Category: Health

Fractured Toe

On By Michel McDonaldIn HealthLeave a comment

fractured-toeIf you’ve ever broken a toe before you already know that they can’t do anything for you.  I don’t know why but they can’t fix toes, I guess they are too little and too insignificant to fix.  They serve no purpose other than being stinky.

Most people who know me and saw me growing up already know I have a depth perception issue.  When I would go to walk through a doorway as a child, I’d see the doorway in my line of sight but as I got to it I’d end up hitting wall.  I don’t know why.  My eyes are a tad bit crossed so I see 2 of everything but it’s not that much to worry about.  I do get tunnel vision without my glasses so I normally should have them on at all times but sometimes my vanity doesn’t allow it so I take them off and walk into walls hehe.

Yesterday I was in the living room and I was walking very fast to my bedroom and my right foot slammed into the door jamb.  I don’t know why, I was centered with the door frame so there was no reason for it, it just happened lol.  I screamed and dropped the f bomb a couple of times and then laughed while I was sitting on my bed.  The pain slowly went away and I thought all was good until I went to the doctor today (routine visit) and said oh by the way, I think I broke my toe.  He said that it’s probably just fractured, it’s still straight but because it is so badly bruised I’ve just fractured it.  Fracturing can make the blood rush to that spot and it looks bruised.

As a child I never bruised at all, you could punch me in the face (and I was) and I wouldn’t bruise at all, or if I did it wouldn’t last very long.  This one time I was visiting my Aunt Joyce in Palmdale, CA and I went to reach for my towel which was on the bathroom counter and I didn’t want to get out and get the floor wet so I grabbed the towel rack to keep me from falling so I could reach for the towel but the aluminum towel rack bar came right off the brackets and even one of the brackets fell to the floor, I fell on the shower door track.  I had a giant bruise from my arm pit to my leg on my right side.  I showed my Aunt Joyce and it had faded 50% by that time.  Within 5 more minutes it was completely gone.

I had to tell you that so you would understand that I don’t bruise so the bruise on my toe must mean that it’s really bad.

Little Known Fact About Sleep Apnea

On By Michel McDonaldIn HealthLeave a comment

There is a little known fact about sleep apnea that most people don’t realize.  I’ve been using a Bi-Pap machine (in case someone is unaware, it’s a machine that has a mask that I put over my nose, the hose goes to the machine and the machine pushes air into my lungs so I can sleep at night because my airway closes when I sleep) for a couple of years now and when I wake up every single morning I have a dry mouth (due to some medications, so say the people at the C-Pap Company) and also my nose is dry.

My bi-pap machine has a little tank filled with water which is on a heater also known as an evaporator.  The heat heats the water and then the air pushes the evaporated water into my nose and lungs so I don’t wake up with a dry nose, throat, lungs and mouth.  Well, it doesn’t work that great.  As I said it’s due to my medication but I don’t know.  I mean, my nose is always so dry that it starts hurting.  I’m always sniffling because of the dryness and I am also doing this half twitch, you know like Samantha in Bewitched, I don’t do the full twitch, just half to try to I don’t know actually why I do it but I’m always doing it lol.

So tonight I was flossing and I went to look for toothpaste and came across this tube that looked like toothpaste but it was Vaseline so I squirted some on a Q-Tip and put it inside my nostrils around inside there to cover up all the dry areas.  It’s only been a few minutes and it is already starting to help.  I never thought about that before and I’m glad I saw it.

I don’t normally use Vaseline because it’s a female product in my opinion.  I remember watching my mom after she got out of the shower and had her nightgown on and she just started smearing that stuff all over her legs and arms.  She had psoriasis so I don’t know if that’s why, because her legs and arms were dry from that.  But she also would put it on her face full of make-up and she would use a wash rag to wipe it all off and all the make-up was gone.  So because I’ve never really had a need for it so I don’t buy it.  But it is a good product I guess.

If this works with my nose then perhaps I might think about buying some more if I run out of what I have.  I’m really sick of all this dryness in my nose.

Dentist Today

On By Michel McDonaldIn Doctor, HealthLeave a comment

I went to the Dentist (Western Dental) on Saturday last week because the pain in my tooth was so unbearable and they wouldn’t see me without a medical release.  So I had to wait until Monday, got it, they saw me, did a partial root canal (they didn’t have to do a full one because he got the decay and it wasn’t near the soft tissue so no need to finish) and filled the tooth and I made an appointment for Tuesday.

