Hoping you two had a relaxing and as-comfortable-as-possible evening/night, good food, and camaraderie for some good shows.
I hope you're both feeling better soon!
tarasgirl06
, it sounds like you're on the mend with some solid food. I've had food poisoning twice and it took several days before I was ready for much real food. It's so nice when you're ready!
daftcat75
, I hope Betty was able to hang on for her meal and didn't keep you up all night singing.
Betty was a nutcase last night. So vocal and so restless. She also seemed to be nibbling more than eating. But I think the rush eventually did pass because she left nothing but clean plates and ultimately did settle down. She still wanted her 6am snuggles. But she always wants those. And she sat with me just now while I got through my breakfast.I hope you're both feeling better soon!
Sounds like you might be relapsing? on the GI stuff and/or maybe eating too much/varied, too soon? IDK, just guessing on this. I was okay for one day and then relapsed, so I'm going by that. I'm MAYBE on the mend today, but not out of the woods yet. I do not have COVID but the food poisoning problem is hanging on far longer than ever before. Really nasty stuff. And yeah, it does make it so hard to be comfortable and sleep or even just get some rest! Last night was the best night I've had in living memoryBetty was a nutcase last night. So vocal and so restless. She also seemed to be nibbling more than eating. But I think the rush eventually did pass because she left nothing but clean plates and ultimately did settle down. She still wanted her 6am snuggles. But she always wants those. And she sat with me just now while I got through my breakfast.
I feel like I get an overnight dump of toxic garbage into my bloodstream every morning now. Instead of enjoying third sleep after Betty’s breakfast, that toxic crap forces me out of bed. It takes me several hours to get over the cloud head, nausea, and poop ropes. I’m getting closer to regular again. But it’s still a few rounds in the morning to empty myself out.
I used to enjoy my mornings. I’d wake up gently from third sleep and ease into the morning in my recliner with Betty in my lap and sipping on my coffee after finishing breakfast. Now I feel like too much garbage to sit in the chair. I prop up in bed and choke down a bagel with lox and cream cheese and hope it stays down. The apartment is frigid in the mornings because it has to be for me to sleep at night. I think sleeping between those breezes is not good for me. I don’t even remember how I slept before all this. I know the bed is an issue. But I just realized that the daybed I am considering is 4” shorter than the current bed. So I will also need a new box spring. When Im feeling more up to it, I will first try to rotate my mattress which I haven’t done in years. But if that doesn’t help, I will move it off and try the Amazon twin on the current low height box. If I can get a good night sleep in the front room on the Amazon twin, I’ll order the queen and a regular size box spring.
I am making baby steps progress back to good. But still not there yet. I will be returning to work tomorrow. Thank goodness I work from home. Thank goodness I have a home office. Thank goodness I have a daybed in my home office. And thank goodness my job is more interrupt-based than task-based. Meaning after I have done some morning maintenance tasks, I can lay on the daybed until an email or chat tone beeps me back to work. I can use my phone for email. So I don’t need a lot of stamina to do my job right now. And as the advice nurse said the other morning, getting back to work could serve as a useful distraction from how slow and frustrating this recovery is. And getting back to normal requires doing my normal tasks. Fake it til I make it. Be okay with being okay until I can get back to good.
And anyway, Xfinity is telling me I’ve been streaming far too much Star Trek and I’m in danger of overage charges this month.
I need to go out for another grocery run today. Maybe that will help me ignore my struggles for a short time like it did on Thursday.
Today is day 13.
and I'm up doing my work as usual today, but the feeling feverish (with no fever) and not as strong as normal is ever present. So I am going to have a resting period this afternoon if I can. If you're at all like me, work is pretty much life, and it does take the mind off being sick and all the other stuff we deal with on a daily basis. But I'm taking work a little bit easier, and definitely pacing myself on anything that might bring extreme stress, which the GI tract does NOT like or need. Baby steps is key, I agree! We want to dive right back into "normal" but I guess in both our cases, it's not that simple or that convenient.
Thanking you for your thoughtfulness! I've had food poisoning too many times to count, and it's a beast. This is the worst time in terms of duration (day 7!) and I don't want to do too much to soon.I hope you're both feeling better soon!
"Too many times to count" sounds horrible! My twice were bad enough... the first time was brutal because I was traveling for work for only a couple days, never got to do, and then had to get on a plane, where the flight attendant desperately wanted me to have breakfast, the thought of which almost made me want to get sick again.
The advice nurse I spoke to the other week said viral gastroenteritis aka food poisoning can take up to ten days to resolve. Oof!
Misery does love company. So does getting better!I don’t think I’m relapsing as much as it is just taking that “up to ten days” to resolve. Although my nasal swab tested negative for Covid, I’m sure my wastewater would tell a different story.
I’m more or less eating normally the rest of the day. It’s just mornings have become a personal hell. I think eating a more carby/less fatty diet is not satiating me like it used to. I’ve read that when you try to fast too long (like overnight), your body burns a bit of fat to produce the energy it needs for nightly maintenance tasks. And whatever fat soluble toxins you’ve been exposed to over the years, that gets dumped into your blood with the broken down fat—one more reason for me to try to lose some fat weight when I can. I’ve started to drink a liver support tea to help with this detox process until I can get back to a higher fat dinner. I also scooped out a dollop of cream cheese and ate that at 5:30am when Betty had her breakfast. By 5:30, I was already feeling the toxic dump in my bloodstream. But I didn’t wake to quite as much garbage at 8am as prior mornings. I also think sleeping in the cross breezes may be both drying me out and giving me a little nasal drip that contributes to the feeling of morning nausea.
