No Minivan

X-posted from FB….

For those who want to better understand what’s going on with my health issues, here’s the Cliff Notes version:

~4 years ago, when I was going through infertility treatment, my fertility specialist sent me to a GI doctor because my AST and ALT (liver) tests were a little abnormal. The GI doc ran some more tests and determined I had a fatty liver (to go with my fatty ass). He pretty much just told me to go on a diet and that was that.

Fast forward to this year and I’ve been having stomach issues off and on for about 3 months. GERD-related pains in my stomach and a weird piercing pain on the right side of my chest. Plus, frequent diarrhea and occasional vomiting. So off to a GI specialist I go again. This doc also says I have fatty liver, but he’s not sure how/if it has progressed.

Basically the liver cells store more and more fat until they explode and die. If it gets bad enough that the liver cells start dying off at a faster rate than new cells are developing, that becomes fatty hepatitis. Build up enough scar tissue from the dead cells and that becomes cirrhosis. Fatty liver and fatty hepatitis are reversible; the only cure for cirrhosis is a new liver. So you can see why it’s important to know how far along the damage is and how my liver is functioning. Hence, the liver biopsy a week ago. Results of the liver biopsy: Basically, I have about 3 years to lose all my excess weight or I’ll likely need a liver transplant. In fact, the word the doc used was “skinny” (HA!). 12 pounds down, only 100+ to go!

It’s also hard to pinpoint what is causing my stomach issues. Could be the GERD, could be an ulcer, could be my gallbladder or something else. He won’t know until he looks inside. And since I have a family history of pre-cancerous polyps in the colon, he wants to take a look at both ends just to be sure there’s no problems. Hence, the colonoscopy and endoscopy yesterday. All is well on both ends (ha!). I had a polyp removed that they’re sending for testing just in case. A little too much bile in my system (ha!) so the doc is giving me more meds.

So that’s my story so far, kids. I’ll keep you posted.

• Look at me! I'm all twittering and stuff! And hello to the lovely ladies I met at the Recharge event! #recharge #

Hi! Remember me? No? Yeah, me neither. But for those who still read this site now and again, here’s what’s been on my mind lately:

- Been thinking about going public with this site. Well, it’s not private by any means, but there is a certain amount of anonymity from many of my friends, family and coworkers. I think I might write more if I knew people were reading and more people who knew me were reading, not random strangers. A lot of the bloggers I’ve friended on Facebook share links to their new posts there and I often wish I could do that. I don’t really talk about anything ultra confidential and I definitely don’t talk about work since the fiasco at my last job, so there wouldn’t be any harm in sharing my current posts (on the rare occasion I write one) with the folks who know me. However, there are archived posts where I vent about my family and friends that I’m not sure I want them to read. I wish I could password protect part of my archive without having to go post by post. I’ve been writing since 2002. That’s a lot of posts. Still, it’s something to consider.

- I think I may be perimenopausal. I’m only 33, but I’m really starting to wonder. For the last week or two, I’ve been having hot flashes, really bad acne and terrible mood swings. Clearly, my hormones are f***ed up (and I’m NOT pregnant). So I made an appointment with my OBGYN in 2 weeks to find out what is going on with my body. My prediction is he’s going to want to put me back on the pill. The last pill pretty much negated the lovely effects of the Lex.apro so it will have to be something else. I can’t afford for the anxiety to get worse right now, especially since…

- Work is crazy busy! We’ve reorganized and I’m taking on a completely different role. However, I’m still doing a lot of my old job too, which means I’m twice as busy as before. It’s making me feel VERY anxious and irritable. It’s not hard work, but it’s very time consuming and there’s A LOT of it. Plus, all of my coworkers are being stretched to the limit, too, so we’re all anxious and freaking out a bit. It also doesn’t help that our boss is a bit of a control freak (something I’ve told him to his face so no worries if I go public with the blog).

- My cell phone contract is up in 2 weeks and I’m debating if I want to get a better phone and keep my current plan, get a better phone for my hubby under my current plan, or get a pay as you go phone and plan. I never call anyone and I get very few calls either (for an extrovert, I’m very introverted) so it doesn’t make sense to pay for 500 minutes a month that I never even come close to using. However, I would like to be able to access Facebook and check my email on my phone, which I can’t do now. Do you have a NON-smartphone that does that?

Isn’t my life just a thrill a minute?

OK, so apparently my hubby is deciding to keep his brilliant observations of our kids on his playgroup forum instead of sharing with all of you. Sorry, that’s just the way he rolls.

And since I’m all boring now that I’m medicated, I don’t have much to share anymore. I’m entirely too mellow to get all up on my soapbox and rant about politics or crazy news stories. I’m enjoying feeling sane, but it does make for a boring blog.

So work is good. I’m a busy little bee trying to implement our learning management system for about 150 people and their hundreds of documents. It’s tedious work, but it keeps me busy and it keeps me connected to my customers, which is very nice. I’m moving cubes next week (again). It’s just up one floor, but I’ll have lots of storage space and a whole wall of windows. Yeah, it’s a view of the parking lot, but it’s SUNSHINE! (When there is sunshine to see.) It’s in the lab area and that’s a little disconcerting, but I know you all will tell me if I start growing a fifth limb or third eye.

The kids are doing well. Everybody is healthy at the moment (*knock on wood*). My little geniuses are blowing my mind every day. The Kid is reading full on chapter books now (he’s read the entire Magic Treehouse series and the Captain Underpants books, he just started the My Teacher is an Alien series). Baby Boo can recognize and name at least 3/4 of the alphabet. He’s speaking in 2-3 word sentences and repeating every other word we say. It’s amazing how their little brains just soak everything up! Needless to say, I’m very proud of my smart little guys.

OK, enough bragging. Here’s a little something I saw while Boo was watching Sesame Street the other day. I like how they kept so much of the original song lyrics and changed it into a great little kid song. Plus, it’s cool that Jason Mraz is so comfortable singing with the puppets.

Be on the look out, folks. I’ve given my hubby his own account on this here blog so he can regale you with tales of our little darlings and his life as hubby to one as challenging as myself.

He goes by the name of Zez and he’s been my best friend and love o’ my life for over 13 years. When he finally gets around to posting something, be sure to make him feel welcome!

• I'm listening to Female Singer Songwriters (http://bit.ly/62dqsn) on #pandora. Best radio station EVAH! Great mellow music for working by. #

• My Twitter account is worth $40! What's yours worth? http://WhatsMyTwitterAccountWorth.com #

I did it! I actually managed to post something here every day for a month, even through the holiday!

Thanks to those who visited this month. This site used to get hundreds to thousands of hits, but when you don’t post anything for months at a time, people tend to stop coming around the old blogstead. I like to think that now I focus on quality of visitors, rather than quantity. And you, my darlings, are some pure quality people!

Hopefully this month will be the start of something new and fabulous.

• For the haters and lovers of Twilight: http://tinyurl.com/y9×2cv5 #