Yesterday I go in and he fills in my broken tooth on the bottom but same side of the mouth as Monday.  No problem, made an appointment for today.

Today comes, I go in and I wait for 30 min in the waiting room and Nurse Ratchet calls Mr. McDonald.  Normally they just say my first name.  So I go in, she doesn’t let me sit down yet, she asks why I’m here, I tell her root canal and I point at my top left tooth.  She says there is no authorization for a root canal.  She looks at my papers and says we don’t even have your doctors authorization.  I said look some more.  She looks and finds it.

She pushes the button on the chair to lower it so I can sit down and she says Mr. McDonald you were here at 10am, can I ask why you were here so early?  And I said uh, that’s my appointment time.  She says well the doctor isn’t even scheduled to be here until 11am.  What the hell does she expect me to do?  I don’t know their dentists schedules.  They didn’t email me with his full schedule lol.

Then the white devil, yes, that’s what she is, the white devil, starts setting everything up being her bitchy cheerful self.  She tells me well he won’t be here for another half hour what would you like to do?  What the hell is she asking me?  They normally sit you in the chair and keep you waiting for an hour anyway so uh hello?  Just leave me here and go run over some puppies, I don’t give a crap.  Do what you normally do.  She continues setting me up and she goes to put the paper on my chest, the bib if you will.  But instead of clipping that chain with roach clips (yes, I said roach clips) she tucks it into my shirt at which point 1 eyebrow raises and I look from side to side and she starts giggling from my facial expression.  She informs me they don’t have any clips.

So 11 comes and the dentist comes in and he’s arguing with her about what I’m here for today and he comes to me and tells me he is out of gloves and that I can either wait until 3pm or come back this evening because he doesn’t know when they are coming in.  Excuse me?  3pm?  I’m not going to sit there with Ms. Sunshine for 4 more hours.  No, I’ll reschedule.

So I go back on Friday.

Broken Rocker

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Health, WeightLeave a comment

Well it finally happened.  I broke a chair.  Actually it has happened before.  It’s an old chair so leave me alone lol.  This chair that was in Chips moms room that she’s had for a long time, when she passed away we put it in the living room.  It’s not a rocking chair, it’s a regular chair that rocks.  A rocking chair would be all wood, this has fabric and springs etc.

What makes the chair rock are these 2 giant springs that are attached to 2 pieces of wood at the bottom of the chair and the springs are also attached to the chair.  Well, a year ago the springs broke where it’s welded, 1 spring broke and we asked our neighbor Dan who worked in a shop if he would re-weld it for us because that’s what he does.  So he did and then the other spring broke in the same way and so he fixed that too.  Well, it didn’t take long before one of them broke again but we never had him fix it a 2nd time.  The other spring just broke at the weld again so we’re retiring that chair lol.

I’m just too heavy to be able to sit in an old chair and rock it.  If it were a new(ish) chair like a recliner chair then I’m sure it would be a lot better.  This one made so many noises when I would rock in it, like squeaking sounds, you know because the springs needed oil or something.  I’ve sprayed WD-40 on them and they didn’t stop squeaking.  But I’ve sat in recliner chairs at the furniture stores and they never squeaked.

I would love to get a new chair but I just can’t afford it, even a used one.  So, I moved the rocking chair and put a regular chair in its place so now no more rocking hehe.  Oh well.

Recession Weight

On By Michel McDonaldIn HealthLeave a comment

Will Americans put on “recession pounds”? – Link Broken

According to this article, a study has shown that because of the recession we are in people are going to start buying cheaper foods and not paying the extra amount for fruits and veggies and because cheaper foods are higher in sugar and saturated fat, they will gain weight.

It used to be that the only people who were fat were royalty because they were so rich they could eat all the food they want so being obese was a sign of wealth.  Now, being obese is a sign of poverty.

I’ve basically been poor for the last 21 years lol.  Since I turned 17 and was homeless until now.  When I was a smoker I was always thin but when I quit smoking I gained weight because food took the place of the cigarettes.  I gained a huge appetite since then.  When I go to the grocery store for food I buy whatever is on sale like the boxes of shells and white cheddar or Fettuccine Alfredo or I’ll buy the little mini pizzas that are 10 for $10.  And the banquet TV dinners are almost always 10 for $10.

