Rainbow Dragon's Lair

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

January 25:

60 Days of HIIT: day 2
Power Hold: day 10 (15, 7, 6) - am still struggling to make myself start this, but at least it's over quickly once I do
Sore Feet: 2 x DP, did the calf raises one-legged
Wrist Pain: DP (each side where applicable)
Hand Tendons: 2 x DP
running: 3 km
hiking: 6 km with Shelby

Still foggy this day, but at least no more precipitation until the evening. The trails were pretty soupy. But we did Shelby's full walk. Running was on roads and sidewalks (avoiding the puddles as much as possible.)

writing: research, short story, craft study
new fiction words: 866
fiction YTD: 7972
story-a-week challenge: 1 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 1 of 54 completed
new consumable words: 1462
consumable YTD: 21,788
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 50,600
deficit: 28,812

French: Netflix, text translation

GOBOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 82
Consecutive days of French study: 1164
Consecutive days of no solo gaming before work: 1

 

[Deadoks]

Ca se passe bien avec le français?

Good work overall!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Merci, @Deadoks

Ca se passe bien avec le français?

Oui. Ça va bien.

Je comprends même un peu le français parlé maintenant, parlé même par de vrais francophones !
(À l’école, j’ai appris le français auprès de professeurs anglophones qui parlaient lentement pour le bénéfice de leurs élèves anglophones, mais je n’ai jamais appris du tout à comprendre des francophones natifs.)

 

[graoumia]

Merci, @Deadoks


Oui. Ça va bien.

Je comprends même un peu le français parlé maintenant, parlé même par de vrais francophones !
(À l’école, j’ai appris le français auprès de professeurs anglophones qui parlaient lentement pour le bénéfice de leurs élèves anglophones, mais je n’ai jamais appris du tout à comprendre des francophones natifs.)

We dont have any accent in France so no pb

 

[Deadoks]

We dont have any accent in France so no pb

In Belgium also no accent!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

January 26:

60 Days of HIIT: day 3
Power Hold: day 11
Ankle Recovery: 2 x DP, calf raises one-legged
Talk to the Hand: DP (each side where applicable)
Hand Tendons: 2 x DP
running: 3 km
hiking: 6 km with Shelby

Warm and muddy.

writing: research, short story, craft study, business webinar
new fiction words: 466
fiction YTD: 8438
story-a-week challenge: 1 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 1 of 54 completed
new consumable words: 650
consumable YTD: 22,468
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 52,624
deficit: 30,156

Writing is going too slowly! I'm putting the time in. Just spending too much of it researching minutiae. My story this week is space opera! Most of my characters are aliens. They have hyperspace travel and time travel and are on a completely made up space station with gravity created by a super dense material no one in the story can even name. (i.e.: It's all fantasy!) I need to stop sweating the details and just write this thing!

French: Netflix, text translation

GOBOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 83
Consecutive days of French study: 1165
Consecutive days of no solo gaming before work: 2

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

January 27:

60 Days of HIIT: day 4
Power Hold: day 12 (15, 7, 7)
Sore Feet: 2 x DP, calf raises one-legged
Wrist Pain: DP (each side where applicable)
Hand Tendons: 2 x DP
running: 5 km
hiking: 6 km with Shelby, 1.5 km errands

Another warm and muddy day. Got out at the right time for the big dog congregation in the park. But most of the dogs paid no attention to Shelby. Maia was doing her own thing, ignoring all the other dogs. Cody's human was dog-sitting for two other dogs who reportedly don't get along well with strange dogs. So they were walking down the middle of the field instead of along the trails, to stay away from everyone else. Cody saw Shelby but did not come over to greet her. Stella ran most of the way to Shelby, then stopped, turned around, and ran back to her human. There was a tiny dog there, Lola, who just barked at everyone. Shelby was sad. She used to be very anxious around other dogs, but she has worked hard to make friends with this crowd. Eventually the puppy Toby stopped scooting and rolling in the puddles and came over to greet Shelby. Then, on our way home, we saw Shelby's boyfriend Miko out in his yard. (Shelby actually has 2 boyfriends named Miko. Miko the yellow lab, and Miko the Siberian husky. Today we saw Miko the lab.) Miko the lab is not as energetic these days as he once was. It took a bit of prompting to get him to get up and greet Shelby. But he did eventually come to say hello to her. Anyhow... I told Shelby not to mind the other dogs ignoring her. I had a good time walking with her!

