Help wanted (Score so far related)

[IWMP]

Captain cave man came to mind.

Hey. She's crawling out of the cave tomorrow! Lord willing and it doesn't snow too much so I can get there. Hair matters and a good cut is almost as good as ice cream for dinner!

Aww. Hope you get there and it feels good.

[Jersey Girl]

Update: I have crawled out of the depths of the cave and am human once more! Got a grade A top notch hair cut today and I love it! This lady is a scissor wizard, a virtual goddess of the precision cut. Blunt cut, layered in, just at the jaw line, and it moves. Totally love it!

Except for the face part. Let's not discuss the face situation. Fortunately I have a good enough of an imagination that I can ignore that part. But the hair is SO good now!

“Since I didn’t have playmates in our apartment and we didn’t have television yet, I would have nothing but time to think about the movie I had last seen. I’d go through the characters in my head, and I would bring them to life, one by one, in the apartment. I learned at an early age to make friends with my imagination.” ~ Al Pacino, Sonny Boy.



Self care:

[x] Resume good skin care.
[x] Resume nail care.
[x] Precision hair cut.
[ ] Face situation---> Work in progress.

[msnobody]

I was listening to Brandon Lake’s song Hard Fought Hallelujah on my way from work today, and it brought to mind all you have been through this year.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XZJUgBi7WvQ

[Jersey Girl]

I was listening to Brandon Lake’s song Hard Fought Hallelujah on my way from work today, and it brought to mind all you have been through this year.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XZJUgBi7WvQ

I knew that was gonna make me cry. Refiner's fire for sure. Thank you so much, Weaps!

Still reaching,
Jerz

[msnobody]

I was listening to Brandon Lake’s song Hard Fought Hallelujah on my way from work today, and it brought to mind all you have been through this year.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XZJUgBi7WvQ

I knew that was gonna make me cry. Refiner's fire for sure. Thank you so much, Weaps!

Still reaching,
Jerz

Always happy to bring tears to ya of hopefully the good kind. He has another one I like called Gratitude.

[Jersey Girl]

I knew that was gonna make me cry. Refiner's fire for sure. Thank you so much, Weaps!

Still reaching,
Jerz

Always happy to bring tears to ya of hopefully the good kind. He has another one I like called Gratitude.

I listened! I like him. I like him a LOT. Apparently he is a depression sufferer. I looked for Hard Fought on a CD but it's not out yet. That one has got to be my personal theme song or mantra. Brings me to tears but they are healthy tears, too. Tears from the trenches. I can't buy it but Alexa does a nice job!

[Jersey Girl]

Wanted to post a little update. I haven't been posting because I've been feeling so much better that I was able to get busy bulldozing the house and there have been days when I haven't felt better at all. I know I owe people replies all over the place, but they have kindly understood the situation. If you all could only see the state this place has been in, but I figure you know, we were busy surviving over here. When you're impaired like we have been most of this winter, you have to remind yourself that dust and clutter will be there when you are ready and just try to focus on getting through each day.

Update...we're coming out of the tunnel!

The Boy is walking on his own with no assistive equipment of any kind. Going to PT each week, resuming activities and basically back in the game though I'm still doing the trash...pretty sure he's playing me. I notice he tires easily. I think healing the body takes a LOT of energy and we don't realize it until we hit the wall. But overall he's doing really well!

The Cat (I have to put the cat in here because he's family right?) is doing very well! He's not had much of any potty problems but I still give him his "treats (stool softener) here and there, and he gets a fiber supplement in his food. We did switch him to canned food and kibble with water. He seems to like both of those! We've had a good string of warmer weather days so he goes out and sits in the sun or wanders around. Then he sits at the front door and waits to be let in. Such a good boy!

As for me, I have more good days than bad now. I still get symptoms and some days (depending on what I've eaten) the symptoms are pretty high level and keep me awake until the wee hours. I could easily sleep through them if only I wasn't concerned that it would trigger my heart which is the main reason I won't go to sleep until it resolves.

Energy level is great except for like I mentioned above, healing the body really takes a lot of energy and there are afternoons when I just go with it, get under my blankie and let myself have a snooze.

Food...I have learned that when it comes to cheat snacks like chips and pretzels, I have zero self control. Those are the main culprits that trigger high level symptoms. I introduced Fritos Original. I have to exercise self control with those as well or pay for it dearly in the evenings. I can eat some cheat snacks but I have to learn better to put the brakes on otherwise I'm responsible for my own gastric misery.

