Awesome conversation

 So I had to call my cell company, because I had called France to cancel a trip and got billed $246 for the conversation, which honestly wasn't even worth it because the deposit I got back was $149. 

Anyways, I called and spoke with this super nice lady about it and we were talking and I don't even know how the subject came up but we start talking about hysterectomies and menopause and periods and the next thing I know I am giving her all kinds of information and verbiage and reddits to check out. Because seriously, women's health is critical and it's not validated enough when a woman says she wants something so that her life is better.

It was a good conversation and it felt good to be able to share information, experiences and resources.

Yes, I did get a partial credit on my expensive phone call to France, thankfully it will help with that sting.

It's a lot like busy - to the tune of holiday music

 Work has been increasingly busy! Life has been catching up too! Between my surgery coming up, Jessie having the baby and helping out on the weekends and work just becoming this pretty non-stop daily thing, I am exhausted.

Exhausted.

Oh and lets add in some of those fun perimenopause symptoms coming around, with sleep being more elusive and some of mood swings are back.

But! I just did have my last fucking period!! That is so amazingly awesome and I just can't stop grinning every time I think about it. I am excited for this surgery - don't get me wrong, I understand there is going to be bit of a long recovery in general and that life will instantly be turned upside down - BUT things should even out (I need to contact my GP about HRT probably now) and things/life will be better. It's not just preventative, it's also quality of life for the next 10 years. Keep your fingers crossed I don't lose my mind and change all kinds of life options in the wrong ways.

Also, the holidays are literally right around the corner. Thanksgiving is next week and then it's surgery and then Christmas/Yule. It's just a lot! And with all these surgeries and health things this year, I will need a 2nd job to pay off this debt sooner rather than later. That will be a fun thing to figure out once I am out of the healing stage.

I think I have 90% of my gift shopping done. It's hard to make some decisions on what to get things for someone you love/care about and not make it too silly or unnecessary.

Oh and I am going to keep working on losing weight. I'd like to lose another 30 lbs in the next 6 months. Not sure how realistic that is with my hormones going off the rails here shortly, but I have hope and persistence. I want to lose 5 lbs before surgery, plan on re-doing the liquid diet I did for my last one. The first 3 days were the worst but after that it was livable. 

My cat Diego, who is 16 going on 17, is on thyroid meds and his kidneys are just barely starting to show some signs of potential issues, per the $355 vet visit last week. 

I miss my son.

Holding a baby is both therapeutic and amazing.

I need to cut my hair, clear off my nail polish and clean the shower. These are things that are on my mind on a regular, if not daily basis, but have yet to do them in that last 30 days. I have no idea why I am delaying, but none of them will take long to get accomplished. 

I have one more thing to fill out for the surgery too, a listing of everything I am taking (which is a website site and if I could be smart and get it done at work that would be fine but I feel like I need to get it done at home where are my things are...it's weird. Why is it so weird?)

See, it's all a bit of a cluster. I am spinning and throwing darts and hitting some targets but not all of them. And a lot of them are important targets.

I need to start using my planner, it was so helpful before and I got away from it because the routine, was well established routine. But right now so many things are shifting again. 

Also, people put their heads on pillows...not their feet. It would be nice not to use a pillow as a foot rest, especially without socks, all over a pillow that someone might be sleeping on later. I mean, ew. Ew. Granted, if your foot is injured and it's being elevated, that's one thing. No, this is just pushing bare feet against a pillow that is on the floor for some reason. Why is it on the floor? Why the need to put naked feet on it? Are those feet clean? It's just...ew. How am I going to clean this pillow now?? It's a larger one so damn.

In other news, it got freaking cold outside!  Which is both nice and annoying, as I really do that utopia temperature of 70 degrees with a crisp breeze or light wind. Winter is just around the corner and it will hopefully being a safe one and nothing too dramatic.

And I have also confirmed that I can not eat a lot of sugar in one sitting. It makes me nauseous and my stomach was not happy. I got hot. I was literally working in the garage without a jacket or my vest (I love my vest) to cool off which thankfully helped. Oh another thing happened a couple weeks ago. I must have drank water too close to eating because my mouth was just filling, FILLING, with salvia. It was a bit wild. So definitely do not drink within 20-30 minutes of eating, especially a meal that makes you full. 

