Tag: health

Dirty Window

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It was 6:30am. I was about to start my morning fake jog (yog) when I looked out the insanely dirty window and saw that the stormy looking sky through the trees looked super cool. In the four seconds it took to pick up my camera the cool sky went away and I was left with this awful picture through an unbelievably dirty window.

It was worth a shot, I guess.

So I had another migraine last night. I was trying to cook some spaghetti. I reached out to turn on the burner and realized I couldn’t see it. It wasn’t the center of my vision that was missing, it was the right side. Just gone. The headache hit me a few minutes later and it was pretty bad. I laid down a little after 6:00pm and didn’t get up again until about 9:30. My eyes were okay at that point but I still had a nasty headache. I went back to bed a short time later and didn’t wake up until almost 5:00am. There was still a mild headache but it seemed manageable. When I got up to exercise I took some Tylenol and now, an hour later, I am feeling okay.

That’s three migraines in two weeks. I’ll be calling my doctor on Monday. Enough is enough, folks. I’m pretty scared about all of this.

So Far, So Good

I didn’t have much of a breakfast today. It was just a couple of protein supplements while in the car on the way to the office. Nothing special, but there were no issues at all. Check.

Lunch was one serving of microwaved chicken tenders and a couple of ounces of peanuts. No issues there either. My stomach handled it well. The closest I came to a problem was actually feeling a little too full.

I am at about 80% of my protein goal, and 75% of my liquid goal. After last night’s shenanigans I was worried that things would go bad today. Fortunately it is so far, so good.

Here’s hoping dinner goes off without a hitch too. It’s looking like it might be protein bars in the car again, but that’s okay. Fingers crossed.

Week 44 Weigh In

The good news is that I am down 0.4 pounds since last Wednesday’s weigh in. The bad news is that I am up one pound since Saturday’s monthly weigh in. 44 weeks worth of scale stepping and this is only the second time I’ve been up. I’m not happy about it, but I am okay. I knew I’d been eating quite a bit more than I had at any time since this all began, so I knew that gains were coming. That doesn’t mean I like seeing it when they get here. It’s okay though. The overall trend is very much down and we’re still progressing according to plan.

I’m more concerned with how much trouble I had eating last night. Usually when I get that weird stomach block thing there is pain but it clears after half an hour to 45 minutes. An hour on the outside. Last night it just didn’t clear. Also, there was no pain to speak of. I just couldn’t eat anymore. After an hour and a half or so I thought I was through it but one bite showed otherwise. I’m fine now, but it’s been nine hours since that bite of sugar free pudding. I haven’t eaten breakfast yet but I have had half of my liquid goal without issue.

Okay, I have watched this morning’s new episode of The Mandalorian, and the new episode of The Bad Batch is about to end. I need to get my day rolling. It’s an in the office day today so I have a lot to do and a short time to do it. Wish me luck.

10 Month Weigh In

Today is March 4, 2023. It has been exactly 10 months since my gastric bypass surgery. I am having a tough time accepting that that much time has passed. 10 months? That’s insane. It feels like yesterday.

I weighed myself this morning when I woke up. I am down 1.4 pounds since Wednesday’s weekly weigh in. I weigh 216 pounds exactly. My BMI dropped from 26.5 to 26.3. My weight since surgery has gone down 215.4 pounds, and the loss since the first weigh in is now at an astonishing 236 pounds.

I finished my exercise a few minutes ago. I jogged in place (yogged) for a faux five miles. I haven’t been feeling well for the second day in a row. I have been dealing with the lightheadedness quite a bit today. I need to go make myself some lunch and put a lot of salt on it and see how that goes. Air fried potatoes, maybe?

On an unrelated note, I put in for some time off from work in the fall. There may be another vacation to someplace warm and sunny later in the year. I’ll let you know. I don’t know if I will be able to hold the traveling jones at bay until fall though. New York and Mountains and other places within driving distance are seriously calling to me.

Tough Day So Far

This Saturday morning has not been a memorable one so far. It’s snowing, and not a dusting like we’ve mostly been getting this winter, it’s a full blown snow storm. Winter is a dick. Just saying.

I feel better than I did yesterday. The headache is gone. My eyes are still a little funky, but nowhere near as bad as they were last night. I feel a little like one of those snowplows outside rolled over me. I just feel used up and wrung out. I’m not having a good morning.

We got up around 6:30 and started working on Jen’s computer. It’s 8:32 now and her machine is working okay. I haven’t done my exercise yet today. I am planning on having breakfast and seeing how I feel before I start my jogging (yogging), just to see how I’m feeling. I am hoping to play some guitar today. I started an idea for Record Every Month last night. Let’s see how it goes. I am going to have to shovel too, but not until after dark sometime when the snow stops falling.

For now, I am going to have something to eat and watch a little Deep Space Nine. Wish me luck.

Bad Night

Another migraine. What the hell, brain? Twice in one week?

It hit me at about 4:00pm. I hung in there until 5:30 when the work day ended and the. Locked myself in the dark bedroom with my head under the blankets. The headache was crushing and darkness is the only relief. I fell asleep for a few hours and feel a little better now, though not 100% at all.

Lily has decided to lay between my legs and keep me company, though I have to get up for a minute and she is refusing to move.

Unrelated, I took this next picture this morning. I was about to make the bed and I found Lily hiding under the covers. Cute factor 10, captain.

CPAP Thoughts

Two days ago when I had my nine month follow up with the surgeon who rearranged my digestive system one of the things we talked about was the state of my sleep apnea. Am I still using the CPAP machine? Am I still showing symptoms of sleep apnea? Am I going to have my sleep study redone?

