Good morning... how is everyone this morning? I hope your week has been good, although I know some of you are contending with fires and/or poor air quality caused by the fires on the west coast. I've been trying to keep up with fire locations, etc but it seems that things change quickly sometimes so online information isn't always up to date.
Everything is as good as it can be, here... Most of you know that I've been dealing with a broken foot for the past couple of weeks, so that's slowed me down considerably. In addition, I had double cataract surgeries this past week (one Tuesday and the other on Thursday), so that contributed to my "slow down"... being unable to walk well with an air cast, along with not being able to see well can be a deadly combination... :-)
My site is getting better every day, as my eyes heal. I no longer have to wear glasses for distance vision, but I need them for computer/up close work.... They told me to get reading glasses, so I'm now one of those people who is constantly saying: "oh I can't read/see that because I don't have my glasses with me..." I've always disliked having people do that when I point something out to them and I'm determined not to be one of them. :-) I want to be able to see something when I need to see it - not constantly be looking for a pair of glasses. I did buy a pack of 3 pairs of reading glasses and have them scattered throughout the house, but sadly, they're never where I need them to be so I still end up, often, carrying them around in my hand or trying to find a place to put them to free up my hands. I know it will take a while for my eyes to heal completely, so I'll deal with it for the time being, but will probably still end up wearing glasses for the bifocal... I've worn glasses since I was 16, so it's not that big a deal. I don't even think I look very good without them, but that could be because my face has gotten "pudgy"!!
In addition, most of you know that I struggle with my weight, partially/mostly due to a hypothyroid condition... I've tried to convince my doctors that I'm really hypo and not just too lazy to exercise or eat right, but most of the time, I get the standard response: "that's not thyroid related" for the majority of symptoms I present with, not only the weight issue. Back in April I began seeing a new endocrinologist and he switched me to a different type of medication and in some ways I did feel a bit better, but I also became very hypo, even though he kept telling me I wasn't because my TSH was "in range" - yeah, but it kept going up, while my actual thyroid hormone levels stayed below range...
This past week, I got a message from my pharmacy that my script was due for refill, so okay, go ahead and refill it. The next day, I got a message saying that there was problem with the refill and that my dosage wasn't available so they'd have to call my doctor for something else. This, of course, started a round of phone tag and I ended up having to contact the doctor, myself. But first, I went researching and found that the manufacturer had recalled all unexpired lots of my brand, along with another brand they manufacture. The reason for the recall was "sub-potency". As it turns out, many/most of the dosages had as little as 87% of the active ingredients that they were supposed to have... Most of us only absorb ~ 80% of the medication we take, though if we have absorption issues or something, that figure can be even less. Long story short - I definitely "was" hypo and my doctor was simply trying to get by with not increasing my dosage because he was happy with my TSH...
I talked with the pharmacy about another brand/dosage of medication and they said they had it in stock, but when I asked my doctor's nurse about it, she said that dosage wasn't available in that brand. I explained that I'd just talked to the pharmacy and they said they had it, so she did talk to the pharmacy and verify that... I'll go pick up the script in a little while. This just goes to show that doctors aren't always the best source of information. If I'd not have talked to the pharmacy, myself, I'd have ended up with a medication that I've been on in the past and to which my body has not responded. I'm not very confident that the dosage will be high enough as it is, but at least, it's a better medication.
I'm still looking to change thyroid doctors and had found a doctor that I planned to try, but with the broken foot, cataract surgery, etc, I decided this wasn't a good time to be switching doctors. I'm aiming for the first of the year for that to happen.
So that's my medical issues for this week - it seems to be a never-ending battle these days with most of it being fighting with doctors.
Weight-wise, I reached my all-time highest and realize it's time to take drastic measures. I've really been trying to curtail my food intake, since I can't do a lot of exercise. I also "self-medicated" thyroid medication, which I don't advocate for most people. As of yesterday, I'd lost a pound from last week... I do have to keep in mind that because of the broken foot, I have a lot swelling to contend with - once that's gone, I may have lost more. For now, I'll take a 1 lbs loss, since it's, at least, going the right direction... :-)
Tomorrow, I go for a thyroid ultrasound, which will help confirm hypothyroidism. Later in the day, I see the orthopedic doctor and hope I can get out of my air cast. They'll do another set of x-rays to see how well my foot it healing and considering the amount of swelling still present, I suspect I'm going to be stuck with it for a couple more weeks.
So - that's my saga!! How has your week been? I hope everyone has had a good week, in spite of everything and that you reached your goals.
~~Wishing everyone a wonderful, successful week~~
**Stay safe**