Goooood

Dinner turned out amazing! The mac n cheese was UN-belieavable! I have now officially eaten that same meal THREE times - by tonight I'll be ready to go out!

Today will be spent doing yardwork (Conrad) and housework (me). I also have lists of things to organize. I'm not a big spring cleaner, but fall cleaning inspires me! I desparately need to go through EVERYTHING and see what needs to be chucked, donated or Ebay'd ... I am not going to freak myself out and say this will be done TODAY - but I do have a timeline of New Year's ... a little each weekend, a little each night will go a long way. My days of coming home and watching three episodes of Ghost Whisperer are over. :)

I hope everyone had an awesome Turkey Day - even those of us who opted for ham!

Happy Christmas-season to you all.

Kah

Happy Thanksgiving

Hey everybody!

Happy Thankgiving!

Conrad and I stayed home this year. We had so much travel right before the holiday, we decided to stay home. I'm actually cooking this year for just the two of us! I made the pumpkin pies last night. YUM! I have the crockpot mac n cheese going (since 7AM) and the cornbread for the stuffing is cooling ... all that's left is the rest of the stuffing, the ham and the sweet potatoes!

My favorite part of today, besides the football, is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I love it. It kicks off the holiday season for me ... LOVE LOVE LOVE it !!!! We are usually on the road driving when it comes on, so I miss it a lot. But not today. I got up, got some things prepped, made my pumpkin spice coffee - and now I'm waiting on the parade kick off.

I'm thankful for my health and my entire family's health - and for Conrad and Blanca - and my family that I love. I'm thankful we have a nice home, good jobs, that we live in the US - everything we all have.

Special thanks to my Uncle Kelley who is spending this holiday in Iraq, protecting us. Y'all say a special prayer, for him, ok?

Kah

WANTED

This woman:
Martha Stewart

There is a reason she went to prison and I am thinking it wasn't just insider trading. It was because we, as women, have decided she belongs there. She is RIDICULOUS.

Conrad and I went to look at KB Homes one afternoon and signed the little card and I guess with that, they sent me a free subscription to Living magazine - it should be called You Could Never Be As Good as Me magazine.

I was sitting here last week flipping through the Christmas issue and God bless Conrad, I had a mini meltdown. I just don't think it is possible to be as perfect as this woman wants us to think she is. There's no way I can look at a box, a fabric scrap and a broken down ribbon and see instead a gloriously wrapped present - AND who has time for that ???

and how she is always jumping all over people like Rachel Ray by saying "well, she's a good cook, but she can't bake and does she have her own garden?" .... Uh, you know MARTHA/DEVIL most of us work 8 hour days, commute 2 hours - I barely have the energy or WILL to even throw some hamburger helper on the stove when I get home, much less tend a garden with white asparagus, heirloom tomatoes and arugula ...

But never-the-less, I was sitting here looking at all her Christmas tress she puts up every year - in EVERY room- and looking at the cookie recipes YOU MUST bake and I just sort of had a breakdown - a "I'm not good enough" moment. If I baked those cookies for Conrad and I would love to - who is going to eat them? 48 cookies, really ???

To his credit, Conrad listened to my insane rant very calmly. He also reminded me that the devil has minions - Martha has a full staff that tends her crappy little garden, that puts up those ridiculous trees and hunt down, kills and cooks her fresh free range chickens (raised on her farm) and bakes her cookies. I doubt the woman even dresses herself.

Regardless, I think she should be stopped. Prison is the only way. I'm about to start a petition.

I was also reminded by a male coworker that her husband left her and her kid hates her ... so ... I don't know ... perhaps it all came at a price. Just sometimes I wish I could do it all, have it all.

Can I hear a what, what ????

Kah

What's Up, Doc?

Ok, sorry there have been no updates. I've been busy!

So I saw the new doc. LOVE HIM. He spent ONE WHOLE HOUR with me !!!!

