Tag Archives: Health

Weekly Check-In

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! I am currently in Olympia, Washington. I am here to spend my birthday with my mom and uncle tomorrow on my actual birthday. I rarely spend my birthday with my mom’s side of the family.

Anyway on that note, I celebrated my birthday with my dad’s side of the family yesterday evening. I had a good birthday dinner with my dad, grandpa, two uncles and my cat, Billie Dean. In fact Billie is currently at my grandpa’s as I will be in Olympia for a few days. My cat, Billie, loves my grandpa and I am thrilled that my grandpa is willing to take care of Billie while I am out of town. My uncle made an awesome dinner for my birthday and I really enjoyed the food.

Now to check in on other things. My new job it going great. I love it my new job so much and I feel really appreciated by my supervisor. Sadly, we had some issue with email yesterday and it might take up to a week to get it figured out. I hope it doesn’t take a week to get the email issue fixed. Anyway, at least I won’t have to worry about it till Wednesday as I will be taking this Monday and Tuesday off from work as I want to spend time here in Olympia. I did have to go home from work early last Tuesday from not feeling well and appreciate the fact that I was encouraged to take care of myself.

Sadly, the day I did leave work early, I ended up in the emergency room. I thought I had Covid-19 as I had many of the symptoms. Thankfully, it turns out I didn’t have Covid-19 but had strep throat. Strep throat is no joke but sure better than having Covid-19. I am taking antibiotics for the strep throat and am feeling better.

I have been attending a twelve step meeting that I feel comfortable going to. This particular twelve step program has you focus on your own recovery and not trying to “fix” other people which I really like. I did find someone to be my sponsor and finally got the nerve to call them before starting the particular blog post. I hope this potential sponsor calls me back as I really want to start working the steps.

I do not have much more to say. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you do read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for ready my blog. Have a great Saturday evening and a wonderful weekend. Peace Out, World!!!

Lunch Time Ramblings

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! Part of me wishes I took today off as I have strep throat. I thought I had Covid-19 and it turns out that I most like don’t as it is strep throat that I have and am waiting on the test results of the Covid-19. I know this as I went to the emergency room yesterday afternoon at the urging of my supervisor.

The two main reasons, I went at the urging of my supervisor is because I am going out of town for my birthday this weekend to visit my mom and I left work three hours into my shift. Yes, I have been working from home and I would have called out sick if I was going into the office.

I’m still waiting on the results of the Covid-19 test and am pretty hopeful it will be negative. I am hopeful that it will be negative because of what the doctor said to me in the emergency room yesterday evening. I am also hopeful as they tested me for strep throat and it came out positive.

I do not have much more to say in this particular blog post. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. Again, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Weekly Check-In

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! I know it has been a while since I have done a weekly check-in and am going to keep doing it even if I miss a few weeks. This week has been an okay week and considering some worrying news, I am not freaking out about it.

Let’s just start off with worrying news I received. Long story short got blood work done for my cat, Billie Dean and his kidney numbers are not where they need to be. Billie’s vet, Dr. B, informed me by telling me: “Yes, it is concerning however we caught it in time. Nothing to worry about but if I weren’t a vet, I would be worried as well. You are being a great cat parent as many people wait to do bloodwork till the vet requires it. Billie is doing great and is still a lovebug.” Billie is now on a special diet for his kidney’s. I’m glad I decided to get blood work done for him when he got his teeth cleaned and followed up with a second round of bloodwork. Catching it early helps ease my mind as I know Billie is now getting the proper treatment and as stressful as it is, I am not freaking out about it.

Speaking of stress, I am taking a continuing education class in stress management. I’m not only taking to learn more about stress management to handle stress but help with my career as a peer specialist. I am learning so much in this stress management class and it is already benefitting me at work and helping me help the clients I serve.

Speaking of work, I am loving my job. I am now on the training committee and I have only been at my new job for two months. Apparently, I am doing something right even though it feel like I am not half of the time. I have also been informed that I “impressed” the clinical supervisors because of being able to use crisis de-escalation skills. I wasn’t trying to impress anyone and just being myself with getting clients out of crisis.

I don’t have much more to say in this particular blog post. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace, Out, World!!!

Weekly Plans

Posted on by Gertie

Sunday

  • Take nap due to working all night
  • Spend time with my cat Billie Dean
  • Listen to a podcast
  • Walk in the rain

Monday

  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Walk in the rain
  • Listen to a podcast
  • Spend a half an hour cleaning apartment

Tuesday

  • Attend therapy appointment over Zoom
  • Go to see my doctor in person at her office
  • Listen to a podcast

Wednesday

  • Listen to a podcast
  • Go to Target or Walmart to buy new sheets for my bed
  • Attend a Zoom meeting

Thursday

  • Listen to a podcast
  • Attend a Zoom meeting
  • Spend a half an hour cleaning apartment

Friday

  • Listen to a podcast
  • Attend a Zoom meeting
  • Buy cat litter for my cat Billie Dean
  • Stay up all night to sleep all day Saturday (Watch movies and read)

Saturday

  • Sleep all day
  • Work all night

Been Exposed & Under Self Quarantine

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! It has been a few weeks since I last blogged. There are multiple reasons why I have blogged as well as many excuses but neither the reason or excuse really matter at this moment in time. Or at least they don’t matter to me at the moment.

A lot has happened in the last week alone. I found out last Thursday (July 16th) that I was exposed to Covid-19 the last time I worked which was on Saturday, July 11th. A client of the homeless shelter I work at test positive and am grateful that this person is now at a quarantine site here in the Seattle area.

Anyway since I was exposed, I am under self quarantine and am getting tested later on today (Monday). I made the appointment to get tested right after finding out I was exposed. Another good thing regarding all this is that I had already had a virtual appointment with my doctor made for this past Friday (July 17th) which made it easy for me to talk to my doctor about what to expect regarding the test. She also informed me that she didn’t want me to go work on Saturday (July 18th) till I get tested and the results come back as negative. I informed her that my employer was being very insistent with me going into work to do my regular shift. She and I discussed that if I get fired over going against doctors orders in the midst of a pandemic will make my employer “look bad and is grounds for a lawsuit.” I am just grateful that she has my back and wrote me a note for work. She also advised me to self quarantine which is a no brainer.

Since I am under quarantine till I get tested and the results, I will be spending a lot of time at home. At least I will have my cat, Billie Dean with me. I am so happy that I have Billie especially right now. My doctor and I came up with a plan on things I can do to make sure my mental health doesn’t decline while in self quarantine. We discussed a great deal about my cat Billie Dean and how he will be helpful. I told my doctor that I have plenty of art projects I can do especially in the coloring and collaging genres. I also informed her that I have a lot of reading to catch up on. This brought up the topic of our love of reading and the books I am hoping to read. I also mentioned that I have movies I want to watch and she even suggested some that I might be interested in. We discussed music as well. Specifically we discussed me not playing my flute or harmonica just in case I am positive. This will be challenging for me to do as playing one of my musical instruments especially my flute has been a life saver for me when things get challenging for me. We did discuss that listening to music is an option and will be used. We also discussed me keeping in touch with my therapist and that she will reach out to my therapist and I informed her that I already did which she wasn’t surprised about.

Anyway, my therapist to get back to me this past Friday after talking with my doctor. He was grateful that she and I, both reached out to him regarding me being exposed. We basically discussed similar things my doctor and I talked about regarding keeping myself busy. The last thing he and my doctor want is my mental health to decline while in self quarantine and I don’t blame them. I am worried as well. I am also grateful that we will be doing daily check-ins till I get my test results back. If they come back negative then the daily check-ins will discontinue and I hope my test results will come back negative.

Anyway, I don’t have much more to say. Thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. I hope everyone has a great Monday ahead. Peace Out, World!!!

A Random Post About…..

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! Governor Inslee decided to extend the stay at home order till May 31st. I have mixed emotions regarding the extended stay at home order but ultimately I am grateful that Governor Inslee is looking out for the most vulnerable people here are our lovely state of Washington.  Washington has be home for me since the mid 90’s and that doesn’t count whenever I visited my mom and brother every summer and holiday whiled on vacation from school. Looks like I have digressed some. Washington in my home and am grateful that Governor Inslee extended the stay at home order.

I can bitch and complain about the stay at home order all I want but it won’t do anything because it’s keeping it helps people like my dad who doesn’t have a great immune system. It even helps my extremely healthy 89 year old grandpa with staying at home. I am not able to see my family and most of my friend in person due to the fact that I am an essential worker. As much as I miss visiting friends and family, I am grateful for my essential worker status as it means I have a job I can work at.

A job that feels like family and am making some pretty good friends who are taking on the parent role but I am okay with that. At least I am okay with it for the time being. We are in the middle of a pandemic and somethings are worth the fight or at least at the moment. It is nice to have a work family who understands whats going on.

Since were are on the topic of family and friends, I miss the ones I volunteer with at PAWS Cat City. I miss going in helping find cat their furrever home but sadly Cat City is temporarily closed till this all over. Yes, the cats at Cat City went to the PAWS in Lynnwood and are being adopted out there along with dogs. I really miss volunteering at Cat City consider the people I volunteer with like family to me just like my colleagues do when I am at my paid work.

Speaking of cats my cat Billie Dean also fondly called Billie the Kat, is wanting be have help with writing this blog. I have some pictures of painting of wood that is protecting window of closed businesses here in Seattle. I hope to post those soon. By soon I mean Sunday night or Monday morning.

I was planning on writing more about how people are dealing with all this in regards to their mental health and recovery but right now my cat wants attention so I will write about that on Saturday night at work if I have time to do so.  I love my cat so much.

Sorry, I ending this post sooner that I had planned but thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end things that you read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Stay home and save lives by doing so. Peace Out, World!!!!

Feeling Sad & Trying to Not Overreact or Be a Drama Queen

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! I am having very uncomfortable emotions right now in regards to my cat. I am fearful, sad and pretty high anxiety right now. She is not acting like her usual self and not really eating her wet food but at least she is drinking water and nibbling at her dry food. She is also using the litter box. She is a little more lethargic the last two days and it starting to scare me because of lump that is cancerous. Plan is to watch her the next few days and take her to the vet on Tuesday even if she starts getting better because I just want to make sure everything is as okay as it can be health wise with a cancerous lump. I just don’t want put her down but I don’t want her to suffer either. I just love her so much. I hope she knows how much I love her.

Lil Gertie is a special cat for me. She is my emotional support animal (ESA). I thought I would be rescuing her but she did the rescuing of me. I love her so much and hope that she knows that. Lil Gertie was meant for me and I don’t want to loose her too soon but I don’t want her suffer

Like I told you I plan on taking her to my regular vet on Tuesday and get her opinion. Dr. B, the vet Lil Gertie goes to. Dr. B is an amazing vet and tells you like it is in an empathetic and compassionate way. Dr. B really care for the animals she treats as well as the humans. Dr. B is amazing.

I don’t know what else to write due to not wanting to crying. I hope everyone has a good weekend. Peace Out, World!!!

Blogging in Pain While Being Mindful

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! I sit here typing primarily with one hand and it is quite challenging. Long story short last Friday, (November 8th), I injured my hand and wrist. I tripped over my poor cat, Lil Gertie. Thankfully, my cat, Lil Gertie, is just fine and being her usual self. Sadly, I am the one who got injured but am beyond grateful that Lil Gertie was not injured. Like I mentioned at the beginning I injured my wrist and hand. I went to the Emergency Room (ER) and got it x-rayed and unfortunately it was too swollen to notice any type of broken bone or fracture. Both the resident and attending believe I could have some form of fracture which is why they put my wrist a supportive type thing I can take on and off but want me to keep it on till I am able to get it re-x-rayed which is going to happen this Friday (November 15th). If it is fractured I will get a cast if not I will continue wearing what I have and go to physical therapy. They put me on some pretty powerful pain meds. I am not taking them as often as my doctor would like because I fear of getting addicted but my doctor is grateful that I am taking them with the help of other things. For instance I am also taking over the counter (otc) meds like Tylenol and Ibuprofen as well as icing my wrist and doing some mindfulness and mediation. I may be in a pain but at least I am able to get through it.

As I mentioned one of the ways I am helping with the pain is doing some mindfulness and meditation. I am primarily using the Calm App to do this. I have found that the Calm App to be quite helpful. The primary narrator is Tamara Levitt. She has en extremely calming voice.  The Calm App is a free app and you can also subscribe to it annually to receive more mindfulness techniques which is something I have done. I really enjoy doing mindfulness meditation now. I have found it quite helpful for my recovery with my mental health challenges as well as with my health. Yes, it is sometimes challenging to take time out of your day to do mindfulness and/or meditation but it helps start the day off right as well as to end the day off right. I schedule to do it twice a day and try to make an effort to do it more than twice daily.

