Last week I went to the Doctor for my yearly check up.. seriously I never get sick enough (usually) to need a Doctor…Each year at the start I get my blood work done just so I know what needs attention.. there’s a history of liver (well, in their cases it was self-inflicted) and Diabetes type two.. which got my Dad in his early 50’s and because I’ve had two “Gestational Diabetic” pregnancies they say if I don’t watch out I’m in line for it as well… Umm… NO! I love chocolate too much!! Of course these days they have sugar-free everything but that’s not the point I don’t want to be restricting myself. I want to be healthy enough to jump on a pane at any age and go overseas without worrying about which medication I’ll need at what time… especially if it’s avoidable!
So last Friday I had the blood work done and went back yesterday for the results. Because as you might know I’ve been doing “the Daniel Plan” more details http://www.danielplan.com/ And in November I went “cold turkey” on Coffee, Sugar, Dairy and gluten…. I didn’t read it right.. too much speed reading.. you were only supposed to do that for four weeks and then re-introduce things.. I went for eight weeks… I’ve brought back in breads in small quantities.. as for the coffee and sugar I don’t miss them as much as I expected.. yes I miss the “habits” of having a cup of Coffee.. but not the taste or sensations.. I’ve introduced “Green Smoothies” every day and that means plenty of greens back into my diet. And I make healthier eating options. My weight has stalled at 70 kgs (154.3 pounds) but that only means that I have lost 5 kilos and that’s a good thing. So anyways my problem has been tiredness.. I go to bed tired, I sleep like the dead, I wake up tired and by mid afternoon I need a nap.. so I wanted to see if the blood work would tell me something, maybe I need some iron?
The Blood tests came back perfect! and not only that, it’s been two years since I’ve had them done and it tells me that they are even lower than they were two years ago.. so the Daniel Plan is working. As for the “Spare tire” she reassured me that “menopausal woman” I HATE that word.. usually gain up to 10 kilograms and no matter how much you diet and exercise most won’t lose it until the “change” has passed… I wonder how much longer I’ve got to wait? I do remember however at my engagement party to my first husband how big my mother was, she had stacked on heaps of weight, and had to wear a size 16… and then five years later when you see her with my first born, she is slim to the point of skeletal.. so obviously that’s what was going on there.. According to the blood work I have been in “active menopause” since 2011, that’s four years… I wonder how much longer?
So Yay! all the bloods were good and she said “Whatever you are doing.. keep doing that EXCEPT!” and here’s where things get bumpy.. my leg has been doing this weird thing, throbbing and painful and it gets really hot.. so I asked her about that and she asked “Is there a history of blood clots?” well yes because my sister had a blood clot in her leg years ago. So she looked at my legs which (to me!) looked normal.. but she said “I’ll just measure I think one of fatter than the other” hmm… yep! a whole centimeter bigger.. how did I miss that? So she’s sending me off for ultrasound on my lower leg, but then she asked “if I do THIS, does it hurt?” As I almost hit the roof YES that hurt…” Oh okay, well maybe it’s your Achilles tendon then?” Since I was going to Physio next anyways she wrote him a note and asked him to look at it.. and off I went with an order for Ultrasound.
By the time I got to Physio which is for my shoulder.. (headaches be gone!) he said “it’s your left leg isn’t it? I can see it’s fatter than your right?” Self conscience much?!
He measured it and suggested that it could be my Achilles but unlike the DR he didn’t touch it..he’s given me some exercises to do for four weeks, and then if it’s still painful I’ll go back and he will work out a plan, but he did say to go do the Ultrasound anyways to rule that out and ask them to send him a copy as well.
But the BIGGEST Blow for the day was.. the only way to heal this is to rest it and it could take months! M-O-N-T-H-S !!! well I don’t drive I walk everywhere.. this is not good.. then stupid big mouth me told him, “You know last week between Monday and Friday I walked 54 kilometers” (33.55 miles) he was typing and he stopped and spun around and asked me ” you did WHAT?!” so I repeated it and he shook his head “NO Kim! that’s far too much walking!” but then he softened the blow with “You are looking great I can see your new plan is working but that’s too much!”
So I am housebound for a few days to rest it up and then off to Ultrasound and we shall see what happens.
Oh the joys of getting old huh??
Kim L Hine 