Sue's Birthday Month Journal

[FrugalSue]

I got some disappointing news today. My new insurance coverage will not pay for my knee brace until I've been on the plan for six months (November 1) because my knee problem is pre-existing. (My knee problems aren't from a particular injury, it's just wearing out of the cartilage over the years. I've had arthritis since I was in my 20s, back before I even had any weight problems.)

Also, the cortisone shot in my knee definitely is not helping. If anything, it has made things worse. Instead of just a dull ache like I had before, now I get sharp pains from walking, especially on stairs.

So I have a call in to my doctor's office and I'm hoping he will call me to discuss these problems. I hope he will have some good ideas. I was so looking forward to getting the brace because it would allow me to start walking again. Right now it's too painful to do even the shortest walks. Today I had to run several errands, and by the time I got home, the pain was miserable. And that was with my daughter coming along with me to do all of the lifting, door opening, etc.!

The upshot of this is I'm having to really watch my intake of food so I don't gain weight while I'm less active. But I am doing well with that part of it. I've made sure I have some really appealing fresh fruit and vegetables around the house. Yesterday I made a large batch of ground turkey meatballs, so we'll be eating those throughout the week, with whole-grain pasta. Tonight Betsy and I had beans for dinner...I can do that when Larry is at work. He doesn't consider a vegetarian meal to be "dinner" LOL.

[FrugalSue]

Well, I got some bad news on Monday...my new insurance coverage won't cover the knee brace until I've been on the plan for six months, because my arthritis problems are pre-existing. Bummer! I don't really know how I'm going to function for that long without the brace. I'm in pain when I put any weight on my right knee, I feel uncertain that the knee is going to hold me up, and I'm using a cane.

I've called my doctor to talk about this, but I haven't gotten any answers...in fact, the person who called me back apparently had not gotten the complete message about what's going on with me, and she had no answers. She said she would call me back once she had talked to the doctor, but this hasn't happened. So I am going to make another appointment to go in and see the doctor.

In the meantime, I've figured out a couple of things I can do to make my life easier and to start getting some exercise again. I can't walk for exercise right now, nor can I safely use weights or machines, but I did find a public swimming pool in the next town over that has an arthritis class. It's kind of expensive, but if I can get the doctor to qualify me as disabled, it would only cost a little over $2 per session or about $30 per month! So that is one of the things I will discuss with him when I see him. I am also going to ask him to sign me up for a disabled parking sticker. If I have to gimp around for six months before I get a brace, I'm going to get all the help I can!

I'm also going to start meditating. Yeah, that's meditating, not medicating LOL. I am sure this will help with pain management. I have found some excellent podcasts that walk you through how to start meditating and I'm going to give it a try. I used to meditate years ago when I had more time (meaning, before I had children!). Quiet, contemplative time when you're open to help is always a good thing.

[FrugalSue]

The insurance company lied! OK, it didn't tell the whole truth.

They told the guy that was making my knee brace that it wasn't covered until I had been on my new insurance for six months.

What they didn't tell him was, there's an exception if I can prove that I had uninterrupted health insurance coverage. No problem! I had previous coverage, I just had to fax proof of the prior coverage to my new insurance company.

I just hate when big companies try to take advantage of people like that. If I weren't an assertive person, I would have just accepted "no" for an answer, and I would've been in pain for an additional six months. Those schmucks!

Anyway, the insurance company's attempt to get out of paying has merely slowed down the process of getting my brace by a few days. Now I will have it in about two weeks. I am going back to the doctor today to make sure every thing is in place to make this happen ASAP.

I have found an arthritis therapy swim to attend, and I'm going to get my doctor to write me a letter so I get in for half-price. I'm also getting an old lady disabled parking hanger thingee for my car.

I am more determined than ever to not let my physical problems get in the way of my weight loss journey. The more weight I can lose, the better for my painful joints. I will eventually need a total knee replacement, but I'm going to be a so-called normal weight when I get that surgery, dammit! (Whoa, I'm pretty passionate about this!)

[FrugalSue]

Okay, today I rolled out of bed and, after I'd done the bare necessities around the house such as letting the dogs outside and feeding them, I headed to the pool for the arthritis therapy. It was really good. I think it is going to make my muscles stronger. The instructor is very nice. Some of the old people in the class are cranky, but, oh well, that's too bad for them. I'm there for me.

I ran a few errands on the way home. When I got back here, the morning was nearly over and I had not yet had any coffee or anything to eat, and I was very close to tears. Not because of physical pain. I think it is something emotional that is coming up...maybe because I was hungry, maybe because I am taking better care of myself, I don't know what.

