Sunday, January 29, 2023

After my prolonged stay in hospital it is great to be home. I’m on a lot of medications and it keeps me busy just keeping up with the schedule. Pat put everything into the calendar which makes it so much easier for me. Particularly because over the next couple of days some of them stop or some will change the dosage.

I’m pleased that I really have no pain, but I’m a long way from feeling “myself”. I tire really easily and I have very low energy. I’m trying to build up my strength – in spite of the cool days we’ve managed to get out for short walks.

I almost have to force myself to eat. I have no appetite no matter what yummy meals Pat prepares. After half a dozen bites I’m done. I know I need to eat to get my strength back so I keep trying.

I’m also dealing with some “mind” issues – some anxiety and a very easy slip into depression. I try to keep myself busy but even though I have things I could do I have little to no interest in doing them. 

I want the woman back who could hardly wait to start her day at six in the morning and who could tackle and solve almost any issue. These days I’m barely able to drag myself out of bed for my 8 AM meds.

This is not meant to be a “woe is me” post. I’m just finding it hard to deal with this new reality.

Saturday, January 7, 2023

My first week of the New Year wasn’t great. Not sleeping well, so tired I didn’t even want to read, and such acid reflux that I stopped eating anything except oatmeal, soda crackers, Babybel cheese and chicken broth. When I had my appointment on Thursday the doctor gave me a prescription for the acid reflux, as well as a sleeping aid. I’ve been eating much better these last few days – everything tastes good. I know the steroid I’m on messes with my sleep so I haven’t tried the sleep aid. I’ll try it if I need to though.

I had another change in my medications – he has cut the steroid pills in half so hopefully my “down” won’t be so bad when I come off them. I’m taking them for a day longer this time. The nurse had trouble getting the IV into me for my treatment yesterday – even though at my first treatment she said she was probably the best at it in the hospital. It turns out it probably wan’t the IV site but my blood pressure was low and I was probably dehydrated so one of the three tests she had to do before my first injection was failing. After giving me lots of fluid she got the positive result she needed and we were on our way.

I felt a bit nauseous most of the day so lay on the couch for the most part. I thought that might be the case for everyday with the reduced steroid but I’m okay today. I even had enough energy to go for a walk around the block – Pat says our walk was probably the equivalent of once around the track. The rain has started so I’m glad we were out early.

There have been some bright spots in the week as well. On Tuesday we went over to Comox for my echocardiogram and we had time before my appointment to have breakfast and a visit with Peggy and Bill. It is always good to see them but after not seeing anyone for so long it was doubly nice.

I also had a sewing day with Stacia and Deloise, although my sewing was minimal. We were all working from a book we had purchased on our summer trip. I would do a few seams or a bit of trimming and pressing and then I’d go across the hall and have a rest on the futon. The pieces are all cut so whenever I feel like it I can stitch a few more blocks. Today is the first day that I’ve managed to even make it upstairs and my desk is covered in papers that I need to deal with.

I think I have accepted that there will be days when all I can manage is moving from the bed to the chair to the couch but I hope there won’t be too many days of that and I’ll have a bit more energy for these next two weeks.