I'm Back!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sometimes I just lose interest in things that I've been doing like this blog. I don't know why this happens but it does. Maybe it's that I'm busy doing other things or I just get lazy but whatever the reason is I stopped blogging. I was very surprised when I logged on and saw that my last entry was on August 5. Oh my, that's almost 7 weeks ago. That's not good. One of the reasons is Facebook. I spend a load of time on there, checking the status of my friends and family, playing the slots and playing Treasuremania. I am going to make time to blog more often especially now that I am once again trying to lose the 18 pounds that have been driving me nuts.

Recently, I pulled out my old Deal A Meal. It's kind of a symbol for me. It's a symbol of what worked for me when I lost my weight the first time. It's really a sad sight being held together by tape and falling apart but I know it worked before and I know it will work again. Yes, I have a foodmover but there is just something about the DAM that works better for me. Maybe it's because it has Richard's autograph on it. I don't know but whatever it is I've taken it out of the drawer that it was sleeping in and started pulling my cards again. Yay!!

I'm also exercising again. I'm totally out of shape and unable to do some of the things that I used to do especially now that I'm having physical issues. My heel still gives me some problems and as much as I hate to admit this, my back has been talking to me too. I had the MRI on my back and was told that I have a multitude of back issues and I guess I'm paying more attention to it now so I have been feeling some mild back pain. I am not going to let this stop me. I've started going to the track again but only twice a week for the time being. I've also been doing Richard's new video Boogie Down The Pounds. It's got great disco music and I enjoy doing it. Today is yoga day for me. Yes, I'm still doing my yoga classes. I still love it more than anything. I've started toning again too. I've been doing Tone and Sweat, Blast and Tone and even some work with free weights.

Now for motivation. I was talking to Laura the other day and she said that it helped her to have Richard there to talk to for even 2 or 3 minutes a week. I said that I wished I had Richard for a few minutes a week to talk to when *BOING* it hit me. I DO have Richard here for a few minutes a week. Actually I have him here with me every day in the form or his old Day By Day tapes. I started watching them again and they have really helped me alot. They help me focus on my weight loss efforts and also remind me that I have Richard Simmons as a good friend and cheerleader. Whatever would I have done without him?


So that's where I am now. I've lost 2 pounds so far and that leaves me 16 to go. I'm glad that I realized all this before I had 50 pounds to lose. Blogging helps so I'm back. Hopefully I will be reporting more weight loss soon.

WTF?

Ok, well, yesterday was not a fun day. I started with the vascular tests which consisted of a cute guy giving me an ultrasound all up and down my legs. As medical tests go it wasn't bad until he said "are you a smoker?" I replied that I had been but had quit years ago. Then I asked "why and how did you know?" He proceeded to tell me that he could see the damage that the smoking had done to my arteries and veins. Well, that's not what I wanted to hear especially after going through all I did to stop. Then he told me that I have plaque in my arteries. Again, not what you want or expect to hear especially after spending all those years walking, running and doing Richard Simmons videos. In the end he said that I had good circulation. Well, at least that's good news. Yeah...we'll see about that once the films are read and the report comes in. And that was the good part of the day.

Then came the neurological studies. OMG!! That was fun. I laid on a table and got electrical shocks up and down my legs. Some were small and others were big enough to have my legs jumping off the table. Not pleasant in any way. When Rosie (that was my tech) was finished with that the Doctor came in and started sticking little needles all up and down my legs. He got a very weird look on his face and said that I gave him confusing readings. OK, so I'm confusing. Then He made me roll on my side and he started sticking needles in my back and hips. OK, this was not what I had signed up for. He kept telling me to relax. Yeah, right. Easy for him to say. I'm the one who was getting stuck with needles all over my body.

