Surgery Schmurgery

Griffin had his surgery last Friday. We were told to be at the hospital at 6:30am, and that Griffin was the second kid of the day. My dad and sister drove up and met us at our house, then we rolled out. We showed up and got our buzzer (they use a buzzer like a restaurant basically). Griffin kept looking at it and saying "broke" and "no work" because it wasn't lighting up. Haha! We didn't have to wait very long before we were called back.









We were in a small holding room with the scariest nurse ever! Mr.Pate and I both agreed this woman should not be working with kids. Anyhow, she asked a few questions, Griffin got a gown to change into (he got to leave his pants and shoes on though), and we had a tv to watch. He did remarkably well waiting in this room. We were probably in there 45 minutes or an hour. He did ask for a drink many times. For a long time we were the only people in our entire "pod" (there were like 6 rooms). Then an older man got wheeled in across the hall and that man started drinking coffee! Griffin immediately pointed and yelled "drink mommy"!


Dr.Sims (the ENT) and the anesthesiologist both came by to walk us through what would happen and see if we had any more questions. Then the team came back to get him. They all had scrubs on and the scrub net hats too. One took Griffin and he started to cry, but then he pointed to their hats and said "hat?" We said, "do you want to go get a hat like theirs buddy?" and he said "yes!" After that, he was happy to head out with them. No tears. It was way way way better than I expected! I was very thankful.

That was right around 8:05am. We waited in the lobby until 8:35am then our buzzer went off saying the doctor was calling. He let me know everything went great, Griffins adenoids were definitely much bigger than they should have been so he removed them, and Griffin would be in recovery about 30 minutes. Great. Then not even two minutes later they called for me to go sit with Griffin in recovery. He needed to be comforted.



As a hospital volunteer walked me through back hallways, I realized this was the same OR and recovery area they use for c-sections. I had been there before. And when we got to the recovery room it was like a flashback being in the long room. But this time around there were tons of people everywhere (when I had Griffin I was the only one in recovery- the only one in a huge huge huge room). I was given my pitiful baby boy and we were able to sit in a little room (as opposed to the curtain areas). Griffin was flushed and asleep basically. He had been crying but saw me and just passed out. He would occasionally wake and complain about his IV, then cuddle back in.
Eventually a recovery room opened up and we headed there to meet Mr.Pate. Griffin then slept on him for about 45 minutes. We got him to eat half a popsicle and confirmed he had a wet diaper, so we were finally able to get that IV out! Once it was out and we dressed him, Griffin perked up a bunch. And by the time we got out to the lobby he was happy and laughing.



We headed home and Griffin just ate and laughed and played with Mimi (my sister) and Peeps. I was soooo relieved and excited that he didnt seem very phased by the experience at all. He was in  a great mood and just continued on in that way the rest of the weekend. Yay!! Momma Susan stopped by to see how the boy was, and the cool kids played in their shades for a while. Now lets just hope it was worth it and it helps him not be as sick or as miserable with his allergies!

Pre-Op Fun

Yesterday, Griffin and I went to his Pre-Op appointment at the hospital. We were told to report at 3pm to get registered and do some testing. They couldn't tell me which exact tests to expect.

Well we ended up being there from 3-5:15pm! Goodness! But Griffin did so week waiting. They weighed him, measured him, and took his oxygen level (with one of those little finger clips). That's all for testing! I was expecting blood work so I was pleasantly surprised but also felt like he didn't even really need to be present for this. After that they walked me through the procedure and I met with the anesthesiologist to ask questions. I found that very helpful and comforting. I got to ask about possible risks (mainly breathing risks but he explained the treatments for these also) and just what to expect. I really liked him and Griffin loved him.

He asked Griffin if he was always this good and Griffin happily responded Yes! Haha! It was funny.

So I am feeling good about Friday's procedure and how this will help our baby. Those of you who see him regularly, I am excited to hopefully not see such pathetic eyes and runny nose all the time, as well as him not having ear infections every other day!

Oh and today we met a man named Dan who was waiting in the lobby for his mother in law. Mr.Dan was a lifesaver! He had a whole package of cubed cheese and summer sausage and shared with Griffin! He became Griffins new BFF! Haha!

