More Credit Crunch

Pardon my musings, but I often like to look at current events through the lens of weightloss.

I wonder if we will see more people traveling for gastric surgeries-- Mexico, Thailand etc. With financing no longer a sure bet and the price of everything going up I fear that more people will add to the risk they are already taking by constricting or rearranging their innards and compound it by being operated on in a country with less standards than our own simply to save a few bucks. Life is so much more valuable than the 5K+ people would save. Some insurance policies are stricter than others though and with the cost of everything going up everyone is going to be re-evaluating. I know how the pharma industry feels about them approving this surgery not only for weight loss, but also curing diabetes, and who knows what else. Vanity maybe?

Second, with the sky falling, will more people resort to at home cooking and taking your own lunch? Preparing your own meal is almost always better for you and always cheaper than eating on the fly. I saw an add yesterday on CNN or MSNBC (the only things I am watching lately) yesterday for Boar's Head luncheon meats. They are attempting to capitalize on this very thing.

So I suppose

I won't be financing plastic surgery. Time to start saving pennies.

It's on my mind again, I see the knee guy Friday and if he wants to hold off on the TKR, well, then I can think of others things I might like to have operated on. Sometimes I think that maintenance would be so much easier without this constant reminder of excess skin.

I'm old

Well, I feel old after the weekend and I know it has to do with my knee. We set up for the yard sale on Saturday and there was a lot of box lifting. Somehow I managed to squish my engagement ring so that the diamond wedged itself into my skin. I didn't feel it when it happened, I can only imagine how it would have felt if I had had the ring on. This engagement ring, while I love the heart shaped diamond flanked by two pink sapphires has been kind of a pain in the ass. The prongs like to move and now that the whole setting has been bent I am thinking about maybe a new ring, but with the same stones will see.

I blogress, so Sunday we went to the flea market. It was fun, but I hurt. I only saw about a third of the vendors and spent most of the time soaking up the sunshine. I hate feeling so limited. I am not sure how it has come to this, but it has. There was a great article on Boston.com today about bum knees. Tom Brady will keep this in the local media for a while. I have a triple whammy of arthritis causes.

Cartilage degrades over the years in the presence of arthritis. Sometimes, arthritis is triggered by genetics. Sometimes, by obesity. And, sometimes, it's the legacy of an injury sustained decades earlier, on the high-school football field or the college basketball court.

I made an appointment to speak with the joint replacement surgeon. I'll be very interested to see what he has to say, that appointment is a week from this coming Friday. Someone once told me I have the knee of a 65 year old. I'd believe it based on how difficult it was to get around this weekend. Even a my heaviest I could still walk, not far, but I could walk. Right now I feel hobbled.

My new lab partner

So my husband has decided to take the Chemistry class. YaY! He had talked about it in the past as he would like some more science to help him better understand some science-y stuff in the patent work he does. Of course to get anywhere you must start with Chemistry. I am thrilled to have him in the class with me. I just hope that the firm doesn't get in the way.

I've been spending this week getting ready for a yard sale this weekend. We will be selling wardrobes of clothing in sizes from 28-8. It is time to get rid of the stuff none of us wear. If you are in the Boston area on Saturday, stop on by-- we have all sorts of stuff besides clothing.

TOM

I really like the birth control I am on-- it makes life predictable. When I was heavy it never occurred to me that I would need birth control, who would have sex with me. I also wasn't having my period regularly. I was diagnosed with PCOS in the fall 1997 and told to lose some weight. I didn't listen and things got worse before they got better. I think in 1999 I had my period twice. Seriously.

That's all a memory now and lucky for me the ring is about as regular as you can get. No more second guessing my irritableness. Makes it easier to identify and move on. Which I am trying my best today. My patience is pretty thin because I am in so much pain. I see my PCP on Friday now. We will be chatting about my knee. I am over the orthopedics guy for the moment. My knee s a big ball of raw pain. Oh, and stiff. I hate the stiffness.

I went for a ride this morning. I was hoping to hit the bike trail but ended up ferrying a forgotten witness binder DT instead. Worked out some of the kinks, physically anyways.

I'm fine

Just stressed about my knee. It hurts. Maybe it is the approaching
low?

An Open Letter to the PA in my Surgeons Office

Humor me.

