A Lot Has Happened Today! Dec. 12, 2023

Today was supposed to be a quiet day. We didn’t make plans. We were going to chill for the day, and do a few things around the house…

If you read my daily updates, especially the morning ones, then you know my days almost NEVER turn out as planned. Today was no different…

I got up at about 09:00 and Pete was already on his morning nets; he has one at 07:00, one at 08:00, and one at 09:00 six days a week. Nothing unusual there. But when he came downstairs he was in agony! His back was killing him…he has one spot on his spine where the cancer had metastasized and been radiated but it left those bones a mess in there. And he’s run out of his pain pills. He gets his monthly infusion later this week and had planned to get his Rx filled then… I rubbed my pain salve into the area and gave him 1300 mg of long-acting Tylenol (the brand name) and 2 of my homeopathic pain pills. It has helped him somewhat, he can walk without groaning, and spent some time outside, but he’s still hurting quite a bit.

We talked about my anti-inflammation diet, and how that has helped me so much, and I didn’t have to twist his arm TOO hard to get him to try it. He still has dietary restrictions but I think we can work around that. So now I’m working on some meal options for him that he’ll be able to manage on those days I can’t cook. We may even be able to start eating together again!

But meanwhile all of those groceries we bought yesterday, and a dozen gallons of water, were still in the car, and neither of us able to bring them in. (I’m still having angina pain whenever I do things…very irritating!) Plus our black tank needed to be emptied which involves being on the ground, moving heavy things, getting on and off the lawn tractor, etc…NONE of which he – or I – could do. So we put an SOS out to our helpers and – thank God – they were able to come this afternoon! They organized our basement to make space for everything we bought yesterday, and got it all put away, then they emptied the tank (with Pete’s supervision – Jared usually helps Pete with that task anyway), and hauled our laundry out to the car for whenever we can get to the laundromat this week. They were only here a couple of hours but WOW such a help, not sure how we’d have gotten through the day without them!

Now I’ve got Pete’s supper cooking: a roasted squash, some fresh onions and peppers with mushrooms (from dried), and salmon. NO inflammatory foods in that meal tonight :). He can’t eat poultry/eggs or pork; he can eat organic lean beef and lamb, and rabbit, as well as seafood (wild caught). And for inflammation we will be eliminating grains and sugars and seed oils of all kinds – not that we buy/use them anyway, but restaurants typically do. For him it will be coconut oil, olive oil, or avacado oil, depending on what he’s eating. So that’s another change that’s coming up. But his pain from the arthritis in that spot was nearly off the charts…and with the arthritis he has elsewhere in his body, and the effect that inflammation has on disease processes (cancer, arthritis, glaucoma), it’s just the right thing to do. (And he is already using herbs to reduce inflammation in his body.)

I had a brilliant idea to make things a little different for Bill & Casey & family for Christmas; I had ordered a few things and they came today – we’ll be buying the rest locally. (We’re all about #BuyLocal and #BuySmall .) I’m pretty excited about that! It will be very different, and very fun, I think!

Needless to say, I didn’t get any pictures or video from the grocery haul yesterday, as I’d planned…but there will FOR SURE be others! J&E were really surprised, they stopped there on their way home and took home some too hahaha! THAT is the way to shop for sure! I’d wanted to get to the original TKOE store today but that didn’t happen – wanted to do some Christmas shopping there for the grands, but maybe tomorrow…or Thursday – yeah, I’ll be down there anyway for some tests at the hospital, just a few blocks away…

One good thing, I found a dress I’d bought several months ago to wear in December, it’s a blue denim jumper with Christmas appliques stitched on it. And I’d forgotten I even had it! Glad I found it today rather than Dec 26th! Even so, in just 3 months it has gotten quite big on me…Pete has 2 Christmas parties coming up with his hamster friends, so I will wear it for those too…one of these times I’ll see if he can take a picture of it so I can share it with you!

There were other good things too – sunshine, mild temps, got the car cleaned out, and got to see J&E an extra time this week…it wasn’t a BAD day (except for Pete’s back and my angina kept stopping me in my tracks!) just not what we had planned :). And every day is different right?

Thanks for reading :).