Ok, I think my brain has run away enough for the evening. I need to get to bed and sleep a happy deep sleep. 

Minor updates

 There is a lot I want to write about, but I'm not quite sure where to start!!

It was my love's birthday. So that is awesome ;)

My niece is due to have her baby in about 3 weeks. That's super exciting and I can't wait !!

Work - is work. Not sure what is interesting about it right now - just the normal frustrations and good stuff.

Medical - now this subject matter is more tedious than anything. 

WLS - Still losing, sorta. I'm in a stall (but honestly I'm stalled between 193 and 194, so that's an awesome place to stall at) and I will focus more next week and breaking the stall and getting losing again.

Medical Billing - good gods the medical billing can be frustrating. I literally paid my portion but for some reason 1 Dr's office is like - we see that payment amount but it says that I still owe so therefore you still owe. I'm not paying it twice fuckers. So I called my HSA card people and my Insurance people and hopefully all this new lovely documents will help them understand math better. Thankfully though, all my other ones have been good and nothing too outrageous.

Hysterectomy - this is coming up in December. I am excited to have this done. I am a wee bit stressed about the recovery. Mainly that it may take longer and I am trying to go back to work after 2 weeks. I took off 4 with my last surgery, and 2 surgeries in 1 year, it just seems like a lot. I am also trying to do more research into HRT because I am going to want the hormones. Instant menopause (is waaaay better than the typical 7-10 years of that shit) means that I'll want those hormones sooner rather than later. Peri sucked and I don't want that again and nor would I wish that on any woman.

I also think about the fact you should not have sex for 2-3 months, that recovery means months in general and I really hope it doesn't cause me to stall the whole time in my weight loss. It's a lot. But the long run is, with my genetics and whatnot, I will be healthier. And that is important. Focus on the goal!

So in a nut shell, life is good, nothing bad is going on and there are a lot of changes coming up. 

Post Op Update 3

It's been several days and and I am down to 217, which is freaking awesome. 25 pounds down so far. 

In the last week, I have learned NOT to do too much of any exercise, because when I did some arm ones, the whole evening and next day, I was in pain and sore and I thought it was my kidneys! But not, it was just these poor muscles that were abused because they were not used to it. So I took a couple days off and then started it back with a smaller amount being done each time.

Food, that has been interesting too. I would have thought I would be able to eat the whole 1/4 cup of tuna salad, but nope, first few days I was full before eating it all. I was very surprised by this. That fact I am in week 3 and haven't hit a stall yet is nice too, but I know it's coming. I track everything I eat and try to keep the carbs and sugars low. Calories don't matter as much thankfully! Protein and fluids are the priority first. And water still hurts to drink. Warm fluids are awesome, but cold ones and water are a struggle. What's also weird about that is I can eat popsicles fine and those are frozen. 

I am also tracking inches, and that has as rewarding as the pounds coming off. My calf has gone down an inch and I didn't think that was possible. 

Interesting things also. I have some specific WLS oatmeal, it's definitely better when using hot water vs cooking in the microwave. It's also better with a little bit extra cinnamon.

It's such a learning curve, all of it. You read all the posts and articles and whatnot and think you're prepared or at least aware of what is going to happen. But then you're home by yourself and trying to remember all this information and end up googling everything all over again.

But walking is good and getting better. Life is good in general. I am getting more energy which is soooo nice. AND! It seems my perimenopause is, well, paused. All the hormones releasing into my system has been super good and if anything it means I should go on HRT when I am back in it again. Plus, I am still scheduled for a hysterectomy later this year. I hope that going into a full on chemical menopause with HRT is a good thing. It's only a slight worry right now. I have several months before it happens and time to speak to dr's and whatnot.

One booked, one to go

 I have a hysterectomy booked for December of 2022. I am very relieved and excited and just a wee bit nervous. This will be the 2nd surgery for the year and I've never had one before so the next several months are going soooo very exhausting and interesting.

I am hoping for the gastric sleeve surgery to be in May...there is just a lot of hoops and requirements and appointments before I can the actual surgery date. But, that will be such a major and positive change to life! I know it's seriously hard work and the amount of reading I've done on it has helped me prepare - or as prepared as one can be, for something like this.

But health and happiness are important factors to life and no one else can do this for me, it's one of those things you have to do for yourself.