Living ~400lbs

Category: My health

  • Year In Review…Kinda

    We don’t quite have one “lockdown now” date. Hubs went to the Seattle Sounders Opening Day game on March 1, 2020, and the next home game on March 7, 2020. The programmer (along with Microsoft, Amazon, and other tech employees in the area) started working from home March 4th, 2020. Our last eating out day […]

  • Medical Tests of the Itchy Sort

    In May 2018 I was short of breath. I thought I might have pneumonia.  Turned out they  found a pulmonary embolism and I spent 4 days in ICU. I was finally discharged to go home and rest. This also came shortly after a kidney stone and high blood pressure diagnosis, and I was really, really, […]

  • Frustration

    [Note: Includes discussion of weight loss and history of intentional weight loss. Please avoid if you don’t want to read it.] Visited the endocrinologist again to follow up on my med changes. On my way into the office, the doc asks how the meds have made me feel; I said that I haven’t noticed much change […]

  • Day in the life: Thyroid pause

    I started taking levothyroxine this fall, and got the standard spiel from the pharmacist: Take first thing in the morning. Do not eat anything else for 30 to 60 minutes after, including other oral medication. Do not take with calcium or iron supplements for 4 hours after taking levothyroxine. “You CAN have coffee!” the pharmacist […]

  • No, Really, Treat the PROBLEM

    A comment for Treat Weight First? that I did not approve, but found striking for its ability to completely misunderstand, was: There must be some powerful drugs in that koolaid you’re drinking. You admit you are morbidly obese, you have multiple health problems directly related to obesity, yet you shun the doctors that are trying to help […]

  • Operation (de-)Dust Mite a Success

    The quest to cut down dust mites in our bedroom was a success.  I woke up Monday morning without a headache and without needing to blow my nose.  I hadn’t noticed these symptoms much until they were gone, but they were.  Even better, I seemed better able to handle other asthma triggers the rest of […]

  • Thankful Thursday

    [Another weekly exercise in gratitude.] 1) The man of the house made dinner — patty melt for me, with minced onion & mushrooms mixed into the patty, and a chili burger for him.   Yum. 2) Successfully moving my sleep schedule earlier, so I get to work in good time and get enough sleep. 3) The cable […]

  • Thankful Thursday

    [A weekly exercise in gratitude.] 1) Had a good doc appt today, have new treatment plan for allergies & asthma.  2) The other day I had the mini-gym at work to myself, so I didn’t have to keep myself from singing along to my iPod while I was on the treadmill :) 3) The wonderful relaxation […]

  • Medical Records Out My Ears…

    [One of the occasional series of posts about my typical day.] Or, Annual Physical update the 2nd (and hopefully final :) What I didn’t mention before was that the day of my annual I was near the tail end of my period.  It wasn’t bad enough that we couldn’t do my pap smear (yes, this […]

  • Annual Checkup Update: Lab Results

    [One of the occasional series of posts about my typical day.] During my annual checkup last week, my ARNP said that she would call if the labwork found a problem and that she usually sends an “all clear” note if things are unchanged.  I asked if she could send me the full resuts, and she […]

  • Fat folks more likely to be Vitamin D-deficient?

    I got a phone call from my RNP; my screening tests show no problems, but my vitamin D is still a little low.  She suggested I continue to take a 1000iu Vitamin D tablet a day.   During my checkup RNP also urged me to start taking a multivitamin again.  I have, and it has 400iu […]

  • Day in the Life: Annual Checkup

    [One of the occasional series of posts about my typical day.] Ah, the joy of the annual physical.  One new thing I learned is that some STD screening tests that used to require a vaginal swab to test now don’t – chlamydia, for example, can be checked with a urine sample. For my first visit […]

  • …and the other reason why I exercise

    It’s called, “Use it or lose it.” Last fall* I pulled a muscle in my right leg.  Kept up my daily walks, pulled it again – or maybe pulled another muscle.  This aggravated the occasional pain I would have in my right knee, and added some hip and thigh pain too. By November I was […]

  • A bit more on asthma….

    It’s been great hearing that others have run into the “You mean it’s asthma, not just that I’m fat?” experience.  Thought you would be interested in this, from the American College of Physicians Home Medical Guide: Asthma …. Main symptoms of asthma: Wheezing: May occur with or without shortness of breath in response to a […]

  • Day in the Life: Vitamins

    I posted yesterday that I finally admitted that I have asthma and began using an inhaler before exercising. Walking uphill became easier. The second change came a few days later, when the new ARNP got the results of my blood tests. “You have a severe vitamin B12 deficiency. Do you eat eggs and meat? Or […]

  • Day in the Life: Breathing

    Most days I use my inhaler pretty soon after waking.  What does asthma have to do with being fat? For a long time I didn’t think it was asthma; I thought I was just fat and out of shape.  I took Claritin to keep my allergies under control, yes, but I didn’t have asthma.  I […]

  • Mom weighed over 300lbs too

    If she ever got up to 400lbs she never told me, but then, she probably wouldn’t. I remember she had a chart during one of her diets.  At the top was ”  03″, and before the 0 was a shiny bit of Wite-Out.  It was clear that mom didn’t want anyone to know the first number.  […]