Yesterday the weather was beautiful. Today the weather was beautiful.
Yesterday I had a stress test, to determine my eligibility to participate in a cardiac rehabilitation program. I was accepted, and have a month or so of assessments to participate in, before beginning the program. This is quite a relief, as the aortic aneurysm, and the dilation, are quite overwhelming. I think I am going to get a lot out of this program, not just tweaking my lifestyle, but also being able to ask questions, and learn more about the ins and outs of the condition.
For the stress test stickers are applied to the skin to measure all kinds of things, while on the treadmill. I decided to have the stickers attached normally, knowing that I would have contact dermatitis afterwards. I wanted the most accurate results for this test, my long term health is on the table.
That means that today, I have extremely itchy, swollen welts all over the front of my torso. My focus for today has been on preventing myself from scratching the itchy spots.
This morning I found Ginger wandering around, caterwauling. Then I saw the regurgitated hair balls on the carpet, and THEN I saw the cat poop, in the living room, on the floor. THEN Ginger began to defecate on the carpet, right in front of me. Ginger yowled and paced, yowled and paced. He wasn’t feeling well at all. Attila heard my surprised voice, as I spoke to Ginger doing his business on the carpet, and arose to help me clean up the mess. Ginger himself was quite a mess, at the bottom end, and everywhere he sat he left a distinctly bad smelling smudge. We got Ginger cleaned up, cleaned his litter, washed all the floors, and finally calmed the cat. Attila sat with him for quite some time, which seemed to alleviate his physical and mental distress. What a start to the day.
The day, which started with Ginger feeling unwell, ended with me feeling unwell. Some kind of gastrointestinal bug, which Attila did not catch. I have better judgment than Ginger, on where to relieve myself!
Yesterday morning the first raised bed was setup and ready to go. Attila recommended waiting until after dinner to do my planting, so that is what I did. What a glorious day to be out in the garden. I broke up clumps of soil and evened it out, then planted north to south: a row of parsnips down the middle; then two rows of spinach, one on each side of the parsnips; then two rows of beets, on each side of the spinach. As we wanted to to go for a walk, Attila helped me plant the last rows of beets.
This morning we took a quick trip to the city, so that could have a fasting blood test. The local lab is undersized for the catchment area, the waiting room is large, usually standing room only, people are lined up out the door, and even with an appointment the wait time is over 30 minutes. I wanted an appointment, but there were none available in the mornings where we live. I found a lab in the city that would do the testing before 10:00 a.m., so that I could eat some breakfast by 11:00 a.m., and enjoy a mug of coffee.
While we were in the city, we decided to take our list to Costco. The vitamins at Costco are much less expensive than anywhere near our home. We also wanted to buy some high quality haddock at an affordable price. Other items were purchased, such as cotton socks, and a small food chopper for preparing our curry dishes (an impulse buy!).
This evening the chopper worked well to create a cashew paste for a vegetable curry recipe we wanted to try. The recipe is one we will not make again, neither of us loved it. Luckily a few other vegetable curry recipes are in my database, so they will be given a try.
As the day comes to a close the weather is mild, Ginger and I are feeling fine (except for my contact dermatitis), and Attila is happily preparing his second supper in the kitchen. Good all round.
Worldly
Weather
15°C
Date: 8:00 PM EDT Friday 25 April 2025
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.5 kPa
Tendency: Falling
Temperature: 15.0°C
Dew point: 6.5°C
Humidity: 57%
Wind: NE 20 km/h
Visibility: 24 km
Quote
“If we discover a desire within us that nothing in this world can satisfy, also we should begin to wonder if perhaps we were created for another world.”
C. S. Lewis
1898 – 1963
L’Chaim! May this be a very positive experience for you. Nice shoulders, by the way.
It sounds like progress! I hope the itchy spots ease up soon.
Joan, we love to be busy, lol. We do try to keep our expectations in life commensurate with our range of agency.
The welts usually itch and remain swollen for about two weeks, diminishing in intensity over that period of time, so a bit of discomfort to go.
Best wishes for quick healing for both your skin and your digestion. Glad Ginger seems to be over his digestive troubles.
Thank you SP! I am keeping my expectations low for this program, however, I will be delighted if it exceeds my expectations! LOL, the shoulder shot, one of the few parts of the body that doesn’t wrestle with gravity.
Thank you Wendy! The digestion issue was intense, and short lived, thank goodness. The itching takes its sweet time disappearing, but worth the aggravation this time. Ginger was over his complaint by evening, back to relaxing on the couch, and watching his humans which he finds very entertaining.
Sorry that you and Ginger weren’t feeling well earlier. Glad to hear that things are better now
I wonder if a Benadryl stick would work for your contact dermatitis? But the cardiac rehabilitation program sound like it could be very useful.
Cashew curry. Are you making Korma? DH and I are both big fans of kormas, though I’m uncertain which nuts I can handle now, after my blocked intestine. I just tried some pecans today. I never had a problem with them before but we’ll see if I get any reaction.
Thanks Teri, fortunately the gastrointestinal upset was brief.
I will look into the Benadryl stick. I took a Benadryl tablet, but it just made me irritable and didn’t affect the itch at all.
I am grateful to have the cardiac program, if nothing else I will be fully informed.
We tried one of Rick Stein’s vegetable curry recipes, we didn’t like it. In particular I did not like the potatoes in it, neither of us liked the spices. Korma sounds interesting, will have to look that up. Good luck with the pecans!