missdiane | Entries tagged with doctor stuff

I'm not quite certain but I'll stick things out a while and see. I brought my previous labs and such but right from the get go she was all strong pressure about statins (really don't want to go there), increasing my metformin (uh..why? My A1c went down and is almost back in the "prediabetic" range from January), weight loss injections (can we reeeally not add more inevitable side effects right now?), at home sleep study (good luck with that, feline interruptions as well as my bladder in overtime due to the masses on it won't play out well there). And this was with minimal actual questions about lifestyle, etc.

However, she did send a script for Xanax (used mostly for back spasms or when I'm on the edge of panic, not usually more than 20 pills for an entire year), did sign my paperwork to get my renewal of my handicapped placard (need to go there but not today) and we're going to retest cholesterol and A1c before making decisions on cholesterol meds. Oh and the calcium heart test that the previous doc wanted to do but they wouldn't answer their phone/online portal/DOOR.

Evidently being diabetic means being seen every three months? dayum. I have an appointment for August but I don't know if I can squeeze the surgery in before that depending on when I get moved.

I received an email from Labcorp and from the Gyno's office and crossed fingers while opening the sites (and doing the phone text verification thing). Thankfully pap results show negative so at least I don't have to speed up getting the hysterectomy for that. I was also thinking that one thing I'll need to do when moving is get the bidet installed. That'll help a LOT during recovery.

I let new Bossdude know that surgery is on the not-so-distant horizon and that someone will need to need to at least know the basics of my job just in case and he says that whenever we hire the new person for Elaine that we'll make sure to get them cross trained on some of my stuff. Well, we'll see. We e-interviewed two people, one in-house guy that lied on his resume about his education and also gives me the ick. Fortunately Elaine is starting to see that since she was cheerleading for him. The other one seemed to do well but when Elaine called someone she knows that used to work with her, we found out that she's not going to be a good fit, unfortunately. So we are arranging to interview two new people that hopefully one of them is worth hiring.

This afternoon at 4:30 is our first zoom "listening session" which I have a chunk of time to talk about my special effort reporting. It may get grumbles due to former Bosslady's shitty way of handling things that I had to do damage control on after she left. Over the weekend I got my hair trimmed and a "gloss" applied so that it looks less dull. Depending on how the boy behaves is whether I'll drive back into work or not. He's been up my BUTT lately. I know his whiny 14 year old self needs a checkup, I just need to find the time.

Anyway, back to work. Since I'll have a late day today, I need to make sure to properly rest at lunchtime.

Outlook.com is down but work Outlook works. It is a thing so hopefully Microsoft sorts that out soon.

Anyone have an abdominal hysterectomy? How did it go and what was recovery like? Don't have to do it now but it is probably in my not-so-distant future. Gyno showed me where on my stomach, inches above the belly button that the giant Fibroid of DOOM is up to and it's mind boggling. She also agrees like the other doctor that it may be causing my upper abdominal swelling since it's pushing everything upwards.

Hopefully it behaves long enough for the house move to happen whenever it happens because since I haven't popped out any rugrats, yoinking all the troublesome bits and pieces out from below isn't an option. Guess Bossdude better ponder actually having some backup for my job since according to the doctor, it would be a few days in the hospital and 6-8 weeks of recovery. Yeah, I work from home but that likely wouldn't be an option for probably the first several weeks at minimum.

Side note, good grief I hate pap smears. They freaking hurt even when they're being as careful as they can. My BP was elevated beforehand but yeah, I was definitely tense. I'd have taken a partial Xanax beforehand but I don't get into my new GP until May.

Anyway, woo.

With brain worm man at the helm of HHS, getting decent healthcare is only going to get worse so buckle up, folks. Also, I don't want to hear how long it takes folks in countries with socialized medicine about getting into doctors because it's happening here too. Point in case, my GP, or current lack thereof.

So after my GP's practice being acquired for the third time and losing all of their MDs, including me being on now my third one there that isn't a MD, I finally got into the office to get routine labs done for med refills (she never did refill the Xanax, makes me wonder if she's allowed to as a NP?). I had a follow up phone appointment which the time kept getting ping ponged around by them. On the phone follow up, NP wanted me to follow up with a WBC test since it was a little high (honestly, probably a bit of a sinus infection and well, STRESS). She also wanted me to pick up a script for the previously mentioned cardiac scan based on some blood test results that I've not had run before. Ok, fine, sure. I also wanted to get my paperwork signed and a script to renew my disabled placard with the DMV at the same time.