I did 60DoH and PH early today. It felt good to get the push-ups over with early on. But then my arms were tired for running. I considered wimping out and doing only 3K because of this. But it was a Saturday and nice weather (for January) so I made myself do the extra mileage and was glad that I did.

writing: short story, craft study
new fiction words: 169
fiction YTD: 8607
story-a-week challenge: 1 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 1 of 54 completed
new consumable words: 887
consumable YTD: 23,325
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 54,648
deficit: 31,323

And once again Sunday is going to be a crunch to get my story finished. (And my brother is planning to stop in at some point on Sunday, which will chew up some time.) I need to need to need to need to need to work on improving my writing speed!

French: Netflix

GOBOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 84
Consecutive days of French study: 1166
Consecutive days of no solo gaming before work: 3
(Did game with @'rin and @sleep_twitch this morning though. )

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

ROFLOL for the accents, when I lived in Belgium of course I was told I had an accent. A French accent. So accents, like so many things in life, are ... relative, I guess Still use words like "drache" and "farde" (Belgian words for a big rain downpour, and for a folder) , and the expression "oufti"

 

[graoumia]

They were a DAREBEE recipe from the old site:



1. mash bananas
2. add other ingredients and mix together
3. blend with hand blender until smoothish
4. pour batter into baking pans lined with parchment paper (I use two 8" x 6" Pyrex dishes)
5. bake at 375°F for 40 minutes

They are okay warm. But I prefer them cold, spread with cashew nut butter.

These brownies do NOT keep well at room temperature. Once they have cooled, I slice and refrigerate them.
I cut a batch into 16 brownies. (But then I almost always eat 2 at a time. LOL)
Sometimes I make a double batch, which then lasts me for 16 days. Refrigerated, these brownies keep fine for that length of time.

*the nut milk I use is this. I don't know if it's available in France. It has pea protein added to give it the equivalent protein content of cow's milk. I use it for all my baking now (unless I am cooking for my friend who has nut and legume allergies).

@Laura Rainbow Dragon i made this recipe (approximatively) with frozen bananas and kidney beans, but i cannot really compare with black beans as i never use them. But it was good, thanks for this recipe.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

@Laura Rainbow Dragon i made this recipe (approximatively) with frozen bananas and kidney beans, but i cannot really compare with black beans as i never use them. But it was good, thanks for this recipe.

Yeah! Glad you liked it!

I make these quite often as they are quite filling, high in protein and fibre, a decent source of iron, and also they satisfy my chocolate craving without being high in sugar.
Often two of these brownies (1/8 batch) spread with some cashew nut butter, with a slice of cheese (aged Gouda or aged cheddar) on the side is my breakfast. It's quick and easy to throw together and keeps me going for hours.

 

[graoumia]

I realized that i certainly forget the milk . But it is good, thanks

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

January 28:

60 Days of HIIT: day off
Power Hold: day off
Ankle Recovery: 2 x DP, calf raises one-legged
Talk to the Hand: DP (each side where applicable)
Hand Tendons: 2 x DP
tree pose for @graoumia 's birthday
running: rain, rain, all day rain--plus madly writing!
hiking: 6 km with Shelby

It was raining this day when I got up at 6AM and continued to rain all day until ~ 5PM. So running did not happen. (I'm really glad I did the full 5K on Saturday now.) And Shelby's walk happened quite late. But we at least were able to do the full 6K. (I was worried with all the rain that the off-road trails would be a soupy mess. But they weren't any worse by the time we got out on them than they had been earlier in the week.)