First of all, yeah, you should never take medicine for a condition you do not have. Since I do not have Type 2 Diabetes, if I had taken the Byetta, there's a good chance I would have become hypoglycemic ... which is so scary. I can't even imagine ... GIVING myself something I don't really have ... how IRRESPONSIBLE was my doctor?!

Second of all, new doc doubts very much I am pre-diabetic. He said that is the new trendy buzz word in endocronology and it's very irritating. He said most endocronologists deal with overweight patients- because some people who have diabetes or lupus or hypothyroidism ARE overweight. He said sadly, some of the docs have decided to run fat clinics. You can make a LOT of money if you can start offering that side service to people.

Look I WANT to be skinny and cute again - but mostly I want to be healthy. I don't WANT diabetes and breast cancer and heart disease. By losing weight I can greatly slash my chances of getting those diseases. The first two don't run in my family - so my weight going down will almost guarantee I don't get them and disease number 3- well, losing weights helps that 100% !

Doc # 2 told me also that since I was very very HYPERthryoid at one time, and so that triggers something in your hormones and brain to eat eat eat ... and I did! When I first got sick I could eat and eat and I lost 22 lbs! He said well, once we fixed your thyroid - we didn't fix that center in your brain that says HEY - I'm full! He said my blood levels are good - so really ... the only thing keeping me fat is ME - and my brain ... made SO MUCH sense! It's not that I'm a lazy slug who stuffs herself all day - there's something in my brain that tells me I am constantly hungry ... and when you eat larger portions, it's very hard to get motivated to find a treadmill. I really don't snack ... but we do eat out a lot and the portions are way out of control at restaurants ...

Most likely he is going to put me on Metformin, which does reduce appetite. If that can helpe me dump you know, 20 lbs - I should be more energetic for the workouts and as mentioned before, the appetite will be greatly reduced. But he will only do this for a little while. It's not a fix, there is NO fix except diet and exercise. This is a BOOST ...

He also ran all the tests I need to see if I am pre-diabetic but he said he would be shocked if I was. He said you have to run three tests - my old doc ran ONE and it wasn't even a fasting test. The results from that test, if I had been pre-disabetic would have been 101-125 and my level was 93 back in March ... without fasting. New doc said he is also going to run a test to give him a two week average of my blood sugar ... but he said he thinks I'm fine. I should know in a week.

I am SO angry at doc # 1 who clearly doesn't care much for me ... I am about to write him a letter and fire him offically and I asked doc # 2 - Dr Wilson if he would please take me on as a thyroid patient. He happily accepted.

I did ask him, as well, about Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome - because it's all hormonal to. He asked me if I had facial hair or chest hair and after I stopped snorting and laughing, I told him no- most assuredly not. I might have some extra pounds but I've always had great skin and a decent face - I don't have to SHAVE! He said well ... we can certainly run some sonograms ... and I said woah woah woah - I don't ... I don't want to do all that. He asked if Conrad and I were having some trouble conceiving ... and again. after I stopped laughing and rolling my eyes I said um, yes ... thank GOD. I don't want children ... he raised his eyebrows and said why and I said I don't know - i don't care for them. He grinned and said he didn't either. A kindred spirit! .... and I said look, i don't need the ovaries to WORK not for their intended purpose - if they produce hormones or whatever and you're concerned about it, then ok ... but if you mean do I want them to work so I can fill Conrad's house with children, then I'm good ... let's just .. let them go and he said ok, if they ever cause pain, etc - we'll check it out.

Thanks to Kelley who helped me question it and I now fully support and ENCOURAGE second opinions!

As soon as I get my results, I will post them!

Kah

Getting it in gear

Ok ... so ...

I began this morning with oatmeal and had a salad for lunch. A homemade salad - so I could control what was going in. I sort of messed up on the dinner thing, BUT more often than not I mess up on lunch as well as dinner, so we're off to a good start!

