80% Less Plastic

Today is market day for me. Our helper takes her days off on Saturdays and since today we were up early to take Maia for a walk, I decided to do the marketing after our morning stroll.

It was the first time I made a conscious effort to take a cloth bag with me to the market. I knew I still couldn't place the wet stuff on it but I'm sure I can still save our trash a couple of plastic bags so I grabbed this souvenir bag that I recently got from Mom Expo and left for the nearby public market.  Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

When I got there I wanted to insist to have the fish and meat that I purchased placed in my cloth bag but I felt like I'm really, really going to look foolish dragging a cloth bag dripping with fish blood around so I halfheartedly accepted my first purchases in plastic bags.

I was excited to head to the veggies section though. I felt good placing my first purchases inside the cloth bag and hearing the lady I purchased my fresh veggies from say, “Ayaw mo nang dumami pa basura ano?” I felt like I somehow made them think of the advantages of using cloth bags. I know people are already aware that plastic is really destroying our environment but I guess seeing somebody point it out first hand makes a lot of difference.

Reaching home, I was thrilled to report my achievement to the hubby. I’m just really happy of what I did this morning. 80% less plastic is a start. I’ll impose this practice on our household from this day on. I know this is really mundane-thinking. But allow me to enjoy my little happy moment. Today, I just felt like I did something BIG to make the world a better place for Maia.

De Quervain??? De What?

Today, I was back at my surgeon's clinic because I could not sleep well for the past 2 days since I discovered a tiny bump on my right arm. It was just a little under my elbows. A tiny little lumpy growth that the hubby initially thought was an insect bite. Only that it's been 2 days and it never itched. So today, I decided to skip work and set an early appointment with my surgeon. I was due for my regular check up in 2 weeks anyways.

First thing she asked when she saw me was, "you're back early, may nakapa ka????" Hahaha. I pointed worriedly at the bump on my arm. To which she immediately replied, "oh that...is nothing. If you're thinking it's related to the PT (phyllodes tumor) it's not." (She actually mentioned the term for the tiny cyst...but the term now evades my memory...tsk tsk...old age?)

I asked if I need to have it removed. She told me I can, if that would help me sleep well. But it's still too small. It's not really a cause for worry. I asked her what could have caused it to grow, and she told me they don't know. She added, "sinuwerte ka lang". Then we started laughing, it seems I've been really lucky with the lottery on lumps lately. Too bad really...this is one lottery I never and will never ever dream of joining on.

So since I was there already, she decided to check on how my mastectomy recovery is going. Okay. All's well. I'll come back on September na lang. That's my next sonogram schedule. We're hoping the 4 tiny nodes on my other breast will disappear already. Hay...life. It just keeps throwing me stuff that aren't worth catching. Haha. But I keep on catching them anyway. Ano ba Faye!

So when I was about to leave, I also mentioned I was having this problem with my wrist. Told her my OB (Again???) thought it was probably still related to my mastectomy. I was prescribed some nerve vitamins to make the pain go away. But it's been two weeks and the pain still lingers. She told me, "oh that's not related to the mastectomy. I'm guessing it's decorvein..."

What's that doc??? De-cor?-vein???

No, De-qua-r-vein...

Oh...is that so? What do I need to do then?

Go see an orthopedic surgeon after this. Get it fixed while it's still early. Pag pinatagal mo pa yan, you might need another surgery for that. Hu-whatttt??? Sige, I'll find an ortho pronto! Hahaha.

So after I left my surgeon's clinic...I went looking for an ortho right away. Good thing, there's somebody available to see me. It turns out, I still got the spelling wrong. What I have is called

de Quervain's Tenosynovitis.

The ortho asked me how long have I been experiencing the pain. I told him it's been a month already. He said it's still early and it's still easy to treat. But it's been a month, he might as well inject some medicine into it. He asked me to buy the supplies at the nearly drugstore and when I came back he injected me with cortisone to treat the swelling. It was painful. Haha. But tolerable.

So now, while I type away...I'm trying hard to concentrate on not getting my left thumb worked up. I've been using them too much and now they're complaining.

Lesson learned today. Use the mouse more often. Hehe.