Sampling of life

I've started sampling again and have decided to chronicle what I receive - here, on my blog. Today's mailbox surprise was a sample size Dove NutriSkin Replenishing Lotion.

Five month weight loss

 

I have to share!!  I have PolyCystic Ovarian Disease, which has caused me to gain 150 lbs in 8 years.  I may not exercise like I should, but I am a fairly healthy eater.  No matter what I did, the weight kept piling on and nothing I did caused any of it to go away.  Fast forward to this past January when I changed doctors.  The new doc made the connection between the PCOD, the type 2 diabetes I'd developed, and the huge weight gain/inability to lose.  She put me on medications to reverse the effects of the "famine mode" the PCOD had convinced my body I was in and the weight started dropping.  Five months later, I'm down almost 40 lbs. I knew I'd been losing and I do a happy dance every time I have to buy new pants, but it did not occur to me how much better and healthier I looked until I took a new full-length pic this morning and compared it to an old full-length pic from when I was at my heaviest.  Talk about motivation!!  We're moving this summer and joining the rec center in the new town.  I can't wait to compare again after a few months of hitting the fitness room and indoor pool!!

The skinny bitch inside WILL make another appearance sometime in the future!!

• Starting Weight: 288/January 5, 2011
• Starting Shirt Size: 3XL
• Starting Pant Size: 22-24

 

• Today's Weight: Somewhere between 250-255
• Today's Shirt Size: XL or 2XL
• Today's Pant Size: 18 and getting really close to 16!!

I admit it – I keep pulling up the pic and just staring at it!!!

 

Changes are a-comin'!

It's been a while, so I have a few updates today!


Health:
My glucose counts are still doing really well, as is the weight loss. I've taken myself off of the injection that I was prescribed a few months ago. It's an "extra" med and I'm just not seeing the major benefits the doctor talked about - especially not at $60 a month. :) On the plus side, I'm still losing weight. At last count, I've lost almost 40 lbs, 1 shirt size, and 3 pants sizes since the first of the year and I feel great!


Job and Home:
James has started a new job and I'm leaving mine. He's driving for a company that is located about two hours south of where we live now. So, we're moving there hopefully before the end of August. It's not a huge move for us since it's only two hours away (and I graduated high school nearby), but it's a big move for us in terms of getting back on our feet and moving on after everything we've been through over the past 3.5 years. And because of the move, I'll be looking for work. I'm crossing my fingers that I can run across a secretary/bookkeeper position at one of the schools that will be starting around the time we move. Those of you who really know me know that while I don't want to teach, my heart is in working at the schools.


Craftiness:
I finally made something! Well, deconstructed and remade something. :) Several years ago, I bought a jewelry box that I hate. Yeah, I know: "Why did you buy a jewelry box that you hate?" Well, long story short, it held jewelry and I needed something that did just that. I finally bought something different to use for my jewelry, so it was time to do something about that tacky jewelry box (forgive the quality of the pictures). The first pic is the before. Nothing stayed organized and I had to untangle necklaces anytime I wanted to wear them. That just did not work for me! So the lid became a hanging mirror with hooks along the bottom (perfect for drying unmentionables that do not go into the dryer) and the bottom became a corral for all of my perfumes that tend to jump off of the dresser. More crafty things to come!

Your turn:
So what's new in your life? Any big changes happening? Tell me about them!

Diagnosis + 1 month

 

I had a follow-up doctor’s appointment today.  this was to test my progress after taking diabetes medication and changing my diet for one month.  My diet did not require a lot of changes since I had already made most of them when hubby was diagnosed with diabetes in February 2010. 

The good news is the doc was VERY pleased with my progress!!  Long story short, my weight on January 4th was 286 (although my scales at home show about 4 pounds less - evil doctor scales).  My weight today *drum roll please* 271 pounds!!  I’ve lost 15 pounds and most of that was in February!!  I’m definitely feeling the motivation!

