Sunday Weigh In October 25, 2020

[Barb135]

Good morning.  How is everyone doing today?  It's pretty quiet here... we can sure tell winter is not far off, though the temperatures aren't changing much.  Leaves are turning colors and falling off the trees and most dreaded for me is that the days are getting shorter.  I can't believe how much later it's getting daylight and how much earlier it's getting dark.  I'm all for sunshine and having long days so the short days of winter are pretty difficult.  

Other than that, things are going as well as can be expected.  My foot is still in the healing process and there is still a lot of swelling and pain.  The odd thing is that the pain isn't where the break is, or even close to it.  It's in a whole different area of my foot - same for the swelling.  The break is at the base of #3 and 4 toes, but the bulk of the pain and swelling are very close to the ankle. I did try to talk to the ortho doctor about this the last time I saw him and the only response I got was "that's normal", but I don't think it is and there is still slight swelling/pain in the toe area, which I'd say is pretty normal for being almost 12 weeks out from the break.  I'm thinking that I might write the doctor a note and drop it off prior to my appointment in hopes that he'll pay particular attention to that area when I see him next month.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting the foot healed so I can get back to walking for exercise again.  I've been playing with my thyroid medication(s), trying to come up with the combo I feel best with.  Although I'm not looking to have the thyroid medication "cause" a lot of weight loss, I am looking to get levels high enough to bring metabolism back to something I can live with - aka, the ability to lose weight when I put forth the effort.  They aren't going to do anything about the suspicious nodule on my thyroid (it's not large enough), so I just have to deal with that.

Anyway, as I mentioned last week, my winter neighbor is back and although I'm not allowed to "walk for exercise" yet, we have been taking a short walk down my street most days. We go super slow because of the doctor's order to not walk for exercise, plus I still can't walk well (weak, unsteady, and at times painful).  I use a cane to help stabilize myself. It also tends to slow me down so I don't overdo it.  

I've been trying to get some outside work done - things that I've had to let go since I broke my foot at the end of August.  I'm still using my golf cart to get around the yard, haul things, etc. That makes it so much easier - I might just continue that, even after my foot heals...lol  Anyway, I've gotten some plants repotted, some others started from cuttings, and some things cleaned up, but have a lot left to do.  I need to get out and do some things in my shop, as my granddaughter's birthday is next weekend, plus the holidays will be here before we know it.  

I haven't weighed this morning, but when I stepped on the scale earlier in the week, I was down 3 pounds from last week but the next day, I was only down 1 pound from last week.  That would be due to fluid fluctuation.  I'll take the one pound loss - at least it's going the right direction and will report back later if anything is different. I did snack on some chips last night, so I'm sure I have more fluid than earlier in the week.

So - that's my story (enough of it anyway...lol).  How was your week?  I hope you reached whatever goal(s) you set for yourself and look forward to hearing about it.

~~Wishing everyone a wonderful, successful week~~
**Stay safe and wash your hands**

[AnnieBrooke]

Yes, though an X-ray will identify it if you had broken a bone up by your ankle, it won't identify a sprain or a torn muscle. Since it has lasted so long, I would not suspect a sprain but wouldn't be astounded to hear you had a torn muscle, since it was such an odd accident and your foot had to be in a funny position even to break the bone. It doesn't sound like you have the most indulgent medical care, but do you think the doc might order an MRI of your ankle area, to see if that happened? It seems like it should not be swelling and hurting there after this long, even if it's related to the break.

Oh, rats, the time change. I thought there was a lot of talk to voting that out.

[Barb135]

I totally agree that a sprain isn't real likely, but a pulled ligament or tendon is not out of the question.  I did end up having a major surgery on the other foot because of ligaments/tendon that didn't show up on x-rays.  Fortunately, at that time I had an excellent doctor and he insisted that surgery was necessary to find out what the problem was (1990 when MRI and CT were not in use like they are today).  As it turned out, all the ligaments in that ankle were torn loose, as was the tendon, which ended up being threaded a different way and screwed back into place.  Since having surgery on it, I have little swelling (except when I eat too much salt) and no pain.

Medical care, here, is not indulgent.  :-)  Doctors seem to have a preconceived idea when they meet you in the exam room so anything said outside of that preconceived idea is brushed off as "normal" or non-existent.  Many people end up writing their doctor a note and delivering to the office prior to an appointment in order to get them to pay attention to the fact that they might need to look at something else.  Sad, but true...

Yes, the time change... there has been a lot of talk about doing away with it.  Florida talked about leaving the time as daylight saving time year around, but somehow too many things got in the way and no changes have been made - I guess that has to go through Congress?  Personally - it doesn't really matter to me - just pick a time and leave it there since the whole concept of daylight saving time doesn't exist anymore and the trauma to my body by having to change times twice/yr isn't worth it.  

At any rate - since nothing got done in Congress, don't forget to turn your clock back Saturday night, so you'll be on time for whatever you have going on, Sunday...

Have a great week.

[AnnieBrooke]

Too bad about the foot, I hope the doc knows what he is talking about when he says ankle swelling is normal after a break elsewhere. You know for sure that they X-rayed there, right? Maybe you also sprained your ankle at the same time as the break.

I'm down .9 of a pound, and think it's the real thing. I cut sweets and ate slightly lighter meals. Have added veggies to every meal (either more various veggies in the salad, or a second side dish of them) and I wouldn't be surprised if that helps too in giving a nutritional variety and just a fiber boost.

Weather here is definitely getting to fall, not very rainy yet, but very cold at night. The cats want to go out at about 9 pm, but by 10 pm they have thought better of it and are waiting on the back mat. In the summer they lark around all night.

Hope you have a great week!

[Barb135]

As far as I know, they've x-rayed my whole foot, but whether they're really "looking" at areas other than where the break is, is another matter.   I do have an old injury (sprain) in that ankle and I can't help wonder if that got reinjured when I broke the foot.  I know from experience with my other foot that ligaments, tendons, etc  can't be seen on x-ray.  I have. periodically, had swelling in that ankle over the years since the original injury, but not this much and no pain to go with it.  That tells me there's something else going on.  I do hope I can get the doctor to take a closer look at whatever else might be going on.  

Congratulations on your 0.9 lb loss.  That's great.  Adding veggies to meals always helps me, as well... they tend to be filling with few calories (unless they have added sauces, butter, etc.  lol).  The problem is that they don't tend to stick to the ribs all that long.  Snacks, here we come!!  :-)  

Yes, I'm sure your weather is a lot colder than ours.  We're just now starting to get down to around 70° at night - a couple of times it was a little lower.  It sounds like your cats a pretty good "thermometer".  They know when it's best to get in where it's warm.  :-)

Time change next weekend... yuck!!