Day 258: on teamwork and timing

The next appointment on the agenda was with the special Cardiac dietician at Scripps La Jolla. Himself had an opportunity to discuss with the dietician the special challenges of having a heart healthy diet while missing much of his colon. The big takeaways were to 1) watch the total saturated fat and sodium, and 2) move dat body.

That's exactly what we did afterwards, when we moved over to the workout part of the center and went through the exercises. They encourage spouses to work out with the Cardiac patients to help keep them motivated - and by the way, reap their own benefits from working out. There were four machines altogether that we used: a recumbent version of an elliptical, a stationary bike, a hand bike (where you use your arms to "pedal" along instead of your legs, and a treadmill. For the record, I walked on the treadmill about half a mile faster than Himself did.

Once Himself had been all checked over and checked out, we went over to the VA Medical Center for a "surprise" trip. Himself needed to pick up some paperwork to fill out in order to be reimbursed for Travel to and from Scripps La Jolla. While we were there, we filled a special blue receptacle with medications that had either expired or were no longer being taken. 

A quick trip to downtown San Diego followed, where Himself had a quick discussion with the attorney handling his personal injury case. We drove to the Embarcadero for a quick pit stop; I took a bit of video of the southern bay and posted it on my Messenger. Then we headed home through the traffic, driving out from under the stubborn marine layer and finding clear blue sky as we headed inland.

Our final pit stop was at Trader Joe's, to grab some of the things we had been unable to get the day before. Since we finally got home about 5:20, there was no way I was going to be able to make the Caregiver Support Group at 5:30, since I hadn't had dinner yet! I wasn't as bummed about it as I had been in the past, most likely because of the endorphins that were still buzzing around in my body from the workout earlier.

The most interesting item of news came this morning from Himself's attorney: his case at the Board of Veteran's Appeals was once more before a judge, and they were expecting a decision to be reached in 1-2 months. I am tempted to let everything slide and wait for money to arrive, but I've made that error before, and I really can't afford to do it again. So while that sounds nice, I won't be holding my breath, and I will be moving forward with my action plan in the meantime. Perhaps, though, that "next" summit isn't so tall after all.

Other than getting some more cat food tomorrow, we don't have a huge agenda during the day. I'm hoping to get a nap in at some point before heading out for our Friday meetings. That would be lovely. :)