Update on Melinda's med problems..
Hi you supportive, wonderful biker women! Lots of good news: I dumped my quacky other woman doctor and got a fantastic new female doctor who is amazing!!
She is laid back, very high tech, well-read, relaxed, informal, listens and asks lots of questions, takes her time to get to know you. First off the bat, she said the latest lab tests ordered by my last doctor showed I was diabetic!! Get this - that lab test I had to fight with my old quack doctor to even do, and when this same quack dr. saw the previous results (I've had it done three times in the last 9 months), she said I didn't have diabetes, not to worry, my fasting routine blood sugars were fine.... what a boob I now realize she was!!
She's a doctor and boy, was she WRONG!! I looked over my lab records for the last 18 months, and realized that all my doctors in Wisconsin and this quack here had ignored the Hemoglobin A1C test which had showed diabetes!! My new doc, Kathryn, is very aggressive on LDL cholesterol and early diabetes. She immediately gave me a handout with links to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the NIH (National Institutes of Health) that had a cool interactive menu planner, based on my age, weight, height and so forth. Immediately, I saw I was overeating and all the wrong foods!
It also had an online Virtual Reality Portion test. Man, no wonder I weighed 300 lbs!!! I was eating way too large portions, and all the wrong kinds of foods, too much fat, cholesterol, salt and sugar...No wonder I was so bad off!! My new doctor Kathryn also scheduled me for regular lab tests and basically said I had to lower my LDL cholesterol to half of normal because I did have diabetes. I also had to start exercising to get the weight down and lower the cholesterol, diabetes, and my blood pressure problems.
With high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol and diabetes, she told me I was well on my way to the "fatal four" which is Syndrome x, or Metabolic Syndrome: high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol which leads to stroke, heart disease, heart attack, or kidney failure and death! I had read about this two years ago, and now I had to get serious!
I did get serious!! I used the Create-a-Menu link off that website and immediately saw I had to seriously change my eating habits for healtier ones. I did and have lost 7 lbs in two weeks and feel great! I am riding my bike up to six miles at a time, swimming an hour, three times a week and working out at the gym. I am losing inches and lbs and my leg and back pain are disappearing.
My awesome new doctor Kathryn also quickly referred me to the breast cancer specialist I'd wanted for my tumors, the gyn doctor I wanted for uterine bleeding, a physiatrist (pain management doctor who ordered physical therapy) and to the best pulmonologist for sleep apnea management in Salt Lake.
I immediately learned from him that my CPAP machine (that pumps pressured room air into my nose at night, stopping me from episodes of apnea = not breathing!) - it was not at the right pressure for high altitude Utah, and he changed the setting right away. I am also scheduled for another sleep study to see if I need oxygen added at night.
But he told me that if I lost 40 lbs or 60 lbs, I might never need a CPAP macnine again, because that might stop the sleep apnea! He also told me to stop taking the over the counter meds my asthma specialist suggested, and to stop taking the narcotic pain med my orthopedist prescribed for leg pain, because they made the sleep apnea worse.
Well, he was totally correct!! I am sleeping like a baby now, without those meds and with that increased CPAP air pressure. With biking, swimming and working out, my leg pain is almost gone.
The Breast cancer specialist is ordering more x-rays and ultrasound, because she says she needs "different eyes" looking at the tumors, and won't settle for just the one set of x-rays from one hospital.... is using a different hospital and a radiologist she has more confidence in. Then, she wants to do a biopsy of the one tumor she can feel (and my enlarged lymph nodes she found on the right side.) She's cautious but aggressive and I know I am in good hands. She said she doesn't see anything alarming right now but wants to get to the bottom of those tumors showing on the tests.
The Gyn is also great, she did a trans-vaginal ultrasound and is doing a biopsy of the uterus, endometruim and cervix. She is also nice, listens, and is aggressive but cautious. I feel so confident that these other specialists are going to fix my health problems while I am fixing my exercise and weight loss problems on my end. She says I might not even need a hysterectomy, just wait to see what the new tests show.
So, I am feeling better, not worried, and getting on with losing weight and getting stronger on my bike. I know anything I do will help the doctors and my medical problems. I don't need any meds for my diabetes as long as I continue to eat right. Kathryn changed my statin (for high cholesterol) and it's working better than the old one, which gave me foot cramps.
The best news is that I am happier, more confident, and have been doing volunteer work - teaching English as a Second Language at the Senior Center to Latino women, and volunteering at the LRRH bike run this weekend (and at the registration packet pick up this past Wednesday)! Doing things to help others is really uplifting and I am so busy I don't have time to worry about things I can't change. Life is good and for sure, but best of all --Team Estrogen rocks!!
