Health Updates

[Hopalong]

You awe me.

Unfortunately, what comes on if I spend more than 15 standing minutes doing food prep, is heart pain. Or chest pain. Or pain. And that stops me in my tracks. Nausea and weakness and sweat out of the blue, after such short effort, is the signal.

I'm back to nuking frozen things (still wish I could find really healthy low fat frozen entrees) or making nothing more complicated than excellent oats from scratch or good tuna/sardines. I really don't care as I'm not a foodie, but I am a healthie, and need to work harder at enough veggies. I know what to do. Rice and beans. Steamed/nuked vegs. Froz fruit. And at least once a week buying a huge kale or other good salad out. My "Hello Fresh" attempt was a miss. Shoulda realized that there'd be a ton of chopping but it was more than I have the uuuphhh for.

I could take up bear hunting for protein. FINALLY, a bear made it to my block (right across the street) two days ago. I don't blame the bears, ever, but am waiting for the shrieks of protest. Told Pooch if a bear makes it to my back "40" -- come in right away. I'm sure she was listening, as she only confronts real terrors (like the mail carrier) from the front window. Great Doberman display for a 20-lb creature.

hugs
Hops

[lighter]

Well, here's what happened. Went to the fancy ENT cancer expert and he pondered all the scans, palpated, pondered more. (He was awesome; took time and enjoyed explaining it all.) Upshot: we agreed on a diagnosis and he let me name it: Sagging Salivary. LOL.

I'm so glad you persevered to an answer, ((Hops!))  There was an answer.  You wanted it.  You got it.

Evidently my two salivary glands are different in size, and over time one of them has gotten perceptibly bigger (and harder) than the other. And that's it. I felt like an idiot but he was laughing over the name and seemed to enjoy our convo, so I espcaped with most of my humiliated ego. He enjoyed my inspiration story though: The docs should be the ones with bruised egos, not you, IMO.

I saw a clip of [edit: Emma Thompson] on a British talk show (Brit humor really tickles me). She lives on an isolated farm and has a field between her house and a stream she likes to dip in most days. One evening the cops came knocking, which was unusual. "Mrs. Thompson," they explained, "we're very sorry to disturb you but there's been a report of an intruder on your land and we want to be certain all is well. A woman on a bridge down the way saw a naked man crossing your field this afternoon." I saw that too, SO FUNNY!!

On the show she said, "I told them sometimes I like to walk naked across the field to my stream, and my breasts have sagged so much I'm sure from a distance they might be confused with testicles. All is well."

ENT doc wants me back for a followup ultrasound in 6 mnths just to be sure, but so far no biopsy and no alarm. And I've stopped poking at my neck.You stopped poking bc you have answers, not bc you were told to by docs.  Good'on'ya.

Actually I AM an idiot. But I can live with it. You're Hopsy and it's human to feel better when we have answers and truths.  Don't feel bad about getting what you need.

Meanwhile, cardiologist has decided that I may have two types of chest pain. One will kick in when I'm stressed or even asleep (the scariest) and often mornings. He believes that is not microvascular angina. The other kind, that scared me so badly alone on a walk, is during exertion, and it would be (in that instance I should head for the ER). That hasn't happened again in the same way, so I'm going to start with snail-walks with a friend and gin up courage to rebuild the progress I lost when my back went out after rehab. I have to go see an esophageal specialist to see if there's erosion or anything else going on in those tubes that could explain chest pain at rest.  That all makes sense to me.  You need to know the facts so you can make informed choices with your health. 

I'm determined to get some answer that is more clear. I've also requested a shrink referral to see if there is ANY ADD med that's safe for cardiac-vulnerable older people (from reading, I doubt it) and likewise, if there's anything for anxiety that doesn't depress the CNS (from reading, doubt that too--but no stone unturned). 

I'm trying not to obsess but really would like to understand all this better. I know that being your own advocate is key, as long as you stay rational. And keep trying to do healthy stuff and just hope it brings results. I know I should meditate, too.  Seeking out joy, as you've been doing, is a type of meditation, ime.

Thanks for listening to my tedious medical mysteries and worries. It helps! I have a Zoom with a distant friend and a real, in-person visit from a local friend this afternoon. Those help too. I ain't giving up. (Though my darkest thoughts when I am having breathing trouble or chest pain -- do I want to live with this? -- trouble me too. Trying with the T to get to the bottom of it all. Fear is fear and I hate it.)