Well good luck with ALL THAT. I couldn't get the front desk to answer the phone or answer voice mails to ask when the best time to come in would be. Then I sent a message through the online portal asking too and didn't get a response. I got a generic email a few days later that the practice's phones were supposedly down but now they're back up which doesn't excuse the lack of answer from the online portal. Guess what? Still no answer. However, I was able to make an appointment online to come in at 11:15 to get labs done and I'd get the rest of it taken care of while there.

Guess what? NOPE. I drove there from work and parked in the underground parking garage at around 11:07 and tried to buzz in. Nothing. I walked around and up a steep ramp out of the garage and around the building to the front door only to find the place dark and the door locked. Freaking great. I knocked on the door of the business across the hall to give them puppy eyes to buzz me down so I wouldn't have to try to walk back around the building and down the steep incline into the parking garage and they were nice enough to do that for me. Their neighbors also said I wasn't the only one having this problem and they have no idea what's going on.

I called the toll free number to the Marathon Health conglomerate to ask if they even exist anymore. Evidently they do and yadda yadda reschedule? Yeah, not going to bother and I sent something to the Rutgers University personals listserv encouraging others to report their problems since they claim that I was the only one reporting issues though I know that it's not the case.

I had asked my gastro for a GP recommendation when I had my Alien Butt Probe in December so yesterday I called to make an appointment with them. First appointment is May 2. That's actually very soon for getting an appointment with anyone that you've not seen before. Unfortunately my placard expires at the end of April but hopefully I can get the new doctor (cross your fingers that she's good) to sign the paperwork. I'll download all my recent labs and anything else from the portal to take with me.

Amusingly, now my gastro, my new gyno and my GP are all located on the same street. My new GP is also on the second floor of the building with University Radiology that I'm becoming besties with on the first. If I need a cardiologist based on if the GP runs the test that I was supposed to get, I'll have to see if there's one also on the same street for shits and giggles. All of these different doctors are associated with St Peter's Hospital here which has been around for ages so I'm comfortable that there will be backup since the practice has many doctors. They also have a nutritionist that I might see if I can visit.

But what a pain in the butt. Emily also has to change her doctor and she's being resistant. Girl, if you want your meds to continue, you'd best get on the ball.

Today we did the ultrasounds to try to see what's up in the ol' uterine area. Having to fill and hold my bladder was bad enough but UGH, that wand HURT. I didn't get the whole report but evidently it seems that one of the growths (still going with fibroids) is hanging off the outside of the uterus like a barnacle and is so big that she couldn't get any view of the ovary behind it. Deeeeelightful. She said that it's possible that the doctor might want to send me for another MRI, a more focused one of the area. Spiffy. Great. Lovely. not.

Since it was on the same order and since I figured I may as well get the embarrassing unpleasantness over with in one fell swoop, it was to the next lady for the mammogram. It was uncomfortable as they always are, especially if you're not that boobinated and yet have side boob. But it left me with more aftereffects than the ultrasound. Since I have to push into the machine to get a good scan, the ribs on my right side are aching. I'm guessing that it's probably the lumps in my liver pushing up against things since I had the same ache after getting the ultrasound of that area to check for said lumps.

So since I have had such a hectic week and not resting enough as a result, I said the hell with it and emailed that I'm taking the rest of the say off. Next week is going to be busy again and I need to make sure the body can drag me through it.

In other news, evidently the sister is going to NYC from April 4-7. I'm doubting they'll come visit me and I'm debating whether to take NJ Transit in to see them. Maybe if they bring some of Mom's recipes and stuff that I asked for.

Anyway, tired. Hope y'all are doing ok. Sending air hugs since I'm owie.

My darned cholesterol is in the toilet

Considering my issues with getting medication side effects, I really do NOT want to take statins. Since I'll need to get the second shingles vaccine in several months, before I agree to any new meds, I'll see what I can do on my own.