Since people are so busy working (if they didn’t lose their job) they don’t have time to exercise and they use that as an excuse not to exercise but there are always ways to overcome that like riding your bike to work or if you don’t live that far, walk.  And taking the stairs instead of the elevator and you don’t have to pig out on the vending machine food, you can bring some baby carrots with you for a snack or a banana or an apple.  Those aren’t expensive to buy.  I have an orange tree so my oranges are free.

Biking is Easier

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

Riding the bike is getting a lot easier.  I rode the bike from my house to Oak and Palm before realizing I didn’t stop for water once so naturally I stopped for some water.  I got all the way to the park in 19 1/2 minutes this time which is I think 3 minutes faster.  Probably because I didn’t stop to take a water break so many times.

I also didn’t sit on the picnic table for that long either, on Monday I think I sat there for 20 minutes before heading back home and this time I think it was like 10 or 15 minutes.

When coming home I didn’t turn right on H st. going on 21st st.  Instead I went further down to Chester Ave. because H st. has no bike lane in downtown Bakersfield but Chester Ave. does.  I think it’s easier to ride in a bike lane than cause an accident, don’t you?

So, I went a further distance and it was only 40 minutes this time.  The last time it was 45 minutes and this time I went a further distance which tells me that 1 I’m going faster and 2 my legs are getting more used to riding that I don’t have to stop to take a break for them.

I can remember not too long ago that I could only ride up to California Ave. and back and that was like 12 minutes and when I came home I could barely walk because of the stiffness in my legs.  If I am able to go faster and further than that just means that I will start to lose weight a lot faster.  I can already see it in my face that the fat is starting to come off.

If I can just keep doing this 3 days a week it wont be long before I’m thinner.  Oh and I need to start following the SparkPeople food plan again if I’m going to be successful.  The food they have is low-calorie and very good for us especially for Darrin because he has borderline diabetes now so whatever I make for myself I can make for him too then before you know it he will be losing weight too (but just on food, he doesn’t want to exercise).

To Beach Park

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Exercise, HealthLeave a comment

Well, I finally made it to Beach Park today.  I feel so good about myself that I actually did it.  I also noticed that I’m riding a little faster because the time it took me to get there and back was a lot shorter than it took me to go less distance.

Ok so according to SparkPeople that is 5.4 miles total (to there and back, I mapped the directions out on google) and 720 calories.  The minimum amount of calories that I should burn in 1 day is 260, I mean for my diet plan, so I’ve exceeded that.  Which is totally awesome.

As I was riding the bike over the very high and very long bridge on Oak St. I was expecting that I wouldn’t make it because the one other time I tried going over I didn’t make it, I ended up having to stop and walk most of the way up.  But it wasn’t so difficult this time.  Also when I was coming home I was riding on H st. on the street under the bridge and what I did was I just peddled so fast as I was going down so that when I had to start coming up I didn’t have to pedal at all because I was already going so fast.

Anyway, my legs are swollen and painful so I’m gonna go lay down.

It’s A Green Life

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

A few weeks ago we came home from San Diego after only being gone for a few days and discovered that someone had taken our garbage can.  The city wants to charge us $60 for a new one.  It hit me below the belt because it made me think that I do take it for granted.  Trash that is.  We normally just save soda cans and soda bottles and give them to the dumpster divers but we decided to start recycling them for ourselves.

I took it a step further though and instead of just soda bottles and cans I’d look at the back of every container we buy and those cans that food come in are recyclable too and so are milk containers.  Paper can also be recycled.  I set up 2 paper bags with the cans (1 bag for each type of can) and I’m going to set up another bag for shredded paper which I am now going to start shredding the mail along with junk mail and even bad ideas that I’ve printed.  I have so much paper just sitting around in notebooks that have absolutely no purpose anymore so those will be shredded straight away.

I’ve also become green when I shower.  When you live in a trailer or if go camping and have one of those hanging bags of water for showers you have to use the least you can use so you have enough water for yourself and others so you get wet, turn off the hose, lather your hair and body then turn the hose back on to rinse off.  Well, I’ve started doing that at home.  I don’t know exactly how many gallons of water I am saving but I bet you it’s a lot.

I started riding my bike for exercise, not to get anywhere in particular but so I can lose weight and so that’s good that I’m doing that but it really serves no green purpose for me.  But it’s at least a statement.

