186.2 Charlee

Our precious dog, Charlee, is sick and in the hospital. She has pancreatitis usually caused in dogs by eating rich food. We aren't sure how/when she got an overload of rich food, but we did have a full house at most meal times so who knows. It really doesn't matter, but what does matter is that she's in a special hospital, on IVs for hydration, meds, etc., and getting very good care. Hopefully we'll be able to bring her home tomorrow. This little Havanese is Jeff's and my baby/child now and it's amazing how much we love her.

Life will get back on track once she feels better and I learn what's wrong with my hip. I promised myself to exercise regularly, etc., but whatever is wrong with my hip has really gotten in the way. I was doing the elliptical with Linda but since that causes flexion in my hip muscles that is now a no-no. The only thing I can do is walk and stretch in my pool. So I'm just going to take it easy, be compassionate toward myself as my dear Alee encourages me to be, and once I'm good to go, I'll get going!

178.8 A Stressful Patch

I'll just put this out there - I feel like stuffing myself and I'm not even hungry. But I am stressed out! Today I saw my PCP who is so great. He answered all my questions, reassured me about all my fears, and ordered an MRI for my neck. I love this doctor. As I was leaving, he put his arm around my shoulders and walked me to the exit. I was able to get an appointment for the MRI today and have just returned from having that done. That's all good, but it was hard to ask if what showed up on the CT scan that suggested I had had a stroke was related to indications of Alzheimer's. He said no. And if all I have is a pinched nerve in my neck (or two) what then? On top of all that, I saw a dental implant specialist today who wants to charge me $2000 more than my general dentist estimated! Hello! What's up with that!!

So I'm sitting here eating Vic's Lite Salt Popcorn. It's time to put it away and go get in the pool and do my work out. Tomorrow is going to be a much better day!

172.2 Colin and Me

Today we had a date, Jeff and I, and look who we ended up hanging out with...in my dreams. We went over to this adorable little place called the English Rose Tea Room in Carefree. They've always had a lovely cut out of Queen Elizabeth, and today they had Colin Firth there to greet us.

So things are looking better weight wise. I've settled back into my old routine, lots of fish and veges, and today I was back in my pool, thanks to the heat pump and the cover and the warmer nights. Have a great weekend!

204.0 The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Yesterday I blogged about using the Wii Fit at my PT's office and how much fun it was. Well, this morning, Jeff had dusted off ours and it was sitting in the middle of the living room floor ready for me to hop on. Whadda guy! So, I got on and had to answer a lot of questions as I stood on the sensor board, like my height, how much my clothes weighed (of course I said a lot!), my age, etc.. And then, it shared with me the good, the bad and the ugly!

The good is where I'll start. The good news is that, in measuring how I did this morning on some preliminary balance exercise tests, in combination with the information I gave in answer to the questions, my physical age is...53! Yay! When I did this last spring when we first got it, my physical age was 73! So, the weight loss and all my walking and pool work has enabled me to be younger and more agile! For someone who is 67 that is great news. The bad news is my BMI (body mass index), which I won't share, but it is way too high, yet down about 4 points from what it was last spring. Then the really ugly...that I am still obese! Oh, is that not one of the ugliest words in the language?

So, I have a new friend to play with every day, and a three new challenges to meet head on every day: to lower my BMI, to improve my balance and thereby become younger :), and to get out of the obese category.