Days 3 & 4 of CSD

Alrighty....let's get right down to brass tacks today.  Day 3 was awful.  Veggies & fruit and soup.  I was so over all of it by supper.  I had a long busy day which didn't help.  By the time I got home to make dinner, I threw some of every veggie I had in the food processor then dumped it all in the wok and threw in a Tbsp of soy sauce because ... flavor.  I scarfed it down and went to bed. 

I also randomly inhaled while chewing a grape and almost choked to death.  We won't get into great detail but I'm fine, since I am here to tell the tale, and I have sworn off grapes for awhile.  I was OVER all this vegetable business by day 3.  I wanted chicken super bad. 

But I carried on.

Day 4 was 6-8 bananas and all the skim milk you can drink and soup.  I thought today would be the toughest day and it turned out to be the easiest and my favorite of days 1-4.  I had many banana/skim milk smoothies and I was sick of chewing cabbage soup so I threw the rest of my batch into the blender which made a delicious change.  Like chunky carrot soup.  It was waaaayyyyyy better.  I had to make another 1/2 batch of soup today because I completely finished my 1st batch yesterday. I had 3 bowls of soup yesterday.  I'm totally loving the blended soup thing.  When I made my 1/2 batch today I threw all my veggies into the food processor and chopped them up small.  Also much better than cutting it into bite-sized chunks. 

The last two days were annoying and busy for me, so it gave me little time to think about food, since my food was already planned out it actually made eating the only non-stressful thing about my two horrible days. 

I have lost 3.5 lbs in 4 days.  Onward and upward....on to day 5! CHICKEN BABY. I can't wait!
Until tomorrow.


~Sally

Day 2 - CSDiet - Veggies & Soup

Today was veggies, all you can eat, and soup.  I was also permitted a large baked potato with a tsp. of butter.

*SIGH*

I'm torn about day 2.  I started the day with a gigantic baked sweet potato with nutmeg and butter.  I ate about 3/4 of it and chucked the rest.  Too much sweet potato first thing in the day.  I will remember to do potato at supper next time I decide to do this.

I was busy at work in the morning and then had a late lunch of soup and carrot sticks. Meh.  I wasn't feeling the carrot sticks.  I then had to go out for the latter part of the evening and had carrot sticks to snack on.  I also went to Starbucks and used my free reward to buy a bag of Kale Cucumber + Dill crisps. 

Now....I have a guy that works at my Starbucks I frequent, I consider him 'my barista'. I ask him if he's tried the kale crisps and what he thought.  He discouraged me against the cheese flavor, said they were nauseating.  He also told me he absolutely abhors kale, but the cucumber + dill flavor is really good.  I was on the fence, but used my free reward to buy them and went with it anyways. About 5 crisps in I was ready to throw up.  Sorry Starbucks.  Kale is just gross, and please stop selling these.  Yuck.  I took them home and decided I would throw them in a veggie stir-fry. 

When I got home, I was so exhausted and hungry, I took every vegetable I had in the fridge out, and threw some of each into the food processor to slice.  Then dumped it all in the wok and added 1 Tbsp of soy sauce (not allowed on Cabbage soup diet, but I was completely over the "veggie only" day at this point and needed something).  It was by far the best veggie stir-fry I've ever eaten.  Although I wished it had chicken in it. 

Seeing as I've gone 2 complete days without any carbs or meat, I think I'm handling it well.  I started day 3 this morning and was EXTREMELY glad to put fruit back into the mix.  Day 3 is fruit, veggies and soup - a combination of days 1 and 2.  I'm down 2.5lbs in 2 days.  Not too shabby.

I feel much better today, more energized and I haven't had heartburn in 3 days, which if you know me, I eat antacids daily, sometimes hourly, because I eat like crap and my body is yelling at me.  I stopped for my Americano coffee this morning and my barista asked about the kale chips.  I told him I ate 5 pieces and then chucked them.  He felt bad, and gave me a card for my next drink on them!  Thanks barista!  Definitely motivated today to continue.  I have today and tomorrow all planned out.

Cross your fingers for me! hah!

~Sally

Cabbage Soup...Day 1 down...

Howdy!

Day 1 of the cabbage soup diet in the bag.  I ate as I was hungry today.  I had soup and a frozen fruit with water smoothie (so basically juice...) for breakfast.  Then a hard boiled egg an hour later.  This is definitely a day 1 cheat but this is not my first rodeo, and it wasn't peanut butter cups.  Later in the day I had a coffee with a splash of skim milk from Starbucks and a pack of apple crisps.  For dinner I had a double helping of soup and a big bowl of raspberries.  More water.  Later for a snack I made baked apple slices with cinnamon and had a bowl of grapes.  More water. 

By the time I went to bed I was already over the fact of running to pee every 12 minutes.  I also was having some terrible dizzy spells when I was laying in bed.  I got up and had 1.5 Tbsp of peanut butter (kraft - unsalted, unsweetened) That did the trick.

I wasn't hungry yesterday at all, despite only having eaten 1000 calories.  This morning I was down 1 pound on the scale! Immediate progress makes me motivated to stay on track.

I have a sweet potato in the oven baking and it smells so good I can't wait to dive into it.  I already have my day planned - soup for lunch with carrot sticks and veggie stirfry for supper with mushrooms, celery, onion, brocolli, zucchini, carrots and cauliflower rice - NOMZ!  Also, a bowl of soup.

Oven just beeped! Time for delicious sweet potato with nutmeg and a tsp of butter.

Until tomorrow!

~Sally

7 Day Cabbage Soup Diet

Good morning internet!

I'm legitimately one of the worst bloggers in existence since I take long lapses between posts.   However, I am still here, healthy and kicking! 

I have been given orders by my endocrinologist to drop some weight.  By medical standards, I am a very healthy 35 year old (despite having no thyroid, dealing with those annoying problems, and asthma) but I am overweight.  By "the book" standards - obese.  Ya, ya, story of my life.  My doctor told me that although I am very healthy at this point, my weight will do nothing but cause me further health problems as I age. He doesn't beat around the bush, this guy.  We have a very positive, open, frank discussion about it.  That was in July.  I have been battling between getting serious and eating peppermint fudge crackle ice cream since then.  I am finally ready.

