Wow that was fast!

Long time no see !

Apparently I jinxed myself by saying the plague in my house was gone.  It came back on Thursday. Sore throat all day long and I could feel it swelling on the outside.  I leave work and look in my throat and yikes - bright red and gross spots.  get the kid and head to the walgreens clinic - rapid strep test was positive of course.

Awesome.

Now just hoping I didn't spread it back to my kids.  I did throw away all tooth brushes and plan to change mine out again tomorrow.  Just to be safe.

Thankfully at least the antibiotics have helped my throat swelling go down a bit so it doesn't hurt to swallow anymore.  

And now that my weekend plans were ruined by the hideous thunderstorm headed our way, I'll have all day tomorrow to re-bleach everything along with doing dishes and laundry and let's hope it doesn't end like this-

 
In addition to this lovely news, I also learned more about the TOPS organization that i was researching.  Awesome mission, but they just don't have it as together as I would like for a nationwide chapter based non-profit organization.  Far too many hoops to jump through to run a chapter and the local field staff doesn't even know the basic rules of setting up a chapter legally, they just base it on what everyone else does - which seems to be "wing it and hope it's ok".  The local chapters aren't even a part of the org's non-profit status so just no.  This doesn't work for me.

So now on to the newest plan -

Having a women's weight loss support group that is just a private group, no affiliation to any national org at all.  It won't be non-profit but doesn't really matter, we aren't trying to run a business.  And I've got people who want to meet either on weeknights or weekends so if we did it privately, we have so much more control.  Like we could alternate weeks with Monday evenings and Saturdays so everyone has a chance to go at least twice a month.  We can still do contests and small prizes and brainstorm topics to discuss each meeting.

And I found a local grocery store willing to let us use a conference room they ahve upstairs for free.  It used to be their district office but it's not used anymore so 90% of the time it's empty.  The Manager said that they may even give some freebies/samples to us sometimes to try out new stuff and see what our thoughts are so it will benefit them & will help us.  And built in field-trip spot to learn about nutrition labels and food choices. 

So now I'm just gathering up friends and coworkers and seeing whose with me :).  If that's you, feel free to call/email/message me.

And now I've got to get some rest for my super exciting day tomorrow.  I wonder if I need to sterilize my CPAP machine because of strep. ....  hmmm...  more fun things to do tomorrow I guess.

Gnite!

Mama's Got Willpower Issues!

Hi!

Well the plague of sickness finally left the house.  We bleached everything to death and replaced every couch and bed pillow we owned :).

Lots of random stuff going on over here -

My daughter's school is finishing up in a few weeks and she gets to be a part of a local Girls Inc camp that has a nice summer program that encourages literacy and math while doing fun stuff like swimming and skating.  She will love it :).

She is also bridging up to Junior Girl Scouts this week from being a Brownie.  She loves Girl Scouts :)

I've been trying to check into 4H for her in the fall because they have a local horse & pony club but the person who runs it hasn't gotten back to me so I'll have to turn into stalker mom lol.  She loves horses and it sounds like a great opportunity to learn - as long as they don't only have it for people who own a horse cause that is just not happening unless we win the lottery :).

My son went to see his new developmental pediatrician yesterday as his regular ped wanted him to be checked for autism or any other issue that his speech issues could be masking.  Happy to say my little man is not autistic, even mildly.  His issues pretty much stem from his heart defect.  The doc did suggest a med that could help though, it's basically a vitamin that gets injected to help with speech, so we're checking on that and may be giving it a try.

He also started getting Occupational Therapy and she said he's got some muscle weakness near his shoulders which could be causing some of his fine motor issues.  She's suggestion CoQ10 for him and his other docs are on board with that.  She's going to start working with him regularly to increase his overall strength.

So all is good on the kiddo front :).

Now for me -

I got a new mask for my CPAP/APAP machine, it's a nasal mask instead of a full face mask because I got sick of the late night noises of the face mask and apparently my face has ridges on either side of my nose making it hard for a face mask to fit properly.  Been smooth sailing since I got the nasal mask (tiny mask just fits over just my nose).

And good news - got my blood work back and the machine is helping so much that my red blood cell (hemoglobin/hematocrit) levels are back to normal so no more need to see the Hematologist - yay!

Of course if I could stop waking up or dreaming of needing to take it off and randomly shutting the machine off in the middle of the night - that would be nice :) 

So picture this one on me, still ridiculous, but hey, I'm alive, sleeping and breathing at the same time - always a good thing :). 

My vitamin D is also back up to a normal level thanks to the Advocare vitamins I've been taking :)

And my diabetes A1C test was down to 5.3, which is awesome.

