Health Chat & Updates thread

[Katrina]

Let's use this thread to talk about our health, both physical and mental and give updates.

I'll start.

6 years ago I had two surgeries to remove my thyroid (right lobe with cancer and then the left lobe removed a month later) and I've been getting tests since then. Back in October, my tumor marker started to rise so the Endo requested an ultrasound and then requested I get another ultrasound 3 months later. That was yesterday and the doctor hasn't called me yet, but the tech recommends I get a cat scan or biopsy because I have 3 new nodules since October. This could be cancer. It also could be my thyroid growing and both are unwanted in my situation. There is a possibility I'll have surgery this year to remove those nodules along with the other ones that have been growing since surgery. I'll post updates in this thread.

How about you? How are you doing physically? Mentally?

 

[PGen98]

Let's use this thread to talk about our health, both physical and mental and give updates.

I'll start.

6 years ago I had two surgeries to remove my thyroid (right lobe with cancer and then the left lobe removed a month later) and I've been getting tests since then. Back in October, my tumor marker started to rise so the Endo requested an ultrasound and then requested I get another ultrasound 3 months later. That was yesterday and the doctor hasn't called me yet, but the tech recommends I get a cat scan or biopsy because I have 3 new nodules since October. This could be cancer. It also could be my thyroid growing and both are unwanted in my situation. There is a possibility I'll have surgery this year to remove those nodules along with the other ones that have been growing since surgery. I'll post updates in this thread.

The entire community is with you, @Katrina. You're going to kick it to the curb again!

How about you? How are you doing physically? Mentally?

Better than I have been. Physically I'm having issues with tumours growing in my body, multiple, all being tracked, just to be safe. One on my eyeball, one inside the marrow of my left tibia, one in my upper left thigh and two growths they're tracking in my head and near my kidneys. Fun! Mentally I've been on a rollercoaster ride, suicidal ideation that just won't shift, massive depressive swings, and my anxiety issues have shifted into overdrive in recent times. Thankfully those are slowly getting back under control thanks to therapy and a psychiatrist's help, but it left me in a terrible spot right around the time I stepped away. Absolute nightmare scenarios. Thankfully we're on the upswing, so at the moment I can say I'm not doing great, but I'm also not doing poorly.

 

[Katrina]

The entire community is with you, @Katrina. You're going to kick it to the curb again!

Better than I have been. Physically I'm having issues with tumours growing in my body, multiple, all being tracked, just to be safe. One on my eyeball, one inside the marrow of my left tibia, one in my upper left thigh and two growths they're tracking in my head and near my kidneys. Fun! Mentally I've been on a rollercoaster ride, suicidal ideation that just won't shift, massive depressive swings, and my anxiety issues have shifted into overdrive in recent times. Thankfully those are slowly getting back under control thanks to therapy and a psychiatrist's help, but it left me in a terrible spot right around the time I stepped away. Absolute nightmare scenarios. Thankfully we're on the upswing, so at the moment I can say I'm not doing great, but I'm also not doing poorly.

I'm happy you're doing much better!! It's a new year and a new life, so you have a good attitude going forward!! I'm trying to maintain my usual calm temperament.

 

[PGen98]

I'm happy you're doing much better!! It's a new year and a new life, so you have a good attitude going forward!! I'm trying to maintain my usual calm temperament.

That's definitely the right approach, keep right on going! The right attitude helps, for sure 🙂

 

[Dismal_Bliss]

I wish you both the best as you navigate these predicaments.

How about you? How are you doing physically? Mentally?

I have gotten some good news today. Yesterday I ordered myself some blood labs and I just got the results.

I've been on this animal-based diet, which has fixed a lot of things. But I have had one complication that most normal people don't run into when they do this diet. My triglycerides shot through the roof and were close to 3000 at one point. This is because I have stage 4 chronic kidney disease, and I spill the enzyme my liver produces that breaks down these fatty acids. A normal person would see trigs improve on this diet. Mine went the opposite way.