In Sept 2014, my honey and I both got serious about our fat asses, and made a major lifestyle change.  We stopped eating out, stopped eating processed foods and junk foods.  We counted calories, exercised, and still had a cheat meal once a week (because let's face it - I would probably shrivel up and die without pizza once in a while).  By April 2015 we had both dropped a whooping 45lbs each.  I legit did not recognize my face in the mirror sometimes. 

Okay so fast forward 2 years.  We moved across the country, and all the lifestyle habits were replaced by the vast multitude of every kind of every cuisine we didn't have access too in our rural past dwellings. I have literally eaten so much shawarma, I should definitely own shares some where. But it's time to get serious.

So every fall, for several years, I have a craving for this incredibly effective (albeit not for everyone) cabbage soup diet.  It is basically controlled clean eating for 7 days, with rules about what to eat on each day.  You eat until you are stuffed.  You do not walk around starving on this diet.  But it is only for 7 days and not meant to be continued longer.  It is like an amazing detox after holiday pigging your guts out, or an awesome kick starter for long term lifestyle changes.  The premise is that you eat, following the instructions, and drop about 10lbs in a week.

Here is the rules:

Day 1 - eat only fruits (no bananas) and 2-3 bowls of soup
Day 2 - Start the day with a baked potato, eat only vegetables today (no peas, beans or corn) and soup
Day 3 - Eat fruits and veggies today (again no bananas or starchy veg) and soup
Day 4 - Eat 6-8 bananas and unlimited skim milk.  Also soup
Day 5 - Eat only tomatoes (6-8) and 10-20oz of fish, chicken or turkey.  Don't forget soup
Day 6 - Eat only beef (as much as you desire) and veggies (no starchy veg) and soup.
Day 7 - Eat only fruits, veggies and soup (repeat of day 3)

Eat as much soup as you'd like every day.  Drink 8 glasses of water or more everyday.  Tea, Coffee and unsweetened cranberry juice is permitted.

Here is the soup (**Spoiler alert - it's actually delicious and filling!!**)

Cabbage Soup Diet:
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 head of cabbage
1 cup celery
1 cup onion
1 cup carrots
1 bell pepper
2-3 cloves of garlic
4 cups chicken broth
14 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
few shakes of black pepper
1/2 tsp salt (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:
**Chop all veggies into bite size pieces**
Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat
Add celery, onion, bell pepper and carrots.
Saute until slightly tender
Stir in garlic
Pour in chicken broth
Stir in tomatoes and cabbage
Bring to a boil and reduce heat
Cook until cabbage is tender
Stir in spices
Taste and adjust seasoning if needed
Serve and enjoy.

Side note - I let mine simmer for 30-60 mins.  Then let cool on the counter before putting in an airtight container in the fridge.  This amount will stay good in the fridge for 3-4 days.  You will probably need to make this recipe again half way thru the week.  

So today, it has begun.  I'll blog later tonight about my progress today.  For any further info, you can check out cabbagesoupdiet.com or there is another blog site by an awesome lady who calls it WonderSoup.  Her website can be found by googling cabbage soup diet divascancook.

Ta for now!

Sally

Odd is Always Better

Yesterday, I turned 35 years old.

My first reaction is a terrified screech followed by denial and a lot of second guessing, "This can't be right?", "When did I age this much?", "Why wasn't I informed?". My second reaction is reality, that yeah I'm halfway to 40 and that totally freaks me out, but I had a mini meltdown when I turned 30 so I just refuse the number and age anyways.  My darling honey got me a cake that said "Happy 29th".

Smart man.

So I turned 35.  And over the course of the last week, absolutely crazy and amazing things have been happening to me!  I have a theory that I've clung too since I was about 25 that all the best things in my life happen on years when my age is an Odd number.  And some kind of crappy and horrible shit happens on the years I'm an Even numbered age.  Sounds ridiculous but the facts don't lie. Check out these stats: 26-divorce, 28-bad breakup, 30-went a long period unemployed and broke, 34-got Thyroid Cancer.  HORRIBLE BAD THINGS.  Now look at the bright side: 27-went back to College, 29-worked abroad at a beach resort as a pastry chef, 31-adopted my beautiful loving dog, 33-moved to a major metropolitan city, 35-well...it just started yesterday didn't it?! But amazing things have been happening already!

Last weekend I attended a Medieval Renaissance Dinner Theatre free.  Then I was given 2 free tickets to a musical.  Then I went out for a girl's night with my BFF and got free drinks, a free t shirt and went axe throwing (for free! and now unofficially prepared for a zombie apocalypse) I also got free tickets to the home show (hah) and won a donut on roll-up-the-rim at Tim Horton's.  That's a lot of great things in a span of like 4 days.  I have big exciting plans in the works for 35, some are happening already, some are yet to happen.  But 35 is going to be a really great year.  I really believe the Odd aged years are better.

Alright, as I said before, yesterday I turned 35.  And as my honey and my friends have been having a party month of excitement, I decided to have a calm day of relax and glutton yesterday.  Honey and I did lunch at an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet.  It was food-coma-inducing, and delicious.  And we had ice cream cake, of course, as is our little birthday tradition.

Yesterday marked one year since my first surgery to have the first half of my thyroid removed. Yep, I spent my 34th birthday in the hospital for two days having a goiter and half my thyroid removed.  Didn't I tell you Even numbered age sucks?  I definitely started 34 on a craptacular note.  It was kind of funny, looking back, because the nurses knew it was my birthday and when I woke up from my surgery they had written "Happy Birthday" on my whiteboard chart on the wall and the entire station of nurses came in and sang me happy birthday.  They were really nice.  It was a really scary thing, and everything went fine but they were so very attentive and kind.

I also got a wonderful non-exciting trip to my endocrinologist yesterday morning.  I see him every three months for checkup, blood-work results and general thyroid related doctoring.  As of late, my TSH levels are down from my last checkup - great news!  My thyroglobulin is 0.09.  They want to see it under 0.10 so I'm just under.  Ideally they want it to be ZERO.  So they upped my dosage again to 200mcg of Synthroid.  This is okay because the side effects are that I'll feel more awake, alert, probably lose weight and generally feel good again.  I had an ultrasound on my neck two weeks ago for this appointment and it showed "undetermined nodules", meaning they didn't know if they were just lymph-nodes floating around or remaining thyroid or something else.  My Dr said he wasn't concerned, but is sending me for another ultrasound and blood-work in June before my July appointment.  He said he is very pleased with my results and wished me to "Be Well."  The increase dosage of Synthroid will cause my brain to look for thyroid hormone even less which will inadvertently drop my thyroglobulin levels.  Win-win.  They just have to keep increasing my dosage until my numbers come back perfect.  So it will take some time.

