Monday, 13 September 2021
I was thrilled to get a call in the morning that, due to a cancellation, I could have an evaluation by the physical therapist today. The PT I saw, Libby, asked lots of questions, listened to my whole dizziness chronicle, and then performed the Epley Maneuver. She looked as surprised (as you can tell when someone is masked) to hear that my doctor does not believe it works. I wanted to give it a try. It definitely started some spinning feelings, but as she watched my eyes closely, she said there was no nystagmus, or eye jerking, which is a way to diagnose vertigo. I said I wished I could have gotten referred by my doctor earlier because nystagmus was observed in the emergency room and by the nurse I saw for an ear infection a week before this PT appointment.
So the dizziness remains a mystery. I will have follow up appointments for some balance exercises, not until November because of Covid overload delaying our medical system, unless I get in on another cancellation.
I was told to take it easy and not bend over for the next day after the maneuver, so despite nice weather and feeling remarkably balanced for a change, I just read.
Meanwhile, Allan picked some apples…
….and tidied up the J’s garden….
…and a painted some trim over the garage. The faded yellow paint is left over from the original colors of our manufactured home, an ugly pale brown and yellow.
His first idea was to use cobalt blue….
…but he did not like it, so he went with the dark green which was supposed to be the house color (but it got mixed to a lighter and brighter shade over ten years ago).
With the slightly tilted garage roof, the green is perfect as it lets the arbor stand in for trim.
The book I read was…
…on a subject close to my life. Part memoir and part analysis, its an excellent read and might even convince someone to change their attitude. Here it refers to another book I like:
Later:
Great book. Unfortunately, the people I’d most like to read it probably won’t: the friends whose conversation always swings back around to how much weight they want to lose or how much they fear gaining an ounce.
Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Allan went boating at my insistence. I planned a reading day so as not to get in some sort of pickle outside alone. As it happened, I had a disturbingly dizzy day to where I couldn’t even unload the dishwasher and could barely get a snack, so reading was the best choice. I had a new library book recommended on the Cultivating Place podcast. It is my favorite book of the year; I encourage you to get it. Here are some samples that I loved so much, I felt like my head was floating around the room.
……………..
………….
……..
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And…
And….
Smallness, fading away quietly, is just the way I see my own life. I have never seen put it into such eloquent words why that appeals so much to me. (I have had some dreams of glory and recognition for my work, I must admit, but other than this blog and compliments from passersby, they never came true.)
Now I have a new favorite writer and am burning to get his next book, which appears to be more specifically about his life as a gardener, expecially one particular job. I am number five on the library wait list and can hardly bear the waiting.
“How to Catch a Mole” is going on my TBR list. Beautiful, beautiful writing. I, too, like the idea of smallness. Describes my life to a T, especially during this time of the pandemic.
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It is wonderful. I have one more passage to share next time it is foggy….
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“How to Catch a Mole” is in our library system, and I have ordered it. Looking forward to reading it.
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We have one of those apple baskets on a pole, too. They are invaluable!
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Would it have been better to observe nystagmus, and narrow down the options for what the problem could be? Is the earlier observed nystagmus now irrelevant? I suppose that there are other problems that could have caused this symptom earlier.
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It would have been better because sometimes benign paroxysmal positional vertigo can resolve on its own, so it would have helped to narrow down what it was…I guess.
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Is is possible that the earlier symptom indicated what the problem is, and that the lack of that same symptom now indicates that it is in the slow process of resolving itself?
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Like Tony above, I wonder what it means that your nystagmus was noted twice then not seen again by the physical therapist?
On to other things…I have apple envy. You are so fortunate.
Regarding fat, I know for a fact most people don’t understand it and that discrimination exists when it shouldn’t. My Godmother was obese. I lived with her for 6 months and noticed she ate less than I did, but remained heavy. Why? You might research epigenetics, obesity and gene regulation.
“How to Catch a Mole” looks excellent. I’m going to buy it and also recommend it to a gardening friend.
I’d like to email you privately regarding a book and gardening. Would that be okay?
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Yes please do. You can email me at tanglycottage at gmail.com… type it out as a link because …. I’m following Tootlepedal’s example of how to share an email I’m comments.
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I forgot to say….I’ve been an advocate against the oppression of fat people since I was about 23. Even when I was thin for awhile (as an experiment, I guess, and it took ALL my time and semi starvation and working out three hours every day and those were lost years in terms of productivity!) during which time I was shocked at the rude things thin women said at the gym about fat women who were working out. I would just look at them and say I am one of them, not really one of you. As soon as I knocked off the three hour a day workouts and stopped being borderline anorexic, I went back to my normal size within a year (and my work was physical, but not aerobic). This all took place between about age 28 and 36. At 36 I was pregnant and started eating normally and not working out like a maniac, then I had a miscarriage and had to continue to give up my obsessive workout addiction because I was not well for a year. I found I was so much more productive AND my garden looked wonderful because I took time for it instead of out running and running or working out at the gym. So I really have no patience for fat bashers. I will try to talk to a thin friend who has that attitude and try to educate but if she or he keeps on criticizing fat people, I am outta there.
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I like that cupcake and saucer cosmos. It is most unusual. I am sorry that you didn’t get more benefit from your visit to the PT.
If you set human life against the time that dinosaurs roamed the earth, every human life is small and if we keep going as we are, likely to remain so. We have been on earth for the blink of an eye.
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I agree that we are likely to go the way of the dinosaur….
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