Clearing out those ears

For those of you who actually know Griffin and see him pretty often, you know the poor kid suffers from some pretty bad allergies. His eyes and nose are often oozing gunk. He also gets ear infections every five seconds. He is kind of a mess basically 😉. And the poor thing lives in Kentucky, where you experience all four seasons in one week. Whew.

So this past week we went to see an ENT to discuss Griffins ears. We were pretty sure they would suggest we get tubes put in. Griffin did great with the audiology test and every time the sound changed he would make a surprised face and say "oh!". It was hilarious.

The doctor came in and took one look at Griffin, who happened to be suffering from one of his eye gunk days (on these days the poor thing looks like we punched him in both eyes, it's so sad) and he said "I usually don't recommend this, but looking at how bad he suffers from allergies, I really recommend both tubes and removing the adenoids."

I wasn't expecting that one. But as he described it, it really sounded like just what Griffin needs. So Mr.Pate and I made the decision and scheduled the surgery for next Friday.

I am just a little nervous. I know it's a pretty common procedure today, and I wasn't nervous about the tubes at all. But the adenoids is a little more invasive (still a minor surgery). And I just hate to have to put my baby to sleep or him to have a breathing tube. But I am focusing on how much these will improve his everyday life. The poor kid seriously suffers constantly between his eyes, nose and ears.

So please join us in praying for a quick and safe surgery, fast recovery and effectiveness for our little guy.

Please enjoy picture from our morning appointment. Griffin and daddy decided they needed to switch hats. I think that look is great on Mr.Pate, don't you? Haha!

28 Week OB Appointment

Yesterday we went in for our 28 week OB appointment. We had to wait for over an hour, so that part sucked!! It normally is not that bad. Anyhow, according to their scale I gained 10 lbs in 4 weeks! But Dr.Gass said that's normal for most people during those weeks because the baby doubles in size. He said I prob won't gain much more now, so we will see about that! Ha!

Griffin's heartbeat was 160 and sounded good. When the nurse put the Doppler on my belly he immediantly kicked her and she went "woe!" ha! Yesterday he was super active all day and it was way fun! Everytime I would touch my belly somewhere he would come to that spot and push or kick or roll. It was like a game of tag! Ha! He did it for Mr.Pate too! And even McKenna when she came over last night.

I am measuring 30 weeks, which just confirms I have seriously had a growth spurt. All else looks good. My blood pressure is still good at 102/62.

We took our first draft of our birth plan to Dr.Gass and talked through it yesterday. I felt really good about it overall. There are some things on there we will probably change some, but I'll do a whole post on that later! Point being, it made us like Dr.Gass even more. He is very understanding and I really do trust him.

The only bad news is that he may be on vacation when Griffin decides to come!! Major bummer. It isn't set in stone yet, but he will prob be gone July 5-11th maybe. And I do not want to be induced unless absolutely necessary. So we will see what happens I suppose. One of the realities of having a baby in the summer.

We are now going to the OB every 2 weeks!! Crazy! That means we are getting close people!!


- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Reasons to Lay Out and Not Shower....

Those of you who know me well know that I love to layout and am not a fan of showering. Its overrated really. So I just thought I would share a post with you that proves my preferences are actually healthy! 

http://www.modernalternativemama.com/blog/2011/4/4/monday-health-wellness-vitamin-d.html

I need some advice

One of the big things Mr.Pate and I still need to do is pick a Pediatrician for Griffin. I am not sure why, but I feel totally at a loss on how to really do this. For one, my mom works at a Pediatricians office so I wish we could just go there! I have debated it bc I love "Dr.Kris" as we call her so much, but i just don't think it would be wise to have our Dr an hour away. I have never "interviewed" a doctor, so it's seems totally foreign to me. Aren't they too busy for that?? So I need some advice:

1. How did you choose your pediatrician (if you have had to do this)?
2. If you are in the BG area, who do your kids see? Do you like them?
3. What should I ask a potential Pediatrician?

Help a sista out!


- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Oh thyroid, why don't you love me so?

It has been awhile since I have done an update on my thyroid health issues, and I am sure you are all dyin to know about it! Ha!

So before I got pregnant, I was at a great place with my thyroid issues and my insulin resistance was improving. I was seeing a nurse practioner at an endocrinologist's office and loved her!! She was great. Well it just so happened that my regular 3 month visit was coming up shortly, so I would tell them then that I was preggo. I knew it would mean I would have to come more often and that my medicine doses would prob change. What I didn't expect was my beloved doctor to change! Turns out everyone at the office expect the doctor(whom I can't stand) and the office manager left! Weird and not a good sign. So my appoitment was with the new nurse practioner, a male named Blake. I was hoping for the best but knowing it prob wouldn't be good.

