Gluten or Not to Gluten

So I am trying something.

Gluten FREE.

This is HARD. I am craving bread. Soft, buttery, sourdough. Oh how I want thee.

I figured since the doc said NO to the big C....lets try something else out to loose weight.

I am taking thyroid meds and have cut out gluten almost 100%. It's only been a week, but I feel better. I am not lethargic. I actually get hungry. I have been eating a ton of fruits and veggies. A TON.

The one downfall....I went to a bar recently and got looked at like I had 3 heads when I asked IF they had gluten free beer. Seriously people really have a condition where they can't eat or drink it. Don't treat me like crap because I ask a serious question. Won't be going back to that bar...EVER.

Denver 2010

I got to travel to Denver, CO (5,280 feet above see level...hence mile high city) (got to knock it off my 101 in 1001) for work last week and managed to talk my company in to letting me stay for the weekend. Granted, it might have been the fact that the air fare was a little cheaper flying home on Sunday night rather than Friday morning, or the fact that I have "family" in town and was able to stay with them, but either way Denver is AWESOME!

I flew into town on Tuesday afternoon, met me boss, checked into my hotel and grabbed dinner at Earls. (can't get the link to work).

Wednesday, got up grabbed coffee at Starbucks. Rode the 16th Street Shuttle down to one of my clients offices. Walked over to the Westin for our quarterly meeting. Met with another client afterwards. Went to my companies office downtown for a brief hello to my account executives. When all was said and done...grabbed a Pomegranite Martini at Prime Bar with some of the girls from my afternoon client meeting. After my happy hour drink, I met my best friends cousin, Christen (hadn't seen her since the BF's wedding nearly

3 years ago) for dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery.

Thursday. Drove up to Greeley and Boulder w/the boss and t

he AE. Met with a few clients. The photo is from the back of one of the office buildings...seriously I could look at that EVERY DAY! Drove back to the city. (got a shot of the skyline)

Was DONE for work at 12:30. I called my ex-step-mother (yes we are still really good friends) and we met for lunch at a 5-Star Restaurant....knock another one off my 101 in 1001 days! We went to the Brown Palace. SOOOOOO good. I had Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken Salad.

Afterwards we went back to Earls and I had their housemade Sangria. Yummy. Crashed out pretty early on Thursday (thinking time change caught up with me).

Friday. Met my ex-step-mom and her co-worker for lunch at PF Changs and then we took the light rail back to her place and ended up driving out to Colorado Springs to see Garden of the Gods

and Pikes Peak. Absolutely GORGEOUS.

Friday night...went to a Colorado Rockies v. Milwaukee Brewers game. Our seats were AMAZING. Club level. Fantastic...I think I am officially spoiled.

Saturday. I've always wanted to see The Stanley Hotel (from Stephen King's The Shining). Drove up to Estes Park (about 8,000 feet above sea level). Driving through the mountains was breathtaking. Driving into Estes Park and seeing the snow covered mountains and Stanley Hotel on the hill GORGEOUS.

Ate lunch, promptly got sick....headache, nausea, lightheaded....yup I got Altitude sickness. NOT Fun. I had to drink a crap load of water and munch on tums to help till I could get down from the altitude.

We did the ghost tour...and I am a complete cynic...I didn't feel or see anything, however my camera captured something completely different. I got some "orbs" which they say are ghosts...yeah still a cynic...its totally got to be dust. It was fun though to hear about some of the history.

Walked around town for a little bit afterwards and bought a beautiful blue turquoise ring. I also bought a blue stone bracelet with a silver plated Aspen Leaf....anyone who knows me, knows I love leaves.

I flew back on Sunday afternoon/evening and thankfully I am not too jet lagged. All in all I fell in love with Denver and the surrounding areas. I didn't get to see everything because its so spread out, but I had an absolute blast and will definetly be back.

It's NOT!

It's not cancer!!!! I went to the lovely Dr. Alan Dackiw at John's Hopkins and he gave me the news I was begging to hear.

He had the pathologist re-run my biopsy slides. Benign!

I might have scared him when I burst into tears.

We are going to keep an eye on the nodule, if it grows or changes we will re-visit surgery. For now I go back to the endocrine doc for thyroid meds, meet with a nutritionist and in 6 months have another ultrasound and biopsy.

I have to say that was probably the best news I've gotten in a while. Thank god for a small miracle.

Ugh

If I didn't have bad luck, I really don't think I would have any luck at all.

On top of the wonderful thyroid results of last week...I managed to dislocate my ankle on Friday night. Do you have ANY idea how freaking painful that is?!?!?!?!

