080. Revisiting an Old Favorite

This morning I decided to revisit a breakfast favorite from before I discovered I like oatmeal. I present to you...

The Egg Sammich!

I have always been a huge fan of breakfast sandwiches. Today's sandwich was an egg, sharp cheddar, cheese, and two slices of Canadian bacon on a whole wheat sandwich thin.

For the first time in a while, I just wasn't feeling oatmeal this morning. I also decided to go with my old friend in hopes that the extra protien will help my back heal-up faster.

By the way, I totally forgot to photo dinner last night. I made homemade BBQ chicken pizzas (8" sized) on whole wheat crusts. They were pretty fantastic.

After I made dinner I spent the rest of the night alternating between laying on the couch and trying to gently stretch out my back using cat and cow pose. While watching season 3 of Buffy.* Chris borrowed a couple of microwavable heating pads from his mom so I used those on my back as well. My back is feeling a lot better today, but it's definitely not 100%. I can sit without discomfort, but it still hurts to bed and twist.

*I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I am a huge Joss Whedon nerd. I've watched my way through the entire Buffy and Angel television serieses (?) on more than one occassion.

079. What Is Going On Here?

Recently, it seems like every time I turn a corner; I've got some sort of injury. I really don't know what's going on. I've never been prone to injuries. (Well, not the kind of injuries that don't come from being a total klutz anyway.) Now it seems like I've got some sort of malady every week. Two weeks ago it was my wrist. Last week I was sick. Yesterday the lower leftside of my back started hurting. I think I may have pulled a muscle. What is going on here?!

I had a really hard time falling asleep last night. Pretty much every position I laid in caused my back to ache after a few minutes. I woke up this morning with it feeling super tight. I loosened it up some with a nice hot shower and a the "massage" setting on the shower head, but it's still really uncomfortable. Sitting in a chair is the worst; so I foresee a looooong day ahead of me at work.

Since I'm already off to a rough start I decided to treat myself to some of my chocolatey peanut butter and banana oats a day early. Helloooooo deliciousness!

070. Excuse Me While I Rant for a Moment

All politics aside, the healthcare system is so frustrating!

The other day at work, I noticed some pain in my wrist at work when I was using the two-hole punch. Later that night while I was Whittling My Middle, as I set myself up in plank, I got a sharp pain in my wrist and collapsed. There’s been a bit of a dull pain in my wrist ever since, and any time I put pressure on it, I get a sharp pain. Hello very first (since high school anyway) sport's injury!

I did a lot of Googling yesterday and I’m convinced I’ve got a small stress fracture in my right wrist. Everything I read about stress fractures lists symptoms as dull pain that worsen with exercise/ use – Bingo! I think it developed from too many planks and working on crane asana in yoga. That’s a lot of body weight on my hands/ wrists

Last night I went to yoga, but I took it very easy and was careful not to put pressure on my wrist. After class I swam for about 30 minutes. My wrist bothered me a little during both so on the way home I stopped at Walgreens bought an ACE bandage. I wrapped it and iced it last night. I’ve also got it wrapped today.

I decided it was probably time to see a doctor about it. I wasn’t really sure where to start so I figured primary care doctor. Making an appointment at my doctor’s office is always a frustrating experience. It’s usually a week before you can get an appointment, and the receptionists who answer the phone have such a horrible attitude. The tone in their voice makes it very clear they feel you are interrupting their day by calling. Today it was especially frustrating.

They wouldn’t give me an appointment. They told me it was probably tendonitis, to take some Advil and go get an x-ray at an urgent care center if it gets worse. I’m not convinced it is tendonitis. I have tendonitis in my elbows from years of swimming, and I know how that feels. This doesn’t feel the same or even similar.

Maybe it’s all my healthy-habits and my new awareness of what I’m putting in an on my body, but that just doesn’t make sense to me. I’m trying to be proactive, and I’m being told ‘No, come back when you’ve got a problem.’ They want me to take Advil which will make the pain go away, but it won’t do anything to solve the problem. It will simply mask the symptoms until the problem is more severe.

I’m in pain right now. That means there’s a problem right now.

I would really prefer not to end up with a broken wrist from what started out as a small stress fracture.

The getting an x-ray and the urgent care center is an entirely separate issue. I'm still trying to work out an issue between my insurance company and Palos Community Hospital to get my last urgent care visit paid for rather than having to pay $151 out of pocket! (I had to go in July for strep throat and a wicked ear infection.) The last thing I want to do is go back to the urgent care center and create another billing/ insurance issue for myself!

So, I’m doing the best I can. Right now, I don’t want to take medication for it. I’m going to continue to do modified planks when doing Whittle my Middle and take it easy in my yoga classes – no more cranes for a while – and strength training. I’ll keep it wrapped and keep icing it. I’m also going to look into other possible holistic approaches to treating it. If you have any suggestions, please throw them my way!

063. Christmas Tree Disposal.

So, how do you get rid of a dried out, dying Christmas tree when you live in a second floor condo without making a mess through the entire building?

Why you throw it off the balcony of course!

Some how I managed to not take a picture of the tree in the yard. Here's where it landed though.

Tomorrow is trash day so we needed to get the tree out tonight.

Tonight my dad and brother came by to install my new dishwasher. They were in my kitchen when dinner was done so I didn't snap a picture (too much going on), but I made a really yummy quiche. Chris love quiche, and I think it's a great way to use whatever produce I have hanging out in the fridge. Tonight's quiche included broccoli, a chopped onion, a couple cloves of chopped garlic, spinach, and Dubliner cheese I picked up at Trader Joe's. The quiche tasted awesome!

My dishwasher is currently doing it's first load. We'll see how the dishes come out in the morning (and if this dishwasher can handle my oatmeal bowls!), but for now, here it is in all it's dishwashing glory.

I didn't make it to yoga tonight due to dishwasher installation, but I did stop slacking and Whittle My Middle. Unfortunately, while I was doing my core work, I discovered there's something wrong with my wrist. When I did my first plank, I collapse almost immediately from a sharp pain in my right wrist. I'm going to ice it tonight, and see how it feels over the next couple days, but if it doesn't start getting better a trip to the doctor may be in my near future. In the mean time, I'll be doing some modified planks.