My Sexy Medical Test

Well I had my CAT scan last Tuesday.  It went well.  Too bad they don't take you early if you show up early though, since Hubs drove me and he arrives EARLY everywhere he goes.
Drives me nuts sometimes......

I have a touch of claustrophobia but I didn't feel any anxiety when they slid me into that machine.
Piece.
Of.
Cake.

They snapped pictures and then were going to inject a contrast and afterwards take some more pictures.
The contrast agent gets into your system via an IV line.
IVs.
These are always much fun with me, finding an acceptable vein near the skin surface of my arm and keeping an IV needle in it for any length of time.
I have "Houdini" veins.....now you see them, now you don't.
Also, I get really bad black and blue marks from IVs that take forever to disappear.
Here's my arm just this morning, a week after having this latest IV needle inserted.....

Back to the story......The technician who prepped me found a vein quickly and accessed it.
But after the first set of photos, when they injected the contrast, the needle came loose and the sticky liquid instead of shooting through my veins, shot into my ear, in my hair and all over the pillow.
What a mess!
Afraid to move I was frantically waving my fingers on my other hand trying to get someone in the control room's attention.
When they realized something wasn't right and came to fix the problem(ram the needle around in my arm looking for the vein again), it took about 20 more minutes before the IV was ready to function properly.

The technicians had said that when they inject the contrast you'll feel a warmth in your chest and you may get warm because of the iodine in the solution.
Well, of course I am weird, you all know that, so after I got that warmth in the chest sensation, my nether regions started tingling and heated up like nobody's business.
It was better than any "adult warming gel" for "her enjoyment" advertised on tv.
I know this is TMI and many of you are x-ing out of this page about now but I must say I rather enjoyed this part of the program and I am looking forward to any and all CAT scans in my future.
And my advise is, that if you ever have a CAT scan insist on one with contrast. ;-)

So the doc was checking for Pulmonary Embolisms(aka blood clots in the lungs) to rule them out.
Thankfully that was all clear.  Although it's been a month since I went to the hospital in crisis and I'm pretty sure if I had had a PE, it would have broken loose and killed me loooong before I had this test.

The images did come back showing a nodule on one of my lungs.  It is very small.  Now these can be either cancerous or not, so there is concern depending on what your risk level is.  I am not low risk and I'm not high risk for one of these to grow into something bad.  Because of being exposed to secondhand smoke from my SAHM as a child and having asthma, I have a moderate risk of this thing growing and changing.  So the plan is to keep an eye on it and have another scan in 6 months.

Oh goody!
Can't wait.....and I am serious.
The next time though I'll insist the technicians buy me dinner first.   ;-)

Sluggy

My Son, The Musician

We always liked when our children became interested in playing a musical instrument.
My background is in the "Arts", so I was always keen to find out when one of them showed an interest in something cultah'd.  

We found that the oldest son was a natural stage actor and singer from the age of 5.  It's hard to ignore when at the school wide chorus concert he was in at that time, when you overhear many parents in the audience asking their companions, "Who is that child?  He is amazing!"
And no, I was not imagining it. ;-)
He dabbled in the arts but by high school decided it wasn't for him.  His "acting" ability will stand him in good stead though as he pursues his goal of being a high school or college level History teacher.

The middle child, the Daughter, well, she was gifted in math and science, with nary an artistic bone in her little body.  She did take up the trumpet in middle school but I think that was more as a social thing to fit in.  She also sang in the school's chorus and performed in the musicals.  Though she was no prodigy, she did discover an affinity for the guitar as a pre-teen.  She taught herself to play it and when she continued to show interest we did pay for lessons.  She performed(or played back up for singers)at high school events but she hasn't decided to pursue music as a vocation.  It's a hobby she enjoys and the urge comes and goes.

When it came time for the youngest son to decide if he wanted to join the elementary school band class, he was MORE than ready!  I guess seeing his older siblings both learn and play the trumpet(plus his sister played the guitar and was teaching herself the keyboard), he wanted to do that(play music) too.  He never gave any indication as a little guy that he was artistic and we figured he'd try it and lose interest like so many kids do once they realize the work involved in learning and mastering an instrument.
But then, he told us that the hand-me-down trumpets, from his siblings, he would get to learn on were not to his liking.
HE wanted to play......the flute!
He was drawn to the flute from day one.  So I went on eBay and found a really good quality used instrument for cheap money so when he lost interest after a couple of years, I wouldn't feel bad about spending the money on it, and I might be able to resell it to boot. ;-)

His siblings tried to dissuade him from playing "that girly instrument".  They knew he's be teased for not playing the drums, the sax or one of those other loud brass instruments.  Despite their advice and influences, he decided on the flute.

And instead of losing interest after a year or two, he stuck with it.  He moved up to the middle school band and then was invited to join the high school marching band while still in middle school.  Once he was actually in high school, music became his life as a student.....well that and French class.  A day without a lesson or a music class or a musical after school activity was a day without sunshine for him.

At this point we decided to upgrade his instrument to a better quality one.  He was taking lessons through the school but the time came that private lessons were needed to get him to the next level.
He stumbled upon a wonderful flute teacher.  The local music store had an arrangement with instrument teachers and she was working with them.  Youngest got assigned to her for lessons and the two just clicked.  After a few months, the teacher went out on her own and youngest son decided to follow her instead of change teachers at the music store.  Then his 1/2 hour lesson expanded into 45 minutes.  He is pushing us now to pay for hour long ones.

This is all just a very long way to introduce this video(albeit a questionable quality video as it was taken with Daughter's phone) of #2 Son playing at the student recital for his flute and piano teacher, which was this past Friday evening.  It was his very first public performance as a soloist.

