Blog

  • Best Nights Sleep in a while

    I switched to a nasal cushion last year because my full face mask was wearing holes in my skin and my skin needed a rest.

    I just saw my sleep doctor Thursday and asked to go back.  He prescribed a Phillips Responics DreamWear Full Face mask.  He showed me one that was similar to the nasal cushion mask, but I didn’t like that style as well.

    The biggest problem was figuring out how to put it on.  It fits below the nose with two holes for your nostrils.  I’m so use to a full mask that goes over the nose I was confused.

    Once I figured it out, I was good to go.  Didn’t wake up, and sleep soundly.  Also, when I woke up the mask was still on me.

    Last year’s mask was this one: ResMed AirFit™ P10 For Her Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask with Headgear

    The issue was that it would slide up my head and would be loose in the morning.  The machine wasn’t registered that as a leak or other issue, which surprised me.  It was the top fit that was an issue.

    He had me try one a similar full face but I could tell I would have the sliding issue again.

  • All of my diabetes care is now available at my local CVS pharamacy

    <whew!>

    No more DME for my diabetes care.  No more 90 day supply.

    Dexcom G6 sensors: check

    Omnipod Dash: check

    Insulin: of course

    Ozepic: of course

    Test strips: them too

    I can't tell you how much nicer it is to be able to go to your local CVS and pick up your diabetes supplies.  No more UPS, no more FEDEX.  It shows up too hot, the pharmacy deals with it.

    Not only that but if I travel, I can get it filled at a local to that location too.

    Now they don't keep them in stock, and it typically takes a business day to get them, but I can live with that.

    Seriously, when I drove to Boston this year and needed insulin, I was able to pick it up in Sikeston, Missouri.  When I needed a new transmitter for my Dexcom G6, I was able to get that in Acton, Massachusetts.  It makes traveling so much easier when you don't have to pack everything for the full trip but can get what I needed on the road.

  • Answers finally

    I finally got an answer, and I’ve been working on that for a few weeks.
    I’ve been having pain off and on, but I really thought it was the knees, and so did the rheumatologist. He said come back in six months, and oh, get an X-ray of your back. He decided it was my knees and my weight.
    Well, I got the x-ray of my back, but didn’t get the results. I asked my chiropractor to look at them, and she shared them with me.
    Basically I have osteoarthritis of my lower back. The chiropractor has me on a decompression machine which isn’t making it worse, and we should see results until next week.
    The rheumatologist is frustrating but I do sleep better with the gabapentin he prescribed. I’m going to talk to my primary care physician and see what he suggests next. I’m considering going back to physical therapy.

  • So what happened with the leg?

    I haven’t said much about it because I am so discouraged.

    On May 2, I was getting ready for a dog show and fell hard.  I literally couldn’t get up and had to crawl to a chair and pull myself up.  Husband brought me the crutches and I just couldn’t use them.  It was late in the day and I was in denial so waited and did xrays the next day.

    Good news, nothing was broke and it wasn’t any thing an orthopedic surgeon could fix.  I got a Physical Therapy appointment as quickly as possible, and worked with them from May until mid July.  I stopped when I wasn’t making any more progress.

    At that point, I was walking with a limp which wears me out, or using a walker.

    On the good news front, I’ve found a walker that looks good and I can show Obi with.  I have good and bad days. Yesterday I walked into the gym and Nordstrom’s — today I used the walker.  

    My orthopedic surgeon wanted me off anti-inflammatories, but my primary care physician wants me to do them for another month.

    At this point I am planning to go to the National Specialty and the dog is entered, but it depends on how the regional speciality in Iowa goes.  

  • Fall Recovery

    I fell on May 2.  I'm still going to PT and we think I have 3 more weeks to go.

    Yesterday I had Physical Therapy at noon, and then went to conformation class with Obi.  Everything was easier but 6" steps and standing are still kicking my butt.

    I was able to move Obi well enough on the down and back, but I'm still slow moving him around the outside of the ring.  The Dallas shows are the first weekend of July, and  I am planning on taking my walker, as it's easier to sit and position him than it is to squat and position him.  

    The day after PT, I'm doing the pool.  I find that I just ache the next day, and being in the pool helps.  I do as many of the at home exercises I can in the pull, especially balance and standing.

  • Fall Recovery

    Still have lots of odd pains in my leg.  Most my butt, the band of tissue above the knee, and knee pain when I'm tired.  Unfortunately about 5 steps makes me tired.

    I'm learning to take the afternoon off after PT, and to take the next day off.  Today, I am starting to work hard on standing since I can't stand on the right leg only.

    The good news, is that I have now met my maximum out of pocket, and I was pain free working out on the bike yesterday.  I was having pain when fully extending that leg.

    Also, I was able to do all the exercises that the PT people threw at me on Friday.

    Every day is a bit better.

  • Fall Update

    This should be 5 weeks since I fell.

    I went to dog agility.  The drive didn't bother me as much — some of the rougher roads as I got close but not like last time.

    I parked halfway between the PortaPotty and the door to the barn.  EE had lots of chairs spread out, which was really nice.  We started out by sitting and talking and ended that way.

    We did some nice distance work but man, does Summer have trouble focusing there.

    I can just imagine what will happen at a trial.

    The best news:  I was almost walking!

  • Don’t go to Eyelab

    I will admit some serious frustration with the office staff at my optometrist office so I dropped into an EyeLab  

    Is remote optometrist a thing now?  She could have been in India.  The video connection between us was working but the actual device wasn't and I had trouble making people understand that.  

    After an hour of their game, I left, let them know I would not be back. They better have not filed an insurance claim.  

  • Healing is frustrating

    I’m almost walking, and I’m walking just a bit better each day.

    I’m doing 5 minutes on the treadmill and 30 minutes on the recumbent bike, and all the exercises the PT people have me do.

    I am going to PT twice a week.  Each time I go in, they tell me I’m doing better.  Then they give me something I can’t do and I get frustrated.  They send me home, aching, and aching the next day.  Two days after, I start feeling good again.

    It’s been a month — seems longer, I was thinking it was 6 weeks last week.  

    The last time I used assistance to walk was to go to dog class.  I knew that walking through the building would wear me out.  I was able to do about half of class, so that wasn’t bad.  

    I give myself a major walking goal most days.  

    I feel better, writing this, as I just realized it wasn’t as long as I thought.

  • Fall – after week three

    It’s been three weeks and three days since I fell.

    I’m walking but it wears me out and I limp badly.

    I did 5 minutes on treadmill today.

    I’ve had days when my knee ached, and that makes me scared I need a knee replacement.  Most days, I have pain in my glutes, and the muscle just about my knee and below, but not the knee itself.

    I’m faithfully doing rehab exercises.

    Here’s the deal.  Each day, I get about 10% better than the day before.  Note that doesn’t add up to 100% better.   But since I’m 10% better, I do 10% more effort, leaving me tired and frustrated at the end of the day.  

    Rinse, Shampoo, repeat.

    I have to ask the physical therapists if I am better, because I don’t feel it.