Doctors and dentists & a call out for weight loss motivation

It's been a wild week! I finally got Sam in to see a dentist yesterday. He's been having swelling near a crown. It turns out he has an abscess and a huge infection between the crown & the permanent tooth that's trying to come out. The dentist cleaned it up, but referred us to an oral surgeon. We had a consult with the surgeon yesterday, but his computer is down, so he can't schedule us for surgery. Also, this is going to be a very painful extraction, so he has to be fully under for the procedure. I can only imagine how much that will cost. I haven't used our dental insurance through our new employer, so I guess it's time to do some research & see what's covered!

I'm also worried about time away from work. I'm still "new" at my job, and left early yesterday for the dental consults, and worked from home today. . . I had my own doctor's appointment & finally got in to the rheumatology clinic at Stanford. I've been waiting for a few months, and am almost out of medicine, so the timing was good. I loved the two doctors I saw, but going there took three hours, round trip with traffic. Yikes. I had blood drawn to check all of my levels, & the doctor spent close to 90 minutes with me. He was fantastic. He basically confirmed that I'm on the right track with my self management (combined with medicine), but also recommended that I drop my weight by 12 pounds. Although I'm not overweight at my current level, the drug I'm on is the lowest possible dose (my choice, to minimize risk), and works best when a patient is between 130-135 pounds. Something to do with the fat, etc. All I know is, if my choice is to increase my risk of blindness, or to lose 12 pounds to get more out of the medicine I'm already taking. . . well, the choice is clear. The medicine will also hopefully be slightly more effective at 135, which would mean fewer headaches, less muscle aching, & more energy. None of that is a guarantee, but being at the right weight increases that possibility.

Anyway, it's time to get extremely serious about my weight loss. I've been fooling around in the 140s for a good 18 months, so it's now on! I have a follow up appointment in 8 weeks, & my goal is to lose 4 pounds, which I think is reasonable with the holidays.

Again, I have no idea how much this appointment will cost - time to research my new health care plan! I'm on a high deductible plan, with an employer contribution. I chose that hoping that I wouldn't use the full employer contribution (since I started work mid-October) & could roll some over for other years. Who knows if my plan will be successful. :-) I also have close to $2400 in an HSA that my previous employer rolled over for me. 

Fingers crossed that Sam gets in to the surgeon asap! The longer he goes with the infection, the greater his risk is of it spreading to other healthy teeth.

Please give me your number one weight loss tip! I track my calories, work out, & am generally pretty knowledgable about what I eat. So, apparently, it's a motivation problem. :-)