Category Archives: Health

More Health Work (or An Afternoon Of Dealing With Needles)

Posted on October 27, 2021 | Comments Off on More Health Work (or An Afternoon Of Dealing With Needles)

I’ve been slowly catching up on the health things I didn’t do last year when things were a lot scarier with the pandemic. It’s a process to catch up, but I think I finally am seeing the end of what I need to do. And some of the things that were on my catch-up list were things that I put off for a bit so I could combine appointments. I especially wanted to do that when it came to doing blood work.

I knew I would need to have my blood drawn now so I could get my liver MRI (they have to check kidney function before an MRI since I have to be able to process the contrast they use without issues). But when I went in for my regular check-up recently, my doctor mentioned that I hadn’t done just the regular check-up blood work in several years. In fact, the last time I did it was right before my liver tumors were found. The blood work showed something wrong with my liver and I was about to do another blood draw when the tumors were found and we realized that was the reason. So along with some of the specific blood work I needed, she added in all the regular tests too.

I put off doing my blood draw until I knew I needed to do my kidney function test. There’s no point in me doing those on different days. And I also figured I might as well get my flu shot and torture myself with more needles (I couldn’t get my Covid booster at that time, or I might have done that too). And I did it on a day that I knew I’d have lots of time since I never know how I will react to needles. I’ve been doing better lately, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t faint in the future.

Fortunately, when I went, the hospital was pretty empty so I didn’t have to wait a long time to get my blood drawn. Unfortunately, between all the blood work I needed to have done, I needed 6 vials to be drawn. That’s just a long time to make sure I don’t faint. I got very lightheaded and I was worried a few times I was about to pass out, but I made it through. But I must have looked horrible because the doctor who did my blood draw didn’t want me to leave right away and asked if I needed to be seen by anyone. I knew I’d be fine (plus if I had doctors come to look at me, it was probably going to be expensive and take several hours). But I waited about 10 minutes before I left so he knew I’d be ok.

After that, I had to go to urgent care to get my flu shot because the tent they do flu shots in was already closed that day (I didn’t think about it having reduced hours on the weekend). But that was pretty quick too since they were able to get me into a room within a few minutes. That went a bit better than the blood work and I didn’t have any moments I felt like I was going to faint. I just had to deal with the reaction I usually get from flu shots (just feeling a bit run down and a sore arm, but it’s worth it).

Spending my day doing work with needles isn’t my ideal way to spend a day off, but I needed to do this. And I’m glad I did because almost all my blood work has improved since the last time I got it done! There are a few things that are a little out of the ideal range, but they were out of the range in the past and I’m much closer to normal now. There’s nothing in my blood work showing I’m at a higher risk for anything. I know some people might assume I’m pre-diabetic or have high cholesterol, but both are in the normal range and everything seems to show that I am healthy! Even though I was pretty certain that would be the case, it’s nice to have real concrete proof of that too.

Now I just have 2 more things involving needles that I know I need to do: get the IV for my MRI and get my booster shot. And I hope both of those go as smoothly as this all did.

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Default ThumbnailStaying Healthy (or 2 Needles in 30 Minutes) Default ThumbnailSome Random Medical Tests (or At Least Getting Blood Work Was Entertaining) Default ThumbnailFlu Shot Time (or Another Health-Related Post) Default ThumbnailA Full Doctor Afternoon (or Pain and More Pain) Default ThumbnailMRI Prep Work (or Vampire Victim and Nerves) Default ThumbnailOne Of My Most Hated Things (or At Least I Didn’t Faint)

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Getting Ready For A Booster (or I’m So Glad Vaccines Are Starting To Be Required)

Posted on October 22, 2021 | Comments Off on Getting Ready For A Booster (or I’m So Glad Vaccines Are Starting To Be Required)

When I finally got my COVID vaccine about 8 months ago, it was honestly such a huge relief. I knew that it didn’t mean the pandemic was over, but it would allow me to have just a little less fear over having a severe case. As much as I hate shots, I couldn’t wait to get this done and I was even looking forward to it. I knew that the original 2 shots might not be enough and that I might need a booster, but at that time I wasn’t too worried about it. I really thought that maybe enough people would be vaccinated that the risk factor would be down significantly by the time boosters were needed.