It's a really weird thing to think about - considering that I spent all of last year sick with thyroid cancer, and now I am cancer-free and healthy.  How long did I have it in me before it was discovered?  It can totally take over your thoughts and life if you obsess over it too much.  I think about it probably every other day or so.  I plan on walking the 5K Thyroid Cancer Walk this year in September.  I was going to do it last year but had to cancel since the walk was the day before my RAI treatment and I was pretty much a hypothyroid vegetable by that point.  I am really looking forward to it this year, and my best friend was going to walk with me last year so hopefully she'll be on board this year too (I'm sure she will).  I'm lucky I have so many who care for and support me.  And I love all my weird and crazy family and friends.  Being "Odd" is truly the best way to be.  Looking forward to all the crazy things this Odd year will bring!  Stay tuned.

~Sally

Body Scan Results

Hi all! Been a long busy crazy month.  I thought you would be interested in my body scan results!

I saw my endocrinologist two weeks ago and saw my surgeon a week ago.

The results from my body scan were optimal! There was no other thyroid tissue or thyroid cancer found anywhere else in my body (meaning it hadn't spread anywhere).  They also said that my Thyroglobulin level was 3 which is extremely low.  Basically it means that my body had almost no thyroid tissue remaining before RAI and thus the RAI would have had no trouble finding and destroying them.

YAAAAAHHHHOOOOOOO!!!!

I see my endocrinologist again in 3 months (Jan) and I see my surgeon again in 6 months (April).  I'll get bloodwork done a week before my appt in January which will test all the thyroid things - TSH, T4, Thyroglobulin, etc etc etc.  This will help my Dr determine if there is any cancer left. The goal is for my Thyroglobulin level to be ZERO. it acts as a marker to let Dr's know what's up with my thyroid.

My surgeon repeated all the same test results with me and did an exam of my neck, said he couldn't feel anything so that is good.  Then he patted me on the shoulder and said "Fine...You're going to be just fine".

Very happy words to hear from a doctor's mouth.

I'm feeling much like my old self and have been so busy with the new work and new apartment that I haven't had time to be tired! But I haven't felt thyroid-hypo-crappy at all.  Gotta love medicine saving the day. Levothyroxine to the rescue!

Onward and upward! Everything's coming up Sally!

~Sally

RAI Last Day in Isolation

Today is my last full day in isolation and tonight is the last night.  I'm pretty bored.  I started cleaning up today.  When I saw the nuclear tech at the hospital yesterday she told me after I left she went back to my room to scan the radiation levels and clean the room.  What surprised her is I barely left a trace of ANY thing in the room.  She said it was the absolute cleanest ever, she was so impressed.  I guess that means I'm not a messy person? Generally I'm not but now I have proof I guess lol

So I started cleaning up today here a little altho there is very little to clean up.  I'm looking forward to jumping into my crazy schedule the next few days, playing with my dog who I haven't seen in a week and general human contact.  I stayed away from my dog and cat because they are both young and I read that they are similar to young children.  Similar in that their immune system is not built like an adult human to withstand even short periods of being in the same room as someone emitting radioactive rays and I didn't want to take any chances.  If my illness and treatment did anything to cause harm to my fur-kids (or anyone else's for that matter) I could never forgive myself.  My fur-kids are my world.

I feel fine today except for a minor headache when I woke up and I'm tired because I tossed and turned all night.  Reeaaaallllyyyy looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again with my giant snuggle bear of a dog next to me.

Honey has been preparing all my meals too so I am actually looking forward to being able to prepare food again, which is a strange thing because I never particularly cared for being the cook but have come to enjoy it more and more in the last year or two.

Basically I can't wait to rejoin everyday life...and see what craziness comes next!

~Sally

RAI Isolation at Home

So I've been home since Friday.  It is now Monday afternoon and I have 2 nights left in isolation.  MAN am I bored! LOL!!!

Today I built a wooden replica of the Seattle Space Needle for crying out loud.... hahahahahahha. The last two days I did movie marathons. I also spent most of my day today catching up on some work related emails, phone calls, etc. 

Today's bonus was I got to leave isolation and go back to the hospital for my full body scan.  Here's how it works:

They gave me a glass of water to drink down.  Then I laid on a skinny little table thing (looked like an ironing board) and attached little sides so my arms would have a place to lay.  Then they took 6 individual photos of my body, starting at my head and going all the way down to my knees.  Each photo took 10 minutes to complete so I had to stay perfectly still for 10 minute increments - no easy feat! But I did it and they didn't have to repeat any of them. 

The full body scan will show them where the radioactive iodine went in my body and also if there is any remaining thyroid tissue left in me.  I will get the results went I see my endocrinologist in 2.5 weeks.

Honey has been amazing and bringing me meals and snacks.  He pops in to visit alot and my parents have popped in alot too. 

I am REALLY looking forward to this being over and if you could see my calendar for Wednesday and Thursday this week you would appreciate how busy I'm going to be.  Basically I will be flat out for the next few weeks between work and moving.  Thank goodness we hired movers!

I'm feeling totally fine today.  I had a headache mid afternoon but Tylenol licked that pretty fast.  My throat is still a tiny bit sore to touch but nothing that is really bothering me or anything.  I'm still a little cold all the time but definitely not freezing like I've been in the past 3 weeks. I think being on the Cytomel 12.5mcg 2x a day PLUS Levothyroxine 150mcg 1x a day is really rebooting my system faster than just being on one or the other.  6 weeks like this then just the Levothyroxine after that (forever).

Thank you to everyone who has been following my blog.  I plan on continuing with the trials and tribulations of day to day and will update on my health as it comes up.  I hope I was able to give someone out there some insight on what the experience is like or could be like and for everyone else (friends and family) I'm glad I was able to keep you all informed.

~Sally

RAI and Me - My Experience

Hello again! I am back from hospital, in fact was back yesterday around noon but slept most of the day so I didn't get to blog.

I survived! I am also now radioactive! Let me tell you this whole thing has been VERY sci-fi.  We are talking next level, stuff I thought was only in movies, sci-fi crazy.

