Category: Health

My Leg Is In Good Shape Considering

On By Michel McDonaldIn HealthLeave a comment

I am a quick healer. I don’t know what it is about me but when I get a bump or a bruise you wouldn’t know I got it by how fast it disappears. That’s one thing that is in my book is how my step-dad was able to get away with child abuse because within half an hour of giving me a bruise, it was already gone so there was no evidence of it which was very difficult to claim that I was being abused with no marks to show for.

I hurt my leg on Sunday and here it is Friday night, Saturday morning, not quite a week but we’re almost there and I’m already walking on both legs.

To recap what happened; I was running for the ice cream truck on Sunday, saw he wasn’t looking in his mirror and since he was driving at the same speed I was running I decided to pick up the pace and that’s when I heard and felt my calf pop. It feels like a constant charlie horse. Imagine having a charlie horse for a week straight.

Ok the first couple of days I was on 2 crutches but the 3rd day I nixed the 2nd crutch because I was doing fine on 1. Then day 4 I’m able to walk with a limp without the assistance of a crutch, although I take it when I go outside and when we went to the store just in case. Although I didn’t need it, I felt it necessary so I wouldn’t have to explain a limp. Although, I was asked what happened, why I was using a crutch lol.

Today I’ve been walking directly on my left foot instead of limping and even though the calf is still tight, or what’s the word, taut? Even though it’s still taut and has some pain I feel I should give it some exercise.  Anyway, occasionally I’ll get a stinging pain then I have to limp for a minute then go back to my foot flat on the ground.

The doctor gave me an estimated down time of 4-6 weeks and I overestimated that to 6-8 weeks just in case, you never know. And I guess my overestimation was a good call because I figured if I overestimate it will be way less and it’s turning out to be way less.

I can’t say it’s over because it’s still like a constant charlie horse but not as painful as one would normally be and I still have to limp when I rest my leg for too long. You can’t just start walking normal after you’ve been sitting or laying down for a few hours.

I have been getting dizzy though which is unusual. I’m very dizzy right now but that’s because I took the medicine. The muscle relaxer. I think it’s relaxing my brain which is why I’m getting dizzy. I also took an ambien so maybe that’s what’s causing the dizzy, it doesn’t usually though so I think it’s a combo. But that means I gotta cut this short.

HA you’re thinking SHORT? Yeah, too late for that pal.

No but seriously, I will continue with the updates again soon.

My Leg 3 Days Later

On By Michel McDonaldIn HealthLeave a comment

Not that anyone requested an update or anything but I’d just like to update that things are going good.

I haven’t had to use both crutches though because I have pretty much learned to walk without them as long as I walk on my toes on my left foot.  If I walk on my toes on both feet then I can walk normal but both legs bent at the knee.  It looks funny but what else can I do eh?

It still hurts like hell though.  I can straighten my left leg when I lay down but not when I walk, especially when I walk because the pain comes.  If I’m laying down and I make my foot move with toes towards me then there is pain.

I really don’t need any pain meds because there is only pain when I do what I said in the previous paragraph.  I don’t have general pain THANK GOODNESS!  I have taken the muscle relaxers at night when it says to.  I don’t know how long that will take to fix the problem if at all but I have 20 pills.

I’m still on ice and I switch to heat tomorrow.  The doctor said ice for 15-20 minutes several times per day for 3-4 days then switch to heat.  The ice isn’t so bad.  I have a thing that you put an ice pack in then wrap it around you leg that I’ve had for a couple of years.  You can freeze the ice pack for cold or heat it up for hot but I’d rather use an electric heating pad instead because it gives constant heat.  The heating pad I have is the same type that you wrap around the leg.

I walked the dog today with one crutch instead of being on my tip toes in public lol.  Walking around that way takes a lot longer but I only walked her in the front of the house.  But, for regular dog walking duties, I’d rather Darrin handle that and give me a break since I’ve done it every day since we got her.

I can do dishes as long as I keep my leg bent which I do anyway when I stand there doing dishes.  Although I usually switch bent legs but this time I can’t.  I have to keep all the stress on my right leg.  But as long as I do one sink load (we have a 1 sided sink, it doesn’t have 2 sides so I have to use a big bowl) then I can fill it up with more dishes and let them soak while I rest my right leg so I can do more.

So I guess that’s my update for now.  No pain unless I purposely cause it by moving my foot or walk directly on the leg.  And I can still do light chores lol.  yay…

Can’t you see how enthusiastic I was by not making yay in caps?  LOL

I’m a Klutz with Crutches

On By Michel McDonaldIn HealthLeave a comment

I’ve never had to use crutches in my entire life. I’ve never had a broken leg and whenever I’ve twisted my ankle it has healed within minutes or hours of twisting it so I don’t really have any experience with it.

