Category: Health

January 2023 Recap

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Egg prices were outrageous. $7.50 for two dozen at Costco which is considered a deal.

Discovered the Unsolved Mysteries podcast and started binge-listening like a mofo.

Put my Robert Smith Funko Pop on my Cure shelf above my computer desk.

Bitched on Facebook about the fact that you cannot add McDonald’s Arch Card to their mobile app for payment. So stupid!

Made cream cheese strudel for breakfast one day and dare I say it, was tastier than any stupid coffee cake you can buy at the store.

Found the cutest and comfiest slippers on clearance at Walmart ($6 each).

Started tracking my sleep with my Apple Watch in an effort to prioritize it. Gamifying life is the way to go!

Made zucchini bread with walnuts that made me question why I do not make it more often as it’s delicious!

Finished, and started, a few TV series:

Finished Better Call Saul. Final season was a bit of a slog.

Started three new series:

That 90’s Show (Netflix) – 7/10 – Love the nostalgia factor & the one girl reminds me of Alana from Broad City

The Last of Us (HBO Max) – 6/10 – Olivia from Fringe is in it. Based off a PlayStation video game

Night Court (Peacock) – 7/10 – Bernadette from Big Bang Theory is the judge & John Larroquette reminds me of an old Billy Eichner. Loved watching the original when I was at my grandparents house.

Culver’s ruined my day, and all future trips, by switching rom Pepsi to Coke in all their restaurants. Coke is too sweet and rips up my stomach so it’s a sad day that yet another restaurant only serves Coke products. I normally do not get soft drinks when dining out anyway, but the kids meal at Culver’s comes with one and I looked forward to a little Pepsi with my burger. I refuse to buy soda for at home when a case of 12 is $8 and you used to be able to get a case of 24 for $5!

The main tv in our living room (a Samsung 55″, which we got in June 2015) developed the purple spots of death meaning we’ll need to replace it relatively soon depending on how quickly the rest of the backlit LEDs burn out (or how much it starts to annoy me seeing a purple cast on everything). So far it’s just in two spots along the top and left side so they aren’t always noticeable.

Discovered our new favorite ice cream brand – Favorite Day by Target. All the flavors we’ve tried thus far are delicious (Cookie Dough, Peanut Butter Fudge, and Mint Cookies & Cream). Didn’t think to check the ingredients until the third container, only to realize there’s high fructose corn syrup in them. No wonder! Will probably still get it, but won’t go as hard on them moving forward.

Finally added Wish to my vinyl collection. It’s a re-issue that I preordered from my new favorite record store, Mile Long Records. The prices are a bit higher than you’d pay on Amazon or Walmart, but I like supporting a local business and it’s owner, Mike, is really nice.

Decided to stop spending hours every night scrolling TikTok and get back into reading instead. Set a goal of 24 books this year and was ahead of schedule after reading 4 books in January alone. Since my eyes suck and I’ve yet to get bifocals or progressives, I dusted off my old 2010 Kindle and started using that again. Other than needing to be charged more frequently than when it was new, it’s been great!

COVID Positive

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Not me, oh no, but Joe. It was going around like wildfire at his job the week before he got it.

Monday (7/18) evening he started sneezing and I was like “stay away from me, germy”. He teased me for being paranoid, but the following morning (Tuesday 7/19) around 11 am he texted me from work saying he suddenly didn’t feel well and was coming home. When he got home he took a home test and it was positive. He told his job who told him not to come back to work until the next week. Then he called his doctor who ended up prescribing him Paxlovid.

We set it up so he stayed isolated in his office upstairs with the door closed. Anytime he came out to use the bathroom or I brought him food we’d both wear N95 masks.

The week he was sick (with a slightly sore throat, mild cough, and fatigue) was strange as we had to do our own thing and I was in charge of all the cooking which seemed to take up a lot of time. When he’s at work I usually only have to worry about dinner and on the weekends he’ll often make breakfast and we’ll skip lunch and get take out around 3 pm for an early dinner. I didn’t want to watch any of our shows without him, so I got back into watching Dateline. I’ve been watching it in the afternoons during the week now.

On Sunday (7/24) he tested negative so he came out of hiding and was able to participate in the butterfly release. I had purchased a cup of caterpillars earlier in the month that had quickly formed into chrysalis and while Joe was in insolation they started emerging. I fed them sugar water and orange slices for a few days but released them on Sunday to ensure they had time to do their thing as their lifespan is about two weeks.

