I had my annual eye exam yesterday morning. For diabetics, this is just as important as meeting with your endocrinologist regularly. They have this one test that takes pictures of all your blood vessels. Diabetic Retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in diabetics. It happens when you don’t control your blood sugar over time and once the damage is done, you can’t really reverse it. I am happy to report that my eyes look exactly as they did 8 years ago when I did my first test – woop!
I then went to the hospital. Well, after I went to McDonald’s and got this:
Gah. My mouth said “I’ll have oatmeal!” but it came out “I’ll have a sausage McMuffin with egg please!” 440 calories for that sandwich.
When I got to the hospital they were taking five additional vials of blood for more testing. Remember yesterday when I said “his liver is fine and we are just waiting for his INR number to come down to remove the polyps?” Well, we are still waiting for his INR number to come down, but his liver is not functioning right. There are several opinions:
- He takes a medicine called Allopurinol for his gout. He could be having a toxicity problem with that drug that is damaging his liver, so they took him off that medication immediately.
- He may have gall stones. One of the stones may have lodged in a bile duct, causing the function of the liver not to be able to do what it does. If that’s the case, they can remove the stone and hopefully things start working correctly.
- He has a slightly fatty liver – not even sure that that one is yet!
He definitely is jaundiced – the whites of his eyes are yellow. He’s not in any pain, which is good, but it’s the constant waiting. By coincidence, Tony’s colon cancer surgeon popped his head in because he saw Tony’s name on the patient board. He decided to get involved and actually told us more of what was going on than anyone. He ordered a detailed MRI to see if they could determine if a gall stone is in a bile duct.
It took about 20 minutes, but I am not sure I could do it being enclosed like that. He did have headphones on – they had XM radio and he chose 60s music. At one point he started tapping his toes to the beat of the music and the technician took that as a sign that he was trying to communicate with her to get him out! He did a great job.
Sadly, he ordered lunch just as they decided to do the test, so he couldn’t eat or drink anything. He ordered me a tomato soup and a turkey sandwich for him. Because of his artificial heart valve (is my man bionic or what??!!) he has to be on a low sodium diet. No ham, no mustard, no marble rye even! Well, have you ever had tomato soup without any salt? Um, it’s not very good! I ended up eating his sandwich though. After I picked off the icky sliced tomatoes.
So we watched a lot of t.v. I bought a few magazines. I read my emails. THANK YOU to everyone who’s sending me DVDs for the children’s ward! I think at last count, I am up to nearly 24 DVDs and my goal was 20. You guys rock!! Still not too late. If you have some newer, gently used kids DVDs you don’t watch anymore, or want to buy some from Amazon.com and mail them to me – I’d appreciate it. Just shoot me an email at mybizzykitchen@gmail.com.
I ended up getting the salad bar for dinner again. It’s not bad, and I am actually liking kidney beans in a salad! I noticed that in the hot station they had grilled SW turkey cutlets. They were small so I asked for two of them with the idea to chop them up and put them on my salad for protein. I got two turkey cutlets, the salad and an iced tea for Tony. Total? $15.51!
I looked at the receipt and said “each piece of turkey was $4.29?!” She said yes, and when I told her I didn’t want them anymore, she said they were already on my tray so I had to buy them. I could have bought a whole turkey breast and made THREE meals out of that for less than $8.58! Lesson learned – ask for the price before buying! While the flavor was spice, they were super dry and overcooked. And they are each smaller than a plastic spoon!
I loved the combination of flavors with this salad – the spicy banana peppers, the sweetness of the dried cranberries. That’s about the only decent thing in the cafeteria – except their chili is pretty good now that I think of it. Aimee, I totally understand your frustration with hospital food now!
I have a confession to make though. Since Wednesday night, since no one is here, the mindless snacking has come back with a vengeance. I know some of it is stress related, but it has to stop before it gets out of control. Last night I must have had a cup of peanuts while catching up on Facebook and emails – so mindless! So I’ve already told myself that the kitchen is closed after 7:00 p.m. I get home from the hospital after that time, so that’s what I have to do. And my exercise has ground to a complete halt. I am about to snow blow the driveway, so that will be some exercise, and when I come home from the hospital tonight I plan on doing a 40 minute Insanity routine. I will post my “after” picture on Instagram to hold me accountable. Are you following me yet there? mybizzykitchen is my name on there.
Alright, time to get this show on the road. Today is my best opportunity to get the snow out of the driveway before arctic temperatures come back. They are saying that on Monday we’ll have the coldest temperatures in Chicago in over 30 years – windchills will feel like –50! Tony and I both agree that it doesn’t make sense to live in a place that can have 100 degree temps and then be –20!
Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Every time you leave me a comment or send me an email or text, it feels like a hug!
I so know what you are going through, juggling work, the hospital, trying to eat healthy, get some exercise, etc. Not to mention, you have to manage your diabetes. Here’s a big hug from me!
Sheryl
Another Dutch hug coming your way! Sweety don’t stress over eating/exercise right now. You have enough on your plate as it is. I’m sure you pick it up as soon as you have the time/less stress.
thinking of you both. I know how stressful hospital stays can be!! And: thanks for reminding me I am wayy overdue for my eye exam. WAY.
Tony is so lucky to have you, Biz! Been thinking about you both, and wishing T a speedy recovery. Of course I’m thrilled to hear about your eyes 🙂 That’s amazing 🙂
P.S. Those prices are INSANE. Our cafeteria is so cheap we have customers come in from off the streets because our prices are so good…as is the food 😉
Prayers and hugs that everything gets resolved quickly.
That hospital food sounds like a) highway robbery and b) a very unsatisfying experience. You are so organized with your food at work–could you pack some things to take with you or is that just too much on your plate?
I just want to put my 2 cents in here and ask you not to beat yourself up too much about food choices right now. You have been on this weight loss journey for a long enough time that you know there are speed bumps. Weight comes on and weight comes off. Fact.
Thinking so hard about you and Tony!
So happy you had a good report on your eye exam! So sorry to hear Tony is having more health issues to deal with! But sending hugs & get well wishes your way!
I told my daughter about the DVD’s and she wanted to pick them out. She’s 22. lol We got 4 and I’ll get them in the mail hopefully tomorrow. We’re expecting snow way down here in AL and I am not looking forward to that!! lol Stay safe & warm!!
Keeping you and Tony in my thoughts and prayers. I had the same issue with elevated liver enzymes, doc thought it was my statin or fatty liver. Ultrasound showed no fatty liver, but major gall stones – not huge buy my gall bladder was full of them! She couldn’t believe I’d never had an attack. The following month my liver #’s were fine and have been since. Hope it gets figured out for him soon so they can get the polyps out and send him home! Oh and I have to give props to the hospital I work at(UW-Madison) – a great cafeteria with a huge salad bar, a 500 calorie station(whole meal for 500 or less calories), low-fat dairy, roasted meats, vegetarian, etc. They do have the ‘not so healthy’ stuff as well – but there are LOTS of good choices for those who wish to make them. Pretty good prices, too! Stay safe and warm!
Praying for you and your family