I may never understand those who refuse to get vaccinated (unless their doctor has told them it is too dangerous to get it). But because the pandemic has continued, booster shots have started to be available. I am in one of the groups that can be vaccinated due to being high-risk and I’ve been eligible for a booster for a little bit now. I’m not really putting it off due to fear, but because I wanted to make sure I didn’t have to worry about work or other conflicts I haven’t gotten it just yet. But I’m working on scheduling a time for my booster soon and I’m glad that I will have even more protection, especially since we are getting into flu season.

And possibly even more than getting a booster, I’m excited that vaccine requirements are starting to become a thing here in LA. My gym is going to start requiring them in 2 weeks. I know there will be people who cannot work out because of the requirement, but those who can’t be vaccinated due to medical reasons understand that. I know there are other people saying this is discrimination and illegal, but if someone chooses to not be vaccinated a business can choose not to serve them. It’s the same idea with masks. I have never understood the accusations that it’s illegal to require masks when businesses have required shoes for as long as I know. Or how they have banned smoking inside. Choosing what you would like to do may have consequences and it’s always been like that.

There are still places I haven’t returned to just because I’m a bit nervous being out in groups if I don’t have to. Once I know that they are requiring vaccines too, I think I’ll start to see what I want to bring back into my life. Having over a year and a half without some of my routines has made me reevaluate what I regularly do. But it also has made me realize how important some things are and how I want to continue to make them a regular part of my life.

To see more and more places understand why requiring vaccines can help their clients makes me so happy. I have never really been fearful working out since returning, but knowing that everyone there will be vaccinated will be just one more thing to make me feel a bit more comfortable. And I know that as soon as I get my booster shot I will feel that way too.

I’ve said this so many times since everything shut down in March 2020, but I do feel like this is another step to normalcy. I know that every time I say this, something else happens so I hope that maybe this time it’s different. But even if it’s doesn’t change the entire world with the pandemic, but maybe at least within my section of the world I feel a bit safer than I do now. And maybe soon other places will be the same and we can finally be past the time where we are all hyper-vigilant with this virus.

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Default ThumbnailLooking Forward To Another Shot (or Ready For A Booster) Default ThumbnailHair And Groceries (or Being Out And About When Masks Aren’t Required) Default ThumbnailGetting Hopeful About The Vaccine (or Why I’m Being Even More Careful Now) Default ThumbnailRequiring Masks Again (or This Doesn’t Change Too Much For Me) Default ThumbnailThoughts About The Reopening (or Feeling Safe And Scared At Once) Default ThumbnailGetting Vaccinated (or I Didn’t Believe This Until It Happened)

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A Fast And Easy Doctor Appointment (or A Simple Follow-Up)

Posted on October 14, 2021 | Comments Off on A Fast And Easy Doctor Appointment (or A Simple Follow-Up)

I think most people know that when they schedule a doctor’s appointment that there is a good chance it will run late. I do try to book the first appointment of the day or the first appointment after lunch since that is usually the best chance for things to be on time. But with my work schedule now, I can’t really do that as much. So I have been booking them toward the end of the day to limit how much work I have to miss.

This time, it was for another follow-up with my dermatologist. I have had these on a pretty frequent basis this year, and it’s mainly to monitor progress with a few different issues. I have something on my foot that my doctor tried to freeze off and we are seeing how to get my autoimmune condition to be in remission or to just be less severe. For my foot, it’s a simple check-up with seeing if I need another treatment. With my autoimmune condition, it’s a bit more complicated. I’ve tried a few different medications this year, and the first choice one is something you can’t take forever. So I knew going into this appointment that I was going to have to stop that medication. And because I was doing follow-ups on two things and was going to discuss a medication plan going forward, I assumed this would be a longer appointment.

