including plant proteins). I've drastically reduced my milk consumption (my #1 fav food). I don't eat potatoes or any of the other foods that are not kidney friendly.
I'm making progress and getting the positive feedback from the doc is just the best!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Definitely getting my exercise today!
Last week we got a new cat from the Arizona Humane Society. Mary Louise (prior owner must have been Catholic!) is almost 4 years old, is charcoal gray, and the most beautiful gold eyes. What a cutie! She's loves to crawl into my lap and she sleeps directly on or leaning up against me. Unfortunately, my original cat, Penske, a 13 year old whom we got from AHS in March, is NOT at all happy with the new situation. She pounces on Mary Louise if Mary Louise comes out of our bedroom.
I don't want my kitty to live in the bedroom and I don't want to have to go to the bedroom to play with my kitty either. It's only been a week. Mary Louise continues to push her exploration further into the house - until she sees Penske and then it's a mad scramble to the bedroom. My husband thinks we should now put Penske in the bedroom and let Mary Louise have the run of the rest of the house for awhile so that their scents get mixed together everywhere. I can see the point, but I want to remain mindful that Penske is pretty new to the house herself and at 13 that's a big adjustment especially since she was a one owner cat before we got her. (Who could give up an animal they'd had for 13 years??)
So, today, Penske has pounced a few times and I've been running to get between them until Mary Louise can get free and clear to do her marathon run to the bedroom. I don't think they have really made physical contact - it's been close quarter growling and hissing and paw waving.
Advice, anyone?
I had trimmed a Palo Verde tree in my backyard a few weeks back and left the trimmings to dry out. Today I broke it into pieces and stuffed my garbage can full with it for pick up tomorrow. That bending and lifting isn't so great for my back but I know I burned some calories for an hour or two. I probably sweated off 10 pounds, too! (I wish.)
Now, I'm about to help my husband put together a new computer table he bought for himself. The last one just wasn't big enough to fit his home personal computer plus the work-related laptop that's up and running whenever he's at home. (He's in software production support so he's got to be ready to help a client at a moment's notice. One of the 24/7 careers.)
It's a big table and it's going to be clumsy to put together. I'm betting I'll be sweatin' and bitchin' before this task is over!
Lastly, I've got to get meal planning done so I can do grocery shopping tomorrow.
Lastly, lastly I'm gonna sit on my derriere and catch up on some TV I've recorded. (Burn Notice, Covert Affairs, America's Got Talent)
I hope everyone has a fulfilling week in mind and spirit!
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Member Comments About This Blog Post:
So glad to hear you are taking your health serious and doing what is needed to improve. You rock!
I believe you can do this! You will get to where you need to be to take care of YOU!
