No disgorgement today. I have an appointment to see my GP at 11:30. An 11:30 appointment is about the worst possible time for getting anything else done in the morning since I have to leave ahead of that plus, since it's my GP, get myself in the right frame of mind for it.
In addition, I wouldn't say I like starting to empty closets or rooms when it's not clear I will be able to finish before dinnertime. There's something about half-full black trashbags littered about in the evening I find particularly disheartening.
I'm seeing Dr. Schreiner today because of my blood pressure, which has occasionally been higher he or I would like but, this year has taken off like a rocket. The little device pictured to the left is a blood pressure monitor that I put around my wrist to get readings. It works well when I use it, but my problem has been that I often forget. I need to build a habit around it.
Blood pressure is one of those medical things that only counts as an aggregate. Since it can be as fluid as, well, blood, any single reading doesn't mean very much. A few hours earlier, it might have been higher. Or lower. Or the same. The same thing with a few hours later. That's why you need to take it at the same time each day and the reason I use the lowest of three readings each time I take it.
Its fluidity is one thing that makes blood pressure mysterious. So many different things can cause it to rise or drop that controlling it can feel like playing whack a mole at an amusement park. Stopped salting your food? Great! You're down ten points! But then another piece of news about COVID or irrational fellow citizens or the Husband being forced to move back downtown for work, and wham, we are on the escalator headed up again.
Another reason BP is mysterious is that it doesn't have any signs or symptoms. I could walk around all day feeling like I've won a lottery, while all the while something severe undermines my health, safety, and future. And it feels a bit unfair or underhanded that my blood pressure is becoming something to worry about. Think about it. For many of us, our hearts beating in our mother's wombs are the first sign of our lives we offer to the world. And there have been many studies finding that a recording of a beating heart is enough to calm a crying or hysterical child. That calm whup-dup, whub-dup, whup-dup promises us safety and security that we believe we can bank on - until it isn't, and we can't.