Ponders for the day

I was writing in my pen-and-paper journal this morning and had an apostrophe. I started pondering the correlation between weight issues, clutter issues and financial issues. I've not fully thought it out, but I know it's there, and I think the crux issue is the clutter issue. However, I also believe that they are an unholy trinity wherein you cannot successfully fix one of the problems without also fixing the others. I say that clutter is the root issue because it usually comes from having too much stuff, so it's a symptom of disorganization and excess. The same tools you use to fix one problem - especially the food/financial dyad - will certainly help the others. For example, if you keep a food log, which all of the "experts" recommend, you tend not to overeat. If you keep a spending log (not just a transaction register, but what you spend $ on), you tend to spend less. I'm positive that this isn't new information and that there is a book out there, I just haven't found it yet.

I need to meditate about this some more and think about what tools I can use to fight all three issues like a broad spectrum antibiotic for issues. I need to tackle all three if I have any hope of being successful in reaching my goal weight, having a clean house, and having my financial house in order.

And if there isn't already a book out there, then maybe I need to write one. :-)

ETA: Of course Peter Walsh has written such a book. How could I ever doubt him? :-) Enough Already. I have it checked out from our library and will see if it helps me collect my thoughts on the subject.

Telephone Tag

Why is it that I can get extraordinarily awesome care while I'm physically present at my Internist's office and then get such crappy customer service, for lack of a better term, via phone. When you call to get a referral or a prescription re-filled, it takes a bolt of lightning, Deus ex Machina and three acts of Congress to get them to return your phone call. I guess I need to complain more than I already have.

Today's complaint brought to you by the fact that I'm still swelling in my lower legs and I've not heard about the Lasix I asked about, nor have they refilled my normal diuretic and I have only until Friday left. I forgot I only had the one refill left, so it's partially my fault. In my defense, I've been dealing with things that make people a bit spacey. I'm also feeling a bit off. I can't really describe it beyond that. I hope that it's due to the antibiotic working against the infection rather than just killing off my intestinal flora and making me miserable. It'll do that anyway, but that's OK if it kills the infection, too.

At least there is Glee tonight. :-)

ETA: Just got a call from my doctor's office. If I'd known all I needed to do was rant, I'd have done it two days ago. ;-)

There and back again

So, okay, I'm not a hobbit, but I do feel like I've been there and back again. When last we met, I had just seen my Internist about the digestive issues. All of the tests he ordered came back within normal parameters so he referred me to a Gastroenterologist. The GI did a super-whammy Celiac test which shows that I do not have, nor am I ever likely to develop (it's a genetic marker test), Celiac Disease. That's a relief. The GI had a tentative diagnosis of IBS with possible lactose intolerance. I could've told him about the lactose intolerance. :-) However, IBS is a diagnosis of exclusion so he had to run all kinds of tests. It is at this point that I wear my knees out thanking every holy being for the fact that I have insurance. So, I had an abdominal CT which only showed a slightly fatty liver. I'm told that the fatty liver should resolve itself as I continue to lose weight and bring my cholesterol under control. I also had an abdominal ultrasound which showed nothing more than the CT did. After that, I got to have an upper endoscopy, which showed a teensy hiatal hernia which the doc says is not only too small to need to treat, but also too small to be causing any of the symptoms. Then came the fun of a colonoscopy which got a "looks great, see you when you are 50". So, basically, all that testing only to be told that it probably is IBS. One good thing that has come from it is that I was told that I have a gluten allergy and not a gluten intolerance, which means I can have things with gluten as long as I keep track of how I'm feeling. But the GI told me that he doesn't have a problem with me being gluten-free because he's of the opinion that people in the US eat entirely too much gluten anyway.

Basically, at the end of testing, I was no closer to really knowing what was wrong than I was when I started. Thankfully, the nausea has subsided enough that I can keep a bit more food down, though it's still present on most days and my appetite is still low. All of this is by early October.

Fast forward to last week. In the continued efforts to take better care of myself, I actually went to the clinic only 4 days into UTI symptoms. Ordinarily, I let it go until I feel like I want to die and -then- I go. So, I went ahead to the clinic on Friday. By the end of the day on Friday, my back was hurting on the left side, which let me know that I'd made the right decision to go ahead to the clinic. When I got there, the Nurse Practitioner had me do a urine sample which tested positive for WBC and blood - neither is good. She also had a blood draw to check a CBC and electrolyte panel. All she got back Friday was my WBC count. The reference range in the clinic lab goes up to 10.9 and my white blood cell count was 10.8. Yikes. That told her that I'd probably had the infection for a long time and that it was now in my kidneys. So, I got a shot of Rocephin on Friday, then again on Saturday. I'm also on a 10-day run of Levaquin. She also looked at the swelling in my lower legs and prescribed 3 days worth of Lasix. Since Friday, I'm down nearly 7# so I guess I was retaining a bit of fluid. I have a call into my doctor hoping that he'll give me another few days of Lasix because my legs, while much improved, are still swelling a bit. And, as soon as I'm feeling a bit better, I'll go have us explore the why behind the swelling. It may just be due to the kidney infection.

We are all now wondering if the infection is what was causing all of the "digestive" issues, which explains why none of the digestive disorder diagnostics (say that 10X fast) showed anything that explains the symptoms. I'm still run down and not feeling 100%, but it's AMAZING how much better I feel than I was Friday.

The moral of this story is that the next time I'm feeling run down and my appetite goes South and I'm nauseated, I want them to check me for a possible infection first.

As soon as DH gets paid, we're getting me back on WW. Right now, I'm writing everything down, though I'm not counting Points. I figure that's a good first step. I've also poked my head out on the WWMSG list for support. I'm hoping that those two combined efforts can get me back on track - and keep me there. *crosses fingers*