Re: overdoing it, finding $ in laundry, etc...

[Guest guest]

Barb, I tell my boys, if you want to keep your money, do your own laundry. I am a meanie, but they

have learned the hard way that if I find it, it's mine! Teehee. One month I made enough to take

myself to the movies, and dinner out. It can be lucrative.

On the overdoing things bit, I guess I was so excited at being able to breathe and get around pretty

good, that I overdid things, too. I took it easy today, I have been following doctors' orders, keeping

to the diet plan, no or low sodium foods only, low calorie meals (actually, I'm getting between 1200 and 1500 calories a day since coming home), limiting fluid intake, taking all the drugs prescribed as

prescribed, and yet the fluid is coming back a little bit at a time. It's scary because I know what it

can do to me, and I am helpless to stop it. My weight (I am supposed to chart weight every morning,

and total fluids for the day before.) is staying the same or going up a pound since coming home,

and it would be coming down if the fluid level was staying the same as it was when I came home.

The oral diuretic doesn't do the job that the IV push of the same drug can do. So, I am kind of

stressing out over it right now.

I see the PCP doc in the morning, and the heart doc on Wednesday. So, I will be asking, what now,

fellas? I was feeling so good, I made camping reservations for a five day test trip up the coast in

a couple of weeks. I know this fluid retention is happening because my blood count is so low that

my circulation is slowed to almost nothing, so fluid just goes straight to the tissues and bypasses

the kidneys. Until that ulcer is healed, this is going to be a continuing problem. So, life in the Lupus

Lane, ick, ick, ick...whine, whine, whine.

So, girlfriend, you are having a low day, and overdid things? I know how you feel, honey. Wish I could

come and take your place at work for a day or two to take off some of the stress. Wouldn't it be

nice if we had doubles somewhere, like the old Superman comics, who could take our places when we

are too tired? What a concept! I love you, and hope you feel much better soon. Hugs, MM

[Guest guest]

Hey, Brat, I'm really ok for the moment, and it wasn't that I did so much, as that this damned low

blood count is holding me back. You see, if I could get up enough steam to go for a long walk every

evening, my circulation would improve, and that would force the fluid out of the tissues into the blood

stream, and from there into the renal system and out of the body. However, as long as the anemia

continues (from the bleeding ulcer), my energy level will be too low to do any real exercise, and that

will keep the fluid coming back.

So, in an attempt to exercise more, I just got tired out, but not because I tried to do too much, but

because my body just ain't producing enough red blood cells to keep me going. If I lay down all the

time, the fluid accumulate even faster. Ain't that a bitch? So, I am between a rock and a hard place, and no mistake about it. I see the doc in the morning, so I'll be asking him some hard questions on what we can do in the meantime while we wait for that stupid ulcer to heal.

Now, how about YOU, missy? How are you doing? Haven't read anything on you in a while. Oh, and

I made dinner from leftover chicken, fresh summer squash, pesto and pasta. The boys and Randy's

friend loved it. Want the recipe? So easy.

Love you, miss bossy, MM