Interesting Developments

 

All right, Scooby gang. This week, we reveal a new villain. One no one saw coming. Is it THE villain? No one knows. Hopefully, we figure that out before all the guests are dead.

Anyway, I apparently have sleep apnea now. Huh. I am guessing it's a parting gift from Covid because I have never felt like this before. Not unless my adrenal glands weren't functioning.

Which I still haven't tested those. I have the order, just don't have the time and energy. I'll get to it...eventually. 

(For those who are like if you think your cortisol is low why the fuck don't you haul ass and test you faker...ha. Well. The thing is. I can't haul ass. I don't got the ATP for that, guys. And I'm sorry, but I just can't get excited about anything. I could lose a limb and be spurting arterial blood and I would just yawn. There is no adrenaline left for medical stuff. It's always big bad fuckery. It can't scare me anymore. Decapitate me and attach my head to a healthy horse (poor horsie) and keep me alive...that would impress me.)

Oh, and follow up to the last post...I actually did not gain weight. I lost more. Supposedly that's not how sleep apnea works, but whatever. Maybe the Ozempic is doing a thing now. Maybe my adrenal glands are garbage. 

I am still undereating which is frustrating. I'm just not hungry, and if I'm busy, I'll forget to eat anymore. The other day, around 3 I thought I was going to pass out and that was when I realized I'd eaten only 250 calories for the day. I don't always get hunger cues. My body will let me go straight to 'going to die' and still not tell me I'm hungry.

I am attempting to pay more attention and make sure there are calories are regular intervals. I'm not trying to be mean to my body and I need to keep myself upright.

(Okay. So yes, obv my calories are low hence the weight loss right? Eh. Do you know how many times I've starved and not lost weight? Eaten perfectly and not lost weight?  Did a diet with the husband, ate less than he did and he lost five pounds while I lost nothing? Like, doing everything perfectly with no results is my baseline. To the point where undereating doesn't even connect in my brain as a cause and effect for weight loss. I only noticed the disconnect when reviewing what I'd written. Is it possible that's why I lost weight? Sure. But I've also seen a lot of really fucked up metabolic patterns in this body so I'm reserving judgement.)

The other bizarre thing that happened to me is I stopped my asthma medications. So...when you have to start with a new pulm, this is a thing they do--making you prove you have asthma. You stop your inhalers, do pulm function testing, maybe a methocholine challenge, and then, if it plays out the way they need it to, you get your inhalers back.

I've done this dance many times. I have never been able to stay off the inhalers. The asthma immediately kicks in without the inhalers. Except...this time it's not. 

Now this. This has my full attention. Why the whaaaat now? Did Covid cure my asthma? Is menopause making improvements? Did aliens kidnap my lungs and give me good ones?  Like, what the fuck is this?

I'd be delighted to be off inhalers. To have lungs as strong as steel. I am not convinced this will last, but I'm willing to give it some rope to play out.

My pulm function tests showed inflammation, but lung capacity was 110% of predicted. I feel okay. Granted, I'm not exactly doing anything aerobic these days (maybe the weight loss is muscle loss), but still. I've never felt like this off inhalers. It's been 6 days. We'll see. It's not an all clear yet. I have to get through different seasons and different triggers first. And I did have a small asthma attack last week...inhaled some particulates. 

(Who knew gardening had so many little particles to inhale? I wear a mask 95% of the time when I know there's going to be stuff in the air. The other 5% I play roulette and lean back, turn my head, and hold my breath...I lost that round last week.)

Okay so looping back around to apnea...the CPAPs are all backordered. I have no idea when I'll get treatment. So that'll have to just wait I guess.

Lastly (on the me front) I've started a colonoscopy contest with the husband. God. We are so middle aged lol. But I'm trying to motivate both of us to get the butt stuff done. Whoever gets a colonoscopy first wins. What the prize is, we are still negotiating. So far, I'm in the lead as I actually have an appointment in a few weeks and hubby's got nothing.

As for the teen, we had an interesting ped appointment. We've lucked into a very progressive specialist team at a major hospital and they have an integrative clinic that incorporates massage, acupuncture, chinese medicine etc... All the woo stuff, but administered by physicians in a big hospital system. 

But also mild cerebral palsy was suggested as a possibility for the first time. Me being me, it was already on my radar, but it's interesting when a physician sees it too. I don't know if that's part of the problem. I don't know if we'll ever get that diagnosis or any actual accurate diagnosis. 

But soft braces for knees and ankles are being suggested now. And we've never been able to stay away from PT for long. We're always bouncing back (ha) to PT because of falls. I don't know. We'll see. It fits, but also doesn't so...

As for the woo stuff, the teen is willing to try some Chinese herb stuff. I don't know what else she's willing to do. They offered body work and accupuncture but she's got sensory issues and hate needles so...

We already do CBT and neurofeedback, which she really really likes the neurofeedback for the ADHD. It's a little woo-y but there's some science on it and it's not dangerous, just expensive. I'm not sure how much longer I can swing paying for it to be honest. We're currently looking for a lower cost diy option she can do instead. 

The heart stuff checked out. Pots-y teen stuff. Unpleasant but largely benign. Cardio offered medication, but I suggested to the teen that she try to manage it with salt and water first as meds tend to add second, third, fourth order effects. Make meds a last resort. Never take meds lightly. Cardio was cool with DIY salt and water and we'll revisit in a few months.

PT is not going according to Doctor's orders and has been very 'pain is okay, you're supposed to hurt after therapy' when this is not a thing where pain should be required. So I've had the joy (not) of writing polite wtf emails, trying to advocate and also not piss people off, because the teen is a wreck after PT. The PT we've done in the past has not been this difficult and the Doctor expressly told us it wasn't supposed to nuclear level. But it is.

And I've had to remind them that her baseline isn't normal so it's making the issues she has now worse. They need to factor in her history. I don't know if they will or if they even can. I doubt that there's much nuance in the frameworks for PT or just medicine in general. It's like the liver surgeon who couldn't absorb the fact I have (had?) asthma and discharged me with an oxygen of 84 like 'oh, well if she dies, she dies but it won't be on my record.'