I'm not in the habit of copying and pasting from one blog I write for to another. However, the blog entry I just posted on the BetterU blog is such good news, that I'm doing it just this once.
I don't look forward to getting the mail. It's usually full of bills or catalogs with pretty things I'd love to buy if I weren't spending all my money paying those bills. But today's mail brought something wonderful, so wonderful in fact that if the mailman had been here when I opened it, I would have kissed him!
In today's mail were the results from my recent bloodwork from Dr. Branyas' office. My first blood draw, on December 8, 2009 showed the following:
Total Cholesterol: 181 (acceptable) Triglycerides: 116 (acceptable) HDL (good cholesterol): 40 (low) LDL (bad cholesterol): 118 (high-ish, especially with my diagnosis of diabetes) C-Reactive Protein (measure of inflammation that can lead to clogging of the arteries): 8.6 (very high)
The results I got in the mail today showed the following:
Total Cholesterol: 117 (a 64-point drop) Triglycerides: 86 (a 30-point drop) HDL (good cholesterol): 35 LDL (bad cholesterol): 65! (53-point drop) C-Reactive Protein: 2.75 (a near 6-point drop into the average risk range)
So, I still have some work to do getting my good cholesterol up, but I am more than happy with the other results. Nothing could have motivated me more to drop these 4 bothersome pounds before the luncheon than this piece of news. (Trust me, I know that I have at least 50 more than bothersome pounds to deal with after that, but I'm taking baby steps here.)
I think what makes me the happiest is knowing that I was able to do this without depriving myself of everything tasty and without being a slave to the gym.
Have I been deliberate about watching what I eat? Yes. But I've also had ice cream (low fat) and Girl Scout cookies (3, not a whole sleeve) and chips and salsa from time to time. I just make sure those are the exception and not the rule.
And I've found a comfortable rhythm at the gym. I've surprised myself with what I can do and I've tried not to become discouraged by what I cannot do (yet!).
So thank you -- Better U challengers, American Heart Association, my family and friends, blog readers -- for your support. This is not the end of my journey; it's not even the middle. But as my father-in-law would say, "It's a good start!"
I got a call last week from a doctor's office saying that they were participating in the American Heart Association Better U program and they wanted to schedule me for my consult. Ok. I was expecting the call. But what I wasn't expecting was a call from a plastic surgeon's office.
Whoa! Hold the phone people. I didn't agree to have anything cut off, nipped or tucked! As the person on the phone went on, I understood that this plastic surgeon also runs a skin and laser center. They are offering skin treatments to the five Better U women and will also be doing our makeup for the luncheon and fashion show in February.
So I made my appointment for the consultation and showed up at Phases last Wednesday night. I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive. I don't really like people touching my face. I remember when I was a kid, I saw a bumper sticker that said "If youa toucha my car, I'lla breaka your face." I'm more of the "If youa toucha my face, I'lla breaka your car" variety.
But, I decided to be adventurous. All this skin care service is free, so why not give it a shot? The people in the office could not have been nicer. Elissa, my aesthetician (that's fancy for "face gal") washed my face with some yummy smelling orange stuff and wrapped a warm towel under my chin and around my cheeks. I would have been happy for it all to end right there. It was so cozy, I could have fallen asleep!
However, Elissa had something else in mind. She trotted me out to her magic mirror -- aka the Visia camera -- that takes a picture of your skin and shows all the ugly truths. Sun damage lurking beneath the surface? Got it - plenty of it. Bacteria? Yep, that too. But I'm happy to say that I'm not too bad in the wrinkles department.
After facing the music of the Visia, Elissa took me to another room to photograph me, up close and personal like. Let's just say those pics will not end up in the family Christmas card. Hair pulled back, exposing all the white that is growing from my roots. No makeup and plenty of zoom on the the scars left over from the chicken pox when I was 13.
Back in the comfort of the room with the yummy orange face wash, Elissa explained to me all the stages of skin restoration. Her goal for me before the Go Red for Women luncheon in February is to remove some of that sun damage and give my face a renewed and more youthful glow. For a woman bumping up against 40, that doesn't sound like a bad thing.
So, I agreed to a series of three VI peels, one each month in November, December and January. Elissa swore to me that this will not hurt. I believe "tingling" is the word she used. But she did caution me that on day 3 after the peel, I won't want to go out in public much because that's the day that the "peel" part kicks into high gear.
As in my face will start shedding. "Molting," is what Elissa said. Like a snake. In fact, I got a pretty good visual when she said that if I have a big piece of skin hanging off my face, I shouldn't pull it, but should trim it with scissors.
