Health

A Day At The Doctor

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 3 Comments

I was able to get into the see my doctor’s Nurse Practitioner this afternoon.  I now know my issue could be several things–an inner ear infection (I do have some fluid in one ear), vertigo, or something more serious.  They took some blood, I peed in a cup and they are scheduling me for a brain MRI because of my family history.  I was run through a litany of coordination tests and physical tests and passed w/flying colors and none of the test triggered any of my symptoms (which makes vertigo unlikely but still possible).

One of the problems is that I have symptoms of many thing but not all symptoms of anything.  I am an enigma of science.  I am hopeful that it is something mild and minor but won’t rest easy until I have my brain scan and all my synapses are where they are supposed to be and all my arteries and veins look awesome.  Until then,  I will take my medicine for the ear infection and the vertigo and hope that maybe it is that simple.

But if I have learned anything in life it is that things are not simple.

Still Not Feeling Right

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 4 Comments

and it is time that I look hard at my medical history.  My dad had a stroke at the age I am now–a mild one–but a stroke nonetheless.  It is thought that his condition (don’t remember the name) is hereditary.  My dad’s sister died from a brain aneurysm at the age I am now.  I talked to my dad today about the symptoms he had leading up to his stroke 20+ years ago.  They are similar–to similar for my own tastes–to how I feel now.  I am scared to death about this.  I plan to call my dr–who is also my dad’s–first thing in the am and hope to be able to get scheduled for some tests.  I fear it is a neurological problem as my eyes have been messing up a little lately and I just had an eye exam and they are perfectly healthy–my vision is skipping every once in a while–like a record skips over an imperfection…

I know I should not have waited to call the doctor…I hope I don’t regret it.

Not Feeling Like Myself

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 5 Comments

So, I just want to say that I don’t often get sick or feel off.  But yesterday I didn’t feel quite myself all day.  I really noticed it after I gave the kids the bath yesterday and stood up and got a little light headed.  Then it went away but then yesterday late afternoon I started feeling a little light headed again.  Not dizzy but just a little off balance.  Last night I woke up in the middle of the night–but Noah–and walked him upstairs.  I was wobbly.  I could feel my muscles shaking a little as I took each step.  It was weird.  This morning, I was still a little wobbly but now I just feel a little weak and slightly light headed.  I am also hungry.  I have been eating well.  I know that I am a little dehydrated, so I am working on drinking lots of water today.  But I just don’t feel right.

I’m going to see how the rest of the day goes and then try to get in to see the doctor if it doesn’t go away.

Any ideas on what might be wrong with me????

I’m Going To Just Call It Crazy

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 2 Comments

I am running (I use that word extremely loosely to describe what I might be doing this weekend) a 5k.  I have never run a 5k.  I haven’t run anything since I was in my mid 20’s.  I am not in my late 30’s.  So, we’ll see what kind of joke this turns out to be.  But, hey sometimes you just have to go for something and see what you have in you.  I have ridden a century without having ridden a bike for over a year.  That takes hours.  I know I can easily walk 3.2 miles.  Anyway…I’ll update via twitter on Saturday.

Wish me luck…

I Choose Life

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 5 Comments

I have not written about weight loss in a long time–probably because I have fallen off the bandwagon and there really isn’t loss going on.  I have skirted the severity of the issue and it is time that I address with brutal honesty the serious nature of the issues.  I am not dying…not any faster than I am just through natural aging–don’t want to freak any of you out. 

I have PCOS and have written about that previously–sorry too lazy to look through past posts for specifics.  Because of this my hormones are messed up–especially my estrogen and I am insulin-resistant.  This means i have a hard time raising my good cholesterol number and my triglycerides are high.  This puts me at high risk for type II diabetes and heart disease.  Now, while there really isn’t much I can do to change the facts, I can change everything else.  With diet and moderate exercise I can reverse the effects of the PCOS–not get rid of it but manage it–and reduce my risk for type II diabetes and heart disease substantially.  I have been ignoring this.  PCOS is what is keeping me from getting pregnant and I think that subconsciously I didn’t want to get pregnant–that is a whole separate post–but now that we have decided not to do IVF there is no reason I can’t work on being healthy.  I need to do it for myself and I want to do it for my kids.  I want to be healthy and I want to live to see my grandchildren grow-up as well as my own children. 

It has been really easy to just ignore the severity of it and treat my weight loss as a cosmetic goal, but it isn’t.  I owe it to myself to be honest an to work hard to really make sure that I am doing everything I can to be healthy.  I don’t want to be put on meds to control these issues (insulin resistance) that can be handled through simple diet and exercise changes.  I haven’t made my health a priority, partly because that means I would have to address the real issues that I have and the serious turn they could take. 

Thank you for listening.