But I was so wrong. I arrived 15 minutes before my appointment to check in, and I was taken back within minutes of arriving! And I didn’t even have much of a chance to put things down before the doctor came in! Normally, I have to change into a gown, but this time I didn’t which was fine since there would have been no time to do that anyway.

And even though we were doing two different follow-ups, it was actually very simple. For my foot, it was an easy decision to do another treatment. And that only takes about a minute or two. And for my autoimmune condition, since I already knew that we were ending one medication it was just a reminder that I should stop taking it now and only continue the other medication I’ve been taking for it. He did check my skin and agreed that things were looking better, so there was no need to discuss much more than that. Over the past few appointments, we have discussed surgical options (which is still something I am considering) and what medications or other methods to try to get me into remission. But this time, the plan is simple. I’m going to stay on the one medication I’m taking for my autoimmune condition and we are going to see how it goes.

And because I have to be back for another follow-up in 6 weeks for my foot, we can reevaluate things then and if I seem to be getting worse I can figure out a new plan with my doctor. I am hopeful that I won’t get worse because the medication I’m on now was only something I started at my last appointment and I’ve had significant improvement since starting it. So I think it’s from this medication and not the one I’ve been taking for a while.

Even without having much of a game plan going forward or any changes right now, I’m happy with these next steps because I want to see what happens. I don’t love being on a ton of medications and removing one from my day is a good thing. And maybe I won’t need to add something else back in.

This was a pretty easy follow-up with minimal stuff needed. The longest part was the treatment on my foot, but fortunately, I’m used to them so I can tolerate the pain and not need breaks. And before I knew it, I was ready to leave my appointment and by some miracle, I made it home in time to work a little extra time so I didn’t miss out on any pay that day! I think that makes this appointment a total win for me!

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Planning For The Future In A Few Ways (or Connecting One Monthly Challenge To Another)

Posted on October 1, 2021 | Comments Off on Planning For The Future In A Few Ways (or Connecting One Monthly Challenge To Another)

Last month, I made my monthly challenge all about not overthinking the future. And that ended up being the perfect challenge since I found out right after I set my challenge about my landlord selling my place. I did have some freakouts about having to move, but I was able to keep myself calm. And in a weird way, focusing on looking for a condo was a good distraction from other things that might have made me overthink the future more. So while I did have something that made me work on my monthly challenge, it might have been a bit easier than expected since all my focus went to that one thing.

But I’m still glad I did it because I know this is something I need to continuously do and practice. And I want to keep working on it so it’s more instinctual for me and not something I have to really think about when working on it.

And while my challenge for last month was all about not overthinking the future, my challenge this month is almost the opposite with planning for the future more. That’s not the reason why I did it, but it’s connected in a weird way.

The general idea for my challenge this month is to plan for the future, but that doesn’t exactly explain it. I guess it’s also a bit of a reset in a way, but again, that doesn’t explain it. But I have 2 main ideas within this challenge that I’m trying to accomplish in my reset/future planning.

The first is that I want to really work on cleaning my current place. I know I have a lot of stuff that I wouldn’t want to move when I move, so I want to work on clearing things over time. I also don’t want to worry about not having trash space as I throw things out, and I only have a single trash can. So my challenge is to work on cleaning out things like my desk (which has been a recurring project), my clothing, and stuff I have stored. I know I have so much stuff that is just there because I don’t think about it being there. So being more mindful about it all will help.

And the other part of the future planning I want to work on is related to my health. I don’t have a specific goal connected to my health, but I want to make it more of a focus. I want to work on eating more fruits and vegetables and being better about eating real meals and not snacking. Maybe I’ll do some meal planning or prepping, but I’m not too specific on what I want to do other than to put more of a focus into my life. I need to do this and I’ve been almost craving to work on this (but it’s not always my only or strongest craving, which is the problem).