Once all the needle sticking was over he started asking me if I had any back issues. Did I experience and pain, numbness or tingling? I told him no. I was there for my foot not my back. Well, he said that my foot was NOT Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome which is a good thing. No surgery....for that. He was more interested in my back which I must say feels fine. He ran and called my main squeeze doctor whose office is in the same building and then came in and said that he wanted me to have an MRI on my back. I'm supposed to have one on my foot because after all, that's why I went there. He said that I had an injury to my back which was "old" and by old he meant months not years old. I got dressed and went upstairs to Bob's (main squeeze) office for an explantion. When I got there Bob was on the phone with this doctor about me. Bob couldn't see me yesterday because he was booked solid however he me to wait to make the MRI appointment so that I can have both the foot and the back done at the same time. I have an appointment with Bob this afternoon to talk about all of this. I feel better talking to Bob about this stuff because he will explain it all to me and not pull any punches. He will tell me the truth.

I still don't know what is wrong with my foot and the pain continues. Now I have to worry about my back which felt fine until I was told it wasn't. As my friend Laura would say, OY VEY!!! What a mess. I guess I'll know more later on today. No exercise until I talk to Bob. I just hope my yoga is safe. Being in the medical loop sucks.

Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome

I went to the podiatrist yesterday and after an examination and an ultrasound the diagnosis is Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome. It's like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome only instead of happening in the wrist it happens in the foot/ankle area. It is somewhat due to the Plantar Fasciitis but is actually a different thing. It is due to the flattening of my foot and is also considered an overuse injury.

After I was treated for the Plantar Fasciitis and was feeling better I really stepped up the workouts for the ladies at Curves. I was like a Richard Simmons clone. I would crank up the music and make them work really hard but in order to make the ladies work hard I was working hard too. I was bouncing around, doing lots of leg lifts and jumping and had cranked the aerobics up from low impact to high impact. The next thing you know, Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome. Ouch!

Dr Tanner sprayed my foot with a numbing agent and gave me a cortisone shot in the side of my heel. Surprisingly enough it didn't hurt at the time but started aching late in the afternoon yesterday. Today it is screaming so I'll be taking it easy. Thank god for my big screen TV and the French Open Tennis match. If I get bored with that theres always Paul McCartney dvds to be watched and drooled over.

Once I am feeling better I have to go shopping for some new shoes with, get this, heels. Dr T wants me in 2 inch heels to take the pressure off the Tarsal Tendon. In going though my shoes I realized that I only own one pair of shoes with heels this high. I live in sneakers or flats. I wish Kerry was home to go shopping with me. It would make it fun instead of work.

I'm trying to figure out some exercise for today. No aerobics but maybe some upper body weight lifting which I can do in a chair. Oy vey! Exercising in a chair. If I didn't feel like an old lady before I'm feeling it now.

If all this doesn't work and we do all of the allowed shots then I have to think about the S word. Yes, surgery. I'm thinking that before I do that I will find another pediatrist and get a second opinion. Foot surgery has the possibilities or ruining my life but I'm not going there yet. I am going to stay as positive as possible and hope it doesn't come to that.

My New Orthodics

I picked up the custom inserts for my shoes yesterday. That'll be $400 not covered by insurance thank you very much. My podiatrist told me to wear them for one hour yesterday and one and a half today and just work up to wearing them all the time. Of course, I wore them to work last night and I forgot to bring my other inserts to switch out after an hour so I had to wear them all night. They feel really weird but I am going to keep wearing them. My foot has been feeling pretty good but I really haven't put it to the test. I spoke with Dr Tanner about going back to the track and he wants me to gradually work back up to my usual 3 to 4 mile walk. You know, one mile the first day, one and a half the next day. If I ever want to lose that pesky 10 pounds I have to start going for my daily powerwalk again. It's the only exercise that really works for me. I'm waiting for our weather to warm up so that I can go. I know that some of you may think that 50 degrees is like summer but to me it's cold. I don't go to the track when the temps turn cold like that and it's been cold for quite a while. Not the usual weather for us here in South Florida. I'm hoping that the temps go back up to the 60's or 70's soon. I want to try out my new orthodics.