Hi all. It’s the end of the month once again and this means I’m reflecting on my word of the year, which is “JOY”. I am linking up with the Word of the Year linky as well as with Lisa’s One Word linky.
The month of July was hard and it ended on an even more difficult note with a health scare. Did I even tell you all about it? Well, I had bloodwork done at the end of July as part of my annual health screening and, while most results came back normal, my EGFR, an indication of kidney function, did not. It’s supposed to be above 90 in healthy adults, had been 81 last year and my nurse practitioner back then had said that anything above 70 was still acceptable. Well, it was 68 this time around. I checked with my GP and he said this could be a one-off lower score, but I do need to be checked again, including a urine test, in a few months.
This health scare, as well as some other worries about my health, did decrease my joy over the month of August. However, I still tried to find moments of joy in the everyday. Like in July, I did sometimes seek joy in material things, for example when I bought a lot of polymer clay supplies a few weeks ago.
However, I also found joy in experiences, such as my and my husband’s trip to Enkhuizen last week and my trip to the town fair yesterday (even though I didn’t buy anything).
Earlier this week, I of course tried to find joy in another material thing by buying an Apple Watch. It’s pure delight seeing how I reach and even exceed my goals. That being said, I did have another health scare today, when the stupid thing told me my cardio fitness level is low. “Low” is the lowest score your Apple Watch will give you. My husband joked: “except for ‘dead’, but that’s not far off.” Great, huh? Thankfully, I do know I can to a degree increase my cardio fitness level by exercising. It is good to feel some sense of control.
A Multitude of Musings 
I hope they figure out the kidney issue… maybe a medication?
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It’s quite likely one of my medications if it isn’t a one-off lower score indeed, as I do take two meds that act on the kidneys. However, it’s not like I could really stop taking those meds. Well, I could, since they’re both psych meds, but I do feel much better mentally while on them. So in this sense it’s a choice between good mental health and good physical health really.
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That’s what I love about fitness watches – how it really helps with mindfulness around movement – and improvement. Take care and thanks for linking up.
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Thanks so much for encouraging me with your positive take on it. Indeed, I agree, it helps me get an idea of what I can actually do to improve my health and I will hopefully see tangible results too.
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Oh no! What a worry with the health scare. I hope the next tests come back OK. The Apple watch sounds like a great buy. I got a smart watch and it gave me so much motivation to exercise more when I could see how many steps that I’ve done. x
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Thanks for your supportive comment. I cannot see my steps directly on my Apple Watch (unless I install a third-party app for it), as somehow your movement goal with that is related to active calories burned not steps, but it does sync my step count to my iPhone and I can see it there. I do love to see my step count in the iPhone’s Health app though.
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I’m sorry to hear about your health scare and hope you are feeling better. I have an Apple watch too and whilst I love it, sometimes I feel it is controlling my life as I try to ‘close the circles’ each day. Still staying healthy and active is so important. Thanks for sharing your month with us at the WOTY Link up. xx
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Thanks so much for commenting. I understand what you mean about the motivation to close the rings controling your life. I have deliberately set my exercise goal lower than the iPhone suggested, because I couldn’t possibly exercise for 30 minutes each day.
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Oh dear Astrid, I hope you are doing better now. I have an Apple Watch and instead of”it” controlling me, I control it. I am recovering from surgery 2 weeks ago and am not moving anything like I used to. so I adjust the goals. I am in charge of the watch (and me) not the other way round. Take care, Denyse #WOTY link up
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Hi Denyse, thanks for stopping by and for your wise advice. I definitely would adjust my goals if I needed to. In fact, I have my exercise goal set lower than the iPhone’s default suggestion of 30 minutes a day, because I cannot possibly manage 30 minutes of exercise each day.
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I’m sorry about your health scare. I hope that it will resolve itself by the next time you get it checked. It’s a little disconcerting to have these things show up. 😦 I’m glad you did find some joyful moments in the month though too. Congrats on getting an Apple watch.
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Thank you for your supportive words. I really do hope my lower kidney function was a one-off indeed. It might be, as I had it checked in the middle of summer when it was really hot, and I struggle to get in enough fluids. Then again, if it’s my medication messing with my kidneys, that isn’t going to get any better. Oh well, we’ll see.
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Glad you treated yourself to an Apple watch. I hope your health improves and you’re able to find joy in all the activities you do, Astrid.
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I really hope so too. I’m trying not to worry too much about the negative things the Apple Watch tells me about my health, such as my cardio fitness level. Thanks for your kind words.
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I’m sad to hear about your health scare, Astrid, and I pray you gain wisdom in what to do as you move forward. I’m so glad you and your husband were able to travel and attend the fair. Sometimes it is nice to just get out-and-about, isn’t it? Have fun crafting your clay!
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Thanks so very much for your kind words. The health scare was nothing after all.
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