Fitness Check In Day 88: When Rain Turns to a Storm

Just when you get up to dance in the rain, the rain turns into a storm. This storm has managed to bring some hail and heavy winds of emotions with it. I am still currently trying to dissolve the chalazion through warm compresses and gentle massages on my eyelid to avoid getting surgery. I’m also waiting to hear back from my gastroenterologist on another specialist to get a second opinion on whether or not that lesion in my colon needs to be removed or not. Especially since the nurse practitioner who saw me said so himself. So these things are weighing on my mind, but I am trying to be as positive as possible about this.

I did call my insurance and they confirmed that they do cover the removal of both the hems and lesion so I have piece of mind on that front should it come to that. However given the fact that my stomach issues continue as I mentioned in my last post, removing the hems really isn’t worth it since they will just come back anyway unless my stomach issues are fixed which as of right now they are not. Another good piece of news is that insurance does cover the CT Scan with contrast of my facials bones (I mistakenly thought it was an MRI) so I have an appointment next week to get this done and just in time too. Over the weekend I ate a thin piece pork chop and since pork is normally dry, it tore my mouth up! Now this is not something I ever had an issue with, but now I have noticed the tissues of the hard palate are not hard anymore. They are soft and swollen. I had mentioned in previous posts that I had an ulcer or what I now remember is a mucocele on the right side of the hard palate that comes and goes whenever I eat, with a lot of pain and redness around the area. Well after that pork chop, I now have a mucocele on the left side which is soo painful I cannot breathe without it being in pain nor can I swallow without making it worse and triggering more pain. Sooo imagine, you are hungry and not only are you limited in what you can eat, but you can’t eat much without pain. So I’m back to pureeing the food because I have to eat. From what I searched online, having a mucocele is a result of a damaged salivary gland. This is exactly how the doctor explained it to me but my mind totally forgot (I blame perimenopause). Sooo, because of the pain, I couldn’t finish what was on my place and was left a bit hungry and super deflated. I am also dealing with pain in my gums and teeth that have been progressively getting worse after stopping the PPI last month which makes sense because of the wave of acid that has been plaguing me since I stopped Voquezna. Add to this the burning mouth and acid reflux pain in my throat and I have had to whisper or just write stuff down so as not to strain my voice. The positive? I have a dentist appointment next week so I can address this. The negative? My job’s health insurance doesn’t include dental sooo that is more debt I will be adding to my almost tapped out Care Credit account.

So of course with all of this weighing me down, my emotions went from frustration, anger, resentment to utter sadness. I cried a bit to let it out but then figured I’d ask Alex to play some uplifting music. Well it seems Alexa and the universe have a sense of humor. Alex responds “Okay, here are some classic uplifting songs you might like on Amazon Music”, and then proceeds to play, “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra. LOL really Alexa, you little piece of barnacle butt you! Needless to say my tears dried up as I laughed. I do have to say the lyrics are relatable and most of the message is uplifting. This song is basically sayin that despite all the ups and downs in life, try to stay positive and never give up, because someday soon, you will be back on top. The last lines of the song I would change though, Sinatra sings “But if there’s nothin’ shakin’ come this here July, I’m gonna roll myself up in a big ball and die” I would change this to ‘I’m gonna be rolling on the floor laughing‘ because with all the shiza (poop) going on at the end of the day you just have to laugh.

I know that I am not cursed, just a string of bad luck, but sometimes you wonder, what in the flying finelli is going on here? All off this could have easily sent me on a roller coaster straight down to the pit of hell aka depression-village. But I cry, I curse like a sailor, but I am back up again and online researching using different wording to see if I can come up with natural solutions or something to help me out right now.

So far I have found that warm salt water may help the mucocele as well as gum with xylitol (which may or may not aggravate my IBS, I can’t remember) and a whole line of mouthwashes which are alkaline and can help with the burning mouth and acid reflux. My dentist gave me a sample which was ACT Kids Wild Watermelon. I had purchased this and forgot all about it because…well foggy brain is just the thing right now. I did the salt water rinse and gargle after lunch and then rinsed with mouthwash after dinner.

I also took a short walk afterward with my mom and while my body felt a bit heavy, it was nice to get out, even if it was just 10 blocks. I got some groceries like bananas which are very good for people with acid reflux. According to AARP, this low-acid or alkaline fruit can help neutralize stomach acid by coating an irritated esophageal lining. And bananas are not only alkaline but also rich in pectin — a soluble fiber that helps keep food flowing nicely through the digestive tract.

That’s it for today. I have to pat myself on the back and celebrate that I got outside, am continuing to try and search for ways to get better to see if I can come out of this PPI rebound better than before, heal that chalazion, and address the issues of my colon to see if it is truly necessary to get that surgery.

Now it’s time to rest, and relax after a long day. Until next time my Phoenixes, be kind and gracious with yourself, if you have to scream, or cry do it, it can be cathartic, but don’t stay in that mindset for too long, get up put a little dance music on or do something that makes you smile and give yourself a hug for getting through the day! You’ve got this!!