Insulin Resistance

Monday I went to see an Endocrinologist. He confirmed that the pituitary tumor is not returning. That is a blessing! I discussed with him my inability to loose weight, even with all the exercise I do. He is running some lab tests, but believes I have Insulin Resistance (IR), also called Metabolic Syndrome. I fit the profile,( lower blood sugar, high blood pressure and high triglycerides), and what he said makes sense. IR leads to Type 2 diabetes and possible coronary problems. My Father has Type 2 diabetes. I wonder why a Dr. did not suggest this possibility sooner. I have been fighting my wt. for 5 yrs.

Anyway I have been researching it some and found some pretty good links.

http://syndromex.stanford.edu/InsulinResistance.htm

http://www.heartlandnaturopathic.com/irdiet.htm

I have been eating close to the way the diet tells you to eat, BUT I usually give myself a" free day" or have something sweet now and then. Doing that takes me back to "square one" again.
Until I get this reversed and loose some weight I can't indulge, even a little bit. This is going to take some work and discipline, but I have to do it! I want to be healthy and avoid some of the health issues my parents are dealing with.

The Dr. also asked what my life has been like the last few years-any stress?! When I told him about the 3 moves in the last year , major surgery and a husband headed for Iraq if he does not get a civilian job soon, he said my stress level is off the charts ! Stress raises cortisol levels and keeps you from loosing weight also.

In about 9 days my husband will know if he has a civilian job, back in Germany for 3-5 yrs, or if he is headed for Iraq the end of April, returning in July. If he gets the job in Germany he has to be there 15 May and the kids and I would go to him after school is out. I would "get " to handle all the moving details again!

My husband would be a GS employee working for the Army. He is an Air Force Reservist right now and has been on active duty since 7/01. Here is a link to where we would go.

http://www.grafenwoehr.army.mil/default.asp

I would appreciate your prayers as we navigate through all these possible changes! My husband hates making us move again!! It weighs heavy on him!! If he gets this job we would stay put for at least 4 yrs and he would be in the GS system and could transfer, back to the states, after that time. We would be back in Europe and would have all the support this time instead of on our own. Maybe I will get to see Scotland yet!

And Life Begins!

They say life begins at 40!! If that is so, my life "began" Saturday, March 18th! We went to my husbands brothers house to celebrate. My husband was out of town . We had a nice time! Here are some pictures of what they did for me! There were 40 flamingos! Then the kids decided to add to the flock! Later in the day we took the kids roller skating. I have not tried that in over 25 yrs! I used to go alot when I was young. I remember stompping my skates to, We Will Rock You! The music Sat. was a bunch of hip hop junk I had never heard! BUT we had fun! My husband came home Sunday night and he had more presents!

Finally!!

I finally got my results! I found out they had not even left the imagining dept. on the base yet and did some "prodding" (in a nice way) to get them faxed. Anyway my pitutary and brain look all normal! No sign of the tumor coming back. I did ask my Dr. what we were going to do about the abnormal lab and the other physical symptoms I am having .She wants to send me to an endocrinoligist now.

I am just glad the tumor is not back! It was not fun the last time. The other stuff does not worry me as much, but maybe they can find out why when I exercise as much as I do and try to eat right that I can not get the weight off that I want to loose. I am still carrying around that extra 25 lbs of "baby fat" from when I had my daughter and she is 5. I just keep trying though. I have been reading The Search For Skinny, for new ideas from those ladies.

Thank-you for all your thoughts and prayers!

MRI update

I called the Dr.'s office today and it sounds like the report is there. I was told the medical assistant would call me back. She didn't, so I called them back. The medical assistant was not available and I was told that since my chart is still on the Dr's deask she could not tell me anything anyway. They are supposed to call tomorrow. If they don't I will go show up in person!

I 'am a medical assistant and I get really frustrated when I do not get the level of service I was expected to give when I worked. I think I took pretty good care of my patients and as a patient myself I hope for that same quality of care. I know how busy a Dr.'s office can be and I think because of that I muster up a little more patience, but why couldn't they a least talk to me! I couldn't get past the front deask.

I guess I am a little spoiled because in the past, when I worked, I usually worked at the same clinic where I received my care. If I wanted to see my labs, test results or read my chart ,I did. I could talk to my Dr. whenever I wanted .

I guess I need to get a job again! LOL!

I will post about this again when I have some answers! Stay tuned!

Strawberry Festival

Heard about a cool web site. It is www.notreligion.com Check it out!

I love anything strawberry and yesterday we went to the Strawberry Festival in Plant City FL. It was really neat, but crowded. I would have liked to look around a lot more, but the kids were hot and tired. The neatest thing we did there was watch Steven Curtis Chapman do his sound checks and pratice for his two concerts he was going to do later in the day. It was great! He was singing all the songs we know. My son heard him first ! He said," Mom I hear Steven Curtis Chapman, is he here?!" I had forgotten about the concerts so this was a neat suprise. We were able to sit in the bleachers and listen all we wanted. An hour before the concert he went back stage and the "show " was over.

It was fun for us!

MRI Today

I had my MRI today- although it almost didn't happen! After almost 2 months of referrals and waiting for this appointment, they were almost not going to do it because I did not have a script in hand that said, " she needs an MRI of her brain and pitutary". Never mind that they had the referral from my insurance company in hand! My Dr. did not hand me a written script for it. She called in a referral to the insurance company and gave a verbal order. Anyway I started crying like a big baby !! I took alot for me to arrange to even be at the MRI! I had to go to the Air Force Base clinic , which takes an hour or more to get to in morning traffic. I also had to arrange for someone to watch my daughter and get her to school. Well I blubbered! They were very nice to me and called my insurance to see if they had the script and then they called my Dr. and asked her to fax one over.

I finally got my MRI, which went well, and in a few days , 3-5, I should know if the tumor is back or not. When I/we know we can deal with it accordingly! Just a little more waiting! Stay tuned!