You practice piano wrapped in a shawl and blanket with freezing cold hands because you know the house is warm enough even
though you are freezing (just you having trouble maintaining your body temperature)
You bring the music stand up from the basement even though stairs are NOT your best friend tonight (sending your head into a tailspin basically) because you can't practice standing up and need to have a place to put the music while you practice whilest leaning back in the comfy, favourite, antique chair.
You listen to four Mahler symphonies in one day.
Yep, that is me. Physically, today has not been amazing. I don't even really want to be sitting up, that's how tired/fatigued/whatever I am feeling, and I've had a really hard time getting/staying warm since this afternoon. I can also tell that I'm not doing so great when my knitting speed slows down on the current prayer shawl I am making. I've had a lot more frustrations with breathing today as well, although not severe. Just wishing I could get an energy shot! Adrenaline, epinephrine, norepinephrine, anything lol. Mostly joking. I know that those would provide only temporary energy and could possibly fatal if not done correctly. PLUS, no one in their right mind would do that.
Time to go play some flute. And then hopefully convince myself to take a shower. I want to, but the idea of standing up for 10-15 minutes, not to mention freezing for a couple of minutes while the water heats up (I don't get under the water, but it's not exactly warm in Canada in the winter) isn't exactly appealing. Maybe a bath, I don't know. Not sure if the tub upstairs is clean enough to do so-I haven't taken a bath in months, just showers in the downstairs bathroom. My dad has been using the upstairs shower, and I've been using the downstairs one. Oh well, things will be figured out. Maybe playing my flute will help wake me up a bit and warm me up.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Heart and Stroke Awareness Day 3
Heart attack symptoms in men are most commonly recognized. These include:
-Chest pain or discomfort. This may be severe or not, and has been described in many ways including fullness or pressure, squeezing, or the common 'elephant on the chest' type pain.
-Problems breathing such as shortness of breath that can lead to dizzyness or lightheadedness
-Stomach issues including nausea and stomach pain
-Pain that radiates to one or both arms, or the jaw
-Sweating, even if it is freezing cold.
Not all people experiencing a heart attack experience the same symptoms! It is important to be aware that the 'elephant on the chest' pain doesn't happen to everyone. Early treatment is VERY important, and if there are any symptoms present that just 'don't make sense', particularly in someone who has heart problems or other medical conditions, it is better to be safe than sorry and get it checked out.
-Chest pain or discomfort. This may be severe or not, and has been described in many ways including fullness or pressure, squeezing, or the common 'elephant on the chest' type pain.
-Problems breathing such as shortness of breath that can lead to dizzyness or lightheadedness
-Stomach issues including nausea and stomach pain
-Pain that radiates to one or both arms, or the jaw
-Sweating, even if it is freezing cold.
Not all people experiencing a heart attack experience the same symptoms! It is important to be aware that the 'elephant on the chest' pain doesn't happen to everyone. Early treatment is VERY important, and if there are any symptoms present that just 'don't make sense', particularly in someone who has heart problems or other medical conditions, it is better to be safe than sorry and get it checked out.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Tired day
I guess I had a busy week? At least my body today seems to think that I have had a busy week. I finished teaching my classes this afternoon and was pretty much hit with exhaustion. If I lived alone, I probably would have gone to bed at 5pm when I was trying to cook soup, and had to sit down. The soup turned out okay, I do prefer pureed types of soup or stews, but figured it was worth a try. PLUS I used the music symbol-shaped pasta that I got from a student last Christmas. I will probably never have to buy anything music-shaped again unless I stop teaching young students...
Anyways...it's frustrating that my body thinks that it should be exhausted. So tired/exhausted that eating is hard. I had a very small portion of the soup and then got a craving to make a toasted cheese sandwich (not sure why), so I did (in case anyone is wondering, it's the same as grilled cheese except that I don't put any oil/butter/margarine in the pan-it's just bread and cheese done until nicely golden-brown) but being exhausted like this makes it hard to eat even if I get a craving. My brain and blood sugar and what-not may need energy but it seems like my digestive system just shuts down-a frustrating predicament that certainly makes continuing forward on sustained work on rehabilitation/recovery from ED-NOS difficult. When eating becomes a chore, it's not fun at all. And I like cooking, but it's hard to do when you're tired and getting dizzy-ish, which I have been a lot today, even a bit during my teaching. I'll keep an eye on it, but I think it just comes with the exhaustion.
