A Good Day! Liver Health, Recliner

 

Pillows in all the right places.
This new recliner will allow me to spend more time out of bed.

 

Thursday we met with a naturopathic doctor over Zoom about my liver health. What I came away with was:

• check certain of my long list of supplements for country of origin, and to avoid those from China or India due to heavy metals in the soil. I was surprised about India. He said there are lots of Indians walking around with heavy metals in their bodies because they use so many spices.
• I should get back to using a castor oil liver pack daily with a heating pad, but only for 20 minutes, not an hour. You can't detox the body too fast because the liver can't process too much at once. FYI - Castor oil packs are also good for uterine fibroids, non-malignant ovarian cysts, headaches, migraines, constipation, intestinal disorders, gallbladder and liver conditions.
• I can use curcumin for pain in place of Tylenol. Cool! Sounds risky to try, but I will. We have some that he recommends coming our way.
• Drink water like there's no tomorrow, to help get the toxins out.

Friday I went to get my blood drawn to see if my two off-the-charts liver numbers (AST and ALT) were any better after trying the blue-green algae for a week. One number went down slightly, the other went up. I decided to drastically reduce my Fenbendazole intake from 1776mg daily to 444mg daily to lighten the burden on the poor ol' liver. That's one fourth. I'll recheck in 1-2 weeks. Going to Kaiser I was worried about the walking across the parking lot and sitting in the waiting room at Kaiser, not sure my upper back and base of my neck could hold up my brainy head for that long without complaining. At this location, there's no lying down in the waiting room. I had Michael put on a lidocaine patch before leaving. On the way out the door I decided to grab a kitchen towel, wrap it around my neck with the two ends straight out in front of me. I held the ends taut so my neck could rest against the towel as I walked and sat. It helped a lot but I still cried in the waiting area. I closed my eyes and let the tears fall as Michael checked in for me. The chairs in the lab itself are recliners, yay. I used my pickle pillow for my neck in there. I was very emotional on the way home, as discomfort seems to trigger everything. I sobbed at the bed for a bit, Michael was with me. After that subsided we talked and I got emotional again, but this time the tears were from gratitude and love for those who are helping me in so many ways. Such extreme emotions on this ride, man.

 

Yesterday Michael went to re-borrow the high-backed reclining wheelchair that I used when Breanne took me to the Filoli Gardens a few weeks ago. I want to keep it around for going to the doctor, etc. I have a handicap placard coming this week.

 

Today has been a really good day. When was the last time I said that?! I started out feeling good as I usually do, but the discomfort never really set in until now, 9:30pm, probably because I'm typing (in a recliner). The day was quite busy for me, but my pain level has stayed very good. I was on my usual Tylenol/ibuprofen schedule but didn't need any Willow Balm or lidocaine patches or ice. In bed, where I spend most of my time, I watched church via Zoom (thank you for that, pandemic); then a kind and generous friend brought over a like-new recliner he found online; had an online session with a natural healer; monthly Redd Sisters Zoom chat; then a niece, her hubby and baby came for a short visit. I'm pretty much saying no to most visits these days but they live out of town and knew I could excuse myself when needed, and I did.

 

In personal news, my "fluffs" today have been extra stinky and possibly more plentiful (how's that for transparent?). We've decided it's toxins leaving the body. 

 

If I live I'd like to get TV glasses. Is that a thing? I'm going to need a new prescription for computer glasses, too. I hope my vision change hasn't been sudden, that would be worrisome. Hopefully it's been gradual and I just haven't noticed, being distracted with other things.

 

Saying goodnight to sonny boy Mike on my way to bed. I love this boy.
The pink paper is a POLST form I've filled out. We'll talk about that later.

 

Our couch is two sections, so Michael pulled them apart to put the recliner between the two.