I got sick Monday evening with some sort of intestinal problem, and it hasn't gone away. After a few days, I went to the doctor (and my BP was 75/57, explaining why I feel so weak and tired all the time). The doc seems pretty convinced that I've "got" something, though she doesn't know if its viral or bacterial. She ordered a bunch of lab tests and ( Read more... )

My stomach has been doing okay since last Tuesday, but walking to CWC on Friday totally wiped me out, so apparently I'm still tiring easily, still recovering from that flu. As a result, I took it easy yesterday and basically did nothing but rest (and my various PT exercises). Today I'm going to walk downtown, less than 2 miles round-trip, and ( Read more... )

I'm not sure, but I think I had some sort of stomach flu the past few days. Both Sunday and Monday, my stomach was jumpy all the time, and I got terrible nausea when I actually ate anything. I didn't throw up, though. I felt weak and tired the whole time, too. Tuesday I was feeling better and didn't get sick after eating lunch, but then got overly ( Read more... )

I've been out-of-sorts (feeling grumpy and vulnerable, mostly, sort of mixed up together) since my visit to the physical therapy doc, mostly-I think-because not being able to go up and down the stairs whenever I like makes me more dependent on Shannon, makes me have to ask him to do things for me, makes me inconvenience him. I don't like feeling ( Read more... )

I had my appointment with the physical therapist about my arthritis/knee pain today, and came home feeling very discouraged and overwhelmed. Apparently, the things I've been doing that have been hurting my knees are actively grinding down the cartilege, making the problem worse. This includes things like walking up stairs, which I do (according to ( Read more... )

I've been resting and resting, coughing and coughing, but things may finally be improving!

1. April 7 (seven weeks ago): The cough became violent & my chest often felt tight, like my lungs couldn't inflate enough & I couldn't get enough air. (Apparently, this is what docs call "shortness of breath.")
2. April 14 (six weeks ago): GP diagnosed bronchitis.
3. ( Read more... )

Headaches are severe daily again. Sigh. Going to see my primary care doc tomorrow to try to get a referral to acupuncture, and so I decided to write up a timeline to give her an overview of how things have progressed.

The Headaches That Ate My Brain
as of March 20, 2015

Timeline

• February 2014: First noticed frequency of headaches: often severe. ( Read more... )

Saw the ophthalmologist. The "secondary cataract" (PCO) has the vision in my left eye down to 20/40: not terrible, but certainly not the 20/20 it was in June. It's enough to impact my ability to read subtitles on tv, for example. The doc is going to perform a YAG laser procedure on Wednesday that should clear my vision up again ( Read more... )

Wow. Stupid today. Couldn't (can't) think worth a damn. Had an acupuncture appt at noon & PT at 2 pm-was afraid to go out on my own-ended up asking Julia to give me a ride to acupuncture, and then she waited for me & drove me to PT, too (since she had an appt in that general vicinity at the same time as mine). She's an incredibly good friend ( Read more... )

Had acupuncture on Tuesday, immediately followed by my first PT appointment of this second go-round. Then an appointment with the pain doc the next day.

Acupuncture
I like the acupuncturist I saw at Berkeley Community Acupuncture on Tuesday & saw her again to day. (Her name is Elena.) The whole clinic is really great, very relaxed and casual. ( Read more... )