Sadly my diet has not been going as well as my test results for everything else.  Fell off bandwagon and just kept rolling downhill.

But I'm still taking the vitamins, and I've been researching and looking at all possible options to help me get back on track.

What I've discovered -

I know how to eat - I've been to multiple dieticians and know how to assemble a plate and when to eat for my diabetes to be in control and to lose weight. 

I know how to exercise - had a personal trainer before, was a (non motivated and chunky) athlete in high school years ago - so I've got the exercises down that I need to do and I know I could just walk.

I also know that I do lose weight when I watch what i eat and I exercise.

And I have no willpower to stick to either of these things for long, maybe it's the ADD creeping up on me, I don't know :).

and sadly, Ryan Gosling just doesn't do it for me, so this is not motivational for me :), but feel free to steal if he does it for ya :)

So I've started checking out gyms, personal training, boot camps, weight loss meetings, weight loss coaches, etc....

Discovered more stuff - I'm cheap and I'm picky.

• I'm not working out in the hot sun at a boot camp in a park in Georgia.  I'm a New Englander, I'm not built for that :)
• I know if I join LA Fitness I'll just use the pool and jacuzzi cause I like them and not enough motivation to use the machines.  I love swimming but I just don't go at it with enough energy for it to make a difference for me, even if it's better than sitting in my butt.  It's more leisure than fitness for me.
• I don't and won't count calories or type my food into an app, ain't nobody got time for that! Like I said I know how to eat, so not needed anyway.
• I don't want to rely on fake products like shakes and meal replacements or diet pills to make the weight come off faster.  It took me years to get this big, I don't expect a miracle overnight.
• I'm too cheap to join weight watchers and I don't really want to do their plan anyway
• Way too cheap to pay for a personal trainer - I know what exercises to do so all they'd be doing is giving me a kick start and paying for a trainer is one expensive kick in the butt.
• Weight loss coaches are insanely priced and well, just no.

So that narrows  it down - a lot.

I've been checking out Curves, the women's only gym that does circuit training.  It's actually pretty cool because you are done with the workout in 30 mins, they have some classes, and they have this key-card thingy that monitors your progress and shows you if you are on target or not and adds challenges for you to reach.  It's really similarly priced to LA Fitness to and it's a mile from my house. And they have a cool contraption thingy that helps you stretch out at the end.

I'm doing a week trial right now but so far that is the winning contender between gyms.  UI checked out 4 - 1 was scary and nasty and would be afraid to touch anything, one was overpriced and tiny, and we already know the issue with LA Fitness.  Curves also has only 3 workers and I've already met all 3 and while it's not personal training, they are there to help if I need it and the fact that they know me by face and name adds a level of accountability.

I've also been checking into this weight loss meeting called TOPS (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly www.tops.org).  They are a national non-profit that offers weight loss motivation meetings where you weight in weekly and meet after weight in for updates, accountability, and a brief program on different health and fitness topics.  Very similar to weight watchers but they don't have any specific diet or food plan.  They want you to work with your doctor to determine what plan to do and they don't endorse any.  Since I know the eating and exercising, this may be the final piece of the puzzle to push me into submission.

Now I just have to find a group that isn't teaming with people twice my age, or possibly start my own chapter of people who are maybe within a decade of my age either direction lol.  Seriously some lady was doing needlepoint at the local meeting I went to lol.  So I'm just checking into the legalities of rnning the meetings but it may come to fruition soon.

We hopefully jumping off the ground and back into the wagon very soon with some help and assistance from others :).

Ya that doesn't really motivate me much either but, here is the list of what I get for hitting my goals - this is what I call motivation.  Very excited to see my husband after the 20 lbs loss!  He really is hot under all that hair!

Hoping to get to see my family by next summer :)

That's about it for now, maybe next time I post up I'll be down a few pounds.

Gnite!

Sleep Apnea & The Never Ending Flu & Diet Progress!

Welcome back!

Well, I've gotten my official sleep apnea diagnosis since my last post.  And not only do I have it, but it is severe.  They rate it with this scale called the AHI scale where they count how many total hours I slept during my sleep study, then they count how many times I stopped breathing for at least 10 seconds, and then how many times my oxygen level in my blood dropped more then 3%, then they divide all that up and get a #, that's your AHI.  Normal is under 5.  Mild to moderate is 5-30.  Severe is over 30.  Mine was 87!  And the scarier part is my pulse-ox (oxygen in my blood) dropped as low as 48-49% at times during the night.

