Saline solution

Because of the allergies and sinus problems, I use this saline solution every day, twice a day and I use Listerine mouth wash as well.  So, what can it hurt to try this?  Maybe it will help keep you well.  We need to do our best to stay safe in this pandemic.  I have been making masks for my family since this started even before it was recommended.  If they can help during flu season, it stood to reason that they would help with this virus.  I am all for anything that will help us stay safe.  My county is taking it seriously and our case numbers are beginning to drop.  People, we have to do our part. Dr.  Fauci said that if everyone wore masks, we could get this under control within 4-8 weeks.  I am all for anything that will help stop the spread of this virus.  It may not have a death rate of the original SARS, but whether you die from it or not, from what I am reading, it is a nasty illness with long term damage.  So stay safe.

Saw this today on a report

I read a news article today that recommended we use saline spray in our nostrils to help flush out the Covid-19 virus load.  Then I am good because I do this twice a day because of allergies and chronic sinusitis.  And here are three of the ones I use. 

Sewing supplies

As a person who came up in the 1950's and 60's, I remember when fabric and supplies were top quality.  So were sewing machines.  Fast forward to now.  Nothing and I do mean nothing is first quality.  I am making masks. Elastic is inferior I can only get fabric in 8 yard bolts.  And the Coats and Clark thread, oh my God.  It is like sewing with maybe craft thread.  It kinks. It curls.  It breaks.  It is so inferior to the old Coats and Clark thread.  I am so angry right now.  And getting decent fabric is beyond annoying. 

So instead of coming up in the things that are manufactured, we have truly sunk to third world status on all of this.  Before we sold all our manufacturing plants, this country made fabulous cotton, wool, corduroy.  The wool fabrics used to make the women's dress coats in the 1950's was so superior to what is being passed off today as fabric.  I bought my daughter a 1950's beige 100% Cashmere coat with a silk lining at a thrift shop.  That coat was top quality still.  The fit was superb.  The fabric makes today's fabric look like dish rags.  And the Dan River ginghams we produced!  They were quality cottons.  Searsuckers, linens.  And now we get--dishrags.  Pendelton wool is still in operation thought.  I will be trying them soon.  Hopefully, they are still quality.  But I will have to use inferior threads on it.  I miss the old days when we made quality merchandise instead of garbage.  And most of the appearal fabric today is polyester.  Do you know what that is?  It is spun plastic.  Spun plastic.  Hotter than hell in the summer time, cold in the winter and can cause rashes on your skin.  Oh yes, I miss the old days when it was pride in quality instead of chasing the almighty dollar.  Well, I am now on a search to find made in the USA thread.  Wish me luck.  And if you can find vintage clothing, get it.  It is far superior to anything you can buy today. 

Electric mower pics.

The top picture is of the batter and key compartment.  The second picture is headlights and the third picture is the battery.  Check it out when you are in need of a new mower.  As I said, I will never go back to a gasoline mower nor a gasoline weed whacker. 

More lawn mower pictures

Notice the nice batter compartment in the first picture.  And those lights are awesome. 

Electric lawn mower.

I have been using a Ryobi electric lawn mower for about a year.  I will never go back to a gas mower.  It uses a 40volt Lithium batter and starts right off every time.  I only have one battery so sometime if I have let the grass get a little high, I have to stop and recharge the battery, but I have a really big yard.  I am so sold on this and will be replacing my weed whacker with a battery operated one from Ryobi when my corded one finally quits.  This mower has a 20" cutting diameter, rear discharge and it comes with a rear bag if you want to catch your grass clippings.  I don't.  It also has a space for an extra battery so you can just switch it out.  You insert the battery, a red key, hold down the lever on the handle and push the start button.  It has 6 cutting heights and are easy to set.  It also has high density led lights.  I am sold. 

The tape is on there because I broke the clear cover and am waiting on a hew on.  That cover protects the electrical components for the key and battery from debris. 

