List of things I need to do to take care of myself

  1.  Get a haircut.  It has been 2 years.  Update:  I tried to do a walk-in at the place next to DC2’s newish Saturday morning activity, but they were full-up.  When traveling dies down, if I haven’t gotten a haircut in a conference city, I will make an appointment for during DC2’s activity one of these weeks.
  2.  Get an eye-exam and new glasses.  I think it has been over a decade and my driving glasses have scratches.  I am also intrigued by the idea of computer glasses.  Update:  got the eye exam while at a conference at the Lenscrafters in [conference city] (everything is aok, though I’ve gotten slightly nearsighted in addition to my astigmatism; doctor says I can still use my glasses for just driving).  Will pick the glasses up at another conference in the same place later this month.  (Oddly, I think I’ve gotten all my glasses since 200X from the lenscrafters in this mall, and a good number of my haircuts.  I have several conference buddies who refresh their wardrobes periodically from the Ann Taylor there, though I don’t because there’s never anything in my size on sale.  I get my shoes in a completely different conference city.)  I also used my prescription to order an extra pair from (not sponsored!) zennioptical, which is where my DH gets his actual glasses.  Update:  have both pairs of glasses, and both make my vision really crisp.  I definitely needed an updated prescription!
  3.  Get a mammogram.  I filled out the online form for an appointment a couple weeks after my birthday but haven’t heard back.  I should call.  Update: scheduled for May 2nd.
  4.  Get tested for diabetes/insulin resistance or just get a metformin prescription.  I have PCOS.  Over the holidays plus during job candidate season I overindulged and didn’t listen to my hunger and gained weight eating all sorts of refined carbs.  Since then I’ve gone back to my regular mostly diabetes-friendly diet, but my weight has stayed the same instead of dropping like it usually does when I listen to my hunger, my periods have stopped (this could be menopause in action) but I keep feeling like I’m about to have my period, I’m tired and fatigued a lot, I’ve been drinking water a lot more, and I’ve been getting headaches (but maybe my hair is just too long).  Also I occasionally wake up with tingly fingers or toes.  In response I am going completely no-refined-carb (goodbye wheat thins, the cookie in cracker form), but I really ought to also just see a doctor for testing or medication.  Update:  diet change seems to help a lot, and when I do accidentally eat something with lots of sugar I feel cruddy and brain-foggy within an hour or so.  Still no period.  My current plan is to go back to the rule from my late 20s when I was first diagnosed:  3 months no period => go see the doctor.  That puts me at the start of summer to make an appointment.  Update 2:  diet change helped with that too… so I think I’m going to need to decide if I want to continue with the diabetes diet vs. go on metformin.  It is just hard to be careful about added sugar and refined flours (and I *like* refined flours), but metformin is unpleasant and can also interfere with B12 absorption which is something I occasionally have a problem with.  So I dunno.  After doing some youtube watching, it sounds like if you’re good about your diet over a 3 week period, diabetes won’t show up in the initial blood screen because you’re not getting the bad symptoms that show up in the bloodwork.  The fasting icky drink the awful orange drink tests should still show up positive though.
  5. Eat more vegetables.
  6. Get my skin checked out.  The problem with this is that the dermatologist office in town has a reputation for removing all moles, not just the ones likely to be cancerous, and he has a “non-disparagement” clause thing you have to sign, so nobody is allowed to leave a negative review on Yelp.  So I would have to find a dermatologist elsewhere and get to them.
  7. Get new brown dress shoes.  My current Pikolino’s half boots (3-4 years old) are getting worn down in the heel.

12 Responses to “List of things I need to do to take care of myself”

  1. Comradde PhysioProffe Says:

    Here’s a few interesting articles about consumer/patient non-disparagement clauses. I suspect there may also be relevant material in state physician licensing codes & medical ethics canons. My sense is that both legally & practically a physician non-disparagement agreement is unenforceable.

    https://doctor-advocate.com/2015/01/20/non-disparagement-clauses-good-idea/

    https://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/teresa-mcusic/article126376989.html

    • nicoleandmaggie Says:

      Likely, but who wants to go to a doctor who has one? What a terrible signal about his quality.

