Time to consider getting contacts I think.
I can’t read the computer screen wearing my glasses. I get glowy blurry double vision. I can read it just fine with my left eye without glasses, which is essentially what I do.
But it’s tiring.
(No, it’s not my prescription. The glasses work just fine when I’m reading a book or even my tablet screen. There’s just something about the brightness or frequency of the laptop screen that messes with my focus.)
I haven’t walked around Green Lake every day, but I’ve managed to do so most days since I realized a couple weeks ago that my weight was climbing toward 200. Between the walks and an emphasis on eating at home, I’m down to about 186 lbs. Eight pounds lost in two weeks ain’t bad.
Where stuff will get difficult is when I hit 180. I’ve dropped to that amount a number of times in the last 10 years, but always start having trouble from then on. Ideally, I’d like my weight in the 170 to 175 range, and it’s been a while since I’ve been there.
Well, I didn’t get started quite like I wanted, but I’m moving on it now. Sometimes the universe conspires against you and the best thing to do is use it as inspiration.
When you are out of shape getting you’re heart rate up for cardio is really easy. According to the machine 32 minutes, 3500 strides, 292 calories.
Also, using the phone keyboard feels very odd with the left tip of my thumb still healing. I can’t feel the keys normally. Just a tingly sensation.
For those friends on Facebook, you already have the news. But as this is where I should be writing stuff for posterity, here’s the story.
Thursday night I decided to make sausage and beans, crock pot style. It’s a recipe I’ve done a lot, and I really like it. Basically, brown about 2 pounds of smoked sausage. Saute some shallots and garlic. Put it all in a crock pot with a couple cups of beans and chicken stock, and cook for four hours.
Where I went wrong was in chopping the shallots. Chop. Chop. Ow!
Took about an eighth of an inch of my thumb off. Basically the skin, some of the nail, and a little bit of the meat
. It wasn’t quite as painful as I would have expected. At least as long as I didn’t touch the cut part that is. There was a lot of blood. I cut deep enough to sever some capillaries. Every time my heart beat, I could see a little gush of blood come out the thumb tip.
Called 911. Then realized I should just call a cab to get to the E.R. But once you’ve called, you’ve called. They called back, then sent the Fire Department down here. They bandaged me up. That was good, because I didn’t have anything to properly bandage something like this. Called a cab and went to the E.R. Turns out it wasn’t a deep enough cut to do anything with the little piece of thumb I’d removed. But the wound is too wide to stitch up. They cleaned it up, put a pressure bandage on to stop the bleeding, and gave me a tetanus shot.
Also, they gave me a couple of Vicodin for the pain. Turns out that Vicodin doesn’t seem to reduce my pain. It also doesn’t make me loopy or happy or anything like that. I do, however, get the nausea side effect. Not quite enough to upchuck, but enough to feel very queasy and want to hang out near the toilet. I decided not to fill the Vicodin prescription.
Other than pushing on the top of the dressing, I haven’t felt too much pain. The button fly on Levis has been a pain though. And I can’t left anything heavy because I can’t grip with both hands.
I changed the dressing tonight. I was supposed to change it after 48 hours, and then every 24 hours after that. Removing the dressing hurt big time. Felt like I was pulling off the skin, because it seemed to be glued onto the wound. Dunno if stuff had already started growing into the dressing, or if it was just congealed body fluids that wouldn’t soften in water. I’m not really looking forward to changing it again tomorrow. Hoping it isn’t as painful. Also, my new dressing is not as pretty as the one the nurse put on Thursday. If I had two hands free, I think I could have made it almost as good. But… well.
So there’s the story. I have pictures. I’ll get them on Flickr at some point, but I don’t plan on posting them here.
Gram has been losing weight for a year or so, mostly due to lack of appetite. Scans of her digestive system showed some abnormalities but nothing conclusive. A few weeks ago, Gram started bleeding though. This put in motion additional tests. Turns out she has uterine (or ovarian, I’m not sure) cancer.
It’s early stage. And essentially the choices are: surgery or slow death. Tuesday she goes in for surgery.
Since she’s so underweight, the surgery isn’t a slam dunk success. Getting the cancer is the least of the problem actually. She may see an extended amount of time recovering, and is at greater risk of complications. I’d be worried if I hadn’t already gone into do the next right thing
mode.
Next week I’ll start fretting about Gramps’ upcoming surgery.
If my experience with psychosis wasn’t enough, today I also got some bad news about my grandparents. They returned last night from a Caribbean cruise.
My grandmother informed me that Gramps had some sort of heart issue on the plane trip returning to Seattle. The flight crew gave him oxygen, which s
Well, as I typed out this entry I got a phone call from my grandmother to tell me the paramedics were at their condo and Gramps was going to the E.R. He complained of shortness of breath. I called my brother immediately because last time he got mad I didn’t call right away. Then both of us headed to Providence hospital which is where he was to be taken.
All of us waited at the hospital for hours. Though quiet when I arrived, shortly after A.M.R. brought Gramps in, the E.R. got slammed with only one doctor on duty. Somewhere around 5 a.m. though they determined that Gramps had a blood clot in his leg. They though a small piece of it might have traveled to his lungs, causing shortness of breath both on the flight from Cabo to Seattle as well as Sunday night.
Due to his advanced age and multiple heart medications, they decided to admit my grandfather. He’s been at Providence since. It’s possible he will go home tomorrow. However, he will be using a walker from now on.
I’m glad he’s recovering. The event is accelerating some of my plans and changing others, but I’ll detail that later. I’ll be spending more time helping them though, and it’s caused me to be even more blunt with them about some changes they need to make.