Now I am forced to use them with my left calf messed up the way it is and I’m a terror.

I just got out of the shower which by the way, I never fully appreciated the fact that our shower has a little built-in seat. We usually just put our shampoo and body wash on that seat and never sit down while in the shower but now that I have to, I’m using it. So I get out of the shower and dry myself off and I had to sit on the toilet to put my bottom garments on (I’m embarrassed to say their names lol) and I get up to put my shirt on, I knock my crutches over which are leaning against the wall next to the bath tub. The crutches knock over a jar filled with marbles into the tub, breaking the jar and getting marbles all over the place.

Mind you, it’s 1:15am when this happens. Fortunately nobody is asleep at this hour but still, if this had been a house full of people, I’d be getting yelled at right about now.

The jar by the way is one of those old jars with a lid that you keep in a bar on a little bar table and it holds liquor. Like I don’t know, Vodka, Gin, Whiskey or something.  Since neither of us drink, those are filled with other things and placed strategically around the house to use as decor.  Why marbles?  And why was it on the edge of the bath tub?  I will never know.

So… I’m totally embarrassed but for some reason I find it hysterical.  Not because I broke something that was probably worth something to someone, I don’t know how much money it would’ve been worth but I’m sure it holds a sentimental value to Darrin and his brother.  I found it funny because I’m normally a klutz but with the crutches it’s worse.

And this is only day 1 of god only knows how many more days I have to deal with this pain.  The E.R. doctor said it’s possible I could be on the crutches for 4-6 weeks, although I told Darrin 6-8 just in case.  I like to overestimate things because you never know.

He has offered to take care of me which is a switch because I’m usually the one that takes care of him even when nothing is wrong with him.  Although, I don’t feel comfortable making him do something for me so even though I know it hurts like hell, I’ll still walk to the kitchen for something and then carry it in my teeth to the room lol.

I should milk the cow for as long as I can though.  I mean, when am I going to ever get the chance to have a personal steward again?  Well, I am a klutz so it is possible that it’s not the last time lol.

My New Leg Injury

On By Michel McDonaldIn Doctor, Exercise, Health, HumorLeave a comment

I’m sitting here in my room reading “Official Book Club Selection, a Memoir According to Kathy Griffin” on my Nook and I hear the ice cream truck. Darrin hears it too and he tells me to go stop him. I opened the door and saw he’s already across the street, he says run to stop him.

I’m in my bare feet and I’m running and waving like a maniac. They aren’t looking in the rear view mirror either. I think they get off on that.

I pass about 6 houses and figure they aren’t going to look in the mirror and they are driving the same speed that I am running which means, I have to pick up speed to catch up.

That’s when it goes horribly wrong. I pick up speed and just then “POP” my left calf makes this popping sound and I can feel the pop too. Crack one of your knuckles, that’s the popping sound that I heard.

I immediately had to stop because my calf tightened up, sort of like a Charley horse. Not only could I not continue running but I can’t even walk, heck, I couldn’t even stand up straight. My left leg hurts like hell when I have it straight like my right leg. The only way my leg is comfortable is if it’s lifted up in the back, like I’m on crutches. The tendon is tightened so that it hurts when I straighten my leg out.

I look towards our house to see if Darrin has come out of the house to come to me as if I had stopped the truck and he sees me bent over and I used a sort of sign language, as if I’m mimeing like I’m driving a car but rocking the wheel too far to the left and right. That was my way of saying, get in the car and come get me.

He’s not coming and I’m standing there with my leg bent back, I can’t go anywhere but I start hobbling towards the house. I saw the white car coming around the corner and he stops at where I’m at and opens the door and I painfully got in.

He drove to where the Ice Cream truck is because I’ll be damned if I hurt myself in vain. He gets our “Mama Flip” ice creams which is soft serve in a cup with chocolate syrup and sprinkles.

We come home and I’m not only about ready to throw up but I’m also about ready to pass out. He goes in the house to get the crutches that we have had since his mother broke her leg in 2000 and I go in the house with the intentions of laying down with some ice on it with hopes it will get better. It’s not getting better.

I went to WebMD.com and looked it up and it tells me to immediately go seek medical help so we went to the E.R. where I sat for about 3 1/2 hours waiting for them to call me. After 1/2 hour I told Darrin to go home, I’d call him. No sense in both of us being bored and losing internet time lol.

