This House Is Clean!*

It has now been 18 months since I was released from the hospital from my bout with West Nile Virus. The prognosis from many doctors was that it would take 3-4 years to fully recover, and indeed, many times it felt like it would take that long. Easily.

Mid-year last year, I decided that it wasn’t like me to sit back and let nature takes it’s course where my recovery was concerned, and began to proactively bring about my own wellness. Changing my eating habits (which had become pretty atrocious over the past ten years) took quite awhile, and even now they’re still not where I want them…but I make progress every day in this area.

My dogs keep me active, but I joined a local gym to supplement my activity level, for I was in serious danger of becoming a couch potato head. So now I add a few hours of intense treadmill work to my weekly list, as well as strength training. As I’ve mentioned, it feels really awesome to be back into that groove, no matter that there are some mornings when I have to talk myself into going. Once I get moving, I find my momentum.

This increase in activity has also gone a long way toward helping to restore my overall motivation. I feel that having discovered a very low thyroid and taking the steps to correct it has been almost a miracle cure when it came to my outlook on life and overall optimism. For several years, I thought I had a form of clinical depression. Come to find out, it was that pesky underachieving thyroid gland.

Since becoming proactive about my health and my life, I have lost a total of 13 pounds (out of the 40 I will eventually lose). But the piece de resistance to all of this came when I went in last week for a follow up physical with Doc Vinny. He tested everything for me, and…?

A CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH.

That’s right, all of the issues that had cropped up seem to have been averted.

Thyroid = Normal
Blood Sugar = Normal
Cholesterol = Very good
Blood Pressure = Normal
Resting Heart Rate = Excellent
Cancer Screening = Negative
Heart = Strong
Liver = Normal
Kidneys = Normal

I had no preconceived ideas about the outcome of this physical, but I can tell you that I danced a jig right there in Dr. Vinny’s office when we got done, much to his amusement/horror. Yes, I put my clothes back on first, so don’t go getting all visual on me.

So, as Zelda Rubenstein (aka Tangina) said in the film *Poltergeist: This house is clean!

Amazing What One Little Gland Can Do!

Not to bore you or ramble on about medical things…

Okay, that’s a big fat lie. I’m about to do just that. Sue Spank me.

So…while working with doctors to recover from the near-devastating aftereffects of West Nile Virus and its accompanying illnesses, the doc discovered that I had a horribly under active thyroid gland (poor little underachiever!), which in turn is regulated by the pituitary gland. Hypothyroid, as the condition is affectionately called, can cause appetite loss, chronic fatigue, constipation, depression, dry skin, hair loss, infections, cold sensitivity, low body temperature, muscle weakness, overweight, painful premenstrual periods, slow growth or speech, tiredness, and weight gain.

Many times these combined symptoms are diagnosed as depression. In fact, that’s exactly what I thought that I was experiencing over the past ten years.

Proper thyroid function regulates body metabolism, blood calcium levels, energy, excess fats, hormones, oxygen, weight loss.

Since going on a synthetic thyroid medication, my world has changed dramatically. My energy levels have increased tremendously, giving me the motivation to do so many of the things that I’ve let fall by the wayside, things that I truly enjoyed doing. I’ve had the abundance of energy that I once had (back in my twenties and thirties), which has also served to increase my creative output. That excites me very much.

What they don’t tell you about hypothyroid and its attending symptoms, though, is how the world looks/feels/tastes/smells. Since going on this medication, I’ve regained my highly sensitive sense of smell, and my taste buds do a little jig every time I eat raw broccoli (my favorite) or carrots, or even a salad. It’s like a little carnival of taste right there in my mouth!

The reason I thought of this is because I just ate a piece of broccoli and was immediately reminded of how much I love it. It’s been a long, long time since that has happened.