Healthy snack! I've tried string cheese with strawberries and...Wheat Thins crackers! A combination I would have normally eaten and I didn't die from it! I've got some good combos going for example, I reintroduced fresh tomatoes in with my Chicken Combo Plate! Going to transform that into a salad and then if I'm really lucky, getting Ranch Dressing back for that! I'm SO happy about the Wheat Thins, cheese and fruit!! I can increase the portion size and make it my lunch!

Pecans are still sitting around waiting for me as well as Plain Low Fat Greek Yogurt. I've got an idea about adding the yogurt to my oatmeal. I have GOT to have a better variety of protein sources. But slowly, things are coming back bit by bit so I've made progress in that regard.

Weight is stupidly sitting there hovering around the same place as previously reported. I don't know why I haven't see a decent gain since I increased portions and started up with those cheat snacks. I thought junk food might help to gain weight but so far, not really. At least I haven't lost weight so there is that!

Fitness: What fitness? Still working on warming up muscles in preparation for bringing back my weight workouts.

Gastro: Got a letter from the Gastro Doc confirming that my labs were "effectively normal". Follow up end of month.

My mental health is still such that I'm always apprehensive when I reintroduce a new food. It's like playing Russian Roulette with my tummy and I think I earned the right to be afraid. Re: The Gouda nuclear incident that put me in the ER that one time. Also still grieving for what I lost (time/events/appearance) but less so, still get frustrated, but still attaching to the joy of healing and hope, and noting my Good Things/Blessings every day.

Overall things going well for us here at the Jersey's.

Good Things: Hoping to have something from Waffle House on Tax preparation day this week. We go there every year. No one really knows why. Hoping to have a Red Robin Simple Burger and Fries this week for my B'day! Praying that works out for me. The Boy didn't give me any C'mas gifts this year mainly because he was screwed up to the max. I'm working up a list of combined C'mas and B'day demands. Man is he gonna regret it!

ETA: Just for the written record here. In the time this illness was coming on and for the duration, I went from size 8 clothing to size 0 or 2, sometimes a 4 depending on the source. Human trainwreck that I am...

[IWMP]

Wanted to post a little update. I haven't been posting because I've been feeling so much better that I was able to get busy bulldozing the house and there have been days when I haven't felt better at all. I know I owe people replies all over the place, but they have kindly understood the situation. If you all could only see the state this place has been in, but I figure you know, we were busy surviving over here. When you're impaired like we have been most of this winter, you have to remind yourself that dust and clutter will be there when you are ready and just try to focus on getting through each day.

Update...we're coming out of the tunnel!

The Boy is walking on his own with no assistive equipment of any kind. Going to PT each week, resuming activities and basically back in the game though I'm still doing the trash...pretty sure he's playing me. I notice he tires easily. I think healing the body takes a LOT of energy and we don't realize it until we hit the wall. But overall he's doing really well!

The Cat (I have to put the cat in here because he's family right?) is doing very well! He's not had much of any potty problems but I still give him his "treats (stool softener) here and there, and he gets a fiber supplement in his food. We did switch him to canned food and kibble with water. He seems to like both of those! We've had a good string of warmer weather days so he goes out and sits in the sun or wanders around. Then he sits at the front door and waits to be let in. Such a good boy!

As for me, I have more good days than bad now. I still get symptoms and some days (depending on what I've eaten) the symptoms are pretty high level and keep me awake until the wee hours. I could easily sleep through them if only I wasn't concerned that it would trigger my heart which is the main reason I won't go to sleep until it resolves.

Energy level is great except for like I mentioned above, healing the body really takes a lot of energy and there are afternoons when I just go with it, get under my blankie and let myself have a snooze.

Food...I have learned that when it comes to cheat snacks like chips and pretzels, I have zero self control. Those are the main culprits that trigger high level symptoms. I introduced Fritos Original. I have to exercise self control with those as well or pay for it dearly in the evenings. I can eat some cheat snacks but I have to learn better to put the brakes on otherwise I'm responsible for my own gastric misery.

Healthy snack! I've tried string cheese with strawberries and...Wheat Thins crackers! A combination I would have normally eaten and I didn't die from it! I've got some good combos going for example, I reintroduced fresh tomatoes in with my Chicken Combo Plate! Going to transform that into a salad and then if I'm really lucky, getting Ranch Dressing back for that! I'm SO happy about the Wheat Thins, cheese and fruit!! I can increase the portion size and make it my lunch!