Last post for window film

You use the solution to clean the window first and dry it with a lint free cloth and they furnish you with one lint free cloth.  Then cut the film to fit.  Cut it a little larger so you can trim it precisely with a box cutter.  It will tell you to put two pieces of scotch tape sticky side facing on one corner.  You do this in order to be able to pull the protective layer away from the film itself.  Don't do like I did and try to put the film up backwards.  Sticky side goes on the window.  Spray the window liberally with the solution, apply the film and use the squeege to smooth out any bubbles.  Then spray the outside and squeege it as well.  Let set and you are done and you will be so glad you did this.  Their website is www.gilafilms.com.  I am sold on this. 

Finishing with window film

These will be needed to apply the film. 

Back to what this was set up for.

With the heat in Texas spiraling as it usually does in the summer, I have been applying heat film over my french doors and windows.  From the outside in daylight, no one can see in, but you can see out.  At night you will still need shades or drapes.  And it makes a tremendous difference in the amount of heat that come in through the windows and doors.  I found it at Home Depot online as that is the only way I shop now. 

It blocks 72% of sun's heat and it blocks 99% UV rays to help prevent fading.  I am sold and am going to do all my windows.  Do  not remember what I paid for this roll but it was economical.  Next I will show you what accessories you need to put this up. 

update

Well I have my blood pressure under control, but my heart rate is another matter.  It has been dropping to 40 occasionally.  I see the cardiologist on Monday.  I have hit a plateau with the weight loss.  I have to up the exercise.  Blood glucose is still in the pre diabetes range.  I so hope I can keep it there.  And hopefully my cholesterol has gone down.  I am due a blood draw this month so we will see.  I so wish I had never let those quacks put me on those beta blockers.  Well, the damage is done.  Wish me luck. 

I am still losing weight.

Since I got off the beta blockers back at the end of January, I have lost 34 pounds with very little effort.  What I did was cut out salt, sugar, cook fresh and very little meat.  I also stopped my weekly pizza night with the grandkids because they are afraid to come over.  They are afraid they will bring me the virus.  I would take my chances, but as my son pointed out, if they gave me the virus and it killed me, they would never forgive themselves.  So I settle for face time with them. 

My diet before was eggs, toast and sausage for breakfast. Lunch was usually a salad or sandwich, but that sandwich was made with processed lunch meat and that is loaded with sodium.  Dinner was vegetables, salad, and bread.  Maybe a bowl of ice cream about twice a week. 

Now my breakfast is still eggs, sausage, toast, but only once a week.  The other days, I have oatmeal, unsweetened applesauce, blackberries, 1 slice of whole wheat or Jewish Rye toast with butter.  Lunch is either tuna sandwich and salad or just a salad.  Dinner is baked fish or chicken, vegetables, no bread.  And the vegetables I use are beans, mustard greens, squash, brussel sprouts, sometimes potatoes, carrots, and broccoli.  I roast the broccoli, brussel sprouts and squash with onions coated in olive oil and seasoned with herbs and dry mustard.  The mustard greens I cook in no salt chicken broth, herbs and a touch of nutmeg.  These I serve over whole wheat cornbread.  Sugar and salt are gone.  The sugar I keep is to make nectar for the hummingbirds.  And I exercise.  I walk every day, whether around the block, which for me is 2 miles or on the treadmill for an hour.  So for almost 70, I am doing pretty good,.  We will see what the cardiologist says in June,.  But those beta blockers were well on the way to killing me. 