Did not do much on the workout front over all. No yoga other than @graoumia 's gift. Didn't have time for more. But I did something, at least.

writing: furiously racing to finish my short story
new fiction words: 4633
fiction YTD: 13,240
story-a-week challenge: 2 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 2 of 54 completed
new consumable words: 5369
consumable YTD: 28,694
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 56,672
deficit: 27,978

A good writing day! Had a frustrating battle with my word processing software I was not able to solve yet. But the writing itself went well. Stayed up way too late to get it done. And my speed was still slow. (Not cripplingly slow. But slow.) But I got the 2nd story of my story-a-week challenge done, and a good word count for the day overall.

French: Netflix

GOBOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 85
Consecutive days of French study: 1167
Consecutive days of no solo gaming before work: 4

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

January 28 update on my mother:

My brother drove out to see her this day. (She is still at the hospital that is more than a 3 hour drive from where he lives.)

Her eyes were closed when he went into her room, but he said hello to her, asked if she was awake.

She said, "Yes," but did not open her eyes.

A couple of minutes later the nurse came in, said, "Norma! Open your eyes. Look who's here!"

My mother said, "I know," but still did not open her eyes. She knew my brother was there but could not be bothered to talk to him or open her eyes to look at him.
(In her defense: she does not understand that she's in a hospital over a three hour drive from his home.)

Anyhow... my brother stayed with her for a bit. And since she was not talkative, he tried talking to her. This is not the easiest thing to do. For one thing: our mother was always the talker in the family. She talked incessantly, frequently interrupted the rest of us and cut us off when we tried to speak, and generally did not allow anyone else to get a word in edgewise. So we're not used to coming up with things to say to her since we so rarely were given the opportunity to speak in the past. Also: my brother doesn't feel that he has much of anything to talk about in general these days since all he has been doing for the past 7 weeks now is working, fighting with medical professionals, fighting with bankers, and driving.

My brother had promised himself he was not going to talk about our father to our mother, since she doesn't remember that he died, and my brother doesn't want to keep putting himself through that particular conversation. But then he inadvertently ended up mentioning him due to the whole not being used to being given space to talk and not really having anything to talk about thing. So he ended up having to remind her of the circumstances of our father's death again. She just looked confused in response. He also tried to explain to her about what had happened to her. She appeared confused about that too.

So basically: She is still eating. (She has to be spoon-fed. But she's taking all of her food by mouth.) And she still has the faculty of speech. (She doesn't have the energy to talk much. But she can do it.) And she appears to be processing things other people say okay. (She can follow simple instructions and respond to simple questions.) But she doesn't remember anything accurately. Even things one tells her now she doesn't remember in the next minute.

There is still no timeline for when she might be moved to a different hospital. But at least everyone in the current hospital appears to agree that when she is moved she will be moved to a hospital close to my brother.

We are still dealing with wildly different beliefs/expectations on the part of the various different medical professionals looking after her as to what her eventual recovery might look like.

 

[Deadoks]

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Thank you @Deadoks

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

January 29:

60 Days of HIIT: day 5
Power Hold: day 13
Sore Feet: 2 x DP, calf raises one-legged
Wrist Pain: DP (each side where applicable)
Hand Tendons: 2 x DP
burpees for @neilarey 's birthday
running: skipped
hiking: 6 km with Shelby, 1.5 km errands

Had a two hour meeting at the bank this day. Accomplished some important things. But it meant getting out late for Shelby's walk. Afterward I was cold and tired and skipped my run for those reasons. (The weather was a bit cold. But I could have run in it if I'd bundled up.) The forecast for Tuesday wasn't great. But I should get some decent weather for running for a full week after that. So I was okay with giving myself the pass on this day.

writing: started a new short story, craft study
new fiction words: 806
fiction YTD: 14,046
story-a-week challenge: 2 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 2 of 54 completed
new consumable words: 2154
consumable YTD: 30,848
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 58,696
deficit: 27,848

Wasn't sure what I wanted to write for this week's story. So I just picked a well-worn sci-fi trope (alien visits Earth) and a location (in this case one I actually know well: the Rondeau marsh) and started writing. We'll see where this goes!

