With the return to work came the return of some abdominal pain. Though it isn't as severe as before my leave of absence it was kind of crushing emotionally. I should know by now that no recovery occurs without ups and downs but I was really hoping to be on the slow but persistent incline. The only changes were returning to work and eating more overcooked chicken. As I can't remove the work component I cut out the chicken. This is somewhat counterproductive as more protein is pretty much the only thing all my health practitioners agree on for a process forward. Sadly the stabbing pain went away within a few days of removing chicken from my diet. I can't decide if that is the right or wrong kind of reinforcement. I've turned to pumpkin seed protein powder as an additive and so far so good.
Food. It looks like this:
I honestly can't tell if it is my breakfast (gluten free whole grains, soaked and 6+ hour cooked) or my lunch (congee and roasted veggie soup, 6+ hour cooked) as they look exactly the same. I doctor my dishes up with pumpkin seed butter, sesame oil, chickpea miso, and spices like ginger and cinnamon (warming as opposed to cooling spices). It's not so bad but it is getting old. My food trials are very long as I have to gradually increase the amounts from a single bite up to a serving but no more than one food experiment a day. Now that my pain is mostly checked I want to do the lentil experiment.
I'm learning a lot about how to prepare and eat food that is essentially pre-digested. All the soaking is done with a couple of tablespoons of unfiltered apple cider vinegar. I've read that soaking with a strip of kombu achieves the same goal but my nutritionist is on the vinegar bandwagon so for now that's my pretreatment. My soup and congee is prepared with homemade bone broth and vegetable stock (or Better Than Bouillon if I'm lazy) . At least that process leaves my house smelling delicious. For my soups I've been playing with the Flavor Bible for food combos. I pick something new, roast the veggies, and purée. Last time I added tahini to the blender and it made it so nice and creamy that I've been adding some sort of seed butter to all my dishes.
It makes me really happy to use my herb garden in pots on my patio for my stock/broth. I was able to harvest some today before the forecasted deluge began. There's a pretty spider out there and we've finally concluded negotiations for a web building site. All summer we'd go back and forth. "No, really, I'm going to use the chair so you should pick a different anchor." Sure enough, the next morning there would be a minor destructive effort on my part so I could sit down. Now the web is positioned next to my table and chairs so I can admire it without undermining its structural integrity.
I decided to look up what kind of spider it is after taking some awkward phone pictures.
Ventral:
Dorsal:
Firstly, I don't recommend googling "red and cream striped spider" if you have an irrational fear of spiders. Hunting through pictures was rather difficult for me. I persisted in the name of understanding and discovered my lovely is an orb weaver, Araneus diadematus, commonly known as the European Garden Spider. Even my garden inhabitants are anglophiles! I wonder if she watches BBC programming with me through the window...
Physical therapy exercises start off my daily routine. While my hip pain hasn't diminished, apparently my leg mobility has improved, muscles are now firing in proper order, and my pelvis is situated in the correct position while moving. I guess when I'm standing the right pelvis is katywompus. The wrenching that goes on in my sessions must look very odd to a bystander. Always looking to the bright side, my therapist said that the one benefit to my being so underweight is that it makes finding and analyzing my different muscles very easy. Here's hoping that the improvements continue and I'm able start exercising soon.
Speaking of exercise, I am taking on restorative yoga. It is more stretching meditation than workout, but that's all the movement that is allowed at present. Most people don't do restorative as a daily practice so I'm trying to figure out which studios offer it when so I can go a few times a week. There's one studio in walking distance from home so I think I'll probably hit that one up the most. I really miss yoga and hiking so getting some small part of it back is a good thing.
Driving is still a chore for me. I'd really like to get out of the city and drive through the mountains but it is too much of a trial to go that far. I'm contemplating a trip to Leavenworth or Winthrop because you can get there in a car, it's smack dab in the middle of gorgeous scenery, and there's stuff to see in town. Ideally I'd like to spend the night but that makes a kitchen more of a necessity and that makes it spendy. There has to be a window where I'm not overtired from driving that distance and can still enjoy the destination before I'm back to regular exercise.
So for now I disappear into other worlds courtesy of books, BBC, and browsing my DVD collection.
Computer is hanging in there but I think I've decided on a tablet with after market keyboard in lieu of another laptop. Now to wait until I lose patience with the current issues, or Cést Moi dies all together. C'est moi is my laptop that is dying. I try to name all my electronics with 's' sounding names. I don't know when it started but it's been fun to continue.
Insurance is still a mess. Nutritionist provider appeal denied for the second time for no reason given and the Atlanta claims have been removed from the insurance website. It's like they have a vendetta against me. Oh to be healthy and to not have to deal with them so much.