So now my polycythemia makes more sense.  Polycythemia, if you remember, is wher my body is making extra blood, so my hemaglobin and hematocrit are higher in blood tests and they tried to figure out why.  If I'm not getting oxygen, then it's not getting to my brain, or 48-49% of the time it isn't in some cases - so since blood brings oxygen to the brain, my body has decided that clearly I must not have enough blood since it wasn't getting enough oxygen, so it created more.  

Thankfully for me, when the body has a choice of breathe or sleep - it chooses breathing.  Otherwise I'd be dead.  However this not only explains my extra red blood cells but also why I am tired constantly because my body is constantly waking up to take a breathe, so I'm never getting into a deep REM sleep.

So all that being said, now that you've had my sloppy science lesson - at least I know what is wrong with me.  The doctor told me that diet might help but with it being as severe as it is, it won't "cure" it.  Surgery also won't cure it.  Causes of it are mostly just genetics and how my neck and muscles in and around it are shaped, and sometimes as you age they can relax as well, and weight certainly doesn't help.  But nothing will cure it, so I have to use a CPAP machine. It's a machine that shoots air into me forcing a pathway to my lungs and basically forces me to breathe so I can both breathe and sleep.

Enter this hideous thing:

This is actually the second mask I've had.  The first kept leaking and making farting noise, which shockingly enough, is hard to sleep through when it's strapped to your face with air shooting at you.

You know you're jealous. 



Now of course, a few days after getting this thing - what hits my house - you guessed it - the flu, and not just any old flu.  A crazy bionic stomach flu that also somehow turned into a sinus/cold kind of thing.  First one to get knocked on his butt was the toddler, as usual.  Poor little man was not a happy camper, but thankfully vomiting only hung out for a day.  Next few days were just the nausea and not wanting to eat anything except oatmeal and drink gatorade. Finally by like Thursday or Friday he was getting better, but then somehow comes up with a cold and coughing all night long each night.  Awesome for everyone involved as I'm sure you can tell. And Saturday brings us to the doc and he now has an ear infection.  Lovely.

Then fast forward to Wednesday of that week - about to walk into the docs office for a quick checkup for my daughter - and she tosses her cookies in the parking lot.  Good thing the doc has puke bags, just in case.  She was sick all that day and sadly, we had to cancel her bday party that was scheduled that weekend.  Pretty sure none of the parents wanted to be infected by the plague spreading in my house.   She was sick all weekend, Sunday comes and she's all better and jumping on the trampoline like a crazy person.

Thursday - what happens - I get it and start to be nauseous.  I don't ever puke though - kinda wish I did because the constant fear of it is much worse.  That finally went away yesterday.  Which is good because you can't use a face mask for a CPAP machine with nausea because I'm thinking puking in your own mask and suffocating is probably not highly recommended.

Hubby somehow avoided all stomach troubles, but he got a full fledged cold right around Thursday/Friday and he and Andrew got to cough and hack together.

My house has now been aired out, bleached to death, and is hopefully free of this horrible plague that settled in. 

And now back to wearing my mask.  Until this new one started making farting noises in the middle of the night again.  I am hoping the info I learned from googling will help, but I get to go see the respiratory therapist tomorrow just in case, because OMG it is obnoxious.  

But in general I know the machine is working since my AHI has dropped from 87 to like 2.  Now if i could just wear it for more than a couple hours before it gets all screwy, I'll get a full nights sleep.

 And if all of that was not enough - I've also been dieting this entire time, still on the Advocare 24 day challenge (although it will be more like a 28-30 challenge now that I paused for the flu!).

I'm doing good though - down 8 lbs :).  The last 2 were totally not on purpose ;-).

Today was the first time in as long as I can remember that we were able to go outside and get some exercise as a family.  It was beautiful and in the 70s after work, so we took a long walk with the kids and Boston (the dog) and explored the high school up the street.  Did just over 1.5 miles and about half was uphill.  I'm hoping I'll continue to have the energy to keep this up!

That's all for now, hopefully the next couple weeks are much less eventful!  That is until my kid's rescheduled bday party where I'm going to have 5 8/9 years running around my house having a "spa party".  Boy that sounds fun.

Gnite!

Day 3, still going strong

Well I am on day 3 of my Advocare 24 day weight loss challenge.  So far so good.  I'm drinking enough water I could drown, I'm eating right and every few hours to ensure I don't get starving and binge, and I'm taking all my supplements like a good little girl :)  I've got a diet buddy from church and with our Advocare coach we're staying on track. 