As I expected, he immediantly wanted to take me off of my natural thyroid meds and put me on Synthyroid. Some of you may remember how horridly I did on Synthyroid and how much I improved when we changed me over to Naturethroid. So this is not what I wanted to hear. He explained how the medicine worked and acted like I had no clue about my condition. Dude- I have been livin with this for 3 years, I know what my body needs. So our intial appointment started with me informing him that I WOULD NOT be switching medicines. Doctors never like it when you don't let them call the shots. Anyhow, that time my labs looked great and I was good to go.

Over the break I went for my next appointment and I am actually hypothyroid again (meaning I need more) which is too be expected. It seems the baby is stealing all my hormone! Ha! They say the baby will make sure they get all they need and it's you that may starve...

So we raised my dose of medicine. But Blake is so intimidated by my medicine that he had me trying to cut a tiny pill into fourths, when all he had to do was look online and see that they make a pill in that dose that I could add on to what I was taking. So I had to look that up and call him to suggest it, he really dislikes me I am sure!

So this explains why I have been like the walking dead during this pregnancy, it was pregnancy fatigue mixed with thyroid fatigue (your thyroid gives you your engergy and metabolism). Whew! I am looking forward to some energy!!

Anybody know a great endocrinologist in the Nashville area?? One that doesn't live and breathe by synthyroid?? I hate finding a new doctor! Ugh!

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

The tooth story

So I realized that many of you might not stalk me on facebook, so you might be wondering whatever happened with my tooth ordeal last week. After waiting all morning, the specialist squeezed me in to look at my tooth. He said the tooth was very infected and would definitely need a root canal, but he couldn't get me in for one until Monday. So I had two options: 1. He could give me an antibiotic and pain meds and I could bear it out, or 2. He could do the first part today which meant drilling a hole in the tooth to let the infection out. Option two would give me pain relief, option one would give me a little but not much. Duh! Option two please!! So I had a hole drilled into my tooth and they gave me some meds.

I took the meds and went back to work. I should mention that the meds I took were hydracodine, which I happen to be allergic to. The chick at the office convinced me that it had been a long time since I tried it and I may not reall be allergic. so against the better judgement of my husband and mom, I took it.

After being a work a few minutes, I was in the back talking to my boss and a coworker. All of the sudden their voices sounded far away and the next thing I know my boss is catching me as I faint in the floor. Nice. Then they sit me down and fan me and get me water.... Ok I am not feeling so bad. Uh-oh, I got that feeling in your mouth when you know you are going to puke. Dang it! And then I did it, I threw up at work! Ick! And did I mention it was my boss's bday? Happy bday! He and my coworker were so great about it all and took great care of me, it was a blessing. Mr.Pate came and got me and brought me home.... Where I threw up more and he had to cleanup after me and wait on me! But he was so wonderful!!!

So it was a rough day. A horrid day! But once I got that medicine out of my system I was so much better. My tooth felt fine, the whole gave it so much relief! So then I basically did a bunch of warm salt water rinses and waited for today to come.

I had the rest of the root canal today and it went fine. I am just resting up now and can't chew much but that shall pass. Yay for relief! Boo for the price of dental work! Anyone want to contribute to my horrid teeth fund?? : )

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Oouuuuucccchhhh

I am in pain my friends, just flat out pain. It started Saturday night while I was asleep. I woke up with a pain in my lower left teeth. It continued on Sunday but wasn't that bad, just an annoying light pain. On Monday it got worse as the day went. I called and made a dentist appointment for today at 1 pm. Then last night it just got worse and worse. I could no longer chew, it hurt if my tongue touched it, it hurt no matter what. A Whole Bunch!!! I barely slept at all and was in pure misery when I got to work this morning. So I called and the dentist said come on over and they would get me in. A few painful hours later I find out I have an abcess (sp?) tooth and have to have an emergency root canal! Ugh! So now I am sitting in a specialists office waiting for them to try to fit me in. I so hope they are able to end this pain soon. I have literally been in tears all day! It hurts that bad. Ugh!!!! And don't worry, they have spoken with my OB and all is well on that front. Apparantly the 2nd trimester is the one time you can have this stuff done with no problems during pregnancy. Thank you gracious Lord, because if they couldn't do anything for me I am not sure me and baby would make out all that well. Well they are calling me back, so wish me luck!


- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Wow--- UGH!

So I came across these before and after shots of me for work and thought I would share.

This is me in October 2009 (right after I started at WKU). I know its a horrid picture in lots of ways, why am I so white??? Ugh! 

And this is me in April I think?

I still look the same, just not so swollen looking and white. A side by side for you:

Ugh... just thought I would share....

cause when your 15....

When most girls are young it just seems natural that you will grow up and have babies. We play with dolls, we spend lots of time with our mommies, we learn how to babysit, etc. We are geared for it. But at some point that idea becomes a bit more real. We get to the age where we are capable of having children, and suddenly the thoughts are more about the dangers of sex as a teen and "ruining" your future by getting pregnant too early (Disclaimer, I am not pro- teenage pregnancy). Then you come to the age where you could have a child and it wouldnt be life ending, but all of the sudden you are thinking about your future job etc. and children seem like something of the future. 

When I first got married I felt so unprepared to be a parent. I was still trying to learn all about this whole "being a wife" thing and I felt sooo young. I had plenty of time to have children, right?? 

We made the decision to use birth control, which is the normal for young married couples in America.  I kept telling myself that I trusted God's timing and control- if He wanted me to get pregnant then it wouldnt matter if I was on birth control or not. Somewhere along the last 4 & 1/2 years, I have really questioned this decision for me. While some people might whole-heartedly believe the sentence above, I think I wanted to be in control of my life and thats why I was taking it (This is not a post on if it is right or wrong to take birth control- I mean I took it for 4 years people, this is just about my journey). 

Something about marriage makes me feel super young and super old at the same time. I still feel like we are young and have plenty of time to have kids. But I am 27 (I realize thats not old people), which means that if I were to get pregnant today, I would be 41 when my kid became a teenager. I was graduating high school when my mom was 41. So when I look at it that way, I feel like we dont have all the time in the world. Time is a strange concept to grasp really. 

Over the years I have had all kinds of thoughts and emotions about kids: fear, anxiety, excitement, the desire to have a kid, the desire to still have my own life, will we be able to afford a kid, will I work, will my maternal gene kick in, am I cut out for this, etc etc. The thoughts that come along with kids are overwhelming really. 

Then I got "sick" so to speak. Once we found out I had thyroid cancer, I had an "out" on the kid thing for at least a year. I had to have a radioactive iodine treatment, and radioactive material and fetuses dont mix well. No one asked me if I was going to have a child during that year, it was as if they knew. Then there was the business of getting my hormones regulated and figuring out that I was insulin resistant. I got pretty plump and was exhausted and needed to get my body in check badly. Praise be to God- that has happened by His grace! 

And so here I am, after a 3 year health journey, back to my "normal". And I have found myself pondering the child question alot. This is the first year of my life where people have asked me when I was going to have a child. To me it is an odd question for several reasons... which will be the next post I suppose. 

Thoughts from traveling the WW road

Back in October, I shared with you that I had begun a journey. A journey "back to a healthier, more active, more social and more balanced me." Well it's May. It's seven months later. It's time to reflect on the journey thus far. To date, I have lost around 25 lbs. I have gone from almost completely sedentary (I got out of breathe talking, seriously) to working out 4 to 5 times a week. And I have lowered my insulin levels to almost normal! It has been quite the journey thus far. Here are a few things I have learned about myself along this journey:

• I am, and will probably always be, a fat person in mind. What I mean by that is that I think about food like a fat person, no matter how much weight I lose. 
• I love food and I often use it as a substitute for the comfort or control I am looking for. 
• I can always stuff myself. I am not one of those people who can really stop themselves from stuffing themselves miserable. This means I must have boundaries and a plan before hand- because the fullness will not stop me. 
• I can be die hard disciplined... for a season. But I do not want to live the rest of my life never eating dessert or chips etc. I have to learn how to balance my eating habits. Everything in moderation really should be my goal. 
• I was alot more overweight than I realized. For me, I would look in the mirror and think I didnt look too bad. But then when I would see pictures of myself, I was stunned at how big I looked. 
• Being healthy feels so much better!!
• One bad meal, day or even weekend does not have to mean the end of the journey. There is always a new day to make new choices on my food. 
• Losing weight or the size of my clothes does not control if I feel skinny or fat. How I eat controls if I feel fat or skinny. When I am eating super gross or alot, I feel fat. It doesnt matter that I have lost 25 lbs, I still feel fat. When I eat healthy I feel skinny. Even when I had only lost 4 lbs, I felt skinny as I began healthier eating habits. 