Today is beautiful and I feel better than I have for days. So despite alla this, I'm good.   (((Hops))) 

hugs and gratitude,
Hops

[sKePTiKal]

Hmmmmm. OK. There is some combination of things going on in the kitchen. That's a mystery to puzzle out at leisure  and hope for insight.

In the meantime, there ARE reasonably sized bags of already chopped frozen veggie "steamers" in the frozen section. Yeah, many come drowned in sauces - but one can drain a lot of that off when they come out of the m'wave. Pizzas can be streamlined with prepared crusts, a jar o' sauce and most stores have containers of pre-chopped veggies in the produce section these days. Pepperoni comes pre-sliced. I've been seeing a lot Mexican pizzas, using tortillas, usually flour tortillas, and again with the pre-chopped veggies. Doesn't take much time at all to brown 1/2 lb of ground beef and season with taco seasoning... and those ingredients can also go into a taco salad.

If you're looking to stay more vegetarian, HUMMUS is easy in a blender or food processor. Use the little jars of minced garlic to save chopping time; tahini & boiled (to soften) garbanzo beans. Spice up as you see fit - and make sammiches with it, with lettuce & tomato etc. Put it in a wrap...

The groceries have all kinds of things these days that can help you get around the standing & chopping problems. And they can be as healthy as cooking from scratch; no need to absorb all the extra junk mass-food processors want to add for "value" or make it last longer on the shelf.

[Hopalong]

Thanks for the very practical encouragement, Amber.

I have built a swamp of rejects in my fridge and purging that and ordering pre-cut things (plus I love the idea of wraps) is next! Excellent and pragmatic reminder, exactly what I needed.

I need to pick up the protein without mammals or birds. Still eating fish, mostly canned, but have a thawed piece of cod ready to go. Nuke some sprouts or kale to go with.

Carbs sing my song but I'm working at that too. Love Ezekiel sprouted grains flourless bread, but though you buy it frozen and sliced, you have to hack part of the loaf to bits before you can retrieve whole separate slices to toast. It's weird. I gave up on the bread machine after it vesuviused one too many times. LOL.

Progress, not perfection!

hugs
Hops

[sKePTiKal]

How about salmon? Lots of vitamin E there.
OH... and lentils! Don't forget those lovely little beans are packed full of protein - and are great in salads this time of year.

[Hopalong]

Yum to both! I do get frozen salmon, just need to remember to thaw it earlier.
Need to look up some simple lentil recipes.
I'd love to make the Afghan lentil soup I get from a restaurant here; fantastic.

hugs
Hops

[lighter]

I know I've written about lentils on this forum before.... so in love with them, esp the little black round lentils,. yum.

I could live on a pot of them, with a small chopped salad of carrots, cucumbers, parsley, lemon, red wine vinegar and Nature's Sesoaning/olive oil and radishes for a month.... but I'm "sensitive" to lentils, which wasn't always the case.

I used to cook down tomatoes and onions in olive oil ... till almost a paste, then add lentils and water wtih Nature's Seasoning.... rice was nice with, but not necessary.  SO GOOD.

I hope you find lots of recipes you enjoy, Hops.

Lighter

[lighter]

How is the meal planning going, Hops?

[Hopalong]

I'm looking forward to fixing lentils due to your inspiration, Lighter! GOOD idea.

But for now I'm making do with very very simple, almost-zero-cooking to get by. Mostly healthy stuff, and about once a week I'll buy a big kale Caesar with lox. Not good enough, day to day, but I haven't forgotten the goals.

I'm a breakfast queen since my energy's best then, and my summer bfast (brunch really, around 11am) carries me to 4pm-ish. I sometimes have a PB&J in the evening. Bfast is farmer ready:
--steel-cut overnight oats (soaked w/ any plant milk, about a tbsp each of maple syrup and pbutter, dash of salt, topped with lots of blueberries, walnuts and kefir), makes enough for 3 breakfasts, alternated every other day with
-- fried eggs (just whites) fried in plant butter (really yummy one, first I've ever found, made with oat milk, amazingly good) with turmeric, salt and pepper on toasted all-sprouted Ezekiel bread (no flour).

I miss my "industrial salads" with about 12 different vegs, but those standing and chopping days are behind me, at least for now. Hopefully I'll get back to that.

hugs
Hops

[lighter]

I'm glad you have food planning and meal times figured out, for now, Hops.