I know this isn’t the most specific goal, but I think I’m also doing another flexible goal because I know October will be a bit crazy for me. Besides the usual craziness, I will also have condo hunting as well as the SAG-AFTRA Convention! So I don’t want to add something else to my calendar that I might not be able to focus on that much. But hopefully whatever focus I can put on this challenge this month, I will have another positive outcome and feel really happy about what I did.

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Working On More Regular Doctor Appointments (or Catching Up On What I Missed)

Posted on September 23, 2021 | Comments Off on Working On More Regular Doctor Appointments (or Catching Up On What I Missed)

Like so many people last year, I didn’t make it to a lot of regular medical appointments for most of 2020 because of the pandemic. I obviously did what I had to do when things weren’t great and I started regularly going to the dentist again after having some issues, but a lot of my routine appointments were put off and I figured I would do them when things were safer. And even though I have been vaccinated for about 6 months now, I didn’t get a chance to start planning routine appointments again until recently.

I might have forgotten to schedule them for longe but I did get an email alert from my insurance about some routine tests being due. They aren’t things I do every year, but it made sense I might be due for tests since I knew I skipped last year. So I tried to work on scheduling appointments around my work time (which isn’t easy now since I’m full-time and have to take time off to go). And I got a couple of things set up that started this week.

I had my regular well-woman checkup this week, which was one of the alerts I had gotten from my insurance. I found out when I got to the appointment, I wasn’t actually due for another year, but I figured I might as well do it all since I was already there. And while it’s not a fun appointment, it’s necessary to make sure I’m staying healthy and I don’t discover another random thing that is wrong with me. I’ve been feeling pretty ok lately, outside of some mental stress due to the pandemic, so I think everything is ok with me. But it will be good to know for sure.

I’ve got a few medical tests that I should have done last year but it was ok to push them off another year, so when I was at my appointment my doctor was able to start the process for me to schedule them. For example, my last liver MRI was supposed to be last year, but I was told to wait on it due to the pandemic. So hopefully when I do it this year, this will be the last one I need. But because it’s been almost 2 years since my last one, I needed a new order to get scheduled for the MRI. Normally, I call my liver surgeon so he can order it, but my doctor was able to put in the order for me so I could save that time. I still need to schedule it, but I’ll probably have it in the next month or two. It just depends on the time options. I also got an order for my next mammogram, which was something else I skipped last year. I don’t have to do regular ones just yet, but it’s good for me to do them.

Also, since my last regular appointment, I had my appointment with the geneticist so I could get breast MRIs covered by my insurance as a cancer screening. The geneticist said that I didn’t need to start doing those MRIs just yet, but I wanted to confirm that with my doctor. And she agrees, so I have a few more years before those MRIs are regular screenings for me.

And the last thing I set up were some regular blood tests that I haven’t done in a few years. This wasn’t just skipped because of the pandemic, but because I don’t always do them regularly. But they are all just boring things like blood sugar, liver enzymes (which I know were really off before, but it was because of my tumor), cholesterol, and things like that. I probably should be better about checking these things regularly and I need to see how often I really should do them.

Considering that I missed last year’s annual appointment and a few other doctor appointments that I usually would have, I think this appointment went really smoothly. Obviously, I don’t have test results from any tests I did yet, but there’s nothing I’m worried about and nothing my doctor was worried about. Honestly, the most worrisome thing during my appointment was the burst blood vessel in my eye. I know it still looks pretty bad, but as soon as my doctor walked into the room I reassured her that I was safe at home and nothing bad had happened to me. And she’s known me for years, so she knew I was ok and didn’t have to question me too much about it. And I think we both had a good laugh over the fact that I have had a few different suspicious-looking injuries that could look bad but they are actually from something innocent.

Hopefully, I can get the rest of my regular appointments in soon. I have almost all of them scheduled, but if things get really bad again with the pandemic I might have to put them off. But I’m hoping this appointment this week was me kicking off getting back on track with staying on top of my health.

