Dear Reader,
Today, started slowly, as all my days do. I have a test here that I'm supposed to do to test my cortisol and other adrenal hormones, but I keep forgetting about it. I will do it next week for sure ... I'm going to put it on my calendar in my phone right now. Done.
I worked on those receipts last night, and then some more this morning. Good progress. I have one last big set of them to go through. I found some good things. One is a receipt for a lamp that has broken, the hinge thing that holds the light up quit working so now the hooded light hangs down. Another is for an evening gown that I was unable to wear because I was so swollen that my breasts were just bulging out. It's from one of those companies (J. Peterman) that have a great return policy, so maybe they'll let me return it to them, or give me store credit, or something. There were a few other important receipts that I found, but the rest I trashed. I need to find a system for keeping receipts. I imagine that there has to be "an ap for that".
Then I got dressed and went to have lunch with a friend at the country club. I was actually on time, which I should have known meant something was amiss! Sure, enough, she didn't show up. I texted her and then phoned her and after a half an hour got up to leave. But I wound up having a nice chat with an older couple who were finishing their lunch, so it was an hour before I got in the car to leave. Right then my phone rang and it was her, horribly embarrassed. She had completely forgotten about it and was out running errands and her phone was with her, but she didn't hear my text or call. She apologized profusely and said she had never done that before. Really??? She is a very polished Southern lady, I think in her 60's, so she may be telling the truth. Me ... I've forgotten tons of things! I ordered just vegetables again and they were excellent. I had grilled asparagus, carrots, green beans, summer squash, and cherry tomatoes. So good, and I hoped that they wouldn't interfere with my cleanse too much.
Then I actually remembered, after about three months, to take a watch by a clock shop to have a couple of links replaced. It's a Michael Kors watch with white rubber around the links, really good looking, but the rubber has broken off on a couple of links, so I haven't worn it for forever and have continually forgotten to get it fixed. But it's done now, at last.
Then I went to the county clerk's place and got the new license for our son's car. I couldn't get it transferred to him without him being present, but I was able to add him to the deed so that it belongs to both of us. Then I called the insurance company to get it transferred to his policy and off of ours, but I can't change it yet because it is at the underwriter's, or something like that.
I came home, took the old license off the car and put on the new one, and then drove the old one back to the dealership to return it to the man I bought the car from. Then I came home.
Now, here's the part I haven't told you. Last night, closing the recliner I was in to stand up, I managed to pull all of my groin and lower abdomen muscles. So all of this was done with extreme pain. I could hardly move my legs to walk and getting up and down from a chair and in and out of a car was horrible. I yelled out a few times it was so bad. All these soldiers were watching me at the clerk's office, I'm sure wondering what was the matter with me. But this is not the type of injury you want to turn and say, "Oh, I'm okay. I just pulled all of my groin muscles last night!"
Then I came home and made my way up the stairs and got in bed and slept/dozed for three hours. I don't like being by myself on a Friday evening! My husband went to see Godzilla and said it was so boring that he fell asleep. But, he should never see a movie on Friday night because he invariably falls asleep! He talked to his secretary about finding churches for him to visit and so she has him first going with her and her husband to the church they attend in the Bronx. It's apparently a 30,000 member church ... which I just don't even understand!
I've stayed downstairs in the recliner (which I am going to leave open this time!) and am getting sleepy again. It's 11:47, so maybe that long nap won't have messed me up too badly. I've watched a little dab of TV while I've worked on other things. The TV remote is missing again, of course. Yesterday I couldn't find the maple syrup anywhere (did I already tell you this?) and had to call the housekeeper who said she had put it in the cabinet with the tea bags. This sort of thing happens CONSTANTLY and drives me nuts. There's no telling where the TV remote control is! I did discover, though, that it is apparently not a good idea to watch "Chopped" while you're doing a cleanse! I didn't want to have the coffee today, so I broiled some kale instead and snacked on it some. I know that's not exactly doing the Master Cleanse, but ... hey! Leave me alone! Tomorrow will be my fifth day, which is all I had planned. Then I'm going to do Jordan Rubin's 10-fast. I've got the pills in and have been using the detox fiber drink each day, so that's the plan. I think it starts out with just one fruit all day long or something. After doing the Master Cleanse, though, that seems much more doable.
I'm also interested in doing a different sort of cleanse that I've been reading about. It's a 28-day cleanse that is more of a metabolic cleanse than a gut cleanse. You are probably not familiar with a line of supplements called Xymogen. My doctor uses them and sells them because they are the most researched, purest, etc. etc. etc. This cleanse has you doing a lot of shakes that reduce your inflammation levels among other things. Let me see if I can find a website real quick for it ... here's a pretty good one: http://healthrenewmd.com/tools/28-day-cleansedetoxification/
So, the bad day today is because of the pain from the pulled muscles. Plus, waiting an hour for my friend to come and then still having lunch got me off late for other things I needed to do. I took the long nap because the pain had worn me out. So ... I didn't get anything done on the house AGAIN!!! It's like there's a conspiracy! I'm TRYING to take hold of my life and my time, but just not doing a very good job at it! Waking up at a decent time would sure help.
BUT ... here's the good news. My nephrologist called. Most of the tests are in and things look better. The tests from the 24-hour urine collection are, I think he said "strange." I'm getting used to that word. My filtration rate was 67, which is a WHOLE lot better than 45. He said he would have expected it to be around 80, so it is still reduced kidney function, but not nearly as badly reduced as the first test. Another piece of really good news is that I have absolutely no protein in my urine. Which leaves my diagnosis kind of strange. I don't actually have Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) because that includes a finding of protein in the urine. I have reduced function, but no urine which is an unusual combination. At this point he doesn't know why my filtration function is reduced, but there is one more test that he is still waiting for. The one that will measure whether or not I've got antibodies coming through. One the one hand, he would suspect that having a lot of antibodies going through my kidneys, plugging up the glomerula and killing them was what was going on because of my very messed up immune system which forms antibodies at everything. But, if that were the case, I should have protein in my urine. So ... this is a specialist at a major research university, and he doesn't understand what's going on with me. Welcome to my life! I guess that, at the moment, my diagnosis is reduced kidney function for unspecified reason. But that's still WAY better than Stage 3 Chronic Kidney Disease!
The other good news comes from some research I did online while laying in bed, afraid to get up. I found a woman who is a dietician in Manhattan who sounds like she is exactly who I need. Here's her website. I'm really liking the recipes she's got. She creates recipes for Glamour and Prevention and other magazines. http://thehealthyapple.com/gluten-free-nutrition-services/
I came across her site while looking for a functional medicine doctor in New York. She lists a few that she has worked for and one is fairly near where I'll be living. So that's all good. I still need to find a local "regular" doctor for "regular" problems.
If I can move tomorrow I hope to spend it down in the basement. I've already been through two boxes of things I've saved for grandbabies and have reduced them a lot. But it's so yucky down there! And there's SO MUCH stuff to go through, it's pretty discouraging just to think about!
I'm going to go get in a Jacuzzi for a good, hot soak. Wish I had some Epsom salts, but I think I'm out. Pulling all these muscles just closing the recliner has been pretty discouraging. I mean, good grief!
I still have to get in to see a dermatologist and an autonomic nervous system specialist, and then I think I'll be done with doctors here. Prolotherapy is this Wednesday, so I'd better get a LOT done in the basement before that, because I won't be moving much AFTERWARDS, for sure!
Cheers!
Lisa
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