The daily life in 'the tropics', the high desert of the southwest and back to 'the tropics' with the hounds and a dog
Showing posts with label VA Medical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label VA Medical. Show all posts
January 16, 2020
A Perfect Day To Blog
When the day is full of rain in the forecast I guess any excuses for not blogging are not valid. Plus I had an urge to write some updates, not that things are happening a mile per minute but actually in the laidback slow routine we lived in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana. I have no idea how I can tell but I am almost positive that the hounds are enjoying a winter that is so much milder than their past ones. So today I will ramble a little bit and post a few recent photos. You can tell not much has been happening in the "blog topics' department. These photos were taken with four different cameras.
A few weeks ago I mentioned I had labwork done thru the local VA Medical Center. It was an option I've always had but I needed to stop by and straighten out some thing on my file since I had not talked to them in 15 years or so. I blogged recently how I had joined the VA Circus ... but they have done a 360° turnaround in performance and I can say they have been nothing but professional and proactive since my complaining here on the blog.
Having an annual physical there saved me time and money. Even around the Christmas holidays they had a followup appointment 4 days after they drew blood and urine. Then a nurse practitioner spent almost an hour going over my results, asking questions about my diet and physical activities. She mentioned that if I wanted they could make an appointment for me to speak on the phone with a VA Nutritionist in Tucson. I accepted that appointment without hesitation ... Two days ago I had more great news confirmed about my health and diet.
You may remember when I have written about different diets over the past 5-6 years. I've tried some not all. They were not really diets to me but just a change in what I ate or how. From years of going back and forth, reading journals online, books from the library, I decided sometime last year that my diet plan was pretty good. Moderation for dairy and beef plus ice cream. Yet there were times I would fall off that eating plan wagon hard and I would be on the extreme end of binging on all the food I should not be eating.
Basically if it was in my house it was gone, in large quantities. Whole packages of Pepperidge Farm cookies, full containers of Ben&Jerry's ice cream, too many slices of a large loaded pizza that would come with breadsticks and cheese or brownies for desert, chips, candy, etc. In all the years of reading about diets and health in books and online, I've never found the cause of such a drastic change in eating in a matter of 12 hours. What brought on these extreme eating binges of mine?
I found out last Tuesday talking to the nutritionist ... "not eating enough protein will cause those binges for junk food and sweets." I use a free app called Cronometer because it gets into the detailed nutrient breakdown on all foods I eat. Their database of food is fantastic and if it has a bar code on the package you can scan that with your smart phone camera and it will load the nutritional data.
From the answers I was giving her and the lab results she could see on her computer, she thought I was going great. Then she explained how I could stop these binges based on what I had told her. We both agreed that I cannot have those kinds of foods in my house. I can go out for a "slice of pizza" or "a scoop of ice cream" or have some "chips and salsa" as an appetizer before my Mexican meal but don't bring any of that stuff home.
We discussed different popular diets, different books that I had read, the food app to log all food eaten, then compared that to the lab work results. What fat I am eating is being processed normally with nothing left over as added calories. The little sugar I add to my coffee is workable with my glucose numbers at the low end of the normal range. Evidently my own diet as I called it, with moderation principals, was working better than I thought they would. She agreed with what I was saying and what I was eating.
Of course the bicycling I do is a great addition to staying healthy. Now I am not in racing shape nor will I ever reach that level of physical fitness again but what little I do is a key to my lab results and general health overall. Every doctor and nurse, except one, has said so. How much I ride outside is dependent on weather during these months but I still get on the bike on a trainer inside to ride for 0-45 minutes. Especially on days like today.
She also agreed with what I read in a book last weekend. The 30-Day Heart Tune-Up by Steven Masley, MD. Eliminating food is not the way to go but the way you eat it and the quantity. Some say beef is beef but the book and the nutritionist said that "grass fed" made a world of difference. Eggs? Only those from "cage free" chickens. Vegan or Vegetarian Diets were not a good option in her opinion. Dr Masley wrote in his book that even a diet like a whole food plant based diet that added fish, poultry and grass fed beef could reverse heart disease in all the tests he had performed for over 30 years.
Of course it's not the 16oz NY Strip steak but one that has been divided up into 3oz or 4 oz portions. I never could tell who to believe when I reads stuff like this since some claim that ONLY a Whole Food Plant Based Diet can reverse artery blockages. Dr Masley can prove it otherwise. Here is a nice sheet in poor quality photo that seems to help me so far.