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I Really Hate Panic Attacks (or At Least This Went Better Than Expected)

Posted on August 26, 2021 | Comments Off on I Really Hate Panic Attacks (or At Least This Went Better Than Expected)

Considering my history of panic attacks, I’ve been doing much better lately than when compared to the past. I don’t medicate myself anymore for panic attacks, which is a huge thing to me. And almost all my attacks are during predictable moments. I have noticed that new things do sometimes cause them, but then those become predictable too. For example, wearing a mask makes me feel claustrophobic at times and then that brings on a panic attack. I’ve been working on figuring out a good mask that won’t cause this, but so far it’s been tough. But it won’t stop me from wearing a mask.

One of the most common reasons I have panic attacks is when I have to go to the dentist. This has been an issue for me for almost all of my adult life (maybe as a kid too, but I don’t recall having bad panic attacks as a kid). I know going into my appointments that I will likely have a panic attack, and I do what I can to prepare for them. And I do work hard with all dental stuff I can do at home to make my appointments easier. Unfortunately, since I have genetically bad teeth, doing everything right doesn’t always mean that I won’t get bad news when I go in for a cleaning. But I at least do my part to make these appointments as stress-free as possible.

But even with doing everything I can, sometimes I just have a bad panic attack. And that’s what happened this week. I wasn’t doing that bad before my appointment. I didn’t have nightmares the same way that I usually do and my heart wasn’t racing my entire drive there. But as soon as I got out of my car, the panic hit me like a wave. It was a pretty big attack and I took some time trying to calm my breathing down and stop sweating before going into my appointment. But I still wasn’t doing that great when I walked in. I’m sure I looked horrible, but fortunately, the dentist understands that I can’t control my panic attacks and she really does try to work with me.

She made the appointment as easy as she could. She immediately checked my teeth to confirm I didn’t need any fillings or any other major dental work. Knowing that normally stops my attack, but this time it only brought it down a bit. I was still shaking and struggling to breathe normally. So my dentist tried to work as quickly as she could while not rushing and missing things. And she used some topical numbing gel to make sure I don’t have any pain while she was working quickly. I don’t usually have pain at my appointments, but I’m glad she was trying to make things better. And for the most part, my appointment went quickly except when they had to fix one piece of equipment in the middle that wasn’t working the way it should.

When I left my appointment, I was a bit annoyed with myself. I hate that something that isn’t a big deal can cause such big panic attacks. I hate that this attack was so bad when it hasn’t been like this for a long time. I know it’s not my fault that this happens to me, but I still blame myself. I know that sometimes I don’t have much of an attack before or during an appointment, so maybe the next time will be better. Or it might be like this appointment or worse. I really never know until it happens and I just have to get through it. I know there’s nothing wrong with having panic attacks or anything to be embarrassed about. But it’s still something I hate about myself.

But at least even with the bad panic attack this time, my appointment went well and I was back in my car headed home in under an hour. And I don’t have to worry about going in again for another cleaning for 4 more months.

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Looking Forward To Another Shot (or Ready For A Booster)

Posted on August 25, 2021 | Comments Off on Looking Forward To Another Shot (or Ready For A Booster)

As soon as the vaccinations for Covid were announced, I know people were starting to ask if the two shots we’d be getting would be enough. Would there need to be a third shot? Would this become something similar to the flu shot where we get them each year? There were so many questions and I know that there weren’t a lot of answers right away. And I think there were a lot of other things to consider if we would need additional shots, but we were all just so happy to be able to be vaccinated. And even though I hate needles, getting my Covid vaccine was a really happy day for me.

I don’t know how to explain the relief I felt when I got my first vaccine. I knew I wasn’t 100% protected and I still needed my second shot, but just knowing that I was getting closer to the end was the most amazing feeling. And when I got my second shot and was past the 2 weeks of waiting before I was considered fully vaccinated, I was even more hopeful. Because so many people were getting vaccinated so quickly, I thought this summer would be normal. I think so many of us had that thought.