First let's talk about what happened when I went in.  I met with a very nice Dr who went over the procedure and all the ins, outs, ups, downs and maybes of receiving this treatment.  Extremely thorough and informative.

Then I went to the floor I was supposed to be on and literally "checked in" to my hospital room like it was a hotel reservation.  Strange but okay.  I was informed that it has been quite some time since they have had an IN patient receiving this treatment and that I could consider myself one of the most very special patients in the hospital this week.

My nurse showed me to my private one-bed room with private bathroom.  She checked my pulse, temp and BP 128/89...a little higher than normal but I was nervous. Then I waited for a few hours.  I basically hung out in my room and napped.

At 2pm the nuclear tech showed up and explained everything all over again in full detail.  They are not messing around.  She and her observing resident then prepared my room by removing my garbage can and taping what I call doggie training pads all over the bathroom floor (to minimize contamination) and give me a billion instructions on everything from always wearing socks or slippers to how to cut my food up, etc.  They also literally plastered the outside of my room door with large BioHazard signs and warnings and charts.

Here we go.  I am given instructions and they go stand outside my wide open door on the opposite side of the hall.  I am by the window farthest into the room.  I open a large black lead shoebox sized box that has a giant BioHazard symbol on top.  There is a square lead lid with a handle, I remove that.  Inside is thermos sized lead container with a hockey puck sized lid that weighs 10-15lbs.  I lift that off.  Inside THAT is a small clear plastic container (similar to the size of a pill bottle) with no lid but a semi large red and white capsule with...you guessed it...BioHazard symbols. I pick up the container and pop the pill into my mouth and down a glass of water. 

The nuclear tech comes in and stands on her mark she has taped to the floor while I stand on mine and she picks up what LITERALLY is a geiger counter but looks like it is an original from the 50s.  It is a smallish brown metal box with a dial and a needle that moves back and forth.  There is a 1 meter long black cord coming out of it leading to a silver microphone shaped thing she points at me.

I am now radioactive.

They leave, locking the door and me in.  They have placed a table by my door allowing the meal guy to open the door and slide my food tray onto the table without entering. I'm not allowed to eat until dinner and I'm hungry so I sleep.

The rest of day 1 I slept off and on, ate dinner and called honey for a backup of low iodine snacks.  Before I took my pill the meal guy came and gave me a heads up (and two thumbs down) that the LID breakfast was lacking.  It wasn't, but I got honey to bring me a bag of LID Snacks anyways which turned out to be a good thing.  When he brought it, my nurse opened the door enough for him to slip the bag on the table for me and say "hi honey! I'll call you tonight!" before she gave him the boot and locked me in again.

I slept. I ate. I gabbed on the phone- ALOT.  To honey, my parents a bunch and one of my sisters called.  Basically ZERO side effects day 1.

Day 2 I woke up feeling like garbage.  Just groggy and gross and generally crappy.  My mouth was super dry first thing, and my face swelled like a chipmunk.  My saliva glands HURT so much.  By the end of the day, and many sour candies later, they still hurt but not as bad.  But my throat felt sore to touch like someone had punched me in the neck, and slightly swollen.  I called and had the TV service hooked up for day 2 and watched 6 hours of Property Brothers, 2 hours of the Food Network and an hour of misc.  I also talked on the phone ALOT. My best friend here in the city called a couple times to check on me as did my parents and honey. 

The nuclear tech came and checked my levels with her geiger counter again.  My endocrinologist stopped in to see how I was doing.  Said everything I was experiencing was normal. My nurses called me on the phone to check on me.

Day 3 I woke up to my breakfast being dropped off and my best friend from Alberta calling.  My mouth was dry again but my face swelling had gone waaaayyyy down and my saliva glands weren't as sore as before.  My throat still hurt to touch.  I packed up and got dressed and awaited the nuclear tech at 10am.

When she came she measured my levels and I was way down from day 2.  I was under the acceptable levels and could go home! Hooray!!

My dad came and got me and brought me home to my home hideaway for the next 5 nights.  He drove, I sat in the backseat on the opposite side of the car from him.  I got my cellphone back and started catching up everyone by text.  My other 2 sisters called and said they had tried to reach me in hospital but the line was always busy....oops!

I started my meds right away and Honey made me some wonderful food.  Literally everything I have eaten since coming home from hospital has tasted like the best thing I ever ate!!! No more LID!!!

By this morning my saliva glands don't hurt at all anymore and I'm finally not freezing any longer.  I actually got hot during the night last night! My throat still hurts to touch but the swelling has almost all gone away.  I'm mostly just tired today like if I had a cold or a long day.

For those interested, they gave me a dose of 100mcl of radioactive iodine.  The range can be anywhere from 30mcl to 200mcl.  So 100mcl is on the higher end of the scale.

I know my symptoms could have been so much worse than they were and I consider my body as either super tough and durable or my remaining thyroid cells just gobbled up the radioactive iodine and moved on without too much adversity.  Either way I am grateful, so very grateful, my symptoms weren't worse than than were.  I didn't experience any nausea, only the occasional wooziness(is that a word?) when I moved to fast or stood up too quick, and the above described face and throat pain.

I am now in my new "home away from home" temporary setup and had **THE** very best shower of my entire life.  Now it is nap time.

~Sally

Low Iodine Diet - Day 14

Here's what I ate today:

Breakfast:
1 LID muffin

Lunch:
same as yesterday Basmati rice with chicken breast and homemade tomato sauce

Dinner:
same as lunch

Snacks:
3 chunky monkey cookies
1 LID muffin
gala apple

ooohhhh!!! I am soooo tired today.  and I typed a great big long blog then got a phone call and it erased everything! Boooo

Well I am queen of the slugs today. Here's how it went down: I got up around 9am and ate a muffin.  Went back to bed.  Answered some work related calls and texts from under 5 blankets.  My sister on the east coast called and we grabbed for an hour.  Got out of bed at noon.

Ate some lunch then crawled back to bed. More blankets.  I slept until 4pm.  By 5pm I was still in bed and crawled to the bathroom and had a shower. Then I packed my bag for the hospital.  Had a short visit with my mom and dad then flung myself over an armchair for awhile with blankets.

My dog has been glued to my side all day.  Best dog ever! <3 He slept by me all day and now he's playing at my feet all evening with his toys. He has had a look of fear and suspicion all day that something is up...especially when I packed my bag for tomorrow.  He's turning 3 in a month but he'll always be my baby.  I baby and spoil him...all 90lbs.  And he protects and looks out for me.  Gonna be a hard few days without him.

