So the last week has been a full one. In particular the 3 days following my birthday were filled with lots of activity. I actually had a gall bladder attack my birthday night. Woke up in pain in the middle of the night. Not so painful to go to the emergency room, but enough to sit up for a few hours, uncomfortable and troubled. It was a "wakeup" call in more ways than one. Certainly it woke me up and rendered me tired and crabby the next day at work. But more importantly, it made me really take a look at my health and my eating habits, yet again.
I'm not used to being sick anymore. My family may remember when I was constantly sick with some sinus related issue or another. But those days are gone. And despite my weight, I've been blessed with relatively good health. Until the past few weeks. And, in the midst of the uti issies and now my gall bladder, my blood pressure was up and of course my cholesteral was too high. Sigh.
I've actually been doing well on the weighloss realm. I've lost a total of 32 pounds since arriving in DC, about 20 of those since I decided to really work on eating healthier. I stalled when I got sick and since then, but didnt gain, which is a good thing. But I'm just really worried about my health. I'm 42 years young, but my body feels 42 years old now and its not tolerating my weight very well anymore.
I spent the day after my birthday feeling dejected and defeated. I journaled alot while I was up most of the night with my gall bladder hurting. And I decided I needed to at least consider the option of weight loss surgery. This is something I really haven't considered an alternative for me. I feel like we (as in the the world) don't know enough about the long term issues that come from these surgeries that alter our interal systems so drastically. Also, I've been successful in the past in losing alot of weight, so I want to do it through healthy eating if I can.
By Saturday, I was feeling better physically, and emotionally as well. I realized that while I want to continue to eat heathier, I need to explore all the possibilities out there to help me get to a healthier body size. And I need to get back on track with my plans for healthy eating in the here and now as well as safe and healthy movement. No matter what I decide to do, I need to be able to make healthy food and movement choices. And, no matter what I decide to do it will entail a long term, permanent commitment to those healthy options and choices.
So, I've spent the last week trying to really redouble my efforts at making good choices about food, and trying to be more active just in everyday life. Such as actually doing the dowel exercises with my patients and parking a little further down so I walk just a few more steps each day. I don't get on the scale again until tomorrow morning, but I can see a difference in my uniforms, so I think it's been a good week.
Besides my health, my other disappointing moment was the news that Hawaii is not going to happen in terms of a travel OT assignment. Disappointing. But only in small ways. Now I can focus on other options. Including possibly spending 3 months in Florida near one of my best friends, Ann, and Mickey! Or somewhere on the Gulf Coast, or back in Louisiana. It will probably be after thanksgiving that I get to start looking in earnest for a new assignment location, which will be somewhat dependent on where my licensure comes through the fastest. Procrastination rules...NOT!
Saturday afternoon my brother and sister in law hosted a lovely dinner party for my birthday! Nana and PopPop Deily were there with Nana's famous birthday cake, and Barbara cooked me a great dinner. Rich took the boys shopping for me. They each picked out a different winter scarf for me. Lucas was giving me hints about what they got me earlier in the evening. His hint was: it goes all over you. Isn't that a good hint for a scarf?! I have a picture or 2 to share somewhere, I will try to post them soon!
My work week was long and got busier and longer each day. I've got several tough patients who take alot of physical and emotional energy right now. I worked late a couple of days. But I did make it to the eye doctor this week. I haven't had new glasses since 1996, and I haven't had an eye exam since before the storm. The Optometrist, Dr. Bruce Kellner, is the father of the SLP I work with, Jen. He was great! I had a thorough exam and he helped me pick out the most fabulous new frames for new glasses and sunglasses! I will post pictures with them as soon as I get some!
Time for bed! I hope all of you are having a great weekend!
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1 comment:
Chris, I'm so sorry to hear your birthday night went so horribly! I totally understand where you're coming from talking about feeling 'old' and not 'young' at just 42. I kind of am in the same predicament with my back. Although it is better now that I have lost weight, it is still there and will never really go away. I, too, feel 'old' at just 45. But, I do what I can to keep in shape, and try to do my exercises for my back like my PT taught me, and it helps immensely. I know if you keep up your exercises and better eating habits, you'll achieve your goal and start to feel better. You didn't gain that weight overnight, and it's not going to come off that quickly either, so you have to give it a little time. I personally hope you do NOT have weight loss surgery, although I understand your thinking about it. It is just that I have so many very close friends who have had this surgery and who lost drastic amounts of weight only to gain it back again within 5-7 years, if not sooner. I really think the move more/eat less deal works better if you can get into the habit of it. Best of luck, and stay in touch. Love you!
Dee
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