What I didn’t expect was the number of people against the vaccine. I have always known there are people who can’t or don’t vaccinate themselves or their families. But with Covid, since so many people were against masks, I thought they would want to be vaccinated so they could be done with masks. But as we all know, that is not how it went and now we are having a new surge. And even people who have been vaccinated are at risk. Fortunately, it seems like those who are vaccinated are not getting as sick as those who are not, but it doesn’t matter. Being at risk is a scary thing and I think that increased the questions about needing another shot.

And now we all know that people are getting booster shots. And I honesty am so happy to know there is a timeline for getting the next shot. I still hate shots and I know it’s not going to be a fun day for me, but I really want to make sure I stay safe and healthy. I want to feel that same feeling I had earlier this year when I was so relieved and ready to get back to my life. I’m not in the same fear that I was in before getting vaccinated, but I also am limiting what I go out to do and who I see. So I’m just waiting until I can get my next shot. Based on how it is right now, I should be getting my booster in November, so it’s still a bit away. But it’s something to look forward to and hope that maybe the time between now and then will not be as bad as they are now.

Just like how sometimes I surprise myself with how dedicated I am to working out when it was such a struggle for me, I now surprise myself with how much I’m looking forward to getting another vaccine. I don’t care if I pass out hard or just black out a bit like it has been recently. I just want to make sure I do everything I can to not get sick and make sure I can get back to a time where I don’t have to worry about this.

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Dropping A Few Habits (or Still Deciding If This Is Going To Be A Good Choice)

Posted on August 24, 2021 | Comments Off on Dropping A Few Habits (or Still Deciding If This Is Going To Be A Good Choice)

There are a lot of habits I’ve had for a long time in my life. Some of them are necessary for my life and basically are things I do without a thought anymore. Some are things that are for my health that I do and maybe sometimes need a reminder to do (such as having an alert on my calendar each month to throw out my old contact lenses and use fresh ones). And there are some habits that I started doing because they were good for me in some sense and I’ve just kept them up because it’s routine.

But I’ve been doing some of my habits and routines for a long time just because I have been doing them for a long time and I don’t know if they still benefit me in any way. But they are things I still am aware of and track and I have to remember to do them or I feel like I forgot something. And as my schedule gets busier again and as I try to build my life again after having so little to do for so long, I have started to wonder if it’s worth it to continue doing these things just because I have been doing them for years.

There are 2 main habits I think about when debating if I should stop. First, tracking my food. I’ve been doing this for so long and have even made it a monthly challenge before. And in a way, it does keep me sane when I have a binge episode because I can have a reality check when I need it. But at the same time, unless I need that reality check I don’t always track everything I eat. Because of my schedule, I’m not always eating specific meals but instead eating small meals and snacks throughout the day. I know there is debate if having specific meals is better than grazing or snacking, but this isn’t about that. Based on what I see on the scale and how my clothes fit, I’m eating a very similar amount either way so I’m not worried about that. But on days that I graze, I rarely enter all my food. I might just add my breakfast and then nothing else. Or I’ll add one thing I ate but not the entire meal. Figuring out how much I’m eating is necessary, but the serving size from a container might not match up with the food tracking apps, so it can get frustrating.

Since I’m not usually tracking everything, I have started to question why I do it. For a long time, it was because I wanted to keep up my streak on the app in case I was going to go back to tracking everything. But I could always start back up without having a streak on the app. And maybe not focusing on tracking whatever I think of will motivate me to focus on my food in another way. I’m not sure yet.

