Category Archives: Health

Breakfast

I eat breakfast every day. That has not always been the case, but I often wake up hungry. The change came for one of two reasons. It’s either because I wake up earlier in the mornings and have time to actually eat before getting ready and running out the door for work. I get up earlier because I sleep better with my CPAP and feel more well-rested in the mornings, and also, Isabella is so insistent that she wants to be fed early in the mornings. The other reason I eat breakfast is that once my diabetes was under control, I woke up with lower blood sugar in the mornings and was thus hungry. The problem with eating breakfast every morning is that I don’t have much variety in what I have for breakfast. I do not like sweet breakfast foods except on rare occasions. If I am somewhere that serves good French toast, then I’ll have French toast. So, more often than not, I have a biscuit, cheese toast, or an English muffin. If I have enough time, I will make some grits, biscuits and gravy, or maybe even savory scones, but I usually only have time for that on the weekend and when I have done some preparation the night before. On rare occasions I might make some bacon and eggs, but as a general rule, eggs are not one of my favorite things and can occasionally make me nauseated.

This morning was one of those mornings when I looked in my refrigerator and freezer and thought, “There isn’t anything that looks appetizing this morning.” So, I made a cup of tea. I’m still waking up congested, so a cup of hot tea seems better to break up the congestion than coffee does, especially since I put cream in my coffee. As I write this, I have been thinking of what I want to make for breakfast, or do I want to hold off on eating until after I leave for work? If I hold off, I can go by Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonald’s, or stop at one of the local delis to get a breakfast sandwich. While I did wake up hungry this morning, I think I could easily wait to get breakfast on my way to work. When I finish typing this I will make my decision on what I will be doing for breakfast this morning. Tomorrow, I will be working from home, so I will have a little extra time and will likely either fry up some ham and cook a biscuit or two so I can have a ham and cheese biscuit, or I may make a bowl of cheese grits. This morning, I just don’t have the energy for either of those. 

I am still feeling a lot of fatigue from having Covid last week, so I will be glad to when today is over and I can be a little more relaxed for the next few days. Next week is going to be very busy as I am hosting some guests at the museum, which will likely have me working longer days than usual. I need my energy back to get through next week. The week after that, I will be gone for a conference all week. So, there won’t be much rest for the weary over the next couple of weeks.


I Need More Sleep

I wish I could have stayed in bed today. Going back to work these past two days has worn me out. I am constantly exhausted, and even though I was so tired yesterday, I felt like I could barely hold up my head last night, I had trouble falling asleep. Then, I woke up earlier than usual this morning with a migraine and could not fall back to sleep, especially since Isabella realized I was awake and wanted to be fed. I wish I could stay home today and get some rest; however, I have a couple of meetings in scheduled for to today. Plus, I was out four out of five days last week. I also have some phone calls to make and emails to answer. Anyway, as much as I’d like to crawl back into bed, it’s not a luxury I have today.


Back to Work

I wish I had a few more days to stay home, continue to rest, and, finally, get rid of this cough. However, eventually, I had to go back at some point. Luckily, I only have a few things that need to be done today, and, and hopefully, all of them should be wrapped up fairly quickly. I have a tour to give and a few emails to send. I also think I have one phone call that needs to be made. Next week is expected to be a pretty busy week, and I have a few preliminary things to take care of to make next week go smoothly. I should be able to just hide away in my office most of the day, especially this afternoon.

I am feeling much better. There is still some congestion and the previously mentioned cough. Other than some fatigue, I am actually feeling pretty good. So, it’s back to the grind.


Slow Going

Slowly but surely, I seemed to be improving. I still have a cough, headache, some congestion, a sore throat, and fatigue, but I don’t feel as awful as I have the last few days. Luckily, I have not had a fever throughout this whole illness. The congestion and the headache don’t seem as bad, and I was able to sleep through the night last night without waking up too much. When I did wake up, I was able to fall back to sleep more easily than the night before. i told my boss yesterday that I would not be back for the rest of the week. If I continue to improve, I should be able to return to work on Monday. Until then, I’m going to continue to get rest.

Thankfully, I’ve had my faithful companion with me throughout. Isabella has not been bothering me except first thing in the morning to get fed and at night when she thinks I should go to bed. Several times a day, she comes and checks on me, but then returns to her blankets to sleep her day away.


The Cold

I know I often say that I hate Mondays and just want to stay in bed, but it is even more true today. Sadly, I’m the only person at the museum today, and I have an important meeting this morning. However, I started getting a cold Saturday night. My throat was feeling raw, and while I know it’s likely post-nasal drip, it doesn’t mean I don’t feel awful.