So I decided to stop losing weight (stored fat is triglycerides, which dissolve and enter the bloodstream when you lose weight) and I started taking fenofibrates and super high doses of niacin (vitamin b3, in the form of nicotinic acid). It's been 2 months, and my trigs are down to around 230. Much much better. Normal is considered between 50 and 150. Anything over 500 is considered dangerous and anything over 1000 could be deadly.

Now I feel comfortable about resuming my weight loss.

 

[Katrina]

I wish you both the best as you navigate these predicaments.



I have gotten some good news today. Yesterday I ordered myself some blood labs and I just got the results.

I've been on this animal-based diet, which has fixed a lot of things. But I have had one complication that most normal people don't run into when they do this diet. My triglycerides shot through the roof and were close to 3000 at one point. This is because I have stage 4 chronic kidney disease, and I spill the enzyme my liver produces that breaks down these fatty acids. A normal person would see trigs improve on this diet. Mine went the opposite way.

So I decided to stop losing weight (stored fat is triglycerides, which dissolve and enter the bloodstream when you lose weight) and I started taking fenofibrates and super high doses of niacin (vitamin b3, in the form of nicotinic acid). It's been 2 months, and my trigs are down to around 230. Much much better. Normal is considered between 50 and 150. Anything over 500 is considered dangerous and anything over 1000 could be deadly.

Now I feel comfortable about resuming my weight loss.

That's great news you were able to turn around those numbers!

 

[PGen98]

I wish you both the best as you navigate these predicaments.



I have gotten some good news today. Yesterday I ordered myself some blood labs and I just got the results.

I've been on this animal-based diet, which has fixed a lot of things. But I have had one complication that most normal people don't run into when they do this diet. My triglycerides shot through the roof and were close to 3000 at one point. This is because I have stage 4 chronic kidney disease, and I spill the enzyme my liver produces that breaks down these fatty acids. A normal person would see trigs improve on this diet. Mine went the opposite way.

So I decided to stop losing weight (stored fat is triglycerides, which dissolve and enter the bloodstream when you lose weight) and I started taking fenofibrates and super high doses of niacin (vitamin b3, in the form of nicotinic acid). It's been 2 months, and my trigs are down to around 230. Much much better. Normal is considered between 50 and 150. Anything over 500 is considered dangerous and anything over 1000 could be deadly.

Now I feel comfortable about resuming my weight loss.

Phew! Glad you were able to get those numbers down, that is extremely high!!

 

[Katrina]

Next step for me is a biopsy. I'm waiting to get scheduled for that and then we'll go from there.

 

[PGen98]

Next step for me is a biopsy. I'm waiting to get scheduled for that and then we'll go from there.

Hopefully that happens soon!

 

[Felly]

Nothing major on my end, thankfully, at least physically. The worst has probably been I had a minor cold last week, but some over the counter medicine and being able to rest at home and not stress about work really did the trick. I'm guessing my allergies flared up from having to help handle the animals at work and the inconsistent outside temperatures and turned into a cold. I normally take allergy medications ahead of time if I know I'll be really handling the animals and I'll wear a face mask too for the animals that really flare things up, but there were a couple unexpected times where I had to help out and had only taken one of the two I normally take and ended up suffering. ;( I'm not officially diagnosed with anything, but this time of year tends to result in some hay fever for me, especially as it gets into spring, and handling certain animals at work definitely gives me some symptoms if I don't prepare.

Mentally is a whole different story though lol. I am surviving, but not thriving at work because of hour cuts and understaffing due to said hour cuts. It results in me (and others) having to do the work of five people, and it's incredibly frustrating and draining. We're all continuously hoping things get better, but it's been like this since the COVID days, and now that it's largely over, things haven't changed and honestly seem to be getting worse. There's been a number of other issues too within the store, and it's all been incredibly draining. I've been largely ignoring the manager group chat and distancing myself from store issues on my days off just for the mental health break, or at least trying to. I only just started doing it about a week or so ago, so I'm still kinda trying to break the habit of feeling the need to constantly check my phone for work issues or feeling the need to respond to everything work related, but since I've started, it's definitely been less stressful. And of course, at work itself, I'm trying to create positive change to at least make life a little less stressful there, or as minimally stressful as we can make it.

