Monday August 21

It has been going better and better.

My shunt is finally stable.

Anyway my body is recovering its functions.

Last Friday August 18 I stayed back to take care of my own life. There is nothing to do here on a Friday other than coming here to get the CNS food. I have rather different tastes for me.. beside all the food that CNS provides is counted down the the last bits... I prefer staying away whenever I feel like.

I took care of my overnight oat for breakfast






I cleaned the whole apartment by myself. Dedra and Sarah came to inspect the apartment.

In the afternoon I went to the gym for an hour of Zumba with Caroline fun fitness and came back by myself.

At the gym on Friday I have Zumba class. A lot of cardio and coordination movement.


The boys had Tennis practice back at home.

Last Saturday   August 19  morning Trader Joe's Shopping after taking care of cleaning the clothes and related tasks for my apartment.

After cleaning  my apparels and clothes  in the apartment I went to Trader Joe's.


Jamie is always there waiting for us to arrive and to shop at the best store in town.

She always has time to stop for a picture with me and to make my experience really worthy.

It was celebrating 50 years of serving the local community

I got many healthy ingredients and a lot of basic food for me to cook.

My three bags full of grocery shopping.

I spent $102.22 and Jamie gave me some special stickers for the boys.

She mentioned this is a limited edition so it is only for the boys.

If you look at the picture above they were celebrating a 50th year anniversary.

For lunch I made a wonderful  trofie pasta with broccoli

I used Coconut Oil for the soffritto and a lot of minced garlic.

A lot of cut garlic

I cooked broccoli in a light broth.

Seasoned it with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.

I cooked the Trofie pasta on a large pot.

Poured the pasta out and added it back to the broccoli.

I kept a scoop of the Trofie water for cooking. It is rich of flavor and starch.

I added a  lot of grated Parmesan cheese and some raw Olive Oil 

Here is the best view of the pasta

Et voila pasta is ready.

I ate it slowly and by myself without being distracted by the TV. 

This is  the way I like to eat rather than having the TV on like here at CNS.

I do not understand their philosophy. 

Reading the newspaper TV off, lunch time TV on post lunch TV off.

It looks like there is no value at CNS for focusing on what you eat. 

Apparently it is good to get distracted from the food. Have you ever seen a little kids eating.. so much easier by sitting him in front of a TV... the same philosophy that CNS has adopted is molded upon  poor parenting habits.

This is appalling in my view.

Cleaning the apartment by myself again.

I figured out that it is my task to clean while their job to come and check the status of the CNS apartment. Like last Friday Sarah A. and Dedra G. came for an inspection of the premises.

There is so much dust in Kern County, I am constantly cleaning the apartment and yet it still results dirty.

For instance heere check this pad for the floor... now imagine what the air is like in the Kern Valley.

Imagine what is like my own lungs.. imagine how bad this environment is for everybody that has to forced to stay in this place.

Let's talk about eating.

I mentioned they started to turn the TV on.

It is perfectly fine for the American people to eat with the TV on, I mean after all they are famous for frozen TV dinner food and etc.

I imagine it is a effective quieting tool for the patients at CNS.

It is numbing for the most of the patients at CNS

Anyway they like it this way... on the contrary I do not like it at all. 

I was raised  in a different way... I am arguing in a better way.

Anyway on Saturday  afternoon  I signed out and went to Albertson.

I purchased a new can of Lipton Ice tea for $8.99

I also got a sawing kit but Simona mentioned that I do not have any longer those shorts with me.

It is good to mix with my water at the apartment for keeping me hydrated.

I did not forget to go to the movie.

I simply do not  want to go any longer. I will not go with CNS any longer.

I made my choice and that is it.

Last  Sunday August 20 morning I  made a new batch of overnight Oat. 

As you can see I am eating it a lot for my morning breakfast.

Last Sunday August 20  Jerry Lewis died of natural causes.

During my morning I wrote a letter to the boys.

It is about today's eclipses. It will stay with them.

I was ready to go to the gym on time.

I was at the gym at 2pm.

The sup Aisha took me.

At the gym I  had my program to follow.

I was recommended to change it to lighter weight while adding more reps.

So I followed this suggestion  by lowering all the weight. And I took more time in between forceful exercise.

The medical reason is that this approach  avoids increasing the blood pressure in  my body hence my shunt is behaving better.

Adding one more series to my work out routine makes my strength better. 

I set all exercise for four set.

Each set is composed by 20 reps. 

