What A Hectic Day

Today, a Monday, the start of the week on this 27th of August. I woke up early at 0600H getting myself ready for the day. Today will be a very busy day for me. I'll expect it to be extra busy and I am very jittery already.

Yesterday, I took a day off from my exercise at the gym. I sulked at my apartment the whole day, doing nothing. I am afraid to exert too much effort because my left ear is still draining sero-sanguinuous drainage. I stuffed the outer ear with cotton balls because I don't want the pillows to get wet with the drainage when I am sleeping. I can still feel the pressure and popping inside especially when I chew and eat so I kind of trying to avoid chewing and eating most of the time. Although Vicodin helps for the pain I still kind of refrain myself from taking it. See how stoical I am.

Today is the seventh day after my surgery and I am up to visit my ear doctor today scheduled at 0915H that's why I am up early to ready myself. I got up of bed and took a 100x sit-ups raising my legs and crossing them alternately. My tummy is still a little jiggly but I am not worried about it. It will take time to firm it up though. I also used the dumbbells to do a 15x - 3 reps shoulder shrugs. The exercises kind of fueled me this morning.

I then boiled some water for my coffee then prepared the batter for the pancakes. I decided to cook two fluffy pancakes and then ate them heartily drinking some warm and creamy coffee. After the breakfast I sat on the couch and played a little bit of scrabble from my iPhone application. At 0810H I went to the shower and prepared myself for my doctor's appointment. I scrubbed every nook of my body and shampooed my hair thoroughly. My God, I stayed 30 minutes at the shower.

I left the house at 0845H and drove to Sunset Boulevard going to Kaiser Medical Center and reported at my ENT doctor's office. I went to the sixth floor and registered at the receptionist and paid my copay. They upped the copay now to $25 which I usually paid for $20 two weeks ago. Everything now is expensive here in the United States. Health insurance is going down the drain already. I just don't know what will happen in five years time.

After paying my copay I was instructed to go to room 6B then the aide called me there and took my vital signs and weight. I weighed 174 lbs today compared to my 185 lbs two weeks ago. I lost 11 lbs in just two weeks after all those running, walking, and biking at the gym. It paid off. I am very happy. The aide was even surprised why I lost so much weight and I told her I am on a mission to lose weight by doing exercises at the gym. She warned me because I just had an operation and I just grinned at her. Hehehe.

She then transferred me to a room then my doctor came to check for me. I told him that I am bothered about the pressure in my ear and I told him that the ear was still draining serousy drainage. He went ahead and checked my left ear then he took the packing inside. The packing was so stubborn and was sticking and clinging well inside. He wet it with an antiseptic then soaked it for a minute and then took it out with a McGill forcep.

After that I felt that the popping and the pressure went away. He put an ear drop and then told me that it will still be draining for three days so I have to continue to plug my outer ear with a cotton ball. He also instructed me not to put the hearing aid for a week and then he wants to see me in a month for the audiology exam and the check-up. He prescribed me an ear drop and I filled it at the pharmacy on the first floor.

I left the doctor's office at 1030H and decided to go home because I need to pick up my mail for my payment to the IRS and will drop it later at the post office. I still have to wait for my dental appointment at 1200H so I stayed at home and watched a little bit of the TV Cooking Channel and continued playing the scrabble I left off earlier. The game had been amusing me all the time these days because I am winning most of the time. I learned a lot of strange words and the ones that's weird that I can remember is the word "gjetost". Weird huh!

I left the house at 1115H because I have to drive towards downtown Los Angeles because my dentist's clinic was located near the downtown and the traffic there by this time was very crowded. I arrived at the clinic ten minutes before my appointment and I logged in and they called me right away.

The dentist did two fillings on my front teeth then they did the teeth cleaning scraping the tartars that cling to my teeth. After the cleaning I paid my $20 copay then left at 1300H. My upper lips were still numbed and thick when I left the clinic because they have to anesthetized me during the filling placement. I drove straight home because I am planning to go to the gym later.

I arrived home at 1345H and saw my landlord outside lying on the hammock near his bedroom. I spoke to him for a little bit then I went up to my apartment and changed for my gym outfit. I left the house at 1400H and bade goodbye to my landlord still lying on the hammock flicking his iPhone.

The gym was not that far from the house and the traffic was not that bad. I passed by the Shell Station at Sunset Boulevard and Wilton Ave and gassed up then bought some Mega Lotto tickets for $3 for tomorrow's draw and then did my car wash there at the gasoline station. The machine operated car wash was very handy and voila my car looks new again.

After the car wash I went straight to the gym and stayed there to do my routines. I ran and jogged for 30 minutes and had a 10 minute cool down (I ran for 1.62 miles, lost 272 calories for 40 minutes), did the bike for 30 minutes (I biked for 5 miles for 18 minutes with the average of 102 rpm), and walked incline for 30 minutes and 10 minute cool down (I walked 2.24 miles at a 12 level incline and lost 431 calories for 40 minutes). I also did some slight pecs weight lift and did a lot of thigh presses to strengthen my legs from walking, running, and biking.

I felt more stronger now especially my biking which I did a 5 mile bike for less than 20 minutes (my target will be 15 minutes and I'm still have a long way to go). It was a progress each day and I was very very happy about it. Although it was painful at times still it's worth it. They say "no pain no gain" and that's how I believed it.

After three hours of exercises at the gym I went to the locker room and changed my drenched shirt with a dry one. I then left the gym and went to the bank to withdraw some money for my week's allowance then went to the post office and dropped my bill for the IRS. After that I went to the Vietnamese Restaurant I used to frequent (not very far from the post office) and ordered a hot and tasty Pho soup which is very therapeutic for my exercise. The soup was very delicious and good.

After that I went home, it was almost 0630H when I got home so I decided to do a little laundry of my work scrubs then planned to have a massage later at the corner Thai Massage Parlor near the house for me to get stretched and relaxed for tomorrow I am going back to work at school for a MAB conference.

My God, that was a very very busy day today. It was quite hot today but the weather didn't even intervene with all those errands and appointments I've had today. Oh what a very hectic day today!