I've made some good stuff this week - had some grilled chicken salads and some chicken in the crockpot with some asparagus yesterday.  Today we had a un-stuffed cabbage roll recipe (basically chopped up cabbage instead of smushing stuff in a roll) that was pretty good.  I'm still working on  finding good stuff to eat for snacks.  So far I've got fruit with nuts or nut butters, occasionally a Greek yogurt, veggies with hummus, and popcorn.  I've recently started to get back on Pinterest so I've been hoarding recipes there to find some new ones. 

I almost forgot I have had a slight "injury", and it is quite sad if I do say so myself.  I pulled a hamstring hoisting myself off the couch so many times because of how much water I drank and how many times I had to get up to pee.  Yes, I hurt myself getting up to pee.  I feel like a 90 yr old lol.  Try not to laugh.  :)

I weighed in on Monday - ugh.   I'm lighter than my last doc appt but that's because I gave up diet coke about a week and a half ago.  I love diet coke :(, but it was needed.  I took my before pics and did all my measurements and stuff, and being the spreadsheet crazy lady that I am, I have it all organized so that I can keep track of how many inches I lose all over - from my neck to my fat roll above my waist lol.  I also have my goals listed, some concrete, some more of a gray area.  My ultimate goal is to be down to 165 lbs - and I have a LOOOOOONG way to go.  Here is a snippet of my other goals in case you're curious:

To be able to shop in normal stores, not Lane Bryant, Avenue or Torrid

To be able to wear a tank top in public without looking like someone from people of Walmart videos

To not need the a/c and/or fan all year long in the car/at work

To be able to go on a long walk with my kids without being in pain afterwards

To manage and possibly get rid of my diabetes

To be able to dress up without looking frumpy

Now, as for my medical issues....

Since my last post I have done a home sleep study - that was interesting - weird blue machine strapped to my head and suction-cupped to my forehead and I had to keep it on all night long 2 nights in a row.  I was supposed to get my results yesterday but doc was called into surgery, so tomorrow afternoon as long as they don't close due to snow, I'll know then.

It's sad when you are in GA and everything shuts down for snow but there aren't enough plows here to take care of the roads properly so probably better that way.  I heard on the news that there were 20 plows in the metro area ready and waiting to clear the highway and just had to laugh.  I come from up north where there are 3-4 plows on any given section of the highway at a time during a storm.  they drive at an angle, one diagonally behind the other so they make a giant diagonal line across the highway to clear it all at once and the best and safest spot you can possibly drive in (if you don't mind rocks flying at your car) is right behind them.  And here we have 20, total lol.

This is what today looked like :)  My kid had fun, as did Daddy :)  (The snowman is his lol).

And school is already cancelled tomorrow, no idea how the roads will be, so either I'll be at the office while hubby is home, or I'll have a fun filled day of children screaming and playing while I try and work at home.   Fun times :). 

Playing catch up

OK so I've been a slacker.  So much has happened since my last post - let me try and catch you up.  This will take a bit, so don't mind the length :).

My husband got a new job (yay!), in the daytime (another yay!), although it's an hour away (not so yay!)

On the first day of this new job, that junky car that kept dying and that we fixed - yea it died for good.  That was a fun day of playing tetris with cars and kids.

Day 2 of his new job we got a new to us car, a much nicer car with less miles and more reliable.  Of course he won't drive it because it's so small so we switched :).

Because of his new job I have to get my daughter from ASP and occasionally from son from daycare, so there goes my gym time, so cancelled that membership.

Thankfully my office has since moved about 20 mins closer to my house so that does help with traffic and timing.  My commute is now about 10 mins (another yay!).

My daughter's doing great in school, she's very much like her Mama where she always forgets to study for tests and still passes anyway.  We kinda need to get better at helping her remember to study because it won't always be so easy for her.  She was actually selected to be tested for the gifted program at her school but she was a couple points shy of qualifying.  Oh well, she's got enough on her plate for now.

She was going to equine assisted psychotherapy for a few months to help with some behavior issues, but as soon as we started to get to the good part with us interacting with her and the horses, her therapist got pregnant and can't do it anymore.   So much for that :)

My son is now talking!!!!!  He isn't up to age level yet but he's doing so great.  He is imitating everything people say near him and actually responds now sometimes when you ask him to do something.  He generally will only respond to direct instructions or either/or questions though, so if I say "Give me your cup" he will, or do you want water or milk, he's finally answering the question!! But if I ask him something like "Did you have fun at daycare?"  He just ignores me and walks away lol.   He's also chewing on everything in sight, not teething, just a sensory issue I think.  He has all sorts of chew toys but what did I just catch him eating?  A paper towel lol. 

He's still got speech every week and PT once every month or 2.  He got SureStep SMOs a few months ago thanks to Easter Seals' Champions for Kids program helping with our copay.  He can now walk straight and run and play like other kids so we're just working on building up core strength (his belly muscles).

