M.I.A.

First of all, I want to thank all of you wonderful readers who have emailed me over the past week or so wondering if everything is OK with me. It means a lot to me that people are reading enough to realize when you have been gone to long and are genuinely curious as to why.

Since my last post I have gained exactly 5 pounds back. The very same 5 pounds I was so proud to have lost as it put me at the 10 pounds lost marker.

But I'm OK with it.  Why?

1) I have been eating like crap! (When I felt like eating at all that is.)

2) I have not been exercising AT ALL!

Why you ask again?

Because I have been sick.

I have been VERY sick.

I have been going through medical tests and doctor's appointments like crazy to find out why I am sick (and am in constant agony).

I was so stressed out, not just with the pain, but also because I was having trouble working, walking up and down stairs, sleeping, and doing just about anything really. I was so freaked out trying to figure out what it could be.

Luckily we pretty much have the answer now, also luckily it seems like something that should be easy to take care of without extensive surgeries and medications.

I have a few more tests that need to be run before the doctor can refer me to the specialist, and then they will be the ones to decide how to proceed.

Here is what we do know so far: (WARNING - This is very personal and involves women's cycles, etc and might be too much information for some people. Continue reading at your own risk!)

PCOS has pretty much been confirmed via ultrasounds, but we are still waiting on the final blood work to come back on that.

Two uterine fibroids have been discovered. One is about 2 cm and the other is around 5cm. The larger one is in the lower back area and the reason for most of the pain and the inability to sleep.

I have an excess of ovarian follicles which is also a symptom of PCOS and may be rupturing which can also be causing the pain in the abdominal areas.

Until we can get more test results back and speak to a specialist I have been placed on prescription painkillers to manage the pain so I can at least return to a somewhat normal lifestyle. I have also been placed on birth control pills for three months (starting with my next cycle) to manage the hormone levels and make the menstrual cycles more bearable as that is what is aggravating the fibroids.

Fun stuff right! At least I got in lots of reading and video game time! I even made a Shelfari account! Feel free to add me.

At least it's not cancerous...that's what I keep repeating to myself over and over again...

Next week I hope to get back to healthier eating and some exercise (pending how the painkillers work of course).  I have already been told I had to drop out of my dancing with ROTC for the season as well as drop out of my first 5K race I had planned.  I'm pretty bummed but I am hoping once my health gets back on track I can return to those things I enjoyed!

Weekly Weigh-in

Well...I wasn't going to do a weigh-in post yet. in fact, it was my intent to merely post a photo blog today. But then I realized something...

For those of you paying attention...that means I have lost a total of 10.5 pounds to date! OMG! This entitles me to add this to my sidebar!

Ecstatic much? Ummm hell yeah! I've lost 1.3 pounds this week alone! I am MORE than ecstatic.

I'd like to thank my wonderful boyfriend for putting us (yes the whole family) on a healthier eating plan, making it so much easier for me (and of course he has lost some of his extra pounds as well!). I also want to thank all my ROTC co-members for making me work my butt off at every rehearsal! I am SO looking forward to our all day rehearsal before the parades start!

The weirdest part is I was just trying to talk myself into going for a nice walk and grabbing a taco from Taco Bell to celebrate Cinco De Mayo...but now I think I will just stick with the raw veggies and black bean dip, I mean that's Mexican too right? I mean the company that makes it is called Mad Mexican!

Besides...it's my son's birthday today (12 years, wow...really?) and he has picked Dairy Queen as his dinner of choice...so it's already going to be a BAD eating day....

But how can you say no to this face? (Especially when he picked a healthy fruit smoothie for his breakfast of choice...)