Yesterday, I had nine vials of blood drawn at my doctor’s office. The good news: The nurse working with my doctor caught that they misscheduled the time of my tests, making one of them invalid, and called the day before to rearrange so it would all be done properly. Yay for on-the-ball doctor’s offices! Additional good news: Despite needing nine vials of blood, the nurse taking it was fantastic, and I only felt the barest prick at the beginning and end of the ordeal, not a thing in between! Now, for the bad news…actually, there is no bad news. Only more good news. Huh.
I saw my doctor last week to follow up on my new anti-depressants. We talked quite a bit about not just that, but the other health things that have been frustrating me. For those of you who followed my original weight loss journey, you might have seen signs of this. I committed myself 100% toward that journey. I was on-plan every day. I taught myself to eat produce. I cut out all processed foods. I tracked calories. I exercised almost every day, both cardio and strength training. I drank tons of water. Etc. I didn’t have “fall off the wagon” time periods, and yet, it took me 3.5 years to lose 100 lbs. It took me over a year to lose the last 20 lbs, and once I reached the very top of the healthy BMI line – or sometimes not quite there, depending on the scale – my body said nope, no more, not happening!
(July ’09 vs Feb ’13)
This is very unusual. People who commit the way I did, with sensible eating and exercise habits, usually lose that amount of weight in a year or just slightly more. Weight loss always seemed to be much harder for me than for other people. To bring it to the present, it is now impossible. I’ve worked my butt off for the last two months – not to mention working my butt off about 75% of the time for the four months before that – and I just keep gaining. I am not okay with this!! So I brought this all to my doctor last week. Already, I’d talked to my OB/gyn in January, after she questioned me for a time about the symptoms of PCOS (which she believes I have). Originally, we were scheduled to have tests for both doctors in April, but due to last week’s visit, all the tests were moved up.
My nine vials of blood are providing answers to extensive tests in all sorts of places: hormone stuff, metabolic stuff, thyroid stuff, glucose stuff, lipid stuff, cortisol stuff, and more that I can’t remember. Some of it is so specialized that I won’t get the results back for a month, but the tests for my OB/gyn should be here within a week, and I follow up with her next Thursday to see if, indeed, I have PCOS. If I do, that will explain a lot about my body’s resistance to weight loss, as well as many of my other symptoms. It will also give my doctors a path to follow to try to help my body regulate itself properly, in a way it currently isn’t doing.
Ironically, after all this started happening, I heard from one of my sisters because her doctor has started to suspect PCOS for her, too. Our other sister has a history of ovarian cysts as well, so this is a real possibility. A real possibility for an answers to WHY. I can’t tell you how hopeful that makes me. I’ve fought and fought and fought to do this on my own for years. I’ve been locked in this battle with my body, thinking that if I could just do things RIGHT, I would win. But I can’t. This is not a fight I can do alone. It has been a very humbling realization, and difficult for me as someone who clings to independence, even from doctors and medicines. I’m putting my health into their hands now, scary as that is, and I hope that they will find the answers to help me.
The Zen Leaf 
Sending positive vibes your way. Congratulations on your weight loss success. You look wonderful.
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I wish that was me today. Over the last year, I’ve started gaining every month no matter what I do, and I’m 60 lbs up now. It’s been incredibly frustrating, which is why the doctors are involved now.
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I hope you keep getting information and good news soon … it’s funny – sometimes good news doesn’t take the form we thought it would. Like diagnosis of a medical problem! I’m sure everyone would rather NOT have any medical issues, but knowing what it is can be such a relief.
When I was diagnosed with a problem with my hip and found out that it would be with me the rest of my life, I was disappointed … but mostly relieved that I finally knew why I was in pain. Luckily, there are things I can do for myself that help a lot, although it does take initiative on my part, which I have to fight for!
I’m glad to hear that your medical office is on top of it regarding your tests – I feel like it bodes well for future care. It seems like you made the right choice for you. And even when you bring in outsiders to your team, you’re still the leader. Maybe think of it as delegating? 🙂
Sending good wishes your way.
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I’m trying to learn that delegation is okay. Still hard though, heh. And yeah, I agree, the idea of having PCOS or some other problem that I’ll have to deal with for the rest of my life doesn’t exactly make me happy, but knowing will be better than ignorance!
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Keeping my fingers crossed that you finally get some answers. They may not be the best answers, but knowing why is half the battle. It sounds like you have fantastic doctors who are committed to seeing you healthy, and these days that is more than half the battle. Good luck!
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Agreed on the doctor comment – I never found a decent doctor the entire nine years I lived in San Antonio before our year in Massachusetts! I’m so glad to have found these guys now.
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I hope the doctors find out the exact contributors that thwart your weight loss. Sending you good vibes, Amanda!
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Thank you much!
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Funny how finding out you have a problem can sometimes be a blessing, isn’t it? I hope your results bring you some real answers!
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Yes, agreed! I’m not looking forward to having the problem itself, but knowing what it is instead of having it unknown will be so much better.
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You’re on the right path, Amanda. The more information we have, the better our choices can be. I know you’ve been discouraged lately but things are going to improve sometime soon! 🙂
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I hope so too. You know a lot about my situation and how crazy things have been the last couple years. I know they’ll get better, but sometimes it’s so hard to see it in the moment!
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It sounds like you’re on the path to finding answers which I’m sure will be a huge help and give you some relief in knowing the “why” behind it all. You’ll be in my thoughts!
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Thank you!
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