July/August Weight Loss Challenge

[limewave]

slowly . . . 155.75

Talked to my nutritionist/doctor/chiropractor this AM about getting back on track. She said I probably won't lose very much weight at this point. She wants me to more swap fat for muscle. We'll see what happens the next few weeks/months! Hopefully I don't fall off the wagon again.

[azfiddle]

The scale dipped earlier in the week but is back to 117.8 again. It has mostly been too hot or I've been too busy to ride, and I've been too tired to get to the gym on the other days.

Still it's better than seeing a big increase.

[goldfinch]

I bought a scale for the motorhome. I didn't want to run to the docs office to weigh in yet again. I met my two month goal a month early. I have been feeling not very strong. Maybe I need to up the calories a bit.

122 for 7/5/11

[Juliegoddess]

Well, doctor's scale says 220 today.

However, doctor also went over all my tests yesterday...I have a uterus full of fibroid tumors, and it's the size of a four-month-pregnancy. No wonder my waistline measurement wouldn't go down!

I have to have an out-patient procedure (endometrial ablation) to "fix" the bleeding problem and the tumors...not sure what this will do to my weight, but I'm only supposed to be "down" for a day or so. I can only imagine this might help things with my weight loss!

[indysteel]

Good luck, ladies, with your procedures. I've had a number of friends with fibroids whose doctors were frustratingly slow to diagnose. They kept throwing BCP pills at them and ignoring the fact that their heavy bleeding wasn't just run-of-the-mill. That said, the ablations worked like a charm and they're doing much better now.

[goldfinch]

So many women end up with fibroids! Maybe 15years ago I had a hysterectomy as a result. Nice to see there are other options now. There was a big push around then to reduce the number of hysterectomies. As a result I had to wait way too long to get one. I was horribly anemic and once I stood up at work and had a gusher of blood drop out of me on to the floor and all over my legs and shoes. It was mortifying. I had to have my secretary take me home and then she cleaned up for me. I owe her forever.

Sorry about the TMI but It was not a good point in my life!

[indysteel]

So many women end up with fibroids! Maybe 15years ago I had a hysterectomy as a result. Nice to see there are other options now. There was a big push around then to reduce the number of hysterectomies. As a result I had to wait way too long to get one. I was horribly anemic and once I stood up at work and had a gusher of blood drop out of me on to the floor and all over my legs and shoes. It was mortifying. I had to have my secretary take me home and then she cleaned up for me. I owe her forever.

Sorry about the TMI but It was not a good point in my life!

((((GF)))). My hair stylist went through something similar. She mentioned heavy periods to her doc and got brushed off repeatedly. This went on for some time. After an episode similar to yours, she showed up at her OB's office in the middle of a meltdown. She basically told them that she felt like unless and until she had a baby, no one was going to pay any attention to her. Then she demanded an ultrasound on the spot. The US revealed some pretty bad fibroids that necessitated a hysterectomy.

Sadly, after she complained to her doctor the first time about heavy bleeding and being led to believe that it was "normal," she switched insurance companies and didn't think about disclosing it as a preexisting condition. So, when she submitted her claims for the hysterectomy, they denied coverage based on fraud.

[chryss]

So many women end up with fibroids! Maybe 15years ago I had a hysterectomy as a result. Nice to see there are other options now. There was a big push around then to reduce the number of hysterectomies. As a result I had to wait way too long to get one. I was horribly anemic and once I stood up at work and had a gusher of blood drop out of me on to the floor and all over my legs and shoes. It was mortifying. I had to have my secretary take me home and then she cleaned up for me. I owe her forever.

Sorry about the TMI but It was not a good point in my life!

Ah, there I was just checking out the current weight loss thread and see this bit. Goldfinch, I didn't know this...

I mentioned a few weeks ago (before slinking away) that I was stopping my weight loss efforts for a while and possibly get surgery. That's now scheduled to happen in 2 days. The good news is that each successive test makes it more and more likely I'm dealing with a fibroid (a big one, at about 13x20x24 cm, yikes), and nothing malignant showed up for the time being. Originally it had looked like an ovarian thing, but now it seems that my ovaries aren't involved at all, in which case I would get to keep them. On the other hand, there's another fibroid inside my uterus, and in any event, if it grows zingers like that, it is unfortunately toast (not that I need it any longer, at 41...). And then there's a small risk it's something less benign than a fibroid. They're going to do a histological test right when they have me unconscious on the table, so depending on that result we'll see what I wake up with. Cross your fingers.

As for weight, I'm now down to approx. 149 lbs. I upped my calorie target to 1700, which still had me lose weight slowly, and now leading up to surgery I've gone above that quite a bit. I guess imagining myself without that pineapple inside me, the low 140s should be a good weight for me - I've always been overweight, and the idea of completely losing my fat reserves is a bit alarming to me.