Granted I am a supreme klutz, but this injury takes the cake. Being the good friend I am...I went to pick up a drunk friend on Friday night. Got him home, was walking back out to my car, fell down his stairs landed in the driveway. Seriously! I go to help someone and I get injured in the process. Are you kidding me?!?! One drive to the hospital later (mind you with my left foot, cause I hurt the right), I find out no broken bones, just a dislocated ankle. Yeah didn't even know that was possible. I'm pretty sure the doctor learned a new stream of curses when they reset my ankle...at least that's what he told me...I don't recall much of it...good pain meds.

Started physical therapy today to regain the use of walking...because crutches and I just do not get along. It is a love/hate relationship...more towards hate. I can put weight on the toes of my feet but try and get my foot flat...shooting pain. I got it massaged and deep heat from an ultrasound, however my FAVORITE part...they hooked little electrodes up to my ankle. Weird sensation, but fantastic affect. Swelling has gone down a little and doesn't hurt as bad. Granted I did just pop a pain pill. lol.

I will be doing therapy 3 times a week for the next month...here's hoping by this weekend I can at least limp without the dreaded crutches.

Test Results

I got the call on Wednesday. Took a few days to really process.

According to the doctor I have follicular neoplasm which doesn't confirm or deny cancer. Its an inconclusive result. Its not that they didn't get enough of the cells from the biospy, its that they are unable to determine one way or the other because of the abundance of cells....there are too many to see if its cancer or not. The only way to determine is to either have a partial lobectomy or remove the entire thyroid. The doc said that even if it is cancer I have a very high survival rate (over 95%) because of my age and other factors.

I asked her what the likely hood is if I only remove part of it would it appear on the other side, she said she wasn't sure but with my Hasimoto's she would recommend entire removal but that's something I should consult with the surgeon on. She is sending all my tests and notes as well as the slides from the biopsy to the surgeon.

I'm a calmer than I was when I first heard the news and I credit that to the internet and the search results from follicular neoplasm. I'm still scared about the surgery, but I have the best family and friends to support me and was referred to a great doctor at John's Hopkins.

Stressed Out

So here it goes. I have been having some ups and downs with my health as of late. I've been doing the healthy eating kick for a while and incorporating moderate activity into my life, but can't seem to lose any weight and am constantly feeling under the weather.

Well about 2 + weeks ago I went in for a thyroid ultrasound, because my GI doc was concerned and wanted to make sure nothing was going on. 2 weeks go bye and I don't hear from her, I think all is cool and we'll discuss at our next appointment. 10:30 Friday morning my little world kinda went into a tail spin. Doc called with some "concern's" and wants to do a biopsy.

Naturally, I FREAK OUT.

My doc says I have two "nodules" on my thyroid, 1 that is internal and one that is on the left side and over 1cm big. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis a few years back and those little "nodules" are not my friends. With the type of thyroid problem I have I am 10x more likely to develop thyroid cancer. Yeah freaked out to say the least.

I've done some internet research and my doc has tried to calm my fears, but the truth remains, I won't know till late May what the results are. I have an appointment May 14th for the biopsy, in which they don't put my to sleep, just stick a lovely needle into my neck 4-5 times. I'm hoping my best friend will be there with me, because frankly I'm not sure I can handle it alone. Within a week, I should have my results and if it's positive....let's just say this girl is a fighter, but I am scared.

I'm not yet 30 and I still have a lot of living left in me. As my grandmother always said, "Never give up, never surrender." I know she is watching over me and will get me through this.

Life is complicated

In the span of a week. I lost the only guy best friend I have, nearly quit my job, and took up running.

I lost one of my best friends, because, well frankly, I couldn't be what he needed me to be. I couldn't be the woman that he deserved. The one that wanted to spend all the time with him. The one that wanted to be a teenager again and make out 24/7. I love him, but am not in love with him and that hurts. He was the man that I always thought I would bring home to meet the family. He would have taken great care of me, but I wasn't taking care of him. I just couldn't do that to him, not again. He deserves a woman that would love, provide, care, jump through hoops for him. It just wasn't me. I'm so sorry and he knows this and in time, I hope he knows I did it, because I do care for him.

Work and I are not getting along recently. I hate going to work and would use every excuse I could think of to not go to work if I thought I could get away with it. It's just killing me everyday. I hope things start to look up soon, because I really do like what I do, just not the politics that go with it.

I also took up running.

I DO NOT LIKE TO RUN!

I figured with all the ups and downs with my personal and professional life, hitting the pavement sounded like a good idea. I am ridiculously out of shape and need to lose weight, as nothing I own seems to want to fit and its freaking sad. I refuse to spend anymore money on clothes that don't fit.

I will drop this weight and be happy again, but maybe some therapy on the side would be a good idea. I have to work through this personal shit before I go and hurt someone else I care about.

Here is to a new week and a new chapter, thank god it's almost May and I can go on vacation.