I am still using the CPAP machine, and as a result I don’t know if I am still showing symptoms or not. I haven’t really thought about getting the sleep study redone. I feel like the CPAP machine is still helping me get better sleep. Now I have some evidence.

Last night I didn’t use it. I set it up and filled up the water tank and was ready to go, and then I just didn’t use it. I wanted to see what would happen. I never woke Jen with loud snoring, so that’s a plus. The numbers on the Apple Watch app I use to track sleep looked pretty good. I didn’t feel like I had a bad night’s sleep at all. Good news, right?

Maybe not. I am super tired this afternoon. I still have two hours worth of work day to go, but I am ready for a nap. I am willing to believe that what I am feeling today is all in my head, but regardless I think I am going to keep using the CPAP for a while. Maybe we’ll reevaluate in May.

Catching Up After a Couple of Off Days

The last couple of days have been weird, health-wise. First it was the headache issue on Tuesday, then it was stomach issues on Wednesday. Now here we are on Thursday and I am feeling a little like a wrung out face cloth. Here’s hoping today will be a quiet day.

We’re having some HVAC folks come and tell us what they need to do to replace the mini-split in the bedroom. We’ve had it serviced a couple of times this winter, but it’s just not working and we’re more or less unable to heat the bedroom without using a space heater as a supplement. They won’t actually replace it for another week or two, but they are coming for a fact finding mission.

So, television. Yesterday was the premier or season three of The Mandalorian and I could not be at a higher hype level. The first episode was excellent but… I think today’s third episode of season three of Picard might have been better. I did not see that coming, kids. I was just glued to the screen as I was getting this morning’s jogging (yogging) in. The captain vs admiral conflict seemed a little forced and out of character, but everything else? Fan-freakin-tastic. The bad guys behind the bad guy? Fan-freakin-tastic! I can’t wait for episode four. I also can’t wait for episode two of The Mandalorian, but that’s a given. In the Star Wars vs Star Trek debate, I come down on the Star Wars side, generally, but only by a little bit. Regardless of which franchise you prefer, it’s a pretty good time to be a space opera fan, am I right?

For the first time in a year, I am suffering from guitar gear acquisition syndrome. There are two overdrive pedals that I really want to buy, and I also really want to buy an amplifier simulator that I can use as a plug in through GarageBand. Last year I finished the RPM Challenge with a plan to do their Record Every Month challenge throughout the rest of the year. I had a goal of two songs each month that I could pretend were a single. I failed completely. I didn’t write a single song over the 11 months between the 2022 RPM and the 2023 RPM (with the exception of a few failed attempts in November). I am going to try again, but I am probably not going to record guitars through my amplifier on a regular basis. I am thinking I can do direct input more often and I want a good amp sim that I can use consistently. The one I am looking at is only $40, but I just don’t want to spend any money. We have a mini-split to buy after all.

Speaking of gear acquisition syndrome, I also really want to buy a new lens for my new camera. I adore the 40mm lens we bought for Disney, but I’d like a little zoom option. Possibly because the cats are suffering from The Zoomies every night and it just sort of inspired me, you know? I also really really want to buy a 35mm film point and shoot and I don’t know why. I want to buy a 35mm film camera with autofocus functionality too, but that’s going to cost some dough, and I think I can get a point and shoot for pennies. I want to go Nikon, as usual, but decent Nikon point and shoots are stupidly expensive on ebay. I looked for Pentax options yesterday and saw some with the starting bid of $1.00… so yeah, that could be a better option. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll hit the thrift stores more often.

Okay, time to get breakfast and get my day started. I have a lot of meetings today and need to be ready for a long day at the home office. Wish me luck.

Week 43 Weigh In

I had my nine month check in with my surgeon yesterday. Everything is going great. I mentioned that I’ve been having a tough time eating over the last month or so and she said that’s common. I guess when you’re this far along you just start getting cocky. It was good to know there isn’t some surprise in my stomach that is making things go south. I asked about leveling off the weight loss. She assured me it’s going to happen, and that I’ll probably gain a little back too. She said I need to keep doing the exercises I’m doing but also do more for building muscle, and that will be part of slowing down the weight loss.

So I have some things to think about and some things to work on going forward. For today at least, it is Wednesday and Wednesday is weigh in day. How did I do? Last week I was at 220.60. Today the scale had me at 217.40. That’s a loss of 3.2 pounds. So much for leveling off, eh? Part of that is likely due to not hitting my food goal yesterday, especially given that over the last few weeks I haven’t just hit the 80 gram protein goal, I’ve been obliterating it. I’ve been topping 100 grams regularly, and often topping 110. The doctor said that’s fine. I’m 6’4″ tall. I’m half the man I used to be, but I’m still a big person. I can handle a little extra and still lose weight.

Dropping below 220 is the only milestone this week. My BMI went from 26.8 to 26.5. My weight loss since the surgery is now at an amazing 214 and the weight loss since the first check in is at an astounding 234.6. I’ve lost 17.2 more pounds than I currently am. It’s insane.

So that’s the latest on the weight loss. The next weigh in will be early this week. The monthly weigh in will be on Saturday. I am not expecting a lot, but hopefully I’ll creep down a little by then. We will see. I am having a bad day so far today. I have a stomach ache and I’m not sure why. It might be a case of being hungry and not really knowing what that feels like anymore. I have an hour to go before I break for lunch. Maybe I’ll have a small snack and see if I feel better.