He will be happy hanging out with his dad while I'm gone though.  And then I get forward to the excited return where I will get mauled and licked to death lol Lots of snuggles tonight!

I was the epitome of a slug today though.  I ate out of necessity mainly.  Maybe a little out of hunger.  I can't hardly hold my head up and my eyes are so very heavy.  And I'm constantly frozen.  I also had a headache that loomed at varying degrees all day.

Needless to say I'm grateful I only got this tired now and that I didn't have to do this no meds/LID diet for any longer.  Being hypothyroid is bad enough but FORCED extreme hypothyroidism on no meds and strange diet is worse.  I am also grateful that I am only *this* tired now because every person is different and apparently there can be some very extreme side effects.  Maybe my body handled it like a champ or maybe I just didn't allow myself to cave to the exhaustion because I was busy?? Who knows.  Results may vary from person to person.

Tomorrow I go to the Nuclear Medicine dept at the hospital for 10am for admitting and prep.  From what I've read I'll probably have received my RAI pills by noon-ish.  Then I will be isolated from even staff and technicians at the hospital with limited check ins to prevent spreading the radiation.   I can't have visitors and altho I was told I can bring my cell phone, I am not going to.  I use my cell ALOT, as do most people? and I thought it best to minimize exposing it to the radiation while I'm at the highest levels.  I'll be back on it Friday.

So I'll post again Friday with my experience in hospital, how I filled my days of isolation and how I reacted to the RAI treatment.

My best friend quoted this to me tonight:
"I wish I was a glow worm cause glow worms are never glum..how can you be gloomy when the sun shines out your bum?!" My new mantra. hahahaha

~Sally

Low Iodine Diet - Day 13

Here's what I ate today:

Breakfast:
2 LID Apple cinnamon muffins

Lunch:
same as dinner last night....Rice with chicken and homemade Roma tomato sauce.

Dinner:
same as lunch

Snacks:
a couple chunky monkey cookies
a could LID muffins
green grapes
rice cakes with concord grape jelly

Well. Today was more or less a continuation of yesterday.  I got up at 7am. Went to the hospital early to try and beat the wait at the blood lab.  Got there at 8 something. Only 2 people ahead of me, I was out in 15 minutes.

Except. ***sighhhh*** I got a trainee technician. Now for anyone squeamish about getting bloodwork I'll spare you the descriptive bits. I almost said "nope! no way! no trainee for me" but I try to give people the benefit of the doubt.  She seemed organized like she knew what she was doing.  She didn't.

So she tried my right arm but MISSED. She didn't bruise me or hurt me or anything horrible.  She just missed when she poked me and nothing came out. Thankfully the senior nurse jumped right in, took over, fitted my right arm with a cotton ball and some tape and proceeded to do the correct method on my left arm. 

NO MORE TRAINEES!!! Ugh.

I must have looked like hell because the Sr nurse asked if I was okay.  I told her I was on a forced hypothyroidism for a treatment and was so tired I could sleep right there.  She made me sit for a few minutes before I left.  Don't worry I gave up my driving privilege 2 days ago. Honey drove me today. 

Back home we went and I bundled up in my fuzzy heavy bathrobe and a blanket and slept until noon.

After some lunch honey and I had some work business to see to on the other side of town **more sighing** and I finally got home around 6.  Some supper than pj's and fuzzy bathrobes and socks.  My feet were like ice cubes all day today.  I managed to throw a load of laundry in and spent the night bundled on the couch with my dog.

Last day tomorrow.  I made it.  I cried for pizza and declared that was vicariously eating through others today.  I dreamed of  condiments and dairy products and junk food.  Horrible, I know.  Low iodine diet isn't that horrible.  it's very healthy albeit you feel like crap from no meds so that probably didn't help.  When you feel like crap you want comfort food.  I got bland food.  Or lots and lots of veggies and fruits.  My body feels like it had a major "food detox".  And honey and I agreed I get a small pass for some pizza and chocolate then we keep on being healthy.  I am so down with that.

I even dreamed about cottage cheese in a cantaloupe for a snack because I looovvveee cottage cheese and I miss dairy.

The tomato sauce honey made is delicious.  I will probably repeat that again tomorrow with chicken and rice and maybe a side garden salad.

I'm tired.  I hope my body has agreed with diet and lack of medication so we can do this treatment.  I really thought I would feel much MUCH worse than just being so exhausted.  I haven't lost anymore weight but my belly has shrank alot. 

Prepping for the hospital tomorrow. I'll keep you all posted and thank you to everyone who has read my blog of ramblings.  I'll keep 'em coming.

~Sally

Low Iodine Diet - Day 12

Here's what I ate today:

Breakfast:
LID apple cinnamon muffin

Lunch:
the last bowl of delicious chicken stew

Dinner:
Basmati rice with a chicken breast and homemade Roma tomato sauce made by my Honey for me

Snacks:
LID Blueberry muffin
rice cake with natural pb
green grapes
chunky monkey cookie

Today was rough. Real rough.  I woke up at 8am after sleeping 8 hrs with a pounding headache.  I was awake for about an hour before passing out on the couch until noon.

After that Honey and I went to visit my mom and dad and ended up passing out on their couch.  #visitfail

Came back home and lounged around until 4pm.  Finally got some energy mustered and packed a few more boxes of odds n ends in the bedroom.  Then I gave the dog a bath.

After dinner I made a batch of Chunky Monkey Cookies.  they are okay, definitely nice to have a different something to munch on.  Here is the recipe:

3 bananas, mashed
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup natural pb
1/4 cup cocoa
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract

Drop by rounded spoonfuls on a baking sheet. 350°F for 10 mins. 

I did heaping tablespoon fulls and ended up with 15 cookies.  97 cals per cookie (thank you my fitness pal)! Like I said they were ok.  Not exactly turtle pie or anything but they get a pass.

Dinner was delicious! As was lunch.  So food wise today was wonderful.  Energy wise, not so much.  I was literally like a slug most of the day.  Also I was cold all day and frumped around in my heavy fuzzy joggers and my heavy fuzzy bathrobe. 

I created a blanket and pillow nest on my side of the sectional sofa haha and my noon appointment cancelled for tomorrow which I'm totally ok with. 