His lazy eye hasn't gotten any better so this Thursday he's going in for surgery to fix it - he's getting it done on both eyes whereas I only had it done on 1 eye. Recovery should be the same for him, just a few days.  He'll be home with me for a week though just to be safe.  

Now as for me - I also have anew job but in the same company.  I now handle compliance tasks for the company to keep our business and trades licenses where they should be.  Boring legal stuff but I like it and I finally get to use my paralegal training that I well overpaid for so many years ago.

I stopped seeing my PCP for diabetes care because the actual doctor was never there and I kept getting stuck with Nurse Practitioners who didn't quite get it.  I discovered I'm allergic to metformin - I break out all over in pimples and gross zits and I looked like a teenager.  The NP's solution?  To give me another medicine (that expired in 2 days) that was a combination of metformin and another drug.  Ummm no.   So I referred myself to an endocrinologist and she is freaking awesome.

I'm on a new medicine now, it's called Victoza.  It's a shot I shot into my belly every night and so far my A1C is doing great - it's down to 5.2. Of course my endocrinologist doesn't want the fact that my blood sugar is good to make it so I get comfortable and start eating bad.  But sadly, that's exactly what I've been doing.

She wants me exercising, I even got a fitbit, but yea I don't really do anything.

I have been having a problem lately of being so overtired that I'm not really able to function.  I fall asleep everywhere.  I lay down, I'm asleep, I sit at my desk at home eating breakfast, I fall asleep.  Eat dinner, fall asleep.  It's crazy, I have a book I've been trying to read for a month but I just keep rereading the introduction because I fall asleep before the actual 1st chapter starts.

Definitely not normal, so I asked my endo to run some tests to see if I'm "hey I have a toddler" tired, or if there is something wrong with me.   Unfortunately the second case was true.  My Vitamin D is definitely low so I need to supplement, but also my hemoglobin and hematocrit (red blood cells) were oddly high.  She retested to be sure and they are still high, so I asked her what it usually means and she said lung disease.  yikes!!!!   She referred me to a hematologist, who happens to also be an oncologist.

I of course resorted to google, even though I know better because we all know that no matter the symptom, some website somewhere is going to say you are dying.  But regardless I found some possible causes and the least scary one is sleep apnea.  My sister thinks I have this because apparently she's heard me stop breathing while snoring when she visited.  I asked my husband if he heard this and he had no idea :).  I've always known I was a snorer but not that I stop breathing.

So next up in addition to the hematologist - also the ENT to diagnose and treat the potential sleep apnea.  Sleep apnea would explain all my symptoms so hoping it was that.

I saw the hematologist and he doesn't think I have any of the cancer-like causes of polycythemia (the official fancy name for high red blood cells) but he believes its a combination of sleep apnea and my weird.  He is doing blood tests and a chest xray to rule out other issues. He wanted to refer me to my PCP's weight loss clinic too, but I'm not taking diet pills and shots, and thankfully my Endo agrees, I just have to find another way.  Either way whatever is causing it can cause lots of other scary problems so I need to do something quickly to get this stuff under control so I don't wind up with a blood clot or a stroke or anything else scarier.

My ENT is working on scheduling me for a sleep study, hopefully soon because that seems to be one big piece of the puzzle.  If I get treatment for it then I'll have energy to actually cook, and even exercise again. 

I go for a follow up with each specialist soon.  Just what I needed, more specialists :)

So that brings you just about up to speed. I have been researching so many different diets and meal plans and ways to get this weight off of me.  I am 100 lbs overweight.  It's a scary sight when you see on every doctor's printout "Morbidly obese" as one of my "conditions".  I have an extra person inside of me and it's apparently causing my body to fight back in a major way. So many diets though, it's hard to figure them all out, but I need to find something that will encourage me to learn to eat properly, ensure I exercise, and won't cause me to gain everything back the second I stop their program.

I've decided on doing the Advocare 24 day trim challenge (http://www.choosethechallenge.com/).  I have a friend from NH who has used their products for a few years and lost and kept off lots of weight.  The company itself has been in business quite some time and has a good reputation.  They don't force you to replace all your meals with fake foods.  They encourage a lower carb diet that is "clean", ie: non-processed.  My friend is going to coach me to help me get on track and a friend from church is going to be my diet buddy during the challenge so we have some accountability.   So I'll be starting that in a couple weeks once I order the products.

I'm going to try and be better about updating this so I don't have to write such long posts in the future :).

But now you know what's been going on here. And as usual, I'm exhausted, so I'm off to bed!