For one thing, gonna miss cheese (I do notice a difference in the numbers when I avoid it, bah).

If anyone else has a similar battle with these numbers, let me know your experiences. Oh, the A1c is still diabetic at 6.5 but the cutoff is 6.4 so I'm betting if I improve the cholesterol, that will improve as well. There were a few other off numbers but nothing alarming that I can tell.

Also, I still have a hot red blotch on my left arm from the shingles shot. The flu shot injection site is nearly gone. Also still achy and tired. Hopefully that improves in another day or so

Had my physical today - I liked the NP so I'll stick with them for now. I know I'm going to get an ugly bruise since my vein was being its usual level of fussiness. Only one stick but she had to keep moving the needle to encourage my dumb body to give up the ol' hemoglobin. Meh, I'll wear longer sleeves for a while. Hopefully the blood tests show some decent news. I'm crossing my fingers especially that the A1c goes back to prediabetic.

Anyhoo, they had the flu and shingles vaccines available so I got both (still need to get a COVID booster but they didn't have those). I heard the side effects for the shingles vaccine suck - any of y'all have any experience with that?

Since I had fasting tests and was HUNNNNGRY, I treated myself on the way home to a pistachio latte from the Greek place.

The first alien butt probe went smoothly - and quickly - and there are no polyps and I don't need another for another TEN years. Woohoo! He did see evidence of some past diverticula but nothing inflamed or any cause for concern unless I have issues and he says they are one of those things that come with age. Emily and I went to a diner after for breakfast where I had an egg white omelet with VEGGIES (OH how I missed them), a few hash browns and a piece of rye toast. I could have finished everything since my hunger signals are clearly off but I thought it best to put on the brakes early. I also did tea since coffee may have started churning up tummy acid again. Aside from some gassy bubbles, a mild headache while trying to rehydrate and a sore back from all the twisting needed for ALLLLL the darned wiping last night, I'm doing ok.

For those that haven't done a colonoscopy, my TMI experience on the prep under the cut - YMMV

( Cut for TMI )

Next up in early January is the eye appointment to see if I need reading/computer glasses to go with the expensive progressive lenses I got this last summer. I also have a new gyno on January 9 to check out the oddness that was found on my MRI and I still need to hunt up a new GP that I had my Gastro give me some suggestions this morning. I also need to get flu and covid vaccines so that I'm all set there and sometime I need to get around to shingles shots. Whew, all this stuff as you get older is overwhelming.

But very glad to have something turn out well. Oh...and after ALL THAT, I only lost slightly less than a pound. So I did see a 1 this morning but I'm sure it's gone by now. Not that I'm one to set formal "resolutions" but I am resolved to improve my health in general.

I stalked the University Radiology patient portal until the report appeared and then held my breath when opening it. I'll put the summary and findings below the cut

( Cut for TMI )

So I'll see what the gastro has to say but thankfully no cancer is indicated.

I really do like this doctor. He is thorough and confirms things and hey, so far his guesses are correct, if annoying.

The blood and ultrasound do indicate fatty liver disease which he expressed how common it is, especially with bigger folks and doesn't help that I'm now diabetic. It's not something that has any meds you can take for it, it's a lifestyle change treatment. So gotta buckle down and though I eat well, I need to find ways to continue to improve that (one thing is to go to pescatarian rather than vegan since fatty fish and eggs are very good for the liver). Also, I really do need to find some form of exercise that will help me and not screw up my back or other hypermobile joints. Going to look into the Y in the next town over that is new and has three pools. If I'm considering water exercise, I need to find very good shoes to be able to walk on the wet tile without slipping and dislocating something.

MRI to check out the liver lumps is scheduled so far (still need preauthorization) for 8am on Friday the 11th. Fortunately, I'm not too claustrophobic since regular MRI gives better scans than open MRI. Even if I was, I'd suck it up since I want the best scans possible. His guesses are hemangiomas (benign tumors) or focal fat sparing. The latter would be completely on brand for me since after ultrasounds and breast biopsies, I already have fatty breast tissue. As long as we can rule out anything like cancer, any vibes you could spare would be awesome

If the liver gets diagnosed with the less scary things, he also thinks it's past time that I get the double thrill of Alien Butt Probe and endoscopy at the same time but that's not the priority yet.

