It's been one day and you people are already giving me your feedback. I'm excited that you'll all be following me on this journey. I only sent this to a few people to start with because I was expecting this to be a bit of an intimidating thing (keeping up a blog that is and hoping people care to read it), but now I'm just really excited to answer your questions and get the ball rolling!
So- First things first; why am I doing Medifast?
Around March of this year (2011) as the weather started to warm up but we still had the heat on in the house I noticed I was always HOT when my roommates were complaining about how cold it was in the house. I was shutting the vent in my room so no heat would get in, and I had already switched to my summer blankets because I couldn't handle the weight and warmth of my down comforter (which is from Ikea and meant to keep you cool- damn swedish and their charts which help you find awesome things like fluffy comforters that aren't too hot). Earlier that year I was also working out at the gym regularly, working with a trainer once a week, and feeling generally happy with getting myself into a routine, but by March I felt like I was complaining everytime I worked out. My shins hurt. I can't breath. Sweat is in my eyes. I'm tired. I'm hungry. I'll poop if I do that (I'll explain that soon).
The main thing about this that I knew was weird was the amount of sweat I was producing. I was getting really hot really fast, and when I was barely even pushing myself I was dripping sweat. I have never been really sweaty- I could work out with the trainer for an hour pushing myself to breaking point with my face glowing like a tomato and I maybe had a sweaty forehead, some inkblots on my back and a mediocre amount of swamp ass- I knew something was wrong, but being who I am (a procrastinator) I ignored it. My workout buddies attributed to "you've just been working out more so maybe you're just getting sweatier".... I would agree and forget about it. I kept working out even though I thought it was really weird that a 2 minute warm up on the elliptical got me smelly. I would go to the mall and be extra sweaty within 5 minutes of walking around. I would sit on my bed for a minute after walking up the stairs because I was winded (about 12 steps from the living room to my bedroom). I should have known something wasn't right. I assumed I just REALLY needed to quit smoking.
In April (April 24th) I was in Philly for Easter with my mom, aunt, grandma, and cousin. We went out to brunch and sat inside under the A/C and I was MISERABLE. I don't think I can emphasize that enough. My clothes were sticking to me, I had my dress rolled up under the table with my legs spread as wide as possible without the waiter seeing me, and going through water like I had been trapped in the desert for 3 days. I imagine I looked much like a woman going into labor but trying to hide it.
Of course with my mom, aunt, and grandma being the Nagging Nancies they are (did I make that term up?) they kept telling me that as soon as I got home I needed to go to the doctor, and that they would keep calling me until I went. Normally, yes, they would have kept on calling but I think they called my mom instead and she was testing me to see if i would get this taken care of on my own. By May 2nd I went to the Dr., told her I was sweaty and she sent me out for blood work. About 3 days later I got the call... DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNnnnnnn;
Me: Hi, this is Jennifer Green, I got a call from Dr.___ asking me to give her a call back about my blood work.
Secretary: Yes, one moment please
(20 minutes later)
Secretary: Dr.___ will have to give you a call back in a moment
Click
Me: GODDAMNIT
(about 15 minutes later)
Dr.: Hi Jennifer, this is Dr. ___, is now a good time to talk?
Me: Yes.
Dr.: Okay, your blood work looks as though you have hyperthyroidism, and a bit of an iron and vitamin D deficiency- I want you to see an Endocrinologist as soon as possible. I have some that are in your plan and are near you (proceeds to give names and number really fast). Okay, well that's all. Buh-bye. Click
Me: ummmm
Cold, right? They just smack you in the face and run! Well, maybe I exaggerated a little, but that's how the conversation felt. I had to ask her to read the two doctors names and numbers again, still kinda thinking she told me I needed to see an Oncologist and then the call was done.
Once I got back up to my office (I went to the parking garage and smoked about 4 cigarettes waiting for her to call me back) I looked up the doctors names she had given me and googled Hyperthyroidism and then it all started to click. of the symptoms I found on the NIH website, lets see what I had;
Difficulty concentrating YES- probably started in December
Fatigue YES- falling asleep at my desk regularly since March
Frequent bowel movements YES - figured I was just pooping a lot, when I thought back I guess 4-5 times a day is strange
Heat intolerance YES - your goddamn right I did!
Increased appetite YES - I was eating anything and everything. I would have dinner and want McDonalds 20 minutes later
Increased sweating YES- explained above
Irregular menstrual periods in women YES- Lets just say I had a WWIII month where I didn't even make it through the night (irregular can often mean EXTREMELY HEAVY, I mean to the point where you think you maybe should ask someone to drive you to the hospital... by now you should know I don't address my illnesses so I ignored it when it happened)
Nervousness
RestlessnessYES- constantly. I would come home from work and ask my roommates what we could do, complain about being antsy and general scream and twitch at them
Weight loss (rarely, weight gain) YES- in the year that I had been working out I had barely lost any weight, and in the months I was binging on McDonald's, Wendy's, and Dairy Queen I had lost 10 lbs.
