Category: health

The Next Phase

We are driving to Vermont tomorrow. 3-4 hours each way. I think it’s time to move my post-surgery diet to a new phase. I’m actually a little nervous. I’ll have to test drive it today, but I’m heading in to visit mom right now so we’ll have to wait a little while.

Success

I ended up getting my blood drawn and getting home in time for work with about 20 minutes to spare. That’s enough time to start my work day right, but not enough to get my exercise in, and not enough to make a stop or two on the way home. I brought a film and a digital camera with me for the ride, just in case I might be able to grab a couple of shots of the Merrimack River in Lowell. Nope. Not this time.

It was okay though (get ready, I am about to sound like I know what I am talking about when clearly I do not and thus will just sound like a pompous asshole… ready? Hear it comes!), the sky was overcast and the light was blah and crummy. I want to see the sun on the water when I shoot the river, ya know? (See? Pompous asshole!)

I’ll get my 30 minutes of exercise in during lunch today. No problem (he said while really hoping there wouldn’t be a problem).

Crawling

It took me 40 minutes to get through registration. Now I’m in line at the lab itself. If they don’t see me by 8:30 I’ll have to walk out. I figured getting here around 7:00am on a Friday would have gotten me in and out quick. Color me wrong. This is taking forever.

Weird Feeling

Maybe it’s because I’ve been thinking about my follow up appointment next week with the surgeon who carved up my innards but I’ve been dealing with a weird feeling much of the day today.

It started before lunch. Maybe 15-20 minutes before.

I’ve been feeling…

Full.

Ever since the surgery I’ve almost never felt full. I dish out a small amount of food and eat it all. When I’m done I’m so tired of all the work that I don’t eat anymore. I don’t stop because I’m full, I stop because I’m finished and just don’t wanna do it anymore.

Today though… I was full. I feel full right now.

How weird is that?

Forgetful Doofus

My next doctor’s appointment is Monday afternoon. This morning I realized that I had completely forgotten that I need to have blood work done before the appointment. Idiot. I logged in to my patient portal and found the orders waiting for me to bring them somewhere. Idiot.

I called the clinic to find out where I can go to get the labs done. They said go to the hospital’s main campus. Okay, I can do that. I was thinking to myself that if they open at 8:00am I can probably get in and out quick enough to not be late for work. I gave the hospital a call to find out what time they open, hoping for something earlier than 8:00. They open at 5:30am. Yeah, I think I can squeeze that in before work.

Still… idiot.

Happy Scale Steppin’ Day

Okay, ladies and gents, it’s Wednesday morning. You know what that means. Who’s ready for a weigh in? Let’s effin’ Go!

You might be able to tell by the tone of my type that it’s going to be good news.

I am down 5.8 pounds, babie! My total weight’s 10’s column changed, my weight lost since surgery’s 10’s column changed, my weight lost since the first check in’s 10’s column changed, and my BMI went down 0.7 points!

Holy Crap!

The total since the start is now 134.8! Dude! One Hundred Thirty-Four and Eight Tenths pounds! I simply cannot believe the number is that high. The total since the surgery (approximately) is 114.2 pounds! Again, Holy Crap! Capital letters and exclamation points galore!

My next check in at the clinic is Monday. Here’s hoping they check me over and tell me that everything is going as well as I feel it’s going. I don’t want any bad news spoiling another 5+ pound week.

I want to have a visual representation of the total weight loss since the start of this mess, but I don’t want to give any actual numbers. This is a screen shot of my weight loss in 2022 from the iOS Health app with the numbers cropped out. Why? I don’t know, because.

It’s not 100% accurate because I wasn’t updating the app for almost two months there, including the entire month of May. I’ve been updating it every time I weigh in since July though. The shape of the curve is accurate even if it’s missing tons of data points. Who cares, look at that downward slope! It’s like a freakin’ black diamond!

I can’t wait to see what next week’s weigh in brings!

Meetings

Today has been a day. Meetings and more meetings. I had seven on my schedule but I punted one of them off until tomorrow so I ended up with six. I just got out of the last one. I was able to sneak in about half an hour for food and that was only enough time to eat half of what I brought with me. I got through all of the protein but none of the fruit. Last night’s dinner was similar. I got through all of the protein but none of the vegetables. Today the issue was time. Last night the issue was nausea, but the end result is the same. Uneaten food. I might try to snack on a few grapes while driving home, but only if I’m feeling okay on the hydration front. I have been feeling super dried out pretty much all day today. I have 45 minutes to go before quitting time and my water bottle is full. Let’s see how I feel.

Also, it just started pouring out here. Fingers crossed it stops before I have to walk out to my car. A working boy can hope, right?