Thursday, December 5, 2013

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. :-) 

7 comments:

  1. Poor Sam! I wouldn't feel bad about taking time off for his surgery. I think its very expected for a parent to take time off for that.

    Regarding weight, I'm with you. I have 24 pounds to lose. For breakfast, I try to stick with a hot breakfast like oatmeal because I think you get the most lasting power with the same amount of calories as cold cereal. I drink a lot of water, around 100-120 ounces a day. Other than that, I try to eat a very basic menu with 3 meals a day and 1 or 2 snacks. I try to avoid processed food because of the high sodium. I try to eat like my grandparents ate on the farm. I'm probably not telling you anything you don't know. Good luck!

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  2. I'm going to have to second ND Chic, it has to be expected for a parent to take time off work for their child's surgery.

    AND weight loss: drink lots of water... I have so much weight to lose. Me and pregnancy didn't go that well together. It's totally a motivation thing like you said.

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  3. Good luck with the weight loss! Will you cut carbs?

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  4. I feel so lucky that I don't worry about dental or medical costs. My dental is 100% through work. What we do worry about here in northern canada is how to pay the bills when the costs of natural gas and hydro are skyrocketing and right now, it is -26 degrees celcius out.....

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    1. Eek! I somehow hit publish without finishing. Also wanted to wish you best of luck getting medical appointments and dental surgery quickly! My only thing that works for weight loss is to up the exercise, but I think you already do that....maybe host a challenge for us all :)

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  5. An abscess? That infection sounds really alarming. That’s going to be a tough procedure as it will really require surgery. How did the surgery go, anyway? I do hope the both of you get well soon. Anyway, good luck on your weight loss goal! I hope you the best for that.
    Dr. Jason Dew @ GRMetroDental

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