More advice

Recently, I've given several people advice about how to deal with insomnia. I had insomnia, once, and it was horrific. When you can't sleep, you get no rest; just laying there, really does your body no good.

I had insomnia, when I was around 40, many years ago, before information was widely available on the Internet. The Internet wasn't around, period. I took myself to the library and researched what I should do. I was pretty much a hippy-dippy, still bra-less in those days, and didn't want a prescription drug to help me sleep. Plus, my Mom was pretty much a prescription drug addict, many women her age were, and I didn't want to even get close to that.

My research led me to Calcium Lactate. This is not the calcium we use to build strong bones, so it's in addition to your regular supplements. I had a hard time finding Calcium Lactate; I finally found it at a "health food" store. I took 6 of the pills each night before I went to bed; and it worked. I slept like a baby, and had no side effects, in the morning.

That's my advice. If you're having trouble sleeping, try Calcium Lactate.

Another piece of advice is drink diet soda. A recent study showed women who drink 2 or more cans of soda a day have a higher incidence of kidney failure than the general population. The finding did not apply to men, just women. The study did not apply to women who drank diet soda, just women who drank regular soda.

So, that's my second piece of advice, drink diet soda.

National Wear Red Day

Today, Friday, Feb 6, 2009, is National Wear Red Day. Americans nationwide can take women's health to heart by wearing red to help raise women's heart disease awareness.

Go Red For Women, an American Heart Association program,  invites you to show your support in your workplace by having a Wear Red Day event that day, any other day in February or all month long! It's a great way to raise awareness and help us fight heart disease, the No. 1 killer of women.

Yesterday afternoon, Bob and I spent about 2 hours in the backyard, pruning the roses.   While we were working our voice mail took a message.  Our friends Kaye and Gary, called to invite us to attend High School Musical The Ice Tour, on the 26th.  This is our conversation, when I called Kaye back:

J:  Hi Kay, thanks for thinking of us, but I'm already scheduled to work.

K:  Oh, good, because I was going to call an Un-InViTe you!  We decided not to go.  There's just too much going on.

J:  Well, if that's the way you're going to be!

Then we both dissolved in laughter. 

Kaye and Gary were the first friends we met, when we relocated to Murrieta, over 10 years ago.  They're wonderful friends, but we're all so busy that we seldom have a chance to get together.   Even though we live less than a mile apart, we're often forced to "get together", via phone messages and email.

On the 30th of this month, Gary is having lung surgery.  He has melanoma in his lung, and we're hoping for a healthy New Year for him and all of us.  Keep Gary and Kaye in your thoughts and prayers.

comment

"Here's a secret a long-lived friend told me - take zinc every day to avoid colds. Once when I lapsed and got a cold, she scolded me about not taking zinc. Now, I take it each day, no colds. It doesn't do anything for allergies, but, no colds."

This is the comment I just left for Raesha D at My Love. My friend Ramona told my this years ago, and it really does work.  So, if you want to stay busy, year round, and not have to mega-dose on cold remedies, just to be able to function, take zinc, every day.

Bob

I mention Bob, a lot, you know; because we've been married so long, he's important to me! The past two years haven't been great for him health-wise, but we had really good health news this week.

More than two years ago he decided to have back surgery; two of his lower back discs were causing him a lot of pain. The pain radiated down through his legs and feet. He's been a athlete his entire life and the pain curtailed his athleticism. The decision was a good idea, in many ways. In order to have the laminectomy on his spine, he had to have clearance from his cardiologist; that took almost two years to obtain. We had no idea that his arteries were in trouble, the hidden blessing is, he didn't have to have a major stroke or heart attack to find the problem and get it fixed.

He had his back surgery on 9/25, and this week he started Physical Therapy! The neurosurgeon thinks Bob's on track and should be able to resume his normal activities in February. He doesn't have any leg or foot pain, now. For me, this is outstanding news.

He had more good news, from an oncologist, of all people. Bob is a type 2 diabetic, and has diabetic-related early renal failure. Sometimes renal failure leads to anemia. He had been on a program of every other week getting a Procrit injection; this went on for 8 months with no effect. Last year our regular doctor sent him to an oncologist; who did a bone marrow test and told Bob, yes, you're severely anemic, but it's not your bone marrow that's causing it. Basically, good-by, don't let the door hit you in the ass.

This year Bob saw a nephrologist; he's the doctor that tried the Procrit. When it didn't work he sent his to a different oncologist, Dr. M, who did another bone marrow test, and said, yes, you're anemic, it's not your bone marrow that's causing it, and this is what we're going to do. Bob's going to receive mega (4x) doses of Procrit, weekly for 4-6 weeks, until he's no longer anemic. I have every faith that if this doesn't work she will try something else.

Believe me, this has been a great week. Bob-wise, we've been in a dark tunnel; now, I can see the light at the end. We even had to miss our annual trip to North Carolina, this year, because travel is exhausting and Bob just wasn't up to it.

I snapped these photos Thursday morning, while Bob was trying to eat breakfast. He doesn't like to have his picture taken, but he's a good sport about it.

Every woman counts

Join 1.4 million other women and take the Go Red Heart CheckUp. Knowing your personal risk for heart disease is a powerful, lifesaving choice you can make. Go to GoRedForWomen.org and take the Go Red Heart CheckUp for your personal risk assessment.