      • Comradde PhysioProffe Says:

        Yeah I totally agree at best it indicates they’re a delusional f*ckebagge.

    • Grace Says:

      I would be so outraged that I would want to NOT go and leave a Yelp review explaining why.

      Except that I don’t do Yelp reviews because the one time I wrote one, Yelp sent me a very snarky letter explaining that its algorithm had decided that I wasn’t a real person and there was no appeal. I don’t know if they’ve since revised that letter, but I have to say that the tone did not improve the message. I don’t usually get mad at much, but it made me so angry.

      • nicoleandmaggie Says:

        Now I think they just don’t notify people.

        We had one taken down a few years ago from a truly dangerous dentist (everyone gets “two fillings and a crown” and I found out later he had botched a surgery of a friend of mine… he’s the only dentist available on the university’s dental HMO) because I used DH’s account to write about my experience and the dentist complained that it was just hearsay. The “reviews not recommended” for that dentist is full of super scary 1 star reviews.

  2. nicoleandmaggie Says:

    Thread about AG lying to Congress about the Mueller report and an action you can take today or tomorrow: https://twitter.com/Celeste_pewter/status/1123378538424365056

  3. gwinne Says:

    Wheat thins are so good. I am now fondly remembering eating boxes of them while studying as an undergrad. Yum.

    I am definitely menopausing. What’s fascinating and somewhat annoying is that if I do get a period (I’ve only had a handful in the past 18 months) it almost always syncs with LG (who is now 15).

    • nicoleandmaggie Says:

      I initially thought my symptoms were menopause, but then I realized that the symptoms weren’t that off from what I had way back in my 20s. The diabetes diet seems to be working, so maybe I’ve got some time still.

  4. rose Says:

    PCOS!!! Therefore ask for thyroid level check. While Normal may be about 5-.4, it is possible FOR YOU an answer closer to 1 is necessary that 4 is way too high for YOUR TSH level…. or not. But you are not a statistical average. Neither am I. The d9ifference between 1 and 2.5 can be life altering…….. or not. (YOU ALSO DO NOT WANT TO BE BELOW .4!! This can also cause problems that are serious.)
    2. Get glucose monitor and beginning learning how your body is responding to the meals you eat. AGAIN, statistical averages are not you. You are an individual AND YOU HAVE PCOS. Those new good monitors are minor to stick your self with!!! Honest.
    3. Importance of keeping moving is hard to over stress but to move you have to have the right energy. Monitor your blood sugars AND thyroid. After all PCOS is metabolic system disorder and that means all your metabolic systems may be less than average and believe me metabolic things do not all at once spontaneously revert to averag3e just because your ovaries quit working. Think about it.
    Congrats on being at right conference with right store access!!!

    • nicoleandmaggie Says:

      I get my thyroid checked every single year. It’s fine, to my GP’s surprise every single year. I’ve known I have PCOS for almost 15 years now (since I started trying to have DC1). I have a very good idea about what foods are fine and not fine for me. (For example, milk is fine.) It’s more a willpower problem than a knowledge problem.

  5. Debbie M Says:

    On refined flours–for your own cooking, I recommend trying whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour. I don’t know if it’s better for diabetes/pre-diabetes (it’s not better for my boyfriend), but it does has fiber, it tastes just as good to me as white flour, and it works in all my recipes (disclaimer: I don’t do yeast recipes).

    It’s sad how tempting it is to take care of these self-help things while you are out of town for some reason. But it’s awesome to have an alternative strategy.

    • nicoleandmaggie Says:

      WW pastry flour is better than cake flour for me. Sadly it is only available in the city (we tried to get our local chain to carry it but they declined). I did pick some up at Whole Foods on the way back from the airport last week though. We hadn’t had any for a long time, maybe since before DC2 gave me that wheat allergy during pregnancy.

      Back when we were experimenting we didn’t find much benefit from white whole wheat for our purposes. Either regular WW or the pastry flour were better depending on the use.

      The new laurels bread book is great for 100% WW breads.


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