I have alot on my mind and need to brain dump. I am trying to transition back to my keto diet to get my diabetes under control, and possibly in remission. I would love to decrease the number of diabetic medications I am on. I would also love to begin losing weight again. I need to lose about 160 lbs. to be where I was when I was feeling good about my body. I want to begin using the incline trainer again. Caleb and I are working on cleaning the house recently. Up until the Monday before last Monday, Caleb was enrolled in public school in 9th grade at the high school. I had to withdraw him due to the bullying he was facing what seemed like everyday by different people. Caleb no longer felt safe there. He told his teachers, the SRO, and the principal what happened each time. Nothing was done to increase his safety. I spoke with the principal and he told me that without a witness or evidence on the school cameras that are covering the entire campus, there was nothing he could do. Caleb's health was declining. The frequency of him calling home for me to pick him up from school increased to practically everyday!
Caleb has an IEP and is a special needs student. Bullying should not be tolerated, witness or not. Evidence or not. I had enough. I was not getting the support I needed, and Caleb was certainly not getting the support he needed. It's hard to pay attention when your safety is non-existent.
Turns out that I never closed my home school registration with the state. After I had had enough, I withdrew Caleb and put him back into homeschooling. We returned the loaner laptop and Caleb's JROTC uniform.
Caleb was "in homeschool" before, but it was not working out because he was so defiant and resisted anything I said that would result in him doing any kind of work. It wasn't easy being together at all times for either of us. Caleb has Oppositional Defiant Disorder and I just couldn't get around it to be able to get him to cooperate with me so I could teach him anything.
Caleb started ABA therapy for Autism about 2 weeks ago. He is doing well so far, and I have already seen the benefits of it. He is more willing to cooperate with me and get our common goals accomplished together. He is being more helpful. There have been fewer arguments and fights. The weekend sessions are the hardest for Caleb because they are longer than the sessions during the week.
The house is a disaster again. I cleaned the living room a long time ago only to have Caleb destroy all the work I had just done within 24 hours of me cleaning everything up. I have yet to be able to get him to correct himself as I directed. He says he was looking for something and tore through everything in the room, leaving everything thrown around and on the floor. As time went by, he made the situation worse by leaving trash everywhere and leaving dirty dishes and old food everywhere too. It's frustrating because he turned 16 in December and should be doing much more than he is currently doing to help me, a disabled veteran and his only living parent.
I am currently trying to get Caleb enrolled in an online public school where he will still have teachers teaching him. It would be more efficient. I have so many other responsibilities that I cannot afford to give Caleb's schooling the time it requires, or Caleb the attention he requires. He does not work without direct supervision. I simply cannot devote the time and energy needed when I have so many other things I have to take care of at the same time.
In other news, I have made progress in getting my VA appointments scheduled with Community Care. I have most of my appointments made already. I just received a new letter about my referral to see accupuncture out in the community. It is far away unfortunately so I do not know how I will manage to keep those appointments. It is very hard for me to go to appointments in Wilmington, and that's where those appointments would be. I have to have my eyes checked before my pharmD will change me from Ozempic to Mounjaro. I am hoping to be able to switch shortly after my appointment in May. I am dying to lose weight again.
My pain is chronic, but I have noticed that I feel better during the day if I have fresh pineapple for breakfast followed by taking my medications and supplements, and then followed by taking my special coffee. I drink a Caramel Vanilla Green Mountain coffee that I add things to. I add Hershey's cacao, Splenda, RYZE mushroom coffee, and unsweetened vanilla almond milk. The combinations lead to me having better, less stressful days. The coffee helps me remain calm through the day, which in turn helps me to be able to think more clearly. I have chronic anxiety with my C-PTSD. I already take medication for it, but with all the stressors around me constantly getting my attention, it's nearly impossible to feel relaxed ever. The coffee helps the way I make it.
I have been using my lidocaine patches on my back for my chronic lower back pain. I have chronic pain in my pelvis too. I know I have osteoarthritis in my hips. I also know about my nerves touching my bones in my back and having mild degenerative changes in my back as well. I don't know if anything else can be done. Of course the first thing the doctors want to say is "Lose some weight."
I got a letter from the town about Dad's old Lincoln Towncar. I was trying to sell it, but now I have to remove it ASAP. I had to give it away to an interested mechanic because I don't have the money to put the title in my name in order to transfer it to him.
Caleb and I are working towards getting the mountain of laundry in the laundry room clean, dried, folded, and put away. It really piled up during the month we all had COVID. I just couldn't manage to get it done. Plus Caleb hoards his dirty clothes in his room, instead of putting it in the laundry room where I can easily get it cleaned. Also, I had tried to get Caleb to wash his own clothes when I wasn't feeling well, and he never did. Yeah. It really piled up. It got so bad that he had no clean clothes to wear to school. Now, after a few weeks of washing laundry on and off, the mountain has become more like a hill.
The oven door is falling off the oven. I have a repairman coming on Monday and want to have to alot of the cleaning done before that appointment.
I recently was struggling to find a way to pay to have my Mazda's air conditioning fixed. By the grace of God, I was approved for a credit card with a limit that would cover the work needed on my minivan. Thank God!
I had to stop reading about the news for the most part. It was causing me too much stress to read all the emails I was getting to raise money for activism and signing petitions. I don't have the time or energy to continue doing what I was doing, which was reading emails every night and signing petitions and sharing posts. I am so ANTI-Trump it 's not even funny. He makes me sick and angry.
I have to get some dishes washed in order to serve dinner, so I have to go for now. I will be sure to write more often. It's good for my health.
Thank you for reading! God bless you!
