Sunday Weigh in June 25, 2023

[Barb135]

Good afternoon... I hope everyone has had a wonderful Sunday.  I'm sorry I'm so late posting, but the day simply got away from me.

My week has been quiet but busy.  I had a doctor's appointment early in the week to follow up on my trip to urgent care during my trip to South Dakota/Iowa.  I'd gotten sick - congestion, cough, etc, plus the dog bite I mentioned last week.  Anyway, the urgent care in SD did a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia and found an abnormality in my lung, so recommended a CT scan.  I visited my own doctor on Tuesday to get an order for the scan and actually had the scan done on Thursday.   No results yet.

I also needed to have the dog bites checked to make sure they were healing properly.  They're almost completely healed now, but the teeth must have grazed the muscle (or bone?) so my arm/hand are still pretty sore.  

I've been terribly tired, so really haven't done a lot except sleep, all week.  I did go to a calligraphy Study Group yesterday and started learning how to do scrapbooking.  We put all the photos that are taken during classes, meetings, etc into scrapbooks and for this we get a group together and all work on separate pages.  It's a fun time of being together and socializing while we get some work done.   So now that I've done it once, I won't have an excuse not to do it next time.  lol

Of course, a day out wore me out, so I was in bed by 8:00 last night and slept most of the night.  We had a busy morning today, so of course, that required a nap this afternoon!!  

Anyway, I'm sure you can figure out from all this sleeping that I'm not getting much exercise, which translates to not losing any weight, either.   I haven't weighed today, but Friday when I stepped on the scale, I was within a couple of tenths of where I was last week.  I guess staying the same is better than gaining and I can't be disappointed at not losing, since I'm not doing anything to weight loss possible.  

So how was your week and how are you coming on your "journey"?  I hope you were able to reach whatever goal(s) you set for yourself.  

~~Wishing everyone a wonderful successful week~~

[AnnieBrooke]

Hello, I was also offline much of the day. Barb, I'm glad you got the scan done, but wish they had told you faster what it revealed.  Hate to be concerned about something like that over a weekend. My colonoscopy lab report was slow in arriving and then the doctor wrote me just a short note. I was directed to ask any questions through my GP and not to him. I guess they do this to save the doctor the tedious chore of actually talking to a patient, but it's kind of a useless long-term strategy. I have questions only he can answer.

We have been hand-pulling a pretty huge intrusion of Bishop's Weed out from among the other plants in our front yard, and planting some new things. I don't know why the previous owners planted the Bishop's Weed -- it's really invasive, almost like kudzu. We can't use a general herbicide because it's all over ... interspersed with our trees, shrubs and flowers. So we've been digging, pulling (despite the fact that the rhizomes just send out new plants) and blacking it out (covering it with weed-barrier fabric and covering *that* with a thick mulch layer), in order to try to get it gone. It's going to take at least a year of vigilance to get bits coming up at the seams and edges of the weed barrier. But the front yard is definitely more attractive for not having it, despite everyone in the family's aching backs and hands. Another area of the yard also has it on a very steep bank (no footholds). We're thinking about propping a ladder against the bank and pulling it the same way, but also wonder whether just to leave it. It's no fun, though acceptable exercise, but sweaty and hot these past few days.

My weight this morning was the same as two weeks ago, which means down about a half pound since last week. I've been gaining and losing that half pound for quite a number of weeks. But down is a good direction, I'll see if I can keep it going.

Here's hoping the medical news is good, Barb, and you have a great week!

[Barb135]

Oh wow - when I have a colonoscopy, they put my husband and I into a separate room (after I've come out of the anesthesia) and the doctor comes in to talk with us, regarding the findings.  He brings a written report, with photos of any polyps or other things he finds, for me to bring home for my records.   During the time he's with us, we have a chance to ask any questions we might have and he lets me know about follow-up, when I'll need the next colonoscopy, etc.    I can't imagine having to deal with all that through my gp who wasn't present at the time.  

I'm hoping to get the scan results today - if they don't get posted to the portal over the weekend, they often get there first thing on Monday morning so we'll see.  

Your weed pulling ordeal sounds absolutely exhausting.  I'm not familiar with Bishops Weed, so had to look it up.  It would seem that the previous owners might have planted it for a ground cover to avoid having to plant a lot of other things - especially on the steep hillside.   Hopefully, the weed barrier and mulch will help get it under control.    It's always satisfying to accomplish a task like that - getting new things planted.  You'd almost have to plant something in its place on the steep bank to keep the dirt from washing down.  I might leave the Bishops Weed since it's already there??

I know what you mean about losing the same 1/2 pound over and over.  I'm dealing with about 5 pounds that I've been doing that with for the past couple of years.   I thought I had it on a downward trend before I left for my trip up north, but whatever progress I'd made is gone now!!  

I have a cardiology appointment this morning, so I'm off to get ready for that.  I was hoping I'd have the report for the chest scan before my appointment but it looks like I might have to go without it.  

Enjoy your week.  

[AnnieBrooke]

I had not heard of Bishop's Weed either. It isn't commonly planted here, though one neighbor has it in her front yard bounded on two sides by her house and the other side by a curved cement walkway that touches her house at both ends. (Therefore, the plant is contained. Except she lets it bloom and go to seed, so I can't imagine some won't spread out of that planting bed.) Anyway, English ivy and Himalayan blackberries are much more serious pest plants here, with the ivy even killing trees. But Bishop's Weed can become a serious pest -- in some states, its invasive habits even make it illegal to plant. I don't want forensic experts from the Department of Agriculture to someday identify our yard as ground zero for a Bishop's Weed infestation that has taken over our city. lol

I've developed the tentative theory that Bishop's Weed won't grow in deep shade. Most of our yard is "part sun," but where we have big deciduous trees, the Bishop's Weed stops. This might be a coincidence and it might be the climate (in the states that have made it illegal, shade doesn't seem to stop Bishop's Weed). But on this theory, this past weekend we planted a maple on top of the steeply sloped area (the slope leads up to a street, so we can reach the top) partly to shade some ferns below it, and partly in hopes that some day the maple will help shade out the Bishop's Weed.

If it weren't so invasive it would be an interesting plant -- cultivated varieties are often variegated (and rather attractive, if you ignore that the whole garden is being overrun). At the bottom of our slope, where it has obviously spread all by itself, it changes from variegated to solid green. (Maybe by the time it reached the bottom of the slope, it just said to hell with it and dropped all pretense to beauty and spread in earnest.) I guess we can at least pull out the stuff at the bottom of the slope.

Well, Barb, all I can say is that you got better colonoscopy information than I did, for sure. They came to talk to me after the procedure, and said they had removed four polyps and sent them to the lab, and assured me they weren't cancer. But that was all I got from the doctor after the procedure. Then when the lab report arrived, there was a discrepancy in how many polyp samples they tested and how many the doctor said they removed. (They had a report for "sample A," and a report for "sample B." The obvious question is, what about "sample C" and "sample D"?) Maybe they did test them and group them all as "sample B," but if so, someone should let me know, and I've been asking. Now that weeks have passed, I doubt anyone will know exactly what was sampled. It's quite irritating.

Well, today I've got bills to pay and my husband's work to edit, and then more yardwork -- we bought three kinnikinnick plants and they're not in yet, and it's hot and sunny. No rest for us until they're in.

Have a great week!