Anyway, I’m happy to report our efforts worked and I never ended up catching anything. I’ve still never had COVID (unless I had an asymptomatic case at some point) and I hope to keep it that way. I’m not worried about dying from it but the long-term damage it can do, even in mild cases, is concerning and not entirely understood.

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A funny thing happened the day Joe tested positive. An hour or two later the doorbell rang. I almost didn’t answer, but then I spotted the unmistakable Crumbl cookie pink box through the video doorbell camera, and got very excited as I knew it was my bestie who had sent them.

The message on the side of the box was funny:

I liked all the cookies except for the chocolate chip which I actively disliked. The two all-chocolate ones were my favorites. They may be on the pricey side, but I’d say they are worth it.

Too Much D In Me

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Ever since I’ve been getting my vitamin D tested, it’s always either been deficient, or at the low end of normal. When I was sick in 2019 I was taking vitamin D drops with added vitamin K for better absorption and it went up to 45, but dropped back down last year when I wasn’t taking it anymore because a single bottle was $32. At that time I decided to try the vitamin D3 drops from Vitamin Shoppe because they often have a BOGO offer – I get two bottles for $22 and each bottle lasts a month or two, depending on dose.

During the winter I was taking 5000 IU daily but dropped to 3000 in April and then changed it to 4000 IU in mid-May.

Late last month I went to the doctor for my annual exam and she ran some bloodwork. Everything came back normal (including cholesterol), except for my vitamin D level which was through the roof.

Yikes! Luckily I wasn’t feeling any affects of vitamin D toxicity. However, my doctor, understandably so, told me to cease any and all sources of extra vitamin D so we could recheck my levels in three months.

I was fine stopping the drops, but I was apprehensive about quitting my other supplements that also have vitamin D in them (which I hadn’t considered when I determined my drops dose). In fact, I hadn’t even thought to check whether the Emergen-C I was taking had any D in it, and of course there was 1000 IU in it.

Florastor, which I take every night, recently added 400 IU to the pills they sell through Costco (which of course is the cheapest way to obtain them).

That being said, I did stop taking everything two weeks ago and as expected, my acid reflux has been worse, so I ordered some Florastor from Amazon that doesn’t have any vitamin D in it.

One other interesting development is that the soreness I’ve been experiencing in my cheeks and jaw for months has all but disappeared. I knew it wasn’t related to my nightly teeth grinding because it would develop over the course of the day, whereas most people wake up in pain. I was willing to consider getting a $3000 mouth guard from the dentist, however, if it kept up or got worse, so I’m glad it’s feeling better now. It could just be a strange coincidence anyway, so only time will tell.

Blue Shield CA Sucks

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Of all the health insurance companies we’ve had in the past several years, Blue Shield of California has already made it to the top of my shit list.

I don’t know if it’s because Joe’s company is based in California, therefore making choices in Illinois limited, but I’ve spent HOURS trying to find a facility that is NOT a hospital that will cover an ultrasound he needs for a lump under his left arm and they just do not exist in their shitty network. Their list is so outdated, it would be laughable if it wasn’t so incredibly infuriating. Not a single free-standing facility on their list is viable. If they aren’t closed, have a disconnected number, or are an actual residence (how did that even happen?), they don’t actually do ultrasounds. It’s nothing short of absolutely ridiculous how much time I’ve spent trying to find a place with no success.

I guess we have to go through the hospital and hope it won’t cost a fortune. What other choice is there? I wouldn’t be surprised if they neglect their other facility list on purpose to force you to deal with the hospital because it probably makes everyone more money that way (except us, of course, who will have to pay a higher price).

To make matters worse, they straight up told me they can’t provide a price quote for any services. Why not? Aetna and Cigna had no problems doing it, and they were extremely accurate too! WTF, Blue Cross? You suck, and I hope we never have to deal with you via another employer ever again.

Gotta love living in a capitalist society where it costs tons of money just to live while companies keep raising prices to make an even bigger profit while simultaneously gaslighting everyone into thinking the president is to blame for “inflation”. Meanwhile companies give little to no cost of living raises and people wonder why the economy suffers? I call bullshit on this entire system. It only benefits the ultra rich. No wonder people retire to other countries. I’ve about had it with this one, that’s for sure.

