Things I'll Do After Quarantine

I'm still experiencing baboy reflex* especially after eating breakfast. There's something about being back home that's encouraging me to just keep sleeping. I had a lot of trouble sleeping when I was in Singapore. The past few days I just keep conking out. Haha. Maybe my body is still recovering from the busy time we had packing our home. 

Anyway, I just have two more nights here at the quarantine hotel. I finally got a schedule for my swab test after trying to reach Padlab by email, Messenger, phone call and text. I also tried Aide app, but there seems to be a bug. Oh well, getting things done has always been harder here hehe. Now that I have that out of the way I could focus on planning what I'll do after I get out. 

Well, we still have four days of quarantine we need to complete at home. That will give me time to catch up with Miggy and collect many hugs! We'll finally see Mom on Sunday. I hope we could also drop by the church to say a prayer. 

It's going to be mayhem when we get home on Tuesday. I just realized it's going to be hard to squeeze in everything in our tiny home! Good luck to us on that. Miggy asked about groceries we're going to order. I'm putting together a simple menu for the next few days, probably easy to cook items like adobo, bistek and sinigang. I want to cook some of Daddy's mustasa dish for Mom. I'll probably order some veggies from onlinepalengke.com. 

Keeping it simple for our first week back home. My neighbor advised me to take my time to acclimate haha. We'll just do a lot of catching up, do some house cleaning and stock up on food. 

How's your Sunday going? Mine got really exciting, tell ya tomorrow! :D

*Baboy reflex - a phrase my nieces taught me. It means falling asleep right after eating.

#Quarantine4 #Home4 #NewG240 #Xmas48 #StayHome #BeKind 

Pushing Too Hard

The last time I really felt I was progressing was when I was discharged in mid-January. That was the time I worked on increasing the number of steps I could make. The progress stopped when I started bleeding and had to be hospitalized again. I picked up almost where I left off after I got discharged, but progress has been very slow which has been very frustrating. 

I've been trying to increase my activities at home and also trying to increase the number of meters I could walk in one go. I also rested a lot in between our walks, but my breathing the last few days has not been good. I've also been having frequent asthma attacks and a lot of headaches. It was really bad last night I thought I had to go to the ER. Luckily I managed. 

I'm not sure if its caused by food (or too much food) or something else. I've been taking my medication as prescribed, but I think maybe the new blood thinner isn't doing it's job. Or maybe I'm not hiyang to it. I realize though that in January I was taking pain medication also and that probably helped me progress faster.  If things aren't better in a day or two I'll go see my doctor. 

There's the point also that I may have been pushing myself too hard. All the things I've been going through lately is new to me and I'm not used to just sitting and waiting for it to go away. Just before I started this post I was feeling a bit dizzy, but because I'm just sitting I picked up my computer and started typing away. Sweetie said, "Kaya mo ba? Kala ko nahihilo ka?" Errrm, yes, bad habit.

Good night. 

CB///312 #StuckAtHomeDay/342 #StayHome #BeKind

What If

It's Chinese New Year! Gong Xi Far Cai! It's my third new year this year since I declared February 1 as a special new year for me. 

We're on day two of our staycation. Sweetie has been strict about resting so our routine has been eat-sleep-eat haha. We suspended calorie counting today since our target was ruined at breakfast. I hope we can burn some of the calories when we walk at the boardwalk tonight. 

During lunch today I told Sweetie that my cardiovascular surgeon advised me many years ago to drink a glass of beer or wine everyday. In my 20s I'd have a regular drink or two with my friends. During that time I rarely got sick haha. I stopped doing it when my cardiologist told me it was likely I would need heart surgery. 

So I asked myself, "What if I followed my doctor's advise to drink everyday after surgery?" What if I followed all his other recommendations? Would I be in a different place now? Maybe. Maybe not. 

But there's no use going down that path. It will just make me sad. I'm in this situation now and the best for me to do is work on getting better. It's been a slow slippery slope. I'm praying for more strength and patience as I go through this journey.