My poop is getting better by the day. It’s just not there yet. I take a daily s boulardii capsule to help with that. Me and Betty both take the s boulardii.
Yeah, daftcat reminded me about the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast) and I've been doing better on that than on congee (soupy rice) and hot water!
Hoping your outing is pleasant!Sunday weigh-in:
Water % back up
Fat % down to 18.5. That’s not bad. But I’d feel better at 16. I think that was my pandemic low when I was doing keto, weights, and running right after my lay off and before my current job started. Bone is almost back to pre-Covid weight. I know it’s scary to see bone mass loss. But I also know bone is a fluid calcium bank. When the body needs calcium and it doesn’t get it from diet, it takes it from bone. When it gets excess calcium from diet combined with load-bearing exercise, it banks it in the bones. Lean body mass is still depressed. Honestly, I look pretty good. I don’t recommend Covid for body sculpting. But it’s a pleasant side effect.
I went to the VCA and picked up two cases of I/D for Betty. They also told me how to get a refund on my bad AD. I take it to Betty’s home VCA and they can handle opening the ticket and getting the refund and getting that refund back to me.
Then I went grocery shopping again. I feel like my diet is going through a renaissance. I’m probably going to overdo the sodium with the heat to eats. But they’re just so good and I can’t motivate myself to actually cook just yet. I also got some carrot juice and some mango chunks in light syrup. And of course, more pickles.
Cooking tip: if you eat pickles and you like salmon, save the pickle juice for a marinade. Just let your salmon soak in the pickle juice for a day or overnight. It’s a mild but tasty flavor enhancement and a good use for that pickle juice.
I forgot Betty’s weigh-in earlier. We just did it now. She woke from a dead sleep when she heard the kibble bag open and the five or six pieces I weighed out for her (1.5 grams.). When I put the kibble on the scale, she knows the routine now and got all of herself into the cradle. Apparently the missed portions and the one she gave back because of the bad AD has not affected Miss Piggy. I am not certain what her ideal weight is. I’m not sure when we need to level off. But we’re still only aiming for 180 calories. Apparently she needs a lot less than 20 calories/lbs.
Picture upload isn’t working. Positive read was 9.64 and the negative read (zero the scale and push her off) was 9.60. Maybe the difference is how she holds her tail when she’s eating.
So yeah. Even with Betty’s returned portion her hairball, and remainders from the bad AD can, she still put on weight.
I may regret this. But Betty’s done with her lunch and I haven’t had mine. I would love to try another little slice of normal again. I think I’m going to the taproom for a burger and a short beer (a 5 oz rather than a 12 oz.)
Otherwise Betty’s going to bug me for the next 2.5 hours that her plate is empty and her booty hasn’t been rubbed in the past ten minutes.
I had stopped lifting weights before Betty. But since I’ve had her, it seems impossible. I need a weight bench. Because anything done on the floor, and I’m going to get Betty bunted. Yoga is more like wrestling with her. I try to do down dog, and Betty fills the void I create. It really challenges me to not slip and crush her. If my face is in range, I’m getting bunted. I had been working through Kaiser’s back pain stretches and strengthening exercises and she is a terror with the bird dogs. I want to get back to that and work up to bridge dumbbell presses.
Adorable!!! And don't beat yourself up over some small pleasures -- Betty gets some, you get some, everyone's happy!I had stopped lifting weights before Betty. But since I’ve had her, it seems impossible. I need a weight bench. Because anything done on the floor, and I’m going to get Betty bunted. Yoga is more like wrestling with her. I try to do down dog, and Betty fills the void I create. It really challenges me to not slip and crush her. If my face is in range, I’m getting bunted. I had been working through Kaiser’s back pain stretches and strengthening exercises and she is a terror with the bird dogs. I want to get back to that and work up to bridge dumbbell presses.
I have a spreadsheet where I enter in my wishlist purchases like new bed, weight bench, keyboard tray, self-heating coffee mug, etc. It keeps me from buying these things as soon as I want them. But it also means a lot of things I should have bought by now has been stuck in wishlist jail for now. Weight bench has been stuck in wishlist jail since the beginning of the pandemic. Do you have a brand/bench recommendation?
Betty’s vet bills has also been a big reason I haven’t made progress on my wishlist purchases.
Weight bench and bed are probably the two I would like to get to this year. Maybe sooner.
Oh. And because of all the Betty bills, I am a few months behind on my retirement savings (above and beyond my regular 401k contributions.)
I shouldn’t throw Betty under the bus like that. I also spend a lot on baseball cards. There’s a few vintage sets I’ve been working on since the pandemic started. I probably spend too much there as a budget category. But it’s not like I’m spending on eating out or going out. Not like I used to. And before the pandemic, I could drop a big sum on a dance weekend. So my baseball card purchases bring me joy and fill the void that dancing used to fill. I have an alternate Instagram account for my baseball cards that helps me share my hobby with likeminded folks. And every Caturday, I have a crossover post where I line up some of my purchases for the week in front of a hungry Betty and capture a feed me roar that looks like she’s smiling at the week’s haul.
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You too! Hope the taproom was good? Or haven't you gone yet?
Color me dumb.
I forgot I could tilt these fans. I need to try that just as soon as Betty is finished with dinner here. That would be so much nicer if I could sleep in a cool room without direct breezes on me.
And in return, she cleans a plate for me.
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