Kitchen Sink - still at the beginning

I started my "everything but the kitchen sink" regime a week ago.

I started with a vitamin D protocol and I've just finished the introductory week of that. This required me to take 5,000 IU daily of vitamin D3 oil-based, softgel supplements, afte a breakfast containing at least 15g of healthy fat.   In order to be absorbed, Vitamin D needs Vitamin K at the same time, so the supplement i bought has both.       Vitamin D pulls magnesium out of the body, which in turn causes calcium issues.  To counteract this, I had to take 200 mg magnesium glycinate (200 mg of elemental magnesium), before bed.  Magnesium cannot be taking within several hours of eating calcium rich food (like a milky drink or yoghurt). 

This all went well.   Before I started the protocol, I was taking a PPI every other night. During the protocol I had a gap of 3 nights and now I'm seeing if I can stretch it a bit more before taking one..  PPIs prevent absorption of minerals, so I'd like to come off them if I can.  I'm hoping that the large quantity of water kefir and kefir fermented veg that I am consuming will help my stomach instead.

Now I've done the introdictory week, I need to up everything.   So, last night I increased my Magnesium, but only to 300mg. It's supposed to go up to 500mg, and I need to do it because I know that it will cause other issues if I don't, but I cou;dn't bring myself to ramp it up immediately.  I tool 300mg ysterday and I'll do that today as well; I'll go to 400 on Thursday and Friday,  and then 500 from Saturday.

I've doubled my Vitamin D from today, to 10,000 IU.   I've kept the K2 the same as before.  I bought a second set of softgels that have only the D3 in, so I take one woth K2 and one without.  The protocol says its OK to double the K2 as well, but I don't want to do that.

Yesterday, my first set of blood test results arrived. These were looking at my Thyroid (all of the parts), and showed some areas of concern.  I guess these may be addressed when I start taking amino acids, at some point in the near future.

My Vitamin D  (73) was within the NHS "adequate" range, but was lower than the protocol's target.

What was also very low was my folate (2.6, well below the minium of 8.83), and my B12 (in range but on the low side).   I've joined a couple of groups to get more information on how to deal with this, but the information is a bit overwhelming and taking action isn't as straightforward as the Vitamin D protocol.   I do need to try and do something though, as the Vitanin D and B12 and Folate issues are closely interwoven.    I don't know how to proceed with it, so I'll mull it over while I carry on with the Vitamin D3.

I'm not sure what to do about the amino acid introduction. In my original plan, I was going to introduce them next week (I'm hoping the test results will be back by then), but the Folate thing has thrown me a bit.

The Kally body pillow has been a bit of a challenge. I've now managed to get it so my head feels less unsupported. It's definitely stretching my neck a bit, but my body is telling me it's a positive stretch rather than a negative one.     I'm not getting a neck ache when I get up, but I do sometimes wake up and have to move around.

I am sleeping a little better.  I still wake up, but I am waking up less often.  This improvement started when I began with the water kefir/fermented vegetables, and there was another noticeable improvement when I started with the Kally and the D3.  Of course I don't know which contributed to the positive change.

We went away overnight and I didn't take the Kally pillow with me, I went back to the V pillow.  It was ok but I found myself missing the Kally which surprised me a bit.

Last night, I had the first full back spasm for a couple of weeks, which wasn't great. It also wasn't a surprise:  we'd done a 4 hour car jouinrey Sunday night, and then a 5 hour car journey home Monday lunchtime.

I can't put my hand on my heart and say that I'm already feeling the benefit.   Maybe I am, a bit - last Thursday's cleaning marathon suggests something.  I'm looking forward to my next Chiro/Physio appointment, as I'm interested to see whether the therapist can feel any difference in my back.

 

Hairrendous

I was trying to do yet more clearing up today and it got a bit out of hand.

I'd cleaned the fridge (because I couldn't fit a tall stopper bottle of home made water kefir in there,  and a small rearrangement became a fridge clean).  

Then, I did the weekly clean of both CPAPs, which required a sink clean first.

Then I thought I'd decant my fruitbox from Crwodfarming into a fruit bowl, and put it in the dining room out of the sunlight.  The dining room table is iled up with stuff for the charity shop and a few other bits, so I had to sort those out;  then I realised that the room gets a bit warm in the evening so it wasn't a good idea to put the fruit in there; then I decided that as the table and chairs were, temporarily, clear, it would be a good idea to clean under the table. 

 I upended the chairs on to the table, and decided that, if I was going to clean under the table, I might as well clean under the cat tree and the rest of the dining room floor as well.

I moved some of the furniture that the cats use, and it was a bit hairy.  I found the cat hair cleaning brush, and had a go at a couple of items,   which led me to use it on the pads on the cat tree, which left me recoiling in shock. 

