09:11 GMT

  There was light rain from early morning until about 7pm yesterday. There were a few times in the lateb morning when it seemed to brighten up, but it didn't look like the very light rain actually stopped. From midday to 8pm the temperature was forecast to be 10° C, and I think that was about right. With the grey sky, rain and puddles it still felt like it was very cold outside.   The road looks very wet outside, but no rain is shown in the forecast until 6pm. Even then it will be light rain or even drizzle. The afternoon should be a degree higher than yesterday at 11° C. Apart from a colder start, 7° C, tomorrow is currently shown as identical to today.

  Yesterday was not a bad day, but it was a day when not much happened. I guess that should have made it restful, but somehow doing very little didn't feel restful on this occasion.

  One of the things I should have been doing yesterday was to finish washing the two medium sized bath towels. I gave them another 3 or 4 rinses, but the rinse water was still  a bit soapy. I could have pushed myself to do more, but while I am supposed to be recovering from my heart valve procedure I didn't think it was wise to push too hard. I think my plan for today is to concentrate on just one towel (I only intended to wash one in the first place, but put the wrong towel into the detergent - although that one was very close to needing to be washed).

  With my blood glucose still being far too high yesterday morning, I had a very simple lunch of rice crackers and cheese, although I have to confess I did put some (sugar containing) pickle on the cheese. The good thing is that it seemed to be very satisfying, and I didn't seem to feel the need for any more food until dinner time. I am unsure how that happened because it was not exactly a big lunch. In fact it was more snack like.

  The afternoon was when I made two attempts to finish washing the towels (as described above). Washing bath towels, even medium sized ones, is always hard work at the best of times, and I could do no more after about 4 or 5 rinses. For some reason I can't seem to remember all I did, but I am pretty sure I had a snooze or two in the afternoon.

  As dinner time approached I felt an urgent need to spend more money than is sensible on a takeaway. One thing I have noticed is that many of the flyers that come through my door for takeaways show a web site. I get the impression that many takeaways realise that delivery by Just Eat or Uber Eats increases the cost to both the customer and the restaurant. Many seem to be going back to arranging their own deliveries, but still having the advantage of a simple web site where an order can be placed.

  My strong desire was for a shish kebab or two. I haven't had any kebabs for at least a couple of years. A shish kebab, being only grilled meat and salad is actually quite healthy. The sugar content is usually very small, and even the calorie content is modestly low. I ordered a large chicken shish, a large lamb shish, and an extra portion of salad. The large chicken shish, plus the salad that came with it seemed quite sufficient for my dinner. All the salad, being mostly sliced onion and cabbage, would/should have provided a good amount of fibre to my diet.

  Almost forgot, I also ordered a big portion of grilled wings with even more salad. I stuffed myself with quite a lot of the wings, but I still have some, plus salad for some sort of cold snack today. The lamb shish will be great as a dinner today, and the salad, with the addition of some feta cheese, and some olive oil, will probably make a great lunch today. My very expensive takeaway is seeming to be less expensive when I consider it was three meals worth.

  I watch TV until about 9pm last night, and then I went to bed. Before I went to bed I took a diuretic tablet. It was the prescribed Furosemide, and the recommendation is to take a tablet in the morning. The disadvantage of that is that I would probably be peeing all morning, and that is annoying. Strange as it may seem, I don't seem to mind getting up in the night to pee. I seem to do it anyway, and a bit more makes little difference to me.

  I seemed to sleep quite well last night - even with having to get up to pee a few extra times. I know I had some dreams last night, but I can only remember a "single frame" from one dream. That dream was set in a kitchen, but not in a room I recognise. The room seemed to be square (mine is very rectangular) and all I saw in the dream was a fridge standing in a corner, or more precisely across the corner so it faced into the centre of the room. The entire bit of the dream I can remember is that I wanted to put a potted plant on top of the fridge. In terms of action it was a very dull dream !

  When I got up for the first time I needed another pee. I also "opened my bowels" - possibly thanks to the sliced onion and cabbage with my kebab last night, or possibly something else. I noted things were still a bit tender after my super constipation yesterday, but it was very easy to go - which was very good news.

  A combination of peeing and a poo meant my weight was a bit lower this morning. I had only lost 300gm, but I am slowly getting back on track, and at the moment it seems I may reach my target weight before the heat death of the universe - possibly by summer !

  My blood glucose showed an improvement too. Two of the meters showed 8.6 and 8.7mmol/l. That is close to my old target before taking Mounjaro showed I could do much better. (I am seeing the nurse on the 16th, and I hope she puts me straight back on Mounjaro from where I left off when I was hospitalised). The third meter, The Nexus GlucoRX read annoyingly higher at 9.8mmol/l - only just under the red line.I have no real idea why one meter, and not always the same, can give a really different reading to the others. I think I trust the two which gave a very similar reading to be my true blood glucose level.

  My blood pressure, measured 20 minutes or so after my breakfast, is nice and low this morning, possibly even a little bit too low, but 105/45 satisfies my idea of good blood pressure. Overall my health seems fair even if not great this morning.

  After I weighed myself and checked my blood glucose, I went back to bed and had another hour of sleep. I didn't realise I had fallen asleep again until I woke up. In theory I don't need a snooze now, and the next thing I should do is to have a quick flannel wash, before going to Tesco while the sun is shining (it was not in the forecast, but it is definitely shining into my room as I type this).

  I can't have a shower this morning for two reasons. One is that I have my big builders buckets in the bath with two big soggy towels I am currently laundering. The other is I am not sure how waterproof the dressing over the big hole in my thigh/groinal area is, the hole that was used for the insertion of my new heart valve, to be pushed through my arteries and into the heart. As I keep saying, I am very wary about disturbing that because of the high pressure artery behind the closure mechanism, and the wadding/dressing over it. My intention is to leave it undisturbed, and dry, until I can ask the nurse to check and maybe re-dress it when I see her on the 16th.

  I don't need any more than a flannel wash before going to Tesco (assuming I actually go today), but the trains are running, and so Jodie should be over for some beer tasting later this afternoon. I think I wil try and wash my hair before I go to Tesco and I see Jodie. It is looking a bit nasty at the moment. I can do that over the bath while one of the buckets in it is pushed up one end.


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