Monthly Archives: December 2012

girdling my loins

05 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by in health & happiness, hospitals

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4200 playtexSo remember my hernia? Well, I finally got to see the surgeon this morning and, after a bit of poking and prodding, I was told that after so many surgeries it wasn’t unusual for me to have a hernia and, all things considered, it wasn’t a very big one. As such, the doctor said he wouldn’t recommend that I have any more surgery at this point.

To alleviate the chronic discomfort I was told that I should “lose a little weight” and use a “faja” (girdle or corset). Meh.

I still have the faja I was given at the hospital after my last operation (and to be honest I didn’t wear it as much as I should have during recovery), which is basically a length of spongy stretchy material with a strip of velcro on one end to hold it closed after wrapping it tightly around my belly. But it’s very bulky and tends to ride up. When I mentioned this to the doctor he said it would be just as useful to go to a lingerie shop and find something there…

Well imagine my surprise when I popped into one on the way home and found all manner of elasticated shape-shifting undergarments on offer. Most seemed to be made for already thin women wanting to look thinner, promising that slipping into a lycra-laced item would help them look two sizes smaller! Others promised to lift and show off their butts. I was at a loss. So I finally asked a salesclerk for assistance, explaining that I had a hernia and had to wear something for support. She very helpfully showed me half a dozen options and sent me off to try them. Holy crap! I honestly thought I wouldn’t get any of them on, but after a major heave-ho managed to pull them up and… yes! There was definite support going on. I finally opted for this simple Playtex model – which was also the cheapest at 20€ (some of them went up to 85€!). I would have preferred it in black, but this awful liverish colour was all they had in stock. Well, who the hell is going to see it anyhow?

So I reckon I’ll wear the wrap-around hospital faja at home and try out this one for when I’m out and about. The doctor promised me I’d feel much more comfortable after doing this for a couple of weeks. I hope he’s right. I was all set to hear the worst – that I’d need yet another operation. But it turns out I’ll only have to girdle my loins… oh, and “lose a little weight”.

4 for the price of 1

04 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by in retail therapy, shopping

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4 glassesAnd all’s well that ends well – at last! You may remember when I bought those purple glasses in front last March, which led to a huge dispute with the company when it looked like they couldn’t get the lenses to fit properly and wouldn’t refund my money, saying I could choose another frame instead. Then they found a way of fixing the new glasses and I was happy with that until, after I got them home, I saw that while fitting the lenses they had scraped off some of the purple coating off the metal frame. Fuck. So I brought them back and they told me that, as there were no other frames that I wanted at the moment, that I continue using these ones until I found something else.

Fine. I finally did find another pair that I liked, also purple but plastic, and when I went to exchange the original glasses for the new ones I was told that I could keep them as a sort of peace offering for all the trouble I’d been put through. Fair enough! Especially as this company also gives you a year after purchasing glasses to choose another pair, including lenses, for just 1€. I thought I might find another frame I liked within a year but then one of the arms (legs?) on my fab sunglasses snapped off and, as they were a couple of years old, a replacement couldn’t be ordered. So I decided to turn my new purple plastic glasses into sunglasses since my eyes are so sensitive to light that it’s painful to be outside without protection. Which once again left me with no clear glasses because the original purple ones were back “in hospital” (one of the lenses had cracked – don’t ask).

And so… since I liked the purple plastic ones so much I decided to go for the same frame in a different colour for 1€. Meanwhile the shop found another set of arms (legs?) for my broken sunglasses so that I could have something to wear while waiting for my new ones. And this is how I ended up with four glasses for the price of one, plus 1€. I’ve never had so many glasses at once before, but it does make sense to have a backup pair, especially sunglasses. When mine broke I had to turn down a special boat trip on the river that weekend because I knew my eyes wouldn’t be able to take the glare. How many pairs of glasses do you have?

salad days

03 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by in food & drink, weather, weird

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salad daysLeave it to me to get a craving for salads as soon as the temperatures plummet (and it starts snowing on my blog!). But this past week or so, for no reason I can fathom, I am suddenly craving lots of crisp leafy greens with grated carrot, sliced onion and some chunks of high-quality preserved tuna (bonito). And when I say crave I mean that once lunchtime starts approaching I can almost feel the crunch of carrot and lettuce and taste the extra virgin olive oil with balsamic vinegar.

What the heck. I’m not going to question this. Of course it might be even healthier (or at least more slimmifying) if I didn’t accompany my salady lunch with a big chunk of pan gallego, but I’m guessing that having this fabulous bread option is what got me interested in salads again. Because really, what goes better with nice crusty bread, no matter what the weather is like? So I reckon I am now getting about 3 a day at lunch.

What’s your favourite way of getting enough veg in your diet?