The Changing Seasons, March 2024

Reflecting on the month past

Birthday Goings-On

As befitting Younger Child, we had many Birthday Month celebrations in honour of her 24th. This year she organised many on her own, plus a couple of surprises thrown in: one by us, and one by her grandparents. She was well pleased with our efforts.

Medical Matters

Doctor visits continued this month, some scheduled, another not so much. I had more wellness checkups and treatment for the left elbow bursitis. My sister (in Phoenix, AZ) and cousin (in Ipoh, Malaysia) unexpectedly landed up in the hospital at various times. And then, so did I.

I woke up after midnight from an indigestion-like discomfort. It intensified to an excruciating cramp-like pain which woke Loving Husband. Apparently I was doubled over complaining of upper abdomen and back pains, covered in cold sweat. I was also experiencing shortness of breath. He insisted on driving me to the Emergency Room.

I hardly had to wait at all and found myself in the ECG. While the test was being done, the cramping pain and the tightness in my abdomen & chest suddenly subsided. And that was the end of that pain for the rest of my hospital stay.

I thought I was well poised for a return home after further tests to rule out any emergent life-threatening issues. Unfortunately, because of abnormalities on the ECG, they decided to ward me to do further cardiac testing.

Waiting on more tests: I’m afraid peach is not my colour.

The bright side of this story is that I had 2 days to rest, read and meet some interesting folks. My heart received a clean bill of health; apparently the abnormal readings on the ECG were ruled out as concerns.. As for the source of the pain that brought me to the hospital, they suspect it could have been a gall-stone passing. I am scheduled to have that checked out by the Gastrointestinal Doc in a few months.

So very happy to be going home after 2 days of cardiac tests

Kitchen Shennaigans

Much of my time and energy has been diverted into researching/planning/making my meals. With the BP and cholesterol nudging towards the high, and with the addition of eczema and bursitis in my left elbow, I opted to manage my health by making better eating choices (less salt, less fat, less sugar) to avoid having to take medications.

With some trial & error, I think I am mostly in a good place with the food now. Although I have been mostly vegetarian for a long while, my weakness has always been fried food and desserts. I am trying to restrict those to special treats.

The unexpected hospital stay and the plethora of tests run included a cholesterol reading. Looks like whatever I am eating seems to agree better with me, because my total cholesterol is just touching the undesirable mark, and my LDLs (bad bad cholesterol) are within tolerance although a tad high. I still have more than a month before I have my “cholesterol checkup”, so there is time for the diet to do its thing.

Thank you for listening to my medical woes. I am afraid I have joined that club where each meeting begins with a listing of ailments. Oh well, we just do the best we can.

Frangipani Grove, Singapore Botanic Gardens

How was your March?

About The Changing Seasons

The Changing Seasons is a monthly project where bloggers around the world share their thoughts and feelings about the month just gone. We all approach this slightly differently, though generally with an emphasis on the photos we’ve taken during the month.

For many of us, looking back over these photos provides the structure and narrative of our post, so each month is different. Some focus on documenting the changes in a particular project — such as a garden, an art or craft project, or a photographic diary of a familiar landscape.

But in the end, it is your changing season, and you should approach it however works for you.

There are no fixed rules around post length or photo number — just a request that you respect your readers’ time and engagement.

Tags and ping-backs

Tag your photos with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so that others can find them

Create a ping-back to Brian at Bushboys World or this post, so that we can update it with links to all of yours.

Roundup

• first off the mark is Pauline at Living in Paradise
• also in my inbox before my post was done, is Natalie the Explorer
• my very creative cohost, Brian, at Bushboys World
• Marilyn at Serendipity Seeking Intelligent Life on Earth
• Sarah at Travel with Me