Pandemic Thoughts

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I’ve reached a point in this pandemic where I’m perfectly fine never speaking to certain people ever again. This is big for me because I’ve always done my best not to cause conflict with people because I do not like being disliked. But then it occurred to me – why do I care what someone who I have lost respect for thinks of me anyway? I do not value their opinion, and I disagree with their world view enough that I do not plan on speaking to, or spending time with, them so why do I even care? Answer: I don’t.

Look, it’s one thing if you’re vaccine hesitant because of *reasons*, although hopefully those are legit reasons and not stupid shit like “I don’t know what’s in it” or “it’s not FDA approved” (ahem, as of Monday Pfizer is so I guess those people will need to find a new goalpost). But if you’re going to be plastering your Facebook wall with conspiracy talk and putting stuff up that says “I have an immune system”, “I stand for medical freedom”, or “unmask the children” I think that a) you’re a moron and b) a selfish one at that and I have no interest in interacting with you in any capacity moving forward.

I seriously cannot wrap my head around the mentality that the government is trying to kill us with this vaccine. If that were true, why were they one of the first groups to get vaccinated? And why would the government want to kill all the scientists and medical professionals? Do these people ever stop and think logically? Because if every single one of the vaccinated people dies within 6 months, 1 year, or 2 years like these wackadoos are saying then all we’re going to be left with are people with IQs in the double digits who refuse to listen to authority. Do you really think those are the people the government wants left standing?

Besides, if that’s the case, well, I’m ok with my fate because I don’t want to live in that world anyway. We’re well on our way to a real life Idiocracy if things don’t change. If anything, the government is hoping all these “my body, my choice” (unless it’s to stop others from getting an abortion, of course, because *hypocrisy*) people will die off.

I’d just like to know whether these people have ever done any true research and/or watched a single video of a real doctor explaining how your immune system and vaccines work. Because I just can’t believe that anyone with a shred of intelligence would still think the crazy things I’ve seen people posting out there. They must be getting all their information from Facebook memes and it’s really sad they cannot be motivated enough to at least look at reputable sources before parroting the same old rhetoric.

The anti-mask anti-vaccine people are like a toddler who throws a tantrum because you won’t let them stick a fork in a light socket. We have parents actively fighting against school administrations so their children don’t have to wear masks. Do they want their child exposed to a deadly virus? Do they not believe it exists? Oh wait, it must be that, until their kid does get sick and then they’ll be asking you to donate to their Go Fund Me for their medical (or funeral) expenses.

I’ve seen too many videos of people saying they changed their mind about not getting vaccinated, but only AFTER they’ve caught COVID. Apparently if it doesn’t happen to them directly it’s not real. So how does that work for Christians, then? Last I heard they haven’t personally met Jesus or God so…

If the consequences of not getting vaccinated and catching COVID rested solely with the infected individual, I wouldn’t care. You made a choice and there are consequences that go along with that. But this affects everyone. It’s a public health issue. It’s not political, it’s not a way for the government to control you, and it’s not a mass culling. There are children dying now thanks to the Delta variant, not to mention hospitals being overloaded to the point where they have to turn away people having heart attacks and strokes because the unvaccinated COVID patients are taking up all the resources. Innocent people who did their part are dying thanks the selfishness of these people and that makes me very very angry.

I am livid that this is the world we live in. The lack of empathy and personal responsibility is higher that I ever thought possible and it’s frustrating, disheartening, and disgusting. I’m sure there’s levels of this bullshit in other countries but I wouldn’t be surprised if the U.S. has the highest concentration of nut jobs. The same people who have been crying about their freedoms and refusing to wear masks are the reason why we’re still dealing with this today. Now they are going to see even more of their “freedom” stripped away as cities institute vaccine passports for things like bars, clubs, restaurants, concerts and other events. If only everyone had done their part we wouldn’t be in this position. But they’re all too up their own ass to even see it.

The worst part is there’s nothing I can do about any of this. I have tried to talk sense into one family member and was told “I’m stubborn so the more you try to convince me, the less chance I will do it”. Seriously!?!? So I assured them I wouldn’t bring it up again, and I haven’t. I guess they’ll either suffer the consequences of their inaction, or they’ll get lucky and feel justified in it. Either way it’s a real shitty outcome.

I’ve made peace with the fact that I may very well lose family members to this virus, or at least see them disabled from it, which is still terrible when your quality of life is affected. But what else can I do? I have to let go and let the chips fall where they may. And that’s the worst part of this past year and a half.