Why I haven't been home

If anyone is reading my blog other my friends who are in touch by phone and email, I haven’t been posting lately because of illness. I have chronic bronchitis, and this time it just didn’t go away after several rounds of antibiotics; I still have that nagging cough, tiredness (said to be due to anemia). So, I have been on a round of specialists – rheumatologist (no, I don’t have fibromyalgia, but possibly myofasciasitis ), chest specialist (lungs operating at 90 percent of expected capacity and recovery ability), gastroenterologist (did endoscopy, dilated a Schatsky’s ring and did a biopsy of small spot in stomach – much easier to eat now), neurologist (restless leg syndrome, no sleep apnea – treatment changed and making me sleepy), and will see an ENT doctor next week about allergies and possible sinus infection. I have appointments about asthma therapy, with a psychiatrist to manage my depression and anxiety (we have only two or three psychiatrists in this town, so I need to get on as a patient before I actually need one), with a therapist to deal with my anxieties and for the same reason I need a psychiatrist. I suspect a cardiologist is in my future and an opthalmologist. Since both my aunt and grandmother had alzheimers, I am investigating study programs (like at Duke) to be monitored for early diagnosis.

Now that I’ve said that mouthful, you will understand why I haven’t had much time for thinking lately...at least thinking about things that would be interesting in a blog. Of course, that’s presuming that anything I’ve written earlier was interesting.

I am doing well. My legs are not hurting much at all; therefore, my cookie-eating binges have stopped. I can eat a meal with ease, but I’m eating smaller meals, taking small bites, chewing well, and eating slower (when did I ever listen to my mother?). My tiredness has abated some, and I’ve finally gotten all the Christmas stuff packed up (now that it’s Epiphany). A friend is coming tomorrow to help me put the storage bins back in the garage; then we will be able to use our sunroom again.

The weather here has been so warm that we had all the windows open today with a lovely breeze blowing through the house and clearing out that stale winter non-odor. I am grateful for both the sunshine and the rain. I’ve been reading some “juvenile fantasy” – that means that it doesn’t have a lot of violence, has a plot and is easy reading – now that I can sit still long enough to read. These books usually involve young heroes who are aided and abetted by older people, to whom they actually listen and from whom they actually take advice. I suspect that’s why they are called fantasy. Certainly no one listens to me or asks my advice, and I’ve lived enough different lives to have an opinion on almost everything.

I’ve been making fiber necklaces, before the pain got worse, and I have a lot of beautiful yarns. So, I got some crochet hooks at the thrift shop, and tonight I actually crocheted four rounds of a six inch wide piece. Mom would be proud of me for trying again. She made it seem so easy, but I could never keep the tension right, and I still have trouble with that, but this is going well for a beginner. I’m amazed that I remember anything about it. I confess that I downloaded an illustrated stitch manual to help my memory, but my hands and fingers seem to remember some of it naturally. Aren’t our bodies wonderfully made?