health, wellbeing

Everybody wants to talk about their health. And here’s where it all happens.

no doctor

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Today marks my doctor, Dr. H’s last day.  He’s moved on to other things.  Alberta has become a ‘have not’ province?  Some have said that 1 of 5 Lethbridge residents have no doctor.  What do they do?  They eventually show up at the emergency ward at the hospital.  As for me, my ‘issue’ is not resolved <sigh>, and I have no way of resolving it.

1st COVID shot

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I bit the bullet.  I had my first COVID19 shot today.  I’d been dreading having it for several reasons, but I needn’t go into them now as everyone has already heard every reason / excuse under the sun to not have it.  But, in talking to a doctor at a pharmacy, who has seen COVID19 patients come in and (most times) go out, I’m convinced that it is likely a good thing to do.  Only time will tell the lasting effects of it.  mRNA medical technology has not been around long enough to know for sure.  Will we all get cancer from this?  Will it mutate and change our actual DNA?  Will it prove to be just another harmless vaccine like so many others?  But, compared to fighting for my life for a week in ICU only to die drowning in lung fluids, I’ll take my chances with the vaccine.  Thy will be done.

a week without coffee

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No coffee for one week now.  The last coffee I had was 1/3 Folgers, 1/3 Starbucks house blend, and 1/3 nothing but empty space.  The second-to-last was one spoon of Folgers and the rest Starbucks house blend.  Before that, nothing but straight high-test espresso beans steamed in a mocha pot.  But all that’s history now.

I had a couple of days where I ate enough Tylenols and ibuprofens to kill a good sized horse, but I’m pretty much in the clear now.  Only 2 ibuprofens.  So what are the side effects of quitting almost cold-turkey?  Headaches, a couple of backaches, sleepiness, and, believe it or not, sore hips.  Yes, three nights in a row I woke up during the night with sore hips.  I never would have imagined.  Yes, it could be from something else, but I don’t believe so.

So – will I ever drink coffee again?  Hmm.  I once went 346 days without coffee overseas.  I walked by a Starbucks on Jungang Ro (Street) and had a triple Americano.  I remember the euphoric rush of caffeine wash over me as I sat at my little round table with a copy of the IHT.  Utter and complete bliss.

All that is a distant memory now.

heart scare

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I woke up at 3:30am to a fire alarm.

Okay, so it wasn’t a fire alarm but, rather, an alarm clock.  It was F‘s.  He’d had it for several years but no longer wanted it.  It’s one of those folding travel clocks, wind-up, of course.  Because I collect old pre-antique things (vintage, you might say), it was a nice addition to my collection of clocks and other such devices.  I had no idea I had set it for 3:30am.

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N95 explanation

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In working with wood, I bought N95 masks several years ago.  They were, after all, the best ones one could buy.  So shopping at Rona a week ago, they only had regular dust masks.  I asked why they didn’t have N95 masks on the shelves yet.  It’s been a year since the newest coronavirus had been discovered.  Couldn’t the supply chain have ramped up supply for the demand by now?

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