Wednesday, November 17, 2021

 Wednesday, November 17, 2021

  

    In the middle of the night, my left psoas spasmed.  If it had been on the right side, I would have been concerned it was appendicitis. I didn’t panic; I just waited. It passed.  Yesterday, I had a PT appointment. She did myofascial release on my abdominal muscles. I had another PT do something like this on me. I made a huge difference. I realized this morning this PT was doing cranial sacral work on me.  This is fantastic!  

    There was no internet connection again this morning. I reread my update entry from November 16, 2020 but couldn’t run it through Grammarly or post it without an internet connection. Given that I had to make a presentation that evening, this was not good. It was getting annoying. If the boys can’t figure out how to fix this, I may have to go back to Spectrum.  

   I stopped off on my way to town to pick up a copy of my TB test results at Kaiser.  No, the principal didn’t suggest I bring in another copy. I wasn’t sure I could get one.  I called Kaiser yesterday, and they told me I just had to go to the registration desk and ask for one.  The clerk said, “I can only print out your whole vaccine record.”  Okay. I had nothing to hide.  

   I continued to my Cryotherapy appointment. Yvette recommended it. She and Josh were doing it and loved the results.  I had one previous appointment. I only had a local treatment that day to see how I felt about it. Nikki worked on a small area of my back that day. It helped with the inflammation.  Today, I was trying the whole-body treatment. It required me to be naked except for a pair of underpants, socks, and gloves.  She gave me a bathrobe which I handed to her once I got in the tank. It’s a vertical cylinder with a door. I stepped inside and passed her my robe.  She raised the platform I was standing on, so my head was outside.  The therapist told me she hated the treatment, and she does it daily when she can because it does her so much good. During her first session, she kept moving. Some people only move every fifteen seconds.  I kept moving to be on the safe side. I didn’t find it particularly cold.  The treatment is brief, only -is it three minutes or five minutes?   I needed help getting out. She had to get a stool for me to step on.  All this took time. She had to take my skin temperature.  It was 58⁰. She said it was probably that high because she couldn’t measure it the moment I got out.  It was only then she told me that my constant movement reduced the impact of the treatment.  I didn’t feel any difference from the treatment except for a lovely calm that came over me as I walked to my car.  I’m game to give it several more tries before I decide against it. I hoped it would help me feel better while dealing with my grief and all the stress from the social and political chaos worldwide, particularly here in the USA. 

  I thought of the cold in Madison, Wisconsin winters.  My last year there, it was 600 below zero with the windchill factor. I was used to it. My sister also studied there. She remembers one day when she walked up the hill to Bascom Hall. By the time she got there, every hair on her legs was frozen. I bet her skin temperature was below 46⁰, an ideal temperature goal.  All Wisconsin residents must have been very healthy.   

    I went to Ace Hardware Picked up plastic sheeting to cover the openings when my 4’ x 7’ screens would be in the shop. Then I went to Island Naturals to get vitamins.  I told the stem cell doctor that I felt lousy and mentally weird, easily disoriented, and forgetful. He said, “Are you taking your vitamins?”  I have a relative that people suspect had some short-term problems. The doctor recommended Vit. B 12 for him.  It made me imagine that I’m not getting enough Vit. B at all. I wanted to buy an iodine-free One a Day supplement and some extra Vit B.   

I got some help from one of the Island Natural’s staff. When I told him I was looking for an iodine-free pill, I got quite a lecture. He told me how vital iodine is.  When I came home, I looked up iodine allergy.  It said people are not allergic to iodine; it is some additional chemical that triggers the allergy. My allergy first showed up in hard-shelled seafood.  I’m sure there are other chemicals there. However, I had the same reaction when I took two one-a-day pills.  I got that particular type of nausea I associate with the allergy.  I like salt.  Recently, I didn’t separate some pretzels from the remaining loose salt at the bottom of the container.  I had an immediate reaction.  The only constant in all these items is iodine.  I don’t get it. Nor do I care to risk it.  When I was a kid, my mom would make scallops with red cabbage. I always got nauseous when she made that meal.  I associated it with the red cabbage because it was a stronger smell. 

