There has been a change in my normal day to day, which is why I have not had the time to type an entry. I am finally beginning to get used to my new schedule, so am here to at least give a brief update.
I had labs on 05 January, but because of some technical glitch, I cannot access those results. However, I am confident if there was a serious issue, my Nephrologist would let me know.
Overall, I am fairly stable. My energy still waxes and wanes from day to day, and my weight continues to creep downward.
This morning I weighed in a 115.9 Kgs! That is the second time I hit that weight; the last being one week ago. Now that I've gotten under 116 Kgs, it is only a matter of time before all of my daily weights are in the 115s, and heading to the 114s...a weight I haven't seen since before my Abdominal Hernia repair over three years ago.
There are two things I am doing that are definitely helping my weight loss:
1) Exercising as often as I can. I recently started using my Bowflex once again following the longer-than-expected healing of my R big toe. The exercising has obviously kickstarted my metabolism, which means I am burning calories (fat stores) both day and night, even on the days that I don't exercise.
2) Despite the stress it causes my jaw and the TMD, I have started eating salads nearly every day. I use a combination of Green Leaf lettuce and fresh spinach, along with several vegetables like fresh mushrooms, cucumbers, onions, etc. I am using either a vinaigrette-type dressing, or homemade Ranch dressing using skim milk and mayo.
For now, I will keep following this plan, which can always change or adapt as needed.
On the TMD headaches front, they are now consistently worse ever day. Instead of four or five days a month that are headache free, I now have one...and the intensity of those headaches is increasing. Right now, I have an increasingly worse headache that sits at about a seven, and I have no meds of any sort working right now. As soon as I am finished with this entry, I'll be doing something about the headache.
I once again have further proof that the acupuncture is helping keep the headaches from getting worse. Because of my change in my daily routine, I was unable to get to my Chiropractor for a week and a half. (I just went again yesterday.) In that time frame, my headaches increased dramatically, and I spent many of those days unable to get much done because my head was just hurting too much. I even had to use two of my strongest meds over that timeframe, and they took away the pain enough so that they were tolerable; but which left me fuzzy and unable to think very well. It is extremely rare that I have to use two of those meds in a short time period. So...no fun on the headaches!
I have my January infusion just yesterday. There were no side effects of any sort.
As my weight has decreased, so too have my blood pressures. While the overall trend remains a little high, I've had readings in the one-teens (systolic) and the 50s (diastolic), IF the readings drop much further, I will be in danger of hypotension (BP being TOO low). So I am keeping close tabs on it, and will call my doctor for a med adjustment, if needed.
That's really all I have right now for this "quick" update. Now that my new routine is settling down to a new normal, I should get the next entry done much sooner.
Good Health to All!
ScottW
