results - week 1

Ok, so Sunday was my scheduled result checking day, so Sunday morning I did the weigh in and retook all the measurements. I've lost 3.5 pounds and 15.25 inches over all!! That's just amazing for 1 week (with minor cheating, even!) after not having been able to loose anything at all since the accident. I'm loving the results, though, it appears I'm going to have to do some modification of either the diet, my meds, or both.
I have a new problem. My blood pressure is now dipping too low and I've been light headed and fuzzy brained. Saturday night I was down to 104/50. The combination of this diet and all my blood pressure medications is apparently too much. Saturday night I solved the immediate issue with some turkey bacon, which gave me lean protein, so wasn't too bad a cheat, and some salt which helped bring the bp back up a bit.
So I poked around the web site support group for this plan and found there are several variations. I'm going to be switching to one of those this week for week 2 while also keeping an eye on the bp levels and, if necessary, might have to cut back on the meds for a little while. I don't go back to the doctors until March, so I've got to be careful with what I'm doing. Depending on how this week goes, I might continue for a week 3, or I might have to put things on hold until after I see the doctors in March.

diet update, day 6

Things seem to be going ok. I've not been sleeping well, have had aches, lethargy, and minor headaches. All of these are things we're told to watch for as we detox and our bodies let go of the stuff they're use to getting.
However, I wasn't told to look out for falling blood pressure. Today, mine went down to 104/50 for a while this evening. That is a bit too low for my comfort so I'm going to have to either play with the diet rules and add a bit more salt back in, or play with my pill dosage on the blood pressure meds. I've already cut the bp meds down from 3 pills to 2 pills a day, but I may need to reduce that further. I will be looking at my options and making changes in things starting tomorrow and then throughout the week. I'm now looking at this first round with this as a shake down to see what I will have to play with to make it work for me and my med list.
But, I have lost inches, and maybe even some actual weight. Tomorrow it the official weigh in and measurement taking day, so we will see what the results are.
I did cheat a bit today to counter the drop in blood pressure and had some turkey bacon to raise my salt levels a smidge and some odwalla for some potassium and sugar to help balance that. It did push my numbers back up a little (115/58) so I'm good with that for the night. Hoping the minor cheats won't spoil things too much tomorrow.

in family news, my middle step daughter got 1st place for her oratory at her divisional for debate!! woohoo!! state quals in 2 weeks!! way to go!!

recovery.. is this what normal people feel like?

I don't know why, but lately I've been noticing how different my life is then it use to be. About a year ago (March 2009) I went to see the doctor for some respiratory problems I'd been having. I thought at the time that they were related to the volcano that had gone off earlier, and really only went to seek help after I literally couldn't breath while at the chiropractor's. (Still occasionally go there after 2007's car accident.)
Anyway, when I walked in, they did the usual weight, height, blood pressure thing. And then they sat me down in a bit of a panic and tested for blood oxygen levels, which then seemed to panic them even more and they drew blood to test for iron levels immediately. I left that day with an appointment for more blood work, a prescription for blood pressure meds and some inhalers, and a seriously high dosage of iron.
My blood pressure was somewhere around 240/120.. level 4, super high stroke risk levels. My oxygen levels were bordering on my coming home with an oxygen tank, and apparently somewhere along the way, I've become seriously anemic.
After a summer of lots more testing at several specialists, it was determined that I have an enlarged heart, a murmur (no surprise on that one, my mom has one, too), and severe sleep apnea. The Apnea may be responsible for a lot of the other things that are wrong, so hoping that after a few years, if I'm careful and lucky, I might be allowed to come off some of the meds.
Back then I was sleeping for 10-12 hours a day, or more. I was always tired, never had energy for much of anything. It had all come on gradually, and some of it wasn't noticeable until after the car accident, and that was likely why it wasn't noticed sooner. After the accident there was lots of pain, my weight went up again due to the inability to move much and decline in my diet, and i really thought all of what was going on was a normal part of the whole "hey, your car was accordioned, be happy you weren't" experience of the accident recovery.
But this year, this year I am really seeing a difference. The sleep apnea may have been a problem for me for most of my life, it would explain a lot. Most days now I can get up around 6 in the morning and have no problem going all day til about 11 at night, and even then sometimes I'm just not tired enough to fall asleep right away. True, every once in a while I still feel like a short nap in the afternoon, but those are the rare instance now, not the norm. I have energy, I can do stuff in the morning and still have energy to do stuff in the afternoon and evening as well! This is new territory for me again. I vaguely remember being able to do that years ago, but it all seems so long ago now that I'd forgotten what "normal" was.
It's kind of like when I was in 5th grade and got glasses. I didn't know what it was like to actually see things before then. I thought the blurry, fuzzy world I'd always seen was what the world was like. I didn't know any better. Then I got glasses and the whole world opened up and became new and wondrous. It was great, and so is this.
I am sincerely grateful for this second chance to experience the world with vigor and energy that I've been given. I've always commented on how much of a miracle it was that I wasn't injured more in the accident. As bad and painful as it was (and still is at times) I know that it could have and, based on my x-rays maybe should have been, worse. But that visit to the doctor's last year was just as important. Without it, there is every chance that I wouldn't have made it to be here today, things were that wrong with me. But I am well on the mend now, just need to get the blasted weight back off.. :)

And I'm going to need all this energy. This week my oldest stepdaughter and the 2.5 year old grandbaby moved in with us! (The defacto SIL was already here, he came up and started working while she packed everything up) They will be with us until further notice while they save up to buy a house, and we're so excited to have them here. It will be good practice.

latest update... progress

Well, probablly should have done this a few days ago, but i came down with a nasty head cold right about the same time as I got results back from the blood tests, so things got delayed.. though updates were somewhat sent out elsewhere..
anyway.. blood test show everything is more or less fine. I have plenty of iron receptors in my blood, the iron just hasn't been sticking for some reason. My numbers were up and I am now at the very low end of normal.. but "normal" is much improved from where I was, so I am continuing with the iron suppliments. My blood pressure was better, but still not quite where they wanted it, so they've tinkered with that some, and the last reading I just took was 107/67.. pulse is a bit high at 105, but i've been doing a lot of coughing (thanks to that head cold..) so will see how that goes in the next day or two as the coughing clears up. Nothing in the tests give any indication as to what caused any of this. Chest x-ray confirmed that my heart is slightly enlarged, which could be caused by the high blood pressure, or could have caused the high blood pressure.. or.. well, it's one of those evil circular things... gotta figure out what started the whole mess..
I have an echo cardiogram scheduled for the 29th and hopefully that will shed some light.. after that, will likely have a sleep study done as well.. just going to be the summer of tests for me this year :)
but otherwise, I'm feeling pretty good. I know now that there really is a reason for me to feel tired, so don't push through it like i was, am willing to go take a nap if i need to, and because of that, I'm feeling better, am sleeping through the night again now and have actual moments of real energy! :) Still not willing to do anything too hard yet, but I am starting to get there. Light exercise has been allowed back into my routine, in small doses, which is about all I can take right now anyway before i wear out.. but it's a start.. (ok, one i've been forced to take more times then I would like the last few years... but, there we are...)
and while this whole mess has pretty much put an end to some dreams (IVF in the next few years is definately out, and not likely to even be an option beyond that..) it at least has provided some answers to a few things and was caught in time to keep me around for a good deal longer, which will be even more important for the whole adoption process.