This thread has turned into a journal of sorts for me... and it's helpful for my journey, so thanks for bearing with me if you're reading this.
I finally got a definitive diagnosis. Yesterday I went to see the Endocrinologist and he said that my immune marker tested positive for Graves Disease. Graves causes the immune system to attack the thyroid, which makes it overproduce hormones. The bad news is, there's no cure for Graves. The good news is, it's treatable, and often goes into remission.
So today I started a new med which will lower my thyroid's hormone production - thereby lowering my metabolism as well. I am NOT HAPPY about that.
Since getting sick, I have gained back 10 of the 15 pounds I lost.
That really depressed me, that even though my thyroid is going nuts I GAINED weight AND that the treatment for this disease will make it EVEN HARDER for me to lose weight. BUT -- then I thought...
I can do this. I can. If I can quit smoking, I can do anything. The drug will make me feel better, stronger, able to breathe again. Once I can breathe, I can MOVE again. If I can move, then I can lose weight. I can.
I'm bicycling again. Wednesday I went 5 miles, last night 4, tonight 3, but this afternoon I cleaned the pool and then did some laps (if you can call them laps in a round, above-ground pool!).
I bought a family membership at the Y, which is only 5 blocks from my house. My son said he'd go with me and show me how to use the equipment. I've never done this before and I'm nervous about it because I know I'm gonna be the biggest woman there, but I don't care, nervous or not I'm gonna go.
To be honest, while I was in the doctor's office yesterday, I had SERIOUS thoughts of starting smoking again. [i]I quit smoking and ALL THIS STUFF started happening! I'm supposed to feel better, not worse! If the smoking was masking the condition, then maybe I should start back up again... [/i]
A few minutes later, I asked the doctor a question: "I know that Graves Disease can cause the eyeballs to protrude - is that going to happen to me??!?" (For some reason I am SO grossed out by this possibility, LOL! I used to have an aunt that had protruding eyeballs and whenever I'd see her I'd check my own eyes, so scared that her condition was genetic and any minute it'd happen to me!)
Anyway, the doctor's answer was: "You don't smoke, right?"
"I quit five and a half months ago."
"That was long enough ago," he said, "you would be at much greater risk to have ophthalmopathy if you smoked now."
THERE'S A REASON FOR EVERYTHING! I'm SO glad that I asked that question, because OMG you can be certain that I will NOT be smoking, UH HUH NO WAY!!!
Anyway, thanks for reading this far.... and special thanks to Alohakeia and Danielle, for sticking with me here. And Aloha, I did see your post to me but it wasn't until a couple days later and I didn't wanna hijack someone else's thread. Thanks for caring, and I'm doing good.
Finally broke in that pool. :p
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B]1/1/2007
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 165
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 4,950
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $495.00
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 17 [B]Hrs:[/B] 1 [B]Mins:[/B] 39 [B]Seconds:[/B] 49