Health Goals for 2020: What Happened to 2019?

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Towards the end of 2018 things were looking good.

I'd made the transition from full-time employment to a portfolio income after taking redundancy in 2016. I wasn't working so many hours to pay the rent, so I'd time to explore developing my interests in making and creating and in the environment. STEEM had really helped to make that difference - through blogging and sharing I'd discovered and re-discovered what I wanted to be doing. I went to SteemFest 3 to check my ideas about STEEM and what I thought might be the future - it all panned out.

Then in late 2018, early 2019, I was diagnosed with two long-term conditions: one would become serious if left unattended, and the other was serious right then and required immediate action. Both, with proper health management and good lifestyle decisions would mean very little effect on my day to day life, certainly in the short to medium term.

There were complications because I already had two long-term conditions for which I have taken medication for about twenty years, and there were conflicts between the management of each of the conditions. This meant that medication for one affected the efficacy for another and led to me not feeling so good; the treatment for one condition was a risk factor in the development of one of the later conditions - reducing or stopping the medication for the earlier condition ... led to me not feeling so good.

It's taken a year to investigate and sort out, but I am about approaching the best fit solutions for managing the combination of conditions I have. Throughout, I have had, and continue to have, excellent health care. Everyone from my local health practice, through specialist staff, support staff like radiographers and phlebotomists, through to frontline administrative support and pharmacy assistants, have been excellent. Likewise, I've had fantastic support from where I work.

But the past year has taken its toll. I've had long periods when I've not been well enough to be mobile. That's not good at any age, but at my stage of life when, as the practice nurse put it, "everything is in decline" it has a greater effect and takes longer to get back to what I was easily able to do a year ago. I'm much more prone to frequent, small injuries if I go too fast too soon, delaying the process further.

There have been mental and emotional consequences, too. I haven't found it easy changing from a person who visited their doctor barely twice a year to this year when I've found myself in a health setting on average about once a week. I've railed against being pulled into a system of appointments and endless phone calls and trips to the pharmacy (39 different medication requests and trips over the course of the year). And low mood has been my faithful companion.

Coming into the new year brings new hope and new opportunity. Things are all but settled now, the process of review is in place, I've had a long, restful, restorative break over the winter holidays. Where next on my recovery journey?

Developing an evening routine

I'm trashed by the evening. Cognitive abilities refuse to co-operate by about four in the afternoon, my body follows soon after. By six, shattered, I've usually fallen into a chair until I have enough energy to start cooking an evening meal. Then I crash again and it seems just too difficult to get moving and finish the day.

I've decided I want to set some boundaries on the day and develop some gentle winding down routines that take me from the day to restful sleep, ready for whatever the next day brings. Some cut off point where, whatever the trials and tribulations of the day, whatever remains unfinished, it all has to wait until tomorrow or later.

I'm not quite sure what this routine is going to be yet - a shower, a gentle walk, some yoga, a little reading. The only specific decision I've made so far is no telephone calls after half past seven. I had a friend who used to do this (she also operated a no surprises policy), I remember marvelling at it. I'm going to try it.

Last night, I had my first go at an evening routine. A nice supper, a shower, some time reading. It was really difficult to do, required all my energy and intention. I was going to write this post last night, but it turned out that wasn't going to happen. I have slept well and woke naturally around 5.30am - perfect and right where I want to be.

I'm looking forward to developing these ideas and I appreciate the opportunity through this challenge to write about them. I've been wanting to explore #naturalmedicine for a while, and I'm pleased to have had a prompt to get me started. Best wishes, fellow travellers.

This post is a response to the request in this post to share and commit to our health goals for 2020. I was too late to resteem the original post, but I have resteemed this one.