My apologies for the gap in my posts, particularly between Entry #3 and Entry #4. I’ve been overwhelmed, but I think I’m finally on the proverbial “other side of things.”

My father, a few weeks back, called 911, complaining that he couldn’t breathe. They took him to the local hospital, Delnor, and ran a battery of tests, then discharged him for three weeks to a rehab nursing home. Just a few days ago, he was finally sent home. With that stressor, I gained a lb, but I tried not to obsess about the number on the scale.

Over the past month, I’ve lost 8.6lbs and an additional lb when I weighed myself Sunday morning. I try to weigh myself on the same day of the week, Sunday, around the same time, in the morning, so that I get a more accurate picture of true weight loss.

Also during this period, I was initially diagnosed by a primary care physician as having leukoplakia of the tongue (translation: cancer of the tongue). After meeting with an Ear, Nose, Throat Specialist, that doctor declared that I did not, in fact, have cancer, only a severe infection. Luckily, it has almost completely cleared up since then.

I’m a very extraverted person by nature, and I unfortunately began to imagine worst-case scenarios about not being able to speak and it was a terror filled couple of weeks. Now I’m back to a more regular routine.

One habit I have kept up is to walk 3.5 miles every day, the distance to my local library and back. I love walking my dog and luckily my psychiatrist wrote a letter certifying Lena as an Emotional Support Animal so I am able to bring her into the library study rooms. It really makes a big difference. I’ve averaged between 8,000 and 10,000 steps per day, nonnegotiable.

Two other goals for this week: to brush my teeth every day (something I do infrequently) and to get to the gym for yoga and weight lifting.