I saw the doctor yesterday and had good news on several fronts.
My leg is much better. Keeping it elevated and wearing the compression stockings for a few days did the trick.
I think that leg is just going to swell sometimes, weight loss or not, and the swelling can lead to cellulitis. When I was in high school I injured that ankle and it's not been quite right since. My mother was giving me a ride to the bus stop, and we were arguing. (I don't remember what about, but I was a high school girl so I frequently argued with my mother.) My mom dropped me off behind the city bus I needed to catch. I was running for the door when I slipped on the ice and went down. The bus driver didn't see me, and he started the bus and ran over my right foot and ankle. Because of the angle, I scraped a lot of flesh off that ankle, but oddly enough I didn't break any bones. So that ankle has been scarred and prone to swelling most of my life. (Now that I've broken the other ankle, my ankles match again.)
The doctor said I could wear the compression stockings for work when I sit at my desk most of the day, but probably won't need them the rest of the time. So that was good news.
The 24 hours heart monitor test showed that I have occasional skipped heart beats, but no other problems. My pulse varied from 50 (sleeping) to 132 (treadmill) and that is within normal range. I had no episodes of heart beats more than 2.5 seconds apart, no sudden rapid heartbeats or abnormally slow heartbeats. There were no episodes of arrhythmia. My thyroid tests were normal, too, so that is not causing the problem. The doctor thinks the skipped beats are caused by stress, and he's probably right. I've suffered on and off from anxiety attacks for years, and they usually start with a sudden thumping in my chest. The doctor said if the thumping continues to bother me he can prescribe medication, but he wants to just watch the situation for now. So my heart continues to thump, but it's not dangerous, and that's good news.
Overall my blood work was excellent. My fasting blood sugar was 86. It hasn't been that low in years. The doctor decreased my dosage of Metformin from 1500 mg/ day to 1000 mg/day and that's good news.
I've been with my doctor for 25 years and I love him. He's very careful. He answers all my questions. He takes me seriously, but he doesn't over-react. There is a serenity about him that is just what I need.
Serenity is something I need more of in my life, or maybe just in my personality. I'm hoping my yoga class this summer will help with that.
The following poem is titled "The Peace of Wild Things" and I love the serenity it describes.
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Wendell Berry
