LET'S GET PHYSICAL

That is what I should do since I am so out of shape. But I am talking about the annual physical and I recently had mine, mostly for a med check as it is time to get my prescriptions renewed.

I have been having more problems with my back. I have arthritis in the lower back, around the waistline and lower that has bothered me for many years. It is the kind that makes it hard to stand or walk for more than a few minutes at a time. Recently something new popped up and turns out to be sciatica, making it hard to sit or lay without some pain.

I did bring it up to my doctor and she ordered x-rays of the back. She really wants to do an MRI but in order for Medicare to pay for it we have to jump through their hoops. One is x-rays, and that is done. Then it is physical therapy, so I am doing that now. I just finished my second week of that. It has helped some, but it won't make things disappear. Some days I get along quite well, and other days I can barely make it out of bed to get to bathroom. I have even brought the cane back in the house and have to use it sometimes. Not all the time, thankfully, but some days it is really needed and I don't want to take a chance of falling.

X-rays show some disc degeneration and a little stenosis, and if I understand stenosis correctly, that means bone is starting to form in the spinal nerve canal and that isn't good.

It was also time for a bone density scan as it had been a few years since that was done. The doctor said that is still good so am not concerned about that. I do eat a lot of yogurt, cheese, some ice cream and milk on cereal when I have it. Then I looked at the radiologist report and that said the numbers have gone down since the last scan, but still in normal range and the chance of a broken bone is still very low. I would guess the lower numbers are just normal aging process, and tells me I am no spring chicken anymore. Like I didn't already know that!

One other thing that I had been concerned about was my thyroid numbers. The TSH number was slightly below normal 6 months ago but the doctor was not concerned about it and said she would retest in 6 months. She may not have been concerned but I was. I knew I did not feel like I should, and my numbers have always been higher and that is why I was on synthroid. So now, 6 months later, the number had gone down even lower! She finally agreed and lowered my dose of synthroid. I have noticed a little difference already even though I haven't been on the new dose very long. It does make me wonder why the thyroid is now producing more hormone after 25 years of steady lowering.

I have had insomnia for quite some time and some nights barely get any sleep, and then end up taking a long nap during the day and that is not very productive. My energy level has always been low and that made it worse. So I agreed to take a new med, which I really didn't want to do. She suggested taking an old antidepressant that hardly anyone prescribes as an antidepressant anymore, but only prescribe it for sleeping since that is a side effect of the drug. It does seem to be helping. I don't always sleep well but seem to sleep longer once I finally get to sleep, and have not had to take a nap during the day. I also have a little more energy. So I think we have made some progress there.

Everything else looks good. Blood pressure was great and cholesterol was super good. Can you believe that I eat lots of butter? I have decided to stop eating artificial foods like margarine. I haven't completely stopped all artificial food but am working at eliminating when I behave myself.

Now, if I could only leave the sugar alone. The monster has a hold on me again and that is not good and the scale shows it. I am glad the medical community finally admits that sugar is addictive. They didn't have to tell me that as I already knew it.

Speaking of food, I see that it is time to think about what I am going to eat for supper, so it is time for me to get out of here. See you all later.