Here is a breakdown of my routine

Lower extremities

Leg curl

Leg extension

Leg press

Upper extremities, shoulders, chest

Chest press

Shoulder press

compound row

seated row

shoulder press

lateral rise

Abdominal 

crunch

rotary torso

At the end I stretched accurately

Greated Ashley at the reception.

After 2 hours of work out I was done. I left the gym at 4pm. I walked back and I signed back in at 4:30p.

It was a hot evening, I walked back carefully.

Once at the apartment I made a second dinner for my day.

I made a brown rice with eggs frittata.

In this case I was focusing on eating carbs and protein as I was hungry after my gym time.

The usual flowers for the day

As always the morning park is a quite place to be for me

Away from the craziness of the rest of the day.

Thursday August 17

It is hurting. It has been hurting the whole day and yesterday.

It is a screeching pain located at my right eye where my shunt is influencing my skull hemisphere.


It is so annoying and debilitating overall.

I am using a lot of palliative tricks. Cold patches, cold compress at AAC  it freezes my brain for a few minutes.

I take from Nursing Tylenol.. it  is not working anyway.


I put my self together today and showed up... doing as less as possible.


I had money management today.


I only accepted the grocery... no outing at all.

Nothing at all. Despite yesterday me signing up for the movie... well no outing with CNS...

This is the way I got accustomed doing.


I do not missed it at all. I do not miss  the movie nor the church in Bakersfield.

This is my choice and I will stick to it.









Yesterday evening I made myself a quinoa salad and then went to the gym

I  am not eating any longer in a peaceful way.

I feel I am struggling to get things accomplished at CNS.


It is odd, because this is a service place for me.

It is paid for by the Insurance.

Not the way around.

Got the Quinoa Salad going anyway

Already I had a terrible lunch like the usual lunch at CNS.

I  did not realized at all what I had for food.

At CNS they do not care for it.

They switch the TV on and that is it... a real American experience eating with the TV turned on.

Amanda is always available to talk to me.

She is the real person in charge at CNS.

Jolanta on the other hand is so distant and does not want to have her hands dirty with anything.

A real long range Manager if you ask me.

I saw Dr Elvis today and I told him that my brain needs attention from CNS.

He does not seems surprised nobody at CNS really wants to take any responsibility for accepting their are failing at meeting their basic duty.

I am tired of going on my day based on Tylenol and pain killer.

I  make a forescast


You will not me see anytime around soon

I am taking a break from this place.

Enjoy

Wednesday August 16

Already, I had a mild day today.


My shunt has  been hurting already this morning. I had a cold patch applied to my head at CNS.

It worked somehow. The reality is that it is just a palliative and a temporary patch. It does not remove the basic feeling. For that I am taking a lot of Buspirone medication.


I had a rough day this morning, there has been a fire alarm at the apartment.

It was expected the whole thing, it is so predictable.

CNS calls it a fire alarm,  the matter is that I have been keeping track of the frequency of occurrence of the events.

It has been happening once a month like a clockwork. Despite the forecast event, it is  utterly annoying to be parade outside in pajamas.. with no dignity. Certainly in my other life I never been experiencing a fire alarm drill, ever no where. Simona tells me that on the contrary she had to take part of it at Caltech. Well there are difference and differences. I bet she is telling about events that happened in the middle of the day when everybody is dressed and ready to go.

Unlike this morning...

Breakfast today...

After the fire alarm, I had a fast   shower  and  a fast  breakfast , actually very  fast because  I had to do a lot of things.

I had to get the receipt at the reception and get the newspaper at the park.

I washed the dishes and thrown my  trash away.

I verbally confirmed  maintenance to set the date in my new phone to the correct one.

As now I have a new phone but the date is  based on being set on PM rather than being  set on AM.

As a result it is off by 24 hours.

Anyway I was able to get some picture of the flowers

I  greeted Jean Dalia the gardener at CNS.

He is taking care of the flowers.

We talked in French as always, he speaks a good French, I am able to recollect a lot as I used to be fluent in French. Many years ago.

I used to speak it currently when I lived in France. 

About 20 years ago.

Yesterday evening I had a lot of doing on my plate.

First I called Verizon - my phone carrier.

My phone was locked up as I had tried to get it set up properly.

I got annoyed for  being unable to access all the features

It was missing a key feature.

My wife mentioned she could not do much from where she lives there

So I picked up customer service number, called it and explained my frustration with them.

Of course it worked, they assigned me a person who helped me fixing the issue.

I told them I could not remember certain information that they were asking me.

