An Update on My Health - Stress Can Make You Sick

I work too much, I stress too much, I don't get enough sleep.  Sound familiar?  You are probably exactly the same.  But after weeks of recovering from my time in the hospital, doctors visits and tests, that is the conclusion.

Basically, my body does not navigate stress as well as it once did.  So, doctors orders are - "Don't stress as much".  Um, how much did I pay for that?

I know, the upside is - they say my heart is healthy, I do not have a brain tumor, I do not have an ulcer, I do not have arterial damage, I do not have leukemia, I do not have high blood pressure, I do not have diabetes, I do not have a lot of things.  And I am grateful for all of the above.

The one struggle I have is, how do I deal with this?  I mean on any given day I have so much to do for work, that if I wasn't borderline ADD, I would never be able to switch gears and make it all happen.

It's been suggested I workout more, take up meditation and find a hobby outside of work.  All very good suggestions.  But then I stop and think, how?  Where does any of this fit?  By the time I get home, I am exhausted.  If it doesn't involve a remote control, I don't feel capable.

The problem is, if I don't find a way to bring my life under control, I will end up back in the hospital.  In fact, last week, in the middle of a very stressful day at work, I almost passed out again.  This time I noted everything that had happened leading up to it and concluded that the doctors are right - I stress on my own and then I feed off of everybody else's stress.  I literally empathize my way to illness.

The funny thing is, doctors have been telling me this since I was a teen and I'll be honest, I laughed it off.  The first doctor who told me that, I spent years thinking he was a quack.  Counselors have been blunt and told me most of my mental pain comes from taking on the issues of others.  And now, not one but four doctors, have recently told me the same thing - I feel too much.

That's really hard to hear because I pride myself on helping other people, trying to assuage their pains, having a killer work ethic and basically taking care of the world.  I now must seek a way to be myself and yet close off enough to keep my health.

Just writing this helps, at least for the moment.  I feel like I am at my first meeting of some sort - "I'm Kate and I am a care-oholic".  So, I am open to any ideas you have, 'steps' I might take to stop this spin.  For now, I better go home, been here too long again.

Yours in Health,
Kate

Checking Under the Hood

I worked out with Gwyn today at the YMCA HLC.  I love how hard she pushes me and she brooks no whining, unless it actually hurts. ;)  My upper body will be rubbery for a couple of days.  But as always after a great workout I felt awesome!

Afterward I had to go see my regular family doctor (actually a nurse practitioner) as a follow-up to last week's SVT incident or, as I have gone to calling it, 'the incident'.  I figured while I was there I would also have my annual female exam.  They did all the usual tests and drew some blood. 

I wanted to point this out because too many women neglect themselves.  We don't go to the doctor unless we are really ill or there's an emergency.  An annual exam is extremely important and can save your life.  They check your blood pressure, lungs, heart rate and of course you get a pap smear and they check your breasts. 

I know a ride in the stir-ups is about your least favorite memory, but this simple test can find a myriad of diseases.  Plus, during the lovely 'pelvic feel-up' (totally not the term) they could find ovarian cancer - a silent and deadly killer of women.

So, do right by you and your body and get a once over under the hood.  It's the best way to assure you will be around to keep doing for everyone else. :)

Yours in Health,
Kate

I am an Alfred Hitchcock Movie

Yep, I have vertigo.  :)  I have been dizzy since before my family went to Disney World, but last week I caved and went to the doctor about it. 

(After being naughty and looking on WebMD - I say naughty because you know how it is, you look up a symptom and suddenly you have some devastating disease when it's just a hang nail.)

Anyway, she sent me to an ear, nose and throat doc because my ears are getting progressively worse.  I saw him on Monday and he confirmed my WebMD diagnosis - vertigo.  People have thought for years I had something rattling loose in my head - now they are right. Yep, let the jokes begin.  If you don't know what vertigo is, it's basically there are some crystals that are supposed to even your keel, well they drop out of place and make you dizzy and nauseous.  (Actual medical explanation here.)

So tomorrow after weeks of being queasy every time I get up, lay down or turn my head too quickly, I am headed to the chiropractor to get my box of rocks right.  This should definitely make crunches a little less spiny.

Yours in health,
Kate

A New Page

I just finished writing the hardest article of my life.  It's my new column for Intuition Magazine.  Each article will be a summation of two months of effort (and a story exclusive to the magazine) to redirect my life again - it's long overdue.  I have hit 260 pounds again, that was my starting point last time.  So, it's time to begin again.  This time with the added pressure of even more eyes, which for me isn't a bad thing - I hate to let people down, so that breeds success.  (Now, if only I hated to let myself down - I'll get there.)

Intuition will be published every other month starting in January.  It's a really awesome project I have been working on for some time with our director of publishing Kari Elbert.  We published a magazine in October for LITE 104.1's Outstanding Women You Should Know.  That magazine was a big hit and now we are producing Intuition.

Intuition will be available at doctor's offices, in businesses and on newsstands all over the Des Moines metro.  That will be the exclusive place to find out EXACTLY how I am doing.  I will not be putting weight or measurements in my blog.  Instead the blog will be about the every day ups and downs we all experience with a weight-loss journey.

I know I can do this, I did it before.  In fact, I was at my doctor a couple of weeks ago when she was telling me my thyroid was running low (hypothyroidism) and I asked her about sending me to a nutritionist.  She said, "I could, but you probably know more than they do."  She's right.  Anyone who was along for the ride knows that I became a walking encyclopedia on healthy eating and exercise.  So it's time to sit down, put a plan on paper, draw from my own knowledge and dive in.

I welcome anyone who wants to come along this time.  Weight-loss journeys are always easier with someone walking beside you.

Yours in Health,
Kate