Last month on I Heart Romance & YA
Hello fellow, Wormies! It’s another month and we have entered the BER months! What does this mean? It means that it’s almost Christmas! One of my favorite (and bittersweet) holidays! Are you as excited as I am for Christmas? I think it’s time to write up another bookish Christmas wishlist and hopefully, Santa’s helpers will grant your wish early! Or at least, they have time to plan and hide the spoils from you!
Let’s Get Personal
So, I was debating about talking about this, and I have been sitting on it for over a year now. But I guess I’ll talk about it here, right now, before I lose my nerve.
One of the not so shocking things happened to me at the end of 2017. I got diagnosed with Hypertension. I guess this should not be a shock to me since I have it in my family, but what shocked me was my blood pressure was over 200 mmHg! For those who don’t know what that means, that means, it was EXTREMELY HIGH. LIKE STROKE LEVEL HIGH. I found out about it when I went to my OB for baby planning (which has been put on hold for the moment). And the funny thing is, I’m a nurse and I did not see the signs at all! In hindsight, I should have checked my blood pressure when I noticed the signs, but I guess I was in denial? Or I just didn’t think about it because I was 34! I mean, I haven’t been eating the healthiest diet, but still!
So, to the ER I went and yeah. It was shockingly over 200. A week later – on January 2018, I went back to the ER again because my left arm was numb and weak. For those who don’t know what that means, that basically is one of the signs of a stroke! Anyway, as with the first visit, they found nothing wrong with me. Blood tests and EKG and X-Ray was clear. And for the rest of the year at least, my blood pressure has been maintained. I was taking medication for it.
But I guess I also dropped the ball because I gained back the weight I lost earlier last year! Gaaah horrible. But I have no one to blame but myself.
Why am I talking about this now? Oh yeah, it’s because I had to go back to the ER a few nights ago due to the same issue! And as always, they found nothing wrong with me. I guess it’s a wake-up call for me to finally change my eating habits!
This shouldn’t have been a surprise though. A couple of weeks before this incident, my OB changed my meds because we were finally going to try getting pregnant. I don’t think the meds helped me because I had to go to the ER. Sigh*
That’s my saga. Thanks for everyone who read my personal ramblings! I promise to write more of this soon! Haha
Now, back to our scheduled bookish program!
I’ve read 79 books this year! I think I am reading slower this year compared to last year. This is fine, but I know I won’t be able to get to all the books that I want to read this year! The horror!
Halfway Girl remains my shortest read and The Kingdom of Copper remains my longest read so far.
I’m actually doing better with my reviews this year! I think that’s amazing! While not all of my reviews make it to my blog, I am counting reviews on Goodreads that are longer and not just short thoughts after I read the book.
I’m also reading a lot of older pubbed books that have been on my TBR forever! FINALLY!
I read two 5-star books this month and I had to share it! Slave to Sensation by Nalini Sigh was an AMAZING read! Tattered by Devney Perry was soo subtle and grabbed me in the feels! It was so damn good and emotional and amazing!
I also want to add that I am totally addicted to Lore Olympus! It’s a webcomic created by Rachel Smyth and it’s about Hades and Persephone! OMG! It’s SPECTACULAR! I LOVE IT SO MUCH! It’s basically an age-gap, billionaire, anti-hero, office romance! Eeeeep! Plus, the writing is snarky and brilliant! Oh, and the art is FANTASTIC!
[wrap-up-posts date=”August 2019″ category=”Reviews” listtype=”ol”]
[wrap-up-posts date=”August 2019″ notin=”Reviews” listtype=”ol”]
I am so excited for my next feature! Read a Romance Blog will be LIVE on Wednesday, so stay tuned for that! Don’t forget to sign-up to be featured!
Pierre and I have been binge-watching TV shows this month! Crazy, right? I hardly watch TV now!
I’m seriously addicted to Demon Slayer! It’s ana amazing anime and it totally ticked all my boxes!
What have you been up to? Any plans for this long weekend?
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I hope you are able to get your BP under control. That is SCARY!! And I am so glad you loved Slave to Sensation. Its my most recc’ed book!
Samantha recently posted…#SundayPost: Mental Health Matters
Thanks, Sam! It’s under control now. I think it was the change in the meds that did it. 🙁
YES, I am loving Slave to Sensation. Nalini’s writing style is AMAZING!
OMG….I am so sorry to hear that you are going through such a rough patch love!! Much prayers and love sending your way. Please take care of yourself and best wishes on getting pregnant!! Let me know if you need anything or just want someone to talk to. I am always here for you darling.
So happy to see you loved Tattered and Slave to Sensation, they are both incredible reads for sure.
Lover of Romance recently posted…Featured Podcast: The Infinite Fringe
Thank you, Renee! It’s been tough but I think things need to change with my habits to avoid this in the future.
I’m slowly reading the Psy-Changeling series!
Oh wow, sorry to hear about your medical problems! A change in medication is so hard because then you have to go back and figure out what will work without destroying your body.
I enjoy Christmas but I’m more of a fall girl. I love cool temperatures, fall, and fall foods!
I know! It sucks!! But I have to live with it!
I can’t wait for cooler temps!! Gaaah!
Oh, wow—sorry to hear about all the health issues, but I’m glad that nothing REALLY horrible happened that taught you the lesson. Hope you get your blood pressure under control!
Yes!! It’s a bit scary tho!!
So, I feel for you with the hypertension. I had to go on blood pressure medication last spring. It has definitely fixed a few things for me. But I know that I also need to lose weight. I weigh more right now than I ever have in my entire life, and also seem to have no will or energy to do the things I need to do. :-(. But I know I need to. I’m hoping you are able to get your health back soon and that nothing bad happens. It’s so scary!
On a lighter note, I still need to read The Friend Zone myself, it just sounds so good! You can check out my end of the month post in the link below!
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…August 2019 Wrap-Up Post and Looking Ahead to September
Oh no! I hope you’re okay now! I gained a bit of weight too but totally lost a few pounds since this incident!
I’m happy that you are getting your hypertension under control. I read a 600 page book this year–The Black Witch and also have plans for the sequel as well as The Priority of an Orange Tree which is really long too. My August was awesome as far as books because I received ARCs of Fireborne and Frankly in Love for review.
Oh I think I want to read The Black Witch hopefully it’s available on audio!