This year, for the first time in my life, I have high blood pressure. It's not horrendous, but it's high and resisting coming down to acceptable levels. I've always been a supporter of the Go Red program because woman and heart disease have long been ignored. The "old" thinking was that in the long run, women were not as important as men; they weren't the "bread-winners", they "just kept house", and raised children! Well, thank God, things have changed and the medical community's thinking is catching up to reality.

Two funny things

These both happened to me in the past 24 hours.

We were at our Halloween Party, last night.  A woman I didn't know came up to me, (I was dressed as a devil), and asked me if I was "an angel in disguise".  I said, "No".  One of my friends at our table said she was glad I hadn't lied to the woman.

Then today, we were at a Craft Fair - Bake Sale, at our clubhouse.  One of my Tai Chi student's husband asked me if I'd killed Bob, yet.  It seems his wife, Ruth, truly one of the sweetest women in the world, had threatened to shoot him if he didn't make a needed Dr's appointment.  He was shocked, of course, but made his appointment.  Ruth told him she'd learned that from me.

Here's the back story on that one:

Years ago, before Bob was diagnosed with diabetes, he scraped his lower leg while coming out of a lake during a triathlon.  Later we couldn't get his leg to heal, no matter what we tried.  I told him he needed to go to the Dr.; he just wouldn't do it.  So, one Sunday after breakfast, I told him, these were his choices:

• He could go to Urgent Care, right now, 
  
• I would shoot him.
  

Wisely, he chose to go to Urgent Care, where they not only took excellent care of him, they had him return daily, until his wound was healed, and they diagnosed him with diabetes.

Heading out

Bob at a ballgame, this summer

Well, today's the day we head off to La Jolla, not for vacation, but for the pre-op for Bob's surgery. We've been waiting two years for this. It took that long to get clearance for Bob to under go surgery on his spine. Really, the wait has been a positive thing, over all. We discovered that Bob had some serious heart problems. That discovery most likely saved him from having a heart attack or major stroke. Last December he did have a minor stroke, a TIA, in spite of everything that was being done for him.

So today is pre-op, about 3 hour’s worth, they're very thorough at The Green Hospital. Tomorrow is the surgery, and then he'll stay in the hospital two nights. If all goes as planned I'll be able to bring him home on Saturday. All this is risky, in spite of all the planning and approval from his medical team, so any thoughts and/or prayers will be appreciated.

While Bob is hospitalized, I'll be staying at the La Jolla Hilton, about 1/2 mile from the hospital, so I can walk back and forth. I know, it's so tough, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

I don't have a laptop, in spite of Bob's encouragement to get one. I've scheduled posts for my blog, but won't be visiting anyone else's blog or logging on to any Mr Linkys.

Medical

I've had two surgeries on my thyroid, both to remove benign tumors. The first was in 1969, the second in 1988. Two weeks ago, my doctor didn't like my blood tests results regarding the thyroid readings. She said she was perplexed, and thought I should stop taking the synthetic thyroid replacement medications, I'd been taking since '88.

I told her there was no way in hell I was doing that. The second surgeon I saw in '88 told me that if the first guy had put me on thyroid replacement, I wouldn't have had to had the 2ND surgery. So, my doctor regrouped, and ordered an ultrasound on said offending gland, and referred me to an endocrinologist. This is something I like about my doctor, if she doesn't know, she'll refer you to an expert.

Last Thursday I got a phone call from my Dr's. office, the ultrasound had detected another nodule!...and they wanted to be sure I had scheduled an appointment with the specialist. (Looks as if I'm on a 20 year cycle!) I had, and it was the next day.

My meeting with the new Dr. on Friday, went very well. He doubled my thyroid med, and ordered a blood test for 60 days and for 120 days, to see how everything was going. He also wants an new ultrasound in about 9-10 months to see how the nodule is doing. I was very relieved.

This is the back story that explains my relief. In '69 it was explained to me that the only way to determine if a tumor, (lump, nodule), on the thyroid, was cancerous was to remove it. If it was cancer the outlook was very good, because of the location, cancer rarely spread. So, I had the surgery. I had good news, no cancer. The bad news was it was a brutal surgery. I was not only extremely sore, I couldn't swallow, drink or eat, I was black and blue from my earlobes to my nipples. I was in the hospital 4 miserable days. I was in St. Mary's Hospital in Long Beach and the nuns kept coming in and telling me I was faking; there was nothing wrong with me, and I'd better start eating. My roommate, who was Catholic was horrified at the treatment. My Dad, who visited every day, went to the hospital administrator and told him to keep the nuns out of my room. The nuns stopped visiting. Compared to this, the surgery in '88 was a breeze. No soreness, I could eat and swallow, no bruises, home in 2 days; but the memory of the '69 event is never far from my mind when my thyroid is mentioned.

How's your heart?

This is the black & white of the patio umbrellas I used yesterday for Ruby Tuesday. I like it better than the color. I posted this at The World in Black and White.

I want to remind everyone to be Heart Healthy. September is National Cholesterol Awareness Month, and next month the focus is on women, Go Red for Women.

You can get a jump-start by doing the Heart CheckUp, go ahead and be Heart Healthy.