Youngest has been taking "serious" lessons for about a year now.  Though in the music world, he is considered a "late bloomer", he has made great strides in his technique. He has decided to go to college for music(if he gets accepted into a program)and work in some capacity of the music industry/business as his vocation.

Without further adieu, here is Noah performing "Sicilienne" by Gabriel Fauré

Sluggy

The New Way I Grocery Shop

Having to cut sodium down to the bare minimum in my diet and having decided to incorporate juicing into my way of eating, my grocery shopping looks somewhat different from what it use to.

I made my first trip in May to the grocery store on Thursday.  I spent a whopping $113 plus change.

Here is what I got.....(I tried to group the items by category)

Produce
*12 Apples
*1 Jicama
*1 large Ginger Rhizome
*1 bunch Asparagus
*1 bunch Kale
*1 bunch of Parsley
*1 bunch Red Leaf Lettuce
*1 red Bell Pepper
*1 Watermelon
*2 Cantaloupes
*1 box Grape Tomatoes
*5 lb. Carrots
*2 Grapefruit
Meat
*1 package Chicken thighs
*2 packages natural Bacon(low sodium/no nitrites)
*1/3lb. low sodium deli Turkey
Canned & Bottled
*3 cans Crushed Tomatoes
*1 bottle Sesame Oil
*1 bottle Mediterranean blend Spices
Frozen
*2 bags frozen Ravioli
Dairy
*1 container Sour Cream
*1 qt. container Greek Yogurt
*1 cup Yogurt w/almonds(sweet snack)
Beverages
*8 bottles of 100% Juice
*3 2ltrs. Diet Soda(Sucralose sweetened)
*2 pt. size diet Sodas(ditto)
Breads
*3 packages Bakery dinner rolls(small sized rolls)

Now here is the stuff I bought for the family that I can't eat....
Stuff Sluggy can't/won't eat
*3 small frozen Pizzas
*2 packages Lunchmeat
*2 boxes Belvita breakfast cookies
*2 1 ltrs. of Diet Soda(not sucralose sweetened)
*2 x 1lb. blocks of Cheese
(Except for the cheese and diet soda, all of the above was for #2 Son's consumption only.)

Here's about all the types of processed food I bought......

I  brought a coupon for only one item(2 boxes of Belvita), but I still bought some items now because they were needed AND they were on sale, even if I had no coupons.  If an item wasn't on sale and could wait until next week, it stayed in the store for now.

The Northland brand juice was a great buy.  They were the dark fruit varieties that go for $5 a bottle around here so at 50% off, it was a deal I couldn't refuse.

All the bakery products were off the 50% rack.
The chicken thighs and natural bacon had Instant Discount Stickers making them 50% off as well.
I would have bought none of those items if they weren't 50% off. The meat will be frozen for later use and I incorporated the rolls into this week's meal plan.(We used some for Sloppy Hoe's Joe's last night and will find uses for the rest of the bread or freeze the leftovers.)

This is my new normal.
I still will use a coupon, buy on sale, and stock-up on items if the item fits into our new way of eating.
You probably won't be seeing savings rates of 50%, 60% or more like in past years.....unless I need to go back to Rite-Aid for the deals and start getting toiletries and such for free again. lolz
For now, a savings rate of 30% off regular retail on the food I buy is what I'll be shooting for.

And I'll still buy some junky snack foods for the family within reason.  I think I can resist the urge to devour it all if it's in the house with me.
My resolve is high......at least for now.  ;-)

Sluggy




 

My LS Sloppy Joes Recipe

I went searching online for a low sodium Sloppy Joe Sauce recipe.
Most of them I found called for using low sodium Ketchup and a full cup of it at that.
Yah......about that.

Why would I use over half of the small 14 oz. bottle of my LS ketchup, which cost over $3, to make this sauce?
So I used tomato paste and just added or increased the other ingredients that are in ketchup into the recipe.
This first batch was trial and error but I think I have come up with a pretty good sauce.
It's a lot less sweet than the stuff you buy in the can or in the dry mix packets.

Here it is.....

Low Sodium Sloppy Joe Sauce
makes 8-12 servings depending on how saucy you like your Joes

1 6oz. can tomato paste
1 6oz of water(use empty paste can to measure)
1 tsp. garlic, minced
4 TB. brown sugar
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce(or use reduced sodium version to save 20mg of sodium)
1/2 tsp. mustard powder
1/2 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. cumin(you can substitute cilantro double the amount)

Brown your meat and onions and/or other veggies you put in your Joes.
Add all ingredients above and mix well.
Wait 5 minutes until hot and serve.

I plan on making up a double or triple batch next time to freeze into meal sized portions so this can be a quick and easy dish that Hubs and the kids can make without having me around.

The sodium savings?
Reg. ketchup=160mg in 1 TB vs. LS ketchup=25mg in 1 TB.

If you used 1 cup of reg. ketchup(as the original recipe called for), your sauce would contain 2,560mg of sodium(or about 256mg per serving)from the ketchup.
My recipe is approx. 400mg of sodium(or about 40mg per serving)from the ketchup.
(There is an additional 65mg of sodium from the Worcestershire Sauce too.)

And here is the finished product.....

 

 

 

 Don't know if you can see the onions, grated carrot and yellow, red & orange bell pepper  I put into the meat mix of ground beef and turkey.

Here's my plate before I dug in.....

Sluggy

The Zen of Sluggy

These are just some things swirling around in my brain.  Some are profound while others are just ridiculous.  Still others just prove that I'm not quite right in the head.

Today's sayings......


"Fast Food is the Salt Lick of our Society but with none of the health benefits."

"If McDonald's is the deity of the fast food Universe, is their High Temple in Salt Lick, Kentucky?"


-Sluggy