This has been a busy week. I broke up with the uncommunicative GI because I now have a new motility doctor whom I see next week. It was a mutual parting, as I got the sense that he was not unhappy to see me go. Regardless, it is done.
I finally had a follow-up with the neurologist about my MRIs and he deemed me fine, but with an aging neck. Fair enough. Since we had the car out, we drove to our favorite kosher bakery and got sufganiot (jelly donuts) for Chanukah, as well as enough treats to literally last us a month!
And if that wasn’t enough of a day, that evening, we went to a Chanukah candle lighting at Athens Park, surrounded by statuary. Please take a moment to appreciate the irony.
Anyway, I also walked a fair amount (for me) that day, going to and from the garage and I walked part of the way home from the park. I was exhausted the next day, but seriously, Go Me!
I have also started walking stairs on the days that I don’t go outside, unless I feel really crappy, then I listen to my body.
In some ways, it feels counterproductive to me to expend calories on exercise when I am barely just beginning to scrape by with something nearing a sustainable daily caloric intake. I wonder what I am trading off. But I think the movement is important and after two years of this shit, my muscles have definitely atrophied a fair amount. So I walk what feels comfortable that day. Sometimes more, sometimes less. But always trying to push myself just a little, but not too much.
The big news of the week was that my niecelettes turned 16!!!!!!!!!! I have so many Feelings about that. The important thing is that they are impressive young women (eeek!) who have so freaking much to offer the world. I am super proud of them and love them so much.
The following day, Facebook, in its infinite wisdom, showed me a memory from 16 years ago, of Natalie on the day she was born. Exactly my thought. What a journey from such a tiny newborn to the woman she is today. This Sunrise Sunset Moment has been brought to you by Facebook.
Month: December 2023
Progress!
I haven’t been up to posting in a while. First I was recovering from our trip. That took a while. Then I really started seeing the benefit from the Nerva hypnotherapy and the Cymbalta.
The pain that has been a constant presence for the previous 6 months had quietly moved into the background until it just faded away. If you have even mild IBS (what it is labeled for) or gastroparesis (what I used it for), I cannot recommend Nerva enough. Available on both the Apple and Google app stores. Worth the $149 and the 15 minutes a day. Truly.
With the motility pain gone, it was finally time to see if I could start increasing the speed on my pump. In just a few weeks, I have gone from being stuck at 25 ml per hour, where I had been for months. I am now up to 33ml per hour. And based on how I am feeling today, we will stay here for another day or two before I am ready to increase to 34ml per hour. It is slow going. But, it is progress.
My body is responding by storing all of those new calories because I am gaining weight again. I don’t know for sure that this is the case, but I think it is the cymbalta. I gained a whole bunch of weight when I went on it the first time.
I am almost up to 1,000 calories a day. Sadly, since so much is going into storage, I am not getting the benefit of those new calories. I remain stuck in limbo where I can only knit a couple of rows on really good days. I want more functionality. But wanting is not enough to make it happen, so I will just have to go back to radically accepting my reality and go back to being patient.
December is a month of GI visits, as I have appointments with 3 of them. Including my tube GI. I am planning on asking her again about when I am due for a tube swap. I am not eager to get rid of the one I have. We have a working understanding and it doesn’t cause me undue pain. But it feels like it may be getting a bit worn out. I would rather plan a tube swap than wait until the tube flips or there is some other emergency. We will se what she has to say.