Mark's Stepdad is Home :)

The worst is over - after a week in the hospital with both COVID and pneumonia, Mark's stepdad is finally home: )

The pneumonia has cleared, but he's still coughing from COVID and very weak and tired, and will be quarantining for another week.  

The kidney problems are believed to be acute (AKI) and will hopefully clear with no lasting damage. 

Fortunately, because of his history daily running, tennis, and mountain-climbing, he was never put on oxygen or a respiratory - but most on the rest of his unit were not as lucky.

He has no idea when or how he contracted it, as he is a retired widower and lives alone, and went nowhere but outside for running and tennis and the grocery, always wearing a mask and disinfecting his house regularly, and receiving shipped deliveries. 

Speaking of which, they have a team that comes in and disinfects the home and vehicles in hazmat suits - no joke. 

Be safe folks - and when you wear a mask, make sure it fits properly securely, covering both nose and mouth, with no gapping, if you can - at this point, that's all they were able to come up with as a cause. 

Also, if you're hospitalized, you will basically get no rest - constant check-ins, questions about contraction history trying to trace it (both for you and others), and questions about Living Will/DNR orders if your condition suddenly worsens - so even though he's not improved by much, he has improved - and he's home where he can rest, and will receive check-ins by hazmat-suited home healthcare workers :)

Regardless, the worst is over for him - and he's home :)

Thank you for your warm wishes, thoughts, and prayers :)

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PS - More good news - as of today, I've lost 10 of my 15 pandemic pounds - all thanks to change in diet and my Schwinn IC-4, which I ride 20 minutes a day (working up to 30 minutes) :)

As for changes in diet, I already rarely did sweets or desserts, but I stopped the pop (except for about 2 oz first thing in the morning) and no more bread (except occasional piece of ciabatta with a sandwich) and an occasional a home-made blueberry pancake with whole-wheat flour :)

I also do probiotic gummies and a Greek yogurt smoothie with oatmeal and a small amount of fruit, with a dash of honey, almost every day (sometimes an over-easy egg on avocado and a slice of ciabatta toast, if especially hungry) and veggies, at least 2 servings a day, but often 3 :)

If you're like me, and get bored looking at the floor or around your house while cycling, and really don't need anymore time with your own thoughts, at this point (lol) -  I recommend watching YouTube hiking and travel videos from your TV rather than phone, if you have Roku.

Yesterday, I went to Bourdeaux, France, and have been to Marseilles, Tulum, Mexico, New Orleans, Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park,  Zion National Park, Sedona, Arizona, Banff, Alberta, Canada, Asheville/Boone/Blowing Rock, North Carolina, the Seychelles, the Maldives, Thailand, Amalfi, Italy, and many more - today, I might go to Greece :)

There are days that the menopause fatigue flashes and fibroid discomfort/nausea/breakthrough bleeding kicks in and I crave and can't do the full 20 minutes, but I find that even if I can't do the full 20, just getting my heart rate up a bit and the exercising helps all of the above.  

Though it's true that your muscles really are weaker during menstruation and menopause, exercise really does help all of it, once you get past the initial start and sometimes a flare of a hot flash when you're heart rate goes up - but since you're trying to sweat anyway, it's no big deal - and I find the hot flashes are better overall, too.  (Of course, the hormones to help shrink the fibroid are helping that as well;)  If the discomfort, nausea, and sudden fatigue flashes are super bad, I might skip entirely, but that's only happened twice.  

Otherwise, on we go - I have much more energy and after D's experience, I want to make sure my lungs are more conditioned and I'm stronger, just in case there's ever a COVID fight ;)