Pecans are still sitting around waiting for me as well as Plain Low Fat Greek Yogurt. I've got an idea about adding the yogurt to my oatmeal. I have GOT to have a better variety of protein sources. But slowly, things are coming back bit by bit so I've made progress in that regard.

Weight is stupidly sitting there hovering around the same place as previously reported. I don't know why I haven't see a decent gain since I increased portions and started up with those cheat snacks. I thought junk food might help to gain weight but so far, not really. At least I haven't lost weight so there is that!

Fitness: What fitness? Still working on warming up muscles in preparation for bringing back my weight workouts.

Gastro: Got a letter from the Gastro Doc confirming that my labs were "effectively normal". Follow up end of month.

My mental health is still such that I'm always apprehensive when I reintroduce a new food. It's like playing Russian Roulette with my tummy and I think I earned the right to be afraid. Re: The Gouda nuclear incident that put me in the ER that one time. Also still grieving for what I lost (time/events/appearance) but less so, still get frustrated, but still attaching to the joy of healing and hope, and noting my Good Things/Blessings every day.

Overall things going well for us here at the Jersey's.

Good Things: Hoping to have something from Waffle House on Tax preparation day this week. We go there every year. No one really knows why. Hoping to have a Red Robin Simple Burger and Fries this week for my B'day! Praying that works out for me. The Boy didn't give me any C'mas gifts this year mainly because he was screwed up to the max. I'm working up a list of combined C'mas and B'day demands. Man is he gonna regret it!

ETA: Just for the written record here. In the time this illness was coming on and for the duration, I went from size 8 clothing to size 0 or 2, sometimes a 4 depending on the source. Human trainwreck that I am...

Loving the positivity here. I owe you a reply. I haven't forgotten.

I hope you have a wonderful birthday and waffle house goes well. Sounds fun.

I wouldn't worry too much about the weight because (I'm not doctor but can visualise things), I imagine a lot of your calories will be going to your body healing right now. I am probably wrong but I visualise things will be kicking in that might have slowed down to preserve things while you were in the thick of it so to speak. And you sound like you've picked up physical activity which all uses energy that you might not have been using as much before. If that makes sense. So I think it will come in time as you continue to heal.

Cats are cool. We can't have any because husband is allergic and I suspect my son is too. I have new reactions from my patch test got four super itchy raised squares on my back, 3 of which, I have no idea what the patches were testing so that's fun. All the mild ones have faded. Anyway... Do you have any other pets? We only have a hamster who is super soft with big ears. We called her muffin but really she is like a bear. She's always up on her back feet standing like a bear and she looks like a little bear.

[Jersey Girl]

Wanted to post a little update. I haven't been posting because I've been feeling so much better that I was able to get busy bulldozing the house and there have been days when I haven't felt better at all. I know I owe people replies all over the place, but they have kindly understood the situation. If you all could only see the state this place has been in, but I figure you know, we were busy surviving over here. When you're impaired like we have been most of this winter, you have to remind yourself that dust and clutter will be there when you are ready and just try to focus on getting through each day.

Update...we're coming out of the tunnel!

The Boy is walking on his own with no assistive equipment of any kind. Going to PT each week, resuming activities and basically back in the game though I'm still doing the trash...pretty sure he's playing me. I notice he tires easily. I think healing the body takes a LOT of energy and we don't realize it until we hit the wall. But overall he's doing really well!

The Cat (I have to put the cat in here because he's family right?) is doing very well! He's not had much of any potty problems but I still give him his "treats (stool softener) here and there, and he gets a fiber supplement in his food. We did switch him to canned food and kibble with water. He seems to like both of those! We've had a good string of warmer weather days so he goes out and sits in the sun or wanders around. Then he sits at the front door and waits to be let in. Such a good boy!

As for me, I have more good days than bad now. I still get symptoms and some days (depending on what I've eaten) the symptoms are pretty high level and keep me awake until the wee hours. I could easily sleep through them if only I wasn't concerned that it would trigger my heart which is the main reason I won't go to sleep until it resolves.

Energy level is great except for like I mentioned above, healing the body really takes a lot of energy and there are afternoons when I just go with it, get under my blankie and let myself have a snooze.

Food...I have learned that when it comes to cheat snacks like chips and pretzels, I have zero self control. Those are the main culprits that trigger high level symptoms. I introduced Fritos Original. I have to exercise self control with those as well or pay for it dearly in the evenings. I can eat some cheat snacks but I have to learn better to put the brakes on otherwise I'm responsible for my own gastric misery.

