If you know me very well, you know that I don't like to dwell on health issues, but I do want to be healthy and "LIVE" until I die, so I do visit my medical advisor at least once a year, whether I want to or not, and I do undergo some of the tests they advise, but not as regularly as they would prefer. Lucky for me, I am pretty healthy and I do try to stay as healthy as I can. I fall short in the weight management and exercise departments, but I guess I just can't be perfect!
So this week I received some good, and I thought, exciting news. My cholesterol has dropped from 200 to 146 in just a couple of months. This is not because of changing my diet, exercising more, or taking my prescribed medication. I had been told that my high cholesterol was probably genetic, since a large weight loss and a year on Weight Watchers had only increased my numbers. So I tried a couple different cholesterol medications. One made me itch incessantly and the other gave me major joint pain and weak muscles. A good friend told me to take an over the counter herbal cholesterol supplement that had helped her, so I did. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
My local clinic called a couple of months ago to tell me I should get my cholesterol checked to see how my new prescription was working. I told them that I was not taking it because of bad side effects and that I was trying an herbal supplement, but had just recently started it. They said they would call back in a month or so and I could come in and have it checked then. They did and I did and this was my result! I am pretty excited about this because I know a lot of people have trouble with cholesterol and cholesterol medication. If you try it, I do believe it is good to get it checked to see if, and how it is working for you.
I am researching herbal blood pressure supplements now and may soon be a guinea pig for them. If they would work as good as my cholesterol supplements, I feel the less drugs you have to take the better.
Since I am on a health rant, I guess I will get this over all at once. Since my husband and I are officially "old" (damn), and have a couple of health issues, we were excited to get vaccinated for Covid and did so as soon as we could last January and March. We are planning to get the booster as soon as we can and I have had my flu shot and Howard will get his in the next couple weeks. But, two weeks ago, we went to the ER because Howard had a very bad pain in his side. Long ER visit and story short, turns out he had diverticulitis and.......Covid. We did not know it and the ER doctor told me I probably had it too. So I got checked the next day and sure enough, I had it too! The good news is that we had no idea we had it. We had both been dragging around with what we thought was a nice fall cold. So, all is well now - he has finished all his diverticulitis drugs and seems pretty much back to normal and I am feeling well over it. I am so happy we didn't end up in the hospital or worse!
I am not for vaccine mandates, but if your health is precarious or you are old and want to live to be older, I do believe in protecting yourself. We remember when polio vaccine first came out and how excited everyone was. We also remember getting smallpox vaccinations and TB tests regularly. Over the years we have been vaccinated for tetanus, diptheria, whooping cough, and our kids have had measles, mumps and chicken pox vaccines available to them. Modern medicine has eradicated many of these terrible diseases but I also don't believe big pharmaceuticals always have people's best interests in mind.
It's official! Greta Nelson and I will be having an art show in conjunction with the Medora Cowboy Christmas, These are a few of the photos I will be showing/selling. This is the first weekend in December, so mark it on your calendars and plan to attend!
Look what you can make out of old jeans pockets. I made this last week out of some of Howard's old Levis.
I also made these last week - they are very easy and fun and I think they will be pretty practical as well.
Well, I am going to help Howard move machinery next and since the sun is supposed to come out in a couple of hours, head toward TRNP to take some pictures and also try iPhone photography since I just got the newest version and am anxious to give it a test. All the pictures in this post were taken with it except the Cholesterol one. TTFN.
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