It’s been a while I know but once again I’m going to try and pick up and continue my blog. So much has transpired since I last wrote there is no chance of catching up. If any of you are curious about certain things, feel free to ask. I will answer as best I can. Some questions I may choose not to answer in my blog or in a comment on the blog. I may ask you to message me personally and answer more privately. Thanks for understanding. My followers do rock!
When I started my blog, I was just doing it to keep track of my progress in my weight loss journey and make myself accountable in a public venue to myself. I absolutely loved the encouragement and support from each and every one of you. I was working to lose enough to have weight loss surgery. That is no longer an option.
I found out I have something called Sjogren’s Disease. It was diagnosed using a lip biopsy. The test showed no salivary glands in the chunk of lip they took. And it was actually pretty good sized! It’s something that causes lots of things I hate. My mouth dries out so much at night that it “glues” itself shut. I’ve had some pretty nasty injuries from that happening and my opening my mouth anyhow. I have a temporary fix for that problem but it isn’t perfect. I still dry out but at least there is something I can do to help a little. I do use Biotene products, but the dentist and dental hygienist told me about something call MI paste. It’s very expensive but it does last quite a while. I use it mainly at night when I wake up and can’t open my mouth. If I can open my lips, I can rub a little on my teeth and work it around with my tongue. Weird. I know. But for me, it’s life.
Because of the saliva problem, I lost most of the teeth on the right side of my mouth. They just started falling apart. Saliva is extremely important for teeth to stay healthy. The other side was able to be saved at least for a while.
The Sjogren’s also makes other things dry out. My skin, yes, but what bugs me more is my ears. I have no ear wax. Not only does that cause itching and flaking, it means it’s sometimes hard to hear. Strange. I’m finding out more and more about how things work in this ol’ bod the longer I have this disease. I have a cream I can occasionally use in my ears but it’s not an every day thing to use. My feet also drive me nuts. The skin on the bottom of my feet dries up really bad. They feel so tight and miserable. That coupled with the gout/arthritis makes my feet a very painful part of my body.
So now you’re up to speed with that. The fact I don’t produce enough saliva is part of the reason I can’t do the weight loss surgery. The other reason is I now have no teeth that meet to actually grind the food. When you have weight loss surgery it is extremely important to properly chew your food. If it isn’t properly chewed it would be able to be properly digested.
The doctor I was seeing for the weight told me he was confident I could do it on my own without surgery. My last visit with him I had lost 50 pounds on my own. And now, I’m back to square one. I got terribly depressed about it. And I’m an emotional eater.
I hate the image that stares back at me in the mirror. I hate that I’m not able to do a lot of things because of this weight. I am going to try and get back with the program and DO this.
I had my right knee replaced in May and am now able to walk a little more than I had been. My back is still a problem, but most days I can deal with it at least a while. I had planned on doing my left shoulder later this month but have cancelled that. I don’t feel like I’m ready for it. Several things in my life have added a lot of stress, I’ve gained back weight and don’t feel safe in that respect, and I don’t think my knee is strong enough to do the shoulder surgery. You’d be surprised which limb helps the others. Try to not use your left shoulder and not put weight on your right knee and get in bed. Not real easy. No. I’m not ready for more surgery yet.
And we are still fighting all the medical billing people to properly bill things so they can get paid! Amazing how many mistakes can be made on the billing for one medical problem.
Today I started back using My Fitness Pal. I’m not adding friends or anything. It will just be for my benefit so I can track which nutrients, etc. I should increase or decrease. I also have found out that a woman should never eat less than 1200 calories a day because the body goes into starvation mode.
I plan to do the things I used to do here. I plan to continue to post a recipe or two, add quotes, post pictures, speak Mama Sage speak. I think I need this to get me back in the full groove. I definitely need to put myself first again. I need to realize I can’t help those who don’t want help. I need to get many things in life straightened around and orderly. My plan for fall and winter is to straighten out bookwork and filing, purge purge PURGE the whole house, keep accountable through my blogging and reconnect where I feel disconnected.
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When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry,
show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile.
~~Unknown
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No recipes today. We had stuffed peppers, but they were ones I’d made earlier in the summer and frozen. With that I just cooked up noodles and added peas and we had applesauce. For an evening snack, we had left over strawberries over chocolate ice cream. Yes. I’m still within my calorie limits. Well within.
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Well, friends, Mama Sage is closing up for the night. I’ve got a lunch to pack and I want to try and tackle a little of this paperwork mountain before I head upstairs for the night. Tomorrow we will be spending the day with Emmi. I want to gather things to do some crafting with her too. Night all….
~~Mama Sage
Having trouble trying to edit this before posting. Hoping I'll be able to do it later? Maybe? Who knows. Can't highlight anything to make changes. Can't back space to make changes. Weird.
