AL - Recording baby steps: Newest Addition

[Farmfresh]

I am just trying to cover all of the basis here so bare with me...

Have you ever been to an endocrinologist? I have hypothyroidism and I believe that has significantly slowed my metabolism over the years even WITH supplements. Others on this forum have mentioned suffering from adrenal fatigue.

I would only wish that you have had a VERY through going over BEFORE the surgery. I would hate for you to go through an expensive and difficult surgery and then later discover a simple solution.

I now wish that I had stuck with my gut feelings and gone with only minimum treatments. As it is the meds that were prescribed by my doctor have left me with even worse problems. Now in addition to the arthritis I also have nerve damage. :/

 

[sekinkead]

I won't judge or flame you either. I'm glad to hear that you have done the research and if that is what you feel is best for you then go for it. Good luck and I will pray that the surgery goes well and you have no problems with the post-op.

On another note, we had tons of rain here yesterday. Roads were flooded over or had standing water in them on my way home. One county over even had a tornado warning. It was 65* yesterday and today it's 37* but tomorrow it's supposed to be back up in the low 60's.

 

[AL]

Thanks all.
I appreciate your questions, FF, because I have 4 months yet to change my mind . I did have hypothyroid at one time and was on meds - but the last 2 times my doc has checked it has been in the normal - high normal range (and I had stopped taking my meds for about a year... shhhhhhh).
I have read with interest some of the threads on adrenal fatigue, and I am trying to get my "ducks in a row" to try some of those suggestions. I figure whether it helps with significant weight loss or not, doing healthy stuff is a good idea.
Questions and doubts won't offend me or hurt my feelings... I appreciate help making sure I am covering all the bases. I am single with no close immediate family. My friends are very supportive and have asked a few questions as well... when I can answer them confidently it helps me feel better about the choices I've made.
Being accepted here, though, will help me post op to find a way to live an SS life and the surgery will help me do it more energetically. (and I can buy some Carhartts!!)

Besides, it isn't a sure thing yet - I still have to take a 2 hour Psych eval!!!


So my tomatoes are still sitting in the horse trailer. Evidently we 'might' have a FROST tonight!!!! What? In April?!?! In Florida?!?!
At least right now all I have to do is cover the pepper plants and put some more litter in for Pat and her houseguests the chicks.

So have you checked out the eagle cam? Amazing how interested I can get in watching a bird sit on a nest in hopes of seeing her feed the eaglet or the male to come bringing food
There is another site that has all of the info about the pair of eagles (mated since '07 I think), and the nest (5-6' wide, the same deep), etc. But I can't find it.

http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/index.html

 

[JRmom]

Good luck with your surgery. I'm sure you've put a lot of thought into the decision.

We have had thunderstorms moving through all morning and it's gotten chilly. I worried about my garden last week with 4 days of rain, but everything survived, and in fact, my tomatoes took off. Are you in the Panhandle?

 

[glenolam]

I wish you the best of luck in whatever decision you make.

PM Pink Fox and read her journal - she mentioned something about having surgery to aid in weight loss..I'm sure she's got a bunch of info she can share with you.

 

[AL]

Yeah JRmom... a lot of thought. I was really apprehensive because I worked in an ER from 2000 - 2005 and saw this surgery go "fad" like a wildfire. I also saw a friend die from it. She didn't even come close to following what the surgeon required and paid with her life. So I swore I would never do it. But I have lost weight, regained, lost, regained so much.... other than my weight I am actually really healthy. My normal blood pressure is 112/78, my cholesterol is on the very low end of normal (137) and every other lab is good. But be it discipline, genetics (mom's side of family heavy way back) or whatever, I just can't lose weight and keep it off. I just need this tool to help me be healthy. I have been so much happier even just thinking about life "normal" sized.
I am in the panhandle. We had storms last night that uprooted trees and destroyed older mobile homes - it was like a tropical storm, only now it has turned cold! (well, Florida cold ).


Hey Thanks Gleno - I will check it out! It will be at least late July probably later before I actually have the surgery, but I am dieting etc to lose some weight and reduce some of the risks.

So some photo updates of what we call "status quo"

You have my new rabbit (strictly pet). I call her "Bon Bon" (from the doc who said I sit around watching TV all day, I tell people I spend my hours in front of the TV eating cheetos and bon bons. I'm working on getting a cinnamon colored rabbit and she will be Cheeto )

Camo Chicken - feasting on the leaves of a crepe myrtle tree

and finally - before it turned cold again - Buddy discovered the AC unit and did a Fabio impression letting the wind blow in his "hair" ( I still say he was destined to live with OFG)

 

[savingdogs]

I would never judge you for wanting this surgery. We cannot all be self-sufficient in all ways. I would hate to try to make my own medicine should I not be able to get the prescription medications I need. I might want to KNOW how to make something homemade should we have a societal breakdown, but I don't want to give up on modern medicine while it is available. We should all have the best life we can have.....

Modern medicine, hot running water, electric power, internet....these are things I would choose to give up LAST.

That being said, I'm a veteran of "special diet".... It gets really old. Really, really old. I'd make sure you have exhausted every way you have to feel happy without forcing a special diet on yourself, including accepting your larger self as being normal for you, since you say you are healthy. I've been large and I've been small and being small does not make you happy necessarily. I get thinner when I become more ill...and it isn't worth it. I'd start on that special diet now and see how you like it and the changes it makes in your life, what joy it steals. Try it a year, not four months. It isn't so bad the first time you go to a restaurant with people or go to a gathering and cannot eat what other people eat that upsets you, it is the umpteenth millionth time, and having to always request special things for yourself, or to need special foods you can no longer afford. You will go through a few life changes possibly before you are done eating in this lifetime.

My final comment is that as I've aged, my plumbing just....ain't what it used to be. Having had no issues of this kind as a younger person I could not have ever imagined the agonies. That I never needed anything like gastric bypass is truly a blessing in my case, I would have a pretty poor quality of life right now if I had to endure TWO special diets and my plumbing being...altered in a way that might encourage "dumping" in any fashion. Perhaps I'd be more plain if I was less discreet but that is how I'll describe it. I would look into the effects that aging has upon people who have had this surgery and what their long term quality of life is, since this procedure is irreversible, and whether it encourages incontinence later in life. Being the "correct" weight is overrated in our society. Being healthy and happy should be our ultimate goal for our bodies.

Whatever you choose, you would have my full support and prayers and hopes for your ultimate happiness. I think everyone here just wants their SS friends to be happy in their self-sufficiency, not judge .....I was nervous to bring up my Kindle, so I understand your hesitation. But I don't think we need to drop out of the modern world in order to make more SS choices.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

that IS very Fabio! and hee hee hee tell Buddy to ask the goats how lovey-dovey i am

HA!

but if i had a horse i could ride it to round up the chickens and that would be a sight!

 

[Denim Deb]

How about a cow instead? http://www.dailypress.com/news/national/sns-ap-eu-germany-jumping-cow,0,2380504.story

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

yep, DD, it would be me and Ol' Moo out there riding the ranges, bringin in them little doggies.... a girl and her cow and the open sky.....