[chryss]

So many women end up with fibroids! Maybe 15years ago I had a hysterectomy as a result. Nice to see there are other options now. There was a big push around then to reduce the number of hysterectomies. As a result I had to wait way too long to get one. I was horribly anemic and once I stood up at work and had a gusher of blood drop out of me on to the floor and all over my legs and shoes. It was mortifying. I had to have my secretary take me home and then she cleaned up for me. I owe her forever.

Sorry about the TMI but It was not a good point in my life!

Ah, there I was just checking out the current weight loss thread and see this bit. Goldfinch, I didn't know this...

I mentioned a few weeks ago (before slinking away) that I was stopping my weight loss efforts for a while and possibly get surgery. That's now scheduled to happen in 2 days. The good news is that each successive test makes it more and more likely I'm dealing with a fibroid (a big one, at about 13x20x24 cm, yikes), and nothing malignant showed up for the time being. Originally it had looked like an ovarian thing, but now it seems that my ovaries aren't involved at all, in which case I would get to keep them. On the other hand, there's another fibroid inside my uterus, and in any event, if it grows zingers like that, it is unfortunately toast (not that I need it any longer, at 41...). And then there's a small risk it's something less benign than a fibroid. They're going to do a histological test right when they have me unconscious on the table, so depending on that result we'll see what I wake up with. Cross your fingers.

As for weight, I'm now down to approx. 149 lbs. I upped my calorie target to 1700, which still had me lose weight slowly, and now leading up to surgery I've gone above that quite a bit. I guess imagining myself without that pineapple inside me, the low 140s should be a good weight for me - I've always been overweight, and the idea of completely losing my fat reserves is a bit alarming to me.

[Juliegoddess]

So many women end up with fibroids! Maybe 15years ago I had a hysterectomy as a result. Nice to see there are other options now. There was a big push around then to reduce the number of hysterectomies. As a result I had to wait way too long to get one. I was horribly anemic and once I stood up at work and had a gusher of blood drop out of me on to the floor and all over my legs and shoes. It was mortifying. I had to have my secretary take me home and then she cleaned up for me. I owe her forever.

Sorry about the TMI but It was not a good point in my life!

Not too much TMI at all! What a horrible thing to go through! I know my mother had bleeding like this, too. She had a D&C done, but it didn't help her much at all. Luckily, my bleeding isn't nearly so much as you've had to deal with. The cramping constantly bothers me, though...and that "bloated" feeling of being on my period is just always there. Makes me wonder if it's affecting my weight loss. I'm working out like a fiend, and the weight is just....staying there. I just don't get it.

Hopefully all of us with these fibroids will get full relief!!

[Juliegoddess]

That is SO good to hear! The bleeding has been a nuisance, yes, and it's great to hear that the ablations are working for some women. My doc is one of those that "poo-poo's" the ablation, thinking I should just "get a hysterectomy and get it over with"...but I just DISAGREE with that thought. But, he did agree that I could have the ablation, and if in a few months things are right back to the same way, then we could think about a hysterectomy. Sounds like a much more sensible plan to me!

[snowtulip]

Good luck Julie, I have friends that had ablations and it worked out great for them in the long run. I had it done a few years ago, but I turned out to be one of those that it didn't work long-term, so I had a hysterectomy eariler this year. The best decision I ever made, the extreme anemia had me acting like a different person, so tired and weak. Been feeling great since surgery


My weight this week is 123; been trying to get back on the ball!

[ny biker]

That is SO good to hear! The bleeding has been a nuisance, yes, and it's great to hear that the ablations are working for some women. My doc is one of those that "poo-poo's" the ablation, thinking I should just "get a hysterectomy and get it over with"...but I just DISAGREE with that thought. But, he did agree that I could have the ablation, and if in a few months things are right back to the same way, then we could think about a hysterectomy. Sounds like a much more sensible plan to me!

I don't think I would be comfortable with a doctor who is so cavalier about a hysterectomy. It is not not a minor procedure.

My mother had a hysterectomy back in the mid '80s because of fibroids. A few years later when I mentioned it to an OB/GYN, she said fibroids were so common that they're no longer considered hereditary. About 10-15 years later I had a co-worker with heavy bleeding and really bad cramps due to fibroids, and I got the impression from talking to her that a hysterectomy is no longer the first line of treatment. FWIW, the NIH seems to agree.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001912/

If the fibroids are large enough, I could see how a hysterectomy might be the best option right off the bat. But I would definitely get a second opinion (or more) before proceeding.

[Juliegoddess]

I'm going in for an ultrasound this month to test for that. Think I have the same. Including bleeding.

Good luck.

Wow, so many ladies with this issue! It makes me wonder about the reasons for it. The doc says it's "genetic"...but I think about my boys with their autism, and I KNOW that there are environmental causes for the disorder. Good luck to you...and I'm glad, too that there are alternatives to hysterectomies now. I'm just not ready to give up my girly goods!