French: Netflix

GOBOT
GBOT

Couldn't nap when I normally would have ended up crashing the day after a stupidly late night, due to the meeting at the bank. Then somehow managed to stay awake throughout the evening too and then get to bed on time and fall asleep right away. Yeah!

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 86
Consecutive days of French study: 1168
Consecutive days of no solo gaming before work: 5

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

January 30:

60 Days of HIIT: day 6 - w. 8lb. dumbbells
Power Hold: day 14 (15, 7, 7)
Ankle Recovery: 2 x DP, calf raises one-legged
Talk to the Hand: DP (each side where applicable)
Hand Tendons: 2 x DP
running: 3 km
hiking: 6 km with Shelby

The "mixed precipitation" forecast for this day turned out to be mostly very light rain, with a few flakes of snow. Shelby and I were out in what was probably the wettest part of the day, but it wasn't bad. We saw her friends Cody and Randy in the park, both of whom were eager to greet Shelby, so she was happy. Shelby also decided to make friends with a random human who she saw unloading bags from the back seat of her car. (Possibly the bags contained food? I don't know. Anyhow, the person decided Shelby was nice and came over to pet her.)

I had worn my running clothing to walk Shelby so that all I would need to do when we got back home was change my coat and shoes and then head back out again. (The delay caused by having to strip down to my underwear and get fully dressed again in new gear has often caused me to skip my run when the amount of gear to be changed is a winter volume.) But then I discovered black marks dotted at regular distances all over the floor which turned out to be a sticky, tarry substance, which turned out to also be stuck to the heel of one of my socks and between the toes of one of Shelby's feet. So then I had to clean Shelby's feet and the floor and change my socks. After all of that I was ready for dinner and very nearly skipped my run. But I decided to suck it up and do it. (It's a 3km run. It's not even 20 minutes!) And I was glad that I did.

writing: short story, craft study
new fiction words: 1000
fiction YTD: 15,046
story-a-week challenge: 2 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 2 of 54 completed
new consumable words: 1313
consumable YTD: 32,161
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 60,720
deficit: 28,559

French: Netflix

GOBOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 87
Consecutive days of French study: 1169
Consecutive days of no solo gaming before work: 6

 

[Lady Celerity]

Good job in going for the run despite the delay.

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Yes for persisting in the run!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Thank you @Lady Celerity and @PetiteSheWolf .

The 3K runs are working out well for me. The short distance makes it relatively easy to fit into my day and easier to overcome the mental resistance to getting out there in harsher weather. Plus I can do some speed at only 3K, so it's easier for me to avoid the whiny headspace of "Ugh! I used to be so much better at this!" (Of course I was! I was young and skinny and training five days a week with a top-ranked team under the supervision of an excellent and hardcore coach who pushed me hard. And then competing every weekend. I miss those days!) Now, once I get warmed up, I'm finding I'm actually enjoying running again. Which is nice. (It's not the same as when I had a team and a coach and was good at it. But it's still nice.)

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

January 31:

60 Days of HIIT: day 7
Power Hold: day 15
Sore Feet: 2 x DP, calf raises one-legged
Wrist Pain: DP (each side where applicable)
Hand Tendons: 2 x DP
running: 3 km
hiking: 6 km with Shelby, 6 km errands

Went to get blood drawn in the a.m. The clinic does not open until 8:30 a.m. But there is always a huge line. I have shown up at 8:30 before and had to wait an hour or more. So I got there at 8AM this day. Figured I would rather do my waiting outside since the waiting room is a small basement room and nobody wears masks anymore. (Except for me!) Even arriving at 8AM there were already 6 people ahead of me in line! And the phlebotomist didn't have an assistant this week, so everything moved slowly once she finally did open up. I still ended up waiting ~ 50 minutes in total. And the phlebotomist bruised me again. Also, she said to me:

"This is for Dr. Morrison?"
I said, "No. It's for me."
"No," she said. "Dr. Morrison is the one ordering the tests."
I said, "Alan orders the tests, yes. But the tests are for me. The data is mine. The results come to me."