If you get sick of your breakfast ritual, beakfast salads can be yummy too,  I'm thinking avocado, tempeh fried golden, pemade salad topped with a couple egg whites..... I like all kinds of seeds... try to grind flax as often as can be remembered. 

If you sneak up on lentil prep, maybe buy a pre cut container of onions from the produce section (as Amber said) and a couple fresh tomatoes and garlic cloves.  The brown lentils are the easist and make for really nice leftovers, IME. 

Stay away from the black ones, bc they're easy to over cook.  The orange ones are very starchy.... like potatoes, IME.  Not my thing.

 I guess you eat  the breakfast oats cold?  I love me some raw oats, so it sounds yummy, but..... can it be heated?  Is it supposed to be?

Lighter

[Hopalong]

Good idea about the pre-cut onions, thanks! I've gritted my teeth and returned to Whole Foods delivery or pickup when I'm up to it (delivery adds more cost to already high prices). Kroger's doing terribly re. anything fresh and Instacart can't manage to find kefir there even though it's always offered thru the website. Lately I've gotten sunflowers with rotting stems and petals falling off (a rare treat so that one got to me), avocados that taste like wax, and bananas too overripe to do anything but freeze. And when Instacart texts about a substituion the message vanishes in one second and you can't reply. Not worth the aggro. Just a vent!

I eat the overnight oats cold in hot weather but no reason at all they can't be heated.

On my "egg white days" I often nuke greens to go with. Cooked organic spinach with a bit of salt and plant butter....yummm.

[Hopalong]

Aaaaaand, I was looking at small food processors (with lousy reviews) and balked at the prices (after checking the cost of pre-cut vegs) and, drumroll, had a realization:

A - I am an idiot. Because

B - I already have a Vitamix, and it's ancient but works fine.

All I need to purchase is a sturdy long-handled spatula. You just pulse things and bobsyeruncle. It'll do onion, carrots, etc easily. They're not prettily diced but it does the job for cooking (and I'm thinking nutrition not presentation). YAY.

I could make that chopped salad you described, Lighter. And do cole slaw, etc.

Woo hoo,
Hops

[sKePTiKal]

Yup, my old Oscar is 30 yrs old, but it still works fine.

[lighter]

A Vitamix would sure make veg prep easier, Hops.

Maybe pre prep the quantities you'll use, and put in fridge for grabbing as needed. Then you clean the Vitamix less often.

We're working through a quantity of white and red Bolognese sauces right now...... SO GOOD.  You can add tons of celery, zucchini, onions, carrots and I should think Tempeh would be good in that.  I could eat it every day with crackers..... I try to eat it on it's own. 

I cooke the veg down on it's own, then deglaze with the wine..... we had Pino G so I used that, twice, recently..... makes a delicious sauce.  You mentioned using butter..... maybe add some dairy or non dairy..... we used cream then add butter  to taste as we plate. 

I guess you could serve the white Bolognese with fish.... would be delicious.  The red wine version would be good with mushtroom steaks.... love mushrooms in this house.  Making a large pot, of each, means we get to freeze some for later...... easy and happy grab when things are busy.

Another yummy recent cook was white chili.  I followed a recipe then put tons more beans into the mix than called for.  It's delicious and there's so many ways to enjoy it...... breakfast eggs, big salad with all the taco condiments, on it's own, warm with a bit of crushed up corn chips and avocado.... with rice..... it's just tasty and not difficult to make, IMO.

I hope you do make that little chopped salad with the Vitamix, Hops.  Red wine vinegar, olive oil, Nature's Seasoning and whatever acid you have.... I love lemons or limes equally..... it's perfect as a side dish with lentils.  If I add fresh tomatoes to that salad, I usually just toss in some grape tomatoes as I serve, bc they get mushy and break down faster than the cucumber, radishes and carrots in the fridge.  I can have leftovers for days if I don't add chopped tomatoes to the batch.  Oh.... lots an lots of fresh  flat leaf parsley..... so darned good and fresh.

Adding quinoa to that salad, maybe changing up the veggies, is another good option for cold summer salads with some protein.

Lighter

[Hopalong]

I like the salads ideas a lot.

Cooking --- iow, standing to stir, up and down to come stir again, adding things for timing, deglazing and more stirring. Not these days though hopefully again later. Just "following a recipe" right now usually means standing longer than I can w/o back spasms. No longer making big pots of anything.

Glad you enjoy your taste adventures! I enjoy how I feel after eating tons of vegs.

hugs
Hops