JIM BUTTON,
TELLING TALES.

The Struggle is Real

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Just a quick update for you as I sit in the midst of a physical struggle.

Not 100% sure what’s going on but I have a pretty good idea now that the body is calming down a bit.

I had my cat scan today and decided that it was so beautiful that I would walk to the Foothills Hospital. 

I did the journey in two stages - walked 5 km to Kafe Kawa and had a couple of chats, both extremely interesting and quite pleasant. 

The next stage was a 10km walk that should have been 7.5km, but due to construction I had to walk the south side of the river and cross at Edworthy Park. The details of the walk are not that important other than to say I was a bit behind schedule and had to hussle the last 1/2 hr. 

And as you probably know you cannot eat for six hours prior to scan. 

And since I hadn’t scheduled the additional two kms I was without my scheduled water intake (supposed to drink six glasses of water in advance).

I got to the appointment on time, did the scan and for all intents and purposes all was good. 

Till it wasn’t.  

I walked down the hill and waited for Tracey, I gave up on walking home and called her for a drive, and that was probably the smartest thing I did all day.  

Want to know what wasn’t smart? Walking 16km, not eating, not drinking enough, having contrast dye injected and then assuming everything would be hunky dory normal. 

For the last two hours I have been dealing with pain in my hips, ankles and knees, my mouth is swollen, my throat is swollen and I’m damn itchy (forgot to take my steroids this morning). I have a headache and my vision is messed up.

I came home, had some pasta, tried to nap but couldn’t get comfortable so I got up and made dinner.

Tracey and Amanda are home now so I have jumped on the couch and am going to chill for a bit. But I’ll be honest, for a while there I was alone in the house and thought I was having a reaction to the cat scan (contrast dye). My brain went to kidney failure and as a result I got very focused on paying attention to my body. And at that moment Dan texted me, he was my lifeline and offered to hang out if I needed to be watched. He also let me know his Dad had kidney failure from a similar situation.  

I got more focused. 

But as I type this I’m feeling way better and my conclusion is that my body simply shut down to a combination of all the above activities. 

Yet another good lesson for me to not push myself too much.  

How many times do I need to learn the same thing???? 

The answer is pending... 

PS my meeting with Dr R is cancelled tomorrow, results from scan will be known next Wednesday.  

Guessing on Guesses

Cat Scan