Secret Diary. Do Not Read

Yes tea bags would be easier. I don't go for easier. I go for cheaper with quality. If you don't know the source of your hbp you will need this for the long term. But if you just want to try it, go for tea bags with only crushed flowers and a container of beet root powder. Yes, you actually can grow hibiscus where you are and they are easy to propogate. They are pretty and you can dry the flowers but that takes away the pretty. You can't let the plants freeze. You could make a hedge and become the Blood Pressure Princess for health food stores.
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@ Ed Wilson has a legitimate point. (disclaimer.)
I don't do doctors.

 

I love them and the seeds can be pickled. Sometimes I eat stuff just cuz I like them. Someone in our wild food dinner made a beautiful dish. concentric circles of nasturtium blossoms with a dab of cream cheese in each. A few green leaves and voila! could have impressed at the fanciest restaurant.

 

I agree with you, Ed. I grumble about "Dr. Office Rules" but I know the meds are the best answer. My own mother died of kidney disease caused by high blood pressure.

Besides the fact that all the supplements cost 10x what I pay for BP meds. I don't know how people afford to take all those supplements, or how they keep up with what each one is for and possible contra-indications. I do appreciate the suggestions, though.

 

I actually have a hibiscus in my back yard; I just never considered making tea with the flowers. Thanks for the suggestions, Mary. I also agree with Ed; I won't try to fix what's not broken (but I will still bitch about it. )

 

I know that many flowers are edible, but I have never taken the time to learn which ones. Plus I'm really not going to grow flowers for food (or medication). I'm moving so slowly lately that I don't plan any more gardening of any kind beyond a bit of weed pulling.

 

Nasturtiums are a colorful and spicy addition to a salad. The seeds can also be dried and pickled as a substitute for capers if you are so inclined.

 

I would have said that but I could not remember the word capers for the moment

 

Ugh. I've been reading the "Bone Metastasis" thread on the BC forum. I've been having pain in my cancer-side shoulder and upper arm that is concerning. Also some weirdness in my neck vertebrae. I see my oncologist on May 10 and I'm thinking he will schedule some scans. I would like to stop living "under the sword" but I guess I should be grateful to be living at all.

We got a letter (hand written!) from our grandson Jonathan who is in Marine boot camp in San Diego. Such a sweet child... he's 17! Demented Biden had better not get us into a damn war. Jonathan seems so very young and vulnerable to his grandma. I'm proud of him but he's just a baby. I was so thrilled to get that letter; he must be lonely and homesick so far away from home.

We have been having a lot of rain this week; it's actually nice for a change. It was so dark this morning that I slept in until 10:30. Supposed to be rainy for the next couple of days.

 

It's stormy again today; sounds like thunder is reverberating through the house. It actually makes the walls shake a bit! Rain is pouring and there is an evacuation order for people living on the East Fork of the San Jacinto River. We live on the San Jac but we aren't at flood stage, though it will crest sometime tomorrow afternoon. The East Fork is above Lake Houston and we are below the lake, so there's a dam that "protects" us to a degree. Streets are a mess in Houston which is not at all unusual since the streets are basically used for drainage.

Guess I won't be doing any gardening today. I'm sure there are a bunch of cucumbers that need to be picked but they'll just have to wait.

I managed to clean out my larger walk-in closet this week, and donated several boxes of clothing. I had entirely too much stuff crammed in there so it was nice to get some of it taken to the thrift shop. Next I need to go through my shoes.

 

Tomorrow is a "MD Anderson" day. I have a mammogram at 8:45, an ultrasound at 9:45, and see my oncologist at 10:30 a.m. I'm going to see what he thinks about scheduling a bone scan or an MRI of my neck and both shoulders. I just don't know how much of this stuff is "getting old" and what might be something more concerning.

To top it off, I'm having a gout flare in my left foot. I have one skinny, veiny foot and one Fred Flintstone foot.



I hope I can wear some shoes tomorrow or I will be scuffing into MDA in my slippers. Maybe I can talk my oncologist into prescribing a steroid dose pack for this stupid foot; it is really swollen and I'm limping around. Usually Naproxen for a couple of days will knock it back but not this time.

 

MDA usually schedules back-to-back so that patients don't have to have so many travel days. The oncologist will have my mammogram and ultrasound results by the time I get in to see him, so none of that "come back in a week" bullcrap.

I think my problems may be the degenerated discs in my neck. I get a weird "pressure" sensation in the back of my skull when I'm looking down and using my arms... like chopping vegetables or washing stuff in the sink. Also have trouble lifting my right arm sometimes but some of that may be associated with the lymphedema. I just know that a bone metastasis is fairly common with breast cancer so I want to know what's going on. (Though I really DON'T want to know... ack.)