Boy this week has been such a struggle for me!!!
Monday was a rough one - first day back to full time in-person school for my son. We had a verbal war zone in the morning. Not fun at all!!! As a parent with a child with emotional disorders, I am used to a lot but it really struck a nerve. Thankfully though, I had a pleasant & quiet day while he was at school. There was even a change in the air when he came home - lots of please & thank you's and even some hugs. I really don't know what the root cause of the outburst was but I figure it probably had to do with the uneasiness of everyone being back at school - no social distancing...the chance of Covid spread, etc. Even though things here have changed and being a high risk family (Ken is fully vaccinated and I have had my first dose) it is scary. We are so used to taking extra precautions this past year to keep the virus at bay, that it has become a normal for us. Thankfully, I am able to take leave from my job to drive him to school and pick him up because he is very adamant that he wants no part of the bus and I don't blame him. And I think a lot of parents/students feel the same way because it is absolute chaos at the school in the morning/afternoons!
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday - my blood pressure spiked. I had skipped Monday taking my BP but my super attentive dog, started acting extra clingy again so I took my BP. It was high - not as high as it was in the hospital but a good chunk higher than my normal. Obviously this put me in a bit of a freak-out mood but I decided to add some more exercise to my day and monitor my pressure more. The past three days, I had walked around our park two times which got me an additional 4,000 steps and over my 10,000 daily steps! It felt good - even in the 29 degree weather yesterday! The weird thing is that my friend who hasn't had BP issues also is experiencing high blood pressure since his covid vaccine. We both got the Moderna vaccine just days apart from each other. The only reason that he found out about his BP increase is because he came over last weekend and Ken was joking around about taking this HP. It was SUPER high and has been consistently high since then. Makes me wonder if it is a side effect???
Now this morning, I took my BP like normal but I was going to do something different...I took my BP on my right arm first. AND GUESS WHAT??? It was normal!!! I did this 3 times...all normal. I did it on my vaccine arm ALL HIGHER! Now I know that it is normal for the right arm to be slightly lower than the left but I REALLY think it is vaccine related! I am going to monitor over the weekend and call my doctor Monday if my results are the same. I have started to do some research online and did see that if the numbers are more than 10mm off that it can be a sign of blocked arties...now, I have been in the hospital, to a cardiologist (who ran a ton of tests) and back to my regular doctor within these past few months...I really don't think this is the case for me. I have been on blood pressure meds for over 2 months now and I have been pretty consistent with my morning BP readings (and the after taking meds numbers) and it has only changed 3 days ago. I guess we will see...I am trying to stay positive but after this mornings findings, I do feel a bit better but sometimes it is hard to keep your mind from wondering.
I do plan on keeping the extra exercise in my routine...I feel better doing it and it really keeps my blood pressure down. I am starting to tweak my diet a bit. I have been staying under my carb count but my calorie count has been super low - especially with the extra workouts...I just don't think my body is getting enough food. So I maybe upping my carb count slightly so that I can get the calorie intake up. I am definitely seeing changes all over my body even though the scale isn't coming down a lot, my clothes are fitting differently, some body areas are more firm and look smaller.
I will end this post with the "I AM" card from yesterday...even with all that has been thrown at me this week I can really relate to this card... "I Am Triumphant". I keep working towards my goals even when obstacles have been thrown my way this week. Even the cold weather a few days this week couldn't keep me down - I still got outside and got my walking on! It is funny because each "I AM" card this week really touched me on that specific day...especially Monday with the turbulence with my son. The card that day was "I Am Forgiving". I really think that is what made the rest of my day pleasant. I am absolutely loving the Barre Blend workout program!!! Finishing up Phase 1 today!!!
Have a lovely Friday!
~Shannon