Healthy Choices 7/24/08

Marti, I am so sorry about the doctor's news and that Joe will have to be admitted for another surgery.  Know that you and Joe are being remembered in my prayers everyday.  Hopefully, after the surgery, Joe will be back to himself and can enjoy building the new house he is so looking forward to.

JoLynn, yes I did see lots of the Amish quilts.  There was an entire loft of them on display at one of the places we stopped at.  One is more beautiful than the other and the workmanship is so good.  Almost everyplace we went to had some quilts on display, but none as many as the loft.

Sue, I don't know anything about the canned 0 point soups.  This must be something new.  Are they all by Progresso?  I'll have to check that out.  I hope they're low in sodium too.

Shirley, I hope you can get your BP down to normal soon.  Did the doctor tell you that pain will make it elevate?  I know that's what they told me when I was hospitalized.  Good luck in getting that under control.  There are lots of Yoders, where we visit in Amish country, so your DSIL must have lots of relatives.  LOL

I forgot to list yesterday's food journal. 

B - yogurt, strawberries, blueberries

L - 1/2 order of hot  open faced turkey sandwhich, salad bar (broccoli salad, lettuce salad with raisins, carrot sticks, cucumber), pickled beets and  mashed potatoes and gravey.  Iced tea.

D - cheese. craclers. chopped tomatoes, and broccoli.

S - cherry pie and tea

Hope everyone has a nice evening.  See you in the morning. Jo Ann

Has anybody out there heard of lymphedema?  I'm getting "evaluated" Monday. Never had cancer or any kind of chemo. Body has been beat up tho. I have "unknown cause" leg swelling- reason for eval.  What are they doing to me now? Checked WebMD, but just raises more ?? I'm a little nervous...

Hello everyone.  I'm a bit late!  LOL!  Took friend for colonoscopy today and they were running a little late.  We stopped for lunch on the way home.  When we got here, the yard man was working and I had to get him to work on the @#%&*@! sprinkler system again.  It just won't program for the right times.  In addition, he discovered that we have a non functional head and got that worked on.  He had a couple of teenage boys helping with weeding.  One worked and the other kept trying to get in the shade.  Hound dog lazy.  I'll be telling the yard man that I won't be paying for those two just to sit. I have a whole bed of shrubs that are full of a ground cover type of weed...looks like extra large milkweed to me.  And there are two almost trees amongst these shrubs.  When he comes to mow tomorrow, I'm afraid he's going to get an earful!  The circular raised bed in back doesn't seem to have a srpinkler head at all and some of the ornamental grasses are pretty sickly looking.   Isn't the yard man supposed to be on top of these things?  I asked him early on if he could do the maintenance on this yard....it's definitely more than mowing.  Grrrrrr!

Marti, you and Joe are in my prayers...and on a few prayer lists as well.  I surely hope this will do the job.  Which hospital will he be in?  I know that baby will surely lift Joe's spirits.

Now...to address the lymphedema question....I've heard of it...I have it.  Mine is due to paralysis of the lower extremities and since the muscle is flaccid, there is no "squeezing" of the blood vessels.  Lymph fluid tends to build up causing the swelling.  Have you been checked for PAD...peripheral artery disease?  Are you seeing a vascular surgeon?  I've had reasonable success with an industrial strength support stocking.  Also manual lymph drainage by a therapist is very helpful...just not always covered by insurance.  Most of that is done by a physical therapist, occupational therapist, nurse or even a massage therapist....it is an addional training of 160 hours (I think) that they must complete.  I also use sequential compression devices at bedtime and find those to be helpful also.  Hope this is of some benefit to you.

OK...need to catch up and really read today's posts.  More later or tomorrow!

vammie

Good Evening!   Marti, my thoughts and prayers are with Joe - everything has to work out.

Went to a parade today with Kim and Ava - her dad was marching in the military unit and Kim had said she would take Ava.   We figured we'd get there and see how crowded it was, so we went to the park at the end of the route and it was easy to get to the parade.   We lucked out in that Ava got to see the group marching and then we went to the end and he saw her.  Kim sure did more than his mother would have done - she didn't even show up with the cousins (I knew she wouldn't).   We certainly got our walking in - we had to park so far away and only got a spot in a residential neighborhood because this nice man was bringing his trash cans in and asked Kim if she wanted to park there.   That was a lucky break - I told her it was meant for us to go to the parade.   Then met Dique for lunch - Ava always gets so excited to see Poppa for lunch.   She acts shy around him sometimes, but that's all we hear - all these questions about where is his work, why is he at work, why can't he be home since she really wants to see him when I bring her over during the week?   One time I was explaining why he works and telling her about him making money to buy things - she pops up and says "toys for me?".   Pretty smart little girl.  He has called her his hot dog since she was so tiny and she loves it when he calls her that.

Enough of the bragging - Verna can take over for me when she gets back from her visit

Mr. C, good luck with your evaluation - hope you find the cause and can get treatment.

Here is my menu from Tuesday, unfortunately I haven't done one for 2 days.  That scale in the doctor's office was the best - I weighed less with clothes and shoes on than I do at home with nothing on and no food in me.

B - SBB Mix, 1 cup milk, 1/2 c. peaches

L - 1/2 roast beef sandwich, veggie stir fry, 3 apricots, combo of white and choco soy milks

D - spaghetti and sauce, huge lettuce salad with cukes, onions, carrots, tomato and a sprinkle of blue cheese - I always dress it with Litehouse low fat ranch and low fat oil and vinegar.

My menu seems so boring compared to some - I loved Jo Ann's crackers, cheese, etc for dinner - I even noted to DH about that.   Viny's meals always give me a chuckle, especially his dinners.

See you tomorrow, I'm done for today.   Still not sleeping well at all - I need a peaceful night