Tomorrow is a new day and I should be able to swing all three meals, in a controlled and orderly fashion. So I'm getting it in gear!

If you're on my Facebook you probably saw my post on Saturday morning- Conrad was gone and its not often when I have an entire day at my disposal. SO- I used it to Christmas shop and I do believe I am 90% done. I almost always find something cute here and there for someone ... and we are still waiting for Conrad's parents to send in their lists, but other than that, I'm done baby - EVEN with Conrad!

Conrad, however (shakes head sadly) not so much. He SAYS he will do it and finish it this weekend ... we shall see! As for me though, I got my Christmas rear in GEAR!

Kah

Manage Your Own Healthcare

First of all, happy Saturday- Happy November!

I had an apple/cinnamon pedicure this morning and then put a big pot of beans on to cook. It's fall, y'all!

My message today is to question, question, question and to be your own health advocate.

Wednesday I had my three month check up with the thyroid doc. I like him, I trusted him, I never had a problem. I HAVE asked him about insulin resistance before (which he has never answered and never tested me for) and I have spoken to him about the weight gain I've had since being diagnosed with Graves Disease. THIS particular visit, he asked how I was feeling, yadda yadda and immediately launched into what I can only call a sales pitch for a drug called Byetta- google it - it's for people with Type 2 Diabetes and while not insulin, it DOES do something funky with your blood sugar. It is also injected, twice a day, not a pill.

He tells me he has had some success giving this to his patients as a weight loss drug, for one year - after a year, the weight loss part of it wears off. One lady lost 45 pounds. He said we only had this small "window of opportunity" ... he also told me it's $200 a month and that my insurance may NOT pay it because it's not supposed to be used for weight loss and I am not diabetic. He gave me a one month sample and also casually told me I was Pre-Diabetic. WHAT?!

I had that test in MARCH and he told me I was fine ... it never came up again. This is NOVEMBER. I was very bothered. I went home with my sample and put it away ...

Friday I mentioned this to my friend, Kelley, at work who has thyroid issues as well. She was very concerned and asked me to call the doc and get my blood test results please for the entire year. In the meantime we looked up Byetta and WOW-EE folks. Nuh- huh. NOT doing it. It has been known to cause pancreatitis and more scary, renal failure. NO THANK YOU. Not for 45 lbs. It has caused enough renal failure (which is kidney) that the FDA is now looking into it. The drug is only 5 years old.... it said it HAS been known to cause weight loss because what it does is it shuts the stomache valve. Closes it tight. It is physically IMPOSSIBLE to eat while on this drug. The tummy won't open, so uh yeah- it causes weight loss alright! One of the side effects is severe upset stomache - which if you think about it, it's like plugging up your sink and turning on the water- eventually it will overflow, i.e. vomit.

My blood tests fax came over in record time. I even had gotten my results from the day before. My levels are good - no change. We looked and he did check my glucose in March and it was 93, which is completely within range. I also had not fasted that day because I didn't know we were testing it ... so basically he just LOOKED at me a few months later, ok almost a YEAR later and decided, hey I need to push this drug on her .... I am NOT pre-diabetic. In further conversations with Kelley she said I COULD be insulin resistant which makes you feel bad, whether you eat or not and makes it impossible to lose weight. They do have meds for that.

She helped me get an appt with HER doc for 11/18 and I am going to have a fasting insulin test as well as a PCOS test -Polycistic Ovarian Syndrome. Very common with thyroid patients and insulin resistant people. I do seem to have more tummy problems than most people. When I called to make my appt the lady answering the phone was VERY concerned and told me not to take the Byetta.

Thank goodness for my brain, thank goodness for my friend who REALLY cares about me and thank goodness for second opinions.

In the meantime, I am moving and exercising and eating as well as I know how. I can not wait to see Dr Wilson in a few weeks. I am very interested to know his thoughts on this Byetta pusher.

Seriously, google it. I would not get NEAR this stuff unless I was well and truly diabetic.

Kah