So here are some stats....

Starting weight: 133.4 lbs    Starting BMI: 37.3%
Current weight: 108.4 lbs    Mid point BMI: 29.7%
Total Weight Lost: 25 lbs    Current BMI: 26.9%
Total % Lost: 18.8%
Final Goal: 105 (3.4 lbs to go)

Aim- Check in #2

Well, I completely skipped a check in on my goals last month. But I am ready to face the music and see how I am doing after 3 months, did I hit the target or forget to aim altogether?

1. Personal Goals:

• Memorize the book of Philippians. Yep, the whole book. Still working on it! I didn't do so well in March, but got back on focus in April. So far I have 1:1-24... which isn't a ton for three months but is a good start I think! 
• Read 2 books a month. Big Fail in March, but I have more than made up for it in April by reading 6 books! And I am 1/3 a way thru one more.  
• Be social at least 3 times a month. A rough count for March and April would be 5 times maybe?? Not too bad. The warm weather is definitely making me more social! 

2. Marriage Goals:

• Have a "connect" time each day- a time where we have intentional communication, a devo and prayer time. Well, we have not been very intentional the last two months. We have had some great time together, but not this consistent time like we were hoping for. But we are refocused and trying again! 
• Be more affectionate. Doing good! :)
• Practice the discipline of date night. Doing pretty well on this one. We are probably averaging every other week, which I think is good for us at this phase of life. 

3. Financial Goals:

• Track our monthly spending to ensure we are actually living out our proposed budget. I have been bad at this. But we had a budget meeting a few nights ago and I feel motivated in this area again. Mr.Pate is going to help me figure out how to get a better grasp on this. So we are moving in the right direction. 
• Give coupons another try. I am getting closer to this one, but haven't tried yet. I did read several "tutorials" on this today, and I am just trying to decide what my "plan of attack" will be. So many decisions! Binder or box, clip them all or keep the insert intake, etc etc!!
• Cut our grocery budget by 10%. I just barely made our limit in March and went over in April. I have just not planned well, and some things have gone up. Aldi's where did the super cheap milk go?? Ugh!
• Be more diligent about contributing to our savings & retirement. Savings- yes. Retirement- no. I have a pension, but we have got to start being more focused on Mr.Pate's. 

4. Physical Health:

• No longer be considered insulin resistant. I know this sounds presumptuous or like I think I have control over my health, but in the case of insulin resistance you really can control having it or not by managing a healthy weight. My labs in March showed an improvement! I am almost there! I have been doing a great job of taking the medicine for this pretty consistently. I will be doing labs in the next few weeks to see how its going. In March I was at a 2 on the indicator she uses, and I need to be at a 0 to be considered no longer insulin resistant. 
• Get to my WW goal. I am 3.2 lbs away. 
• Do something physically active 5-6 times a week. I have probably been averaging 5 times a week for both months. Now that its warm, we have been doing lots of yard work outside too! I also have done two 5Ks since my last check in. 

5. Project Goals:

• Begin my Holiday memories scrapbook. Nope. 
• Create a family heritage cookbook for my side of the family and Justin's. Nope. 
• Make a price book. Nope. 

How are you doing on your goals for the year???

The Jean Nidetch... My take on it

I've been reading again! In the last 2 weeks I have finished two books, and I am ready to share my thoughts with you! Up first, my thoughts on "The Jean Nidetch Story". Jean Nidetch was the founder of Weight Watchers, and up until my friend gave me the book I had no idea who she was! 

