Life Lately: November 2020

In today’s post I’m sharing an update in what’s been going on in my world over the past month.

It’s hard to believe that we’re closing in on the end of 2020 and it’s November already. On one hand it feels like 2020 has been crawling by at a glacial speed. On the other hand some weeks feel like they’re flying by. Time feels very different these days. This month has been an eventful one for me. Read on to find out what’s been going on in my world in November.

Celebrating my birthday

This month I turned 38. While this year’s birthday was definitely different than last year’s, I was still able to celebrate with my dad and brother. We ordered in food from our favorite neighborhood pub. I ate a delicious hamburger that was honestly the best burger I’ve had in a long time. Since new restrictions were put in place by the provincial government the day before I had plans to get together with my boyfriend for my birthday, that meant that we had to go for a walk with his dog instead of watching a movie together on Netflix. At least I was able to see both my boyfriend and Winston.

New medication dosage

I’ve been working with my doctors to find a new medication dosage. Unfortunately it’s been complicated by side effects. Whenever my daily dose is increased I end up experiencing some unpleasant GI side effects for 4 or 5 days. It’s pretty miserable, but I know that it’s something that (so far – I’m keeping my fingers crossed) goes away once my body gets used to the increased dose. I increase the dosage one more time this weekend and I’m really hoping that that’s the last time it has to be changed.

I’m also experiencing very vivid and disturbing dreams as another side effect. Some nights will be fine, but other times I’ll wake up from nightmares in the middle of the night. Most of the time they involve people I love dying or me trying to save them from something. It’s pretty frustrating because I’ve worked really hard to improve my sleep over the past year and a half. Despite all of the changes I’ve made I’m finding it hard to fall asleep again because I don’t want to deal with anymore bad dreams.

I’m very grateful that I’m working with two doctors who really seem to get that the side effects make things pretty miserable sometimes. They’re willing to listen and don’t try to tell me that it’s “all in my head” like I’ve experienced with other doctors.

New Fitbit Versa 3

Speaking of my birthday, I used some birthday money to buy a new Fitbit. My Charge 2 died right before Halloween. I had it for nearly 4 years, so at least I got my money’s worth out of it. After checking out the Fitbit website I decided to upgrade to the Versa 3 (affiliate link). I decided on the black one rather than the blue or pink ones. I’ve been using it for a few weeks now and I’m so glad that I got it. The Versa 3 is a big upgrade from the Charge 3. I have a color watch, I can see a lot more stats on it, and I can even track a bigger variety of workouts with it. The best part is that it’s water resistant so I don’t have to be as careful with it like I did with my Charge 2.

I’m planning on writing a review of my Versa 3 in the next few weeks. If you have anything you’d like to know about it or questions you’d like answered make sure to let me know in the comments below. I’ll be sure to cover those topics in my review.

Getting answers

Back in August I was referred to a program to get access to specialists for something that I’m dealing with. Unfortunately it’s a very busy clinic which means that there’s a wait list to access services from them. You also have to if you qualify to access the program. Since August I’ve been doing assessments with a bunch of different healthcare providers from the clinic. It feels like I’ve had appointments with a ton of people, but no one has been able to tell me yet if I qualify for the program or not.

I finally have an appointment on Monday afternoon to with someone from the clinic to find out if I can access their services or not. I’m feeling pretty nervous about it. It feels like it’s taken a long time to get to this point. I don’t want all of the waiting I’ve done to be for nothing. It would make life so much easier to be able to work with specialists and have a bunch of the healthcare providers I work with to be all in one place and be able to communicate with each other. Having things be as coordinated as possible would take a lot of the pressure off of me.

What’s been a highlight of November for you? Let me know about it in the comments.

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