Tonight feels like a night to not move to much from my desk chair. I'm going to finish the sandwich (it's taking a while) and then do some marking, and make sure to go to bed by ten. Any earlier and my dad would probably get concerned...
Anyways...it's frustrating that my body thinks that it should be exhausted. So tired/exhausted that eating is hard. I had a very small portion of the soup and then got a craving to make a toasted cheese sandwich (not sure why), so I did (in case anyone is wondering, it's the same as grilled cheese except that I don't put any oil/butter/margarine in the pan-it's just bread and cheese done until nicely golden-brown) but being exhausted like this makes it hard to eat even if I get a craving. My brain and blood sugar and what-not may need energy but it seems like my digestive system just shuts down-a frustrating predicament that certainly makes continuing forward on sustained work on rehabilitation/recovery from ED-NOS difficult. When eating becomes a chore, it's not fun at all. And I like cooking, but it's hard to do when you're tired and getting dizzy-ish, which I have been a lot today, even a bit during my teaching. I'll keep an eye on it, but I think it just comes with the exhaustion.
Tonight feels like a night to not move to much from my desk chair. I'm going to finish the sandwich (it's taking a while) and then do some marking, and make sure to go to bed by ten. Any earlier and my dad would probably get concerned...
Heart and Stroke Awareness Day 2
Fact for today: Heart Disease (all kinds) remains the number one cause of death for both men and woman in Canada and the United States. This includes various forms of cardiomyopathy, heart attacks, and deaths during surgery to fix heart problems, and can occur at ANY age.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Heart and Stroke Awareness Day 1
February is Heart and Stroke Awareness Month. This is a cause that is, no pun intended, literally close to my heart. Each day, I will be posting facts about Heart and Stroke Awareness.
Today's fact directly affects me. Congenital Heart Defects are the most common birth defect, affecting 1 in 80 to 1 in 100 babies born every single year. These defects range from mild and not requiring treatment for years (and possibly never) to fatal within the first few days of life. I do consider myself fortunate to be on the mild end of the spectrum, dealing only with a bicuspid aortic valve and some very minor issues with some of the arteries and veins around my heart (including my aorta) being slightly off in measurement. Many babies are born with far worse including hypoplastic right or left hearts, which means that they in essence have only half a heart. Medical technology has progressed tremendously even in my lifetime of 22 years, but there is so much left to do in terms of increasing survival rates and increasing the quality of life of children and adults with the more severe forms of CHD.
I'm wearing red today to mark the first day of Heart and Stroke Awareness Month. Let's spread the word about all forms of heart disease and stroke, because knowledge is power.
Today's fact directly affects me. Congenital Heart Defects are the most common birth defect, affecting 1 in 80 to 1 in 100 babies born every single year. These defects range from mild and not requiring treatment for years (and possibly never) to fatal within the first few days of life. I do consider myself fortunate to be on the mild end of the spectrum, dealing only with a bicuspid aortic valve and some very minor issues with some of the arteries and veins around my heart (including my aorta) being slightly off in measurement. Many babies are born with far worse including hypoplastic right or left hearts, which means that they in essence have only half a heart. Medical technology has progressed tremendously even in my lifetime of 22 years, but there is so much left to do in terms of increasing survival rates and increasing the quality of life of children and adults with the more severe forms of CHD.
I'm wearing red today to mark the first day of Heart and Stroke Awareness Month. Let's spread the word about all forms of heart disease and stroke, because knowledge is power.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Fathers
MY dad is fine. All they did was put steri-strips on his ear, which has led me to, somewhat wrongly, tease him a bit about rushing off because of a boo-boo. That, and worry about him falling out of bed AGAIN. It seems he does this at least once a month now. This is the first time he has gotten injured besides bruises however. I guess his being overweight does protect his bones a bit.
However, a facebook post informed me that a friend's dad was killed in a car accident a few days ago. Ouch. My heart immediately ached for him. I don't know this particular friend especially well, but I sent a more personal email message to him, trying not to sound too Dr. Phil-ish but letting him know a little bit...what helped me (for which I actually did say talking with a counsellor...an interesting step in the right direction), that everything he felt was normal.
