Day 4285

Today was busy. I finished writing my article about the Inspiration 4 mission for SpaceFlight Magazine and started editing the hundreds of pictures I took to illustrate the article. When Janet proofread my story, she said I should say some nice things about Hayley. Seems fair enough. Hayley will definitely be the one people remember. I found a dozen or so pictures that would look good in a magazine and sent everything off to London. I haven't heard anything from my editor yet, but there's a big time zone difference.

I rescheduled my appointment with the digestive specialists who removed the gallstones from my bile duct. They want to do another endoscopy to examine a problem they found with my esophagus. Evidently I have Barrett’s Esophagus which is caused by long term acid reflux. I suspect they will want me to change my diet. I think I eat very healthy meals, but everything I like tends to cause heartburn. I'm willing to make some changes, but I definitely don't want to become a vegetarian.

I weighed myself for the first time since I was hospitalized and I've lost nearly ten pounds. I must have been sicker than I thought. This weight loss was a huge surprise, since I certainly don't look or feel any lighter. Actually, this puts me right at the target weight I've been trying to reach for a long time. Now I've just got to put some muscle on these bones. Muscle atrophy is a real problem as you grow older.  It's easy to lose muscle mass, but hard to build it back.

I took my first six mile walk in quite a while this morning. I did fine, but my pace was pretty slow. The temperatures are getting cooler, so I think I'll be able to get back to my old self fairly soon. Sometimes I get sick of walking every morning and writing every evening. I still think you've got to keep your body and mind active. I don't understand people who find exercise exhilarating. I'd still rather take a nice long nap.

I finally got my bags unpacked, did a load of dirty laundry, and put my suitcase away. I think it's OK to lift things again, but I still don't feel like mowing the lawn. Travel never used to be this tiring. I really like my trips to the observatory and the space center, but I'm usually worn out when I return. Oh, well. Getting old isn't a picnic, but I'm still a lot healthier than my Mom and Dad were at this age.

Hard to believe that the week is over and it's time to make a grocery list again. This week just flew by. I have no real plans for the weekend. Usually it's just grocery shopping on Saturday and Dawn's Sunday outing the next day. Maybe I'll do something interesting, but I wouldn't count on it.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day