Didn't really have anything specific to talk about/vent about today, so it'll be one of those hodgepodge kind of posts that I seem to make every so often.
First off, today marks two weeks post-Orchiectomy. I still believe that Dr. Arnkoff did a great job. My swelling has definitely went down, but it's still painful especially on my left side. I may take a pain pill in the morning and/or night, but not always and no more than that. It's mostly only uncomfortable when I'm on my feet for extended periods of time, but even then not always as M and I ran some errands today and I put in about 4000-5000 steps (per my phone, a Galaxy S4 which is semi-accurate from what I can tell) and I wasn't sore at all, but upon coming home and being downstairs for a few minutes prepping dinner, I was more than a bit sore. As far as aftercare, panties with a pad are strongly recommended. I've only had a few little spots each day with the exception of two days ago and on that day I woke up with a quarter sized spot about where the drainage tube had been. Hadn't seen it before that nor since that so I haven't really worried about it. I do have a visit with my regular GP a week from Monday and I think I'll have her check on it, unless it becomes an issue before then. I also read on Dr. Meltzer's site that he recommended moisturizing that area which we've started doing. I do want to keep it in good shape as I do want SRS/GRS at some point. I also read that he suggests to minimize the activity for at least 2 weeks and not return to full activity for 4 weeks - now maybe I'm not quoting that accurately, but that was more or less the implication. That's a little stressful as my weight has stagnated so I'd like to be back on the treadmill, but J and I have discussed that and we're going to take that day by day, but for now I'm staying off of it.
On the subject of weight, I picked up J and I (and M) FitBit One's today. I'm not sure how much M will use hers, but I believe J and I will get a lot of use out of it. I also picked up a Fitbit Aria scale too. All of the devices sync to Fitbit.com and more importantly for me Loseit.com since that's where J has me tracking my calories and such. I need to speak with my GP about if I should be classified as "M or F" as that has a significant impact on calories per day. As of now I've got it set as "F" and it's ball parking me around 1500 calories a day which is a system shock for me. Now the 1500 calories is to let me lose 2lbs per week as a pound equals roughly 3500 calories, so two pounds is 7000 calories, which is 1000 calories daily. A couple of years ago M and I did the HCG diet for a while and that was 500 calories per day but it had the spray which seemed to help (or maybe it was in my head) and that worked; but I couldn't keep the weight off. Doing it my way this time I've kept the 30+ pounds off, I'm just stuck more or less where I'm at and that's not good enough.
I'm not sure who I'd go to for SRS/GRS, initially Dr. Bowers was my choice, but her wait seems exceptionally long. I'm leaning towards Dr. Brassard in Montreal or Dr. McGinn in Pennsylvania. Both have their pros/cons - the big difference is that if I went to Dr. Brassard I could/would go alone as their setup is conducive to that; but Dr. McGinn - well I'd need/want to take J. The issue with Dr. McGinn is that she requires a BMI of 28 and I'm *well* above that. I figure I need to be around 180lbs which is 80lbs under what I was a few months ago, so after losing 30lbs - well I'm still 50lbs short.
Now since J wants to go, I told her I'd agree to see Dr. McGinn (it's a tossup really anyway) *IF* she can help get me to 180lbs. For me it would likely mean adding at least 6 months if not 12 months to a surgery date as it would be at least a few thousand more with two of us going (Dr. Brassard's cost is basically "all inclusive" per se if I go alone). But if J can help me knock off another 50lbs it would be well worth it as my self esteem would probably sky rocket and I'd look so much nicer, so I guess we'll see.
Well that's really only two topics, but this is a page now so I guess I should let it go. Hope everyone is doing well. :)
- M
No comments:
Post a Comment