You never realize how boring your life is until somebody asks what you like to do for fun

Month: March 2025

Meds

Tiffany opened one of my kitchen cabinets and just stood there.

This is what she was staring at.

It’s not nearly as bad as it looks. That large bottle on the left is Gabapentin, which I take three times a day. The problem is they send it in multiple small bottles instead of one large bottle like they used to. So it takes up a shitload of space. (Those bottles at the back that are upside down are meds I quit, but things have been changing so quickly that I keep them, just in case.)

That leaves a mere eight pills I take twice a day. That take up too much room for my medicine cabinet.

I take two for my blood pressure, one for my diabetes, one for my afib, one so my pulmonary edema doesn’t come back, one for my cholesterol, one for the swelling in my legs, and one for medically induced pain. – You’ve gotta love that last one.

One doctor put me on beta blockers, one doctor put me on blood thinners, one nurse practitioner put me on the water pills, and an assortment of primary physicians put on the rest.

Now, I knew a dude on nineteen different meds spread across his waking hours, with one wake up in the middle of the night. So I don’t feel so bad about my list of meds. But I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t some way to cut the list in half.

Ah well, that’s very unlikely since I’m now the proud possessor of a primary physician, a cardiologist, a pulmonologist, and any number of techs who’s goal in life seems to be to see just how uncomfortable they can make me while they take pretty pictures of my insides.

I have to agree that a cupboard full of medicine is kind of scary, but so far I’ve outlived a primary doctor and one of those people who do wellness checks. Now all I’ve got to do is outlive an overweight cardiologist and I will tie my father’s old record. And why is it that the people who tell you you need to lose weight all seem to need to lose weight?

Yup, I’m wandering again.

Cheesecake – sort of

I was staring at a graham cracker pie crust I stashed in the freezer a month or so back, wondering what to do with it. Then I remembered I also had a block of cream cheese. So of course I decided to make cheesecake. The problem was that I didn’t have any sour cream or sweetened condensed milk. So I compromised.

I softened the cream cheese, threw it in the mixing bowl with a whisk. Then tossed in a large dollop of Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.

To this I added 1/3 cup (give or take) of white sugar and a splash of vanilla and whipped it well.

The yogurt is always a little sharp, so, because apricot preserves are sweet/slightly bitter and go well with yogurt, I warmed up a large dollop and beat that in.

When I got it to the consistency I wanted I dumped it into the room temperature pie crust, and put it in the fridge. Two hours later I took a bite and decided I’m probably going to do it again.

This is what’s left very early on the second day, so I must have done something right.

Cheesecake

It’s not half bad, but you really need a cup of strong black coffee to cut the sweetness.

Tired of medical posts

I went in and read the results of the stress test and all it said was “Tell the patient that there are no major blockages.” Straight to the point. No big words for me to look up. This means that I’m probably healthier than my cardiologist. – Barring some major changes I’m not planning on doing any more medical posts.

Well, I got a new phone, an iPhone 16 Plus. I thought about spending even more money on the Pro Max, but it’s taller and only a tiny bit wider, making it look strange. And while it has more screen real estate and a better camera (at least on paper) I don’t want anything I can’t drop in my pocket.

If you go to Apple you can see how carefully they’ve illustrated the difference, but when you go to the store it jumps out at you.

As for the camera, unless you plan on making YouTube or TikTok videos or maybe entering a photo contest (yes, they have photo contests for smartphones) I doubt you’ll ever notice the difference. – This is what happens when hype meets the real world.

Now I’m going to do something important, like figuring out how to use Bluehost’s WonderBlocks — or not.

More tests

Well, they’ve got new stress test that doesn’t require a treadmill. It’s all chemical. Some sort of radioactive material followed by a dye. This cocktail stimulates the heart so it reacts just like the treadmill, without the physical stress, the gasping for air, and the whining. It’s like a ct scan (cat scan), only more comfortable.

Of course, throughout this latest bunch of tests I never saw my cardiologist, only techs.

Now, after waiting for 24 hr while the Holter monitor recorded my heart activity, I get to wait for my cardiologist to read the results. And then, I get to wait for the results to be posted. -Let’s just say that waiting is not one of the things I do well.

I returned the monitor a few minutes ago and this dinky flight of stairs left me winded. There are only 18 or so steps, but I’m sure glad the railing is solid.

I think one of the problems is that the steps are not very high or deep. I assume this is to accommodate vertically challenged folks. But it makes them awkward for us normal people. I know that’s not much of an excuse but when it’s all you’ve got you run with it. — What do you mean 6’ 4” isn’t normal?

At any rate, the results of the ultrasound say that I have “Bilateral dependent basilar platelike atelectasis -no mass.”

As I understand it, this means small sections of the lungs have collapsed. So this little beastie (incentive spirometer) is what a nurse suggested. — The day I bought this it cost $30 on Amazon.

According to the instructions you inhale just hard enough to keep the yellow ball centered, repeat for a total of 10 reps, pausing every 3 or 4 breaths. Once an hour?

I’m not sure how such a gentle machine is supposed to help, but it makes me tired and makes my lungs feel like they’ve run a marathon. So I guess it’s doing something.

This is what happens when you don’t have the good sense to die young.

All that being said, I figure I’ve still got a few good years left.

So stand by for even more medical whining.

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