I was supposed to go to the Stowe Foliage Arts Festival with a friend of mine yesterday, and I almost canceled going, but I’d started feeling better and decided to go. I should have gone with my first instinct, but decided to go because my friend and I were supposed to go out to eat at a new restaurant I wanted to try. Probably none of y’all have ever tried to drive through Stowe during peak foliage season, but traffic was bumper to bumper. Then, we arrived at the site of the festival only to find out that it had been canceled due to high winds Friday night that caused the main tent containing the festival to collapse. We were able to walk around a bit to see the foliage, but it was a big disappointment.

Stowe, Vermont taken yesterday by me

We went out to eat and by the time I got home, I was completely worn out. I went to bed early hoping to feel better today, but I don’t. So, I really wish I could just stay in bed today. It won’t happen. To add to this, it’s currently 41 degrees here, but the temperature will drop to nearly freezing when I’ll be heading home from work. Most of this week will have highs in the low 50s, but we will have lows below freezing most mornings this week. We might even get our first snow of the season.


TGI Friday

I’m glad it’s Friday. It hasn’t been a bad week, though somewhat busy. However, I’ve had a migraine for the past few days. I ended up going home from work early Wednesday and Thursday. I’m working from home today and plan to take it easy. Luckily, there isn’t a lot of must do things today because I still have a migraine.

Yesterday, I went to the ENT to have him evaluate my hearing. The whole visit took less than five minutes. He introduced himself, looked in both ears, declared that there was no damage that could be fixed with surgery, and then said that the hearing loss was due to nerve damage and only hearing aids would help. So, now I’ll be returning to the audiologist to be fitted for hearing aids.

Hopefully, my migraine will improve and I can enjoy this weekend. I’m planning to go with a friend of mine to the Stowe Foliage Arts Festival. We’ve gone to a few arts festivals together and always have a good time. With this one being in Stowe, one of the most expensive places in Vermont, I doubt there will be anything I can afford, but it will be fun to browse through the booths.

I realized last night that I did not post an Isabella pic of the week, so here you go. This is about the closest she ever comes to cuddling, though she most often lays on my hip if I’m on my side. Sometimes, if I’m on my back, she’ll lay down stretched out from my belly to my chest. Mostly, she just prefers to be near me, not on me.

Have a great weekend, everyone!


Migraine

I went home from work early yesterday with a migraine. It was one of those migraines that came and went all day long. Most likely, it was caused by changes in the weather. It was supposed to be a sunny day, but it rained on me while I was driving home. It continued to rain off and on for the rest of the day. Some places around me are also having snow flurries this morning. In other words, the weather is a mess right now and causing havoc for my migraines.

I’d probably stay home today, but I have a tour to give first thing this morning, and I have an appointment with an otolaryngologist (ENT or ear, nose, and throat doctor) later this morning. I had gone to an audiologist for my tinnitus, which is particularly bad when I have a migraine, and my insurance requires that I also see an ENT before the audiologist can move further with any type of treatment.

I’m not sure how the rest of my day will go. It will probably depend on how the migraine I still have is after I have my doctor’s appointment.


Thursday

I woke up a little later than usual this morning, and I don’t have much of ann idea for a blog post today. However, I will say that my dental appointment for my crown went pretty well, but two hours in a dental chair is a long time. The temporary crown has been put in place, at least that part is over. The next step will come in about a month when the permanent crown will be ready. That’s usually a quick process. The temporary crown is taken off and the new permanent crown will be put in place. The last time I had this done, it took at the most ten minutes.

Have a great day! Here’s your Isabella pic of me week:


Long Day

It’s going to be a long day, and this is going to be a short post. I don’t have to work tonight like I normally do when I say I have a long day ahead. In fact, I’ll be leaving work early today. No, it will be a long day because it starts out with teaching a new class. I’ve taught classes similar to this one, but this has some clear differences. I have my fingers crossed that it goes smoothly. There isn’t as much to do during the middle of the day, but I have to leave work early because I have a dentist appointment. It’s time to get the crown on the tooth I recently had a root canal done. It’s going to be a long day of dreading that appointment.


Rainy

It started raining off and on all day yesterday, and today we are expecting constant rain throughout the day. Along with the rain, I also have a migraine. I was doing fairly well yesterday when the rain started, but just after lunch I saw an unusually bright aura, and within a few minutes, I had an awful migraine that has only gotten progressively worse. Thankfully, I was scheduled to leave work early yesterday, and I am working from home today. Luckily, I don’t have much work to do today. I have some class preparations to finish and a few emails, but mostly, I can just rest and recuperate.