The itsy bitsy appetite . . .

My appetite for food is gone. In fact, I have some symptoms of gastroparesis (sluggish stomach peristalsis) . I woke up four days ago and disgorged food I had eaten 20 hours before, and ever since, more than a few bites of food fill me up. More than that and it sits like a medicine ball in my stomach for the next 24 hours.

Diabetes is the main cause of this. But it is usually longstanding diabetes, plus I don't have it in the first place.

Hypothyroidism is another cause, and that's what worries me, so I've dropped the Tapazole to 10 mg per day, in two doses. And I'm following my appetite and sticking to light stuff. Oatmeal, Jell-O, whatever. Tonight we're having roast chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and if I am not an idiot today, I will measure my portions in molecules.

(Apropos de rien, my husband, whose name is Michael, once got a piece of junk mail addressed to "Molecule A. P_____." How deflating is that? Being called a molecule! A real `WTF' moment.)

Will start in with gentle swimming and walking again, too. I'll bring my little boy, who could use some mid-winter exercise.

Calling my current digestive problem "gastroparesis" is probably overkill, since that is a serious problem, but the fact remains, my digestive system has largely rolled over and gone to sleep. It did that when I was pregnant, too, with the same sort of results . . . yakking Doritos at 3 a.m.

Eyes: ouch. Prednisone isn't good for much in my case, but it does keep the aching orbits at bay.

My nursing instructors have asked after my health, including my emotional stability. I'll be fine. Even in the thick of my tremors and anxiety, my clinical instructor rated one of my main strentgths as being confident and unflappable, and establishing great rapport with my patients. The trick, apparently, is stoicism. My confident façade crumbled only in matters of manual dexterity--and now I have that back again.

Adding another picture . . . the discrepancy in size of left and right eye is obvious if I do not have alert expression on my face. I am so ready for the quiescent phase to kick in. Maybe the eye headaches will stop, then.