Oh and he also thinks that it's possible that my bloating/distension issues may be something called abdomino-phrenic dyssynergia. I found this about that Abdomino phrenic dyssynergia falls under the category of functional GI disorders due to the inability of the brain to coordinate the correct movement of the diaphragm in response to the fullness of the abdomen via the phrenic nerve. This leads to uncomfortable abdominal bloating and distension as the diaphragm contracts instead of relaxes when there is abdominal fullness. The diaphragm is a large muscle that lies underneath the ribs and helps with breathing. When the diaphragm contracts, it moves in a downward motion, reducing the space in the abdomen and pushing the organs down and out. Further, as the intraabdominal contents are pushed outward, the abdominal muscles are unable to compensate for the pressure and weaken resulting in bloating and distension.

APD often coincides with pelvic floor dysfunction as the diaphragm and pelvic floor muscles have a functional relationship modulating intraabdominal pressure. When the synergy is off, the pelvic floor muscles also suffer from impaired nervous innervation and become tense and contracted, pulling up into the pelvis further contributing to the bloating and distension.

I'd sent a message online to the gastro to ask about the recommended follow up tests but I don't think they'd seen that yet and had called me based on the blood test to get me in at 9am tomorrow. Wait, not even the results of the ultrasound, just the BLOOD TEST?!?

Sent an email to re-reschedule my usual biweekly meeting with Bosslady because yeah, this comes FIRST.

I do wonder how much of my stomach that blew up like a basketball again on Saturday and hasn't gone down is due to panic. Well, guess I'll get to show that off to the doc tomorrow. Whee.

Got the email from labcorp and popped up to check it and then checked the University Radiology tests even though I didn't yet get an email. The tech at the radiology place was pffting that fatty liver disease doesn't cause abdominal swelling (you a doctor?) I think she was giving me the vibes that I was wasting her time for getting Scanned Whilst Fat. I wish she was right.

LabCorp - not in range for the celiac test, however Immunoglobulin A (IgA), Serum is out of range on the high side

University Radiology abdominal ultrasound. So far kidneys, pancreas, spleen, aorta, look ok. Liver, however:
There is a hypoechoic mass in the right lobe of the liver measuring 16 x 17 x 21 mm. Another hypoechoic mass measures 46 x 22 x 51 mm. Liver is diffusely echogenic. IMPRESSION: Diffusely echogenic liver with 2 hypoechoic indeterminate masses. Malignancy including metastatic disease is not excluded. Further evaluation with contrast-enhanced CT scan of the abdomen or contrast-enhanced MRI of the liver is recommended for further evaluation.

Clearly more tests are going to be in my near future to see how bad this is. Abso-fucking-lutely delightful.

It was oddly busy for a Friday morning at the location where I got my ultrasound. It's good that I didn't have back to back appointments as I had to go home and change my shirt since she got the goopy gel all over the bottom of it. Ah well. It didn't stain but I didn't feel like walking around with a cold sticky shirt.

I gave the kitties some treats and pats and then headed out with the intention of having a leisurely lunch after fasting for the ultrasound with tons of time before my blood tests. I was driving along and got a feeling that I should check inside my purse and it's a good thing I did since I stupidly had taken the lab script out of my purse to neatly fold it and promptly left it on the kitchen counter. So I had to get turned around to drive back and get it. Traffic today is SO busy all over. I still had plenty of time to have a chill lunch but I am of the perpetually early and perpetually nervous so forgetting the paperwork made me annoyed with myself.

Lunch, however was amazing. I'd been wanting to try this place called Veggie Heaven that was in the same strip-mall lot as the Walgreens where I had my LabCorp appointment. It wasn't very busy with sit-down business but it did have a steady stream of folks coming in to pick up DoorDash orders which I was glad for them as a small struggling business. I ordered the lunch special of the garlic chicken as well as some appetizers of Japanese drumsticks that were recommended by someone on Yelp.( Snip for Pics )

Honestly, unless someone told you everything was vegan, you'd not know. In fact even after tasting it you still might not believe them. The decor was so cute and the staff was wonderfully friendly. They bring you icy cold water infused with lemon. I will totally be back even if I'm not doing a vegan diet.