I do have to go for bloodwork tomorrow - pre RAI bloodwork.  They make sure all my thyroid hormone levels (TSH, T3, T4, Thyroglobulin, etc) are appropriately hypothyroid for the treatment.  They also make sure I'm not pregnant which I'm certain I'm not, but they check anyways because they would not perform the treatment if you were.

2 more days.  I'm getting nervous.  Not so much the treatment, but again - more about the side effects. Nausea, metal taste in your mouth and dried up salvatory glands, burning in your throat.  None of those sound fun, appealing or in the slightest bit okay with me.  For anyone who knows me I loath and detest Nausea.  It's almost the worst thing ever.  Thankfully they can give me gravol for it which is great because one gravol and I'm lights out. 

Deep breaths.  It will be over before I know it.  Until tomorrow....

~Sally

Low Iodine Diet - Day 11

in the home stretch! Here's what I ate today (spoiler: it was amazing!!!)

Breakfast:
2 LID Blueberry Muffins
a plain rice cake with my Kraft natural pb and smuckers concord grape jelly

Lunch:
homemade Chicken stew using Mrs Dash beef stew no salt added seasoning pack.  I used 2 5oz chicken breasts (boneless skinless) and added carrots, onion, green bell pepper, mushrooms and white potato (no skins!)

Dinner:
Repeat of lunch. OMG nomz nomz

Snacks:
2 apple cinnamon LID muffins and 1 blueberry one
microwave mug brownie with mini marshmallows on top

MANNNNNN!!!!! Today was great!  I actually was totally drained of life and flip flopped around on my bed til noon but once I got up and put that stew together - my world changed. 

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!! it is sooo good.  compared to the very bland things I've been concocting, this topped it all off.  I was actually so sad to be so full off one bowl cuz I wanted to eat the whole pot. lol I have enough left for lunch tomorrow and I can't wait!!!

ok ok I'm going a little crazy.  but the stew was great.  Honey had a bowl for lunch too and said how good it was! Winnnning!!! ahhhhhh yep I loved the stew lol.

I also had a lightbulb moment tonight and remembered my microwave brownie in a mug recipe is LID friendly so I made one and I was on cloud nine.  Here's the recipe:

2 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp cocoa
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp flour

Mix in a mug. Microwave for 60 seconds. BOOM! I threw a handful of mini marshmallows on mine before I nuked it and it was divine! When I used to make this I would throw a scoop of ice cream on top, which is also divine, but LID doesn't allow dairy and marshmallows did the trick! Did I mention I loved the stew?

So I was very tired today. I looked high cuz my eyes were so heavy.  It was ridiculous really.  I looked crappy all day but was too tired to care much.

Honey and I went out to procure some things I needed for my isolation.  Disposable plates and cutlery, toothbrush, slippers for the hospital, etc. OMG....

...so I ended up in Walmart in the aisle that sells bulk packages of undies for woman.  I'm talking Hanes and fruit of the loom - those kind.  Now I'm not by any means saying they are bad underwear or undermining anyone out there who buys them on the regular.  But this chick has a big booty to fill and sadly Hanes and fruity looms 95% cater to you skinnies out there, so most all my under roos come from Addition-elle, Penningtons, Torrid and other such plus size what-have-you stores.

So I decided to buy GRANNIE panties. Like full size, full height, full booty granny's. I decided it was best because I just don't want to keep radioactive drawers around after isolation.  Hanes and Fruit of the loom have a teeny weeny plus size selection.  So I find the briefs but they aren't sized normally.  Okay regular undies there's size S, M, L and XL.  this makes me think the SAME BRAND would then have 1X 2X 3X 4X. nope. the plus undies are sizes 9, 10, 11 and 12. WHAT????!!!

I opened up a package of every size to figure out what size they mean cuz the back of the package says "size 9 = 42" hips" or whatever the measurement was.  Sorry I make it my business to NOT measure my hips orbit on the earth on a regular basis.  So I had no idea.  I'm tearing packages open, checking sizes.  It was ridiculous. Underwear mayhem in aisle 6. Found a package and left a tornado of half opened undies boxes behind.

I also managed to pick up a variety of crafts, soduku books and puzzles to help me pass time.  I might just watch Netflix for 7 days.  but then I might look like a Crack head...so maybe not lol

it was a good day although I was so so very tired.  and my eyes won't stop leaking! WHAT ARE MY EYES DOING? like all day it's like I'm constantly welled up and of course, the constant dabbing at them is making me look like I'd been watching Netflix for 7 days straight. uh oh. lol Maybe I *will* do my crafts lol

At any rate my belly is full, my body is tired and I proudly own 5 pairs of full butt granny panties.  Seriously, these are like scary big undies.

Stayin' classy and dreaming of lunch tomorrow.

~Sally

RAI - What, How and Why??

I said I would talk more about the treatment I'm getting.  It's called "RadioActive Iodine Therapy" or RAI for short.

The basics are I take a radioactive iodine pill and am isolated for 7 days but there is alot more to it.  I took some information off the website of the hospital I'll be treated at and this is what it has to say.

First what is RAI?

Like other forms of radiation therapy, RAI treatment involves the use of radiation to destroy cancerous tissue. In RAI treatment, the purpose is to destroy any remaining thyroid tissue following surgery or to treat residual or recurrent disease. This is a unique treatment for differentiated forms of thyroid cancer (papillary and follicular). Instead of using an external radiation beam, with RAI treatment, the patient ingests a pill containing a prescribed dose of a radioactive form of iodine. The dosage of RAI is determined by your Endocrinologist based on many factors, such as hormone levels, extent of disease, etc.

How does RAI work?

Radioactive iodine emits two types of radiation called "beta particles" and "gamma rays". The beta particles, which travel only a few millimeters in tissue, irradiate and destroy the thyroid or thyroid cancer tissue. The gamma rays travel a much greater distance and can be used to image the distribution of the radioactive iodine within your body.

That's the science behind it all.  The treatment costs thousands of dollars to perform (yes! even in Canada) and although it is covered under my wonderful country's healthcare system, it is not a treatment they hand out to just anyone.

Besides just showing up to the hospital for the treatment I have had to go off my meds for 2 weeks (I'm on day 11) to force my body to go extreme hypothyroid.  I also had to do a low iodine diet (see the many other posts about that) to starve any remaining thyroid cells in my body of iodine, which the thyroid craves.   I also go for bloodwork 2 days prior to treatment to ensure my body responded properly to all the above.