And we do have to drive our car to the recycling center just to recycle all this stuff.  I can’t carry bags of cans, bottles and tied up newspaper and bags of shredded paper on a bike so we have no other choice.  I feel I’m at least helping.

Below are pictures of my cans bags and a trash bag of bottles which is a new bag so it only has a couple of bottles but you get the idea.

My Weight

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, HealthLeave a comment

Wow!  I just weighed myself and it’s not good.  Of course most people would just not talk about it, they would pretend that it doesn’t matter or the problem doesn’t exist but I know the problem exists.  I was doing Spark People a year ago (I started on October 1st 2007) but something happened in my life and I just couldn’t do it anymore.  I gave up dieting altogether even though I had lost over 20lbs.  I was so proud of myself and then I just quit.

I was eating the food but not exercising and I was in a plateau for over a month and just couldn’t take the torture of having to suffer eating such small portions and so many veggies.  Although it wasn’t all that bad, the veggie portions were pretty big but it was still torture to eat good and not lose a single lb.  But I wasn’t exercising either so that’s where I made a huge mistake.  I didn’t step it up and help myself along the long road of losing weight.

My highest weight that I’ve ever been was 245 and I weighed myself just before I started this post and I was 243.  I’m just 2lbs from being right back to where I was.  I need this Dell DJ battery to come soon and the pump and bag.  I need them to come so I have motivation to ride my bike to get exercise.  I need the pump because it has a gauge built-in so I can see if I’m pumping the correct amount or not.  Right now they don’t feel fully pumped but I’m afraid to put too much air in because it will pop if I do.  If it doesn’t have enough it may pop from my weight.  The frame bag is just a bonus to keep all the tools with me so I don’t have to carry them.

The Dell DJ battery is a crucial part of this whole journey.  I refuse to ride the bike in silence.  It will be too boring and I will not want to keep doing it day after day if I’m bored doing it.  Of course I probably won’t have to do it day after day.

As of right now my leg muscles are still not ready for a 2 hour bike ride.  It is ready for a 5 minute bike ride before I can’t walk anymore.  What I will have to do is just ride for as long as I can going towards beach park where the bike trail is and when I get too sore then just stop, rest and head back home.  Just keep doing that every day or every other day or whatever I need.  I can’t push my muscles too far because the more sore my legs are the less likely I will want to do it.  But I heard from a trainer that if your legs are sore, so what, keep doing it.  You don’t want the muscles to heal fully, you want them to be sore because they won’t get used to it unless you keep doing it.  Yeah they will be sore for a few days but once they get used to it they wont be painful.  It will become old hat.

Let’s just hope that these items come to me soon, within a week at least.  I don’t know how much more of this fat I can take.  I can’t look at myself in the mirror anymore.  I have BDD so bad from this that I don’t even want to leave the house because people are staring at me and judging me every day.  I just want to be back to where I was when I was thin.  Nobody even noticed me because I blended in with all the other skinny people.  Fat people don’t blend in too well especially when their t-shirts are stretched out in the stomach area. Which reminds me, if this does work, if I lose a massive amount of weight by riding my bike, I’m gonna need a wardrobe change hehe.

Neurologist

On By Michel McDonaldIn Doctor, HealthLeave a comment

Well I went to the neurologist today for a follow-up appointment. My first appointment was to find out what was going on with my hands. At first they started getting numb when I would crochet and I got to the point where I didn’t like to crochet anymore or do any crafts for that matter. Then they started going numb for no reason and next thing I knew my hands were constantly numb.

When I would crochet I got this pinching in my right hand and sometimes in my left hand too, that’s when I knew for sure I couldn’t crochet anymore. I told my doctor about 3 or 4 times which was in a row, every time I saw him, that my hands were numb and he would tell me it’s because of this or that or the other.

So finally I told him that my hands are numb constantly and I get a pinching in my hands too so he sent me to the neurologist. Well I went, he gave me a prescription for wrist splints for both hands to wear to bed so I do.

A couple of weeks ago I went to get the nerve test which means they wrap these wires around 2 fingers then they take this thing that looks like a stun gun and they zap you on certain spots for a few seconds at a time and the computer does all the work.

So today was the follow-up to that and he said I have a very mild case of Carpal Tunnel syndrome but because they are not numb all the time (thanks to the wrist splints) that I don’t need surgery, in fact he said it would be the very last resort so I have to see him in 2 months to see how it’s going. I’m really happy I don’t need surgery and my hands are good again as if nothing happened.