update on health

I am still on the ACE inhibitor for the blood pressure.  I may have to stay on it for the rest of my life,  I have lost 31 pounds now.  And the blood pressure is under control with this medication.  Also, my blood glucose is running from 80-130.  I notice that I can no longer eat anything with sugar.  Or maybe it was the preservatives.  I fixed canned cinnamon rolls yesterday.  I did not add the icing because that much sugar makes my teeth hurt.  But I did eat one cinnamon roll.  And I spent the night in misery.  My intestines felt like they were on a roller coaster.  So from now on if I crave a sweet, I will make it from scratch.  But it is a rarity that I want  anything sweet.  I have managed to cut out most sodium as well.  My diet consists of either fresh or frozen vegetables, beans, sometimes some baked chicken or fish.  Mornings are oatmeal, unsweetened applesauce, and blackberries or strawberries.  And about once a week, I treat myself to two scrambled eggs, one sausage patty, and a slice of toast made from Jewish Rye bread. 

The best thing I have learned is that if I just eat like I did when growing up, I'm good.  We had lots of vegetables, very little meat, eggs, milk, oatmeal and biscuits and gravy.  And we were healthy.  And those vegetables came from our own garden and those eggs from our own chickens.  So back to basics it is.  I have 57 more pounds to lose and I am now confident I can lose it. 

More health

The cardiologist brought me in last week for a PET scan.  That is where they shoot dye into your circulatory system and observe your heart.  It came back normal.  So now I  am still in limbo.  I will see him in June if I have no more problems.  And we will proceed from there.  Oh, and I am now pre-diabetic.  I have lost 29 pounds and aiming to lose another 70 pounds.  I can go back to weight lifting and exercising and now I will see some results. 

For me, I don't trust meds.  I am hoping to get off them completely.  We shall see.  But it is important that you find a doctor that will listen to you.  And not one that pushes pills and collectes from the pharamceutical companies for pushing those pills. 

More health

He was also concerned about the tachycardia.  I could not shake it.  So he put me on low dose Metaprolol, which is another beta blocker.  When he retired, I went to a young doctor.  He spent his time being pissed at me for not taking high does bp meds.  By now I was losing feeling in my toes.  He had me tested for an autoimmune disease.  Nothing.  So he blew off the loss of feeling in my toes because he did not know what was causing.  He did order a sonagram of my heart.  It came back fine.  He was angry with me because I would not lose weight.  I was on an 800 calorie diet and could not lose an ounce.  He just kept telling me I was not telling the truth about the diet.  And I needed to ditch the salt.  I had done that years ago.  Then he moved to another clinic.  So I went with my present doctor.  He upped the beta blocker and my A1C jumped.  Blood pressure kept staying high and I started packing on more weight to over 200 pounds. 

In December 2019, I had a virus.  It caused asthma like symptoms, high fever for about 4 days.  When I made myself get out of bed and start moving around, I had no energy.  None.  And I was off work until around the second week of January.  I went back to work and was doing ok but not feeling well.  The end of January, my blood pressure started spiking to 216/119 with a pulse rate of 126.  I went to the ER.  They did an EKG.  Nothing.  They did a chest x-ray to check for cell damage.  Nothing.  They did blood work.  Nothing.  So I started walking off the Metaprolol.  And within less than three week of getting off it, I dropped 24 pounds.  I was doing ok with the blood pressure dropping as well.  In March, about the first week, my blood pressure started going nuts again.  It popped up to over 179/90 with a pulse rate of 111.  Then it dropped to 145/147 with a pulse rate of 126.  I called an ambulance.  The ER docs found nothing.  When it was under control, they let me go home.  The next day, I called the cardiologist I had made an appointment with.  By now the Covid-19 was in full swing so he didn't want me in the office.  He put me on something called. diltiazem cd, which is an ACE inhibitor.  I have had a few incidents, but not bad since them. 