I will then spend 3 days (2 nights) in hospital in isolation in the nuclear medicine department.  They will release after 3 days ONLY if my radioactive levels are below a certain number.  They said almost everyone is released after the 3 days.  Then I will do an additional 5 days in isolation at home.  There is a huge series of guidelines, distance I must maintain from adults children and pets and time limits on visits.  Then I have a checklist of how to clean up behind myself when I'm all done isolation.  All of the precautions is to limit the amount of radiation emitted to others.

2 days after I come home I go back for a full body scan to ensure that all remaining thyroid cells (which may or may not be cancerous) have been iradicated from my body. 

Now WHY did they decide to give me this treatment?

Let me explain.  Firstly, because I had thyroid cancer...which doesn't necessarily mean you need this treatment.  But I had 5 areas of thyroid cancer in one small butterfly shaped gland.  That is a good reason.  If there had of been one small spot I probably wouldn't have needed this.  5 areas means they could have missed a cell or two.  After all cells are microscopic.

So I have been a little grouchy here or there but have been dealing with this with the utmost seriousness.  My guidelines only specify that I can eat all fruits and veggies except frozen peas and potato skin.  I went so far as to do further research into fruits and vegetables with high iodine count and have also avoided spinach, strawberries, cranberries, sweet potato and garlic. I want to make the most out of this treatment and not have to repeat it if at all possible. 

I was REALLY tired this morning. In fact I flip flopped around my bed until noon.  When I got up, I showered, took the dog outside, and put my chicken stew on and made more muffins but with apples and cinnamon instead of blueberries.

More energy than I thought I had today! But I'm tired. My body is so tired.  It's definitely feeling the lack of thyroid hormone.  And my allergies were driving me crazy and of course my allergy meds contain lactose so I'm not taking them.  But I feel okay now...just tired.  Drained of energy.

Totally to be expected.  There is actually a long list of things that you could experience going into forced hypothyroidism, none of which sound very pleasant.  Apparently there is some very worse side effects to expect when receiving RAI, namely, horrible nausea, a burning sensation in your throat, and your salvatory glands dry up and you're required to suck on sour candies up to 5 times a day to restore them.  UGH.

My endocrinologist said this treatment "should be the last of it for you".  I sure hope so.  He comes highly recommended as one of the best endocrinologists in the city...so far I like and trust him.  He was straight with me when I had questions and friendly enough.  He also returned my phone call promptly when I had questions I thought of later. 

So because this all a little heavy I had to make light of it somehow to keep my head above water so I decided I will be like Spiderman or Hulk with radioactive blood and all.  I've been humming the Spiderman theme song for a few weeks and it helps me remember this whole ordeal is 3 weeks out of my life verses the alternative of thyroid cancer remaining in my body. I am Spider Chick!!

I got this! Also my stew is almost done and I can NOT wait to tell you about it later!

..."spider chick, spider chick, does whatever a spider chick does"...

~Sally

Low Iodine Diet - Day 10

Here's what I ate today:

Breakfast:
Coffee with coconut milk
2 LID Blueberry Muffins
1/2 cup green grapes

Lunch:
No Yolks noodles with pureed no salt added canned tomatoes with Italian seasoning chopped up onion, mushroom and bell pepper
Coffee with coconut milk

Dinner:
leftovers - same as lunch plus
Garden side salad no cheese(from mcdonald's) with homemade vingarette
diet 7up

Snacks:
2 LID Blueberry Muffins

Those muffins made my day.  They are moist and delicious. 

I took my dog for nail day at the dog spa.  He is a giant scaredy cat and cried the whole time.  The two girls at the place I go love all 90lbs of him and how much of a baby he is.  And they do a fantastic job!! When they were done he was like his old self- super happy and excited.  Just hates getting his nails cut.  Big baby.

I had some work errands this afternoon then stopped at the grocery store for fresh chicken breast and a few other things.  Found Mrs. Dash no salt added beef stew seasoning.  I'm ALL over that.  I'm making it tomorrow but with chicken instead of beef.  Chicken stew hah.  with carrots, onion, bell peppers, mushrooms and a little potato (no skins!!) I'm sooooo beyond excited for it.  Thank you Mrs Dash!!!!

I am tired today.  My whole body is tired and exhausted.  I definitely feel "off".  I had the onset of a headache a few times today but it passed eventually.  Some bad dizzy spells in there too (while climbing stairs for example).  Between the odd diet and no meds for 10 days my body is starting to say "hey. um?? excuse me?! what are you doing? where's the thyroid hormone, woman???" or at least that's how I hear it. lol

I long for pizza. And cheese. And condiments. I've put my order in (I know I know I'm pathetic it's ok I've accepted it so you can too) for a ham, pineapple and black olive pizza during my quarantine period...provided my appetite even wants it then. 

I have heartburn constantly! ughhh!!! like right now. it's from all the tomatoes and tomato sauce on noodles I've been eating. Can't catch a break I guess.

It's 8pm, I'm in heavy joggers and a sweatshirt with a heavy blanket on me.  My hands are like ice.  I'm frozen and tired with heartburn.  The decline has been slow, and I am grateful because I was able to do alot of packing this week and finish up alot of work tasks. But the decline becomes a little more each day and I can feel it.

I'm off to lay on the couch for awhile more before bed.

~Sally

Blueberry Muffins on LID

Today I tried my hand at a recipe I found online for blueberry muffins that you can eat while on the low iodine diet. The photo is my muffins fresh from the oven.

Thank you to the lady who posted this recipe but being a professional baker I tweaked it a little to make a nicer product (she had issues with stability and dryness).  BAM!! First try and they turned out great and taste great!!!

Baked goods are something you cannot eat while on LID because most contain milk, eggs, butter and/or salt.  However you can make your own baked good as long as they don't contain those ingredients.  This is one of those recipes. 

I'm stoked at how good they turned out and how delicious they taste!  Also a healthier alternative (or good for someone lactose intolerant) at only 135 cals per muffin.

Enjoy!

Sally's LID Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
5 Tbsp water

Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes.  Yields 12 muffins.

Combine brown sugar, oil and egg whites.  (I used Naturegg Simply Egg White, 1/4 cup).
Gently fold in blueberries until combined.
Mix together flour baking powder and soda and add to wet mix.  Batter will seem very dry as you start to combine.  I combined gently using a rubber spatula.  Add water and stir gently until mix looks like a nice wet muffin batter.
Pour into prepared muffin tin.  I used silicon muffin liners.  Fill each cup 2/3 full and if you have any batter remaining just add a spoonful here and there until it's used up between all 12 muffins.