Oy.
Life.
Precious.
Changed in an instant.
However, a facebook post informed me that a friend's dad was killed in a car accident a few days ago. Ouch. My heart immediately ached for him. I don't know this particular friend especially well, but I sent a more personal email message to him, trying not to sound too Dr. Phil-ish but letting him know a little bit...what helped me (for which I actually did say talking with a counsellor...an interesting step in the right direction), that everything he felt was normal.
Oy.
Life.
Precious.
Changed in an instant.
Whoops!
This is what I say in regards to two things that occurred last night. The first is that I forgot to take my seroquel before I got into bed, and then wondered why I wasn't feeling as tired as I should (this came after realizing that I had written five full pages in my journal whereas I usually can't write more than two). So, at 1-something AM, I took my seroquel. That meant that I was still awake enough (almost asleep, but not quite) to hear a rather large thump/thud/something at around 2am. I brushed it off as nothing, mostly because I was tired by that point, and we have been having a lot of snow plows around and maybe it was that, or perhaps it was merely my dad banging into something on his way to get some water (my hope...) or whatever.
Well. I get up this morning and find on several lamps, and the curtains still closed. I think that that's a little bit odd, given that it's actually sunny out, and my dad wouldn't have left THAT early to go volunteer at the food bank. I check the back door to see if his slippers are there, because with all the lamps on and curtains drawn, not to mention the fact that the paper has not been brought in, I've started to get a bit concerned-my dad, after all, is not the youngest person on the block anymore, and if something had happened several hours earlier, I might not have noticed anything. His slippers were where they needed to be for having left the house, so I relax, turn off all the lamps, bring in the paper, open the curtains, and go to make myself some tea-and that's when I see the note.
Turns out the large thud in the middle of the night was him falling out of bed (it happens on a semi-regular basis). Whoops number one. Whoops number two is that he cut his ear while doing so, and because of taking aspirin, has problems clotting. Whoops number three is that after not being able to get it to stop bleeding for an hour or two he went to the emergency room instead of the urgent care center-which I gently chidded him on when phoned an hour or so ago (had he gone to the urgent care center, he likely would have waited less than an hour, whereas it is now going on 8 hours of waiting at the ER-which is no surprise given that my friend with 80/50 blood pressure and a whole whack of pre-existing conditions wasn't seen for 8 hours).
So that is the start to the morning. I'm glad that the thunk only resulted in a cut year and that I didn't walk in to find that my dad had had a heart attack or stroke while I was sleeping.
Now, to finish psychology lectures and lesson plan. Hopefully the website that has the psychology lectures will be up and running properly today as compared to tuesday...
Well. I get up this morning and find on several lamps, and the curtains still closed. I think that that's a little bit odd, given that it's actually sunny out, and my dad wouldn't have left THAT early to go volunteer at the food bank. I check the back door to see if his slippers are there, because with all the lamps on and curtains drawn, not to mention the fact that the paper has not been brought in, I've started to get a bit concerned-my dad, after all, is not the youngest person on the block anymore, and if something had happened several hours earlier, I might not have noticed anything. His slippers were where they needed to be for having left the house, so I relax, turn off all the lamps, bring in the paper, open the curtains, and go to make myself some tea-and that's when I see the note.
Turns out the large thud in the middle of the night was him falling out of bed (it happens on a semi-regular basis). Whoops number one. Whoops number two is that he cut his ear while doing so, and because of taking aspirin, has problems clotting. Whoops number three is that after not being able to get it to stop bleeding for an hour or two he went to the emergency room instead of the urgent care center-which I gently chidded him on when phoned an hour or so ago (had he gone to the urgent care center, he likely would have waited less than an hour, whereas it is now going on 8 hours of waiting at the ER-which is no surprise given that my friend with 80/50 blood pressure and a whole whack of pre-existing conditions wasn't seen for 8 hours).
So that is the start to the morning. I'm glad that the thunk only resulted in a cut year and that I didn't walk in to find that my dad had had a heart attack or stroke while I was sleeping.
Now, to finish psychology lectures and lesson plan. Hopefully the website that has the psychology lectures will be up and running properly today as compared to tuesday...
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