Before I knew it, I was covered in cat hair, and I had a fair bit on the floor as well.

I sent Raymondo in to have a go at cleaning.  He's been in and out, doing the self-emptying of his bin.  He hasn't actually got anywhere near fur trail yet.

Meanwhile, I've washed the kitchen floor twice with Heidi.  I had to soak her roller to start with as it has been some time since she was out and about.   We've been through 3 tanks of water so far.

It took several goes for Raymondo to roomba up the hair.  Even then, I had to get the bits, which had been swept by him to the edge, with Heidi.

 

A shopping delivery arrived in the middle, and I managed to do my water kefir as well.

I now just need to try and put things back in their place. 

Before I run of battery.

 

 

 

20 weeks and the kitchen sink.

It's been 20 weeks since I damaged my hamstring.  

Today was the first time since then that I've been able to complete the knee/hamstring exercises in my Pilates class. 

I am sure that work I've been putting in, in between classes, has helped enormously.  I added 5  squats into my morning in-shower stretch routine,  and about 4 weeks ago' I formalised my daily exercises, writing down what I was going to do and when I was going to do it.    I have been able to see that I can squat more easily (but not easily) and further (bur not far enough) now than I could at the beginning. 

I'm nowhere near back to where I was, but things are improving.

The daily water kefir and fermented veg have helped with my sleep.  I'm still waking a lot, but I am sleeping for longer periods in between wakings,  and this has allowed time for very vivid, detailed dreams to develop.

Before Christmas I decided I was going to throw everything but the kitchen sink at my issues.   I made myself wait until I'd had blood taken for baseline results (although the kefir and fermented veg will skew the results a bit). Then I decided that I'd phase the things in over the course of a few weeks rather than starting everything on day 1.

I've created a tracker using a Clickr app so I can track my exercises routines and my supplements

I'm starting a vitamin D protocol today, and the expectation is  that will enable significant improvements in other areas.   I'm particularly hoping this will help with the trapezius and upper back issues.

There's another thing I want to add in, something to try and tackle my underactive thyroid,  but I'm going to wait a week or two before starting.

I also tried to use a Kally full body pillow last night, but it was not as easy (or as shaped) as the pictures suggested.  I'll perservere and see if I can work out what I'm doing wrong.  I think it will relievee some ofthe pressure on my traps, and might help woth posture.   I'm hoping it'll do that without causing me neck issues.

And I've been Pollyanna-ing the issues.   When I feel miserable about it,  I find something to be positive about.

Let's see how it goes.

 

 

Anniversary acknowledged

My brother and I have just got back from visiting our Mum.   The weekend marked the anniversary of our Dad's death, and we wanted to make sure Mum felt supported.

We took her out for the day,  and she seemed to have a good time.  We did a good mix of new stuff, and reminiscing, and remembering.

We took the opportuinity to do another bit of clearing, mainly checking for paperwork in unexcavated corners of the attic.  Just as well we did, as there was plenty to be found.    I brought it home and sorted it,  scanned the relevant stuff and burnt the irrelevant.

We also found more china, but we've left it there.  I just can't face bringing any more back.

We've got the next date in the diary, and I've suggested a possible completion date to the buyers. 

I've taken stuff to the charity shop, and I've already got another pile on the table.

I've got some "final" Ebay listings to do, and if the items don't sell they will be added to the charity shop pile.  I want my summerhouse back,  and I want my kitchen table cleared so I can sew again.

 

 

12 months ago

Dad took days to die.

He finally went on 11th January,  I got the phone call just as I was getting ready to go to another funeral.

We thought it would be the end, and we could look forward.  In fact it was the beginning of another series of horrible events.

 

Last year

This time last year my brother and I  had been back to see Mum, had a meeting with the hospital and were expecting that Dad had a few weeks to live.

We told the family that he was dying.  Some of his briothers asked if they should visit.  We said that if they really wanted to, that would be fine,  but he wouldn't know they were there and it would be very distressing.  We reassured them that it was fine for them not to come.

We travelled home on the Friday night, planning to go up again a few days later (on the Tuesday).

One of the Ward sisters told Mum that we should "come tomorrow" (Sunday I thnk it was) as she didn't think Dad would last until the Tuesday. Dad had Sepsis on top of everything else.  We travelled back to Wales on the 7th. One uncle, the one we live nearest to and who had come with us before Christmas,  decided he would come.   He did it to be supportive, and it was lovely of him.

When we got to the hospital we we were shocked to find that Dad was distressed and obviously in pain.      I went to find someoneto get help. We were told it wasn't possible without signoff, nothing was on his notes.  e asked who we could speak to, and eventually a Registrar arrived.   They agreed that Dad could be given a sedative. It was horrible, and things got a bit worse.