To help with the weight loss and to get my morning glucose numbers a little closer to where they should be, the doctor also started me on an injection today.  Giving myself a shot – quite a new experience, but surprisingly not unpleasant.  I think I convinced myself it was going to be horribly painful, but in reality, I didn’t even feel the needle go in.  That will teach me to psych myself out. 

Until next time!!

My weight is not my fault (Repeat as often as necessary)

 

My weight is not my fault. My weight is not my fault. My weight is not my fault.

It feels so good to say that and mean it, because I now know that MY WEIGHT IS NOT MY FAULT!

What was that?  Why not?  I’ll tell you why not.  It’s because of the evil that is Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). 

Long story short, PCOS wreaks havoc on a gal’s body.  The body “forgets” how to properly use hormones, process insulin, and even burn fat.  Everything escalates to the point that systems start to short-circuit and even shut down.  PCOS can lead to infertility, weight gain, heart disease, Type 2 Diabetes . . . and the list goes on. 

PCOS is an endocrine system disorder to which there is no cure, but the symptoms can be treated.  The key to living successfully with PCOS is finding a doctor who understands the relationship between the symptoms and is not afraid of putting you on the treatments that will help.  After eight years and four doctors, I’ve finally found a doctor who understands this disease and is doing what it takes to finally get it and my body under control!!!!

 

Now to the long story, which may contain TMI for some of my readers:

My experience with PCOS has been hell, but that is changing.  It started with irregularity in my monthly cycles while in my late teens.  I didn’t think much of it and neither did my doctors.  Their viewpoint was, “a lot of women are irregular until they have children.  Here, have some birth control pills.”   When the BC did not regulate me, I started questioning whether something else was going on, so then I began the quest for answers.

2003 - Doctor 1 recognized that I had issues with irregularity.  He ran labs which showed several things as being out of the normal range, yet he told me my labs were fine (he didn’t know I’d gotten my hands on my own copy of the lab results).  He had his nurse spend three days talking to me off and on about a treatment that would take care of the irregularity, but leave me unable to have children (which I already knew I did not want).  When I went for my consultation regarding the procedure, he pulled the age card – “You might change your mind”.  See ya, jerkwad.  I’m moving on. 

2005 - Doctor 2 realized that what I was dealing with was PCOS, but she gave me no answers as to WHY it was PCOS or what was going to happen in the future.  I left her office with yet another BC prescription and zero answers.  If she had stopped talking down to me through the entire visit, she might have found time to explain some more things. On to #3, after a few years of being ticked off at docs in general. 

2009 - Doctor 3 was a little closer to hitting a homerun in the diagnosis department.  I felt good (and still feel good) about going to see him.  He took the time to explain the things that had been left unsaid by the first two doctors and made sure I understood why I had been diagnosed with PCOS.  He still didn’t go so far as to explain what would happen in the future, but I felt he took more time with me and my condition than anyone else ever had.

Current – Doctor 4 is my lifesaver!  She is my general physician and when I went for a physical (and my first visit with her) earlier this year, she immediately saw the connection between all of my issues.  She explained how the PCOS has caused my body to stay in “famine” mode, which caused me to gain a lot of weight very quickly.  She also explained how that famine mode prevents me from losing weight, no matter how little I eat and how it has now caused me to develop Type 2 Diabetes.  Every medical issue I’ve had through the past few years, she was able to relate to the PCOS and snap another puzzle piece in place.  By the end of the visit, I felt like I FINALLY had the answers I’d been seeking for so long.  My first visit with her was on January 4th and my first medications to control the diabetes and help to reverse the effects of PCOS were prescribed on February 4th.  It’s been almost a month and I have my first follow-up coming up soon.  For the first time in a long time, I am looking forward to a doctor’s visit and especially to stepping on the scales.  I know what my scales at home say, but that official weigh-in is going to be the motivator I need to keep my energy levels up and my chin in the air.  I can do this because MY WEIGHT IS NOT MY FAULT!!!