Another Lesson Learned – Why I lost my Quilting MoJo!

Happy Sunday! We are well into going through another month and this one will probably be a hot one here in South Texas. But we have had a great 5 weeks of rain! We are up to almost 15 inches of rain during that time and we are now out of the drought! Grass is so green and growing each day. We are praying that the rain is not gone for the summer!

For the last 6 months I have been trying to get caught up on all of my 2020 projects, but it seemed that the more I tried to do the less I produced. The first thing I began to notice was the tiredness, no desire to do anything (depression), and especially quilting. The idea of getting up in the morning and running out the door to walk was not in the cards! We figured it was due to the Potassium levels (Last year I really bottomed out and vowed to not let that happen again) and the stress of 2020. I tend to sweat profusely when doing my 1.5 miles each morning in our lovely humid and hot weather. But like an idiot, I quit eating my eggs and potatoes which supply me with the vitamins I cannot take for a month or more. Being a Celiac my diet is very bland and limited. I am only human though and keep hoping that if I try something new that it will be a food I can add to the Cluck Cluck Diet! This is just not going to be possible for me! So I will accept it and if I stray, the I will accept the consequences!

So I had to give up the outdoor walk last week and move to the indoor Exercise Bike because my Potassium had begun to drop again. This Thursday we had our bloodwork done (trying to get back on track from the idiot Chinese Virus with our 3 and 6 month checkups). On Friday we received the results! First of all, on 2 Jun 2021 it has been a year since Clay had his Aorta Valve replaced – great celebration because he is doing great! His bloodwork was excellent – but he needs to drink more water (the ex-heart doctor told him to cut back – mistake). On to my results. My Potassium was at 4.4 – very high for me – so the indoor exercise is doing its job along with lowering my glucose levels. I am still in the Pre-Diabetics range which keeps me off any medications! Yea for me as I was certain it had really gone up again! BUT ALAS, the negative news was the drop in my Vitamin D level! It has dropped to 30 (probably was lower) for some reason and that was causing the depression, sleep problems, tiredness, desire to do nothing and just sit!

About 10 years ago it had dropped to 18 which is a BIG NO NO! I started using a Sun Lamp and could get it up to 40 (have issues with taking replacements because of the things they put into the pills). The bloodwork gave me with the answer as to why I cannot get motivated to do any quilting much less anything else! I knew that I needed to try to find a replacement to increase my lives and I found a Vitamin D that has nothing in it but Vitamin D and Olive oil and will be trying that today.

I do believe that being low in Vitamin D has also caused my white blood count to drop along with the platelets being low. So now when the sun comes out I am sitting in my chair soaking up the sun for 15-20 minutes. Every 10 minutes in the sun will provide 10,000 IU (international units) of Vitamin D to me.

Due to all the stress of 2020, time fighting BAMC, Medicare, Clay’s Secondary insurance from last year, I thought that the depression and lack of interest in life was probably attributed to that. I knew something was not right, but had not thought about the Vitamin D – the Sunshine Vitamin being low again. I also track my steps each day and when walking I was tracking my VOX. I have always been in great shape for my age and all of a sudden in late December things started to change. Now I understand what has been going on and on the way to correct things.

Based on what I am going through I am thinking of all the Quilters who are experiencing the loss of their Quilting MoJo! And how about the children who had to stay home and not go outdoors? Think about it – the Federal Government locked everyone down and told them to stay home. A lockdown like this affects individuals mentally and physically! Freedom to come and go and be outdoors during the summer time (especially those who live in the North where it gets so cold and hard to exercise in the snow) is critical in maintaining our mental and physical health!

So, if you are one of the many who are not motivated and not sure why, have your Vitamin D levels checked. It is a simple blood test and it really is an eye opener if you find out that you need to either get outdoors, or take a supplement to boost your levels! This applies especially to anyone over 65 because as we age, we tend to have a difficult time in maintaining those levels.

So bottom line is that I will probably not accomplish as much as I want to, but it won’t take too long to start feeling a lot better. I am now just beginning to enjoy getting out of bed and heading to the bike to get my workout and trying to stay away from food that makes me ill. Eventually, my energy level will return and I can get back on track with my life.

This week included 3 trips to SA – Clay had hurt his knee about a week ago, so it was Doctor visit on Tuesday, Bloodwork on Thursday, and Radiology on the knee on Friday! He is doing fine, just having to be careful with the knee. They gave him a Steroid shot in the knee and was advised it was Arthritis! On the 23rd of June I am scheduled for my Endoscopy and make sure the tummy is fine, that it just does not like certain foods. Gastroparesis (delayed stomach emptying) is one of my enemies that limits certain foods also.

So for Slow Stitching Sunday I have nothing to show, and not sure if I will have any progress on Tuesday, but I will try! I do know that the sun is going to be my best friend for quite a while! I am just going to quit being so hard on myself until Mr D and I have a better relationship!

Have a great week,

Hugs, Nanette

Linking To:  My Quilt Infatuation; Confessions of a Fabric Addict; Finished or Not Friday ; Em’s Scrap Bag; BOM’s Away;  Sew Fresh Quilts; Crazy Mom Quilts;  Oh Scrap; Scrap Happy Saturday; Slow Sunday Stitching  Quilt Fabrication Mid Week Makers; Peacock Party; Design Wall Monday, Scrap Happy Days, Quilting Patch Linky Party To-Do-Tuesdays;PHD in 2021;