More on health

The nurse was asking questions.  She told me "Oh honey, that is your blood pressure med. Come on in and we will confirm it."  Before I went in, I hit the internet again looking for side effects of this medication.  After a lot of digging, I finally found a comprehensive list of side effects and it was scary. 
1) Congestive heart failure
2) Asthma
3) Diabetis
4) Severe skin reactions
5) Kidney failure

This is the worst ones.  So off to the doctor I went.  He didn't want to take me off the meds.  He did not believe that the meds were causing me the problem.  So when I insisted, he told me to just stop them.  They are low dose and won't hurt you.  I left and called a pharmacist and he told me how to walk down off them.  My last blood draw when on the meds  had my cholesterol at 240 , my tryglicerides were over 300.  I showed an elevated A1C.  I insisted on a blood draw 3 months after stopping these meds.  My cholesterol had dropped to 120.  My tryglicerides had dropped to under 100 and my A1C was under 5.  All the swelling in my lower extremities had gone.  I was losing weight without even trying. 

Rock along to 2013.  I let that quack of a doctor put me back on bp meds.  He swore that this time they were completely different from what I had been taking.  So idiot here said yes.  That was in December of 2013.  By January 2014, 1 month, I was in the same mess with the skin eruptions.  Since it was just a dry rash at this point, I didn't make the connection.  I went back in March 2014 because it was just getting worse. The first words out of that asshole's mouth when he walked into that exam room were "Oh, you really can't take those meds."  The asshole, because he didn't believe me that it was the meds, has put me back on the same damn thing.  He changed out the beta blocker.  So this time I told him to stick it.  I got off, but still had to deal with the allergic reaction.  I would up with huge hives all over my arms and stomach.  I went to a dermatologist.  He treated me for chemical burns and cleared up the rash, but my body could not recover from the second attack of the meds.  I had popped on 45 pounds in 2 months.  I had trouble breathing.  I did not get rid of the hives until September of 2014.  I did not get the lower blood pressure.  So I delt with that until around fall of 2015.  Then I went to an older doctor that I knew.  He was concerned about the blood pressure. 

Taking care of your health

I am now going to document my history with blood pressure medications.  I was put on something called Ziac, which is a beta blocker and a diuretic called hydrocholorothiazide. I was put on  this one week after my husband passed after a 10 year battle with COPD.  My blood pressure a the time was around 145/80, which was not bad considering I had lived on 3-4 hours sleep and many crises during that 10 years.  So on the medication I go.  Almost immediately my pressure became erratic, spiking to 155/50 or down to 100/90.  I continually brought this to the attention of my doctor.  I was told "it is low dose.  It won't hurt you."  this was in 1997, before the internet was in casual use.  So I rocked along with this med and could get no one to listen to me. 

On March 3,2003, while at work, I watched my hands develop huge purple, pus filled pustules.  Then within about 30 minutes, they would rupture and the pain was severe.  I went back to my doctor.  He had no idea what was causing this so he sent me to someone who was supposed to be a dermatologist.  He was an MD and Scott and White needed a dermatologist so they put him in an office with a sign that said "Hand doctor.".I was told it was my job.  I worked for the Postal Service and came into contact with newsprint every day.  So I was tested for industrial chemicals.  I showed a slight reaction.  And in the meantime, my arms had erupted into what can only be described as bloody hamburger oozing pus and blood.  And my hands now would swell and split open.  My skin on my fingers would turn slimy and slide off.  My fingernails would die.  No answers.  I was trying everything.  I even paid $95 for a tube of lotion.  Nothing helped.  And all this time, my feet, ankles, and lower legs were swelling.  I also had what could only be described as mild asthma symptoms.  I kept asking can this be the meds.  Nope.  They are low dose and won't hurt you.  I kept digging for information on these drugs.  And I just got worse and worse.  I developed tachycardia.  But the meds won't hurt me.  Never mind the fact that my blood pressure never came down and kept climbing as well as I was gaining weight.

In 2011 or 2012, I went to Denver to house sit for my son.  By now my feet, ankles, and legs were showing pronounced swelling.  I had changed doctors too.  While in Denver, I could not even walk across a room without stopping to catch my breath.  When I got home, I researched congestive heart failure.  I thought that is what I was having.  So I called the doctor's office for an appointment.