A little bit of this, a lot of that

It’s been so up and down here lately that I find myself just wishing for a few even days.

I no longer question if starting my own business was the right route for me.      There has been so much new business lately and the bulk of it has come in from referrals.   That makes me feel really good as it means my clients are happy enough  with my work to suggest my services to family and collegues.   For the past few months,  I have been able to pick and choose which projects I want.    After years of sucking it up and taking any bone I could get, it is a nice change of pace.  In fact, I am a jumble of nerves as next week I find out if I landed my biggest project to date.         Of course life is yin and yang, because I am currently knee-deep in all these health issues…

I’ve been inundated with doctors appointments, sometimes 2-3 a week, and that schedule will continue straight through to September.  I’ve had additional blood work and have 2 prescriptions for more blood work in my purse. 

I managed to land a cancelled appointment with a well reputed hematologist (#3 but who is counting) so I took it.   I really liked him so I am glad that part of this mess has been decided.  He is bringing in a clotting specialist and there is some relief in that.  He ordered a repeat blood workup, so it’s off to the lab to have another 40+ vials taken, that happens Monday.

I felt a strong need to just be with my family (my brother/mother/nieces) so I flew to Florida for an extended week.  I am lucky that I own my own business and can work remotely.  I took 4 vacation days and then worked from Florida for the balance of the time.   It was just nice to have dinner with my parents and to drive to my brothers for coffee.  I closed the week with a surprise appearance at my nieces 5th birthday party and flew home. 

Speaking of flying, the Lovenox injections were a piece of cake.    I had read that the medication itself can burn going in, but all I felt was  a tiny pinprick from the needle.  I did ice the spot on my stomach before injecting though.   I was a bit uncomfortable flying with the needles and notifying the security people that I had them, but it’s just one of those things you have to get over, I guess.

While in Florida, hematologist number 2’s office called to schedule a follow-up appointment as the doctor wanted to discuss the results of the additional blood work he ordered.    I informed her they could fax all paperwork to my new hematologist and hung up.   Within 5 minutes I got a call from the doctor himself (on his private cell phone) stating that the blood work did “not come back as planned” and there are “additional complications” and he “reverses his diagnosis and treatment plan.”    I hate to be cliche, but I did not know whether to laugh or cry.    On one hand Iwas relieved that the hematologists 3  diagnosis and treatment match,  I was also devastated to learn there is an additional factor that make me more  susecptible to blood clotting.  He described it as a “Lupus Inhibitor.”   Incidentally, the day he took those tests, he felt rather strongly that “everything would come back fine” and then I could “stop worrying.”    I guess I proved him wrong, huh?

This week I had my first appointment with the heart doctor and he has started scheduling tests to determine if my increased risk of clotting has affected my arteries.  I also picked up an additional medication.     As each new doctor is introduced, they ask “so what medications are you on?” and gone are they days where I can respond with “none.”  I confess I have been struggling with that.

We have made no decisions on the baby front and are waiting to discuss our particular situation with the high-risk OB/GYN before we do.

My new cholesterol medicine can cause muscle ache and fatigue and that’s been fun in tandem with the Precision Nutrition workouts.    The first day of the Lean Eating program  I overestimated the amount of weight I should use and couldn’t walk for for days.    It was pretty amusing.    I guess I was just excited to start?   We are in the middle of the third week and it’s been very educational.    For the first month we are practicing core exercise moves and stretches 6 days a week.   There are also daily lessons (read this article or watch this interview or think about this an resond, etc).   I just submitted my photos (not pretty but I am a work in progress!) and will submit my measurements tomorrow.   I’ve always been a cardio girl, so  I hired a trainer to explain some of the exercises as they are completely foreign to me.    I start with her on Tuesday.  The program preaches patience, patience, patience, so they have yet to delve into the full nutrition aspect.  Nonetheless I’ve been able to figure the bulk of it out from the general PN message boards.    The first nutritional habit is to take concentrated fish oil, but I am already doing that as per the heart doctor and the hematologists 3.