health, wellbeing

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

fever broke

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I’ve been sick the past week or so – chills & sweats, fever (38.9°C / 102.0°F), extreme headaches (like 7/10), lots of sleep, coughing, burning chest, etc.  I must have sweated half a litre by now.

I did a COVID test.  It turned out to be negative.  (I’m not entirely sure if I did it right.)  I called Health Link (811).  They said go to the hospital – it might be pneumonia.  I went.  They said it wasn’t pneumonia but lung, nasal, & throat inflammation and a flu.  Yay.

The fever finally began to break yesterday evening.  I was down to 99.6°F / 37.6°C.  (I’m usually 36.5°C.)

Floyd was also ill – he got sick before me by about a day – but he’s not been as ill as me.  He sounded like he swallowed a gunny sack full of frogs for a few days.  Now he’s out and about, mostly better.  I’m still nursing myself at home.

inversion table

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I finally bought a new inversion table to replace the one that Hanyoung stole in 2010.  Canadian Tire in Brooks, AB, was the closest store that had one.  I left work late in the evening with enough time to purchase it before CT closed.  It was a heavy brute.  What they lacked in quickness finding the product and bringing it out to me, the CT staff almost made up for by loading it into the van.

When home, I assembled part of it before making a bowl of noodles and finally falling asleep in the living room holding the bowl half-full of noodles.

The next day, the assembly continued.

It wasn’t hard.  The instructions were very precise and thorough (and wordy).  Finally, it was time to use it.  Finally, some back pain relief.

I’ll let you know how useful it is.

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.