Tuesday

One more vital statistic from yesterday.  My hematocrit level was 46%, which is at the high end of normal for women.  I guess that's good - and I guess it became almost immediately lower, as I spent the afternoon a pint low on actual blood, making up for it with tea, water, and bouillon.

The scale is behaving remarkably consistently - it showed me at 148.0 again today, although on my first attempt (which erred when trying to do the electrical impedance thing), I saw 147.8.  In any event, I weigh roughly the same today as yesterday.  Despite all that blood.

Lack of sleep continues to kick my butt.  Last night I fell asleep before 10 pm, in order to wake again for several hours at 10:59 pm.  Listened fitfully to WWII news broadcasts, and found myself awake at 1:20 am, at which point I turned the sound off and sort of fell back asleep until the alarm went at 5:30, when I woke up freezing.  This whole hot flash thing isn't just about the heat; it's a complete inability to control my core body temperature.  Driving me absolutely nuts right now, and with summer coming, I am considering filling the HRT prescriptions I've had in my possession for the past year and a bit.  I don't know, though, seems like it's just putting off the inevitable, and I'll have to deal with it again.  In addition to the flashes, though, my shoulder has started up aching again, making me think that I may have torn a muscle throwing beads at Mardi Gras.  Anyway, once I wake up, it's a real effort to get comfortable enough to get back to sleep.  Blecch.

Here's yesterday's eating:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• beef jerky
• bouillon
• a piece of bark
• chips and salsa
• 3 cheese enchiladas, smothered in green chile (flour present)
• a few chocolate cherries

I think that was it.  After my blood-donation day, I wanted food that was basically shoved in my mouth for me, and was really wanting Mexican food, so we went out.  After dinner, the three of us went for a brisk walk of just under 2 miles, which felt quite good at the time, and I did hope that it might have helped with sleep.  Not so much, unfortunately.  I need to get deep enough under that the crazy temp swings don't wake me - but that seems to come only with chemical assistance, and I don't want to do that all that often, either. 

We will be walking more often, though, I think.  Need to, anyway.  Maybe it will help cumulatively?