Ranting A.K.A. Whining - ThinnerTimes - Gastric Bypass Forum, Lap Band Forum, and Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Forum

lilu9570 · 10-22-2009, 10:52 AM

Sorry but I need to rant and rave a little bit.

It seems that I am having a week entirely made up of Mondays! Monday was, well Monday. Tuesday was surprisingly Monday again then Wednesday I thought that it couldn't possibly happen and then BAM! freakin Monday again.
Maybe I should preface this rant with a slight disclosure, I quit smoking last week so I am a little bit more emotional this week than I normally would be.

The non-smoking is one of the things that I am ranting about. I quit smoking last week. I know that I have to quit to have WLS and I am not a procrastinator by nature and besides quitting is hard and can take a while. So my friend who said that he also wants to quit calls me 5 minutes before I am supposed to get off work and tells me that he can not pick me up from work anymore. I was like um, okay. Why? "Because you quit smoking and I haven't and it makes it hard because I don't want to smoke in front of you." Oh my gosh, are you freaking kidding me? I live less than 10 minutes from where I work. I was so taken back. I asked him what the problem was and he explained that since we couldn't sit around and smoke and or go for drives and smoke that it just wasn't fun for him so he didn't want to do it. Great friend.
Thing two, I have my share of medical problems. It is most of the reason that I have chosen such a drastic change in my life. Obviously what I have been doing for the last 39 years doesn't work. So I have been going to my various appointments to get any prerequisites that I can out of the way. I have done so much lab work lately because my original blood tests came up funky. Yesterday, I received an email from my doctor telling me to call her office because my latest test results had come back abnormal. I called and asked her what that meant and she said that she would rather talk to me face to face about it. I did get her to tell me which tests were coming out abnormal. So far, Vit D, PTH, Cortisol and RBC. So now I am looking things up on line because while I am not a doctor I play one on line and at home. I am trying not to go crazy with all of this but I already take 16 different pills a day. Thats right 16! And thats when I am feeling "normal."

Do you ever feel like you can't handle even one more thing? That is how I feel today.

BrandnewMe · 10-22-2009, 11:18 AM

It does sound like you've had a rough week. Don't give up on the quitting smoking though! It is a very hard thing to do but it's necessary. My mom quit after smoking 20+ years and my stepdad did after 50 years of smoking! It was hard but they both were happy to be smoke free.

Vit D is low in almost all of us from what I've seen. I'm not sure about the others though. Hopefully someone else on here can answer those questions. When will you get to see the doc about the results so you can get your answers?

Stay strong!

lilu9570 · 10-22-2009, 11:57 AM

I have an appointment to get my test results on 11/10 so a couple weeks. And from what I have read a combination of an imbalance of Vit D and PTH can either be from a tumor in your thyroid or advancing kidney disease. And Cortisol can be cushings or kidneys. (This is all stuff that I read on line)

Either way, I will keep up the non smoking I am on Day 6 and today and therefore am almost done with the first week. Hopefully my 2nd week will be better and then my 3rd week even better than that.

I tend to get a little maudlin sometimes anyway so I just need to snap myself out of this little slump. I just needed to whine for a minute or two. Thank you so much for reading and caring.

AirForceW1fe · 10-22-2009, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilu9570

I have an appointment to get my test results on 11/10 so a couple weeks. And from what I have read a combination of an imbalance of Vit D and PTH can either be from a tumor in your thyroid or advancing kidney disease. And Cortisol can be cushings or kidneys. (This is all stuff that I read on line)

Either way, I will keep up the non smoking I am on Day 6 and today and therefore am almost done with the first week. Hopefully my 2nd week will be better and then my 3rd week even better than that.

I tend to get a little maudlin sometimes anyway so I just need to snap myself out of this little slump. I just needed to whine for a minute or two. Thank you so much for reading and caring.

Cortisol is also impacted by stress and cortisone meds. I went through this before my surgery as well. They sent me to an endocrinologist who did a simple test to rule out Cushings. I had all the classic symptons of it, diabetes, carried all my weight in my midsection and had the hump on the back of my neck. Well clearly all those things can also just be a result of obesity. I hope you can get your test and results soon.

