Necessary Mutilation

Weight: 182.7 lbs.

Debbie came over last night and we actually made a home cooked meal and ate in together. Given the snowy weather and the state of my diet these days, I was very glad for this. Not that we made the healthiest of meals, but the salad, taquitos and baby potatoes were tasty and still better than what I likely would have ended up eating out. And, I didn’t have a single hypoglycemic episode off it. I remain convinced that I am more sensitve to sugars at that time of the month, and in that I am past PMS and into “P” now, I especially believe this because I get so symptomatic and sensitive otherwise.

And speaking of which, we went to bed relatively late given Debbie’s visit, and I was wound up, but exhausted. It took me a while to drift off, and then my c-pap acted up so badly, that I ultimately ripped off the damn leaky mask and slept without it. And slept so deeply and fitfully, that at one point I startled both Tom and myself by screaming out from a nightmare I was having that my brother had hired bad men to accost me in the night.

I then fell back off, and woke to the sound of Tom loudly yawning and stretching and making morning sounds. He wasn’t just awake, he was awake with conviction. And, as an extrovert, whatever the thinks and feels is verbalized aloud, including “ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!!” when his feet hit the floor, and “hi kitty, kitty, kitty!” when he ran into the cat. Followed by: “good girl, yes you are, YES YOU ARE, are you hungry, yeah, here you go, good girl!”

By now, I was sure that it must be noon and I had surely overslept the whole day. I wondered why I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even life my head from the pillow to see what time it actually was. I felt plastered to the sheets and beated up, and despite the sound of so much life occuring around me, I chose to try and get a few more winks in.

But, after what seemed like forever of every morning sound possible, and the smell of fresh coffee brewing, combined with the growing guilt that I had slept the whole day away, I made myself arise.

It was 4:26 a.m.

So, now here I am blogging instead of sleeping, my stomach in crampy knots and my mind already racing and unwilling to reattempt sleep. And my dear husband happily prepping for his day, including the early church service he has decided to go to (no doubt to pray for his soul before I murder him!)

I have decided that if I must be up that I may as well be productive, and have spent a little time researching both hypoglycemia and the stress echo that I have scheduled for tomorrow. I have hit the road running, in fact.

I am rather excited because I found some articles on delayed dumping syndrome, whereby instead of the typical crampiness, nausea and diarrhea that is better known when one eats too much sugars after gastric bypass, there is a lesser known type that strikes from 1-3 hours later, in which hypoglycemia is the primary symptom. For the same reasons as the first, however, making it a factor of the surgery itself. Which for me would both explain why I now have it and never did that I know of before, and why it can exist in isolation from diabetes. It also helps identify the source as a sudden overload of sugar that overwhelms the system, forcing a surge of insulin and adreniline that flushes the system, and brings on sudden hypoglycemic symptoms. Or something like that.

But, the best description and reason I have seen yet. And to me, may also explain why I am more prone when my other hormones are also more likely to be out of kilter or surging.

The other thing I looked up, especially after watching the Barbara Walter’s special on heart disease with Debbie and Tom last night, is stuff about the stress echo. I now feel prepared for what is to come, but a little more anxious then I was about the possibility of them finding something. I have had a dull boring chest pain intemittently the last few days, which seems timely given everything. I am “eager” to see what this may or may not be…hopefully the latter. I’ll certainly say more here tomorrow…

In any case, the day is still young (hardly born yet, if you ask me!) and when I sign off here I plan to check into a few more things. But mostly, I plan to enjoy the fact that I now have such a long day ahead of me. Although I am not likely to share THIS version with Tom!!