How do you know if that makes a difference? What about those large cheeseburgers at The Diner sometimes? or back in Indiana at 5Guys Burgers? How do you know what is too much whether it be fast food, junk food or ice cream? Which kind of diet is best? I can only accept my answer by looking at my lab results.
Blood tested in the lab ... it doesn't lie.
During my VA annual physical they gave me a free machine to measure my blood pressure. I was almost ready to click the buttons on Amazon a few days before my appointment to buy exactly that. My apple watch does a great job of monitoring my heart rate but I wanted more data. I logged my blood pressure twice per day for 14 days and then went back to the VA nurse practitioner to go over the results. I could also download that data from the machine if they wanted to verify my spreadsheet.
I sat in her office on Tuesday at 9:30am BEFORE having any coffee and produced a 116/64 blood pressure reading. I was cleared with a "see you next December" and was on my way. The times I took it during the day of normal eating, two cups of strong coffee with two tsp of sugar in each up (16 oz), it still ranged in the 120s/60's
So without getting those Medicare "Notices" on what they pay and what I "might" pay ... I went in for free or a low co-pay that I have not seen yet, drew blood and urine on a Monday before Christmas holiday and the Friday after was back in their office reviewing the results. Two weeks later they confirmed my blood pressure was good and consistent ... finished and not a dime out of my pocket. I am getting different stories on the possible co-pay I might have to pay ... based on some military awards the VA tells me that I'll not have co-pays but I know Viet Nam vets that do pay a co-pay. I'll find out in the next month I guess.
The hounds have not changed. They are doing great and have never looked or felt better since moving back to Fromm Dog Food for Large Breeds in October. Heidi's and Stella's coats have never felt softer and smooth. Stella has healed her two small "elephant spots" that were on her hip bones ... I think the cause was the carpet in my house in Indiana when she would sit on those hip bones as she scratched herself.
Heidi is now going on every .57 of a mile walk we take almost every day except when it rains. She even gets excited when I take the retractable leashes out of the closet. They have done pretty well adjusting from walking in a 7 acre field of grass/weeds to walking on sidewalks with cars (not a lot) passing us, along with meeting people that want us to stop so they can pet the hounds. They are quite popular in the neighborhood.
Every night Stella sleeps in the same spot while I read a book or watch a movie or game. That smudge on the couch that I just noticed is not anything damaging or a stain ... the material has moved in an opposite direction when Stella used it to brace her self as she curls around into her sleeping position. They adapted to the new rule of not getting on the couch very quickly.
My new hip turned 4 months old on January 8th. It had felt great most of the time the past two months but I was still feeling some soreness or stiffness when I would get up off the couch or out of my desk chair. Colder weather made it a little sore ... then things changed almost instantly at that January 8th date.
The soreness and stiffness was completely gone and it did not matter how long I sat on the soft couch or on the hard desk chair. I was back to getting in and out of bed or cars and my truck the normal way, instead of sliding into the seat with by back to the door before swinging my legs around. I could feel the small changes in that hip area that told me all those muscles that were cut were healing and getting stronger each day. Those muscles were back to wanting to exercise, to ride the bike just like before my bike wreck. I don't have to go back to see my surgeon until next December which would be 15 months after surgery.
So healthwise I am good. Not bad results for someone who had their last physical close to 20 years ago.
As far as blogging ???
I am pretty sure I will no longer be blogging every day. There just isn't enough time for me to do that based on what my daily routine has changed into. Time passes quickly every day and before I know it 6pm is there on my watch staring back at me and I am not finished doing whatever I might be doing.
Activities have increase and we are not even in great weather yet. I read a lot more, I hike a lot more and I am trying to ride my bike as much as possible. The information I read in the "30 Day Book" gave me assurances that I cannot ride my bike enough and there was no reason to track my heart rate while riding unless it shot way above the maximum limit. That maximum limit is higher than what I was using ... the old formula of 220 minus your age. The MD author cited that formula as a very general estimate then gave me the correct way to find it.
Back to blogging. Like I have mentioned in past years, there are times my blog is boring to me ... very boring. Same photos of the hounds, sunrises or sunsets and certain hikes just on a different day. That kind of blogging doesn't excite me and I am sure if I am bored with it, so are you as a reader.