I finished in tons of time (as usual) and drove across the lot to park and check in to LabCorp on my phone. They must've been the one med place not busy as I got a response in a minute to come on in even though I was a good 25 minutes early. The stabbity stuff went fine for a change and I am now home and the adrenaline of the day along with the lack of caffeine has hit.

I like the new gastroenterologist. He listens and it didn't seem like I was getting the "you're just fat" vibe that you get from doctors. We're going to start off with getting an abdominal ultrasound to make sure I don't have fatty liver or spleen issues and also we're going to test for celiac and it's related issues just to cover our bases before going for any sort of scopes from either end.

My BP was pretty bad which I can only attribute a little to white coat (I knew I was nervous as hell). I really do need to find a way to move more even though my knees are being annoying as all hell. Also, he did hope I could lose a few pounds before we'd do any scopes just for safety. I'm the one that brought up that although I've always been apple shaped, I'm feeling very barrel belly and I'm finding it disturbing so addressed that elephant right off.

Either he or his family also eat vegan so got a thumbs up there as long as it does me well. He does suggest also trying some anti-gas meds and some probiotics. I do eat probiotic foods (num num kimchi) but do any of you take a probiotic and if so, which one works well for you?

Anyway, I have my homework. I scheduled my ultrasound and blood tests for the same day on Friday the 27th so I can just do all of the stuff at once and my follow up is October 23. It just occurred to me that I scheduled my blood test for early afternoon near a vegan place I've been meaning to check out. Well there ya go.

Made an appointment with a new gastro that has excellent reviews. Unfortunately it's not until Sept 16 (would've been the week before but STUPID jury duty...).

When looking up information to fill in the history, again, my memory SUCKS since I found that almost exactly a year ago last June my GP had abdominal XRays done due to bloating and all it found is that I was chock full of GAS and evidently have a "high diaphragm"?

Well, this time around even if things go away, I need to figure out what's causing it so that it doesn't keep cropping up. But I do hope it goes away while I wait for the appointment to come around.

I was just commenting to Sis that in the rehab/nursing home that even though he's had some bad days, he wasn't having the auditory hallucinations that someone was out to get him.

Well I jinxed myself since last night he called me at 11:30 in an absolute state of terror saying someone was in his room and trying to kill him. I kept trying to say I didn't hear anything but nothing was getting through. I texted Sis who was already asleep so she didn't see them until this morning and then I tried looking up the facility and it took a few tries but I got a person who I let them know what was going on (also found out from Sis this morning that he is in "Unit C" so I know that now). I hope they were able to go calm him down. When I talked to him a little before lunchtime, he'd told me he was sick several times so maybe it was dehydration that threw him off again. Poor guy.

Sis and BIL are also going to get hold of the assisted living that was holding his room and they're going to try to figure out what to do with his belongings there since it's obvious that he's not going to be able to go back there. Even if the rehab was able to get him more mobile, his mental state isn't going to allow him to return. In the rehab, he's in the memory care area and that's likely where he's going to be now.

Getting old sucks and neither one of my parents are going out gracefully, unfortunately.

In non-Dad goings on, I have my doctor at 1:30 today and hopefully she can do more than she did last time. The lump grew back and thankfully I'd been putting bandages over it since yesterday it sprung a leak.

State of the Dad:

We were finally able to get him into a rehab place as of a couple of days ago. Not the best rated but not the worst and in a location convenient-ish to Sis and BIL so that's good. They FaceTimed a couple of times when they were able to pop by and last night the old dude was being all emotional and sentimental which I think Sis was a bit freaked out about but covered well (at least to him) but I had a call where he was being this way before so I'm able to go a bit more with the flow. He's definitely feeling his mortality and boy did Sis and BIL ~*~pounce~*~ when Dad suggested he might want to do the just in case getting good with God stuff. Sis got BIL's Dad involved the very next morning so Dad could uh...what is it "accept grace"? I guess that's accepting Hay-zeus as your savior and all that. Hey, as long as that's what he wants, I am not going to object at all. I'm all for whatever gives him comfort. If he somehow gets stronger and changes his mind, I hope they don't get too fussy about it. Or maybe he'll just passively go along with the churchin' for shits and giggles anyway. Not my place to say.