My doctor appears to understand this. (Or at least understands that I won't tolerate his pretending otherwise.) But with his staff I repeatedly have to have this argument because they falsely believe that a medical doctor somehow has the right to act as a gatekeeper between me and my own medical data. (With blood work it actually isn't an issue. The lab operates an online portal where I can log in to check my own results. But I try not to miss opportunities to educate medical personal when they misspeak.)

Anyhow... the deed is done. Most of the results are posted already. And they're all good. (Not a surprise.) And I got over 750 words written on my story while I was waiting. (Not bad for writing long hand while standing up, and most of that outside in the cold to boot!)

Later I went out to get groceries. The price of food these days is scary! (I'm not having to bear the full brunt of that yet, since there is still a lot of food stockpiled where I currently live.) Onions were significantly less expensive per unit if purchased in a big 10 lb. bag. I'd not taken a large enough knapsack to hold that. So I got some good grip strength training in on the way home. Also: avocados were on sale: 6 small ones for only $1.88. That is an excellent price here. So I got two bags. On the other hand: it cost me $4 for 11 puny little apples (3 lb.). And that was a sale price too. I am sure going to miss having my own tree!

We met up with one of Shelby's human friends on the Fit Park trail on our walk, and three of her puppy friends (Cody, Randy, and Stella) on the trail behind the school. Cody has decided that he and Shelby are the best of friends now. So Shelby was pretty happy. She also got some loving from her kitty friend Buddy, on our way back home.

writing: short story, business study
new fiction words: 756
fiction YTD: 15,802
story-a-week challenge: 2 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 2 of 54 completed
new consumable words: 1168
consumable YTD: 33,329
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 62,744
deficit: 29,415

Short on the word count again this day. But I made good progress on my current short story. And I got a lot of other things done. So I'm okay with the progress here overall.

French: Netflix

GOBOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 88
Consecutive days of French study: 1170
Consecutive days of no solo gaming before work: 7

 

[MadamMeow]

I'm glad you stood up for yourself, and of course that your results were good. I need to learn to do that more!

 

[Deadoks]

Most of the results are posted already. And they're all good.

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Glad for good lab results

 

[Nevetharine]

Yay for great labs!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Thank you:
@MadamMeow
@Deadoks
@PetiteSheWolf
@Nevetharine

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

February 1:

60 Days of HIIT: day 8
Power Hold: day 16 (15, 7, 7)
Ankle Recovery: 2 x DP, calf raises one-legged
Talk to the Hand: DP (each side where applicable)
Hand Tendons: 2 x DP
running: 3 km
hiking: 6 km with Shelby

Weather was decent this day. Temp above freezing, not too windy, not raining. Still we saw no one on our walk except for Buddy who came running for his snuggles with Shelby on our way home. I don't have an accurate clock on my runs, since the battery in my Garmin doesn't hold charge any more. But I was less than 20 minutes between the time I walked out my door and the time I walked back in today. I walked a bit along the front path before I started running, and I always end my runs by sprinting past the pavement crack just past our driveway and then I walk around the turning circle and back up our driveway and across the front walk to cool down. And then I had to unlock the door. All of this takes at least two minutes. Which means my running pace is now back below 6 min/km -- at least for these shorter runs. This is very, very, very far from a good time for me. But it is at least back below the threshold above which I think, "Holy crap. I am a turtle now. I am a freaking turtle." I am feeling happy about this.

writing: short story, business study
new fiction words: 1506
fiction YTD: 17,308
story-a-week challenge: 3 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 3 of 54 completed
new consumable words: 2177
consumable YTD: 35,506
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 64,768
deficit: 29,262

Decreased my wordcount deficit by a wee bit this day. And I finished my short story for the week! 3 days and 7 hours before deadline and 21 hours before my own personal goal time for finishing. Yeah! The story is a bit goofy. But it made me laugh out loud. So hopefully others will like it too!