I've discussed this with other current and past bloggers so it's just not my messed up head ... you try not to but at times but you catch yourself taking that hike or taking those photos just to do the blog for that day. Then you wonder if those photos are good enough, can't I find something different and better to show people? Sometimes I'd ramble about nothing for pages and other times I'd sit here for an hour and thought of nothing to write about. I notice and do know for a fact that when I blog less I take fewer photos. I've regretted missing some photos in the past when I have taken time off from blogging.
Although it's easier, I'll not move to Instagram and use that as a blog replacement. YouTube is definitely NOT an option. I post a photo or two at times on Facebook for friends there that don't have time to read blogs but want to see the hounds. I've thought about emailing photos to readers that want to see the hounds but not certain that is a good move either.
Then there are the times I enjoy getting away from electronics like computer, phones, tablets and tv's. After the initial excitement of watching movies from Amazon Prime and the shows that Apple produced ... my tv time decreased rapidly and is trending to no tv by next fall. With a spring and summer of hiking, biking and local exploration in moving vehicles, the desire to watch tv in the fall may be completely gone. Tv time in my house is decreasing rapidly even in the middle of college basketball. So we will see what happens.
I've added some time to do some barbell training here at home three times per week. They are based on exercises recommended by the book author who happens to be a cardiologist. Most of them I was doing 7-8 years ago. I implemented my own stretching program for my hip once I found out there was no pain afterward. There was some during the stretch but not afterward so I figured some of that scar tissue was breaking up or stretching. No matter what it was, there is no pain now when I stretch and it's to the point of a normal feeling of good.
As the weather gets warmer I'll be out and about more and more. Not all the time but there will be times the hounds will join me. Yet the one time I took both of them hiking with me or really walking out by the San Pedro River/House ... Heidi wore out a short time after we started as she had her nose to the ground from the time we left the car. Stella had too many distractions ... from horse scent, coyote scent, possible snake scent ... just too many scents for a bloodhound nose. Let's just say they reacted the same way as Winston, Heidi and Sadie when we took our camping trip to Colorado and Utah in June 2015.
Two hands ... two leashes ... two hounds ... both wanting to go different directions at different speeds. It's the BREED not the dogs that make it hard for me to hike with dogs like I read and see on other blogs of those that travel. These two are not herding breeds but hound breeds and their noses are stronger than ever which equates to a LOT of distractions or new things to explore.
So that is about it from the 'Wild West" today.
December 23, 2019
Roadtrip Plans & The VA Cirus
Within the time it takes to sip a cup of coffee my Sunday plans changed from wanting to find Carr Canyon waterfalls or the Coronado Monument to a trip to Tombstone. The surprise I had was not only how packed Tombstone was with people but how I felt within the first 5 miles of my trip. Something was wrong. Before I even saw the crowd at Tombstone I knew I wasn't staying long. I continued to drive though, enjoying the 'wild west' scenery on the way.
I can't remember if I mentioned on this blog or my bicycle blog but for the past few weeks at about the one hour twenty minute mark of riding, my right buttock (surgical side) gets really sore from sitting on that bike seat. Now for someone just starting riding that might be normal until you can get your butt in shape while riding a lot of miles. This is a distinct discomfort and it's not from lack of seat time. It's the new hip thing. I may have to pull out some anatomy websites to get the correct name of the muscle but it goes from the lower back stretching over the back of the hip. It gets really sore and close to tapping a nerve. I found out by accident if I stop and get off the bike for five or ten minutes it goes away completely when I finish the ride.
Five miles down the road in the FJ Sunday morning I had the same feeling. Did my longest ride since surgery end up being too much from Saturday? I had felt good all Sunday morning so I didn't think so. I felt that I could ride again Sunday afternoon so I knew all the muscle activity for two hours and twenty seven minutes had recovered. Maybe it was the way I was sitting in the FJ or was it how I got into the FJ? Whatever the cause, there was more than a little discomfort in that hip joint area.
As you can see, Heidi was pretty sure the sun would not be out for long today. It was on the cold side and in her book there is nothing better than a day of sleep. She has declared it a "3 blanket winter" and will move them different times of day or night to the correct position. At one time this week the Mexican blanket was completely off the bed.
She, like Stella has turned into a professional food beggar.