He sat up more today and they even had him walking a little but he has a long way to go. I think getting him into this less clinical setting may help a lot. The PT person asked what his state was before the hip break and since he was walking fine then, that's what they want to aim for. I'm dubious if that's possible but even if they get him mobile with using a walker, I'll consider that a huge win. He ate a better amount of the calorie-packed breakfast this morning but has limitations there. Hopefully they'll also supplement with nutrition shakes since that dude has no meat on his bones.

State of the Me:

The lymph node bump is currently flat though it seems...bruised(?) there. I hope it stays flat, though and I am putting the prescription antibiotic ointment and bandaging it since the skin around it seems kind of scabby. I have my check up with my regular doctor on Tuesday. If it's going to act up again, hopefully it starts before the appointment so I can avoid more fuss. I have quite enough life fuss going on right now, thankyouverymuch.

Since the first nasty heat of the summer is imminent, on a vacation day yesterday (I really need to get better with the "vacation" part of these days off, btw), I food prepped and got a delivery of some prepared things and so my fridge is FULL. I have no excuse not to eat appropriately even though the weather is going to be hot as hell since I have microwave-friendly and cold fresh items ready to go. I sauteed a batch of peppers and onions and am pairing them with some precooked shredded and seasoned chicken and low-carb mini tortillas to have tacos. I had that for lunch and it was really good. I hard boiled about 5 eggs to use in various means or just eat for a protein kick. I cooked up the rest of a box - about 1/3 of a box - of protein rotini pasta and added lemon pesto, marinated artichokes and sliced black olives. For the pasta salad, I didn't add much more since I figured I could vary the ingredients based on mood to keep things fresh so I make sure to eat it all. I have mini mozzarella balls, cherry tomatoes, frozen cooked shrimp and some other odds and ends like salad greens to put it on. I also made some half-homemade lemonade. I say half-homemade since I couldn't quite get the flavor to my liking so I squirted in some Crystal Light strawberry lemonade liquid to amp it up a bit.

The weekend is going to have a couple days in the 80s followed by a full week or more in the 90s and near 100 so if I eat down some of my current stores by Sunday-ish and make some fridge room, I may prep some potato salad and some tofu fake "egg salad" and cut up veggies for quick-snacking crudites.

Other miscellany:

Emily texted me this morning that the apartment above her niece's in a house caught fire last night. Catch the video on this new site

YIKES. She slept on the couch at her Mom's house down the street from me and evidently sounds raspy but is ok. She managed to grab her ID, phone and keys on her way out. Glad she was able to get the ID especially since those are a pain in the ass to replace. By the looks of that news video, I have to think most of her belongings are destroyed. The parents of her friend that she was sharing the place with signed the lease so I'm crossing fingers that they thought to get renters insurance. They're going over today to see if anything can be salvaged. If they can rescue any clothing or bedding, I told them to call around to dry cleaners/laundries to see if they have the means to deal with fire-damaged items. When I worked at a dry cleaner/laundry back in college, they had some enzyme cleaner that did take a lot of smoke smell out of clothing and blankets that were otherwise fine. But pillows and padded comforters need to be tossed out since you can't be sleeping with that stuff safely anymore.

I suspect that her Tante Emily will help her out with getting new clothing and items. She does love to shop and loves to gift so her niece has nothing to worry about there.

It's now been a week since I ran out of my metformin. Mind you, I told folks at the doctors office three times at my appointment last week that I was out. If they were waiting for the blood tests, I got those via email the next morning and as we saw, it's working and needs to continue. After I got other meds (turns out I guess I had/have a fungal infection, long story) but not the metformin, I put in an online request and also requested refills to make it now a regular thing.

When that got ignored, I called on Friday morning and evidently my doctor was out yesterday but that they'd tell her. Yeah, that went nowhere. I meant to call yesterday but forgot but fine, they got the day after the holiday to catch up.

So now I am implementing Operation Midwestern Overniceness. It tends to work far better than throwing a fit. I called just now and put on my most sweet tone, friendly but logical request and pretty pleased and expressed my worry. I also did politely reiterate all the times that I've tried to get this filled in the last week. They said they'd ask her ASAP and get back to me.