Things I Liked About The Book: 

• She is very real about who she is and who she isn't. She shares her weaknesses and her strengths. She is unwilling to apologize for who she is and she knows what she wants in life. I found this fascinating. 
• It was so neat to see how WW started. Jean basically took the diet from an obesity clinic in NYC and invited some friends to do it too and come over and talk about it. From that came what is known as Weight Watchers today. Crazy. 
• She constantly talks about herself as a "fat person". She references the saying that inside of all of us is a skinny person trying to get out... she says instead that no matter how thin she becomes, there will always be a fat person inside her begging her to be fat. I think this is more true of me at least. 
• It was motivating. I have been doing WW again for about 6 1/2 months, and making this a "lifestyle change" instead of just a diet is difficult. I have lost quite a bit of weight for my small frame and there are days where I want to fool myself into thinking "ok now you are small again, you cant eat whatever you want whenever you want". But the truth is I cant. Jean lost like 70 something lbs by 1962 and never gained it back. Why? Because she continued to fight the battle, make good choices, and live the reality that she couldnt just eat whatever the heck she wanted. The simplicity of her understanding that concept and living it out was motivating. 
• It made me thankful for what WW is today! When it began there were no "points" and there was a very strict diet. You had to eat certain things and that was that. And there was a long list of "illegal" foods... Thank you for flex points!! Today on WW you can eat anything you want- as long as you "plan" for it. 
• She just felt like a grandma telling you scattered stories of her life. I loved that. 

Things That Annoyed Me About the Book: 

• The scatteredness. Like I said above, it sounds like your grandma sat you on the porch and just started randomly telling you about her life. Things werent always in the best order and I am such a Type A person that it was hard to follow. 
• She comes across as pretty arrogant in the beginning of the book. She really isnt, and latter on you realize she is just trying to lay it all out there- the good bad and ugly. But still, I didnt think I was going to like her till about a third of the way through. 
• I wish it had gone more in detail about how the actual business expanded. She did talk about it some, and I guess its a book about her and not WW specifically, but thats what I was most interested in. 
• Towards the end there are some sad things shared about her life. These didnt annoy me, but they were sad!

So I highly recommend the book. I mean basically its the life story of a girl who had always been fat, became a housewife who secretly ate cookies in her bathroom at night, and then evolved into the founder of a strong and thriving international weight loss business. I just wonder if she sits in her apartment at her little retirement village and just thinks, "really??? i did this??!!" 

Had any of you ever heard of her before?? Do you agree with her "fat person inside of me" saying? What's the hardest part of maintaining a healthy weight and body for you?? Dish it peps! 

The journey has begun!

Hey peeps! Did I mention I started Weight Watchers again? Did I mention I had ever done it in the first place? Well let's start from there.

Before Mr.Pate and I got married, someone told us that we would be in the best shape of our lives on our wedding day. Uh Oh! We certainly were not in the best shape of our lives! So that motivated us enough, we started weight watchers. When I see "we" I mean I went to the meetings and wrote down my points and did the program, and Mr.Pate ate what I told him too so he would lose too. Ha! Anyhow, we were very successful on it... well while we were on it. I lost like twelve or thirteen pounds (which doesnt sound like much, but I was smaller then) and even got within three pounds of my goal! But after my wedding, I just quit.

No reason really. Especially not a good one. I just quit. We were married and skinny and happy, why spend the money to go those meetings? I knew the program like the back of my hand! I could keep it off, right?

WRONG!!!

Here I am, 3 & 1/2 years later and 25 lbs heavier. I had no accountability to keep it off. Mr.Pate and I are just food lovers, and we are weak. It didnt help matters that within that 3 &1/2 years I had my thyroid removed, became insulin resistant, mr.pate lost his job, I worked in campus ministry (all hours of the day and night), we are baptists (potlucks you are the devil dressed in honey!), and have a tight grocery budget (healthy food is expensive in America!)!

But last week I rejoined Weight Watchers. And yesterday I weighed in for the first time. I was a nervous wreak, because I have been told many times that it is very hard to lose weight without a thyroid.....

are you biting your nails with me....

sitting on the edges of your comfy couches while reading this....

wish i would just tell you if I lost???

I did!!! I lost 3.2 lbs this week. Which felt like 100 in my heart! The journey has begun.

What journey you ask? The journey back to a healthier, more active, more social and more balanced me. Pray for the Lord's strength in my weakness and His self-control not mine!

a short health update

It has been awhile since I have updated you guys on my health (thrilling I know). If you are new to my blog and don't know what I am referring to, catch up here.

