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In a previous post, I explained how a broken ankle and recent bloodwork have been major wake-up calls for me to adopt healthier eating habits. It’s just not about losing weight any more! It’s about survival, plain and simple.

It would also be nice to feel well enough to enjoy the life & family with which I have been so incredibly blessed! I say “I can’t [do that]” to my sweet daughter so often I feel like a broken record.

This is NOT the mother/wife/daughter/friend/citizen I wanted to be! And if I don’t stop living on crap, I won’t even be here at all. It’s become that fundamental.

Since this isn’t really about weight any more for me, I am going to list here the physical conditions I have now. This isn’t a “whining list.” It’s a list of things that I hope to be able to look back on over time, and find that some of these things are no longer on it!

Ok, so enough yapping. Here’s where I’m at right now.

Taking Stock…

Blood Chemistry (unless otherwise specified, blood test taken 09/04 after being off all but allergy/asthma/GERD meds for 5 days):

1. Total cholesterol = 259 mg/dL. That’s “very high” by any standard. Per my Mom’s cardiologist, high risk patients should keep total cholesterol under 150. I’ve been kidding myself into thinking I was “ok” because I’d never smoked. Hah. I am a walking heart attack!
2. Total LDL cholesterol = 191 mg/dL. Also very high! Per Mom’s cardiologist, high-risk women should keep LDL under 70 (while moderate-risk women should strive for LDL of under 100).
3. VLDL = 34 mg/dL. Per Mom’s cardiologist, high risk women should keep VLDL between 25-50% of total cholesterol.
4. HDL = 53 mg/dL. Per Mom’s cardiologist, women should keep HDL above 60. Per NIH, HDL below 50 puts women at risk for heart disease.
5. LDL/HDL ratio = 4.9. According to the lab report, it should be 0.0 to 4.4.
6. Triglycerides = 171 mg/dL, which is in officially in the normal range of <200, despite all the sugars & fat I eat. Per Mom’s cardiologist, however, high-risk women should keep Triglycerides under 150.
7. Cardiac C-Reactive Protein = 2.99 (4/21/05). Should be less than 1. Lowest risk is 0.55. “High risk of heart-disease related events” at > 3.0, and “very high risk” if it’s over 3.9. Yikes!
8. Thyroid Free T4 = 0.68. Should be 0.71 to 1.85 per lab report.
9. Thyroid TSH = 2.66, which is in the normal range (0.49-4.67 per lab report).
10. Sodium = 144. Should be 137-145. (Odd — I salt hardly anything, & don’t like salty snacks). Could this be caused by the reflux medicines I take? Seems like I read that somewhere.)
11. Cortisol = 1.71 @10:57 a.m. (This seems low but ranges are given for before 10 am & after 5 pm so there’s no way to tell).
12. Interestingly, fasting blood glucose was normal, though it’s been “pre-diabetic” in numerous other tests before I ever started taking metformin. I’d been off the metformin for 5 days; perhaps metformin has a lingering effect?
13. A1C = 5.4. Normal is 0 to 6.5. A1C measures blood sugar over 3 months’ time & I’ve been on metformin for all but the last 5 days, so it should be “normal” even though I’d discontinued the metformin.

Physical Symptoms:

1. Extreme brain fog.
2. Stroke-like inability to think of words, or saying wrong words for things. This is really scary. Strokes have attacked women as young as 35 in my family, and killed most of the men by age 55.
3. Inability to concentrate or stick w/tasks.
4. Extreme allergies, worst they’ve ever been.
5. Asthma is worst it’s ever been.
6. High (sometimes extreme) flu-like body ache, requiring 2-8 Advil/day.
7. Reflux, often so severe even Aciphex (my “magic pill”) isn’t enough.
8. High to extreme fatigue.
9. Hard to wake up/get up in a.m.
10. Hard to go to sleep at night. Often up till 1-2 a.m. despite feeling sleepy around 8-10pm.
11. Usually wake up 1-2 times at least during night (w/sweats, cold, needing to pee, or just feeling physically tense or mentally “wound up”).
12. Ears “weep,” itch, & crust over constantly unless steroid cream applied every few days.
13. Can’t sit on floor to play w/daughter (too painful & hard to breathe).
14. Can’t breathe & feel like my head will explode when I bend over to pick up stuff, put on shoes, etc.
15. Can’t get off the toilet, sofa, or a soft chair without using my arms a great deal (plus lots of groaning).
16. Can’t paint my own toenails.
17. Cannot slide down slides or climb on jungle gyms w/kids.
18. Feet go numb & knees ache after sitting for 20 mins or more.
19. Hands (esp. right) go cold & numb from pressure at brachial pulse point area (from the rolls of fat at my sides)
20. Constant pain in right elbow, & to a lesser extent the right wrist. (Diagnosed golfers’ & tennis elbow).
21. Constant numbness/tingling/cold feeling in my right hand. (Diagnosed carpal tunnel syndrome).
22. Constant neck & upper back pain, & lots of neck crepitis.
23. Knees pain when walking, trying to sit/stand, & especially getting up/down from floor.
24. Major foot pain, especially after walking/standing. Can’t wait to sit/lie down!
25. Formerly broken ankle hurts & swells more than it should at this point.
26. Severe obstructive sleep apnea.
27. Restless leg syndrome.
28. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, including dark bruise-like patches on elbows, heavy hair growth on chin, extreme hunger, mood swings w/hunger, & abdominal obesity. This is related to insulin resistance, and may put me at increased risk for Type 2 diabetes. With a sibling with Type 1 diabetes, my excess weight, and abdominal obesity, I am already at fairly high risk for Type 2 diabetes!
29. The hump back of fat (ugh).
30. Can feel the roll of fat at my neck when I turn my neck (eeew).
31. Frequently need powder under belly (OMG, I used to do this for elderly mental patients I took care of in college. I loved these folks, but this is not a trait I ever thought I would share with them!)

Medications:

1. Advair 250/50, ii.
2. Albuterol inhaler, 2 puffs as needed (these days, 1-4 times/day).
3. Fexofenadine 180 mg a.m.
4. Spirolactone (for PCOS) 25 mg ii.
5. Metformin (for PCOS) 500 mg ii, i.
6. Armour Thyroid 60 mg a.m.
7. Fluoxetine 40 mg a.m. for mild anxiety/depression.
8. Topamirate (for restless leg syndrome) 50 mg pm.
9. Rx steroid cream for insides of ears, applied every 3-7 days.
10. Aciphex 20 mg when I can get it; otherwise 1-2 OTC PPIs, plus Di-Gel as needed.
11. CPAP machine.
12. Quercitin 1000 mg chews (participating in a research study, not required by physician). Sheesh, talk about causing reflux. I hate these!
13. At the moment, I’m also taking 10 days of Amoxicillin for a sinus infection.