The group message chat between me, my brother and my Mum) is really tough reading as there were other family issues going on at the same time. The private chats between myself and my brother are a reminder of the other stuff we were dealing with. 

We spent Monday in the hospital, and Tuesday. The syringe driver went in on the MOnday.  Mum's well meaning friend told her it would only be 24 hours before Dad died, and so Mum decided she would stay at the hospital until he'd gone.   I tried to persuade Mum to go home and sleep for a bit, but she was adamant it wouldn't be long.  Mum's friend was well meaning, but very very wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Duvet Days

I've almost finished the stupid project.

When I've done the last few, I will have washed, dried and pressed 28 duvet covers,  41 sheets (21 frilly and 20 flat) and 102 pillowcases.  I also accidentally washed half a dozen large curtains, which had looked like frilly duverys).     It's taken me 46 (I think)  washloads to complete.

I pressed them only because they needed squashing down a bit.

I've moved the enormous stack of frilly sheets into a large box.  I put the flat sheets on top.    The box was unwieldy when it was empty, and there is no way we can move it now. I think it will have to serve as a table or something.  

The pillowcases are folded and stacked in a large open box, which can sit on top of the boxtable.

The Duvet covers are currently piled precariously on top of the air conditioning unit in my bedroom.  I need to locate another ridiculously sized box to move them in to, once the last two covers are dry and pressed. 

They will then have to stay somewhere until we can take them to Monkey World.    We will have to decant them into crates to take them,  as stacks of massive duvet covers are surprisingly heavy.

All have come from my Mum and Dad's house.      And what I've got here isn't all of it (although it IS all I am going to do this with). 

I threw away stacks of bedding  at my parents house.  A lot of it smelt musty, so couldn't be donated.  When we got to the dusty rather than musty cupboards,    I had the idea of donating to Monkey World.  We started to pack it in vacuum bags,  and the number and weight soon got out of control.   When we went to bring some of the bags home, they opened (as vacuum bags have a habit of doing), and I realised that everything was going to need washing before donating.

 I had also  used a lot of the  dusty-not-musty stuff  for wrapping china.   I'd disposed of loads  other bedding, like blankets and such.  It was not my favourite job.

I'd thrown some of the bedding  away when I unpacked them here, and some of them I threw away after washing.    

I had brought home a couple of vacuum bags of blankets and bedspreads, but I can't face dealing with them.  They will be too much work to wash and dry,  so I'm going to bin them all.  I'm not going to let myself feel guilty about it.

It's taken a ridiculously stupid amount of time and effort to deal with it all, and I probably should have just binnedeverything in the first place.

But it seemed like a worthwhile idea originally (before we realised just how much bedding my Mum had hoarded kept.)

Of course we won't be going to Money World for some time, but at least the bedding will be ready to go.

 

 

New Year

I am so glad to see the back of 2024.

Some of the stuff from last year is still going on,  and I had an odd curveball lobbed at me when I went to visit Mum on the 27th December.    It was a bit of a kick in the stomach, and  timely reminder of how things used to be.   

I had already been thinking about what I can or need or could do, so that this year is better than last year, or at least so I can try and get some of my own life back.   Some of the stuff from last year, like the house,  is still ongoing.  The small but significant incident made me more determined to.... to.... I don't know how to express it. 

I've got some stuff that I'd already started and I'd like to get completed.  I tried to get one stupidly large task completed yesterday, as I really didn't want to start the New Year with it.  However, despite me working on it all day and evening,  it hasn't been finished.   

I'm now trying to finish it today.  It's as dull as ditch water, but I'll share it when it's complete.

I also went back to using paper lists, which are a bit of a pain but do give a lot more satisfaction when crossing off (or highlighting, in my case) tasks that have been completed.     I haven't included routine tasks.

I also made myself work formalise the various bits of exercising I have to do to, and I found writing that down quite helpful.   I wrote a sign telling me to do a "controlled sit", which I put under the TV.    It worked, I did try and do a controlled stand and controlled sit from/on the sofa each time I sat or got up.  I say, "controlled".  I could only occasionally manage it with my legs crossed, most of the time it was enough of a challenge to do it  uncrossed.  Hopefully I'll see things improve over the coming weeks.

Some weeks ago I bought one of those desk block calendars, the sort everyone used to have on their desk at work.   It's the fabulous Strange Planet cartoon by Nathan Pyle,  and I've had to resist looking ahead. I don't think I can bring myself to rip off yesterday's page,  it seems such a waste!  I'm sure I can find a way to recycle.  Ooh, maybe I can convert them into cards!

Well, I need to go now as the stupidly large project needs attending to.    I'm not quite on the home straight, but I thnk I'm approaching the last circuit.  Maybe. 

Happy 2025