Healthy snack! I've tried string cheese with strawberries and...Wheat Thins crackers! A combination I would have normally eaten and I didn't die from it! I've got some good combos going for example, I reintroduced fresh tomatoes in with my Chicken Combo Plate! Going to transform that into a salad and then if I'm really lucky, getting Ranch Dressing back for that! I'm SO happy about the Wheat Thins, cheese and fruit!! I can increase the portion size and make it my lunch!

Pecans are still sitting around waiting for me as well as Plain Low Fat Greek Yogurt. I've got an idea about adding the yogurt to my oatmeal. I have GOT to have a better variety of protein sources. But slowly, things are coming back bit by bit so I've made progress in that regard.

Weight is stupidly sitting there hovering around the same place as previously reported. I don't know why I haven't see a decent gain since I increased portions and started up with those cheat snacks. I thought junk food might help to gain weight but so far, not really. At least I haven't lost weight so there is that!

Fitness: What fitness? Still working on warming up muscles in preparation for bringing back my weight workouts.

Gastro: Got a letter from the Gastro Doc confirming that my labs were "effectively normal". Follow up end of month.

My mental health is still such that I'm always apprehensive when I reintroduce a new food. It's like playing Russian Roulette with my tummy and I think I earned the right to be afraid. Re: The Gouda nuclear incident that put me in the ER that one time. Also still grieving for what I lost (time/events/appearance) but less so, still get frustrated, but still attaching to the joy of healing and hope, and noting my Good Things/Blessings every day.

Overall things going well for us here at the Jersey's.

Good Things: Hoping to have something from Waffle House on Tax preparation day this week. We go there every year. No one really knows why. Hoping to have a Red Robin Simple Burger and Fries this week for my B'day! Praying that works out for me. The Boy didn't give me any C'mas gifts this year mainly because he was screwed up to the max. I'm working up a list of combined C'mas and B'day demands. Man is he gonna regret it!

ETA: Just for the written record here. In the time this illness was coming on and for the duration, I went from size 8 clothing to size 0 or 2, sometimes a 4 depending on the source. Human trainwreck that I am...

Loving the positivity here. I owe you a reply. I haven't forgotten.

Remember I told you don't worry about replies? I read everything you write to me but I might not be able to keep up. I understand not being able to keep up!

I hope you have a wonderful birthday and waffle house goes well. Sounds fun.

We eat there every year we get taxes done. I have no idea how long we've been doing that. People say the food is greasy...it is NOT. They have really good American breakfast...I usually get eggs, toast, and potatoes. I'm afraid to eat there this year but only because I don't want to lose ground by irritating the tummy. It's tomorrow...I'll see how it goes. Then maybe the burger place for my birthday but wait for next weekend..those are steak burgers grilled on an open grill...not fatty. I ate there last year...eat 1/2 of the meal then take it home.

I wouldn't worry too much about the weight because (I'm not doctor but can visualise things), I imagine a lot of your calories will be going to your body healing right now. I am probably wrong but I visualise things will be kicking in that might have slowed down to preserve things while you were in the thick of it so to speak. And you sound like you've picked up physical activity which all uses energy that you might not have been using as much before. If that makes sense. So I think it will come in time as you continue to heal.

I never even thought of that! But it makes sense. Just like my energy level got SO much better but I have afternoons when I need to rest sometimes. I can usually go a good 10-12 hours being busy each day but there are those afternoons where I get wiped out. Also...what you said about my body slowing down. So my gut function slowed down, I needed some "help" getting it going and now I don't need any assist for that any more. It just works on it's own. Good grief...the Gastro doc wasn't kidding when he said it was a long time coming and will be a long time healing! I've got to get used to that. Some days I'm dancing in the kitchen again...my favorite excercise. And other days I start dancing and think...uh...not today! It really IS a healing and recovery process. Warm up for weights is going well because it's so easy!

Cats are cool. We can't have any because husband is allergic and I suspect my son is too. I have new reactions from my patch test got four super itchy raised squares on my back, 3 of which, I have no idea what the patches were testing so that's fun. All the mild ones have faded. Anyway... Do you have any other pets? We only have a hamster who is super soft with big ears. We called her muffin but really she is like a bear. She's always up on her back feet standing like a bear and she looks like a little bear.