The doctor couldn’t do an emergency MRI or even x-rays but he bends my leg back and forth and moves my foot and he gives me his diagnosis which I couldn’t remember (remember that I have a learning disorder?) but all I can say is he thinks I must have torn a muscle which is what I figured out right when it happened.

He tells me to rest and put ice on it for 15-20 minutes several times per day for the first 3-4 days then after that replace the ice with heat. He also gave me a prescription for Motrin and a muscle relaxer. I can’t say the name of it because I can’t read his writing lol. I have some ibuprofen from when I had the neck and shoulder pain so I can take that until we can get to the pharmacy tomorrow (followed by Subway or Panda, you know, while we’re there lol).

I have to report to my doctor in the next 1-2 weeks to let him know what happened and maybe perhaps get an x-ray or MRI done if it’s still hurting by then. Oh and I get to be on crutches for a while too which in a way is a good thing because now I don’t have to take the dog out, I can’t if I’m on crutches (wicked evil grin).

Unfortunately, I can’t count on Darrin to do the dishes for me and when I make dinner he’ll have to bring it to me. If I leave dinner up to him we’ll be eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a while. Or soup, he loves making soup lol.

I was afraid I would miss my shows but when I got home it was some hometown sports show plus the Closer is on tonight instead of my Sunday night Fox cartoons. Oh well, I’m glad I didn’t miss them but it would’ve been nice to know they weren’t going to be on so I wouldn’t have been stressing about miss them during my 3 1/2 hour wait time lol.

Anyway, so I’m off to go rest and ice my leg.

Who do you think is responsible for childhood obesity?

On By Michel McDonaldIn Amplify, Diet, Exercise, HealthLeave a comment

I just voted in a poll on the SparkPeople website. Who do I think is responsible for childhood obesity. I voted parents because they are the ones who are supposed to teach good eating habits from infant to adult. If you feed your children with the right foods they will learn good eating habits.

I also feel that the reason children are so fat is because they have become so spoiled with the technology of today. I mean don’t get me wrong, I love my computer and video games but children shouldn’t be allowed to be so obsessed. They should be encouraged to go outside and play with their friends. The parents should encourage their kids to get involved in an after school activity like soccer or football or karate.

My parents did not encourage me to play sports but they did allow me to play outside unattended. I would ride my bike through the neighborhood and jump rope and play hopscotch with my sister. We would roller skate up and down the sidewalk. We were constantly playing outside.

That is until I was 11 and was of working age and then I became the handy child for the apartment building. Painting, changing locks, plumbing, fixing electrical outlets, gardening… you name it, I had to do it. But when I was all done with that work I was allowed to play before dinner if there was time. On the days that there wasn’t as much work to do around the apartments I was allowed to do whatever I wanted which was usually playing outside.

So, I don’t blame the schools because despite the burgers, fries, pizzas and whatever else they served me during my childhood, I never gained any weight because that was only 1 meal out of the whole day. During the weekends and school breaks we would eat things like Peanut butter and jelly or Bologna sandwiches for lunch. For breakfast I would usually eat cereal but sometimes oatmeal (or malt-o-meal) and for dinner it was a well-balanced meal with meats, grains and vegetables.

My mother taught me good eating habits but it was up to me to learn them and carry that on after I left the house. Unfortunately for years I let my cravings and laziness get the best of me but once I started to remember the recipes and food groups my mother fed me I started to eat them again and I have started to lose weight and all thanks to my mother may she rest in peace. I have lost 35lbs since the last week of May 2010 because I’m eating right.

I don’t blame schools because it’s only 1 meal a day.

I don’t blame tv & video games because it is the parents obligation to give or taketh away.

I don’t blame fast food because it is the parents who take the children to fast food. They don’t have the money to buy their own happy meals.

I don’t blame communities because how is a community supposed to teach your child good eating habits? That is the parents responsibility.

I don’t blame advertising (commercials) because they are in it for the money. I can sit here and watch pizza commercials all day but I have the good sense to know that pizza is too fattening. Parents should tell their kids that pizza is good for special occasions like when you win that baseball game or when it’s your birthday. Or when Mommy is too sick to get out of bed then we can order a pizza.

And since I took that poll, I see that 16,781 other people agreed with me which is 74% of people who took that poll.

Amplify’d from www.sparkpeople.com

Quick Poll Results

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/9enx

Weight Gain This Week

On By Michel McDonaldIn Exercise, HealthLeave a comment

I was very disappointed in myself this morning when I stepped on the scale because instead of losing weight, I gained weight.

