It's Always Something.

It's back to school time again.  That means I am incredibly busy at work and working too many hours.  It happens twice a year for about a month each time and by the end, I am like this guy:

My thanks to whomever created this!

It seems that every "Rush" something happens.  Last Fall was when I was diagnosed with 5 bad discs in my back and then stressed myself out so much that I had horrific hives.  This year, I am having a tremendous amount of swelling in my feet and ankles.  My NP thinks I am retaining water so she has added Lasix and Potassium supplements to my medicinal arsenal.  That means, including vitamins and such, we are at 6 pills in the morning, 3 at noon and 5 in the evening.

 Before she could prescribe the Lasix she did blood-work. She found that though my kidneys are great (that's important to the water pill) my liver enzymes are elevated again so I will have to go back in two weeks to have them checked again.  She advised that I stay away from alcohol (ummm, I average 2 drinks per YEAR and have for 6 years now) Tylenol (I knew that- do you KNOW how many meds have acetaphinamen in them?) and Advil.  I came home and looked it all up online to see if there's anything that I can do that doesn't involve meds and I found that B-12 helps so that became morning pill #7. 15 pills a day.  That's a lot by any standard.  I also found that eating whole foods and less processed can help as can things like Kale and berries and such.  So- this morning I will be having whole grain toast with a little Jif Whips (peanut butter with chocolate) and banana (go Potassium!).  For lunch it's brown rice and kale salad.  Dinner will be at work because we have an event tonight from 7-10.  I have ordered a bunch of food- including a popcorn machine, a cheese tray and a veggie tray so I will stay with those and stay away from the yummy brownies and such.  I am going to have to be really mindful of what I am eating because to be quite frank- I am not up to dealing with any more ailments.  It's just too much.

That said- I am still looking for silver linings.  I am grateful that with all that's going on I haven't wanted to go back to smoking.  I am grateful that I have wonderful parents who fuss at me if I am not taking care of myself. I am grateful that hubby is back home and we are working on repairing our relationship.  I am grateful to have a son who calls or texts me every day.  I haven't figured out how to be grateful for my 47-year-old-out-of-shape-and-falling-apart body, but given enough time I will.