The other thing I’ve been questioning tracking has been my daily steps. This again was a past monthly challenge that I kept up for a long time. But things came up in life and it’s been a while since I’ve had a 10,000 step day on my FitBit app. This doesn’t mean I haven’t been hitting 10,000 steps, they just aren’t always being tracked. I don’t wear my Fitbit that much during the day. I do have a clip so I can put it in a pocket or in my bra, but it’s not comfortable anymore. During my workouts, I used to keep it clipped to my pants, but that was bothering me too. My phone does track steps, but it’s not as accurate as wearing my Fitbit. And I know I could wear it as a watch, but I like my regular watch more and I don’t like the look of my Fitbit on my wrist. I do still use it every night to track my sleep because that is valuable information for me, but that’s all I’ve been able to accurately track for a long time.

So just like with the food tracking, I’m wondering what the benefit is for me to be half-tracking things. This one doesn’t concern me as much as the food tracking one goes, it’s more about me being ok not wearing my Fitbit or trying to find a random place to clip it to or put it when I go out somewhere. So accepting it as just a sleep tracker, for now, is what I think I want to do. That doesn’t mean I can’t change my mind and wear it if I’m going out somewhere and want to track my steps. But I’m not going to worry too much about it and look at what the app says each day for my total steps. I know those haven’t been accurate for a while, but I still have been looking at them and they do make me think about if a day was a good one or a not-so-good one. Having that stress off my mind might help.

Stopping these habits won’t change that much about what I’m already doing each day. I just won’t be tracking them and using them as a judgment of how I’m doing. And if I start to feel like I’m getting out of control or panicked, I can start tracking again. But since I’ve been only doing a fraction of the tracking I should be doing anyway, I don’t think this will make that much of a difference other than having a few fewer things to worry about in my daily routine.

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Default ThumbnailSeeing My Therapist (or Building Habits) Default ThumbnailNo More Slacking (or Paying Attention To My Fitbit) Default ThumbnailTrying To Keep All My Good Habits (or I Need To Get Back On Track) Default ThumbnailGiving Fitbit Another Chance (or Doing Laps Around My Living Room) Default ThumbnailLosing Weight The Techie Way (or My FitBit Fail) Default ThumbnailCounting Every Calorie (or Seeing Things In Black and White)

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A Super Fast Therapy Appointment (or Having Therapy On An Insanely Stressful Day)

Posted on August 19, 2021 | Comments Off on A Super Fast Therapy Appointment (or Having Therapy On An Insanely Stressful Day)

My therapy appointments are usually 6 months apart, so it’s been a while since I’ve had one. I mostly have therapy as medication check-ins and not to talk things out, so there isn’t a big need to go often unless I am testing out a new medication. Even though they are only medication check-ins, I do still discuss how I’m feeling and how I’m doing, but they don’t go as in-depth as they did when I was attending therapy more often.

And I was doing video appointments before the pandemic, but I appreciate having video appointments even more now. It’s so much easier for me not to have to leave my house, especially when I have such a full work schedule. And when I booked my most recent appointment, I was basing it on the idea that my work schedule would be close to what it used to be before the pandemic. I was hopeful that things would be coming back, so I figured that was a smart decision. I didn’t consider that I’d be working more hours so the time that used to be right after work would be during work. But since it was a video appointment, I figured I could multi-task a bit for a quick appointment.

What I wasn’t expecting was to have my therapy appointment on the most stressful day of my customer service job. Without going into too much detail about how things work at my company, it was the day that our clients were informed about the start of some things for August. And while most were happy and were messaging us a quick thank you, this also had a lot of clients who thought they had canceled or changed their service reach out questioning what happened. Most of the miscommunication was through a partner company we work with, but it still created a ton of work for me. And right now, I’m pretty much the only person doing the customer service work. So when I had to log into my video appointment, I was in the middle of the craziness of responding to people.

I’ve said this before, but I’m grateful my therapist knows me. I’m sure I looked frenzied and in a panic because I was trying to get work done. But I explained to her about the number of messages I was trying to respond to and she understood. So she helped to make the appointment go quickly. She asked if I was ready to start testing other medications, but I think she agreed with me that it’s still not the right time since I will want to know if any side effects are due to the current circumstances in the world or the medication. I do think a change might be in order, but waiting feels right to me for now.

