A clear bright and sunny morning but there's a cold wind blowing. It's five degrees centigrade. I posted today's YouTube link for Morning Prayer to WhatsApp, having nearly forgotten, distracted by yet another awful night of much peeing and disturbed sleep. The Felodipine seemed to help at first, but the cumulative effect after a few days is as bad as with the other blood pressure meds I've taken. I decided to discontinue taking it and move the regular Losartan dose from afternoon to morning to see if it makes any difference and keeps me out of harm's way. I'm desperate for a restful night's sleep.
On my way to St Catherine's for the Eucharist I called in at the surgery as I'm expecting a GP call about blood test results, I told the receptionist I wouldn't be in phone contact for the next hour, but It turns out I got the day wrong. I'll get a call tomorrow. We were seven for the Eucharist in honour of St Elizabeth of Hungary. The CofE Daily Prayer lectionary I use remembers St Hilda of Whitby today and the Reflection I wrote was about her and the synod of Whitby. The Church in Wales lectionary commemorated her yesterday. Date of death is most often the date a saint's day is observed, their 'heavenly birthday' as it's romantically described. In her case it's the 17th November, before both CofE and CinW dates! Hilda is celebrated on 23rd June by Anglican converts belonging to the English Catholic Ordinariat. The Roman calendar groups together significant Anglo-Saxon abbesses, women at the forefront of evangelism in their day. Why the CofE and CinW should differ is odd. Another case of 'scholars differ' our theological college teachers used to say.
After coffee and chat I went home, collected the veg bag and went to Chapter to collect this week's order. Early lunch, then a visit to Parkwood clinic in Cathedral Road for an acupuncture treatment with Peter Butcher. The wait for a bus was far too long. I walked there before a bus could overtake me. Better than standing about waiting in the cold. I felt much better for the treatment, hopefully better able to respond to the medication change. It may be that my blood pressure tends to be too high because I am at times driven and anxious, and increasingly sensitive due to ageing and the impact of the stroke. Perhaps if I take more care about how I react to my environment and make sure to rest enough when demands are made of me, I can improve matters. But only if I can get adequate interruption free sleep! I certainly felt better after the treatment. It's easier to cope with everything else.
I went out to enjoy a sunset walk on a bright evening, and bought some chicken pieces at the Co-op to roast on my way home. After supper I started work on next Wednesday's Morning Prayer and Reflection. Rachel sent me a video of herself making a looped 'cello version of 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' that she orchestrated live in situ. Amazing how she keeps the multi part score in her memory as she plays. What a gift! Clare gave me Reiki when I went to bed to help relax me. I'm apprehensive about the kind of night I'll have, free of the aggressive medication which has robbed me of so much sleep and hydration since the stroke.
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