We only have the cat now. Our Pug passed away some years back. I'm allergic to some cats, too, but not him. His name is Stewart. He's a Scot and a Warrior! He's old now, too. He used to mainly live outside and in the garage but now he lives in the house with us. He freaking LOVES it. He's such a good boy in the house. I got him a couple of heated beds (LOVES THOSE) and some scratching pads he also loves those as well! We've had hamsters! I will not share with you the details of their individual demise. They're so fun to watch and so good to have with children!

[IWMP]

[quote="Jersey Girl" post_id=2887766 time=1740958874 user_id=49]
[quote=IWMP post_id=2887751 time=1740952829 user_id=325]


Loving the positivity here. I owe you a reply. I haven't forgotten. [/quote] Remember I told you don't worry about replies? I read everything you write to me but I might not be able to keep up. I understand not being able to keep up!
[quote]
I hope you have a wonderful birthday and waffle house goes well. Sounds fun. [/quote]

We eat there every year we get taxes done. I have no idea how long we've been doing that. People say the food is greasy...it is NOT. They have really good American breakfast...I usually get eggs, toast, and potatoes. I'm afraid to eat there this year but only because I don't want to lose ground by irritating the tummy. It's tomorrow...I'll see how it goes. Then maybe the burger place for my birthday but wait for next weekend..those are steak burgers grilled on an open grill...not fatty. I ate there last year...eat 1/2 of the meal then take it home.

[quote]I wouldn't worry too much about the weight because (I'm not doctor but can visualise things), I imagine a lot of your calories will be going to your body healing right now. I am probably wrong but I visualise things will be kicking in that might have slowed down to preserve things while you were in the thick of it so to speak. And you sound like you've picked up physical activity which all uses energy that you might not have been using as much before. If that makes sense. So I think it will come in time as you continue to heal.[/quote]

I never even thought of that! But it makes sense. Just like my energy level got SO much better but I have afternoons when I need to rest sometimes. I can usually go a good 10-12 hours being busy each day but there are those afternoons where I get wiped out. Also...what you said about my body slowing down. So my gut function slowed down, I needed some "help" getting it going and now I don't need any assist for that any more. It just works on it's own. Good grief...the Gastro doc wasn't kidding when he said it was a long time coming and will be a long time healing! [b][i]I've got to get used to that.[/i][/b] Some days I'm dancing in the kitchen again...my favorite excercise. And other days I start dancing and think...uh...not today! It really IS a healing and recovery process. Warm up for weights is going well because it's so easy!

[quote]Cats are cool. We can't have any because husband is allergic and I suspect my son is too. I have new reactions from my patch test got four super itchy raised squares on my back, 3 of which, I have no idea what the patches were testing so that's fun. All the mild ones have faded. Anyway... Do you have any other pets? We only have a hamster who is super soft with big ears. We called her muffin but really she is like a bear. She's always up on her back feet standing like a bear and she looks like a little bear.
[/quote]

We only have the cat now. Our Pug passed away some years back. I'm allergic to some cats, too, but not him. His name is Stewart. He's a Scot and a Warrior! He's old now, too. He used to mainly live outside and in the garage but now he lives in the house with us. He freaking LOVES it. He's such a good boy in the house. I got him a couple of heated beds (LOVES THOSE) and some scratching pads he also loves those as well! We've had hamsters! I will not share with you the details of their individual demise. They're so fun to watch and so good to have with children!
[/quote]

Do you ever find you get tired straight after eating? I do, and it makes me think, wow, that's how much energy it takes to get the digestive system going. I'm probably wrong but eating tires me out. Dancing in the kitchen sounds great. My MIL does that. She dances around because she says it helps keep her moving. I don't have any dancing bones in me.

We do fry ups here. Or English breakfasts. Scottish fry up is nearly the same. I do a sort of hybrid breakfast because I like some of the Scottish things. I don't eat all of this but this is what I cook for others: bacon, egg (fried or scrambled), sausage, beans, tomato, mushrooms, toast, hash browns, scotch pancakes, tattie scones. Scottish ones will include slice, dumplings, black pudding and won't have hash browns. English ones don't have pancakes or tattie scones and might have black pudding. Some have fried bread. I tend to eat toast, hash brown, beans, tattie scones and tinned tomatoes.
And we tend to have it with tea.
I had a breakfast at Tesco café the other day and I don't usually but it worked out more expensive to buy toast and beans than a fry up because for some reason they don't have the option on their new machines so you have to get toast, then add another toast and then add beans and it came to over £5. No way am I paying £5 for toast and beans. I love beefeater breakfast buffet. Kids eat free and it has both continental and fry up options and the drinks are included in the buffet. My kids like it.