Summer Bugs

I had a pretty good long weekend until I got bit by something at the park yesterday. I didn't see it but I felt that telltale pinprick that signifies an insect bite. It didn't take long for my entire finger to swell and change color, followed by the knuckle and then adjacent knuckles until my whole hand felt like an inflated cartoon glove. No amount of "itch cream" aka topical antihistamine had any effect and I wasn't game for spending $150 at Urgent Care or the ER since this wasn't really an emergency. 

Instead, I took a half dose (one capsule) of Benadryl which made me nauseous and dizzy. (My sister has the opposite reaction: it makes her manic.) Napping was my only recourse. Meanwhile, my finger and hand still itched like crazy. The swelling eventually subsided. And my sciatica is better but only for a few hours before sitting or laying down is too painful. 

Today, I spray bug spray all over myself (DEET on my clothes and picaridin on my exposed hands, face and neck) while at the dog park and I still get bitten, this time right on the cheek. It also swells but since I have big round cheeks, it isn't noticeable in photos. However, I can feel that it stretches a good inch in diameter across. Ugh. Luckily, cheeks aren't as itch-sensitive as fingers. But antihistamines, like many other medications, are contraindicated for people who suffer from narrow-angle glaucoma because they dilate the pupils. 

Low lights and sleeping also dilate the pupils, and there is evidence that IOPs rise during these times. My doc tells me that I no longer have narrow angles since my cataract-stent surgeries two years ago, but I'm still cautious. While my sciatica seems much better after 5 days of prednisone, I'm worried about increased damage to the optic nerves. There's really no way to tell until I take another visual field test and I'm not due for one until later in the year.

I do my 32 minutes on the treadmill, this time opting for a manual incline. I'm just warm enough to be uncomfortable when I'm done. The Smith is free so I hang for a few seconds. While this might work to decompress the spine, I find that it's causing my shoulder blades to knot. That's one of the reasons I don't like doing Lat-Pull Downs: knotty shoulders! I really can't wait to pedal the elliptical again. And I'm wondering when I can weed whack my walkway because I need to do that before it snows. You can't properly shovel your walkway if there's plant life growing out of it, and Winter promises to be cold, long and fierce. I'm thinking there's going to be a lot of shoveling this year.

 

7 Sept 2021
Sciatic Sunny Tuesday

True Alpine Treadmill
Program: Hill Manual
Time: 30 min + 2 min cd @ 1.5 mph
Speed 3.0
Incline variable 6.0
Distance: 1.54
Cal: 161
HR av 107 , high 127

Stretch from Smith Machine 10s x 2

  Skip Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
  Skip 60 Dead Bugs
Elbow Plank 60s
  Skip Child’s Pose
Cat/Camel stretch 10x
Fire Hydrants 10 x 2
Bird Dogs 60s x 2
Child’s Pose
Cat/Camel stretch 10x
  Skip Push-Ups 25
Mild Mat stretch w 3 Eye Yoga
  Skip Air Squats 25

Stretch from Smith Machine 10s x 2