Nothing Noteworthy, Really

12/25 Got period.
12/30 ENT follow up.
12/31 Abdominal ultrasound.

Call tomorrow to see if sleep center can cram me in and get me titrated prior to surgery.

Omnicef? Lovonox?

WTF.

I feel like it's burning a hole in my stomach after only one day's dosage (2x).

Takin' it for my sinus infection. That and Flonase. I think my body is finally revolting against all the chemicals I've been putting in it.

Dropped off my Lovonox Rx to be filled for my post-op use. Been informed by my pharmacist and again by a friend, of "how expensive" this Rx is. I'm hoping my insurance covers a lot of the cost.

ENT Results

Went to an ENT specialist yesterday due to my hearing problems, balance, chronic cough, sleep issues, and follow up for sleep study.

He ran every single test he's got. Turns out I've had a sinus infection for a long time. Rx antibiotics and a nose spray to help with that.

Tested me for allergies, to rule out environmental issues. Turns out I'm allergic to feathers. Fortunately for me, my pillows and comforters are all polyfill.

Hearing is normal. Balance is normal.

Go back in 2 weeks to follow up and see if the antibiotics help.

No need for follow up sleep study. Not yet.

Still tired of waking up feeling like crap.

Don't know if sleep issues are related to the apnea, or my weight. Only time will tell.

WLS Chronicles: This Shit Is a Full Time Job

2/3/11 First appt w/Nutritionist
TBA Two week follow up appt w/Surgeon
1/19/11 Date of Surgery
1/15/11 10 a.m. Dentist appt
1/15/11 10:45/11 a.m. Chiropractor Appt
1/8/11 9:15 Podiatrist appt
1/6/11 Start pre-op diet
1/4/11 10:30 Pre-op testing (blood, ekg, meet w/anesthesiologist)
1/4/11 4:30 Therapist appt
12/31/10 Abdominal U/S (gallstones)
12/21/10 Chiropractor appt
12/20/10 Fill Rx for Lovonox (for post-op)
12/18/10 12 noon, ENT appt
12/18/10 10:30 a.m., appt w/Internist
12/16/10 6:45 p.m., Chiropractic appt

Calls I've made thus far today:

Surgical supply co., for supplies for CPAP;
Sleep Ctr., to fwd sleep study to surgeon;
Podiatrist to shift appt to Saturday;
Anesthesiology group to ensure anesthesiologist for surgery is "in network";
RN for insurance who is my case manager re: surgical date

Emails I've made thus far:
Endocrinologist to advise re: surgical date.

Forms filled out today:
New patient forms for ENT specialist.

Possible appt to be made:
Sleep Ctr for possible follow-up sleep study to titrate/adjust settings on CPAP;
Imaging Ctr for abdominal ultrasound re: Gall stones.

Things purchased today:
More protein powder (mocha flavor)
Liquid vitamins: calcium, D3, Geritol w/iron, propolis
Kalhua flavored syrup

OY!

Trip to the Pharmacy

Went to Duane Reade and dropped off six (6) prescriptions. Good times. I'm a wreck.

They filled my Mobic & Effexor immediately. Popped a Mobic during lunch. Start the Effexor tomorrow a.m.

Here's hoping I start feeling even REMOTELY better-ish. Soon.

Funny thing is, the package insert for the Effexor warns me to be on the look out for:

thoughts about suicide or dying;
new or worse depression;
new or worse anxiety;
feeling very agitated or restless;
panic attacks;
trouble sleeping;
new or worse irritability;
acting aggressive, being angry or violent.

Shit.

That pretty much sums me up where I am at RIGHT NOW.

Makes me laugh.

Not in a "ha ha" kinda makes me laugh; but in a WTF is wrong with me, nervous, twitchy, half-giggle.

Better living through chemistry, bitches.

It's Not a Tooomah

Dx: Post traumatic osteoarthritis (same site on the foot where I suffered a fracture of my instep 36 years earlier).

Rx: Mobic.