And we did discuss my current stress levels but I explained how it was a very temporary situation and likely only for that day. In the recent past, I discussed stress related to the pandemic and not being vaccinated yet, but now that’s not as big of a concern for me. I’m still being careful and I’m glad that I will be eligible for a booster shot soon, but I think now that I know I’m at least a little protected has helped to bring down my fear a lot. And the stress being unvaccinated caused me was very different from what I was feeling due to work. My work stress wasn’t really in my control, but it felt more in control to me.

After a bit of a check-in so she knew I was doing ok, my therapist agreed that keeping my medication the same was a good plan and she set me up for another 6 months through the pharmacy and booked my next appointment in February next year. And I know that if I need to contact her for any reason before my next appointment, I can do that and get another appointment sooner. Or I can email back and forth with her if I have questions or concerns.

I have no clue what the world will be like in 6 months. Maybe I’ll finally be ready to discuss changing up my medications. Maybe it will be better in the world but I won’t be ready to change things up. I really have no clue. But at least for now, I’m sticking with the plan that has been working for me and continuing to do the other things I need to do to get into recovery with my eating disorder.

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Default ThumbnailA Super Easy Therapy Appointment (or Just Doing A Check-In) Default ThumbnailAnother Quick Therapy Appointment (or Video Appointments Make Things Easy) Default ThumbnailAnother Pandemic Therapy Check-In (or Hanging In There) Default ThumbnailAnother Isolated Therapy Session (or My Anxiety Is Normal) Default ThumbnailSome More Virtual Therapy (or Trying Another Medication) Default ThumbnailAnother Virtual Doctor Appointment (or Planning Some Next Steps)

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It’s Another Short Post Type Of Week (or Sorry About This)

Posted on July 21, 2021 | Comments Off on It’s Another Short Post Type Of Week (or Sorry About This)

I wish I had an amazing post to share today, but I’m really not doing so great right now. My mental health is fine, so that’s good. Although I guess exhaustion can count against mental health. But for physical health, I’m having a hard time.

It’s like right now everything is working against me. It’s very hot here in LA, so I’m dealing with those issues and I’m trying to stay as cool as I can. It’s oddly humid here, which we aren’t used to and makes the heat worse. But I think it’s also affecting my hip because I’ve been in a lot of hip pain lately. And I’m dealing with my monthly pain and nausea. And while it wasn’t so bad last week when I thought it might be, this week has been brutal. My medications don’t seem to want to work right now. The pain is maybe dulled a bit, but I still have horrible cramps that stop me in my tracks. And the nausea is always tough to push through. It’s a general feeling of seasickness all the time and I don’t get relief even if I do get sick. And because of the nausea, I’m not sleeping much. I wake up a lot in the middle of the night afraid I’m about to get sick. And it takes me forever to get back to sleep.

Even though I try to go to bed early, I’m averaging under 2 hours of sleep when I’m in bed for 6 1/2 hours. I’m not doing much else besides work and dealing with how I’m feeling because I don’t feel the need to take more on. I can’t avoid all responsibilities, so I limit them where I can.

So as much as I’d love to have a nice and well-thought-out post on here, right now I just want to share how I’m feeling and then go lay down since I’m done with work for the day (I’m writing this on Tuesday).

Hopefully, this is the peak of it all and I start getting better tomorrow.

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Default ThumbnailSorry For A Short Post (or Hopefully I Feel Better Soon) Default ThumbnailI Didn’t Think I Was This Sick (or This Will Be A Short Post) Default ThumbnailJust Dragging On (or Another Apology For Another Short Post) Default ThumbnailSorry For A Quick Post (or Going Through A Tough Day) Default ThumbnailI Guess This Makes Me Feel A Bit Better (or A Physical Explanation For My Emotional Symptoms) Default ThumbnailAnother Sick Day Post (or Sorry For Two In A Row)

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