On the way home, I stopped at the middle school to drop off the TB test results. I didn’t want to use a valuable business envelope; I grabbed one of the Christmas cards I got from some charity or another with a Santa Claus on it.  I wanted something clearly marked I could put in the principal’s mailbox.  When I walked in, I saw a woman I had seen before. She was never sitting in the reception area. I knew her from the elementary school.  I wasn’t sure who she was. I asked, “Are you the principal?” Yes. Ah, she must have been an assistant principal in the elementary school.  I handed her the record sheet, telling her the TB results were on the bottom of the page.  She thanked me and said sorry; she would process my application. How long now? Another month?

   Mama K texted to say she had to take Twin E to the dentist. Could we cancel? You’d better believe it.  I had to get ready for the workshop I was presenting.  I had been thinking about it like my Reading Office hours, requiring no preparation. Julia wrote to tell me she was thrilled I was making another presentation; they were advertising it.  Yikes! I spent the rest of the day organizing it. 

   I had an appointment with Adolescent D.  Did he do any reading today in school? No. Did he do any writing? Yes. He copied questions. What!!!?  That means you read something. No. I didn’t read those words as I wrote them. What!!!??? Is that even possible? You didn’t read a single word. I don’t think so.  Holy cow!  No, I don’t think he’s lying. I think he lives at that level of inattention to himself and the world around him.  I made my plans for the next lesson. I was interested in knowing his copying procedure. Did he copy letter by letter, looking up to see the next letter after he had written one?  Did he collect letters in his working memory before he wrote? If so, how many?

   The presentation was no big deal.  There were only four people who were not involved with organizing it.  The two organizers had already had a session with me. One of the remaining four announced that she had attended one of my Reading office hours. She had used my method with great success. Apparently, there had been a snafu with the announcement.  My big concern was time. I completed my spiel in under 45 minutes.  I felt comfortable skimming over some ideas and referring people to the videos for more information.  Something good came out of the workshop. I was able to push Tommy into compiling the Phase II video and uploading it to YouTube.  He’s been dragging his feet on this. One excuse after another. He’s twenty-three. That I needed it to support the presentation, put a fire under him, and he got it done.  Sometimes, I need a little heat myself to get things done.

       Isaac joined me for our evening walk. We ran into Lutz, as we often do.  He does his long walk at that time of night. Lutz and Isaac fell into a conversation about chemistry. I learned that Isaac was studying pre-med. He really did know chemistry inside and out.  It was fun listening to them, even though I had no idea what they were talking about. I interrupted them to tell them my chemistry story.

    I took chemistry in my junior year of high school.  I was failing. I didn’t have a clue.  I have since learned that some people like biology and algebra, and some like chemistry and geometry. I’m a biology/algebra girl. I barely hung on in geometry. But the only way I passed chem was because the teacher cheated.  I had been getting Ds and Fs on tests. Then one came back with a solid C. I was thrilled.  I sat in class, seeing if he missed any points. He did; something like 20, but they were all points he added to my grade. I didn’t earn them.  I was an honest kid. I went up to the teacher after class. “Mr. Snyder, you made a mistake on my test.” He didn’t look up. He just said, “No, I didn’t.”  with tears in my eyes, I said, “Yes, you did. Please, look.” He said, “Go away.” I got it.  My dad had died the spring before. There is a good chance all the teachers knew it and were looking out for me. 

   Tonight, I had to tell Isaac that Judy couldn’t handle two more people at the Thanksgiving dinner table.  Isaac was alone here volunteering at a church school.  I have no idea why someone from the church hadn’t invited him for Thanksgiving dinner, but they hadn’t.  Judy agreed to include him at her table.  Then I found out that a friend of Isaac’s would be arriving on Thanksgiving Day.  One person was going to make things tight around the table; two people was just too much. At least Isaac won’t be alone.  Judy is talking about cooking them a Thanksgiving dinner for two.

    I watched some Offspring.  I do love this show. I learned that it was award-winning show in Australia.  I can easily believe that.