And this is all supposed to help my heart, how? Ha ha! But I'm game. This Better U challenge is my time and if that time ends up helping me look a little prettier in the process, I won't argue with that.
My first peel is scheduled for this Wednesday. You know I'll be back here to dish about it -- and to share pictures of me as the amazing skin-losing lizard lady!
I have a big mouth. Wanna know what's going on in my life? Just ask and I'll pretty much tell you -- would I be a blogger if I were tight-lipped? (Well, there are a few things that I keep close to the vest.) But, I've been sitting on a secret for a few weeks now.
No, I'm not pregnant.
In mid-October, I ran into a fellow school mom, Hether, at after school pick-up. Hether said, "Hey! I tore this out of the paper for you."
It was an announcement that the local American Heart Association was looking for five women to participate in their Better U 12-week Heart Healthy Makeover. Anyone can go online and follow the program for themselves. But the AHA here wanted to find five women to put through the program with the help of cardiologists, dieticians, and personal trainers. The chosen women would be asked to blog about their experience and will be featured at the Go Red for Women luncheon in February.
The blogging component is what made Hether think of me. And serendipitously, we ran into each other at school, which doesn't happen often.
So I took the article home, sat down to write my 100-word statement about why I should be chosen (I think I fudged and used 107 words) and e-mailed it off. About 10 days later, I got a call saying I was a finalist! And I didn't utter a word here because I didn't want to jinx it.
I thought the interview went well. They asked me to tell them a little bit about myself, what I wanted out of the program, if I would be comfortable doing media interviews. And I had a good answer for every question, I thought. I left there feeling pretty good about my chances. They had received 120 applications and were interviewing 12 women to select the final five. So I didn't even have to be the best -- just better than seven others!
They said it would be a week or so before they announced the winners. But because I'm an impatient sort, I went to the local AHA website yesterday and saw this:
Go Red BetterU Heart Healthy Makeover The American Heart Association selected five women who are ready to improve their health to participate in the Go Red BetterU Heart Healthy Makeover Challenge. As part of the Challenge, the women will receive free wellness screenings, consultations with a medical professional and ongoing coaching from a personal trainer and dietician.
Selected. As in already chosen. As in I didn't get a phone call. I was absolutely crushed. I'd really be counting on this opportunity to give me the shove toward better health that I need. Minorly hopeful, and a little irritated that I didn't at least get a "thanks but no thanks " e-mail, I sent a note to Kelly, one of the Heart Association women I'd interviewed with.
"I noticed on your website that the 5 women for the BetterU program have already been selected. Does that mean I should uncross my fingers?"
Then about 20 minutes later, after I had checked my e-mail about 47 times, I got a response from Kelly saying "We haven't made any public announcements. Can you send me the link where you saw that?"
So I sent her the link and one desperate, shameless plug for myself reminding her that I'm practically a cardiac catastrophe waiting to happen.
NOTHING. No response at all yesterday afternoon. None at 9pm. None at midnight. None at 7am this morning.
I was just sick and immediately transported back to my junior year in high school when I was so sure that I was a shoe-in for yearbook and I didn't get picked, which threw me headlong into a genuine depression. I just felt deflated and sick to my stomach and began second guessing my interview.
"Maybe I shouldn't have been so cheerful? Maybe I should have gone in teary and begging for rescue from my sorry self? No. I had been myself and did my best," I thought. "When they do make a public announcement about the five women, I won't be catty and petty and think how they should have picked me. I'll be a grown up about this. A grown up who is going to drown her sorrows in Maggie Moos ice cream."
And then the phone rang. It was Kelly from the American Heart Association. "You jumped the gun on me yesterday," she said. "I told you we hadn't made a public announcement, but I didn't tell you it was because we hadn't notified the five women yet."
Well, at least she was nice enough to call and tell me in person that I hadn't made the cut. Except she went on to say, "So I'm notifying you. We are really excited to have you as part of our Go Red for Women Better U Heart Healthy Makeover!"
WHAT?! WOOHOO!!! They picked me! They picked me! I thanked her and quickly assured her that I am not some kind of crazy, desperate, cardiac stalker.
So, over the next few weeks, I'll be setting up appointments with the cardiologists and whomever else they want me to meet with. Then in the first week of December, I'll get to meet the four other women at a kick-off breakfast. Then in January, my 12-week BetterU program gets underway. In February, the five of us will participate in the Go Red for Women luncheon and -- get this -- fashion show!
I really feel like this is my time to make a change in my life. If I were any good at singing, I'd belt out "This is My Now!" But since I'm not, I'll let Jordin Sparks do it for me:
