When I started this blog people asked me how I would be able to keep up writing about health, given I wasn't in the health industry. I knew then, and it has proven true, that health and wellness issues crop up every single week, week in and week out...we've all got healthy stories to tell.
Here are mine for the week:
Well, after 2 weeks I am finally feeling like I might be 100% any day now. Pretty sad, huh? I feel just fine, actually, and have been getting out and about for the last 4 or 5 days, but I still have an occasional cough. So much better than I was, though.
Unfortunately it really was simply time that did the trick. I tried Delsym, a 12-hour time-release cough medicine that was recommended to me by several friends, and it seemed marginally more effective than Robitussin, but nothing to write home about.
Other than that, no, I never went to the doctor. If I had to do it again I would have called an advice nurse somewhat early on. As it was, the S.O. and I both just toughed it out. Because I got sick 4 or 5 days after he did I got a little glimpse of the future when watching the trajectory of his illness. It really worked about like that. I noted the first day he felt close to normal, and 4 or 5 days later, so did I. I noticed the first day he went without much of a cough at all, and 4 or 5 days later, so did I.
One of the first things I had to leave the house to do was get my follow-up mammogram to check up on a "shadow" that has been seen in my films for the last year and a half. This time they did only my left breast where the shadow is, and I'm still waiting to get word. Luckily I know Kaiser alerts you either way, positive or negative result, so I won't have to wonder for long.
On to my non-New Year's resolution to get healthier and more fit. My appetite was never really harmed by being sick, so the fact that I lost another pound this week after last week's success isn't about my cold. I did not, however, go out to eat much, and that is often my diet downfall, so the cold helped in that way. I am trying simply to remind myself again and again that I don't need to clean my plate when I'm eating out. (Especially hard when the food is, you know, really tasty!) Oh, and note to you parents out there: I didn't learn to clean my plate because I was made to clean my plate. I learned to clean my plate because I saw my father eat everything we didn't...one of those human garbage disposals. Later when there was no one else to do it for me, I found I tended to do it!
Lastly, I waxed ecstatic about how easy it was to give my cat her anti-anxiety meds via transdermal application to the inside of her ear tips. But now I'm a little concerned and planning to call my vet tomorrow. First of all the medicine clearly works better when given orally. She's doing fine, but still has more anxious moments than she did when I could actually get the medicine in her via liquid. This aligns with info I found online that transdermal applications don't absorb as thoroughly into the bloodstream.
I could live with slightly reduced efficacy to get the easier application, but what is really concerning me is that it seems like the medicine might be eating away at her ears. I'm serious. She's getting little bald spots, and the ears feel kinda rough around the edges. I've searched online and found no reference to this potential side-effect anywhere, but it's freaking me out a little bit. I've given the medicine this way for 10 days now, and I'm concerned about continuing. Such a bummer considering how excited I was to find this application method.
See how easy that was....there's always something. I'd be happy to tell your healthy stories too.
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