Posted January 4, 2024
Wendi had a number of issues, especially early in the year. She spent three days in the hospital (April 1–4) with heart issues, but they were apparently caused by medication she was on. They changed the medications, and she improved. She was in the hospital overnight April 24–25 with chest pain and dizziness.
Wendi’s Huntington’s symptoms have progressed somewhat: she has more chorea (random trembling), especially in the legs. Her speech is often garbled, and her headaches have been worse. In addition, she has pain in her neck, right wrist (she has been diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome) and lower back. And she has Fuchs’ dystrophy, which is a genetic disorder of the cornea in her eyes.
Wendi has been trying to organize her craft supplies so she can make things… but it’s an uphill climb. Otherwise, she spends most of her time doing surveys, genealogy, or games on her phone and/or watching TV. Anything to keep occupied.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires during May, June, and July put a damper on my running progress, as I learned that I am quite sensitive to unclean air. I was able to run one 5K race on September 23, but I was very slow.
I also had some dental work in 2023, including a filling and reattaching a crown.
Both of us came down with COVID-19 in November; this was the first time either of us had it. In addition to severe cold-like symptoms, we suffered headaches and stomach upset. Wendi took Paxlovid, which helped; I had just gotten my booster shot a few days before coming down with the disease. Our sniffles and cough lingered for a while, even after we tested negative for COVID. As of this writing, I still lack the stamina I had before getting COVID; my running pace is about 12:30 per mile because if I run any faster than that, I cannot catch my breath. Hopefully this will improve with consistency.