Where Have I Been?

This is terrible.  I haven't posted anything for 5 months!  My life was turned upside down....well, at least tilted A LOT...in the last 5 months.  I had to leave "my" church of 11 years.  It was my choice, but I could not stay and put my stamp of approval on things that people in that church did the last several months.  It was terrible and so very sad.  But that is no excuse for not posting for 5 months.

I have not felt well since August.  I know stress can cause lots of stuff...but I just feel that something else is going on in my body.  To top things off,  in October I got a nasty cough/virus that lasted a full three weeks.  After a week of coughing, I got hives.  I had taken a cough med and the next morning I woke up to what I thought were 6 spider bites...YIKES.  You should have seen run to my bedroom and pull back the covers....looking for spiders!  No...they weren't spider bites....they were hives.  I was put on steroids for 5 days.....they got much worse before they got better.  I even thought it might be Tide pods that we started using in August.  I nearly convinced myself that they had started all of the "not feeling well" since August junk.  Needless to say, we don't use Tide pods anymore.  BUT....I am still getting hives.....a few almost every day.  This is going into my 5th week.  I started eating coconut oil to get rid of my cough and am still eating it and plan to continue.....because from what I've read, it's a miracle oil...and I've been putting it on my skin also.  I did have what was supposed to be a physical in September...with a nurse practitioner.  My female doctor of several years moved away and there wasn't another female doctor taking patients.  It was a joke.  It wasn't even a physical...going by what my previous physicals were.  And the np had another np in with her training.  My thyroid came back at the very high end of normal.  Grasping at straws after learning of my high end number, I was wondering if my dose of thyroid meds was too high.  The np dismissed that.  I had "something" going on in my chest a few times....and had told my husband that maybe my heart was causing me not to feel well.  Heart palpitations is one sign of too much thyroid meds.  And I thought....maybe that's what I was feeling.  That np jumped on that like a duck on a Junebug.  She kept badgering about how often....now I can see how people can get you to say things by pressuring you.  Bad went to worse.....and she ordered an ekg, which I gladly would have had....but also wanted me to wear a heart monitor for a month.  She told me that she didn't think it had anything to do with my thyroid med dosage.....REALLY??    She left and I decided that I was not going to have that heart monitor.  I did talk it over with the heart department the next week, and we came to the conclusion that it wasn't necessary.  I am convinced that I am not having heart palpitations.  Some needing to catch by breath at times though.  I have a feeling that I am getting too much thyroid meds.  I have been eating Chia seeds for a couple of years....and just read that they help with thyroid function.  Coconut oil also helps with it.  I am thinking about contacting the np who gave me the steroids to see if she will decrease my thyroid meds....although I just got a 3 month supply and suppose my insurance will not pay for a lower dosage....yet.  I liked that nurse practitioner MUCH better than the one who really didn't give me a thorough physical.  But that is no excuse for not posting for 5 months.

 This blog is really about my mother, so what am I doing going on and on about myself!  It looks like the last time I posted, she had just gone off Aricept.  It's been 5 months, and I haven't notice any change in her with being off Aricept.  That is a good thing, because I was concerned about her getting worse.  She had a really good day on Thursday.  She was talking to me and smiling.  She asked if I would help her move.  Sure....  She was so happy and said that she would love me so much for helping her.  She asked me how Laraine and her little girl were doing.  Good....  She was happy about that too.  I got a picture....after 9 takes.  I will see if I can post it here.  Those good days are few and far between.  Most days, I can hardly get her to open her eyes and eat much.  Oh...in the 5 months since I've posted, Mom turned 95!  We had a little party with family and friends, and she was awake and talking.  Next week is Thanksgiving.  I don't get to bring Mom to my house anymore.  It's been at least 4 years since she was able to come to my house.  Very sad.  She doesn't know that though...so that's good.