My journey so far...

In November 2021 I was at my highest weight in my life with a BMI of 58.1 kg/m², had just gone into a 4x in women's clothing, and was miserable. My liver specialist had just added another diuretic because despite being on Lasix, my feet and ankles swelled horribly. I lost 20 lbs. of water weight that month. You heard me. 20 lbs just from fluid retention.

In December I got with a weight management doctor at the University of Kentucky. She put me on Ozempic at that time, which helped with my appetite, and while I was somewhat sketchy about when I ate well and didn't, and my weight fluctuated, overall I went down, sitting at the 60 lbs. total loss mark for awhile, going up and down 10 lbs. Last October I had to go off the Ozempic (which I'm actually on because of my diabetes--the weight-loss version is Wegovy), which was impossible to find. I tried _ten_ pharmacies. I was off for a month. My blood sugar soared. She then put me on Mounjaro, a different drug in the same class for diabetes (the weight-loss version is called Kepbound). What I found was that for me, the Mounjaro has been more effective with appetite with fewer side effects. I went down to 60 lbs lighter total.

Anyway, due to being off the meds and the holidays, I wound up soaring back up to the 40-lb loss mark in January. I managed to lose 10 lbs before my surgery in late February. Since then, I am officially 70 lbs lighter than my original high weight, according to the records at my doctor's office last week. That's mainly because I've been eating much better, I was home with my roommate's cooking, and have reduced my use of the vending machines at work, which is a real struggle because I stress eat at work.

So why is this all important? I desperately meed a knee replacement. Not only are imy knee joints bone on bone, my left patella is even shifted completely out of alignment. But understandably, my knee specialist [lthe same orthopaedist who did my rotator cuff surgery] is concerned about my weight. He won't do a surgery if the BMI is above 45, and prefers it to be under 40. My current BMI is 44.15 kg/m²--greatly reduced from what it was, but in the danger zone still.

However, when I did the calculations the other day, I am about 27 lbs from reaching a BMI of 39.9. We think that's doable. So we're starting to talk about doing the surgeries and I got a pamphlet on what to expect from them at my request. I am excited about the possibilty of reduced pain and greater mobility. Also, if I can do that, I will have officially lost over 100 lbs and have a total BMI reduction of 18.2 kg/m². It obviously won't happen tomorrow, but that gives me some time to prepare for the surgeries.

It was never about looking good, it is about health, and for that matter losing weight actually ages your face and makes you saggier, but I really want to do these surgeries and be more mobile. I'm only 57, too young to be as decrepit as I am. I've had trouble with my knees since high school. It's time to help them. Oh, and here are the obligatory photos. The first one is from September 2021. The other one is from yesterday. PS Shoutout to Dr. Stephanie Rose [women's health/weight management] of UK and Dr. Janak Talwalkar [orthopaedic surgeon] of Baptist. They've both helped me tremendously.

PS Both of those shirts are 3X, and the pants on the second picture are 3X. 70 lbs and I'm still in that size for the most part. Women's clothes are weird. But I was going into 4X and I think I'll be able to transition to 2X soon...I have one pair of pants already. And of course the shirt is mainly due to my bosom. :)  

[Update: I gave blood today and got a shirt for donating. They didn't have any in size 3X, so I took a 2X because I figured I might be able to wear it in the future. When I got home, I tried it on. I won't say that the line is perfect in terms of the cloth's drape, but I can wear it, and it's comfortable, even if it shows my belly roll a bit. I'm a little proud of myself. I could be doing better in my eating, but I'm apparently doing some things well.]

Well, that doesn't make sense

This morning I managed to make myself presentable in general but forgot to refill my pillbox with my oral meds, and while I had my potassium bottle with me, I did not have the diuretic that went with it, so I'm not supposed to take it. As expected, I swelled up like an overstuffed balloon, especially my ankle--and especially the one that was broken when I got hit by the car almost four years ago. What I don't get is I weighed myself this morning and, curious, was wondering how much water weight I'm keeping on me now that I'm as tight as a stuffed sausage--and I weigh two pounds less than this morning. I give up on trying to figure it all out.

Last night I got home at 11:30 pm after running many errands for others; tonight I got home at 11:30 pm after helping a friend with various things, including cooking. (I made pesto by hand, because the blender is somewhat dubious at the moment, with a mortar and pestle and lots of stirring) It was nice, however, that when I got out of the car, I looked up, knowing the Perseid meteor shower is going at peak, just in case, and a lovely shooting star went right across the sky, one big enough to make it through the light pollution here at what used to be at the edge of the city, but which is now merely outer Lexington. Yay! I forgot to make a wish, though. :) My main wish at that moment was to come in and get a shower--it's very humid out there, even now, and I've been sticky most of the day.

Today I rescheduled one appointment and then starting calling opticians around Lexington. See, last year I got an eye exam, but my blood sugar had been running high, and so when I wore the contacts and the glucose was back in the normal levels (as it usually is these days), things were blurry, so I've been wearing my glasses that are between 2-4 years old. But today I found out that it's not a revolving year; my benefits kick in each January. I can get new frames every other year, and new lenses every year, so I'm eligible now, even though it hasn't been a year since I got the contacts. I still have about $258 on my flexible spending card, too, so that should help. I usually spend some extra on my glasses than the insurance because I get progressive bifocals and (usually) Transitions lenses, which turn dark in daylight. However, a serious drawback to the Transitions lenses is even though they are good when you are walking around outside, they are absolutely useless when you're driving and it's sunny. See, the auto glass prevents the transition, but doesn't block out the UV enough to help protect your eyes from damage. What I need are sunglasses. But I don't want separate pairs of prescription glasses and prescription sunglasses. Years ago I had a pair that had a magnetic clip that affixed the sunglasses to the glasses frames. I called around to see if anyone still carried those. My normal optician stopped carrying them three years ago. I tried another in-network group, and they didn't, but they suggested their second location, and I hit pay dirt with them. I have an appointment on September 2nd, and am on the call list should there be cancellations between now and then. Yay, again!

Okay, it's after midnight. I am ready for bed. Tomorrow promises to be a fairly long day, too, as a friend has an appointment after work and then we were going to go over some bills. I'm going to try to finish the notes tomorrow during his appointment--I just got a start on them last time, but then we did a lot of visiting and not a lot of action, until the end, so it should go pretty quickly. Investigation is what really bogs me down in the notes, because of all the details. This was mostly interactions and then one of Brenda's characters was attacked by someone towards the end of the game and fought him off. So I might be able to get it all done in that hour-long appointment. If not, maybe I can do most of it and have a little of Saturday to finish up. We'll see. I'm glad we're playing again, though. Okay, good night for now. Hope you're having a good week.