It was a lotsa carbs kinda day or so I thought

Breakfast was a Flavor and Fiber Bar from Gnu Foods. It wasn't to bad, very chewy, but I have had worse recently. Like those dreadful softbaked bars from Kashi, the BlackBerry Graham were gross. Bland and not tasty at all. I digress. I needed a trip to Trader Joes which is where I found the Gnu Bar. I was still hungry though when I got home as it was only 140 calories so I had 2 mini whole wheat bagels with whipped cream cheese and some berries. Lunch was half a snack bag of baked lays that M didn't finish last night, a sesame chicken noodley type bowl from Trader Joe's and one of their fiber rich berry muffins. (It was a late lunch) Later I had a small bag of baked Doritos when I got back from my ride. Dinner was 6 small salmon avocado rolls from the take out place where M got pad thai and crab rangoons. I almost had one of those but then didn't. Dunno why, they are still sitting in the container on the coffee table staring at me and I am not tempted at all. Out of curiosity I Googled the calories in those. I would say they run about 80 per and have 4 grams of fat per average.

So here I am watching CNN and becoming increasingly annoyed at Ms. Palin and I find myself snacking on yet more carbs, popcorn and fruit. I feel lame buying the baged frozen stuff, but mangos, pineapple and berries are my friends and better for me than ice cream for sure.

Huh, it turns out that I wasn't as carbriffic as I thought today. I was a little over on the recommended percentages, but not by much. Typical Percentages: Fat 20-35%, Carbohydrates 45-65%, Protein 10-35%, and Saturated Fats less than 9%

See the dent?

Seven Years Ago

We all remember where we were. I was still in Colorado and on my way to the doctors to see an ortho doc who specializes in non-healing bones. The surgery I had this past March to fill in the hole in my tibia after the screws from the third ACL came out was similar to what I needed fixed back then. But in that case I had let the fluid build up way more and I was 100+ pounds heavier than I am now. He was adamant that surgery had to happen ASAP. The second tower fell as he was telling me that. As I left his office his staff was trying load the CNN website, but it kept crashing-- I only caught a glimpse of the burning Twin Towers. I got out into the waiting room and called home totally absorbed in my own woe. Took several tries but I finally got through to my distraught mother and then to my freaked out sister. (Twin sis has a lovely view of Logan from the 45th floor of a downtown Boston office building.) Surgery was scheduled for a week later I told my mom and I needed her to come out. If I have to drive she said, I'll be there. In the end she flew out, the day after Logan reopened. Amazing how far we have all come since then. Time heals but some moments are never to be forgotten.

Here is what I think happened

This may be TMI for people who are squeamish about needles and pain.

So before I went on vacation I got myself a cortisone shot in the knee. It was an odd experience. Three times the needle went in and three time the doc couldn't push the drug through the syringe and into the joint. It creeped way out but I tried to ignore it. He moved to the right hand side and it went in effortlessly. I was thinking scar tissue or something was in the way-- a big pocket of fluid never occurred to me. But as the time has gone on since then I have been watching that area slowly deflate/sink in. I was out riding my bike yesterday and trying to process all the weirdness and here is what I think happened. When the doc poked me, he punctured the big balloon of fluid that was sitting on my knee. Three times was enough to cause a leak down through the leg muscle and then on to being absorbed into by system. That would explain the CRAZY night sweats I had on vacation (I don't feel infected but am hoping to get some blood drawn just to make sure my WBC isn't sky high) and the new indentation that is prominently visible.

Sadly, along with this change in shape has come some ridiculous pain. The fluid must have been pretty well encapsulated by something and whatever that something was is now catching in the joint. We were racing through the Salt Lake City airport on the way out to Denver and I almost fell over the first time it tweaked. It was literally a stop you in your tracks kind of pain. It mellowed as the week went on and now I am really trying to work on wearing whatever that is down. I was simply expecting the cortisone shot to reduce the inflammation, I was not expecting to puncture a balloon of fluid. But to be honest, I am glad that happened. The shape of my knee, well, looks more like a knee should now. You can see my knee cap clearly defined and it seems to be sitting in a better spot because the fluid isn't pushing it into an unnatural position. But I do feel like once again I am wearing out a new groove.

Someday I will bonic and this will all be but a happy memory.

Same Store Sales Were Up, Way Up

And I helped.



We had McDonalds a few times on vacation. I prefer Subway but sometimes you have to take what you can get. I had stopped eating there for the longest time after I saw Fast Food Nation. But.... well, I do enjoy their ice cream cones. I know they are mostly chemicals, but they are still yummy and a quick treat if you can catch them on the right day. Currently you can get a cone for 50 cents. Bargain. I can remember when I was in Russia one summer and the were 2 rubles. I have no idea what they are now. In my before and afters you can see a picture of me at the Golden Arches in Yaroslavl'. I ate there a lot when I was over seas.