If I don't get a call back, they will get a repeat of this golly-gee helplessness every.single.business.day. until the guilt EATS AT THEIR SOUL and I get my damned meds sent over.

You catch more flies with honey, after all.

On another note, I think that I saw a few...earwigs? in my kitchen yesterday. Small skinny black bugs? I have absolutely NO clue how or why they came in other than maybe all the moisture outside lately drove them in. But anyway, if anyone has advice in case I see more, let me know.

So I got my lab results back. Could be better but also, IS better on most things. On another page, my Vitamin D is up to a nicely respectable 38 now which from what I can find is the "optimal" range. About time. I started battling that years ago when it was a pretty disturbing 14 and struggled to fight to get above 20. I take 2000 IU a day and some of the other things I consume are also fortified.

Anyhoo, here's me for tracking purposes and all compared to the February numbers. It links out to the original size
( Getting there I suppose )

At first the doctor was wondering if I was just there for routine tests when she was wandering through the lobby of which I told her I had another issue to address, which she nodded and we continued on.

Got weighed in with the nurse and it seems every time I expect to gain weight, I do the opposite. I was surprised last time when I weighed 205 since I wasn't eating well due to stress. This time even though I started off with good intentions back in February, eating quickly went back to stress eating. Not big meals but snack snack snack.

So imagine my surprise when I was a little under 197. How the hell did I manage to lose that much weight? Guess the metformin? Weird. They did the automated BP with extra arm-crushing and it sucked at 147/74. At least the 74 was ok, I suppose.

Anyway, I told her about the lumps I discovered which she agrees that it's likely lymph nodes. I also tend to get intertrigo in that area and there were some inflamed follicles so while we wait to see if blood tests show any weirdness, I'm to do warm compresses and she prescribed a topical antifungal. Hopefully that's nothing serious. I got lucky that today was a good stick since I am usually a pincushion.

I took today off to decompress from all the hubbub lately and after the doctor appointment, I drove to the grocery store to start the restocking process. I was going to stop and get a bagel sandwich or something but there weren't any places to stop that were on my side of the road and oddly, even after fasting, I wasn't really hungry. I checked out the Stop & Shop site and made a list last night. Even though I spent about $120, I saved a good chunk of money and also it wasn't all on food since I took advantage of an excellent deal on shave cream and Poise pads. I also earned reward points that translated to $4 off for my next grocery trip.

I purchased a couple of things that were a far better price than FreshDirect so I modified the order that's supposed to arrive between 3-5 tomorrow to take off a few things. Not counting the food that I bought to eat during the 6 days being fridgeless, I'll have things back to mostly normal spending a little over $200. I know that's a lot for some but I did replace most of my condiments and I also have some prepared foods coming tomorrow to get through the hot stretch of weather without having to turn on the stove.

Looking SO forward to Saturday where Emily and I will take the train in to NYC to meet up with

veganhothead. Since Emily is a picky eater and Lyss is vegan and I'm somewhere in between, it wasn't easy to find someplace that would be comfortable for everyone but then it occurred to me that I don't think in all the times I've gone into NYC that I've had a bagel there and I wonder if they taste any different than NJ ones. So we're going to get bagel goodness and eat them in a nearby park. I'm hoping they don't mind indulging the birthday girl with a wander around the greenmarket since that's something else I've always wanted to check out.

I need to baby my health over the next few days so that I'm decently mobile on Saturday. Boy getting old is rough.

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missdiane

July 2025

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Page generated 12 July 2025 19:36

Life is a combination of magic and pasta.

Make your own magic

Entries tagged with doctor stuff

New doc: First impressions

Some good news while busy bee buzzes

Things to look forward to...not.

The state of healthcare isn't going to improve, unfortunately

Thank goodness I have good insurance

Well crudbunnies

What have I got to look forward to?

Finally some good news.

Sounds like good news and also more testing in my future

If he's not overly worried, I'll do my best not to be either

I appreciate the sense of urgency but at the same time YIKES

Well this is just dandy

Yummy rewards

Tummy time

Hopefully things chill in the meantime

I should've kept my mouth shut

Where was I again?

Turning on the midwestern voice

The blood speaks

Wasn't what I was expecting at the doctor's office