French: Netflix

GOBOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 89
Consecutive days of French study: 1171
Consecutive days of no solo gaming before work: 8

 

[Mamatigerj]

Hooray for finishing your story early!

 

[Maegaranthelas]

Whoah, you're doing great!

 

[Anek]

Yay!

 

[Deadoks]

And I finished my short story for the week!

Ohhh yeah!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Thank you:
@Mamatigerj
@Maegaranthelas
@Anek
@Deadoks

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

February 2:

60 Days of HIIT: day off
Power Hold: day 17
Sore Feet: 2 x DP, calf raises one-legged
Wrist Pain: DP (each side where applicable)
Hand Tendons: 2 x DP
running: 3 km
hiking: 6 km with Shelby

Shelby made two new friends in the park: Cadbury and Rocket.
I skipped 60DoH because it was late and I just didn't feel like doing it. It would have been a cardio day. And I'd already been for a run. So I figured that was good enough.
(The weather's looking pretty good for running this week at least until Friday. So I'm going to need to double up on the cardio in there somewhere. Which isn't a problem. My weekday runs are only 18 minutes. 60DoH is only 7 minutes. I just felt like letting good enough be good enough this day.)

writing: short story planning, business webinar
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 17,308
story-a-week challenge: 3 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 3 of 54 completed
new consumable words: 391
consumable YTD: 35,897
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 66,792
deficit: 30,895

As of right now (8:37 PM on February 3) I am updating my definition of "no solo gaming before work" to: no solo gaming until I have completed my short story for the week and I have written at least 15,000 words for the week. The week starts at 11PM on Sunday night. (Because if I am still gaming after 11PM, I have missed GBOT, which will mess up my ability to get up and started on my work on time on Monday morning.)

Solo gaming that happened on Thursday after finishing my story for the week, and yesterday, and today before now did not break my streak, because that happened under the old rules. But from this point forward the new rules are in effect. (I did work on my writing on Friday in that I solved a sticking point in the story logic of my next story that had been keeping me from writing this one for a while. So that's good. But I could have gotten more work done. In the future I shall.)

French: Netflix

GOBOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 90
Consecutive days of French study: 1172
Consecutive days of no solo gaming before work: 9

 

[Deadoks]

and I have written at least 15,000 words for the week

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

February 3:

60 Days of HIIT: day off
Power Hold: day off
Ankle Recovery: 2 x DP, calf raises one-legged
Talk to the Hand: DP (each side where applicable)
Hand Tendons: 2 x DP
plank crunches for @Froud 's birthday
running: 5 km
hiking: 6 km with Shelby

The sun actually came out this day! I had to wear sun-glasses for my run!

I've decided I don't need to do my DAREBEE program or challenge on Saturdays if I'm able to get out for a 5K run. I'm not saying I'll never do a long run plus the program and/or the challenge. I'm just giving myself the freedom to be flexible, and if I don't have time to do everything on a Saturday I'm going to prioritize getting out for a longer run and giving Shelby a proper full-length walk. Also: my wrists were a bit cranky this day. So I didn't want to do the push-ups in Power Hold. (They were cranky because of gaming on Thursday/Friday/Saturday, not because of push-ups. But still I thought it would be good to give them a bit of a break.)

writing: short story planning
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 17,308
story-a-week challenge: 3 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 3 of 54 completed
new consumable words: 405
consumable YTD: 36,302
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 68,816
deficit: 32,514

French: Netflix

GOBOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 91
Consecutive days of French study: 1173
Consecutive days of no solo gaming before work: 10

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

February 4 update on my mother:

There is nothing new really to report this week. My brother saw her on Friday evening and Saturday during the day. She ate most of her food while he was there, but barely opened her eyes and did not speak except to give one word answers (yes/no) to direct questions. He did not know whether or not she recognized him on either day.

