Saturday, July 6, 2024

What the heck day is it anyway? These middle of the week holidays especially with tourist traffic restrictions make it really confusing.

Pleasing news yesterday. I have 3 90+ year old handmade quilts made by my great-grandmother which my kids don't want. I reached out to my nephew and wife and they would love to have them. I had a feeling they might. It really pleases me. So I will be boxing them up and sending them to Washington state this week.

I hate overcast, rainy weather. It is warm, almost tropical but the lack of light seriously affects my mood. DH made a reservation at a place on a marina tonight but unless it improves we will be cancelling. It is a great place when the weather is good, not so much otherwise.

DS just got up and announced that he feels sick. Just what the household needs.

I am starting to wonder what happens with maintenance on tirzepatide. Do I stay on the current dose and try eating more or do I step down on the dose or timing until my appetite equals my maintenance calories? And what source can I work with to lower the cost if I am reducing the dose? Last time I googled it I couldn't find a lot of guidance on what works best for most people.

Today's plan is meet friends for coffee, do some more house staging, and go out for date night. I hope my mental enthusiasm increases - a bit more light would help.

Have a salutiferous Saturday!

146.6

Been away for these last few days (busy, busy...closing Monday) and will catch up on posts asap. Hope everyone is having good 4th of July fun and such and that all family doggie friends are faring well with the noises. Swann is alert to them, but doesn't seem to care one way or another.

Doctor happy with weight loss at yesterday's yearly Wellness Visit. Limited check up with nothing concerning. Recommended I get more electrolytes and hydration which is the one practice I haven't yet raised adequately (never had any problems before...). The only downside to visit are the numerous appointments I've added to an already too long list. Was expecting the mammogram, but evidently time again for colonoscopy and a full out "happy 70th birthday" heart health check appointment.

Liz, I wouldn't be surprised, given the relatively short time these medications have been available, that much is not known yet re med dosing in maintenance. In fact, YOU might become a data point in some current research.

DS is over to help Kurt paint the front porch floor and his requested compensation is biscuits and gravy, so it's off to the kitchen with me.

Planning, indeed, a very salutiferous (and all the synonyms attached to it) Saturday.

Hope the same for all.

I find that Medicare Wellness visit to be a waste of time. To me it seems like an excuse for some physicians to charge twice (once for this and once for a physical). I had a conversation about this with a couple of friends recently and found that some doctors actually do a full physical with the Wellness visit which saves the insurers money. Mine breaks them in 2.

I have a single annual visit with my PCP. For the record, he's never asked me to repeat words he uttered earlier during the appointment.

The last few years I've asked him a lot of questions about what I can expect during my upcoming 80s.

Made it through the 4th. We had a very successful party. It cooled off in the evening so we could spill out and eat on the deck and watch the fireworks later. Our 4 dogs (our 2 plus our DD's 2) and the cat all survived the fireworks without too much trauma. Yesterday, we pretty much just rested and puttered, putting things away. Today is DH's bday, which is being overshadowed somewhat this year by the BFF's son's wedding later today. Another friend from childhood (but only since we were 9) arrived last night for the wedding and will be staying with us for several days. So I've been busy!

Liz, I'm in the same boat re maintenance. I'm using semaglutide since tirzepatide is harder to come by in CA. What they told me at HenryMeds is to decrease slowly over a couple of months. In their experience, many people do well on half the dose they used for weight loss, though, of course that can vary. It sounds like that part of things IS pretty vague. I agree with you about the cost. I'm on a half dose now, but still paying the full monthly price since HenryMeds is a monthly subscription deal. I looked into Orderly but I wasn't able to get my questions answered satisfactorily without signing up with their service, but it sounds like they may let you pay by the vial. Anyway, I decided to stick with what I have until I'm feeling more confident about my maintenance dosage and then look around for alternatives.

Lizanne

Thank you for the info - I'm glad you are blazing the maintenance trail before me.

Beautiful morning out here on the porch. Sunny, warm breeze, just stellar. Rain predicted for this afternoon, and tomorrow morning, and then the forecast finally predicts a dry period. I'm with you Liz, dreary days make me feel dreary. DD has suggested numerous times I get one of those light therapy boxes. I just don't see how that would help. I'm all loaded up with serotonin and dopamine from all the sun in San Diego, along with a mild sunburn. Not the best idea, but it felt great to have the sun sink down into my bones at the time.

I hope Liz, your DS is not getting too sick. My DS had Covid last weekend, and it set him back. He had to miss work, and cancel a 4th of July camping trip. I read in yesterday's paper it is on the rise again, and a bigger surge is expected after the holiday.

Today's plans include going to work out, weed pulling, and a get together with some friends this evening for pizza and wine.

My weight holds steady, so maybe I am in maintenance? I wish I could take a Tamoxifen holiday to see how much that actually impacts my weight loss. I have 3 months of the 1.7 right now. I might consider bumping up to the 2.4 (highest dose) later to see if I can budge a few more pounds. But I'm content for now.

Didn't know about the Covid uptick. Makes sense now why I was seeing way more than a few people with masks on when I was at the grocery. Haven't see more than 10 put all together in maybe a year.

My nephew, wife and their son got it just before the 4th and had the same symptoms as DS. We had him test even though he was not exposed to them. He is negative so it might be the cold that DD's fiancé had (he was tested for COVID and flu but had neither).

A very rough start to the day!! One of those when you want to get back in bed and start over.

Right when I got up, my phone rang. It was ADT telling me my AZ fire alarm was going off. It was before 6am AZ time. I couldn't think straight! Do I have the fire dept go out? My neighbors wouldn't be up yet. I told them to hold off and I would call the house watcher. I woke her up and asked her to go investigate. As I woke up more (and ADT called 8 more times as it kept going off after every reset they did), I had enough sense to look at my smart house stuff and could see it was only 1 of the 2 alarm-wired fire detectors and the non-alarm Nest smoke detectors were fine. I deduced the battery on the one non-hardwired device was dying. The batteries were supposed to last 5 years. The first one died 6 months in and this one a year and a half. The mistake I made was thinking the first one was a fluke and not changing the second! So that is now going to be a yearly task whether it needs it or not! Jen and her husband went and changed the battery. I'm so lucky to have them! Such a rattling way to start the morning. Argh.

Then I showered and Kirby decided I was too far away and got in through the curtain. Soaking wet dog. More Argh.

I went to the post office to get a package they wouldn't drop off because the gate was closed (our neighbor who shares the road closed it to keep out tourists and apparently postal workers). They were already closed at 11:30! But the two were still in there and I had to yell my name and address through the locked glass door, which they heard wrong so couldn't find it. More yelling. Carter is not a hard name. What would they have done if it was Wojciechowski?? Argh again.

My neighbor's kids wanted to come meet Kirby and were an hour late and I hate when people are late! But now everything I had to do today is done and I am doing absolutely NOTHING the rest of the day.

More gray cold weather today. So weird. Hardly any sun since I got here. But it's so much better than the 104 it is supposed to be at home today. Did you see an all time high of 124 in Palm Springs yesterday? How is your brother fairing, Diane?

Hope everyone has a wonderful day with no alarms of any kind!