Achievement unlocked!

CB///309 #StuckAtHomeDay/339 #StayHome #BeKind

First Time Doing Physiotherapy Post-PE

PT OOTD. Need new shoes...

Whew! Before I start this post I'd like to thank everyone who have been posting comments here! So sorry I completely forgot I need to moderate it! I had set comment moderation many years ago to keep spammers out of my blog.They're an annoying bunch! Anyway, thanks so much for visiting my blog. I think I'll continue posting daily until this pandemic is over. 

Last week my PT clinic pinged me to ask if I'm ready to come back. I was really happy when my doctor agreed it was time for me to restart physiotherapy. My back has been hurting again and needed my amazing physiotherapist's magic. 

I was honestly nervous about it because sometimes when I overdo PT I get sick. It's almost CNY and I definitely don't want to end up in the hospital again. My PT is the most amazing person! She's been my PT for over a year now and has really shown care. My needs are so special it's really hard to find the right balance. 

I arrived early at the clinic. I was a little breathless so I sat down first on the couch to wait for Wendy. When she came out she immediately hugged me! She said she was so worried about me. I told her all the gory details before we started our session. She noticed I was breathless while I recounted what happened to me. I told her I so far only talk to Sweetie and my Mom. I haven't even done any VCs since mid-December. It means my breathing is still far from okay. 

Post-PT rest before I went home. Wearing my heart surgery scar proudly.

We took it slowly starting with some leg stretching, back exercises and then worked our way up to help open up my lungs. I was really surprised she had me exercise with dumbbells. It was just a kilogram, but felt like it was 5 kg.! Soon enough the session was over. I survived and I'm so far okay this morning (usually the effects are delayed lol). 

The session yesterday was challenging for me, but I need to continue working on my body. I puttered around the house after eating breakfast. I'm exhausted now so will need to recharge for the second half of my activity which I'll do this afternoon.   

Tomorrow Sweetie has a surprise for me!

CB///307 #StuckAtHomeDay/337 #StayHome #BeKind

Ventured Out Alone for the First Time in 2 Months!

"Good job in coming alone!" exclaimed my doctor's nurse when I arrived for my appointment today. It's been two months since I've gone out on my own. Sweetie has always accompanied me when I have to see my doctor. 

It's been a month since blood clots in my lungs were found (pulmonary embolism). When I got home after 11 days in the hospital I was surprised that I was unstable when I walked. I clutched Sweetie's arm when we went out of my hospital room to freedom. I had to learn to be confident again to walk without holding on to Sweetie or rails. It took a week before I left go of Sweetie's arm when we went for our evening walks, but then I got admitted again after ten days. 

I was in the ward again for 5 days and walked around my room (with the dextrose in tow) everyday. I didn't want to start from zero again when I went home. When I got home we re-started our evening walks. I worked mostly on increasing the distance I could walk without getting breathless. I'm improving and I had to be brave about going out by myself today. 

I had a huge smile on my face when I saw the Grab car that picked me up. It had Pikachu stickers all over it! I asked uncle if he played Pokemon Go. He said no and explained why his car had stickers all over. His son works for the Pokemon company that organizes Pokemon events here in Singapore. He named a few events and I told him I've been to some of them haha. I had a good feeling about my expedition. 

My doctor was happy with my progress. He explained that there are many patients who never know the reason for their clots. He said be comforted with the fact it isn't cancer or an issue with my IVC, legs or arms. It's just what it is. He also said it's good that I've been walking after dinner. I could also start doing PT again. Yay! I'm not in good condition yet to go back to work and will need to rest for now. 

I was so happy with my progress I thought I'd buy Sweetie his favorite Mexican coffee bun. Managed to get it and went home. I'm properly exhausted now and will now just rest. I'm happy I was able to finally go out alone and buy bread! With God's grace I hope to be back to normal soon. 

CB///302 #StuckAtHomeDay/332 #StayHome #BeKind