The problem is I started getting bored with my meal plans, 4oz chicken with 1/2 cup brown rice and 1 cup of any vegetable. I was doing so good with that meal plan, I had lost 31lbs with it. When I got bored with it I started eating other things and this week I broke my one cardinal rule and bought bread. Not just bread but also bagels.

On Tuesday when I bought the package of bagels which were on sale for .99¢, I had 3 bagels that day. See what happens when you deny yourself food for such a long time, you end up bingeing on it. I could buy 1 single bagel every few weeks or maybe once a month and that will satisfy my hunger for it instead of buying them all the time. When I deny myself for such a long time I end up eating more than I should in 1 day.

The store also had Yoplait on sale @ 20 for $10 so I bought 5 for myself and 5 for Darrin. I ate 3 that same day then 2 the next day.

Then I also had a craving for some turkey sliders so I bought some ground turkey meat on Tuesday and then on Wednesday I bought a package of Hawaiian sweet rolls for the slider buns. Those rolls are about 100 calories per roll. You’d never think that they were that many considering they are so small but they are. I cooked 5 for myself and 5 for Darrin. I didn’t like them as much as I thought I would and so I only ate 3 and put the other 2 in the fridge but ended up eating them as a snack later that night.

The amount of weight that I gained back isn’t too horrible, only about 3lbs I think. I have been eating salads this week which is ok for me because it’s very low cal but the amount of dressing I put on it is probably not good. So… I think it’s time to go back to my original meal plans and stop straying away from that no matter how boring it might become.

I have to get back on the ball because I really want to lose this weight, I can’t keep going back, I need to go forward. I haven’t lost so much weight that I’m back in stage 1 yet but 1lb more and I will be.

So, hopefully next week I will not only have lost weight but I will be below what I weighed in at last week… hopefully.

Does Reading Cause Body Odor?

On By Michel McDonaldIn Books, HealthLeave a comment

This morning I woke up, had breakfast, got in the shower then went about my day. I got on the computer, read email, did some work then had some free time to read the rest of my book “Ogre, Ogre”. That was the bulk of my activity.

When I went to watch some TV, I noticed some odd odor. I smelled my armpit and it was awful. I wouldn’t normally talk about my body odor but in this case it was unusual and unexpected and I didn’t know why it was happening so I did some research on why.

Apparently body odor is not caused by sweat alone. Everyone has these bacteria that live in certain body parts like the scalp, feet, groin and underarms. According to this site “The odor is mainly caused when the bacteria, growing on skin decomposes the sweat .” Well, I didn’t sweat and as I stated I had just taken a shower and used Degree deodorant which normally blocks any and all odors.

Here is a quote:

“While the eccrine glands are found all over the body, the apocrine glands are found in high concentration in the underarms and groins as well as in the glands. These apocrine glands are mainly stimulated by the worries, fear and tension. It is the secretion from apocrine gland which is generally decomposed by the bacteria and consequently it results in unpleasant body odor. There are several anaerobic bacteria like micrococci and coryne bacteria that decompose the odorless sweat to produce an unpleasant odor.”

You know that the saying “you learn something new every day” still rings true. I did not know that “worries, fear and tension” would ever be the reason I have underarm odor. I always thought that came from sweating.

But what was causing me to worry? The only thing I can think of is that this book was causing me to have more emotions than normal. Meaning I was so enthralled in the book that it was causing worries, fear and tension. I was fearful when Smash the Ogre was fighting the other ogres and when he was fighting the demon and that was also causing some tension. I don’t necessarily think I had fear because I know that every book ends happily ever after so I knew they would be fine.

You know now that I think about it, when I was reading all 7 Harry Potter books, at the end of the day I wreaked to high heaven and had to take showers when I finished reading. I never even thought about why. Now I know.

Maybe if I continue reading I’m going to have to buy some more Degree in bulk. Maybe they might come out with a Degree for readers instead of just Degree for Sports.

We Cheated with Taco Bell

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, HealthLeave a comment

When I was a teenager we used to go to Taco Bell and we would have about 2 or 3 tacos each and we never gained any weight.  Why?  Because we were fit already and we were athletic so we could eat all the tacos we wanted as long as we remained active.  Although, even back then we didn’t go ALL the time, we went once in a while.

Taco Bell was never my downfall.  I don’t see Taco Bell as being the cause for my weight gain because during the time it took me to get fat Taco Bell was never on the menu.  Every once in a while it was but it is not what made me fat and I can’t say it contributed to it either.  Actually fast food was never what made me fat.  It was always what I bought from the grocery store and made at home.

In the 10 weeks that I’ve been on this diet we have had a no fast food policy.  Although, we don’t regularly go to fast food restaurants anyway, we just figured that if we never went at all then we would be ok.  I would say that in a year we would probably have maybe 4 trips to a fast food restaurant.  So it’s not like I’m depriving myself of something that I never have.

