Daily Journal #17: Good Numbers Don’t Always Mean a Good Day

Another rough night of sleep.

I was up and down most of the night, and according to my Apple Watch, I managed a whopping 3 hours and 21 minutes of sleep.

That’s not much.

I’ll probably end up taking a nap sometime today, which unfortunately feeds into the problem. I sleep during the day because I didn’t sleep at night. Then I’m not tired when nighttime comes around.

Before I know it, I’ve got my days and nights completely screwed up.

It sucks.

I’m still trying to figure out how to break that cycle.

At Least the Morning Numbers Look Good

The good news is that my morning health checks continue to look good.

No swelling this morning.

Nothing showing me that I’m heading back toward the fluid retention I was dealing with earlier.

That’s reassuring.

I’m still not drinking as much as I probably should, though.

After watching my weight climb and my feet swell recently, I’ve definitely become more hesitant about fluids. I’ve talked about that over the last few days, and apparently my brain hasn’t gotten the memo yet that things have stabilized.

That’s something I need to continue working on.

At Least I’m Eating

I did better with food yesterday.

I had a salad along with some tuna salad.

We’ve actually started doing something different with the tuna that has turned out really well.

Instead of buying canned tuna, we’ve been cooking fresh tuna steaks and using those to make tuna salad.

What a difference.

It tastes so much better than canned tuna, and depending on what you’re comparing it with, it can also help me avoid some of the sodium that comes with canned and packaged products.

This might eventually deserve its own recipe on the site.

One more thing for the list.

The Hip Is Another Story

Unfortunately, while the morning numbers are behaving themselves, my hip definitely isn’t.

This is probably the most pain I’ve been in for quite a while.

Usually I can find some position where it settles down a little.

Right now, even sitting still hurts.

Sleeping has become difficult too, which certainly isn’t helping my already screwed-up sleep schedule.

The recliner is still the place where I can get the most comfortable, but even that isn’t particularly comfortable right now.

And mentally, I hate spending most of my day parked in a recliner.

I want to get up.

I want to do things.

I want to work on the website.

I want to cook.

I want to move around the house.

Instead, my hip keeps reminding me that it gets a vote too.

Apparently, lately it has veto power.

The Pain-Medication Trade-Off

I haven’t taken my pain medication in a while.

There’s a reason for that.

Constipation.

That’s one of the side effects I’ve dealt with, and it’s unpleasant enough that I’ve been trying to avoid the medication whenever possible.

Usually I can tough it out.

Right now, I’m getting to the point where I may have to reconsider that.

There’s only so much pain you can tolerate before the benefit of getting some relief starts outweighing the downside.

If I do need the medication, then I’ll have to deal with the constipation issue separately.

Another trade-off.

Seems like chronic illness comes with a lot of those.

Fix one problem. Create another problem. Manage both. Repeat.

❤️ Greg’s Take

If you only looked at my morning health checks today, you’d probably say:

Great day.

No swelling.

Numbers look good.

Fluid retention seems to be under control.

But those numbers don’t show that I slept 3 hours and 21 minutes.

They don’t show how much my hip hurts.

They don’t show that sitting still hurts right now.

And they don’t show how frustrating it is spending so much time in a recliner because it’s one of the few places where I can get even somewhat comfortable.

That’s something I’ve learned through all of this.

Good numbers don’t always mean a good day.

I’m happy with the numbers.

Believe me, I want them to stay exactly where they are.

But today?

I’m tired.

My hip hurts like hell.

And there’s a pretty good chance a nap is in my future.

Hopefully tomorrow is better.

---