Verizon was helpful in assisting me.

This  is hopefully resolved.

As I was busy with the phone matter I cooked and wrote a letter to our kids.

I made a great Broccoli flower pasta.

First I made a light soffritto with garlic for the broccoli,

I  chopped garlic  cloves and used coconut Oil

I seasoned the broccoli, added vegetable broth and cooked it slowly.

On a side I made the Trofie pasta lightly cooked.

I did not fully cook it because my plan was to add it to the broccoli flowers and to cook the whole mix for a few minutes.

So here is the pasta ready to be mixed to the Broccoli flowers.

I seasoned it with Pepper Flakes, Olive Oil and Parmesan Cheese

Here is the Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I poured  directly on  the Pasta. 

Always raw because this type of Oil is not meant to be used for cooking with.

As I had time I wrote a letter to our kids.

As mentioned I wanted to write a note for our eldest son's  12th  birthday.

Happy Birthday Chicco.

For the boys I wished them to be proud and brave in life.

Yesterday They were busy celebrating Chicco's birthday at home in La Canada.

Here is Chicco proudly celebrating his birthday.

Lunch at CNS is always a big mess. A lot of people crowding the small space they have.

They turn on the TV - that things that I personally do not like nor I stand

I can not stand it because they watch TV in a pitch black room so I  guzzle down some type of food. I do not like eating in an uncomfortable setting like this one.

Here is a picture of my brother Francesco and of his wife Sara in Fano.

Long time I have not seen them in person. Nor I am logging to see anybody but my own family in California.

At the time I left Italy for good.I sort of knew where I was going.

I adjusted my targets many times always reaching new and more challenging place for me to be.

I am done this way.

In our family each of us has achieved its own destiny.

My sister Isabella has settled in Germany and  partially Spain. She has been a successful person in the fashion industry.

My brother Franesco is more of a mild person. He stayed local in my home town. 

He got himself a home, a family and a life over there.

These are his choices and his respectable choices.

On the other side, I  have always logging to achieve more and something more, each and every step I took I tried to do more and be more.

In the long run I made the right choice.

Had I stayed back over there, I most likely would have not made it until today. 

Let's call it destiny

Again a picture from Italy.  A kite flying at the beach.

Enoiy

Tuesday August 15 2017

It is  a day full of significance for the family.

Our eldest is going to VI grade - a level up at school.
It counts as Junior High School.

It is also his birthday today.

Were he living in Italy he would be a day off for him.  August 15 -today- is a National Holiday.  It is called Ferragosto. It is  traditionally ending the summer vacation and the normal year around life is resuming its activity


Anyway today everybody is fine. My wife is at work, the boys at school, I am attending  CNS Rehabilitation .

It is all falling in the line of life in US.


Normal flowers for the day




A quick walk at the park near the apartment

A beautiful day not that hot yet.

We are going to have a break of a couple of days from the heat.







We could not resist without AC in this area.  Excessive heat makes my blood pressure increases and as a result my shunt is hurting. It also hurts for any number of different factors.


For instance excessively intensive physical exercise leading to a high blood pressure.  Odd movements such like chest press with my head below my shoulder line.  For standing up too quickly in the morning when the blood pressure in my head changes.

So it is a really large variety of physical reasons all the above have been painfully experienced by me on my skull.

I personally got accustomed to using AC whenever I can. I use a bottle of cold water to press against my shunt and this cool down my head and the blood flow.

In the morning specifically I use a bag of frozen peas to press against my head and to let the pain decrease.

here is the little card that my sister email from Germany. She asked me to forward it to my son. Kind of an awkward tour of email  if you were to ask my opinion about it.

Yesterday evening I had a quick byte and then I went to the gym. 

I signed out at 5:30pm and Jessica drove me to the gymm

I had Yoga with Lilli and then cycle with Cassie

At yoga I stayed within my range of motion without straining my body.

A lot of people are jumping high and low following Lilli instruction.

Well not me..

After Yoga it was time to do static cycle with Cassie Marie.

The other instructor Misty is too close to the delivery date of her baby so she has to rest.

Anyway Cassie took the lead.

At 7:30pm I left and came back to the apartment.

My usual routine for the evening ensured.

Monday August 14

 I received yesterday a new USB 3 external hard drive with a capacity of  1 TB. A brand new one.

I used it here at the clinic to back all the files I had accumulated at CNS.

It was all saved under a top folder easy to move and hence the operation had been planned in advanced.