Bye bye Gyno

The nuts and the bolts. Two appointments in quick succession. One on a Friday (the final appointment with my gyno, who hereforward will be referred to as ByeByeBye-no), and one on a Monday with my ReproEndoGuy.

I had cultivated a 10 year patient-doctor relationship with my ByeByeBye-no. For the first few years, despite my age and my PCOS diagnosis, he reassured me that when I was ready to try to get pregnant, they could do "ovarian drilling" to perforate my leathery ovaries. Ten years @ 2 appts per year = 20 appointments total. During the last four appointments (2 years), each appointment pretty much rendered me to the brink (if not outright) tears. 

Despite the fact that I have sought out an EXPERT reproductive endocrinologist, my ByeByeBye-no started to manifest signs that he knew what was better for me. Not sure how. He didn't do much beyond growing increasingly less polite or less professional, and in the final two years, almost bordering on hostile with me and my unique constellation of health issues ranging from PCOS to Factor Five Leiden Mutation, to Syndrome X, to depression and anxiety, to ... well, you name it. Always appending each appointment with a reminder that I should do something about my weight, even going so far as to suggest outright that I should consider weight loss surgery.

At the end of what would become my second-to-last appointment with him, I asked him flat out, yet rhetorically, "Why is it, by the time my exams are done, I am either in tears or on the brink of it?" No real response given by him. You'd think after what was nearing 10 years of being a patient, would have elicited SOME response.

So, during what would be the final appointment, there I sat in the paper gown, as he started in with the fat shaming questions:

Him: Have you tested your glucose daily?
Me: Why would I do that?
Him: For your obvious diabetes.
Me: I don't have diabetes. I have PCOS.
Him: So why are you not checking your glucose?
Me: Because my ENDOCRINOLOGIST hasn't indicated I should.

Things just went downhill from there. The exam was done, and we were wrapping things up:

Me: Well, all that will be a moot point next month.
Him: What's next month?
Me: I'm going in for gastric bypass.
Him: Well that won't fix your underlying issue.
Me: (taking the bait) WHAT ISSUE?
Him: Your OBVIOUS OVER EATING.

It was at that very moment that solidified my resolve that the doctor I once knew no longer KNEW ME or even remotely cared to know me as a person or as a patient. And there I was, obviously acting on and taking his advice, advice he had given me for YEARS, and rather than say,"Great! Good luck!" he had to slam me for something which clearly is not my issue.

So, on Monday, I go to my ReproEndoGuy. 
I adore my ReproEndoGuy, and I think you will, too, after reading this.

So I regale him of the ByeByeBye-no's dialogue from Friday's appointment. And when I got to the point in the story where I said, "and I took the bait and asked... WHAT ISSUE?" ReproEndoGuy said, "What did he say? What did he say?" And when I got to the point where he said the blurb about my obvious overeating, ReproEndoGuy turned to me and said, "What a fucking asshole! Anyone who knows you, knows you OVER SLEEP, not over eat!" I hugged my ReproEndoGuy for TOTALLY GETTING AND SUPPORTING ME. 

It would be another six months before I had to make the move (to a new Gyno) official, and the first Gyno I went to afterwards was not a good fit (and luckily I knew this RIGHT UP FRONT and did not have to waste a decade of my life cultivating a rapport with a doctor who turned out to be an asshole--no no no. She proved herself to be an asshole right up front. But in the three years since discontinuing seeing ByeByeBye-no? Yeah. Not one fucking regret. 

Not every fat woman is fat for obvious reasons.
Not every woman going to a gyno is looking for a baby farmer. This guy clearly was a baby farmer, and not necessarily focused on WOMEN's health.

Tomorrow: Podiatrist
Next Tuesday: Pre-op consultation w/bariatric guy; then visit w/psychotherapist.

Eventually will reschedule appt w/pulmonologist, and will need to schedule appt w/ENT specialist... also interested in getting a sleep study re-done, to make adjustments on CPAP.

This is my life. A never ending stream of doctor appointments.