So the last time I wrote about my health issues, I wasnt really doing too hot. My thyroid levels were all whacked out and my insulin resistance had gotten worse. But I had my labwork done a week or two ago and got great news!

A Bare Bones Explanation of My Thyroid Deal: (Brace yourself, it gets confusing)

Last time my TSH level was at 30 something! The "normal" range is 0.3 to 3.0, and the smaller the number the more-active your thyroid. So I was severly hypothyroid, or had an underactive thyroid. However, this time my TSH is at 6. That's a big improvement! My doctor has decided that because I feel so good or "back to normal" that we are going to count 6 as my normal range and not aim for higher right now (unless I start feeling bad).

So basically, after almost two years for feeling ridiculously tired and exhausted etc., and trying several medicines and doses, I may finally be "set"! Yay!!!

A Bare Bones Explanation of My Insulin Resistance Deal:

In April of this year, I found out I had an issue called insulin resistance (well it has other names too, like the metabolic syndrome and some long science-y name). You can read what this means here. Last time I had my labs drawn, my C-Peptide (one indicator you can use to measure this) level was at 18.8 but this month it is at 10!! Almost cut in half! Yay! The biggest way to deal with Insulin Resistance is to lose weight, however for a Thyroid patient, this is often super hard to do.

But I am now working in a gym. And I am starting weight watchers AGAIN (it annyos me that at one point i lost weight and looked good and then let myself "go" as they say). So hopefully these things will help this issue out alot! I want to stop taking the stupid medicine for it as soon as possible!

Random and wierdly detailed post I know, but there is the update for the few of you that might actually care!

Happy Wednesday!

just a general update

i feel like i have been way out of the blogging world loop lately. so here is a general update of what has been going on with me:

- i spent a week in mexico visiting my friend Karen & her hubby Heath. I went with Kristen and other than being sick to my stomach majority of the time, I had a blast. We traveled to another Mexican state and saw some ruins and some speciality crafts. but my favorite part of the whole trip was when kris, karen and I finally got to just chill by ourselves (there were several other people visiting too) and really talk and catch up! it was fabulous! oh and we saw "The Proposal" it was stinkin hilarious! 

- i almost missed my connecting flight on the way home bc of customs, i literally had to run to the plane in dallas... which meant my luggage didnt make the plane and wasnt delivered to me until 2am! 

-as soon as i got back, Justin's dad and little brother came to visit for a few days. so we of course decided to put them to work! the pate family (the twins, sheldon, kirk (dad) and i) stained our kitchen cabinets a dark walnut! we applied a gel stain and got new hardware.... guys it looks incredible! i promise to put pics up soon but we are still finishing one thing. 

-then right after they left i had a girls night at Mel's with Duke, Amanda, Eleanor and Heather! It was super fun and is just always like therapy to my soul to spend time with them. We had a giggly time trying to use my new "bumpits" in our hair and eating of course! Mel and I are officially "retired" now... at least thats what her father in-law said we should call it! 

-since then i have been at church nonstop getting ready for vbs! decorating, shopping for supplies and food, preparing lessons etc is quite exhausting. last night i went to bed at like 9:45pm! we have vbs wed-friday of this week. i am teaching the preschool area and they are so stinkin cute! 

- also this week i have had two job interviews! one with WKU and one with Southern Foods. I felt good about both, but time will tell. 

- and my thyroid levels are once again way off! i did some labwork and found out i am extremely hypothyroid again (low thyroid) which is really strange bc i have felt more energetic and better than i have in a year lately! so anyhow, they bumped my dose of medicine up and we will see how that goes. 

i think thats all i got... hopefully i be back on track to post regularly now. 

job and health updates...

so just a quick update about a few things in my life.

1. Job: still unemployed (it has only been a week), though i have felt just as busy as when i had a full time job! but somethings are happening. 

i had an interview with Community Action last week and got a call for a second interview today. So this thursday i will interview with them for a second time. i thought the last interview went well, and i felt more confident than i thought i would. i usually lose the ability to think of words when i am put on the spot, but i was able to take my time and think thru good answers. anyhow, we will see how that all goes.

i have applied for a million jobs at wku, well to be more specific ten jobs (yes ten). the first several had been posted forever, so i am fairly certain those positions are either filled or frozen for now. but lately they have been adding more positions!! i get so excited everytime i check the website and there is a new opportunity to look at! i have applied for several jobs i am no where near qualified for, but i feel writing the cover letters and doing the application process is good training. 

i did get an email from the hr department at WKU this week informing me that my materials (resume etc) was being forwarded on to the office hiring that position. so thats good, it means i made it past the "there is no way this person is working for wku" round. (i have heard nothing on the other positions...) and there is a new position open that i am really excited to apply for, ill talk more about it later. (a friend told me it wouldnt be wise to give specifics on the blog until i get a job)

as tommy johnson says, "looking for and getting a job is a full time job"... i am working at it sir! 