The hospital had done a test on her cerebral shunt last week to ensure it was working correctly. (Because her level of consciousness is not great, they thought there might be a problem with the shunt.) The shunt tested fine. (But apparently there is still a 5% chance the shunt is not functioning as it should and the test just didn't show that.) So they are saying her current low level of consciousness is likely caused by either: a.) the shunt needing to be adjusted further, or b.) a new infection which they haven't otherwise been able to detect yet, or c.) this is just where she's at at this point in her recovery now.

She is still in the hospital that is over a three hour drive from my brother's house. Reportedly they are still working on getting her transferred to a hospital close to my brother. But we are unclear on what the timeline for this is now, or even what level of care she will be transferred into. Three weeks ago they said she was ready to be transferred from the neurology ward into a regular medical ward. And they wanted to "decant" her back to the hospital that is only a half hour drive from where she had been living before all of this happened. We objected to her going back to that hospital, and my brother changed our mother's address so that she could go to a hospital near him instead. (We think at least one individual at the current hospital acted to delay her transfer to give my brother time to deal with the change of address.) But now, three weeks later, she still has not been moved. Also: she is still under the care of the neurology team at the current hospital, and they are still messing around with trying to get her shunt working at the correct level--so thank goodness my brother did not allow her to be transferred back to her original hospital which doesn't even have a neurology department!

Supposedly the current hospital is still working on getting her transferred somewhere close to my brother. But where? Someone called him last week to ask if he was considering Long Term Care for her. But when he talked to the neurosurgeon on Friday, the neuro said her medical needs are still too great for LTC. The neuro mentioned Complex Care (which, as far as I understand it, is a level of care that is provided in hospitals). But then he admitted that he isn't actually familiar with the admission requirements for CC. And she definitely does not qualify for a rehab hospital placement at this time. So who knows? It's basically just been another week of no news, and mixed messages.

 

[Deadoks]

I've decided I don't need to do my DAREBEE program or challenge on Saturdays if I'm able to get out for a 5K run. I'm not saying I'll never do a long run plus the program and/or the challenge. I'm just giving myself the freedom to be flexible, and if I don't have time to do everything on a Saturday I'm going to prioritize getting out for a longer run and giving Shelby a proper full-length walk. Also: my wrists were a bit cranky this day. So I didn't want to do the push-ups in Power Hold. (They were cranky because of gaming on Thursday/Friday/Saturday, not because of push-ups. But still I thought it would be good to give them a bit of a break.)

Excellent choice if it fits better your needs and life. Some good adaptations makes it better to realize and follow.

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Thank you for sharing the news regarding your mother, stagnation and not knowing the next step is so frustrating... Lots of hugs.

 

[Mamatigerj]

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Thank you:
@Deadoks
@PetiteSheWolf
@Mamatigerj

February 4:

60 Days of HIIT: day off
Power Hold: day off
running: 3 km
hiking: 6 km with Shelby

Another day of sunshine! Wore sunglasses for both my run and Shelby's walk.
Yoga did not happen again this week. But I did run, which was nice in the sunshine and above freezing temperature.

writing: short story planning
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 17,308
story-a-week challenge: 3 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 3 of 54 completed
new consumable words: 808
consumable YTD: 37,110
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 70,840
deficit: 33,730

French: Netflix

GOBOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 92
Consecutive days of French study: 1174
Consecutive days of no solo gaming before work: 11

Bit of a slacker day. But I did do some baking (made chocolate orange cranberry scones --like the recipe but with whole wheat flour, added cranberries, and my go-to protein-enriched nut milk-- yum!) and made a curry with chicken and a bunch of random vegetables from the freezer (there were for some reason two open packages of mixed vegetables) and washed a bunch of dishes, and wrote to some people to update them on my mother's status. (Will have another update on that later today--but first I must take Shelby out for her walk.)

 

[Lady Celerity]

Ooooo I have to try your scone recipe. I usually make cranberry orange scones and chocolate orange sounds delish!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Fun things you get to put in the mail (for free even) in Ontario once you reach a certain age:

Spoiler: Pictorial instructions for conducting a routine health test of a scatological nature. Seriously. Do not say I didn't warn you.

