To say that the last three months have been difficult is an understatement.  During our family Christmas celebration on December 26th, 2023 my husband and I noticed an undercurrent of malevolent behaviour.  Sadly, this behaviour caused stress which continued to grow as the months went by without a solution.  Autoimmune diseases and stress are not compatible.  Thankfully, the root cause of the malevolent behaviour has finally left.  Now comes the healing process.

I experienced the loss of a maternal cousin on February 14th.  This cousin suffered from Parkinson’s disease.  As children, my cousin and I were close however because of circumstances beyond my control we drifted apart.  Even though we were estranged, her death left me emotionally conflicted.  She was born at the beginning of March a year after my birth at the end of March.  As a child, I was well aware of the fact that there were members of my maternal family who felt that my adoption had usurped her position as the oldest grandchild. My husband’s youngest sister passed away Thursday, February 23, 2023.  She also had Parkinson’s disease.  A dear friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer earlier this month. She fought and won her first bout with breast cancer three years ago.  A year later she had a recurrence but after treatment was told that she had a clean bill of health.  Sadly late last month she was diagnosed with cancer in her liver, in both lungs and a tumour on her brain.  One has to wonder how life can be so unfair.  Please keep my friend in your prayers.

Both my cardiologist and my hepatologist have been encouraging me to exercise.  My cardiologist wants me to walk for 50 minutes a day.  My hepatologist wants me to swim at the local pool.  I enjoyed swimming in our backyard pool during the summer months.  However, getting dressed to go swimming at the local pool when the temperature hovers around -25C is something I just couldn’t get into.  I did a bit of research and decided on purchasing a stationary bike.  As a kid, I spent hours riding my bike around the countryside near my childhood home.  So far the bike has been the ideal way for me to exercise.  I try to do three to six miles a day.  So far I have noticed no pain directly associated with using the bike.  When I ride the bike my heart rate remains within normal limits and I do not experience shortness of breath or dizziness.  When I try to do a minimal amount of work around the house especially when I need to bend down or lift my arms I experience shortness of breath, nausea and dizziness.  At times it is really difficult to get my breathing back to normal.  I cannot understand how riding my bike does not bring about shortness of breath, nausea and dizziness.   Hopefully, my cardiologist can tell me why at my next appointment.

My birth mother died of an aortic aneurysm at 59.  Thankfully my cardiologist is making an appointment for me to have an echocardiogram.  If there is any danger of an aortic aneurysm, the echocardiogram should pick it up.

Last Sunday I felt flu-like symptoms when I got up in the morning.  Skipped breakfast but had a light lunch. I fell asleep after lunch and when I woke up I had a nasty bladder infection.  I had forgotten how quickly these infections can pop up with no warning.  After an hour, my husband rushed out to Superstore to pick up two jugs of cranberry juice.  I finished both jugs within an hour without any relief.  By this time it was 5:30 PM and I was beginning to panic.  I did not want to face a night with the level of discomfort I was experiencing.  I called my family doctor, and I was able to talk to the doctor on call within three minutes.  After explaining my problem he kindly called in a prescription for antibiotics.  On the way to pick up the prescription, my husband bought two more jugs of cranberry juice.  After finishing the third jug I finally experienced enough relief that I could go to sleep.  Bladder and kidney infections were a common occurrence, especially during my two pregnancies.  However, the older I got the less often they would occur.  Hopefully, since I will be 3/4 of a century old at the end of this month, it will be the last bladder infection I have to deal with.