In spite of the awful time I've had dealing with my surgical clinic and the fact that I ate a lot of garbage to spite them (yeah, that's smart on my part!) over the holidays, my health continues to improve overall.
It's been 10 months since my surgery and I still do not have restriction. I will get stuck if I don't chew well, but other than that, I cannot really tell I'm banded. The clinic has now determined that since I'm further out from surgery, my fills should be farther apart. Even though the band is not doing it's job yet. Yeah. Protocol says so, therefore it must be true.
So now I sit, frustrated, with two months between appointments, banging my head against the wall at my ravenous hunger. Yeah, if follow up care for band patients is of this caliber across the board, no wonder why band failure rates are so high.
Despite my lack of success of weight loss at this point, I have turned a corner. My last few months of feeling like crap is resolving with the treatment of my sinus infection. I have a little bit of energy. I've got some great events coming up in the next few months, like my Texas trip with Debra, and Carolyn and Anne's wedding in April, and all the great friends I'll get to meet at both events. So emotionally, I am energized.
Anyway, my head is feeling better mucosally, and my mental health is feeling better as a result. The two of those are dragging my body along for the ride and now I actually care about refocusing my fallen efforts at weight loss.
Yesterday, I had a follow up visit with my endocrinologist (ooh, I'm actually getting to the point!). It went surprisingly well and my test results were a pleasant surprise because I really felt crappy and frustrated in December and was completely non-compliant as a patient. I just didn't care. Because I felt so bad, I was incapable of caring.
But the numbers were encouraging and now I am inspired to care. Two helpful doctor's appointments in a week--this is a record! HA! Here are my numbers:
- Old HbA1c 8.0, new 7.2, down 0.8!!!!
- Old total cholesterol 210, new 201
- Old HDL cholesterol 76, new 102 (happy cholesterol, higher = better)
- Old LDL cholesterol 117, new 76 (lousy cholesterol, lower = better)
- Old triglycerides 84, new 114
I am most pleased about my HbA1c dropping and how my HDL and LDL have changed for the better. One significant thing is that I don't do fast food any more. It's just nasty tasting now. So I attribute that to playing a role in the improvement of my cholesterol.
Now it's time to focus. Patients generally say that with the band and weight loss, it's 80% you and 20% band. In my case, it appears to be 99% me and 1% band. So until I can persuade my clinic to listen to me and have my band do something, it's all on my shoulders. At least I finally feel human enough to have the desire to start taking care of myself again.
Oh, have I said today how much I adore Tina, the allergy nurse practitioner??? : )
1 comment:
Giving up fast food has been such a challenge for me-because, in a previous life, that's all I ate. The gluten thing has helped because, well, if I eat too much fast food, I'm going to itch for a good week. Motivation comes in many forms.
I'm working the vitamins and anti inflammation stuff-because, yes, I don't feel good and no, I am not depressed. I don't FEEL good. LOL. Rather than wait for someone to tell me what to do-I'm just going to work on it myself.
I'm not as restricted as I'd like to be-but any more tightness and I won't be able to get down my vitamins and the whole vicious cycle begins again.
I skipped my last appointment because I didn't want another fill, I hadn't lost any weight and I know I was eating poorly-so why pay someone to tell me all that.
I'm coming to grips with the fact that I really did want a magic bullet with the band, and it's not. More work on my part is in order.
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