 

[Elocin]

Nous avons la même chose en France

 

[Maegaranthelas]

Amazing xD If only my body would so readily follow instruction no.5 whenever I wanted it to

 

[Sólveig]

Instructions were not clear. My buttocks got stuck on the toilet.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Amazing xD If only my body would so readily follow instruction no.5 whenever I wanted it to

I made a batch of black bean brownies--or rather, kidney bean brownies in this case--yesterday. So I did not have a problem with that.

@graoumia the texture was the same with kidney beans as with black beans, and I did not notice a difference in taste either. The two types of beans have very similar nutritional profiles. So I think they can be used interchangeably for this recipe.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

February 5 update on my mother:

When my brother talked to our mother's neurosurgeon on Friday (or perhaps Saturday, I'm not sure which day it was), the neuro said a.) she does not qualify for long term care at this time since her medical needs are still too great, and b.) while she could continue to show recovery for up to a year, we should have a better idea of what her eventual recovery will look like by the middle of April.

Today a palliative care doctor called my brother. The nurse practitioners have been telling my brother "We're not considering palliative care for your mother. We just want you to talk to someone from the palliative care team because they are good at having conversations about goals of care." So today the PC doc calls my brother. And flat out tells him he should be considering palliative care for our mother at this time. He also told him he should be looking into long term care homes for her, because if they take her off the IV, then her medical needs could be met in an LTC facility.

Remember the 3 possible explanations my brother was given on the weekend for our mother's low level of consciousness? Well, now we are being told it wasn't caused by any of those things. It was caused by hypernatremia that was caused by dehydration.

On January 19 we were told surgery to install a gastronomy tube was medically necessary because our mother required ongoing enteric feeding, and they did not want to keep her NG tube in for any longer.
On January 20 they started trying to give her some food by mouth.
On January 22 they cancelled the g-tube surgery because they had determined that she was able to take all of her food by mouth so no longer required enteric feeding.
And for the past two weeks she did consume sufficient calories by mouth.
But she did not consume sufficient liquid.
(She has a PICC line. Which they could use to supplement her hydration. But for some reason they did not do this.)
So her level of consciousness, which had been improving from January 19 through to the 23rd or 24th started to go downhill again, due to the dehydration.
And now this palliative care doctor is saying that if she "shows a pattern" of continuing to not consume enough liquids to remain hydrated, he would recommend switching her to palliative care and removing her IV. Which would then result in her dying of dehydration.

I do not understand this.
Two and a half weeks ago we were told she should have surgery to enable long term enteral feeding.
Today we are being told that even though she is demonstrably in better shape today than she was two and a half weeks ago (she is taking food by mouth now, and speaking at least single words--both things she was not doing when they wanted to install the g-tube) she should be denied even an IV to supplement her hydration.

If they used the IV to boost her hydration, she would be more mentally alert. And then perhaps she would become interested in consuming more fluids by mouth.
But this PC doc is suggesting that we should instead remove the IV entirely, which would result in her becoming more dehydrated which would lead to decreased consciousness, which would then lead to decreased likelihood of her consuming enough fluids on her own to remain alive.

It seems like the various medical professionals on our mother's care "team" are not a team at all. It seems like they don't communicate with one another. They just each talk at my brother, and tell him different things, based on their own individual professional bent. The neurosurgeon wants to keep adjusting her cerebral shunt to ensure it is working optimally, because well-controlled intracranial pressure is crucial to our mother's ability to recover. Meanwhile the palliative care doc wants to switch her to comfort care and let her die.



I don't even...
I just don't

 

[Mamatigerj]

This really stinks, Laura! You and your brother must be so frustrated. I hope that some medical professional will come into this situation who will truly advocate for your mother.

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

What the *****... Hugs for you, your bro - and your mom. This level of coldness and uncoordination is crazy.
(good thing you had your little scatological humor posts before, LOL)

 

[graoumia]

All this situation is so crazy, it is unbelievable. A lot of hugs for you, shelby, and your family to deal with all this.

But wahou interesting blog, with interesting recipes, thanks for sharing @Laura Rainbow Dragon