Something else I have been doing lately beside mindfulness meditation is art. The type of art I have specifically been doing is painting. I have been painting some abstracts that are looking pretty cool. It is something I can do with my good hand and wrist. Painting and other type of art help me a great deal with letting out emotions I am unable to speak which is essence helps me with my recovery.

I don’t have much else to say and am in physical pain so I will end this post. I hope everyone has a good rest of your day. Thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope everyone has a great rest of their day. In fact I hope everyone has a great rest of their week. Peace Out, World!!!

Just Another Post w/Random Sh*t

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! It is mostly a typical Monday for me. I, mostly a typical Monday as a couple things today aren’t so typical for me. Both of the things that aren’t that typical involve both of my parents.

Lets start with my mom. Today is her 63rd birthday. A birthday I wasn’t sure was going to happen more times I can count due to her addiction to drugs and alcohol. I feared for her life more of her addiction to drugs than alcohol because that seems to be the thing she goes to when things get too stressful for her. Even though I set some clear boundaries with in regards to talking with her on the phone, I did call her to wish her a happy birthday. She is my mom and I love her. If I were a parent, I would want my kid to make an exception in this case. My mom was happy I called her and thanked me for as well as thanked me for her birthday present.

Now on to my other parent, my dad. As I have informed you in other blog post my dad’s health hasn’t been the best and he is in the hospital. I have good news about my dad and his health. He is getting out of the hospital tomorrow (Tuesday). I am so grateful he is getting out of the hospital tomorrow and that he is in better health.

As much as I love both of my parents, I am beyond grateful that I learned about recovery from both of them. Granted my mom is not in active recovery while my dad is, I still learned about recovery from both of them. If it wasn’t for seeing them in their addiction as a way to deal with symptoms of their mental health challenges it made me acutely aware of how I don’t want to deal with any of my problems including my own mental health challenges. Even though I never had an addiction to drugs or alcohol I did end up having different unhealthy ways of coping with my problems and mental health challenges.

The unhealthy ways of coping are the reason why I learned how to make sure I do good self care. There are many ways I do good self care. One of the ways I do good self care is to take my meds. In fact I have to go pick up my refills today. While I am out and about one of the things I will also do is go buy some incense. I find incense soothing.

In fact one of the things I plan on doing later is to burn incense while I read a book called “How to Be an Antiracist.” I am really enjoying the book. I am learning so much more than I expected regarding race and how to be an ally from this book than I ever realized I could. I hope to learn more as I continue to read this book. In fact have more books about race I am going to be reading. Any way to educate myself about other experience is a way to become a better ally and friend.

I do not have much else to talk about. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great Monday. I also hope everyone has a great work week ahead of them. Don’t forget to do good self care. Peace Out, World!!!

A Friday Night Post

Posted on by Gertie

Happy Friday, World!!! It is Friday night in my corner of the world. Friday nights I usually stay up all night so I can sleep all day on Saturdays. I sleep all day on Saturdays because I work a twelve hour shift on Saturday night. Working nights reeks havoc on my sleep even if I only do work one night a week and that sucks.

As far as my plans to stay up tonight is the obvious of spending time with my cat, Lil Gertie. I love spending time with my cat and being able to give her attention as well as play with her when she is more likely to let me do that stuff which at night. I love my cat, Lil Gertie, so much. I can not imagine my life with out her.

Besides spending time with my cat, Lil Gertie, I plan on reading the “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi. So far I have only read the introduction and chapter one. What I have read so far, I think I am going to like the book as well as learn a great deal. Something I want to do as a white person is to become a better ally for people of color. I will also be reading other books of similar nature. Specifically, about race and how I can be a better ally.

I, of course will be doing other things besides reading tonight and that stuff will be doing some form of art as I listen to a podcast. Not sure what type of podcast I will be listening to but the art I will most likely be doing tonight is coloring. I really enjoy coloring and listening to podcast.

Before I end this post I want to update you on my dads health as well as my health. My dad is now out of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and on a regular medical floor. This happened today and am so grateful for his improvement. He wants to go home but has to stay in the hospital a few more days. As far as my health issues of a kidney infection and a urinary tract infection (uti); they seem to be getting better with the help of a very strong antibiotic. An antibiotic that is making me nauseous but thankfully I have an anti-nausea med to help with that.

I do not have anything else to say in this blog post. I do want to thank you all for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Again, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great rest of their Friday. I also hope everyone has a great weekend. Peace Out, World!!!