So I pull into Tombstone expecting it to be me and a bunch of empty streets. I could tell by the number of people walking from their parked cars and the distance we were from downtown, that it was nothing different than the highest point of tourist season in the summer. I have yet to walk the streets of Tombstone after a few trips to do just that. Combined with too many people and a sore hip, I turned around and headed home. No roatrip to blog about.
The highlight of that trip was stopping the FJ in the middle of the road to wait for a deer to cross the road in front of the credit union as I was leaving town. Did it know it had to go the other direction in the drive-thru? It stopped and stared at me before I could pull the FJ over to the side of the road and take this picture.
I was about to make a left turn into my neighborhood when I had a flash thought, it might be a good time to check out the movie Ford vs Ferrari at the mall theater. Am I really thinking right ??? Three days before Christmas on a Sunday and I would think the mall would be as empty as it usually is? What is wrong with me? I had barely pulled into a parking lot full of cars when it dawned on me what day it was. I can see the same movie during the week at 2:15pm and I might be the only person in there. I turned around and headed home. The hip joint was feeling the same.
Evidently it snowed a little up on the mountain last night. I am not sure which one this is but that should be completely white Friday morning if the weather forecasters are right. With the cool air I agreed with Heidi, nothing better to do than a Sunday afternoon siesta.
You cannot tell from this photo but the Aerostat is in the process of landing. Does that mean bad weather will arrive a day early? So far the weather app shows no rain until Tuesday. I would love to get inside that thing to look around sometime. Not possible of course but it would be something to see.
Monday morning I almost missed this sunrise. You will see later it only lasted 15 minutes.
All taken standing on the patio.
15 minutes later those skies looked like this. It was cold too with the wind blowing. Stella turned around and came back inside.
This is zoomed in so not real clear this time of day.
I was going to have a busy morning and a frustrating morning. I knew that beforehand. It's the main reason I hate anything medical. It's the reason I never wanted to be involved with medical anything. It should have been simple. I had an appointment to get blood drawn for labwork. I had fasted since 8:47pm last night, skipped black coffee (permitted) this morning and kept drinking ice water.
Since it's been a big pain in the ass to get things done in the civilian sector of the medical field I decided I'd use my VA benefits. Last month I took all the paperwork needed, filled out a new income form and explained why I wasn't eligible with their letter from 20 years ago. When I walked away from her desk 4-6 weeks ago she said I was all updated and they would be in touch to set up appointments.
I never heard a word from them. No email, no text, no phone call or regular post office mail ... nothing.
When I gave my friend a ride to VA last Friday I set up an appointment for me to have some labwork. They brought up my record, assigned me a team for my doctor appointment on Friday and the appointment for my labwork this morning. They did NOT tell me anything else except "see you Monday."
Some of you may have figured out that I have very little patience for bullshit. I assume it's pretty easy to do your job so I've always had a hard time with mistakes and errors when it comes to work. This morning only confirmed my beliefs.
I check in early this morning. He makes copies of the records I hand him from my hip replacement and cardiogram. He tells me I can sign up at the kios for a VA ID card. I know things are running too smooth and 20 minutes later the circus begins with the lady in enrollment telling him "he is not eligible due to making too much income".
Now ... two things or three.
First, she said it loud enough for everyone sitting in the waiting room to hear. (Fantastic) Second, she is the same lady I spoke to last month to correct that problem with proof of current income and showing her that reason was the one they gave me 20 years ago, as I handed here a letter from them 20 years ago as proof. Three, this same lady just told me a month or so ago that she had corrected my record and I was eligible for VA benefits. I sat at her desk for 45 minutes watching her do all kinds of data input with my DD-214 in hand and asking me questions for current address, phone number and email.
So the excuse today was ... my record had not been updated since the changes last month. BUT ... "yes you can still go to your lab appointment" How can that be? Am I not eligible until my record is not updated? They had no answer to that question.
Bottom line, blood was drawn and I'll get the results back on Friday during my next doctor's assistant visit. Oh ... that ID CARD ... go to the kios and log in to get a number. 20 minutes later the SAME LADY telling me to do that tells me "you cannot get a VA ID card today because your NOT UPDATED in the system.
Friends and family wonder why I hate life and most people .... this is just one of many examples that answers that question.
Still, everyday in the 'Wild West' is a good day as long as I stay home alone with the hounds.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)