2. health: remember all those health posts about thyroid junk and how i was feeling? (you can find them under the "health stuff" category) well i thought it would be a good idea to let you know i am feeling so much better! leaps and bounds better! yay! i have no idea if it is the new thyroid medicine, or if it is the insulin resistant medicine, but i have energy and feel much more like myself these days! Praise the Lord! 

what is funny about that is that i almost forgot to tell anyone i was feeling better. it is so much easier to complain than to give good reports isnt it? i find it annoying! 

3. **bonus update**: when i first started this blog last summer, i was doing a bible study with some friends... well we never finished it so this summer we are trying it again. the bible study is: "no other gods" by kelly minter. isnt it crazy how something you already did can challenge you so much? it goes to show i did not learn these biblical lesson the first go round i guess. so i am sure you will get to here all about lessons from that study in the next few months. 

and coming soon to pate life: a memorial day update and a stab at being crafty... stay tuned! 

 

another health post...

well i got my test results back from my endocrinologist today, indicating that i am insulin resistant. (if you missed my post about my current health situation you can find it here) so what does that mean? i have found some cute pictures to explain: 

The first picture is showing what normal insulin usage looks like. The second one is showing what it looks like when you are insulin resistant. Basically, my body isn't using the sugar it produces or consumes correctly, and I will have to take a medicine to improve this. 

This actually wasn't bad news... at least now I have some idea of what's wrong with my body these days. I did decide to go ahead and switch my thyroid medicine to the more natural one, so I will have lots of changes in these next few weeks. Let's all pray it is for the better!

i promise i wont always talk about this boring stupid sickness stuff... thanks for bearing with me! 

how many doctors does it take to screw in a light bulb?

i feel like my life right now is expressed in the cliche jokes that go: "how many ____ (in my case doctors) does it take to screw in a light bulb?"

for those of you who dont know, in Dec of 2007 I had my thyroid removed and discovered i had been living with thyroid cancer. since they removed my entire thyroid, i no longer had cancer, but just to be safe i underwent radioactive iodine treatment and full body scan which came back clear. for the last year i have been trying to get my thyroid hormone levels worked out (i have to take a supplement of this hormone for the rest of my life, you actually need this very small organ) and it has been quite the journey. 

i dont feel like myself. i havent for quite awhile. i am exhausted. i wake up exhausted every morning. i am a walking flake- meaning i have the driest skin ever. i am incredibly lethargic and unmotivated to do anything. my hair is breaking at the roots. i cant breathe. i have become a huge introvert, people deplete me. etc. etc. etc. 

you never know what that tiny organ called the thyroid does till its gone! anyhow, for the last year i have been on a medicine called synthroid, which is a synthetic hormone. and without going into all the specific details of how all this stuff works, i have been telling my doctor i dont feel well and need something to change. well he simply looked at one thyorid level and said "you are fine". basically telling em to deal with it. and i tried. but you know what? this isnt me! and i am so sick of not being myself. the new me sucks. so i decided to find a new doctor. and i found two new ones.

the problem is, they told me completely opposite things! what is a girl to do? in the thyroid world, there are basically two camps: those that believe in simply using T4 and those that believe in T3 and T4 (i realize this is crazy language for most of you, try to stick with me). and these two camps tell you to treat your symptoms in completely opposite ways. and the poor patient is left sitting here on a thursday night scouring the internet trying to find the truth!! 

the point is... i am stuck. i dont know which doctor to believe or which path to take. please pray for me to have wisdom and discernment. and grace and patience. bc at this point i am ready to punch a doctor in the face! haha! but seriously, please pray that the Lord would lead me to hat would work for my body. He made me, He knit me together in my mothers womb, He knows what my body needs. I just need Him to make that clear to me... if He makes it clear to any of you, will you let me know? ;)