Today I was thinking about Taco Bells new fresco menu on the approved SparkPeople list for fast food restaurants.  I looked at the calories for the fresco soft taco and it was basically the same as a regular soft taco.  Well, the Fresco soft taco is 180 calories, the regular soft taco is 200 calories.  It doesn’t matter if it’s beef or chicken, it’s the same amount of calories.  I didn’t really want the fresco because the salsa they put on it has onions which I cannot stand.  So, I chose those extra 20 calories each.  I had 2 soft tacos for 400 calories and I don’t regret it at all.  And if you think about it, that’s only 40 calories more than if I chose fresco.

The reason I don’t regret eating 400 calories in 1 sitting is because it’s today only.  I’m not going to have Taco Bell again for maybe another 6 months or maybe longer.  I can’t say when we will have it again but I do know that it won’t be any time soon.

If you deprive yourself of things that you like to eat then one day you will end up bingeing on it.  So, it’s good to eat the things you like every so often.

I’ve lost 31lbs so far and believe me, I don’t plan to gain it all back so by eating taco bell tonight and getting the craving over now will make sure that my weight loss continues.

From One Thing To The Next

On By Michel McDonaldIn HealthLeave a comment

Well good news is I can start to sense that my shoulder is getting better.  I’ve been using the BenGay patches and the Icy Hot stick and it feels good.  Most of the time I have pain but not constantly like before.

New problem lol.  I have a toothache now.  I just ate a bowl of Malt-O-Meal and the roof of my mouth on the right side hurt like hell.  I think it’s abscessed lol.  Great, just great.

If it’s not one thing it’s another.  So tomorrow I have to make an appointment with Western Dental and get it looked at.

Oh and I got my handlebars today and put it on and over tightened the screw and it snapped in half rofl.  What the hell?  So we had to go to Home Depot and thank goodness they had it.  It was a big longer than the original but that’s fine, it sticks out the bottom and nobody cares lol.  And it’s a black screw same as the stem so it blends in.  The handlebar is silver though and I was going to spray paint it but I figured that it would probably not end too good so I left it.  I may remove everything at some point and spray it, maybe.

I also got a new gel seat to put over the ergo seat but I figured that I’m having such a crappy day that I would wait to cut it up and sew it into the shape I need it until when I’m not having a bad day.  I don’t want to screw it up too much.  Sure it was only $10 but money is money.

Suffering Side Effects

On By Michel McDonaldIn Doctor, HealthLeave a comment

Well I’ve already started to suffer some of the side effects from these medications that the neurologist gave me for my shoulder.

I’m taking Methylprednisolone 4MG Dospack 21’s which is this pack that has all the pills that you pop out the back.  The first day is at the top and you have to take 6 pills in 1 day.  2 before breakfast, 1 after lunch and supper (I guess that drug company has never heard of dinner) and 2 at bedtime.  Then day 2 you take 5 pills at various times throughout the day.  Day 3 4 pills and so on until day 6 you are just taking 1 pill.  This one is the steroid drug.

Then the other one is Baclofen 10MG tablets that I have to take 3 times a day so like every 8 hours.  That is a muscle relaxant drug.

I read the possible side effects for both of them and some of them are similar.  The muscle relaxant doesn’t have nearly as many side effects as the steroid but I’m getting quite a bit.

1 of them isn’t even listed and I’m not going to air that dirty laundry in here but believe me, it’s painful to sit down hint hint wink wink.  The other ones are that my teeth don’t feel like they belong in my mouth lol.  They just feel strange like the dentist shot something in there to numb them.  Also I’ve got major joint aches and pains especially in my legs at the hips and well just everywhere in my legs.

Let’s see, I can’t sit, I can’t stand and my teeth don’t feel like they belong in my mouth lol.  What else can go wrong?  Oh shoot, I just jinxed myself by saying that.  One of the other side effects are that I’m hungry more which happened today, I got extra hungry, I had 2 sandwiches for lunch, not just bread but these really big rolls with 3 slices of turkey each and lettuce and mayo.  Oh and we went to Hometown Buffet and I stuffed myself silly and one of the other side effects is weight gain which I guarantee you tomorrow I will see that side effect come into place thanks to the hometown buffet but we’re just gonna say it’s a side effect from the pills ok?

UGH and my shoulders are experiencing joint pain too.  Ok, I think I need to lay down because I’m becoming too fragile to be sitting here typing.  One of my fingers might fall off and we don’t want that.