2 year endocrinologist update!

Last week I went to my endocrinologist for my 2 year check up! I was seriously excited to go because I was proud to show off all the changes I had made.

I am in no way-shape-or form a doctor. This post is based solely on what my Endocrinologist and myself discussed. If you have health related questions please contact your own doctor. 

 

I am so proud of the woman I was...she started this journey.

I am so proud of the woman I am now...because I have been changing my life for over 2 years.

I am sure I will be proud of the woman I will become...because, well, I can't imagine my life any other way!

**January 2012 - Initial Endocrinologist Results**
Weight ~ 213 lbs
BMI ~ 38%
Hemoglobin A1c ~ 5.9 {normal range according to my Endo is 4.0 - 6.0}

**January 2012 - 2 year Endocrinologist Results**
Weight: 143 lbs
BMI: 24%
Hemoglobin A1c ~ 4.6 after 22 months on Metformin

July 2011

October 2012

July 2011

November 2012

 

When I first got my results back from the endocrinologist I was considered insulin resistant, they thought I had something wrong with my adrenal glands {turns out I'd just recently had a cortisone shot and sent my levels through the roof}, my Vitamin D level was 17.6 L2 {normal range 30.0-150.0}, and I was just in overall poor health.

 

My first tipping point was a Halloween party...but my boulder that catapulted me off the seesaw was getting my lab results back! It really shocked my system. I KNEW I was overweight, I KNEW I was unhealthy & unhappy but until those numbers were on the paper I didn't realize how bad it was. Nothing to me, at that point, was as scary as hearing that if I kept on the path I was I would have diabetes in a year. My endocrinologist was very blunt with me and for that I will be forever grateful. She was the FIRST doctor to tell me I was overweight and needed to change. Looking back that fact still shocks me.

 

Over the course of the last 22 months I did go on a few different medications that I believed help me. I started 500mg extended release Metformin in February/March 2012 and stopped one week ago. I have a follow up appointment in July 2014 to see how 6 months off of Metformin goes and I am so excited to see if the hard work I put in pays off. I admit it, I am nervous to go off the Metformin because I feel like it did help me get to me a little "looser" with my carbs because of my PCOS. But I am ready for the challenge of eating what I know my pancreas can handle. My goal is to only eat carbs at 2/3 meals in my day.

 

I am still taking Vitamin D {I mean, I like in Washington State so I feel like I'd need that anyways}, Singular, and birth control. Totally normal and totally unrelated to PCOS meds!

 

Fingers crossed {that my levels stay low}!!!

a fun filled Tuesday...

...haha, just joking.

3/4 of my 4 day weekend were awesomely spent at the beach. The other 1/4 was spent getting worked up, blood drawn, and having a rather stressful day.

Since my labs at OHSU were at 12noon today I had to take the whole day off work...hence the 4 day weekend!

I went and picked the hubby up on schedule and we made it through downtown Portland and to what we thought was the right street in record time. Then, we took the wrong street. Like, we took the one that got us back on the freeway going away from the hospital. So we back on track about 1 mile from where we started except we hit every.single.bleeping.red.light there is between Broadway and OHSU. I was frustrated to say the least. Jason kept calm, as usual. We did end up making it still about 5 minutes early so I was somewhat happy but I like to be earlier than that.

We had a bit of a wait which I guess should have been expecting. It was only about 15 minutes but when you're already hyped up and you're going in for a test to determine how your future could unfold, that is a long time!!

Once we headed back I got instantaneously nervous. I did not want that IV in. I've had IV's but never while I was awake - at least in my memory. My nurse was Sharon and she was amazing. She was so calm and she was so good and what she did. She had my IV in within 5 seconds. It was SO amazing to have Jason there too!! And of course a little teddy bear made an appearance :)

I really thought that I wouldn't want to look at it but I did okay doing it. I think it helped that I couldn't see the entry point. I hated that dangly part so she taped it to my arm - she could read me like a book and knew it was bugging me. Like I said, she was great!!

So here is how the test went down after the IV was in. She drew my blood for my control or "zero" draw. Then she gave me 1 mL of 0.25 mg injection of cosyntropin which is a synthetic hormone.She has warned me a bit about the side affects but I generally don't have a ton of side affects so I think I might have partially tuned her out. Well, that wasn't a good idea. She started to slowly put in the hormone and my arm started itching/tingling/feeling really cold and then, about 20 seconds later, the affects hit me. I felt like there was a small child sitting on my chest and my chest felt hot. Like, I gasped which kind of made Jason's eyes bug out of his head and I think freaked us both out a bit. It lastest for at least 1.5 minutes and Sharon just kept saying "just remember to breathe". After about 30 seconds the heat and compression started to go to my stomach and there was a few split second where I wasn't sure if this stuff felt like it could come out of any end. UG. That's probably TMI but it is what it is. After about 2 minutes it all subsided and Jason sat back down and bugges his eyes back into his head and Sharon went to get me some water.

About half way through the one hour test I got really cold but I couldn't put my sweatshirt back on because of the IV and my dear husband was busy playing games on his phone but sweet Sharon, she realized I was cold and brought me a pre-warmed blanket. It was a bit of bliss.

So other than the initial 2 minutes, everything else was rather boring. I was not a fan of the feeling of the IV in my arm so moving it was kind of out of the question for me. I paroosed the Internet for a while but everyone else in the universe was at work so no one was playing any of the games I usually play :( It was a rather uneventful hour. I sat reclined in a chair and thought about life. Which can be good and can be bad. Today there was A LOT of things running through my mind ranging from what to plan for my husband's 30th birthday party to what color scheme I'd want a nursery to be to what I wanted for lunch.

In the end I will now have to wait a week or so for the results but Sharon assured me she knew I'd be waiting for them and she'd get them to my Endo ASAP. She knows my Endo because apparently my Endo used to work at OHSU so maybe that connection will actually get the results there faster.

Here's to hoping the week or so goes fast...

Fingers crossed.

until next week...

...that is how long I have to wait to get my test results.

Turns out because I went to a hospital near my house instead of the hospital where my Endo is. Because they are not in the same "network" my Endo can't just pull them up and look at them. But the medical assistant assured me that there's a note on my file that says to call whenever a lab results come in. I'm hoping the call doesn't come in the middle of me teaching...because I'm going to want to answer that call SO BAD!!

Lesson learned.

Fingers crossed.

Until then I have my PCOS book to finish and my CARB book to start. Oh, and my homework to do for class :( Here's to a book filled weekend!!!