Friday, August 3, 2012

A Bit Calmer

Thankfully things have calmed down a bit.

One summer class done. What a bitch that one was! Ridiculous math class is over on August 25. Last two classes start August 27. I really thought I had a week before the Fall classes started but I was wrong. I have one day off. Oh well, these are my last two classes and then I am DONE!

We went out to Philly for Ken's follow up. The space where his lung was has finally filled up with fluid! They are a bit concerned about his weight loss. He has trouble swallowing sometimes. Sometimes the food makes a return appearance. This could be a side effect of the radiation or it could be everything is shifting into the space where the lung used to be. This is expected but his pipe may be shifting into an odd position making it difficult to swallow. They have him scheduled for a barium swallow in two weeks. The doctor was happy with his (attempted) nutrition but is concerned about weight loss. He advised him to get in more calories even if it's cake and ice cream. I actually have to keep crap in the house on doctor's advice! It's ok, I bought him Klondike bars. He  loves them and I hate them. What would I do for a Klondike bar? Not a damn thing, they are gross. Now if it was my homemade cinnamon apple ice cream? Then we'd have a problem.

The doctor also wants him to have a bronchoscopy on his existing lung. So after he does the barium thing he will have a consult with the pulmonologist and get that scheduled. This is the procedure that will help me relax a bit. The doc said his CAT scan came back looking good. Problem is, his cancer never showed on a CAT scan to begin with. The man had Stage 3b cancer and it never showed on a scan. The first bout of it was found when his local doctor did a bronchoscopy and saw it with his own two eyes. The second bout was found after a bronchoscopy at the big city cancer hospital. When that doctor came out to talk to me after the procedure he said (and I will never forget it because I thought he sounded like an unprofessional douchebag), "I didn't see any cancer hanging off of anything so I think he's ok." After getting back the pathology reports it turned out it was ALL cancer and they had to take the lung. Yeah, so I won't relax until after we have the pathology back from the new bronchoscopy.

Enough of that...

It's been two weeks and two days since I ended the Whole 30. I ended at 254. Today I weighed 252. Kind of crappy- two pounds in two weeks. I haven't been as diligent as I should be. Too much stress eating. I also added dairy back in and I'm thinking that might not be great for me, at least not in the quantity I've been having. I'm going to cut that again and see what happens this week.

On the mono front- I'm tired, really tired. Other than that I'm good.

My 25th high school reunion is tomorrow night. I'm not going. It is too expensive, mostly for the open bar I think and since we don't really drink it's a waste. One of the women I used to hang with in high school messaged a bunch of us and long story short, we are meeting for dinner at a Mexican place tomorrow night instead. So mini 25th reunion is tomorrow. I plan on getting shrimp fajitas, hold the tortilla, cheese, and sour cream. No booze, no dessert, just good times with old friends.

Have a great weekend!!

6 comments:

  1. Stress plays havoc on our hormones and creates cortisol which causes weight gain and inhibits weight loss. Take care of yourself. Hugs.

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  2. Just keep doing what you're doing, my friend. Playing around with minor adjustments to the diet to see what works is what Paleo is really all about. And, hey! "At least" you didn't eat six Skinny Cow ice cream bars (they're fat free!)... ;) Enz is right; stress can counterbalance even our best eating efforts and you really are doing fine. Hope you hear some good news soon (Ken's test results) and power through those classes!

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    1. I thought of you when I was fruit binging. Thankfully there was no crap in the house that I like. Too much of the good stuff is still too much.

      His consult is Thursday, hopefully he can have the bronchoscopy before school starts.

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  3. Well, ya know, Beth, if anyone has an 'excuse' to eat 3 skinny cow ice cream bars, it would be you. You are certainly dealing with some major life stress here...I think you are awesome for continuing to fight for yourself. I try putting myself in your shoes and I honestly don't know how well I would fare... How are you finding the cheese? It's kind of icky after the Whole30, yes?

    You are one strong ass, dedicated mama. In a sea of ridiculous 'weight loss' blogs out there, yours is one I truly respect! Keep it up!

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    1. Awww, Jenn! Thanks! It's women like you that help me through all of this.

      Yeah, the cheese is gross now :(

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