A few days after I got my blood work back an Endocrinologist (Endo) was able to fit me in. She pretty much showed me diagrams, explained what was going on in my body, prescribed some beta-blockers to control my uncomfortable symptoms, told me to quit smoking, and sent me for more blood work, an ultra-sound, and a Radioactive Iodine Uptake and Scan! FUN! (Basically the ultra sound was to see if anything extra-weird was going on with my thyroid like a cyst, and radioactive iodine because it is only absorbed by the thyroid and they can track how fast mine absorbs it and can figure out how fast my thyroid is working)
The radioactive iodine confirmed the Endo's suspicion that I had Graves Disease. The most common form of hyperthyroidism. Yay for having the common one! The ultra-sound revealed that I had a nodule on my left side (the thyroid is butterfly shaped) and it would need to be biopsied to make sure it wasn't cancerous. I was put on thyroid meds to slow down my thyroid so thatIi would be a bit more regulated before the biopsy. One month later I would get blood work done to see how the meds were doing, then a month after that I would have blood work done again and then the biopsy. If you are keeping up it is now July and I am best friends with the women at Labcorp.
On July 11th I had my biopsy. My neck was a little sore but unfortunately it was an in-office procedure and I could go back to work that day. I was supposed to be back in the next week- forget why I had to cancel. July 25th I find out the nodule is benign (non-cancerous). Yay! But over the years it will need to be monitored as it can always develop into something.
Now that my nodule is non-threatening and my labwork shows that my TSH levels are balancing out the Dr. raises the dosage of my thyroid meds, tells me how to ween myself off the beta-blocker and tells me to come back in 2 month. As of right today that appointment will be in about 2 weeks. I will get more blood work done, we will see what my levels are, I will tell her that I'M NOT SWEATY ANYMORE, and we will jump for joy. Well, not so much. This Endo is about as exciting as a piece of toast. But really she will look at my levels and decide if she should up my meds dosage, keep it the same, or if we will explore other routes such as surgery (to remove some/all of the thyroid) or radioactive iodine (which kills the thyroid- the test where I took it before was just a small dose which was released from my body through urine within a day or two)
So long-story-not-so-short, the medicine I am on slows down your metabolism. So while I was sweating and pooping a lot my thyroid/metabolism was working overtime so I could basically eat what I want, when I want, how much I want and not deal with consequences (other than pooping it out or feeling too full for 20 minutes), but now on this medication my metabolism had slowed down, I've put the weight back on (and some) and I've just been reading about how much weight people gain once they go on meds and how much trouble they have had getting it off. Therefore...I chose medifast. It's non-dairy (I'm lactose intolerant), it doesn't use any artificial sweetener (which I despise and can't have- give me headaches...just another thyroid thing), and it seemed overall trustworthy and there is a location to go in for weekly support not even 5 minutes from my house, I will lose the weight fast then learn how to maintain it, and I can work out on it (starting in 2 weeks- found a few where they don't want you to work out).
Diets have never worked for me (the general try not to eat that, bring my lunch, cook dinner... blah blah) so this was something that looked really EASY. and that's exactly what I need. I don't want to count my points, weigh my food, or drink a shake 3 times a day. What I think I've chosen is a way for me to still eat and not feel like I'm constantly starving, something I can keep up with at home, at work, and even on vacation. I'm excited about the possibility of being 50 lbs lighter by christmas- I just really hope my thyroid doesn't f*** this up for me. I think I'll give my thyroid a name. Something female so I can call it a bitch. Give me ideas.
Sorry I'm long-winded. We'll see if this blogging experience helps teach me how to keep it brief.
Updates on lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, and dessert coming tomorrow! how do you think I'll do on my first day?
3 comments:
woah. okay, i just read this like i was on speed. i think because your long-windedness made my reading long-winded, haha. i'm really glad you wrote this so we have all the details. it makes me really sad that i had no idea you were going through all of this so i wasn't there for you, but i'm really glad that you seem to be doing much better now. it sounds like it was a miserable few months, though :(. at least now you know what it is, that the lump isn't cancerous, and have a plan. is this something that will go away if you do get the surgery or the iodine flush thing or are they just temporary fixes? do you have to be on medication for the rest of your life? (and sorry if i'm getting details wrong, i can't see your post while i'm commenting). is it pretty much under control now or do we need to be worried? please, please keep updating this- i'll check it everyday! oh, and a side note, you're a really good writer! i literally laughed outloud at a few parts (the doctor being dry as toast and you being best buds with the lapcorp woman were two of the highlights for me, lol). oh, and you should name her something super ugly. for some reason Urma is popping into my head? random. love you and call if you need anything at all! oh and ps - fuck that original doctor, that sucks :(
aww thanks Kris. To be honest the reason I didn't tell people was because I wasn't too worried. I didn't want to have all these people worrying about me for no reason. The medication I'm on is working and my thyroid could become normal within a year or two (basically remission) but it's a high chance it would come back, or if I just keep taking the medicine I will most likely end up HYPOthyroid which means it'll slow down a lot and I'll probably get really fat (if I don't watch it). Surgery and the radioactive iodine are really just two ways of getting rid of my thyroid and in both cases I'd most likely end up hypothyroid. No matter what if i end up hypothyroid I would be on medication forever.
I have to admit I did cry one night. It was probably 2 nights after the Dr. told me it was Graves disease. Not really because I was scared, but mainly because other people were scaring me and I didn't know what to think. My mom seemed a bit panicked, I was worried I would need surgery... it was just a momentary panic and confusion that hit me for about 10 minutes and I needed the time to be a little concerned for a minute. But it's something I had to put in perspective. It's not deadly because I'm taking care of it, it's common and treatable, and there are people going through much more difficult and painful things than being really sweaty and tired.
As for my writing being on speed... yea I always get the feeling it will sound like that. I can't say I'm big on details so i want to get the point across yet make it clear while TRYING to be concise.. ya know?
A of all, good for you. When you're up for it, you should start running slowly with me. :)
B of all, call it Wanda.
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