healthy

My sister is going healthy. Eating healthier, exercising more. Which is a good thing, since she's been plagued by so many nasty health "thingies" in the last little while. So, good on her! I do feel a bit bad for her family - I know how hard it is to cook more than one meal to satisfy different dietary needs, so it happens rarely in my house. Which means that her husband and sons are along for the duration...and that can be tough on a red meat lovin' guy!

My brother runs. Not a little, but like serious runners do. Apparently it is a "need" they have, one that is only satiated by the pounding of technical rubber on the hard ground. I tried Cross Country running. I (pitifully) ran the 3000 in high school. I suffered from shin-splints. I confess, I have no such need.

My mom diets. And walks. And takes my dad along for the ride. They are currently walking through Central America, trying new foods, and enjoying a healthy part of their retirement. And then they'll come back and try to get "back on plan"...

I do no such things. My idea of a workout these days is climbing the stairs. I still love to skate and do so for two hours a week every week. I love to hike & kayak - but the weather doesn't let me do that these days. And the snow will have to get much deeper before I can snowshoe. I could go on the eliptical...

Not that I feel like doing any of that today. My sore spot was sore when I woke up today. That is never a good thing. I went to the specialist yesterday (gastroenterologist) and she poked and prodded and squeezed and now I hurt. So I suspect that today will be filled with a lot of nothing. Maybe I'll help Jo do some crafts or something for Brownie badges.

My diet is a mess. I'm finding that I eat whenever my body tells me I'm hungry. Which happens about once a day. I try to eat something at mealtimes, but about 2 p.m. seems to be a better time for me to eat. So, it is a good job that I'm home. And I since I cook supper at 2 p.m. a few days a week (before I pick up the girls from school to take them directly to the rink where we stay until 7 p.m. or so), I'm actually not doing too badly.

I continue to take so many iron supplements that I'm careful around magnets. My iron stores showed up as zero a few months ago, so I've been on heavy doses ever since. However, I still feel run down. We'll see where this next bunch of tests go - I donated seven vials of blood yesterday and have another course of "fun" samples to get through today and tomorrow.

And then, hopefully soon, I get to have an upper GI (barium) x-ray and then a gastroscopy and a colonscopy. I find it extremely strange that I want to have these tests done, soon. I think I'd just like to know what's in there making it so I don't want to eat, making me run down, and making my left side hurt.

The discussions are all extremely unpleasant, but my age is making me borderline too old for normal onset of Crohn's disease and statistically young for cancer. I could have "juvenile" colonic polyps (like dad, but early onset), but the doctor suspects my small intestine. The lack of iron, my small stature and the nature of my symptoms are all pointing to something there. Since the pain is lower, that's where most of my previous tests have focused, but they've shown nothing.

At any rate, I still have a life to run (or more specifically, two children to run around to their lives), so I don't have a lot of time to feel too sorry for myself. I wish I could get more done in a day, I really miss my energy. However, I guess I'm doing alright. I can still function, most days. I have had to cancel things and save up for one event in a day, but that is making me prioritize. I'm trying to learn patience.

So perhaps it is better that I'm not running any of my "things" myself at this stage. Hopefully one of our junior coaches from last year will be able to come skating and take over my group soon. The Guides and Pathfinders - well, I have almost figured out what they're doing for the whole year. The festival is essentially over for fall...so I have little to do for a few months on that.

I think I'll tackle my sewing/volunteer room today. After I clean up the lamp that the cats knocked over (and the subsequent broken light bulb), I'll try to make myself a bit of space on my table. It won't help get rid of the work, but maybe having things a little less chaotic will be a healthy thing for me right now.