Everywhere I turn right now, I'm getting the message that self-care is so important. On the radio, whenever I open a magazine, whatever. Wrapping up the part of my antique business that is not benefiting me financially is a good self-care thing. I'll be completely out of the antique malls by the end of this month. Getting my eBay inventory under better control is also good for me. Eating right and getting exercise is, naturally, another good self-care thing. I feel like I might be opening up time and space in my life for something new. I have no idea what that is, but I believe it is going to be good.

[muppet]

Hello Sue,
I think I know what you mean about everywhere you turn, it seems like you're being told to take better care of yourself. Or at least your given reasons why, or different things we should be doing. I don't know if it's just because I'm so aware, and notice it more, or if there really is more information out there. I'm not talking about gimmicky ads, or equipment, or anything like that. It just seems like there's always some study, or research that just reinforces what we already know. Diet and exercise impact and our weight impact so many areas of our health. It's foolish to completely ignore it.
I have some changes that I think are going to be happening in my life too. It's job-related, and I'm not sure that I like what's happening. I was thinking I'd like to go in a different direction, but that's not working out, so I'm just going to go with the flow and have faith that this is the path God wants me on. It's really not what I think I want, but it seems to be where I'm going.
Take care.
Carol

[FrugalSue]

I did some aerobic weeding in my garden today. As long as I could stand in one place and pull them with my left hand, it didn't hurt my right knee and right shoulder, so I got a lot done! Enough to work up a good sweat. Yay!

[FrugalSue]

OK, I managed to slam one of my fingers between a heavy piece of furniture and the wall today, so it's all purple and bulgy. I don't think I'm going to lose the nail--it's more on the other side of the finger, the fleshy side, that I got bruised. Anyhow, it slowed me down a little bit earlier today, but it doesn't hurt so badly now.

I have been doing some cleaning and organizing around the house this weekend. Definitely some upper body work! I have less than two weeks until my leases are up at the antique stores where I've been selling stuff, and I'm trying to make sure there will be room to store whatever I bring home from the stores to sell on eBay. I don't think I'll have to bring a lot home--I've got my stuff at 75% off, so I'm practically giving it away, and a lot of it is moving. But it's always good to stay on top of your inventory and space, anyway. I'm hoping by the end of the summer to have all of my eBay operations consolidated into just my office. (I currently have stuff stored in the basement and garage, too.)

[FrugalSue]

I'm continuing to make progress on my various tasks, and each of them gives me a good workout. Today I was able to get a bit more of the garden soil turned over and ready to plant. It's late to be getting vegetables planted, but I know some of them will turn out okay, anyway. And I find it so rewarding throughout the process--the soil prep, the seeding, then watching them grow and keeping them healthy, and finally the harvest. Vegetable gardening is one of my very favorite activities.

I'm also making headway with getting my business inventory and workspace better organized. I worked late into the night last night, and I can see the effects of my work in my home office today.

Today I had to stop working on my own stuff to do some emergency work for my "real job." You know, the one that actually pays me a paycheck LOL. I haven't ever spoken here about my nutso co-worker, but every once in a while, she freaks out about the workload, talks to the boss, and then I have to work harder. It's really dumb, because our work is cyclical and this is always the busy time of year for us, anyway. It's not like I'm sitting on my thumbs when there's work that has to be done, I'm just more calm about it than she is, so she thinks I'm not working hard enough. So then I work a little harder until she calms down, and then we're back to normal about the same time that the workload returns to normal. This happens every summer. This time I wrote my boss an email and asked him to stop buying into it every year. We'll see.

Amazingly, my best friend, who I talked to last week about lapband surgery, is going to an information meeting about it tonight. I did not expect that to happen. This may be as far as she goes with it, but it is a big step further than what she had ever considered before. I'm thanking God a lot!

[FrugalSue]

Another beautiful day of warm weather and sunshine. Man, I can remember some summers when we had rain all through June and July, so I am just eating this up!

I continue to make progress in my garden and with my home office reorganization. Today I also went to the arthritis therapy swim. Wednesday the concentration is on legs, and Friday it's on core. I believe Monday is upper body, but I haven't gone to that one yet because I'm usually busy working on Monday a.m. The workout this morning was very challenging.

[Missy]

I'd love to see the pics of your garden once you have everything finished. I can't wait until I have my own house so that I can make my yard all beautiful. When I was little I used to always love watering my mom's flowers in the backyard.

Sounds like your workouts are going pretty good. I bet the swim was awesome. I haven't been swimming in awhile. I have to wait until next month when we go to the beach for vacation.

Glad to hear you're doing well