Bake 20 mins at 350°F.  They will be golden brown and a toothpick will come out clean.  Let rest in the pan 10 mins before removing.  

Enjoy!

~Sally

Low Iodine Diet - Day 9 (also Day 8 part 2)

I had a long, cranky day yesterday. Busting it for the man, trying to get stuff done.  I ate basically the same combo of foods as Day 7 and 6 because it's all I had and needed to hit the grocery store.

Which leads me to today.  Here's what I ate today:

Breakfast:
oats with raisins brown sugar and cinnamon

Lunch:
nothing. oops

Dinner:
side garden salad from Harvey's with my homemade white wine vingarette

Snacks:
half a cucumber

To be honest I shared the cucumber with my dog lol.  I bought a cantaloupe but didn't cut it up yet.  Heading to the grocery store shortly for evening pickup of provisions for the rest of this diet. 5 more days. Soooo doable.  Just annoying when I ran out of variety around day 6 and didn't have time to get to the store until today.

Packing continues tonight! and into the weekend.  Moving in 18 days. YIKES!!! Accomplished some big wins at work this week which will ease my entire schedule up to basically nadda while I'm getting my RAI treatment.  Winning all the way around!

Honey says we'll go out for proper celebration after we get moved to this Brazilian Steakhouse we've heard about.  Unlimited meats and eats served on spits and brought to your table to be shaved right onto your plate. um YES PLEASE!!!!

Lots happening all at once and today my energy was high! I started out with a headache but 2 Tylenol cured that sucker.  According to the scale I was UP 4 lbs today but my waistline and jeans say the opposite.  I feel SOOOO de bloated. It's kinda crazy. My mother commented on my belly shrinkage as well.

So much win! I totally got this.

~Sally

Low Iodine Diet - Day 8 part 1...

I can't even. I'm tired and I have a headache and I just a giant bowl of noodles and sauce with chicken ( see yesterday) so my stomach hurts.

ugh.

I will blog more tomorrow.

Goodnight

~Sally

Low Iodine Diet - Day 7

Here's what I ate today:

Breakfast:
2 slices no salt homemade toast with Kraft 100% Natural PB and honey on each slice
Coffee with coconut milk

Lunch:
No Yolks noodles with chicken breast, bell peppers and hunts no salt added tomatoes sauce.  I added oregano and red pepper flakes
Coffee with coconut milk

Dinner:
Repeat of lunch.  it was already cooked. easy.
Can of sprite

Snacks:
1 serving of plain original mini wheats no milk

Today I felt ok.  Weight still the same. That's ok.  Coffee with lunch at 2pm perked me up for the afternoon.

But! man I crashed earlier today that yesterday.  Yesterday I fell asleep watching a movie and felt like I was going to keel over around 10pm. Tonight it was around 7pm. Like so tired I can go to bed now.  It's 9pm now and honey told me he could see me fading around 7.  My voice gets hoarse like I'm overtired and my eyes get heavy.  We're gonna watch some more of the movie we started last night until I can't go anymore.  And for anyone that knows me I basically CAN NOT fall asleep in a movie. Especially if I'm into the story which I love movies so I usually am. So honey said if we watch 20 mins then we will resume again tomorrow. 

So it's day 7.  I'm halfway through the low iodine diet.  It's not horrible.  In fact it's very very healthy.  I do miss condiments ALOT. like yearning for condiments.  which is strange because I thought I would yearn for chocolate or dairy.  Both of which I am a normally heavy consumer of.  Nope. I miss mustard...and salad dressing lol.  And regular pasta sauce.  The hunts no salt added tomato sauce is GREAT to have the option but it's basically a step up from tomato soup and no one wants tomato soup on their noodles.  Well, I don't anyways.  but the spices and chicken and veggies help.  Oh I miss soy sauce too.  Plain rice is plain.  Rice made with 1/3 coconut milk like I've been doing is okay.  But it's still plain. 

And here's the thing...I LIKE plain meals.  Sometimes.   yeah I miss condiments. 

Anyways energy levels were good all day until about 7pm.  When I woke up at 730am I started the day with some dizziness and thought I'd have a nauseous day like a few days ago but it subsided quickly and didn't return.  Nothing else much to report about today.

Beware, it's a verrrrry strange feeling when this fatigue hits you.  Like I felt fine, I drove home from my errands and within 1/2 hr I felt like a zombie.  Sentences sometimes don't want to come out straight, bits of brain fog.  Oh! I'M FREEZING! It's 30° outside and I'm sitting on my couch in heavy joggers and sweatshirt and a blanket over me.   I was freezing yesterday too.  My hands and feet get pins and needles much more frequently now too...possible due to the low calcium intake.

Until tomorrow.

~Sally

Low Iodine Diet - Day 6

Here's what I ate yesterday (oops was too tired and fell asleep):

Breakfast:
oats with chopped up banana, cinnamon and brown sugar

Dinner:
6oz chicken breast with Mrs Dash
Basmati rice made with 1/3 coconut milk
sautéed carrots, cauliflower and bell pepper

Snack:
2 bananas worth of just bananas "ice cream" mixed with 1.5 Tbsp cocoa and some natural pb drizzled on top

I was soooo tired all day.  Like just pulled an all nighter and still have to present a proposal with no coffee kinda tired. I started off good in the morning but by dinner I looked like hell and the bags under my eyes were hollering at me to sleep.

I was busy from 11am-4 with work so I kind of missed lunch but that's ok. I still downed 1100 cals thru the rest of my food. I came home, made dinner and ate.  Then honey and I took the dog out in the yard for a big run and a play.

Had some fam jam visiting yesterday so I played with my 2 yr old nephew for a bit and then packed some more boxes. I'd say I'm like 70% packed overall.  maybe 75%.  RAI in 8 days.  Moving in 3 weeks.

I can totally handle this. I was down a 1/2 lb today.  And did not feel sick or dizzy today, just exhausted. By bedtime I was going to blog and totally passed out. To be expected.

New day today.  I feel very good so far, except very tired even though I slept 8 hours and I'm freezing even though it's hot outside.

Let's get the coffee rolling and start the day!

~Sally