Jewish Musings, Thursday, 4/20/2017

[savtele]

What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.

Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:

Angelika
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy

And for those of you that stop by to read this thread without posting - you are welcome to do that but you are also welcome to chime in

[savtele]

Boker Tov All! Peachy - I am sorry about your friend - I do hope all will be well! And you can do this!

Frieda - continued hand pats and good thoughts! It is so difficult when an adult child cannot be an adult! (and seriously, could 1 week of matzah tear me up any more! I'm happy that's over for a year)

While at work on Wednesday, suddenly our local (Molalla) Fire Dept went roaring by. About 20 minutes later, Clackamas Fire Dept sped past. Another 1/2 hour, and Canby came flying past. So - we of course had to look up on line what was going on, where. Come to find out, one of the 2 Retreat Centers across the river from us apparently had a propane tank blow up - and now the whole thing was going up in a blaze of glory! Baruch HaShem - it is the wrong time of year for retreats or outdoor school, there are no weddings happening in the woods this time of year, and it's been so wet & rainy that the danger of this fire spreading was fairly low. But it is a fright! I am thankful that no lives were lost, no homes were burned.

Today - Thursday - is L cataract surgery day! YAY!! I am so looking forward to this, looking forward to seeing clearly! To not seeing "wonky" (when 1 eye sees differently than the other & the glasses no longer work for either, "wonky" is the only word I can come up with!) I've chopped vegetables - my plan is to load up the crock-pot before we leave & have at least several days' dinner ready when we come home! Actually, at this time, I am 1 of 3 ladies, all having our cataracts done - & John is making noises about having his checked. The body parts, they seem to wear out on a fairly set schedule! Then again, I'm amazed at what all can be done fairly easily at this time! My brother has resumed driving - he'll be taking mom out to breakfast again on weekends.

Right out of HS I worked in a Nursing Home/Surgical Rehab Center for a while. I remember a gentleman who came in right after cataract surgery - at that time, we laid him flat on his back, he had eye patches over this eyes, and heavy sandbags on either side of his head, so he couldn't turn. I also will have an eye patch - to wear at night so I don't poke myself in my sleep. Other than that - no restrictions, no rehab.
So - we all have our physical challenges, none of us can get older without them. But, all things being equal, do you know that YOUR particular challenges are easier to handle at this time in history than, say, a few years ago?

Have a good day, ladies! I'll see you on the other side (we'll all sing a chorus of Jimmy Cliff "I can see clearly now!")

[lee058]

Good morning everybody. Hope you are all well. Good luck on the cataract surgery, Angelika!

My major news today is that the x-ray results for my arm were normal. My arm is NOT broken. I am still having extra pain from the accident with the curtain rod, but hopefully it will go away.

Re my particular health challenges: Yes, they are definitely easier to handle now than they would have been some years ago (not that I like them even though I know that!). For my arm and shoulder, the MRI that I had, although not a pleasant experience, was enormously helpful to my doctors in finding out what was wrong. I don't know just when MRI's were invented, but it wasn't a super long time ago. Just in case (God forbid) that I do end up needing surgery, I know that doctors know much, much more than they used to, and that would be able to do much better work on my shoulder/arm than in the past.

Another thing that amazes me is how much doctors can learn from blood tests these days. For one example, in the past, there wasn't even a name for pre-diabetes. Now, my endocrinologist was able to diagnose it in me and give me medicine to keep it under control.

And speaking of medications, I am very, very grateful that the ones I take were invented!!!

I'll be back later, although this is supposed to be a fairly busy day. Have a peaceful day, Lee

[gazelle18]

Hope all goes well Angelika!

[gazelle18]

Also Peachy, I hope your friend will be better soon.

[happysavta]

Shalom, chaverot,

I am doing well on the Prevent T2 program. I'm convinced that the key to maintenance is not dieting or weight loss, but lifestyle changes that stick. Holly gives us many examples of how she does that. Although there is no diet plan on the program, no calorie or points counting, there are food guidelines and we are weighed every week and asked how many minutes we exercised during the week. I am steadily losing weight, about 15 lbs down now. I'm tracking my food daily, using Sparkpeople.com. I'm also creating some new habits, like drinking water and seeking out opportunities to exercise in small amounts.

I'm eating more mindfully at meal time, tasting the food instead of gulping it down. I'm making deliberate choices instead of eating food just because it happens to be there. Sometimes I say, "No", sometimes I say, "Yes", but I'm aware of making the choice. I'm actively looking for new activities to do that might make me feel good.

I'm taking my meds, seeing my therapist, but I continue to be frustrated with DS#4 who just wants to eat and sleep, apprehensive for DS#1 who has been unemployed for 9 months, sad about DS#2 who does not practice Judaism in any way and has nothing to pass along to his children, lonesome for DD, who is in Houston, and furious with DH. (I can't sum up all the reasons for that in a single phrase or a single sentence.)

That's my very ordinary and rather boring state of the union.

I asked our Prevent T2 instructor to send me all the weekly lessons by email. They are happy to have us share the program with friends or family, so I'll pass it along to any of you who want it.

All good things,

Frieda