Right now the computer #2 has a free hard drive a lot of space. I have saved all the pictures of mine with the memories of the boys. A key aspect of this operation was to save the memories


It has been a good weekend with many activities  I  enjoyed.


My family came for the weekend and we went to eat outside at Panera Bread.


It is an OK place to eat. I am sure the family eats better when they are at home.

However it is next to a Target Store and afterward we went there to get a new school bag for Chicco.

Simona   tried to get some shorts for the boys, she was not successful because nothing would  fit them.


Last Saturday August 12 my weight was 176.8lb.

Over the weekend I have been cleaning the whole apartment I can not stand the dust it is everywhere.

Anyway here is who I was before.

Who am I right now? I am still a dr. anyway

Last Saturday Grocery Shopping at Trader Joe's.

I had a lot of fun as always.

I spent $110.31 all in good Organic food.

At the end Jamie showed me she is a fan.

She mentioned that her last name is Von Slomski.

A huge trust factor for me.

Last Friday August 11 I went to the gym for my Zumba routine.

I  left at 4:45pm  and I have been dropped at the gym at 5pm

After my Zumba time I came back with Damian Girlfriend's Trish.

They are all nice to me beside she knows where I am staying at CNS.

She has seen pictures of the boys and of the family. I always tell her about my family latest activities.

She lessens and appreciates the news.


My RTC gave me $40 last Friday so I was ready for shopping on Saturday.

Obviously I spent more than the $75 that CNS has agreed to give me.

Because I have some very peculiar taste, I eat healthy and most of it Organic.. I am always spending my money for the food.

This is the list and the final tally was $110.31.. all organic and basic food for cooking.

Chicco and I  enjoying lunch at Panera Bread

With Lapo and Simona in blue shirt at Target to get a new backpack for school for Chicco.

At Target we also tried to get some shorts for Lapo. There were no available for him.

I am posting it because it is a picture of my father when he was a young person.

In my opinion he has the same chin as our eldest son Chicco.

Weekend cleaning

Of course I cleaned accurately my restroom, I like to keep it clean and in order.

I use the broom to sweep the tile floor. Once the floor was done I used a few  swifter pads to clean the floor.

At the end the floor  looked good to me

Of course at the beginning of my cleaning I removed  the dust at the top of the shelf..

Do not ask me how I reach it. 

Well since it is here I used a chair.

I cleaned inside the kitchen cabinet's 

Right now it is absolute order and the cleanness is just the way I like it.

It all looked good to my taste.

Here is a page of my memory book documenting in Italian what I cleaned last Sunday.

I cooked chicken things and went to the gym.

I used the chicken as it had to be used within the day.

I made a soffritto with garlic, celery, carrots and tomatoes.

I rolled the chicken in spices and white  flour

It all cooked gently and very healthy.

I used Coconut Oil for cooking and a vegetable bouillon  cube from Simona.

After eating a byte I went to the gym.

I am following my memory book so tat I am sure it is the way it went

At 2pm I signed off and Maricela dropped me at the gym .

I followed my own program listed below.

A lot of bending my legs, a lot of abdominal, chest, shoulder, back muscle.

At the gym I am focusing on repetition rather than weight. I am going at the gym to protect my body and to feel well.  I avoid any strenuous effort, especially any machine that has giving me  issue.

Last time I did an incline chest press and it gave me a bad headache.

I avoid  it this time and it was far different

I am slowly understanding that focusing on repetition and less weight for me put less of a strain to my cardiovascular system.

Anyway at 3:50pm  I was done and I walked back by myself to the apartment.

I signed in at 4:20pm

It was a really hot walk so as soon as I was back I jumped in a cold shower.

Literally cold shower.

Also I made myself a cold ice tea 

Jolanta mentioned that it is good keep tracking what works for my body and what needs to be adjusted.

Less weight and more repetition is always a good mantra for me.

While at the gym I left a few stickers for Kayla's daughter. She has a 5 years old daughter.

Britney mentioned that she has kids as well. I have brought her stickers as well.
She was not at the gym so I left it with Kayla.

Anyway at some point during the day I enjoyed this feature of the iPhone. A voice activated command " Siri Take a selphie"

Breakfast this morning. Healthy breakfast for a while

As I had time - loading for the new clinic is 9:30am I had just enough time to make a new batch of overnight Oats.

I have a bullet proven preparation I am following.

It has been tested on a regular basis and last time I did it was last August 10.

This time I added a fair amount of milk since last time I had only used Coffee.

The usual flower for the day