And Hello Friday! It’s been a week, hasn’t it? How about an update on all.things.medical first…
On Monday, the Nurse Practitioner called with my blood test results…sigh. My cholesterol was not at good levels and had jumped extraordinarily since my last blood work. So I am now taking Lipitor™ (or the generic – Atorvastatin) and am working on some adjustments to my diet. I get bloodwork done again in 6 weeks and see how things are going. It was advantageous that the NP called, because when we talked about the “exercise” portion of my day, I told her about my hip pain. She immediately looked at her schedule and I am seeing her on Monday regarding that. She was lovely and I am very much looking forward to seeing her!
And then there is the tale of poor Sherman who had to have a bit massive amount of dental work done yesterday. Today, he is eleven teeth lighter and quite a bit more grumpy than his usual self. We had planned on him needing to have a couple of teeth removed… but eleven… yeah. Poor baby. My goal today is to spoil him even more than usual!
One groggy, grumpy pug who is significantly more swollen this morning, poor guy!
But, beyond all of that…I really need to set a goal or two this month and focus on them… or February will be over and I will have accomplished nothing!
The Big Thing I really need to accomplish is a rework of my “Office.” I need to rearrange things because painting has become more important than it was when I first set myself up to paint. I like to stand up to paint, and in my current set up… that is not possible. So a big room rearrangement is needed. This will include “rehoming” some things and doing more sorting of other things. Yeah. All the fun… not! Haha!
The only other thing I have to focus on this month is to pull out some cook books and see if I can find some new recipes to entice The Meat and Potato Eater with some meals that have a more vegetal focus… i.e. sans meat and potatoes! As for me, I could easily give up meat and potatoes, if it means that I can keep cheese and the occasional bit of bread! But sadly, I cook for 2 in this house. Sigh.
Seems like so little to want to accomplish in a month… but if I can get these things done, I will feel like I have accomplished much!
And with that, I will bid you all a most amazing weekend and I will see you all back here on Monday!
Photo credit: Mikhail Nilov
Ah, poor Sherman! Mabel is sending healing wishes his way (as am I). Talbot (one of C&M’s cats) has had to have a number of teeth removed. Not always easy or pleasant. Welcome to the world of higher-than-it-should-be cholesterol. Everyone in my family has low cholesterol – everyone that is except me. I’ve been on the same med for years and it does seem to work. You know that Fletch and I eat some vegetarian and some vegan meals (I’m so lucky that he is willing to try new things) and when I do fix meat, I tend to eat smaller and smaller quantities of it and load up on the veggies. Glad you like the NP and will be seeing her about your hip – best of luck!
Your medical journey seemed to be off to an initially unpleasant start, but I hope the NP is as good as she sounds and your hip pain and cholesterol both end up in a better place. Sending all the good juju to poor Sherman that he soon feels better. Reworking your office will be a real gift to your future self so you can better enjoy painting the way you want to do it!
sounds like the NP is working out for you!!! I’ve been put on a statin because of my risk of CV disease and the amount of calcium deposit in my one heart artery. I hope you have success with the lipitor!! Poor Sherman but yay for dental work and he will be eating his food in no time at all and living a BIG wonderful life. My vet said small dogs are prone to dental disease…ugh.
NPs are a godsend. They spend the time needed, they listen, and they are kind, all of which are not necessarily in an MDs skill set. Good luck with the hip pain. Periodic cortisone shots can ease the pain until they don’t, then it’s time for a hip replacement. Ask me how I know. Best of luck in your February goals!
I’m glad to hear you’re getting that hip pain taken care of, and I hope it’ll mean you can be more physically active as a result (because that will help with the cholesterol). Poor, poor Sherman. I hope he’ll be getting some delicious soft foods and extra snuggles this weekend to make him feel better! I think the weather this weekend should be conducive to doing some indoor organizing, and I look forward to hearing more about your new office setup!
Oh, Sherman! How his pictures get more adorable every time, I don’t know… (But pugs. They make ‘adorable’ very. easy.♥) SO glad you and the NP hit it off. Awesome that she got you in so darn fast–versus the hurry-up-and-wait. It’s so much more motivating and inspiring when you have someone like that on your side.
And I think those two things are significant–your creative space and meals! Good stuff to dig in to. I hope you enjoy the processes. (As for the meat and potatoes, I wonder if instead of *replacing* the majority of those meals…could you add TO them with more veggies/variety, so ‘whomever’ wants more meat and potatoes has them…and ‘whomever’ wants heavier vegetal can have more veg/less meat…? Just thinkin’….
I’m glad you like the NP. I hope the two of you figure out the hip pain. These aching joints are just not fun. It’s great she got you right in without a long wait. Good luck with the reorganization of your office space. I’m a little weird but I actually like organizing space. It does take energy to move stuff around so take care of that hip while you are in process.
I also see a NP – I try to avoid MDs at all costs!! I hope everything goes well for you and get all of this figured out. Medical stuff is so tricky, especially since our bodies are all so different and respond to different interventions!
I like Carolyn’s idea about adding TO meals to ensure that there’s a variety for everyone to eat. It’s kind of like dieting – it is so hard to think about restricting ourselves but it can be easier to reframe it as ADDING healthy options to what we’re already consuming.
And poor Sherman – I hope his recovery is smooth and he’s back to his puggeldy old self soon. Enjoy your weekend!!
My cholesterol is borderline high so the doc put me on the same medicine as you. When I had bloodwork done for my rheumatologist appointment, though, my glucose levels had shot up like crazy and it was most likely due to the cholesterol medication. So I’m off it and trying to lower my cholesterol through food choices (I refuse to say the 4 letter word that begins with D and ends with t) and more movement. I’m glad you like the NP you have and I hope you are able to resolve your hip pain. Happy weekend!
Well gosh, not a Good week. Glad you shared it here..trouble shared is a trouble halved. Hope the new meds do the trick for you, and hope the NP can suggest Good things on Monday. Poor Sherman.. He has my sympathies, eleven extractions is a lot. Hope your weekend is going well
Kat . . . sometimes our medical journeys start out kinda bumpy . . . in order to get us onto a smoother track. I’m so glad you had good rapport with the NP even on the phone — which is certainly a plus. And Lipitor? It works. I know many people who take it with great success. (Better living through chemistry . . . as we like to say in our family.) (And . . . Tom worked on Lipitor . . . right there in Holland. That’s good juju if ever there was any.) XOXO
(BUT . . . ELEVEN teeth???? How is that poor pup going to eat?????) JoJo and I are sending all our best to poor Sherman.