Solutions (and Partial Solutions) with the People Inside

This week is about problem solving: the ongoing quest for solutions and the achievement of, at least, partial solutions. I’m talking about repairs and maintenance in the house, in the yard, and in my body.

 

The first order of business was solving the mystery of the slow-draining kitchen sink.

 

This is so gross!

 

Thank you for the spoiler alert, 9.

 

It’s been noticeably building for months, the ever more frequent collection of water in the stainless steel double sink. At first, Drano once a month would handle it. Then Drano every two weeks. When it got to Drano once a week, I bought a dedicated kitchen sink plunger.

 

 

Last weekend, when I had to leave a note for the house sitter explaining what to do if the sink backed up, I admitted to myself it was time to call a plumber. Turns out, the drain pipe was loaded with grease all the way down- –

 

I warned you it was gross!

 

The plumber, a very nice young man from A-1, conjectured that the pipes might not have been snaked even once in the house’s 78 year history. Kind of like when the Roto-Rooter tech unblocked a clog in the septic line that turned out to be an enormous hairball.

 

Ew! That was even more gross.

 

Home ownership is not for the faint of heart, 9.

 

The good news is, the problem of the kitchen sink is solved! Advancing to other problems in need of solutions, I got an appointment with the local arborist to address the looming danger of dead limbs way up high in the vast backyard evergreen tree:

 

 

 

He was due to arrive yesterday, but when he hadn’t appeared by 2 PM I reflected back to a conversation I’d heard that morning in the women’s’ locker room at the YMCA. Somewhere on or near Wilbur Street a huge cedar tree had come crashing partway down in the wee hours of the morning. The woman sharing this calamity (she was not talking to me, so let me point out that if you don’t want to be overheard don’t say it in the women’s locker room at the YMCA) mentioned the arborist by name, and said she hoped they could get him right away because if the tree fell any further it would block the road.

 

Shortly after 2 P I texted the arborist. The fallen cedar had, indeed, been an emergency job for him. We re-booked for Monday. Fingers crossed that Saturday’s high wind forecast doesn’t create further issues.

 

Do you think the tree is diseased?

 

It’s a possibility, Lily. With the changing climate all kinds of plant life is being challenged by insects and microbes they haven’t had to deal with before. I’ve noticed lots of older evergreens in town are getting severe haircuts, or being taking down completely. If our tree has to go we’ll need to replace it for purposes of shade. Maybe a fast-growing fruit tree that’s more resistant to a warming climate?

 

But that’s a problem that might not come to pass. On to solution session number three, the ongoing adaptation to prediabetes life.

 

Life without cake.

 

True, 9. But this week I had a consultation with a nutritionist at Providence/St. Mary Hospital who is helping me solve the problem of crafting a low carb diet and, at the same time, halting the gradual but continuous weight loss I’ve experienced these past three months.

 

I find it counter-intuitive that losing weight is bad.

 

This does not surprise me, Lily, as you are a 5’6” diet fanatic who weighs 104 pounds. In my instance, I’m 5’8” and now hover between 108 and 109. The endocrinologist wants me to gain weight in order to help retain and improve bone density- –

 

EW!

 

You have 57 years to get used to the idea of an aging body, 9, so get started.

 

Before the prediabetic diagnosis I had, through much effort, fought my way up to 112. Some food choices I made during that time window probably contributed to my rising A1c. But how does a very active and underweight 66-year-old gain weight on a carb-restricted diet? The nutritionist offered several ideas.

 

First, lean into high calorie/low carb foods as much as I can stand to. The usual suspects are on this list- -nuts and nut butters, avocado, olive oil, hummus, pesto, full fat dairy. All of these are in my refrigerator or pantry, things that I eat regularly. Now I need to eat more of them. Legumes, though relatively high in carbs, take longer to absorb than other high carb foods, so they are okay, too, especially if eaten in combination with foods that are high protein and high fat that slow absorption even more.

A collateral issue for me is calcium intake. The endocrinologist wants me to consume 1800 milligrams per day, through both food and supplements. I read on the internet some months back that the body can only absorb 500 mg of calcium in a 2-hour to either side window, and had adjusted my eating accordingly. Turns out, per the nutritionist, it should be 300 mg in that window.

 

So you now break calcium down into 6 portions a day, every 2 hours?

 

As close to that as I can get, Lily. He also suggested I cut back on exercise. I hemmed and hawed. It’s hard for me to step back from distance and endurance goals I’ve achieved, but finally agreed to cut back about 10% from what I do now and see if it makes a difference.

 

Also, he gave me a sample glucose monitor to play with.

 

A kind of diet game?

 

I guess you could call it that, 9. The monitor tracks glucose levels during the day and can help me identify information of interest. Like how many carbs can I eat in one sitting without creating a glucose spike? The nutritionist encouraged me to eat a deliberately high carb meal and monitor the results, then a deliberately low carb meal, with the purpose of honing in on the range of carbs I can process efficiently. A game, but also a science experiment. The monitor is applied to a fatty place on the skin, not to muscle, which would cause pain.

 

So it’s more than adhesive?

 

Yes, Lily. It’s a disk with a bunch of tiny sharp projectiles that penetrate the skin.

 

Like a shot? I won’t do it!

 

You won’t, but I will. I thought this would be a simple process, just open the package and stick it on, but there are two wrinkles. One is, I don’t have the proper supplies to clean the site as recommended. So today I’ll shop up baby shampoo (a non-fragrant, no moisturizer soap) and 70% isopropyl alcohol (the bottle in the medicine cabinet is 50%).

 

 

After proper cleansing is addressed, there is the issue of monitor placement. In a quest to build strength and improve bone density, though I am lean I am also pretty muscular in most places. The company that manufactures the monitor recommends placement on the back of the arm. The dietician took a look at my sinewy limb and suggested the belly or the thigh, instead. I watched a couple of YouTubes about those types of placements and realized when belly placement was demonstrated it required a site with obvious subcutaneous fat. So, thighs it is. Plus, the range of inaccurate readings is greater for belly placement than it is for back of arm or thigh. So, win-win.

 

If you consider having something stuck into your skin a win.

 

At this point I do, Lily. For one thing, it’s a short-term commitment, 15 days or less depending on how well the monitor stays on. For another, I’m excited in a science geek kind of way. This is a very handy attribute as you get older, regarding your health issues like a science experiment instead of a travesty to the extent that’s humanly possible.

 

I wonder if that big tree out back feels the same way?

 

Good question! Whatever its feelings, I hope both of us find answers in the next week or two. Oh, and here’s a bright spot even for you, 9. The nutritionist clarified that it’s net carbs I need to track, not total carbs. For a high calorie low carb snack he pointed me toward these:

 

 

Peanut butter cups!

 

You betcha!

 

So keep on trying, folks. Keep seeking solutions to life’s everyday challenges and don’t let the existential bus run over the top of you. Because life- -problems, solutions and everything else- -is pretty darn interesting.