And I am right there with you on the smoking thing. I quit for 5 days pre op and then the 3 days after I came home but promptly started again. I have since quit but it was by far much harder than I ever imagined.

Hang in there hun, friends like that you don't need. You need people around you that will support you in your efforts for a healthier life. Whatever those are.

lilu9570 · 10-22-2009, 01:26 PM

Thanks Suzanne for the information. I am so proud of you for quitting smoking. It is one of the hardest things ever. I wish I would have realized that when I started smoking. I don't really have to stop smoking yet because my classes at Kaiser don't even start until January but I am the type that it takes me a couple tries to get it right. So I am just going to stay on the quitters tract.

Also, I have other friends who are much more supportive of me like my best friend who quit smoking with me so that it wouldn't tempt me to smoke when we are together. What a great friend. I guess when you are in a ranting mood that you forget all the amazing things and people that you do have in your life. Silly me.

AirForceW1fe · 10-22-2009, 01:52 PM

Anytime :-) And rant away. That's one of the many things we are here for each other for.

No one else, no matter how supportive they are, really gets the range of emotions that we go through in this process. But I am glad that you have a friend that is quitting with you. It's to good to have someone to help keep you in line ;-)

BrandnewMe · 10-22-2009, 02:02 PM

That's what's great about this forum! We are here to listen to you rant and if not help, at least sympathize with you about what you are going through.

Anytime!! Just rant away...

lilu9570 · 10-22-2009, 02:58 PM

Oh my goodness would someone please explain this to me? I got a call from my doctors office asking me to come pick up a 24 hour urine specimine container (EWWW!

) I get to the lab and they hand me what looks like an orange juice container. The lady tells me that I am supposed to pee in this everytime that I have to pee for 24 hours. I was just like, HOW? I can pee in something else and then put it in the container but she said that wouldn't work unless she gave me something from the lab. My response was great, why don't you help me out with that. She gave me little specimin cups. I don't know about you but once I start peeing I don't have time for switching little cups whilst I wee-wee nor do I have the equipment to just pee in the OJ container. And now thanks to this container, I think that I may never want orange juice again!

AirForceW1fe · 10-22-2009, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilu9570

Oh my goodness would someone please explain this to me? I got a call from my doctors office asking me to come pick up a 24 hour urine specimine container (EWWW!

) I get to the lab and they hand me what looks like an orange juice container. The lady tells me that I am supposed to pee in this everytime that I have to pee for 24 hours. I was just like, HOW? I can pee in something else and then put it in the container but she said that wouldn't work unless she gave me something from the lab. My response was great, why don't you help me out with that. She gave me little specimin cups. I don't know about you but once I start peeing I don't have time for switching little cups whilst I wee-wee nor do I have the equipment to just pee in the OJ container. And now thanks to this container, I think that I may never want orange juice again!

ROFL!! It's a 24 hour urine test. I had to do one too. But they gave me this thing you put under the toilet seat to catch it and then you used that to pour it in the container. You have to keep it cool too so you may to get a styrafoam cooler and some ice to put it in. That's what I ended up doing since I refused to put it in the fridge.

DenMomLT · 10-22-2009, 04:40 PM

Wow! Sounds like you have a little "Groundhog Day Syndrome" going on. Your story sounds so much like mine, for a minute I thought I was reading something I wrote. So...know that you are NOT alone.
I quit smoking 24 days ago, so I know EXACTLY where your head is. Hang in there...just do this one day at a time, one hour at a time if you need to, or one minute at a time if that gets you through. You can do this. You ARE doing this.
The blood work portion of your post sounds just like me too. The WLS doctor ordered a whole battery of tests. They kindly had a copy of the results sent to my PCP. Well...the PCP forgot about the referral to the WLS doctor and FREAKED OUT at the levels of some things. They frantically called me at home trying to get me to schedule an IMMEDIATE blood test, fasting of course. I explained it to them...that they hadn't even ordered the tests, that the results WERE from a fasting blood test, but they still sent me an updated lab test slip and a map of local lab locations.
Keep doing what you're doing...knock out the prerequisites when and where you can...and keep your eyes on the prize. That's where I'm looking. Constantly!