News Flash!!! – I have put on a few pounds. I’m not sure exactly how many because I haven’t been on a scale in quite awhile (I’m pretty sure it’s still a three-digit number, if that’s any help) but it’s a lot more pounds than I should be carrying around. And I know people have noticed, although most don’t say anything. But this past Thursday, after a performance that Caritas gave for Music & More, a member of the audience came up to me and paid me a lavish multi-tiered compliment for my singing, piano playing, compositions, interviewing … and then went on to express concern about my weight. It was not exactly a surprising shock or at least shouldn’t have been, but I found myself gulping and pretty much unable to stammer out much of a reply. The last time I saw my doctor, which was early last summer, he yelled at me for gaining back the weight which I had so impressively shed several years earlier. Well no, he didn’t exactly yell. But he did firmly take me to task for my backsliding, and I walked out of there with my tail between my legs, determined that my next visit would be different.
And then real life got in the way, and weight loss slid way down my list of priorities to #33, right between #32- learn Hungarian, and #34- alphabetize our greeting cards. . . and as the late winter and early spring became even crazier with “Glorious” at the RTG and “Marriage of Figaro” at Carthage, the “upward spiral” continued. It’s not that I gave the matter no thought whatsoever, but more often than not I would eat my way through life’s stresses- and there have been many of them. And in the midst of all that came word that my blood pressure medication prescription could not be refilled over the phone; my doctor wanted to see me for a followup evaluation first. It was a prospect I just couldn’t face; having had matters laid out so cleanly and clearly, I just couldn’t imagine walking into that office carrying the same bulk as before. So I concocted the crackpot idea of dropping some weight before going back to the doctor – one of the dumber ideas I’ve ever had, for sure.
Fast forward to this past weekend, when I went to Urgent Care because of the bad cough I’ve had for the last ten days. As the nurse came in to do my vitals, I suddenly realized that I hadn’t had my blood pressure taken since the last time I was at the doctor, and I had run out of medication months ago, so I had visions of the pressure cuff exploding and taking my arm off in the process. So I warned the nurse and explained the situation, so she wouldn’t have a stroke when she saw my numbers, which I knew would be high. But it didn’t work – as soon as the numbers appeared on the digital readout, she exclaimed “Oh, wow!” – and thanks to that, my blood pressure probably soared another twenty points right there. *
To make a long story short, the doctor at the Walk-In Clinic willingly refilled my blood pressure prescription – a month’s worth, anyway – and just that, in and of itself, has made me feel so much better. And this whole blood pressure business has shaken me loose of my long-time fondness for Diet Coke. Every morning since, I’ve started my day with a Minute Maid Light Lemonade (rather than a large diet coke) and not felt the least bit deprived . . . have made a hard and fast commitment to eating more fruits and vegetables and actually managed to do it . . . and once we’re back from our trip to Florida, we are heading back to Razor Sharp for regular exercise. And of course, I am taking my medication with religious regularity (and very grateful that something exists that works so well for me) and will also be changing to a different doctor with whom I can have a clean, fresh start. And from here on out, I am going to be watching those numbers- my weight and my blood pressure- go down…down….down. It will be a downward spiral in the best sense of the word, and I like that picture because it promises a smooth and consistent downward progression rather than dramatically or drastically plunging off of a cliff. That kind of downward motion I can do without. But the downward spiral—- that, I can live with…. in more ways than one.
pictured above: a spiral staircase that leads up to the observatory at Kemper Center in Kenosha. I took this the day of the Venus Transit. Unfortunately, the telescope was not working that day, but it was still fun to see it.
*In case you’re curious, my blood pressure was 189/91.