ndrosen

Yesterday, I went to CVS to get vaccinated against pneumococcus. My left arm is a little sore, and bothers me when I reach for something on a high shelf, but I think it’s worth it to be fully vaccinated. If you’re acquainted with our Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert Kennedy Junior, please let him know.

And now to get to work, starting by 9:00 AM.

Friday morning, I saw my optometrist, who dilated my left eye, examined newly taken images of both eyes, and looked directly into my eye. Despite my eye floater, there is no sign that my retina is in danger of detaching, so that’s good.

I have gotten a lot of sleep Saturday, and noticed congestion, sneezing, and a slightly raspy throat. I have taken a pseudoephedrine hydrochloride tablet, sucked on a zinc gluconate lozenge, and drunk some peppermint tea. I’m not deathly ill, but I lack energy and appetite. Maybe all the sleeping I did today shows that my body is focusing its efforts on fighting back against the virus.

Before Christmas presents as we know them came into fashion, it was the custom of Tudor nobles, according to what I have read, to exchange gifts on New Year’s Day. My left eye has evidently decided to revive this olden custom, by giving me an eye floater on the first day of 2025. I had read of eye floaters, but I don’t believe that I have ever experienced one myself. They are basically harmless, although seeing one drift in my visual field is a minor annoyance.

I will let my optometrist or her staff know about this when I go in for my next appointment, currently scheduled for March, or if I observe the indications of real trouble, I will make an earlier appointment.

And I posted about exercise the other day. In addition to walking and stair climbing, I managed a hundred crunches on Monday, two sets of forty push-ups each on Tuesday, and a hundred and fifty crunches today. I never was an Olympic caliber athlete, or even the star of fourth grade recess softball, nor will I ever be, but I am trying to fight off the sarcopenia that tends to come with advanced years. Eye floaters come too, it seems.

I went to the CVS drugstore half a mile or so from my apartment Friday afternoon, and got vaccinated against COVID-19 and influenza (two injections in the deltoid muscle). I hope that this will help keep me healthy.

I try to climb staircases multiple times each day, if possible doing four hundred upward steps per day. Lately, my knees, especially my right knee, have been complaining, so it might be good idea to take a break from this form of exercise. My knees are not always or continually in pain, but it might be wisest not to stress them too much.

Not like His Majesty Charles III, of course, but like an American with a bad molar. On Wednesday, I called the cab company several hours in advance to arrange for a taxi to arrive at 9:30 AM to take me to my ten o’clock appointment to have a new temporary crown placed on one of my molars, after the original temporary crown had come off. I went downstairs a few minutes early, and waited and waited.

Then I went back up to my apartment to call the Yellow Cab Company, and noticed a new message, in accented English which I couldn’t really understand, on my answering machine. Apparently the driver had come a few extra minutes early, called my number, heard the automatic message, and departed, presumably while I was walking down the stairs and through the corridor to the building entrance. Fortunately, the dispatcher was able to send another cab, which came a few minutes later, and I showed up for my dental appointment just twenty minutes late. They didn’t have to inject me with lidocaine this time, just mold a temporary crown, and cement it into place.

I hope this one lasts until I can get the permanent crown in June. So far, so good.

I went to the dentist this morning for a routine examination and cleaning, but the dentist discovered that one tooth, the rearmost molar on the bottom right of my jaw, was in a bad way, so he gave me local anesthesia, ground away much of the tooth, and put a temporary crown on what was left. I have an appointment to come in June for a permanent crown. Oh, well.

On the bright side, I went to my primary care physician on May 1 for a routine examination which was routine, except for the presence of a medical student who was present to observe the doctor at work (I was offered the choice as to whether to let him be present, and I had no objection). The other day, I received a communication about my blood work: my cholesterol level is 151, my HDL (good cholesterol) is high, I am at low risk for cardiovascular disease over the next decade, and all the chemicals in my blood that they tested for are pretty much at the levels they should be. I may be getting older, but it looks like I will be in excellent health when I die.

I have had some soreness in my throat today, and then I had congestion and general feelings of malaise. I’ve been sucking zinc gluconate lozenges, I drank some peppermint tea, and I took a pseudoephedrine capsule. I had best get to the drugstore, and replenish my supply of pseudoephedrine; the capsules I have are probably expired.

I’ve been doing a lot of dozing; I hope that I can now get a night’s sleep.

After getting an influenza vaccination Friday (at the Patent Office), I went to a CVS pharmacy (not the one a few blocks from where I live, unfortunately) to get a COVID-19 booster. Perhaps because of that, or perhaps not, I felt quite sleepy, and took a major nap this evening before a very late dinner.

It should keep me healthy, or keep me from getting seriously ill if I do become infected with the coronavirus, and give me something to say if I choose to respond to some anti-vaxxer troll on Quora.

I went to the doctors’ office Tuesday morning for the third in a series of three Hepatitis B shots, and after that, headed to work (I didn’t telework). Perhaps because of the vaccine, I felt drowsy during the afternoon, and when I got home, I did some serious napping, and then made a very late dinner, leaving a few other chores undone. I’ll try to shower and go to bed soon, and hope to be awake and functional tomorrow.

At least I can expect to be relatively safe from Hepatitis B.