These days I occasionally order a hamburger or a small fry. I also enjoy one of their salads, the better choices are clearly helping their bottom line. I haven't order an extra value meal since they stopped super sizing them. M loves the nuggets. I'll snag one if they are hot but as soon as they cool down. Nasty. All things in moderation. Well, except the mondo Diet Coke (44 ounces maybe?) I got for 89 cents at the one in Louisville, CO off of McCaslin. They are pimping RedBox, (DVD rentals in McDonalds?!?!?) not sure if they are doing this on the east coast or not but the soda came with a little coupon on the cup for a free rental so I peeled it off and gave it to the guy standing in front of the box.

Pleasant Surprise

157 this morning. In the past I have had such a love hate relationship with the scale, but now I try to see it as simply a tool. Back in college I literally tossed a scale out the window of my dorm I was so aggravated by it. No one was below, it landed on the roof of the dinning hall. So what did I learn from this vacation? My choices were okay. Going a week without weighing was a little nerve racking and I didn't have my two favorite items of clothes with which to judge fit by, but I did all right. I don't know why I am so surprised by that.

I read somewhere recently that a good indication of your hydration is a non fluctuating scale. Makes sense-- people speak of water weight all the time. I wish I had known that in college, would have saved me a shattered scale.

This is such Bullshit!

Obesity Surgery Is Called Cost-Effective - WSJ.com

No! No! No!

The Airport and what I ate while I waited

At DIA
Chocolate LaraBar
Everything bagel with LTO and cucumbers with lite veggie cream cheese
at Einsteins Bros. Bagels

Flight from Denver to Cincinati
Chocolate Coffee LaraBar

At Cincinati Airport
6 inch Ham on Wheat from Subway
Half an order of pretzel sticks from Pretzel Time
Jr. Size froyo twist with chocolate sprinkles from I Can't Believe
it's Yogurt
A few fries from McDonalds
Half a bran muffin from Starbucks with a venti iced coffee

And more diet coke than any human should consume.
Back to the better eating tomorrow. I'll be needing fiber-y goodness
for sure.

Time to get on the plane after my six hour culinary tour of terminals
A B and C here in Cincinati.

Regular Bogging to Resume Shortly

Vacation is almost over. :( I have been having a fabulous time but man it was cold camping up in Yellowstone. We actually bailed a day early and have been in Casper Wyoming. If you ever find yourself in this town you must eat at the 303. Best food I have had in a really long time. My salmon was perfect, M's Diablo steak was divine. The carrot cake cheesecake for dessert was a perfect combination of the two.

I'll be ready to get back to my life and a regular pattern of eating. Last year on vacation I lost weight, but I was working at it, this year, I just let it go. Not to say I ate everything in sight, I managed to practice good portion control (except for a bread off the buffet at the Old Faithful Inn at breakfast-- I had 5 pieces the last morning but to be fair it was about 1x3 inches and sliced thin.)

We walked a lot (and I had a small moment about my hiking pants, but that is another post) however my knee has been acting up. Not sure if the cortisone shot was the way to go. We hiked about 15 miles in total. I love seeing the geysers you have to work for. I imagine in the winter we will trek back out to Lonestar... on cross country skis. Fun stuff. Anyways, the knee, something VERY crunchy in there that kept stopping me mid stride. I tried to hike through the pain and was moderately successful at it but I have no idea what is wrong in there. Hopefully it will wear itself out. I just have to keep going-- the trekking poles helped a ton, very much like a cane.

So that's that. I am looking forward to fall and getting back into a routine. I am also looking forward to stepping on the scale, even if I see a number above 160 I'll be okay with that. We were watching CNN today and a Fit Nation segment came on... A man lost 190 pounds by diet and exercise. The first hundo came off by walking and he said he would never go back. I hear that. Even with all the indulgences this week I am confident that this is me for good.

One last thought... I managed to catch some RNC and was glued to the DNC last week. Where was the talk about Health care? And specifically obesity? Hucklebee (whom I had issues with but think he gets the weightloss thing) was the only one giving a voice to the obesity epidemic. If you want to call it that... There is no arguing with the fact that Americans are larger than they used to be but whether it is an epidemic, I can't say. I have been keeping up with my Google alerts via my iPhone and everyday I am seeing more and more from the Brits and the Aussies about this problem and specifically what their governments are trying to do about it. Again, that is another post, I am not sure that they are going about it the right way, but at least they are doing something. I have seen nothing from either candidate about the state of health care and how we are killing ourselves with food. Something to look into when I get home and am not limited to the constraints of blogging off my phone.