Next step for me is a biopsy. I'm waiting to get scheduled for that and then we'll go from there.

Hopefully you're able to get it scheduled soon and it all goes well! ♥

 

[Katrina]

Nothing major on my end, thankfully, at least physically. The worst has probably been I had a minor cold last week, but some over the counter medicine and being able to rest at home and not stress about work really did the trick. I'm guessing my allergies flared up from having to help handle the animals at work and the inconsistent outside temperatures and turned into a cold. I normally take allergy medications ahead of time if I know I'll be really handling the animals and I'll wear a face mask too for the animals that really flare things up, but there were a couple unexpected times where I had to help out and had only taken one of the two I normally take and ended up suffering. ;( I'm not officially diagnosed with anything, but this time of year tends to result in some hay fever for me, especially as it gets into spring, and handling certain animals at work definitely gives me some symptoms if I don't prepare.

Mentally is a whole different story though lol. I am surviving, but not thriving at work because of hour cuts and understaffing due to said hour cuts. It results in me (and others) having to do the work of five people, and it's incredibly frustrating and draining. We're all continuously hoping things get better, but it's been like this since the COVID days, and now that it's largely over, things haven't changed and honestly seem to be getting worse. There's been a number of other issues too within the store, and it's all been incredibly draining. I've been largely ignoring the manager group chat and distancing myself from store issues on my days off just for the mental health break, or at least trying to. I only just started doing it about a week or so ago, so I'm still kinda trying to break the habit of feeling the need to constantly check my phone for work issues or feeling the need to respond to everything work related, but since I've started, it's definitely been less stressful. And of course, at work itself, I'm trying to create positive change to at least make life a little less stressful there, or as minimally stressful as we can make it.



Hopefully you're able to get it scheduled soon and it all goes well! ♥

Glad you're feeling better now! What allergy meds do you take? Maybe a different brand would work better? I have to be careful because I'm allergic to some of the inactive ingredients in allergy meds, so I take the walmart brand spray.

 

[Felly]

Glad you're feeling better now! What allergy meds do you take? Maybe a different brand would work better? I have to be careful because I'm allergic to some of the inactive ingredients in allergy meds, so I take the walmart brand spray.

I take Flonase on the days I go to work (and sometimes on my off days if I'm going out and the pollen is supposed to be really bad) before I go in, and I take Claritin if I actually end up having to handle the animals. I keep a stash of it at work just in case. I can't swallow pills, so I can only take the chewable version of them. I've become thankful that they've developed chewable pills for adults.

 

[Katrina]

My biopsy is scheduled for March 6th.

 

[PGen98]

My biopsy is scheduled for March 6th.

Fingers crossed!! 🤗

 

[Okaryel]

Physically, I'm doing okay, but mentally, it's been a rollercoaster.

 

[PGen98]

Physically, I'm doing okay, but mentally, it's been a rollercoaster.

Definitely understandable, I think most of us can understand the mental grind! Hope you're doing better!

 

[Katrina]

My biopsy is tomorrow morning! I can't wait to get this over with. Going for a frosted coffee at Chick-fil-A afterwards. I've never had one before, are they good?

 

[PGen98]

My biopsy is tomorrow morning! I can't wait to get this over with. Going for a frosted coffee at Chick-fil-A afterwards. I've never had one before, are they good?

Everything is crossed for a good outcome!!

 

[Katrina]

Everything is crossed for a good outcome!!

Thank you! I'm going to bed early to toss and turn LOL

 

[PGen98]

Thank you! I'm going to bed early to toss and turn LOL

Good vibes and happy thoughts!