Holy Crapity

I spent from 10:30 until 1:30 at the doctors office today. First there was the visit with my surgeon (He really is a good guy who takes all the time you need to talk). Then a trek up to what we in these parts call "the hill" to go take part in the research study I am a member of.

The Dr. was in some agreement with my primary care physician in that he said several of my blood levels were on the low side. He did however state that some of them were borderline and I could just focus on the important ones. Sadly the important ones were vitamin D and Iron. I have always been a bit low but according to the numbers I have dipped into the low realm and must take iron and get better about taking my gummy vitamins. He also said I that if these numbers don't improve I will need to take calcium and extra D. Now taking pills is not the easiest thing for me without a band and with a band it is much more difficult. I have 3 prozac to take every morning and that takes about 30 minutes to feed through (I have to take one at a time and wait for them to pass through my stoma). If I start adding more on the list I will be drinking and pill taking until lunch. I got some liquid iron to make things easier but it is soooooo nasty I am not sure I will survive the pain. :)

The doctor addressed my weight (damn scale was up to 169 in his office). He quizzed me on my liquid intake (whether I was drinking milk or juice. I do but not to excess. He offered me a fill which I declined. He offered me an unfill and I also declined it :). H said that i needed to have my follow up blood work results sent over to him.

We then talked exercise and bike-riding for the next 10 minutes. He is an avid rider and was quite interested in my bike crash in December and kept saying that biking was great even when you are old and then added...as long as you don't fall off your bike. I told him that I walked everywhere and he told me where all of the trails were from his office back to my university. He really got excited by the idea that I walked and biked and said that the key to staying successful with weight loss is exercise. It sure is a lot easier to do than formal gym stuff.

He then gave me dubious directions up to "the hill". My doctor is affiliated with OHSU and they have two campus areas. One is on the river front and the other is up a very steep hillside. the two are connected by a sky tram that doctors and patients can ride back and forth. The old research lab was in the riverfront building but they have been moved and it was a pain in the arse. I had to get a ticket to ride the tram up (fun but time consuming). I then had to ask for directions to the research building. She told me to go up a floor and then go through a connecting hallway. I ended up on a surgical ward and the nurse gave me a different set of directions. I then went outside attempting to follow my surgeons directions and finally found the place. When I got there I found that I had almost been to the connecting hallway but the nurse in the ward sent me back..Along the way I met one of my ex-students who was very happy to see me so I guess the walk was worth it.

The research appointment took an hour and a half. They drew blood, I peed into a cup. They took my body stats and then had me do a 1/4 mile walk. My stats were awesome! I had only lost 4 pounds from my last year's visit but lost a huge amount of body fat. Even the research assistant was excited by the information. My blood pressure was up (but she said any number of reasons could exist for it..I think it was the frustrating walk). I did my 1/4 mile test and my heart rate hardly went up and after a 2 minute sitdown it was back down to 55 bpm. Hoorayyyyyyyyy :)

I do like this part of the whole band thing. The numbers get better and my weight...it fluctuates but only along a narrow band and I can live with that. Ignore me if I change my tune tomorrow and moan about my weight OK?

Work last week was fun..work this week has kind of sucked (no suck is not a swear word in my book :))...I want to retire but I think just finding another job might be a better choice. I am really dreaming of a career change. Does anyone have any great ideas? Does anyone have a good job for me? :)

xxxooo