2025 started

It's been a busy few weeks for the start of 2025.  

For some reason, I feel swamped, but I don't know what I've been doing. One thing for sure is I have been able to ride a bicycle for at least an hour every other day with a heart rate of 125 to 130. I decided to work out every other day only as I did not want to get too exhausted at my age. Additionally, working out too aggressively and getting injured set me back.

On January 7, I had my annual physical and anxiously awaited the blood test results to see if I had improved. One thing I was ecstatic about was that my weight was 302.7. That is an out-of-the-ordinary high, and I need to get it under control, but that means I have lost about 23 pounds since I retired. My high weight was 325.3 when I retired.  Therefore, I am losing about half a pound per week. That is a sustainable weight loss, and I hope to maintain that trend.  The three months that I needed to help my mother, who needed to move from the arm and is not in a home close to me.  The stress caused me to gain a few pounds back, dealing with the issues.

One extremely disappointing factor about my visit was that my iron level was extraordinarily low. Once again, this is frustrating because I've been battling Anemia for so long!  Test results were:

• Iron (normal range 61-157 ug/dL) 
• Current 20 ug/dL - 31 below normal range
• This is the lowest it has ever been since the Anemia Diagnosis in 2017, when it was 23 ug/dL
• Iron saturation index (normal range 15 to 46%)
• Current is 5% - 15% below normal range
• This is the lowest it has ever been, with 7% in January 2023.
• Ferritin (normal range 31 to 409 ng/mL)
• Current is 11 ng/mL - 20 ng/mL below normal range
• The lowest it has ever been, with eight ng/mL in July 2016. I was also 11 ng/mL in November of 2023.
• Hemoglobin (normal range 13.3 to 17.7 g/dL )
• Current is 11.4 g/dL - 1.9 g/dL below normal range
• This is the lowest it has ever been; in January 2023, it was 12.1 g/dL
• MCV - Mean Corpuscular Volume (normal range 78-100 fl)
• Current is 72 fl - 6 fl below the normal range
• This is the same as January 2023 and the lowest it has ever been.
• MCH - Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin (normal range 26.5 to 33.0 pg)
• Current is  21.3 pg - 5.2 pg below the normal range
• This was at 20.9 in January 2023.
• MCHC - Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration (normal range 31.5 to 36.5 g/dL)
• Current is  29.6 g/dL - 1.9 pg below the normal range
• This was at 28.8 g/dL in January 2023.

Therefore, my Anemia is worse, not better.  I should have known with the shortness of breath and low energy!

I have been busy cleaning out the basement and tossing junk.  This will be a multi-week project as I build shelves to organize my junk.

For the first time since I retired, investments are clearly volatile. I have cash on hand to weather the storm. I am living off my tax-deferred savings since the Markey is high and has performed well over the past two years.

Carry on, my friends, carry on!